All three layouts are from my 'Imperial Cities' travel album. The following three layouts were done as part of a challenge to copy digital layouts. Putting as many photos as possible on each page is always a priority for these kinds of albums (for me that is ...). And so I chose 3 layouts of Laura Lou (a digital designer from SS Reflections) that had a lot of photos. All papers are from Club Scrap. Heidi Swapp chipboard alphas, Gel.a.tins alpha stamps & a few other doo-dads complete these layouts.
And a message from long ago that is still relevant today ... perhaps even more so!
First layout done with a kit from Scrapologie, a very old paper punch & QK alphabets. Second and third layouts done with Club Scrap Renaissance kit.
On our last evening we went to a Royal Banquet! The food was terrible but that was not the point at all (lol!) The restaurant was in a very old part of Prague and had a fabulously old fashioned interior. And they had done up everything like the banquet halls of old. We had musicians entertaining us, jesters jumping, knights duelling and wenches serving. And then a King (they did tell us his name but I forgot to make a note!) graced us with his Royal presence and knighted all the children. They were even given little crowns to wear and they absolutely loved it. I think the adults loved it just as much. What a great way to end a superb holiday!
And with this I am finished with my layouts for this particular trip to the Imperial cities of Vienna, Salzburg & Prague.
First layout done with Club Scrap Renaissance kit. The journaling note is hand made. The 'C' & 'K' are stickers. The rest of the words are hand written. Second layout uses printed paper from K & Co. Sticker in the circle is from Club Scrap. Title is again hand written and I made a hash of it. However since that little green card stock was my last bit I had to use it. The outlines are done with a gold-leaf marker from Krylon. Printed papers on the third layout is from 7 Gypsies. Title is hand written. Also some 'antique' rub-ons.
On our fifth day we woke early and boarded the bus. Today we would be leaving Austria and crossing the border into the Czech Republic. The fact that Austria is a pretty well-to-do country and it's neighbour is much poorer is underlined by the drastic change in scenery as soon as one crosses the border.
In the Czech Republic we stopped at a medieval town, beautifully preserved, called Cesky Krumlov. This is a UNESCO world heritage site and deservedly so. It is like being transported back in time! As I craned my head back to look at the fortress it took my breath away. Inside the town is quaint and we walked around with our guide Olly. She was the best guide yet on this trip and is even mentioned in the Rick Stevens guide book! I wish we had more time to explore but after a quick lunch of sandwiches and visiting the bears in the bear pit, we had to get back in the bus to continue towards Prague, the last Imperial City on our itinerary.
Layouts done with papers from Basic Grey, Scenic Route. All from kits by Scrapologie.
At Melk we got back on the bus and drove to Salzburg. On the way, nestled in the beautiful countryside, I caught a glimpse of the church where Captain Von Trapp and Maria were married in the Sound of Music. The countryside is so beautiful! Just like in the Sound of Music – which is the movie we watched on the long drive there. After arriving into Salzburg we went for a stroll in the Mirabell Gardens, also featured in the Sound of Music – specifically in the song Doe a Deer. There is a part in this garden that has statues of midgets. Apparently the prince, who the gardens belonged to, employed midgets in his palace. And when they died he had a statue built in their remembrance in his garden.
Dinner that evening was at St. Peter’s, a restaurant, supposedly the oldest in Europe, established in 803. The lower parts of the restaurant are so fascinating – really old. We however were seated in a room on the third floor which was decidedly modern – at least compared to the rest of the establishment. A pity, that! The highlight of the dinner was a little Mozart who played for us. We thought it was a boy but later found out he was actually a ‘she’. She played for almost fifteen minutes completely from memory. Quite a feat! The food was good too. We walked back to the hotel through the shopping district and again the Mirabell Gardens, which were just outside our hotel.
