TCR #61 The Joy of Beeing 4 and some memories from London

Hubby and I came home from our trip to London last night. We left a London in full summer bloom and woke up this morning to the happy chirping of birds and a wonderfully blue sky in Stockholm. It was already +22C (F 72) in the shade outside our kitchen window at 08.00 a.m.. Plodding out in my summer dressing gown, barefoot and drinking  my beloved mug of coffee with milk while Max, Alice and Elsa were checking out our street waking up, it was indeed a blessed happy moment.

These pics were taken with my SonyEricsson Arc mobile phone, hence the funny format. If you click ont he pic, you will get a larger view.

Who can resist trying out hats for the next event at Ascot, or why not The Queen's Annual Garden Party ... not me!

On hubby's birthday, we went on the London Eye Champagne Experience. It was the giggly and starry-eyed young couple, the old fogies Mr and Mrs S (i.e. DH and I), the group of ladies on a shopping trip to London and a bunch of others from all over Europe. Must say it feels kind of nice to stand there in the glass pod, a glass of champers in hand looking at London from above. Talk about prime seats!

For those of you who might not be familiar with the view far down there to the right of the glass of bubblies, it's the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben you are seeing.

Will leave London for this time with two photos from the burough of Chelsea. Entering Chelsea is like coming to a totally different world of its own within London, it's very peaceful, very luscious and with a quiet buzz of its own. I love its dappled streets filled with history, especially Cheyne Walk down by the Thames embankment.

Thank you for having had the patience of bearing with me this far in my ramblings. Now to the palette release #61 over at The Color Room!

We are in his room this week, but I used the Powder Blue, Teal Blue, Green Apple and Gunmetal Grey for a page with little Miss sunshine M. You can see her in my LO #56B "Can I Keep Her Please".



The green pp at the bottom and the floral one are both MME Lime Twist. The patterned teal and green is really ancient, I think it is from Creative Imaginations. The floral powder blue is from Swedish designer Maja. My gosh, time has really flown! This is already my third LO as RDA.

I just love the tiny "bubbles", like droplets of water. They are a gift from my colourful American scrappy friend Rebekah. Just before we left for London, I received a wonderful treasure box full of goodies from Bekah. You will see more of the fantastic things she sent me in layouts to come. Thank you warmly Mrs Krueger!



The leaves are from an old Martha Stewart stack that I have fussy cut. The flowers are Prima. The doily under the blooms is from the Chip Chop Shop and the white seam binding is a gift all the way from my kind and sweet friend Lindy in Brisbane, Australia. Don't quite know what to call the strips of paper with a "V" cut at the end, flaglets?! Anyhow, they are also cut from pps by Swedish Maja.



That's it for today dear friends! loooots of commenting to catch up with and lots of thank you's that I owe to so many wonderful wonderful ladies out there. Wishing you all a glorious weekend wherever you may be!

xoxoxox Eila

TCR #60 My Girls - Melissa Frances 5th Avenue

Gee, time really flies so incredibly fast! Once again it's Friday, which means release time over at both TCR in Australia and CCG in the US.

TCR palette #60 is a sweet and romantic one, just savour Barely Pink, Lilac, Rose Bud and Pale Mint. Miss Marple is in heaven!

Having written that, I got an image flashing in my mind; do you remember the 1990's BBC sitcom "Keeping Up Appearances" with brilliant actress Patricia Routledge as the main character Hyacinth Bucket (who insists her last name is pronounced "Bouquet")? I just loved it! Hmmm ... Hyacinth or Marple?!

With romance and the sweet mild hues in the palette in mind, I thought I would scrap one of our wedding photos from May 2000. The photo shoot took place in a sun dappled glade just off the little chapel of Djursholm in Stockholm when Mother Nature was basking in the glory of her own delicate abundance.

Here's my second layout as RDA:



Well, it's obviously me to the left and DH in the middle. The girl wearing the wreath is Emelie, my stepdaughter whom you've seen in some of my pages before. Here she is only 12 years old, a gawky very long-legged girl soooo deeply disappointed that I didn't have a loooooong veil and looooong train just the likes she had seen princesses have on TV .... but she was rather pleased with her flower wreath and the ring pillow she was entrusted with. Spreading rose petals during our exit also made up big time for not getting to carry my train. :))

All the papers used are from the Melissa Frances 5th Avenue line. Couldn't help piling it on ending up with a rather chunky page despite little distressing treatment made.



