In a Vase On Monday - Mrs Scott-Elliot

Good Morning,

We're up bright and early this morning, that's Silver and I. She's always an early riser - up with the dawn chorus - no chance, therefore, of a long lie these light mornings. So I thought I'd share what's in my vase today.

Aquilegia caerulea 'Mrs Scott-Elliot looking fabulous massed together in a vase. There are several different colour combinations in this variety but this one of orange and yellow is by far the most striking. 

The Denby vase was chosen for its colour too. Dark green decorated with a not too showy leaf pattern seemed just right to showcase these brilliant blooms. 

As has now become the norm, the vase is displayed on the kitchen windowsill, safely away from the paws of a very curious kitten. The window looks out onto Alan's blue painted shed, where he has his model railway set up, and our back garden. 

If you've filled a vase today and would like to share it, why not join Cathy over on Rambling In The Garden. Leave her a comment and she will be sure to check out your vase. There's a link to her In A Vase On Monday over in the left margin. 

Whatever you have to do and wherever you are, have a lovely day. 

Elizabeth 

My Garden Now - Aquilegia

Happy Sunday Everyone,

I thought, because it's such a beautiful day, I would share some of the many aquilegia that have self-seeded around my garden. 

Aquilegias are notoriously promiscuous and happily cross-pollinate whenever possible then self-seed wherever the wind takes them. I now have a stunning white flowering one down in the woodland area that I'm not responsible for. It is, nevertheless, very welcome. 

Looking at these two photos, it's just possible I'm well on my way to being the keeper of the country's largest collection of aquilegia! 

Seriously, I think the time has come to get out there and sort out some of the wildness before the weeds takeover completely. Maybe later! 

Have a fabulous day wherever you are. 

Bye for now,

Elizabeth

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