While February IS the shortest month of the year, May feels like it is the shortest. May! May!! Marvelous May!!! You are the month we wait eight months for. You bring spring with renewed growth. The birds return. And best of all, we can go outside without a coat. Sometimes. It has been an on again, off again Spring for us. Never the less, seeds are planted, bedding plants are hardened off.
Ah, how I love May. Except perhaps, for how I find the outdoor life, cuts into my ever dwindling creative hours. This month, I completed only three layouts. None of them are about the old farmstead that inspired my kit. However, I have taken lots of photos of the buildings at different times of day, including the two golden hours (just after sunrise and just before sunset) It is my intention to visit my childhood piano teacher, who lived here for all her married life, and get some insight into the history of this place.
The first layout was inspired by a collection of three plastic hangers. They were in my hand, one day at work. The colour combination was so remarkable, so of course, I remarked about it. They ended up coming home and hanging (snirk) around my desk for about half a year. Last month's kit took care of lots of pictures that had been gifted to me from the "to scrap" stack, however, this birth announcement didn't work with the Messy Box style. One month later, the kit, the colour inspiration and the photo all came together in a synergistic symphony. The last addition of the bingo card with baby's birth month in robin's egg blue took the page to exceptional. And that "27" in the middle of the card (baby's birth date) is serendipitous perfection. I will stamp it with a circle outline to highlight it and call done.
I dove head first into the kit for layout #2. Have been doing a layout on Robin pretty well each month. The past 10 months have been hard for him. He can no longer work in his trade. Reestablishing your personal identity, outside of your work,is daunting at best. As Robin works through this part of his life's journey, making a layout each month, just for him, is the best way I know of to show him that he continues to be appreciated and admired.
It started by choosing the cardstock. My over sized collection of cardstock lives in here:
Except for shades and tints that have only one or two sheets left. They are in the work station, and are in "go to first" status. So in considering a one page layout, I tried the photo on each colour in the "last sheet" pile. It is fascinating to me to observe how the different colours and shades effect the character of the photo. I settled on a dusty turquoise. The contrast made the photo pop. Then I splated black reinker, followed by some grey Mister Huey. I played with the burlap alphas, trying out several titles, finally landing on the one used. How many alpha saves can you spot? Layered the photo on inked doily, scrap of vintage shopping bag and a page from a Second World War rations book. The "Meat" page, of course! Since these items are not scrapbook safe, I placed a layer of "acceptable" paper under the photo to protect it from direct contact with the contraband. The second bingo card from the kit seemed a natural on this layout as a reminder for the when the photo was taken. The "A is for" stickers were mounted on patterned paper and trimmed out. 7 Gypsies tape was laid down for the left border and the right one is off the echo park boarder sheet in my add-on kit. Later I was rummaging in the stash for another project when the rub-on chicks surfaced and jumped right onto the page. Layout finito.
Layout three came together so quickly, I almost missed it's process! The photo led to the paper, which was too flimsy without cardstock, but I didn't want a solid coloured boarder. So the red lace paper moved into place. After the layering of bits under the photo, the title fell into place. Then I used kit items for the embellies that surround the photo. The Kiss the Cook clip art was in a book of titles. So here I have a layout almost done in under half an hour. I asked myself, what is this page about? And the journaling came to me. Done but not satisfied. Normally I spend 2 hours or more on a layout. A quick and easy one does not take me to that scrapping zen zone that makes this hobby irresistible to me. I left it and came back to it the next day. Looking at the other two layouts, I realized how much I liked having the punch of black from the paper doily on each of them. Grabbed another doily. Added some ink. Lifted the title and layered it up. Yup. That was the bit of inspiration I needed to get my jollies.
May's kit, Good ol' days has lots of life left in it. It now joins my growing collection of part used kits.
I also finished a layout started a while back. It draws from three kits. January technique, piercing and stitching on title. February, small alpha stickers. March, washi tape and photo frame and patterned paper. Also the layout inspiration "Borders" was from March. As January's Good Intentions was morphed into the Feb kit, the only aspect left of it was the piercing technique and that has now been featured. So January is officially done. I still have February's kit, One Good Turn, and March's kit, Good Heavens relatively intact, with a few more projects in mind before they can be morphed or dismantled.
Thanks for dropping by. Double thanks for comments.
Ah, how I love May. Except perhaps, for how I find the outdoor life, cuts into my ever dwindling creative hours. This month, I completed only three layouts. None of them are about the old farmstead that inspired my kit. However, I have taken lots of photos of the buildings at different times of day, including the two golden hours (just after sunrise and just before sunset) It is my intention to visit my childhood piano teacher, who lived here for all her married life, and get some insight into the history of this place.
I dove head first into the kit for layout #2. Have been doing a layout on Robin pretty well each month. The past 10 months have been hard for him. He can no longer work in his trade. Reestablishing your personal identity, outside of your work,is daunting at best. As Robin works through this part of his life's journey, making a layout each month, just for him, is the best way I know of to show him that he continues to be appreciated and admired.
It started by choosing the cardstock. My over sized collection of cardstock lives in here:
May's kit, Good ol' days has lots of life left in it. It now joins my growing collection of part used kits.
I also finished a layout started a while back. It draws from three kits. January technique, piercing and stitching on title. February, small alpha stickers. March, washi tape and photo frame and patterned paper. Also the layout inspiration "Borders" was from March. As January's Good Intentions was morphed into the Feb kit, the only aspect left of it was the piercing technique and that has now been featured. So January is officially done. I still have February's kit, One Good Turn, and March's kit, Good Heavens relatively intact, with a few more projects in mind before they can be morphed or dismantled.