Next day we started with an early morning walk around Salzburg. We strolled from the hotel through the new town and across one of the pedestrian bridges towards the old part of town. Basically we just retraced our steps back to the place where the St. Peter’s restaurant is. The old side of town is so pretty and we saw it much better in daylight – quaint streets, pretty squares all imbued with feeling of having stepped back in time. We went to see the Dome of Salzburg. This church was completely destroyed by Allied bombing during WWII. It has now been rebuilt most beautifully.
Both layouts done with Club Scrap Road Trip kit. Making Memories alpha stamps, acrylic inks, a few rub-ons etc. complete these very simple layouts.
Our visit to Vienna was over.
We had an early breakfast and by 8 am were rolling off in the bus towards Durnstein. This mediaeval village, about 45 minutes from Vienna, is famous because in 1193 duke Leopold of Austria captured Richard I (the Lionhearted) who was returning from the Crusades. He held Richard at the castle of Durnstein for over a year. A ransom of 150,000 marks (a huge amount in those days) was paid to free Richard.
We also heard a very romantic story of how Richard was found by his minstrel, singing outside various castles and hoping to hear a response, indicating the presence of his king. This part of the story is surely folklore!
The castle is now in ruins but still identifiable. The village is pretty and a regular tourist attraction. It is small and lined with quaint shops. We did our entire gift shopping here.
First layout done with Club Scrap All that Glitters kit, a photo turn, Gelatins alpha stamps and ribbon from my stash. Second layout is done with a kit from Scrapologie. Again Gelatin alpha stamps and chipboard accents. Third layout done with Crate paper. All three layouts inspired by some lovely work in the current CK.
What a wonderful way to finish this very special day in Vienna. After we had rested for a few hours a bus picked us up from our hotel and took us back to Schonbrunn. We did not enter the palace grounds from the main entrance but from a side gate. It was the palace zoo. Founded by Franz Stephan in 1752, this is the oldest zoo in the world. We arrived there at 6 p.m. which was closing time. So we had the whole zoo to ourselves.
A couple of the zoo keepers gave us a tour of the animals. I was keen on seeing the lions but lazy beasts that they are, they were all sleeping inside. What we did see was a cheetah. I have never seen one in captivity before. Amazing how healthy it was. The zoo had all sorts of contraptions to help simulate a chase and kill so the cheetah would be able to get the exercise it needs. Unlike the tigers and lions, these cats are not the lazy kind! What was really scary was how the cheetah kept following the smallest child in our group. The barriers between the animals and people are see-through and to watch the cheetah focus on a little child and get ready to leap was definitely unnerving!
Later we all met up at the Emperor’s Pavilion which is a beautiful structure in the centre of the zoo. Emperor Franz Josef used to stroll from the palace to this pavilion every morning for breakfast. We had dinner instead. And a very nice dinner it was too.
All layouts done with Club Scrap Travels kit. Also used chipboard accents, scenic Route rub-on alphabets, 7 Gypsies journalling tags, French Curves and other stickers and rub-ons from my stash. You can read about the Gloriette in last bit of the journalling for Vienna Day 2.
First layout done with Club Scrap Tuscany kit. Second layout done with Club Scrap Autumn Splendour kit. Third layout done with printed paper from 7 Gypsies. Also used rub-ons, various swirly stamps, acrylic paints, Stayz on inks, vellum, QK alphas, MM alpha stamps & MM metal moulded edging. I tried to follow the famous yellow of the Schonbrunn Palace on the layouts as well.
We left very early in the morning to see the Schonbrunn Palace and grounds. The children went off to try on some old fashioned costumes and have some fun while the adults got a guided tour of the Royal Apartments of Empress Maria Teresia. Now these are what I call ‘royal’ apartments. They were so … Regal! The ‘Blue or Porcelain Room’ was my favourite. And the ‘Million’ room with Indian paintings and gold leafing is exceptional. This particular room is now valued at 60 to 70 million dollars. No photography was allowed so I had to buy a guide book. This rule is good for palace business!
From there we went to see the Royal bakery to see how Apple Strudel was made with an age old recipe. Lily got to be an assistant and help out in doing strange things to the dough. We were then served a slice of strudel with coffee ~ a great mid morning snack.
