A day by the sea and TCR # 119

Even if Stockholm is by the sea, we Stockholmians like to go out further out in the archipelago and one fave place is called Waxholm. The trip we took there earlier today with MIL was a success and the birthday girl was very pleased with her day. Here are some pics to give you a flavour:


Stockholm archipelago = steam boats.

Would you believe MIL is 87 years old? that mop of hair is her own, as are her teeth. She has a wee trouble with her balance and her hearing could be better but hey, that's totally OK when you're almost 90 wouldn't you say.
 
Her birthday bouquets sparkling bold and vibrant just as she likes them.

Well, my layout for TCR # 119 is neither bold nor vibrant as it is based on the soft and shabby The ScrapCake collection called One Moment In Time. It is the second week TSC are sponsoring our DT with papers. I have used a mix of G45 A Lady's Diary and papers from the OMIT collection.

 

 
Made the large peony from one of the papers.
 
Fussy cutting of course. Love that heart ribbon from Webster's Pages.
 
Cut out 2 frames from one of the TSC papers, matted them in another one of the TSC papers before mounting them on pop dots and smearing out modelling paste around the inner borders. Fussy-cut leaves and flourishes from a third paper.
 

 

 

 

Tomorrow I am meeting up with a French scrapper visiting Stockholm with her family; Patricia Cugnod.

To all of you dear ladies out there, have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for your much appreciated visits, I read all of your comments and cherish them dearly.

Cheerio! xoxox Eila

Prima June PPP and CSI # 27

Lazy lazy days with very little computer time. All I've done more or less, is to sleep and eat. Same routine each year, the first week is spent winding down and then suddenly one morning, I always wake upp bursting with energy again. Not quite there yet, but soon! :))

Something that gives me energy and a deep sense of pleasure, is being in the midst of and feeling/touching/smelling anything that grows. No wonder that one of my fave past times is to visit garden nurseries and stately gardens. We've got quite a few of them around Stockholm, most have fabulous locations on the shores of lake Mälaren.

One of the prompts of CSI Case File # 27 is the words taste, wonderful and natural. July is National Ice Cream Month in the US, which has also sparked off the colours in the inspo photo of the casefile. Boy to dig into that pile of Chunky Monkey!

Michele Sing, our talented wizz in the digi department, has also created wonderful printable coordinates;

This is how I interpreted the case;
 
Papers are from BoBunny Welcome Home and from the back of a paper from Webster's Pages, cannot remember which collection it is.

My evidence are the picket fence, the birds (woodland animal), leaves, flowers and sparkly gems as flower centres (the yellow rolled felt blooms)
 
Couldn't resist this mix of Melissa Frances and Prima resins.

 
Fell in love with this photo of the cress flower sprouting petals of sunshine in that old green house.

My journalling is my thoughts and feelings as described above;

There is something about the musty sweet scent of green houses that make me very happy. I love roaming in them, checking out plants and discovering old window frames with flaking paint and with traces of better days and the odd bits and bobs that can be found in the most unexpected places, tucked in amidst plants or perching on top of a rickety ladder. Old and shabby as these objects may be, they are still loved and used.

These gems, as I see them, are a small taste of a wonderful world – my little moments of happiness.

 
This is a really oooooold felt thingie from Prima that I found in my stash. Rubbed it with cream acrylic paint, smeared gel beads on and then dabbed it in Adirondack Lemonade. Reminds me of wild chervil.
 
Layered cut-outs from that Webster's paper and the BoBunny collection Welcome Home. Teal alphas are Lily Bee, my faves at the moment. Perfect size and come in all sorts of colours.
 
Another oldie from my stash is the BG Curio overlay with the birdie. Petaloo flowers. The yellow handmade felt blooms are from Precocious Paper's Etsy shop.

While we're on the theme of happy moments, I thought I'd share my page for the Prima June PPP. The colours were very soft and the theme was more or less given - weddings. First the inspo photo from Prima:

And then my page that I have called "Flowers of Joy";


This photo is from the March 2012 wedding of my scrappy friend Rebekah's in Florida. You have seen me scrap several of their photos over the passed months.

Theirs was a ceremony at the beach, which gives all of their photos a marvellous out-of-this-world light. Here's the flower girl spreading petals on the sand. Just love how the photographer has zoomed in this fantastic angle.
 
I have used papers from an A4 pad of the Fairy Belle collection. Fussy cut this grid and a flower sprig.
 
Used a water colour paper as base as I knew I was going to use a lot of misting. Colours used are: Wheatfield + Sand + Glacier.
 
Love all kinds of Prima vines, snippets of them are so handy to tuck into clusters. These with pearls and bling in white are ever so cute.
 

 
The clock face in the resin frame is cut out from a paper from Meg's Garden.

Trying to show a bit of the shine to the masked pattern as I have randomly brushed on some Winsor & Newton Iridescent Medium to give a little extra texture.
 
I touched up all flowers with the Iridescent Medium too, looks absolutely delish IRL if I may say so myself.

 

A cloudy Wednesday in Stockholm, me hinks DH and I will go and see an art exhibition at the National Museum and then a "fika" of course (coffee and cake) to boost up the energy for a leisurely stroll back home along the water front.

Have a wonderful rest to the week wherever you may be spending your time!

