once upon a time

my first layout in a very long time!

the newest line by Carta Bella. they are a sister company to Echo Park. the paper feels incredible. the colours are better in person. the only complaint i ended up having with the paper is that both sides were my favourites. the distressing and colouring on the papers is not predictable...so each corner and edge is unique.

sometimes, as scrapbookers, we feel that we can't use flowers on a "male" layout. if the male is covered in mud or doing something very masculine, i think it is a good idea to avoid "clean" looking embellishments. some flowers look more like weeds anyway...use those! i thought about using the title "Grandfather" or "Grandpa"....but it seemed so generic and uninteresting. if it were in a family history album....then i wouldn't have hesitated. i'm getting off track now! my point is that some "male" layouts don't lose their masculinity if you pair them up with flowers. keep some males colours or elements. this layout is a basic story of my grandfathers' life. if i had been fortunate to have had a photo of just him, i would have used it instead of the wedding photo. i came up with my title after most of the layout was completed. i feel like this is just a part of my grandfathers' story...just the beginning. and part of his story doesn't seem real.




i had not done any layouts with a heritage like theme. i do think this paper is perfect for nearly any occasion....baby page, anniversary, summer activity... definitely not necessary to pair the paper with just black and white photographs. if you have some colourful summer photos, try them out! just because i gave a rant about flowers on a masculine page...you don't have to search for a photo of a guy. promise me one thing....use photos that you love and want to remember. ok. next topic. ha!



after gluing everything together i realized that i wished i had made some pockets for hidden journaling. i have a copy of a birth certificate and a funeral card that i can include. i also have a rose from my grandpa's coffin that i have saved all these years. i may add that in after the class. it is even a deep colour of red.

i kept the layers very simple this month. with all the stickers included in the kits, there is lots of room for personalizing and bulking the layers even more.



after writing in my journaling i had a moment of second thought. i know my grandparents had not been married long before the stock market crash in 1929...i'm fairly certain they had a September wedding...

according to my grandmother, the photo was her idea. her new husband was not in favour of a picture. she said they had it taken after they had been married awhile...not sure how long that would have been. he did not like having his picture taken, and there are very few good ones of him. as much as grandma wanted the photo she didn't like it much. one of the reasons was because her shoes were black and didn't match her dress.

her wedding dress and veil were later cut apart and used for children's dresses. i'm not entirely sure the dresses were for her own children or her nieces. her first daughter was not born until after she had given birth to FIVE boys. how crazy their life must have been those first ten years. and loud!

the flowers are from my Cameo. i have yet to figure out how to train my Cameo to ink and curl the layers, so that will have to be done by hand. wink!

now, here are some close up photos of the fragments...



none of the fragments are larger than 2 inches. the smallest ones are about 3/8". don't ask me to measure that. it is almost the size of the pre-made mini roses we'll be using.



here is another one. with an extra technique. can you see my photo behind the fragment?

i know it is often difficult to know what photos you will be using before the class. it will help you if you have an idea of the photos you plan to use and what sizes they will be. my 2 large photos are oddly sized, due to the vintage nature of them. either a 4x6 or 5x7 size would work for either of them.

if you have any favourite stamps or edge/corner punches, bring them along. i'll be bringing my Martha Stewart Doily Lace corner punch, Pink Paislee Spring Jubilee stamps and Tattered Angels Tattered Textures stamps.


now i'm off to get working on the next class layout. this one will be about my son. and to balance off the roses in the above layout...this one will have....zero!