Our next stop was the marionette theatre. This is so beautiful that one has to see it to believe the effects that can be achieved. One really is absorbed into a make believe fantasy world and when the show finished, exiting the theatre is something of a shock. We went back stage to see how it all worked. I was surprised at how small the puppets were. They looked life size when on stage. Some kind of optical illusion the theatre is very proud of.
We then got into a funny little yellow/green train called Der Schonbrunner. It took us all the way to near the Gloriette. We had lunch at a very Tyrolean style restaurant. Authentic Austrian they said but I did not like my Wiener Schintzel too much. After lunch we went to see some animals in the farm below the restaurant and try out some great cheese. The man selling the cheese was a very Authentic Tyrolean crusty old mountain farmer.
Next we walked to the Gloriette, which was 3 minutes from the restaurant. The views of the city from there are great. And if I heard our guide correctly (I just wish she has spoken louder or used a microphone ~ I had to strain to hear every word), the Gloriette sits on Maria Teresia’s huge refrigerator. The mountain under the Gloriette has been bored deep into and it is very cool in the caves there. The Empress used to take pleasure in serving delicacies made in her refrigerator ~ like sorbet in summer. I could just imagine her servants running from the Gloriette to the Palace with the sorbet before it melted completely. It is by no means a short distance!
From today I am starting to scrap our summer holiday photos. I will be working 3 albums simultaneously. So I will be posting 3 layouts every time. The photos in the layouts will be mostly similar, with some differences depending on whose album it is. The journalling will be identical on all 3 layouts. And I am going to try and fit as many photos as I can on each layout! This is what you can expect from me over the next few weeks till I am finished with the holiday photographs.
First layout done with CS World Travel kit. Second layout with CS Journeys kit. And third layout done with a Scrapologie kit. I have also used Art Warehouse stickers, some metallic stickers, BG Rub ons, chipboard accents and iridescent acrylic paints.
2nd August 2007: After a really interesting and fun overnight train ride (sleeper coaches were a first for everyone except me), from Milano to Vienna Sudbanhof, we met up with the Singh family in the lobby of the Vienna Marriott.After unpacking we walked to the Opera House but were 4 minutes too late for the 11 am tour!If only Ricky had listened to Mini and not walked around the Opera House…so we continued towards the Hofburg Complex to try and kill one hour and make the next tour.We stopped on the way for a photo with Goethe's statue.At the Hofburg complex we went in to see the butterfly house.It is small but extremely pretty. If you like nature, it is definitely worth a visit.
We then returned to the Opera House and met up with the Singh’s for the 12 am tour.Some parts of the Opera House are very grand but other parts, destroyed during WWII and rebuilt later, are more modern and linear. I really liked how they took us back stage so we could see it from the perspective of the actors.
We had lunch at the Sacher Hotel with the mandatory Sacher Torte for dessert.Then we walked back to the Hofburg complex to see the Kaiser Apartments & the SisiMuseum.I was expecting more grandeur in the apartments but apparently neither Emperor Franz Josef nor his Empress Elizabeth (or Sisi, as she was affectionately called) had very flamboyant tastes. What was singular was the exercise room and equipment the Empress Sisi had. She was figure conscious and worked out daily to maintain her waistline. Quite unheard of in those days!
After seeing these two venues we were all so tired we could hardly drag our feet!So we left the Singh’s to see the Imperial Treasury and returned to the hotel.After naps and showers, we went down for our ‘Welcome’ dinner and to meet the other families joining us on this tour of the Imperial cities of Vienna, Salzburg & Prague.
First layout done with Club Scrap Evergreen kit, 7 Gypsies stickers, Art Warehouse stickers, CI Stickers & red heart brads. Second layout doen with Club Scrap Fossils kit, Art Warehouse stickers, CI stickers, a stamp, rub-ons, prisma flowers & French curves.
Both layouts, done for the albums of Lily & Ricky respectively, are about the same family. Good friends for a long time, they moved to the UK in 2000. Sadly we have lost touch with them but the photographs and memories remain.