We recently celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in what else than - pink champagne of course!

This time I only fussy cut the flowers in the top, used 2 of the same paper and pop-dotted the cut-out detail over the same detail. Some Prima blooms and a snippet of an old Prima Holiday Lights. I just love Webster's Pages new stick pins, got one stuck in together with a pearly one in this cluster.



More Prima's in the cluster.





I was rather worried when the Icelandic vulcano started spewing out its clouds of ash and the air lines in northern Europe started cancelling flights. Seems things have calmed down now though. Monday sees the Sandbergs on their annual trip to swinging London, UK! YAY! Will be back next Friday folks!

After a bonanza of romance, I would like to leave you in a glorious explosion of bright, dazzling colours and a lingering sweet taste of spices. Dear friends, come with me on a magical visit to India and the blog of my sweet scrappy friend Anupama, just click HERE for a tour with the First Lady of scrapbooking in India!

Much love xxx Eila

CCG 193 + Once Upon A Sketch - and A Day In The Stockholm Archipelago

First of all I would like to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all the the incredible feedback that I have had since Friday when the news about my appointment as RDA of the month together with Lindy over at TCR was out!! I am absolutely overwhelmed by the love and kindness that has been extended to me through emails and comments from all over the world - I get goose bumps just thinking about it!! Believe me, I am so grateful and so very very happy! xoxoxo

Friday 23 May Swedish time saw the release of gorgeous palette nbr 193 over at Color Combos Galore (or CCG to those of you already initiated in the lingo).

This week, we have a soft palette with the addition of black to add a bit of drama, and our Designer's Challenge is Focus on Journaling and inspired by the lovely inspiration photo: Tell a story on your page through journaling.

Ever since the über talented Nadia Cannizzo launched her superduper site Once Upon A Sketch I've been itching to try one of her sketches. The Carnation Pink and the green of the Leaf Through the Pages in the CCG palette together with the story prompt, immediately made me think of some really ooooooold BG papers that I knew were at the very bottom of my stash - Sugar Rush - and a photo taken of our sweet and spunky friend L on her wedding day. I had to giggle when I saw Debbi Tehrani's layout; she had used Sugar Rush and ... participated in OAUS's challenge! Great minds indeed think alike LOL!

Here's Debbi's take. Isn't she just pretty with her fantastic eyes and that sweet smile!

And here's mine:



1 August 2009 was not only L and D's wedding day, it was also her 40th birthday. In the photo, the beautiful bride L had just grabbed a glass of champagne and was thoroughly enjoying her first chance to sit down since early morning. They had huge buckets filled with ice and bottles of champagne. The sound of corks popping added to the festive feel, which had hardly subsided at midnight when the feet of this old and tired woman screamed for mercy and begged to be driven home. Some of you might recall that I was a disco chick in the 1980's and loooove shaking my booty.



If you look from the side, you can see that I have actually used 6 layers of papers stitched one on top of the other. The elements were then layered and pop-dotted to get some height.



I used a mask from Crafter's Workshop to mark out the position of the dots and markings of the double circle. They were then Stickled in Black Diamond.



And now to the awesome site Once Upon A Sketch that you find here

Saturday, May 21, 2011

**GIVEAWAY TIME**

For our current challenge click here

Hello there!

How would you like to win one of these?

The absolutely gorgeous May kit from My Scrapbook Nook??

Once Upon A ..Sketch is giving one, right now!!

All you need to do is this..

1. Follow the Once Upon A ...Sketch Blog
2. Copy this exact information and post about this on your blog, together with the May kit picture and a link back to Once Upon A Sketch.
3. Make sure you also post the information about the current offer at the Nook listed below.
3. Link your post using the Link Tool at the bottom of this post!
That is it! You have until the end of the current challenge, which is midnight May 31st, Australian Eastern Standard Time. I will draw a random winner soon after.


My Scrapbook Nook is offering a wonderful offer for a limited time only!Sign up for 6 months and receive the May kit for free......great deal!

Or Sign up for 12months and get the 13th kit free!!!!!!!!!

Kits value between $31- $34 – Yours for only $29.50. This way we ensure that you receive a fully loaded kit each month. We will also offer combined shipping with any add-ons or goodies from the store you need.
http://myscrapbooknook.org/kit-club/

Tell a friend and if they sign up email us at orders@myscrapbooknook.com and give us your friends name and we will give you a $5.00 store credit. Good only while supplies last.


