A Few Early Layouts - 1996-2007

Hello Everyone

I began making scrap pages 26 years ago during a year studying at a women's college in Massachusetts, USA. My fellow students were delighted to show me the albums they had brought with them. I was fascinated. And hooked. 

On discovering there was a shop nearby that sold scrapbooking supplies, I just had to visit it. I left the shop armed with a couple of books on the subject, several small scrap kits, a black inkpad and some rubber stamps. The kits contained just enough to make one page, two at most. I used an Anna Griffin kit as the basis of this wedding page. Looking back, I think the design, which required weaving strips of paper together, was a bit ambitious for a beginner. No surprise then that it took about two years to complete ... in my defence I should say it was a busy period in my life what with being in the last year at university and then first year in a new job. 

The materials available to us 20+ years ago were very different from those of today. And they were limited here in the UK. Looking back, 12x12 paper was scarce but it was possible to buy by mail order, and I did. I discovered through the internet Two Peas In A Bucket, a US shop now sadly closed, which became my go-to supplier in those early years. For embellishments we relied quite heavily on sewing haberdashery, e.g. buttons, lace, ribbons and fancy trims. I can see there was a  heavy reliance on paper flowers, hatpins and brads to decorate pages.

Prima flowers were a great standby embellishment. I've since learned that the rosebuds are too bulky for storing in albums ... most are squashed. If I were to make this page today, the top cluster would be placed over to the right rather than the left. This layout looks too one-sided for today. 

This page was made about 15 years ago (2007) and not much has changed from 1996. Prima flowers and ribbon still feature. Use of brads had evolved to be used to fix metal embellishments like the word 'giggle'. Googly eyes made a fun feature on the frog patterned paper ... there's still an almost full box tucked away in my stash to this day! 

All the titles were either computer generated or stamped and hand cut. I don't remember seeing sets of adhesive backed letters/numbers for sale and dies for crafters were possibly in their infancy back then. 

Clearly, scrapping materials have come a long way in the last decade or so. And because of this I've noticed a trend for scrappers to go back to their earlier pages, to criticise them, and plan to either create a new page or, worse still, throw them away altogether. 

What do you think? Would you change you're earliest pages? Me? Considering these pages just part of my scrapping story, even though I can see how old-fashioned they are, I've no intention of changing a thing today. 

Bye for now,

Elizabeth

Friday Smiles

Hello Friday Smilers

Joining in with Annie's weekly smile meme over on the A Stitch In Time. 

This last week has been a bit of a mixed bag, blighted by illness for the three of us on the one hand and, on the other hand, our garden has simply burst into flower and looks amazing. So, I'm sure you know what's coming - loads of photos. 

We had a new patio built just outside the kitchen door. to make it safer and easier for Alan to get access to his mobility scooter. 

My granddaughter's partner, Kyle, has done a great job in what was a very uneven surface. There's still some finishing off to do but first he had a wee accident to sort out which delayed the work.

Oops!!! Great-granddaughter Lacie stepped into her dad's beautifully smoothed cement work. It was getting late too so dad doesn't look at all happy. Much to my shame, I couldn't stop laughing. 

Later, after they had gone home, this happened. 

Silver left her mark too. We've decided to keep those paw prints for posterity. 

Before I move on to the garden, I just have to share these pics of our Callum. 

It was mad hair day at school and he opted for green ... I think he looks fabulous. 

And now a trip round our garden. 

I think that's enough for today. We have more changes planned for the garden, all intended to make it easier for me to manage in future. As it is now, it's very labour intensive and good gardeners are hard to find, so changes need to be made. We're very fortunate to have a handyman like Kyle in the family, able and willing to help with what needs to be done. 

I hope you've all had a lovely week with plenty to smile about.  And for more reasons to smile do pop over to Annie's and check out both her's and other Smilers posts. 

Bye for now

Elizabeth

Christmas Card Club Challenge - Cards 17-20/2022 - Sentiment as the Main Focus

Hello Everyone,

Apologies for being late with my cards this week, especially as I got to choose the theme. I'd actually got my cards made in advance but, because I became ill, I hadn't managed to take photos. Yesterday, when I was feeling much better, I did set up the lightbox, still learning, and took the photos so here are the four cards I made. 

No. 17

No. 18

No. 19

No. 20

Each card base was made from cardstock that I've had in my stash for years, purchased from Create and Craft. 

The plaid patterned paper is from a Stampin' Up's Plaid Tidings 6x6 pad. 

The blue/white check patterned paper, labels and sentiment stickers from three scrapbook collections - Vicki Boutin's Warm Wishes, Carta Bella's Home For Christmas & Photoplay's Frostival.

Gems also from old stash. 

That's me for today. I hope you're having a lovely weekend. I hope also that you will pop over to see what my teammates have created this week. You'll find a list of their names and links on my right sidebar - as always they are so much more creative than I will ever be.

Elizabeth