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Another 'Phony Photo Booth' video. These really crack me up!!
First layout done with Club Scrap 'Key to my Heart' kit. I believe this has to be the most difficult CS kit I have used till date. And since I was doing 'double paper' subscription those days I have a lot of this kit!!
Second layout done with a kit from Scrapgoods. QK alphabets, Art Warehouse alpha & photo corner stamps. The black round thing is a rub on.
It is now just over a week that we got back from Europe. I am over my jet lag, cleaned out the house, attended to all the piled up mail and now am finally into my regular rhythm. It is wonderful to travel, but it sure is great to get back home!
We usually eat a continental breakfast - very light & quick. But on Sundays we indulge ourselves. Yesterday I made these scrambled eggs for breakfast. And everyone loved them! So I decided to share it for those of you who enjoy spending time in the kitchen :-)
First layout done with papers from Club Scrap. Not sure which kit the brown paper is from. The yellow is from the County Fair kit. Imagination Project rub-on alphabets, swirl stamps from Art Warehouse Limited Edition, 7 Gypsies journaling card and a chipboard flower, coloured & stamped with Brilliance inks. Ribbon is from my stash. Design copied from a layout in a CK magazine.
Second layout uses a Scrapgoods kit. Could not figure out who makes the papers because the little strips were removed by the Club - Daisy D's maybe a guess but I cannot be sure. Art Warehouse stickers, Thickers alphas, Swirly stamps (Rhonna Farrer I think) and a ribbon, again from my stash. One of Becky Higgins' sketches.
These wooden chairs, with their strange upholstery are very old and slightly out of the norm. The whole set ~ 2 arm chairs and a 3 seater, are rockers! They belong to my MIL from her trousseau ~ that is at least 50 years. And for many summers past all the kids have spent enjoyable evenings rocking on these. They used to occupy the pride of place in the main living room in front of the TV. But with a few compulsive rockers in the household we had to put up with continuous creaking while we tried to watch the news. So three years ago, when we redecorated the house, I changed the upholstery and moved them to the children's den. This way everyone is happy!!
Lily at the playground. And yes, back then I could really squat!
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A Japanese prank ... I'll have to be careful the next time I visit there ... LOL! Been very lucky till now. They have all been perfectly behaved but this sort of thing is contagious, I believe :-)
First layout done with Club Scrap Heritage II kit from June 2000. 7 Gypsies quote panel, a rub on, chipboard swirl, Rhonna Farrer swirl stamps, Gelatin alpha stamps & Penny Black alpha stamps.
Second layout uses paper by Heidi Grace, Heidi Swapp chipboard alphas, MSE alpha stamps and 7 Gypsies stickers.
Is it not strange how, if you wait for a while before scrapping some photographs, circumstances change completely? I'll admit that I waited more than a 'while'. These photographs are from a Christmas dinner in 2000 in Italy. This is a work related gathering and so I guess I was not too excited to scrap the event. Another boring dinner. And the photos did not really turn out that nice. All very blah and so the photos got pushed to the back of the box. Now when I look at these photos I am amazed at how things turned sour. Everything just disintegrated (work related, nothing personal). And so I had to finally scrap these photos because I had a story to tell. Not such a nice tale either therefore the red 'Void' as an indication of negativity.
Lily learning how to roller blade.
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Luc's first lemon
And the Fruitcake lady - she has me in splits!! What a pity I never saw her shows and so Viva You Tube!
I want to thank everyone for the lovely messages saying I would be missed and wishing me a wonderful summer. In case you are wondering why I am still here :-) its because I actually leave on the 4th of July. Because I do not like flying, I guess I am all tensed up already!!
First layout uses Club Scrap Fruit & Vine kit from September 2001. Photo turn from 7 Gypsies, Hero Arts alpha stamps and SU Vine & leaves 2-step stamps. Design inspired from a layout in a CK magazine.