Go for it!

This is the first time I link back anything on my blog, so fingers crossed that it works. If not, I would really appreciate it if somebody would please holler and let me know! Thanks ladies!

Yesterday our entire management team at work spent the whole day out in the Stockholm archipelago. What started on a dismal note with rain splattering on the window panes, turned into a beautiful late spring/early summer day. Here's to give you a hint of what it was like:

And with these typical Swedish images fresh in your mind, I bid thee farewell for today! Thank you for popping by and having a peek! xoxox

TCR # 59 Prince Valiant AND big news! I AM RDA FOR THE NEXT MONTH WOHOO!

WOOO HOOO and WOOO HOOO again! Finally I can let the bubble burst and let you all know the secret that I've been keeping for a while. It still hasn't sunk in entirely that I have been chosen RDA over at The Color Room, teaming up with my wonderfully talented and sweet friend from Brisbane - Lindy Gillespie!! I am so floating on clouds!

And here's the gorgeous shabby palette #59 inspired by Scrap That's May kit and Pink Paislees Butterfly papers. What do you say about the colours; Pale Eucalypt, Buttercup Cream, Wild Mushroom and Pink Dusk. Delicious enough to eat I say!

At times I feel that the shortage of the perfect photos or photos that are good enough for cropping, really puts a lid on my mojo. Not this time, I have some new ones taken a couple of weeks ago. I thought this one of my hubby Bengt was kind of cute. He can wear pinks or powder blues and still look every inch the man he is, and he likes when I use flowers on pages that feature him. No hang-ups about being perceived as feminine!



I used some of the papers from Scrap That's May kit (they are sponsors over at TCR this month together with Imaginarium Designs); Pink Paislee's Butterfly. For a gal who loves her fussy cutting, there was nothing else but to pull out my crafters' knife and set out to cut. Oh happy days! I spent 5 hours cutting 3 doilies and the birdcage which I left intact on the paper. Here's a close-up of the pretty doilies:



Handstitching adds a fabulous touch to any paper craft I think, it is so worth the time it takes and the prickled finger tips. I spent another 1,5 hour stitching the border and the 3 squares used for matting. I always use embroidery thread as I just loooove the range of colours available.



Here you might spy that the background under the birdcage is actually pink. I glimmermisted the cardstock in TA Vintage Pink and Tattered Rose leaving teeny splatter here and there. The bars are Stickled in Gold and touched up with white acrylic paint. It's hard to see, but the bird cage hangs in a golden chain.





Here's a small doily peeking out under the Prima's. I misted the originally sheer bloom in the same TA pinks that I used under the birdcage, and touched up the petals in Stickles Gold and white acrylic paint.

It's still very early Friday morning here in Stockholm and another working day is waiting before I can kick-off my court shoes and wriggle out of my suit. Really looking forward to that glass of rosé at the end of the day. Wishing you all scrappy friend a fabulous weekend!

So before rushing to work, thank you warmly for your visit and take care! xxooo Eila

TCR #58 Laundry Day

Do I adore this week's palette over at TCR or what!! just up my alley! and here's Miss Marple speaking again, see what I mean ...

Buttercup, Eggshell Blue, Bright White and Woodland Green, it's like a smörgåsbord of wonderful, soft colours!

Some of you who've been around for a while, might remember that my MIL trained to become a nurse in the very early 1950's. This photo is from her photo album and has been waiting for the right colours and papers. By lucky coincidence, the postman had just brought me K&Company's latest paper reveal Watercolor Bouquet so the page more or less scrapped itself.



All papers are from the K&Co stack, I handstitched around the borders of the yellow/white dotted paper and fussy cut the blooms at the bottom.



The photo is quadruple matted first with a piece cut out from a BG lace doily, then with 3 pps from the K&Co line. Lately I've become rather fond of buttons, I thought the plain white and wooden ones remind of the ones used of old, they also evoke a feel of cleanliness to me.



The mini clothes pins, the twine and the muslin tucked in at the bottom sort of go with the theme, as do the the buttons hung up to dry. I often find that twine has a life of its own, it never stays put where I place it. A tip I read on Leeann Pearce's blog (or did I hear it in a tutorial over at Lydell Quin's blog? I'm sure it was in a context with Hellmar, sorry girls, I've forgotten which) was to smear glue onto the twine, and then form it to a shape of your liking. I promise, it sticks where you've put it but make sure to work fast!



