If I'm not scrapbooking I'm thinking about scrapbooking!
I love rain, and I just didn’t know when we moved to a drought-prone state like Texas how much I would crave it. So our particularly rainy season this year has been fabulous.
And if you’re really lucky, at the end of a storm you get to see a rainbow (or two).
The patterned papers are from a 2010 Making Memories collection called Spring, and I combined them with die cuts and transparencies from the Pink Paislee’s Hello Sunshine collection.
I think this may be the last time that anyone could call me leggy! LOL
The eleventh sketch challenge has been posted at the SCRAP & MUSIC challenge blog! Head over to the site to grab the sketch and play along. This eleventh sketch came with the song “Sweet child o’ mine” by Guns N’ Roses.
My maternal grandparents lived in California, and because we lived in Ohio we didn’t get to see them very often. This photo is from their summer of 1979 visit (when I was 12 and Phil 11). My grandma and my Aunt Mary Lou were half sisters, so AML had also driven to our house from Pennsylvania to visit while Grams and Gramps were in town.
This photo, taken out in front of our garage (because that’s scenic), shows from left to right: Mom, me, Aunt Mary Lou, Grandma, Grandpa and Phil. Daddy took the shot, and it looks like they may have been heading somewhere (perhaps to the airport?) because Grams is dressed up a bit more than usual and holding her purse.
So that’s all I can tell you about the surface details of this photo. But there’s a lot more it brings back to me when I inspect it. For instance, it surprises me how much I remember those outfits that Mom, Phil and I wore, as if it wasn’t 34 years ago at all! I specifically recall feeling a little nervous whenever I wore that terry cloth “onesie” because it was strapless. What a terrible idea for a girl who liked to play with the boys! And I have to cringe when I think about how much I loved to get a tan during the summer. And boy did I love to sit in that outdoor rocking chair and read. And I always find myself smiling when I contemplate photos of Gramps because he was an entertainer; he made us laugh a lot.
It’s the magic of photos, isn’t it? A simple picture of people lined up in the driveway with their arms around each other doesn’t look like much to anyone who wasn’t there. But we all know how very much they mean to those of us who were.
Once I had decided to use that busy background paper from American Crafts’ “Lucky charm” collection, I rifled through my scrap bin in search of papers that would coordinate that I could use to fill in the sections of my spinner (a freebie shape from Silhouette that I cut on my Cameo). I used papers from American Crafts, Jillibean Soup, Lily Bee Design, Making Memories and My Mind’s Eye. I also designed and cut the title using the Cameo.
The challenges on this blog involve following the sketch and using a title on your layout with a line from the provided music. Below I’ve included the video as well as the lyrics for this song:
“Sweet child o’ mine” by Guns N’ Roses
She’s got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything was as fresh
As the bright blue sky
Now and then when I see her face
She takes me away to that special place
And if I stare too long
I’d probably break down and cry
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child o’ mine
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet love of’ mine
She’s got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain
Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Where as a child I’d hide
And pray for the thunder and the rain
To quietly pass me by
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child o’ mine
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet love of mine
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child o’ mine
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child of mine
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child o’ mine
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child o’ mine
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go now
Where do we go (sweet child)
Where do we go now
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now
Sweet child
Sweet child o’ mine
My brother, Phil, began his love for photography under the influence of our eighth-grade math teacher, Mr. Moore. As is still his style to this day, the eighth-grade Phil did many months of research (the old-fashioned, pre-Web kind of research) before finally purchasing his first SLR camera. He bought a Pentax ME Super from a company that advertised in the back of Popular Photography magazine, and it came with a 50mm lens and leather case for $234.50 (he remembered that detail when I told him I was working on this layout).
All these years later Phil is still in love with photography, and in fact he now uses it in his work as a documentary storyteller. He has always dazzled me with his knowledge of the mechanics behind it, of which I have remained mostly ignorant. Until very recently, I never even used the manual mode on my SLR. But now, because of his influence I am adjusting aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings and rarely leave manual mode! It’s so freeing, and the quality of my photos is fast improving.
The photo on this layout was taken by Phil’s friend and fellow photography enthusiast, Jim Hutchins, while they were out shooting together one fine day in October 2011. Phil still shoots Pentax, only he has upgraded his main camera from the original ME Super to a digital K-5. He also has a medium format film Pentax 645N, which he is carrying in this photo! Back to the old along with the new.
This layout is based on sketch #189 at www.creativescrappers.blogspot.com.
I am also entering this layout in the Creative Scrappers challenge for sketch #189.
The layout I’m sharing today is based on a sketch provided at sketch challenge site, Sketchy Thursdays. This challenge is open until Saturday, October 22nd, so you can still play along! In addition to following the provided sketch, we had to journal about what we’re thankful for and include at least five leaves on the page (as a photo, patterned paper, stamps, die cuts, etc.).
After 13 months of drought, the rain we had last week was a blessing.
The sketch and the journaling prompt worked together so well for me this time. I immediately thought of how thankful I was for our recent rainstorms. And with that thought in mind, the sketch stopped looking like strips of patterned paper to me and more like raindrops falling down the page. The journaling reads, “I am thankful daily for my family, my love, my health, my God and my home. But after 13 months of drought in Austin, I am particularly grateful for RAIN.”
The background paper I chose represents the parched earth that surrounds us. The patterned paper “raindrops” reflect the colors in the photo of the leaves in the puddle. And a little Glossy Accents on the word RAIN in the title reflects the blessed moisture. We certainly didn’t get enough rain to pull us out of our drought, but we’ll take every drop with gratitude.
I created the layout below based on a sketch provided at the Pencil Lines blog because I wanted to spotlight these beautiful photos I took at our Austin Farmer’s Market this month.
It means a lot to us to support local farmers, especially in light of Texas' drought.
What is it about going to the farmer’s market on a Saturday morning?
So, if it’s such a pain to go to the local farmer’s market, why do so many of us do it?
So, if you’ve never been to one, or it’s been a long time since you last visited, I urge you to get thee to a farmer’s market. It’s such a satisfying experience!