Second layout uses Chatterbox & Paper Salon papers. White 'Artsy Doodles' rub-ons are from Maisy Mo Designs. All from a kit by Scrapologie. Design by Jessica Sprague.
If these photographs are to be believed it would appear that Ricky really liked fruit. And ice cream. The reality was that to get him to hold the watermelon and take one bite I had to threaten him with 'No TV today'! And even though he does eat apples, it is a struggle every time. And this was the first time I got Ricky to try ice cream. He hated the cold feeling in his mouth and never touched it before this. While I am still trying to get him to eat fruit as often as possible, I was very happy when he refused to eat ice creams ... LOL!
A quote from Ellen DeGeneres : So many questions, most of them are 'Why?'
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A really simple Antipasto dish : Calabrese Lollipops:
First layout done with Club Scrap Evergreen kit. Some star brads. Some gold acrylic paint. And some stitching. From Christmas 1998.
Second layout is an old one. Could not manage to finish 2 today! Layout is of Lily & Ricky at the playground. Ribbon, rub-on title and number stickers. Cannot remember who makes the papers.
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Here is Middle Ages Tech Support!
And this guy solves the Rubik's cube in record time!
First layout done with Crate Papers Seaweed Collection and an Art Warehouse sticker.
Second layout done with Club Scrap Fruit & Vine kit from September 2001.
Summer 1992: My in-laws are usually not very adventurous folks and do not like to move out of the house too much. But this time my father in law decided he wanted to take me to a beautiful town called Santo Stefano d'Aveto near Genoa.
I was pregnant with Lily and in my first trimester. I did not have morning sickness but I could not handle the twisting and turning on the mountainous roads. So we stopped often, especially when we came across 'fontanas' or water springs. These are very common all over Italy and France (Evian and San Pellegrino come to mind). The water is sparkling clean and ice cold. the frequent stops helped me not get too sick during the drive.
Zio (uncle in Italian) Renato was so funny! He has a very dry humor and all through the trip he kept us in splits. Trust him to spot this tree and request us very seriously to take a photograph of him with the strange tree tumors!
Moto GP Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. Photos with Chris Vermeullen, Marco Melandri, Lucio C. Eliza P & a very interesting photo of Sete Gibernau. I have one of him without a shirt but I will not be sharing that one with you ladies ;-)
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I have to admit this bit of 'Mathematics' had my jaw dropping! A lot of thought must have gone into it! It is called 'Hillbilly Math'
And a really cool video about Stencil Graffiti Art:
First layout done with Club Scrap Hearth & Home kit from Oct 2003. Journaling done on the paint chip thingy. 'Because' is a sticker from Art Warehouse by Creative Imaginations.
Second layout done with Scenic Route paper designed by Sarah Milne. Stickers also from Scenic Route. Ribbon from my stash. This layout has not turned out quite how I envisioned it. Happens sometimes ... right? ;-)
Put together a few photographs I had lying around of Ricky & Joe. A layout in time for Father's Day. Now to make a card ...
Lily has always been a chatty one. From the time she was small every evening she would pull up a chair next to mine and tell me everything that had happened to her during the day. I have always enjoyed listening to her. And watching her very expressive face! Even though I did not scrapbook back then, I recorded everything. Both with camera and video.
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A few days back I posted a couple of Rugby 7 layouts. What even I find most entertaining about Rugby matches is the Maori Haka War dance done by the New Zealand All Blacks. It is a sight to behold IRL! And scary too! They are very popular among Rugby fans and I believe it is mostly due to this war dance they do before the game.
ETA: I just had to change the video after Brook sent me a link to this one. Now I wish I had been with the All Blacks to behold the sight they must have seen ... ROLF!
Old layouts today because I have to rush, doing 'mommy' things with Lily. I have no idea who makes the paper in the first layout but I like the effect. The second layout is all Basic Grey.
Both layouts from school field trips. I used to be able to accompany Ricky before. And I got some really nice photos and an understanding of what the kids were studying etc. Now that I have to work during the day, I miss out on this aspect.
