CTMH Australasian - Storybook - Blog Hop

Hello, and welcome to our 'Storybook' Australasian 'Close To My Heart' Blog Hop. If you've arrived here from Maz Wood - aMAZing Creations then you're in the right place.

 If, however, you've landed here by accident, no problem! Please join in by following the link at the end of this blog....

When the storybook collection became available, I was keen to use it to document these photos from my childhood. 

My Mum loved to sew, and Dad loved to take photos. So, one day, back in 1970, I was (apparently) invited to a fancy dress event, and Mum decided I would be going as a circus pony! I think in hindsight Mum enjoyed the challenge, but I do remember her frustration as she tried to get all the layers of gathered tulle to stay together at the waist. I also remember watching on in admiration, even while wondering why I had to dress up as a circus pony in the first place!?

The outfit was duly finished, with much admiration from everyone in the household, and Dad took my photo on the back verandah, where all important event photos were taken at the time.

These photos would then have been developed and copies made to be sent to relatives across the seas. No such thing as social media back then!

One of my scrapbooking goals this year is to document the first 10 years of my life. That might be a bit too much to do in a year, as Dad was great at taking photos of us all, (for which I'm very grateful), but I'll give it a try!

 

I'm also grateful for him writing on the back of these particular photos: 'Lynda, in fancy dress as a circus pony 1970 (aged 5).' How good is that! And....a reminder to us ALL to document the photos we take these days, so future generations know what they relate to.

 So....when it was time to put my page together, after waiting for 50 or so years (😂), my order with the special papers hadn't arrived, so I was a bit stuck. 

BUT, as luck would have it, I had a birthday and as a surprise gift, my husband gifted me a Cricut Maker 3! Apparently I'd been going on about it for a while...lol.

So that gave me another option - to use the digital artwork for this awesome collection.  Of course, I had to figure out how to use it first, so it's been a busy month of learning for me!! 

 

What I found was that the design space app seems to have similar features to both photoshop and word, so I figured out the layers, and managed to pull apart the layout in the digital artwork, so I could use the clouds and the memories title. However, the clouds needed to be 12 inches long, and the machine wanted the cardstock on a longer mat, which I don't have. So I figured out how to cut them into two pieces. The join will be covered by the photos etc. To ease the sharpness of the cut, I used the the dome foam to lightly sponge the edges of the clouds, in coordinating colours. 

Next was to make the unicorn, which was a whole lot of fun! But as the photos are about a circus pony, and not a unicorn, I removed his horn. I also then added the photos to cover the joins. They are double mounted with sapphire and ballerina cardstock.

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 Next came the title. Again, using the digital artwork, I uploaded the 'Memories' title into design space. Having heard someone talk about the offset function, I went looking and once I found the button, was really impressed with the outcome. The offset background is cut in Mink cardstock, with the title in Sapphire. 

I made the '1970' with the cuttlebug numerals, and the pink pearl embellishments are the retired bashful pearls.

Of course, I've journalled at the bottom of the page too, combining Dads note with my memories. 

If you'd like to see a process video on putting this page together, you can check out my you tube video.

Of course, my papers have now arrived, so I will have fun creating other things with them. This range of Storybook papers, embellishments, stamps and die cuts are available up until the end of March, or while stocks last. 

Contact your CTMH consultant to order. If you don't have a consultant and live in New Zealand, please contact me, or place an order through my website. 

I'd love you to leave a comment below, before heading off to the next stop 'Scissors Paper Heart'.

Cheers,

Lynda