Toodelipip! xoxox Eila

Summer hols are here! and TCR # 118 Tummy Fun

Finally our summer hols have begun!! have been longing for sleep-ins and leisurely days for a whole year. Last week's teleworking from home was none of the calm and easy week I thought it would be. Well, at least I didn't have to commute the 2 hours/day I normally do to work, starting up my lap top on the dining table at 08.00 a.m. still in my jammies was admittedly a perk ;))

The 4th July BBQ at our friend's house was lovely, Swedish summer evening at its best. Even the mosquitos added to the sweet feel. Here are som piccies;


Hubbs and I with our fave summer drink in hand; a glass of chilled rosé.

The lady of the house at the barbie.

My gosh how I love corn on the cob!
 
This little fur baby is the youngest member of their family, she stole the heart of all of us. Do you see that green, lush lawn in the background - THE best racing ground for a little kitty cat who loves to practice on her running skills and a perfect place for our pic-nic blankets. Gosh how coffee tastes good when drunk in the company of good friends under the blue skies of Mother Nature!



The Grand Finale! not a crumb was left when we were let loose with our spoons!

The # 118 palette over at The Color Room is as pretty and sweet as our 4th July cake. July sponsors are The ScrapCake and this week's palette is based on their collection "The Bright Side of Life"; rose red, turquoise blue, light khaki and pastel pink.

Here is my page that I have called "Tummy Fun":


Here's little Miss M riding the merry go round at the local tivoli last year. Her mum told me she had giggled all the time, and afterwards told her mum it was because her tummy was having so much fun. Et voilà, the title for my LO was chosen!
 
Love this photo of M, just look at her little face!
 
Lace and washi tape (yup! even I have bought myself some!)
 
One of the papers has a delish grid pattern with small roses, couldn't leave it without fussing cutting, could I?
 
 There are about 5 layers of paper there under the gesso and masking/modelling paste/chalking.
 

 

Next weekend is 14 July, which is the French National Holiday. A special lady doctor from Grenoble is coming to Stockholm with her family, Patricia Cugnod  - a member of The Color Room. I am so looking forward to meeting her and her beautiful family that I have only met in her layouts. More on my date with them next week.

Today is also a very special day, one of our closest friends is turning 50 and is throwing a lavish pic-nic luncheon. I'm sure I'll have some lovely photos from his special day to share in my next post. Happy Happy Birthday Håkan!!

Am currently catching up on long overdue blog visits and commenting, see you soon if I haven't visited yet!

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend!

Toodelipip! xoxo Eila

Our boy is back! and CSI case file # 26 Our Princess

First of all I want to thank each and one of you from the bottom of my mummy-to-a-fur-baby-heart for all the sweet and kind encouraging words! I am extremely happy to report that our boy Max is back on track and responding very well to the antibiotics. New tests on Friday to confirm that he's OK.

Savouring every second of the Swedish summer, it lasts such a short time up here. Eating strawberries and cherries, my fave berries. A tradition my girlfriend M has each year, is to have a 4th of July BBQ in her yard. She lived in the US for almost 15 years before moving back home. One year our girlfriend Sandy came over from Los Angeles and insisted on us having S'mores. Am ashamed to say, but all we Swedes discreetly dumped our S'mores in the rose bushes when she wasn't near. Different cultures, different foods, you're OK, I'm OK, anything goes as long as we're all happy. ;))

Last Friday CSI case file # 26 was released, an unusual but delicious palette of colours. Would love to tuck into that cake, looks totally yummie!

As always, our talented Michele Singh has created beautiful coordinates to go with the case file;

And here is my take - "Our Princess";
 

As you can see I have used the neutral hues as my mains and only very sparsely with the other colours. Loved the gray with a touch of mauve-lavender (taken from the roses in the prompt).




A shere co-incidence that this page is about another feline baby. Her name was Bettie and we loved her for 14 years. She was also a Sacred Birman like Max, but ginger.

She was very feisty and incredibly wise and clever. Each night she slept on my pillow with her cheek against my cheek and paws in my hair. Her Highness knew how to make her humans obey her smallest wish, never a raised meouw just a silent stare, poised and immaculate until she got exactly what her heart desired. If we didn't get it quickly enough, she just butted her head against my leg or hooked just one claw gently into my pantyhosed leg. Enough to make a statement but without making any damage. Just like a princess, our princess.



The fussy-cut tags, the little girl and the kitties come from different collections from Pion Design.




 
The papers are a mix of Pion Design and Prima Fairy Belle. Very pretty but incredibly difficult to photograph. The dotted paper looks practically mauve when it's more of a brownish with greyish dots in real life and the bottom paper from Pion looks cream when it's soft banana/custard yellow *sigh*. When I had got a sort-of-ish decent hue for the papers, everything else looked totally washed-out and faded. Well, you get the idea I hope.
 
My evidence are the metal trinkets in both clusters, obviously flowers too and the icing is both on the chippie flourish, the masking/modelling paste and of course, Bettie herself.

 
The black Prima gem stone vines are gorgeous IRL, here they look black currant, but I promise, they ARE black!
 



Next case file will be a lot more colourful and we will change to a new theme for the month of July. Here's a sneak peek;  I can see teal, I can see ice cream and I can definitely see green in there ..


With this sneak I say bye bye for now and wish you all a Happy Hump Day tomorrow!

Thanks again!

Cheerio! xoxox Eila