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The first video has some one smoking a cigarette but it is interesting to watch. Just so you know. The guy would not be able to do the trick if he did not smoke.
This second video is an advertisement for knives and some minutes long. I am very happy with the knives I have but after watching this I actually went to see if the knives were available in Hong Kong! Not to buy because I am a ceramic knife gal ... Anyway, he has some good tips on taking care of knives, which is applicable to any kind of steel knife, not just the brand in the video.
Both layouts done with Club Scrap Literary Kit. A couple of stamped images of a pen and I was done! Well - I did do a bit of Xacto cutting: the designs from the white page (lower layout) cut and pasted onto the brown page (upper layout).
My mother taught me to ignore chain letters. And of course, I applied the same rule to e-mails and now forward neither letters nor e-mails. Especially if they are threatening or promise miracles. However one time I broke this rule of mine. When I was about eight or nine I received a friendship chain letter. What this letter wanted to do was help you make Pen pals. So I forwarded it to ten people, added my name to the bottom of the list of ten addresses, removed the top address, and then wrote to the person whose address I had eliminated from the list. I am sure many of you have had a chain letter sometime in your life and actually carried on the chain :-) so you know the procedure!
And that is how I made a wonderful friend ~ Debi in Australia. She was my age, had a younger sister called Jenni, a dog called Ben and a cat whose name I now do not remember. She was born and lived in the UK for a while, then moved to Australia. We wrote with great frequency for quite a few years. I really treasured every letter that I received. And she sent a lot of photos, which was so wonderful! She was my first real pen pal but I do not remember her family name anymore. All I have left are these photographs and memories of being so excited every time a letter came! Our correspondence died out when we reached our teens.
Just as I had written to Debi, Minoo from Amritsar, India wrote to me. I wrote back and thus started a friendship that lasted for almost a decade. She was a few years my senior. She wrote beautifully, describing her life, so very different from mine, her city which I had never visited, and many other subjects which we found a common interest in. Her letters were sensible, educative and she is probably the best correspondent I have had.
What I never understood is why our friendship ended. One day she wrote to me saying she was getting married ~ an arranged marriage, most common in India. I was very happy for her, sent her my congratulations and was convinced that she would keep writing to me even after she was married. But it was not to be so. After the wedding I never heard from her again. I wrote to her family asking for the new address, then I wrote to her new home, all to no avail. She never wrote back. I was very saddened by this loss. I still miss her friendship.
And now for some dance lessons: ETA: The guy below is a motivational speaker and uses dance to motivate (Thanks Debi!). He appeared on the Today show. Well, he is very very good at dancing!!
If you have not seen this video, please do not freak out! It is funny in a 'give you the heebeejeebies' kind of way. This is no kid, but a midget. It is a scene from an Indian movie ~ a Tamil movie, a language I do not speak. So I too have no idea what they are saying.
ETA: A very kind soul has translated the conversation for me :-) Right in the end, the little fellow asks the reclining fellow for a bidi (Indian hand rolled stinky cigarette). The recliner says 'Hey, you are a kid, you cannot smoke'. The little one replies 'I am older than you. Now give me the bidi or I'll leather your backside'. Or something to that effect ...
I have a work dinner to go to. So I leave you with a very simple layout done with the Club Scrap Music & Fine Arts kit from Feb 2001. Art Warehouse stickers. And the swirly thing is a foam stamp. I am not sure who makes it but MM would be a good guess.
The morning of Lily's second birthday she was so excited! She was running all over the place, not staying still and working herself into quite a frenzy. Finally her Yaya had to threaten her with 'No Party' to get her to calm down! I got that on film and I love her expression in it. Her gift from us that year was the little kitchenette, table and chairs. This became her favorite corner. Not because she played house, but for reading, playing games and using the kitchenette as a storage unit for her treasures.
Today I am going to try and stay safe with the videos. Apparently yesterday's was a bit too risque' ... LOL!
I cannot figure out if she is like this or faking it!
And this one is really scary. Happened in 1991 in South Africa.
