Grandma Gertie

This is probably the wedding photo of my grandparents. I don't have many photos of Gertrude (or Gertie, as I understand she was called by her loved ones), as she died about 3 years after her marriage to my grandfather, and the births of her two children. Gertie has been a MYSTERY to me, there is very little known of her, as she died so young, and I don't think that Grandpa Charlie told his children much about her, as my father didn't speak often of her, except she was a war bride, born in Ramsgate, England. I imagine that as a war bride in WW1 she had to travel very light, and as a result I have no photos or letters or other bits of family remembrance from her people. I did make contact with the decendants of one of Gertie's brothers, but they also had little information about her, except that she had gone to Canada and died there at a young age.

The papers are similar to Charlie's page, once again using Graphic 45 Transatlantic. The flower is constructed from Tim's (I'm on a first name basis now!) Tattered Florals, and the swirl stamp is from Stampington and Co.

I finished one fingerless MITTEN today, I have been working on it for about a year now. So hopefully I can get the second one done by next winter. I like to knit, but I am quite slow at it, and with a few OBSTRUCTIONS (e.g. pattern being wrong - 2 restarts until I realized it wasn't me; cats helping tangle the yarn; attempting to multi-task while knitting - i.e. breathe and knit) it takes me forever to complete any projects.

Until next time....

Revelstoke Revisited - Grandpa Charlie

A page from my Revelstoke book, this is my paternal grandfather, Charlie in his WW1 uniform. After the war, he returned to Revelstoke with his war bride, Gertrude. He lived in the area, working for the CP Railway, until his death in 1955.

The cardstock is inked with Distress inks and Tim Holtz masks. The papers are from Graphic 45. I am keeping the pages simple, so that I may actually finish this book. Finished is good. Not finished makes me anxious.

Until next time.....

A Card

One of my co-workers is leaving and I made her this card. I will tell you this is not my design. The stamp is by The Artful Stamper (London, Ontario), and you can see a version of this card on their website. I just added the extra pearls, lace and ribbon.

It is a rather time consuming card to make, with all that embossing and layering, but you can make it from just card stock scraps, and the effect is really pretty.

Supplies:

Butterfly stamp by The Artful Stamper

Tim Holtz embossing ink

Gold embossing powder

Green, rust, yellow and almost black cardstock
Stickles (Icicle)

scraps of lace and ribbon

pearls

dimensional adhesive

Incidently, I am still working on the Revelstoke book, and have completed 2 more pages, which I will hopefully post in the next day or two.

Until then...

Return to Revelstoke

I am happy to report that the Basic Grey calendar has now been COMPLETED, only a month late! I controlled my embellishing urges, so that made things go faster as well.

I started this book last year, it is a TRAVEL JOURNAL for a genealogy road trip my darling husband and I made last June, trying to find out more about my dad's family. The papers are from Graphic 45, plus some cardstock I had around the house. You can't see it in this photo, but the clock face has been covered twice with Glossy Accents. The metal bits are from Mr. Holtz (we all know which Mr. Holtz we are talking about, don't we?), as are the Distress Inks.

The journaling was all done during the trip, and now I am adding the photos - some of the trip, and some of my dear ancestors. I never met either of my paternal grandparents, they both passed away before I was born.

Hopefully I can keep on task with this project, and get it DONE before my next trip, for which I am planning another journal. I will try to keep things fairly simple, and not get carried away with too much bling, etc. Oh yes, and not to OBSESS to much about placement of stuff on the pages. Really, does a centimeter one way or the other really matter?

Until later....

Calendar Capers - September Completed!

As you can see, I am diligently working away on my 2011 Calendar. I have been having some help from the CATS, on occasion they sit on the desk and knock my pens to the floor, indirectly telling me which colours I should be using. (I think they may be colour-blind, as their suggestions are out of this world.)

Sadly, February starts in a few days, and that means that all the work I put into January will be for naught, unless I pretend that it is still January for a few days into February. I may have to do that. I'm never quite clear on what day it is anyway.

Until next time....

Procrastination Update

It is now mid January, and I am still working on my Basic Grey Calendar. I am stuck in August, which isn't such a bad place to be, because the weather is oh so much nicer there than it is here.

None the less, I am falling behind, and the wonderful pre-inventory/post Christmas SALES I have been frequenting haven't helped one bit. I am gathering more STUFF and wonderful IDEAS, with seemingly less and less time to complete these anticipated projects.

Last night, I went to my first of 4 POTTERY classes. My son gave me these as a Christmas gift, and I must admit I was a little intimidated by the idea of creating something from clay. I was further frightened on the first night by some of the ladies there who had done "wheel work", and were looking for "new ways of creative expression".

But then the instructor rolled out some clay, and brought out some STAMPS and starting stamping images into the clay..... and I felt right at home.

She said we could bring our own stamps from home, but I'm not too sure about getting clay in my precious stamps. We'll have to see. When I get something fired and glazed, I'll post a photo.

Until then, it's back to August....

Day Nineteen, and the End of the Road for the December Daily

Well, here we are in 2011, and this is my final page of the 2010 December Daily. My New Year's resolution this year was to be kind to myself, and so I am not upset that this album didn't end up being 31 pages. I mean, look at it. How could another 11 pages fit in this book anyway?!? By the way, Day Nineteen is made from a Santa from Crafty Secrets, a page from a book that is intended to be ripped up, snowflakes punched with a Quickutz, and bits and pieces I have hanging around.

I went through the book, and was amazed at the transformation from Day One to Day Twenty. At first, it was a very personal account, with photos, etc. By the end, it was me fooling around with different techniques, stamps and papers I wanted to try, with very little journaling.

This is what I learned. I only do a few interesting things in December, and the rest of the time I'm still working, doing laundry, and madly shopping, cooking, and getting ready for Christmas. I don't have little kids that do cute things (I rely on the cats and the dog for that), and the closer I get to the 25th, the less time I have to work on projects like this. By the time the Big Day is over and done, I am in no mood to be fussy cutting any more angels or Santa's.

So a December Daily is not for me. Unless it is a shortened version. I would consider making another, if I were proficient at using digital scrapbooking software. I was quite disappointed with my printer and the photos I printed out. I won't be doing that again any time soon. I already write in a daily journal, and I have a photo thing on my phone where I take a picture everyday (I've been doing so for 6 months, and it's fun, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing with them).

Maybe next year I'll finish the last 11 pages. Maybe not. For now, it's on to new projects. My next item on the agenda is a Basic Grey Calendar. I did one last year, and loved it. (Of course, I felt the need to ultra embelish it, and it took longer that it should have.) I'm going to use the photos from our trip last September.

When that is complete, I'll be back to a travel journal I started last June. It's a story about a trip to Revelstoke, B.C. in search of information on my ancestors. It's made with Graphic 45 papers, of course.

I think I will continue this blog. It has been quite an interesting experience, and I thank you all for your kind and encouraging comments. I read them all, at least twice.

Until next time, when I'll put up some photos of my journal,

Lesley