Monday 6 December 2010

Wholesome Days {The Colour Room/Pagemaps Sketch}


I didn't get to sharing last week's Colour Room layout so here it is.  I combined it with the current Pagemaps Challenge & used a really old photo that I took out of a frame {as I'm slowly revamping the frames so we can hang them in our new home}.

Supplies:-
                        Bazzill cardstock - White,Kiwi & Red.
                        Cosmo Cricket Delovely printed papers. 
                        Colourbox ink - red.  
                        Plastic mesh, blue & red embroidery thread, button, tiny flowers &
                        resin flower buttons from stash.
                        Prima Flowers & packaging.  Scalloped circle stamp.
                        Checked paper around photo,milk coupon, ladybird die-cut &
                        journaling stickers - October Afternoon. (Fly-a-Kite!) 
                        Kaisercraft mini-alphas
                        K & Co. "Happy Together" sticker
                        Heidi Grace green scallop sticker
                        Pink Paislee alphas
                        Sassafras alphas
                        Making memories - metal rose.
                        SEI (bridgeport) brad.
                        EK Sucess floral scallop border punch.
Fortunately this Cosmo Cricket line had the perfect colours for this challenge.  When I first started taking part in these challenges I would just grab plain cardstock in matching colours but that's a bit boring.  Now I look through my new lines first (and then my old ones if I don't find what I'm looking for).

If you are wanting to acheive a dimensional looking layout the easiest way to acheive it is to layer your papers so it looks like they are coming out from one another (they don't have to be - like here for example I just matched up the papers on the side of the central strip so it looked like the paper was running right across the page - but it wasn't!)
 Heavy inking is a good way of giving your layouts that artsy look, without getting your hands dirty!

Journaling here reads:- Harare, Zimbabwe, December 2000.  The country was in turmoil but we were all still together.  Family.  Just pure fun.  Happy together.  Further down, in the bottom right hand corner, I added a bit more journaling, which reads:- The farms were being occupied but we were okay.
I titled this layout "Wholesome Days" because that's what I think of when I look at this old picture of me, my husband & our 4 kids, and their 3 cousins.  In those days, a decade ago, we lived in a very different place where there was no entertainment & no gadgetry & we used to spend some afternoons just swimming & drinking tea! 

For anyone interested in a quick history lesson - in a nutshell - Zimbabwe (where I was born & lived until 5 years ago) became uninhabitable in 2000 when Mugabe's militia started murdering white farmers there & stealing their land.  We were very ensconced in our lives there back then & it took us 5 years to get to a position where we could leave without losing absolutely everything we owned.  We have a great life now here in Durban, with none of those issues to deal with, but we have paid a huge price & lost our loved ones.

Everyone was flung in different directions as a result & now our nearest & dearest live all over the globe.  Something to think about for those of you who have never travelled.  We didn't have a choice but to start a new life.  It was really tough & took 2 years to just start feeling normal again, to be able to relax &  enjoy life after our ordeal.  It was a huge adjustment to acquaint ourselves with "how things work" here (very different to just over the border where we came from)  & our circumstances & lifestyle are also very different to what we had before. But change is good & you have to embrace it sometimes or you'll never get out of a bad situation.  I would definitely recommend emigrating - to anyone not happy with their circumstances.  If your circumstances are really awful then it's worth checking out your other options...sometimes the grass is definitely greener on the other side!

8 comments:

Lynette Jacobs said...

I love your take on the sketch and this colour combo is stunning! Well done Helen...and I am so glad that you are happy in your new home land.

Stefanie said...

Gorgeous.
Great colour combination and wonderful interpretation of the sketch. You did very good.

Marilyn said...

Beautiful page, Helen!!! I came here from SC looking your AWESOME page for week 2 and found this beautiful page, love the colors and the cow button detail...it's fantastic!! Wow, my friend, this is a sad story but I'm glad that you and your family are fine now! Take Care,
HUGS!!!!

Alia said...

Totally cool and fun! Love that there is so much to look at!

Kirsty Vittetoe said...

Oh wow, this is totally awesome, lovely colors, fun embellishments, lots and lots of them, keeping my eyes buys!

Diana said...

Love the lo. All the details are amazing.Very interested to get a bit of your story too.
I love the Color Room LO. It's perfect for one of the many LOs on my to-do list.

tania said...

oooooh YES!!! this is my favorite page of all you shared the passed months!! love it helen!
maybe it is the colours,just brilliant and your layering just boootiful friend:)
this is a very special page with a true story:)

Pearl said...

love the title work !!! & your wonderful handwriting !!!