Awarded "Most Wanted" at C.S. I

A C.S.I Suspect called to let me know that "Grandma Dolly's Teapot" was one of the five selected for "Most Wanted". Woot! I'm dancing in circles. I'm just tickled that it won as I so enjoyed working on it and going down memory lane once again to remember Grandma Dolly.

We were awestruck by Joyce's beautiful layout! There is great beauty in her exquisite details--the teapot serving as a frame for the photo of Grandma Dolly's teapot, the little teacups hanging from a shelf, the lovely clusters of flowers, the misted doilies, the lovely addition of pearls to the scalloped frames. But even more exquisite is the detail in her wonderful story---the essence of the memory written on the front but the delightful details continued in a pocket on the back of her page. We love that Joyce included the three different pictures to help tell the complete story. Joyce did a marvelous job with the colors, carefully chose elements to further convey her story, and documented an important story. This layout is truly what CSI is all about!

Thank you C.S.I. and Suspects for their continued inspiring pages.

"Grandma Dolly's Teapot" (Featured at C.S.I.)

C.S.I #3's clue of the pretty decorative tea saucer reminded me of Grandma Dolly's teapot, so with enthusiasm and inspiration, I set out to solve the case and created this layout.

During our visits with our English Grandma Dolly, she would set the table in English fashion for her five American grandchildren at tea time. We weren’t particularly interested in tea and it wasn’t served to us at home, but she made it such a special event that we would actually look forward to it during our visits. Interestingly, those children sitting for tea at Grandma Dolly’s house were not the same children who ate every meal together at home. The ritual of tea made us sit up straight, speak civil to each other, and actually enjoy each others company. We were so civil to one another that I don’t think our own parents would have recognized us. It was at Grandma’s house where we learned to drink tea with cream which we found quite tasty. The menu primarily consisted of tea with cream, small sandwiches which consisted of white bread, sweet butter and corned beef, toast and jam, and biscuits. During one occasion, she asked if any of us would like a biscuit. Four of us promptly declined the offer, and the other, the most adventurous of the five said, “yes’. We sat sipping our tea and chatting until Grandma Dolly appeared with a pretty decorated dessert plate and placed it in front of the brother who wanted the “biscuit”. When the four of us saw those two tantalizing cookies sitting on top of the plate, we all looked up at her incredulously as if she had deceived us. We told her we wanted a cookie too. She reminded us that we all declined her offer of a biscuit. We replied, “Yes, but we didn’t decline an offer of a cookie”. After that occasion, when she said something that didn’t quite sit well
with us, we’d interrogate her further until we understood her English.

Thank you for stopping by.

Liebster Award: Woot! Woot!

I have a blog award I want to share with you thanks to Jenifer at http://heldscraptive.blogspot.com/ Thank you Jenifer for thinking of me. For those of you that don't know Jenifer, she has a big personality, she's a hoot to chat with, and her pages normally convey such heartfelt sentiments, that almost always resonnate with me. I love her work.

“Liebster” is a German word meaning dearest, beloved or favorite, and the Liebster Award is sort of a chain letter among bloggers that’s intended to showcase exceptional up-and-coming blogs (typically, those with 200 or fewer followers). There’s no evaluation committee or formal award process for the Liebster, but in a way it’s even nicer – it’s recognition that a peer has noticed and appreciated your hard work.

And, now I am sharing and passing on the award to five up and coming blogs that I'm sure you will want to stop by for a visit and say hi.

Here are the rules:

Choose 5 up and coming blogs of fewer than 200 followers to award the Liebster to.

Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

Post the award on your blog. Link back to the blogs you have given the Liebster to so everyone else can pay them a visit.

So in no particular order here are my 5:

Michele = http://design-honey.blogspot.com/

Jennifer = http://scrap-escape.blogspot.com/

Linda = http://blueskyscrapping.blogspot.com/

http://scrappyhappymom.blogspot.com/

Erin and Kelly = http://scrappin-sisters.blogspot.com

"Close Your Eyes" (Featured in February at Girlie Grunge)

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to learn new techniques and further develop my scrapping style (still not sure what it is), and to assist me with that, I recently became a member of Girlie Grunge by Donna Salazar. Since this is my first attempt at grunge, I refer to it as "Girlie Grunge-Light". One of the attributes of "grunge" is getting inky and dirty by using your hands, and I did just that by using my fingers to ink and paint the fiber paste pattern on the background of my page. With time and experience,I hope to hold my own with the other members of this carefree and artistic group of members.

The Sketch is by "Lydell Quinn.

Supplies: Spellbinders, Donna Salazar's line: Rose Creations and Sprightly Sprockets.

Paints: Shimmerz: Teal (which a really pretty steel blue color); and Carmel.

Cardstock and some very old blue and white papers I've had in my stash.

Glitter: Martha Stewart

Trims: Navy blue ribbon.

Background Mesh: Gotta Mesh

The journaling reads:

Close Your Eyes

You're now on the beach on a warm sunny day with your feet slightly buried in the warms sands. You can feel the sun kiss your face, and the wind comb through your hair. You can taste the salt of the ocean and hear her waves crash onto the shore. You savor the moment, breathe in deeply and exhale. As you move on down the shore, you see a woman up ahead and you know she has shared the same experience. The woman stops, turns around and catches your eye. With her hand, she beckons you to come closer. You gladly walk toward this kindred spirit, and as you get closer to her, you recognize her......she is you 20-30 years older. With tears welling up in your eyes, she walks up to you, embraces you, and whispers in your ear....

What does your older-self whisper in your ear?

Thanks for stopping by for a visit. Let me know you were here so that I may visit you and see what you've been doing too.

"Same Time Next Year" (Featured at Once Upon a Sketch)

This was featured at Once Upon a Sketch for the January 1 2012 Challenge.

I call this layout "Same Time Next Year". Have you ever had a friend that no matter how much time has gone by between your last communications, when you meet again, it feels as if time has stood still and you pick up your conversation right where you left off? I have been blessed to have had such a friend for over 33 years years. Every year we meet for high tea, lunch or dinner and go over what we did the prior year, discuss our dreams and goals for the coming New Year, laugh at things we did, cry over losses, and support each others choices and decisions.

This Once Upon A Sketch Challenge has inspired me to scrap and journal this reoccuring event, and remind me how important it is to have such a friend. The layout reflects a picture of my friend and I, circa 1983, in a photo booth at Santa Catalina Island, California. This particular sketch is so beautiful, I'm already creating new layouts in my head using this same sketch.

Journaling reads:

"No matter how much time has gone by between us, when we meet again, it feels like time has stood still and we pick up right where we left off. Thanks for meeting me every year at the same time to share laughter, stories and reminding me just how good a friend you are to me."

Stop by Once Upon A Sketch to see some of the other fabulous entries. http://onceuponasketchblog.blogspot.com/

Here's a close up of the Golden fiber paste background treatment using a new plastic mesh I found at Gotta Mesh. http://www.gottamesh.com/BasicMesh/811

Supplies:

Papers: Creative Imaginations (Iron Orchid Designs collection); Minds Eye (Lost and Found collection); and Bazzil cardstock paper.

Die Cue: Sizzix (Tim Holtz - clock); Spellbinders (Parisian Accents).

Chipboard: Dusty Attic (dress form).

Medium: Golden's Fiber Paste; Perfect Pearls Medium and Perfect Pearls (gold).

Embellishments: Tim Holtz plate (used for title of layout); various trims and flowers; Prima clock tile.

Thank you for stopping by. Let me know where I can find you to stop by to see what you've been up to.