And finally, here's a small tag with the torn off threads from the muslin. My journalling is allways at the back, the tag only states place and who's in the pic.



Thank you so very much for your visit! I cherish all of your comments, they really brighten my day and are infinitely appreciated! Have a superduper week.

xxx Eila

192 CCG - Just Moi making a frightful mess on our kitchen table

Stockholm has been kind to its inhabitants this weekend, despite overcast skies the rain has been a mere sprinkle. Mother Nature does her work at a rapid speed and the kittens have spent many hours on our balcony checking out birds and bees. Alice, the b&w one, strikes out with her paw and stuns both bumble bees and wasps before they know what hit them.

I was all itching to pull out all my scrappy stuff and DH had maintenance that needed to be done on our computer. So we struck a deal, his was the computer and mine was the kitchen table for a whole day. Said and done, I set out to create something for the CCG palette 192 that was released on Friday morning Swedish time.

Debbi had chosen a palette with crisp and lovely spring colours, but in a rather challenging combo with purple.

There are so many artistic ladies out there who use modelling paste and Gesso with a fabulous result. Well, I've had a tube of the paste staring at me for almost a year and never quite known what do with it. So I decided this weekend was going to be a messy one, I also wanted to try more of the misting and perhaps in combo with the modelling paste. I had decided to make a rather graphic and clean page, but as we all know, pages have a tendency to take a route of their own. When stash raiding didn't come up with anything remotely close to what I had planned for, plan B had to be launched ...



The photo is of me and was taken some weeks ago on my birthday. I kind of like the colour of my kaftan and with the lush spring green background, the photo chose itself and the main colour to be used.



The papers are DCWV Linen Closet, Martha Stewart Lace Doilies (striped green&white) and K&Company Watercolour Bouquet for the strips and bottom circle. The white and teal doilies are a gift from sweet Leean Pearce (thanks!). I used TA Dragonfly and Aquamarine mists for the matting, the fabric alphas in "moi" and for tiny splatter. The tiny floral/butterfly sticker next to the green lace is from K&Company Flora and Fauna emphemera pack.



Here's my first try with the modelling paste and template.



The previuos layout didn't have anything of the misting and as I liked the modelling paste, I decided to make another one based on the same photograph, but this time with purple as main colour.



I didn't know whether to use the modelling paste first and then mist on top of it, or vice verse. This one's made with the misting afterwards and on very wet cardstock. The purple mists that I used are TA Spring Violet + Timeless Lilac + Lavender Fields. The green is TA Olive Vine. I had great fun squirting and spraying but as Bente often says, it's not due to skill that it ends up where it does, more to do with pure luck LOL!



The florals in the circle and the darker purple as well as the torn strips, are K&Company Watercolour Bouquet. The green solid matting is DCWV Linen Closet and the lacey one is Martha Stewart Doily Laces.



My friends like to tease me because I just looooove English crime novels and TV series. Inspectors Morse and Lynley, just my kind of coppers! and because I read sead catalogues in bed and love flowers, they nick-named me Miss Marple. Hence the title for this second layout.

If I may say so, I am really pleased with the white fabric bloom and its button centre from Girl's Paperie. I touched up the button and the petals with some Shimmerz Olive Branch and TA Olive Vine on a cotton bud. The British darling garden fairy that sent me the TH Tattered Floral layers is Doreen, aka Tinkerbell. Thank you my sweet lady!! The other blooms are Prima and Petaloo. The glazed brad is from Danish Panduro.

Well that sort of sums it up for today folks. Have a layout almost finished for this week's TCR palette as well. Will upload it either on Monday or Tuesday our time. I am still trying to find out how to get the uploads in a decent size and what pixels to use. Thanks Rebekah for the tip, it saved me buckets of time! What pixels do you use?

Thank you very much for bearing with my long ramblings and upteen uploads, your are most patient and generous with your time!! For those of you on this side of the puddle, enjoy what is left of the weekend and for the rest of you, nightie night sleep tight!

xxx Eila

TCR # 57 Dreams on Wheels

Both TCR and CCG released their new palettes this morning Swedish time, but that will be another post later.

As it is my Friday off from work, I had time to mess up our kitchen table again and work on last week's palette from TCR # 57, beautiful colours for His Room; Deep Red, Barely Beige, Totally Taupe and Rich Brown.

Once again it's MIL in the photo. It's taken in the glorious summer of 1956 when she and FIL got engaged. I know it's Midsummer because there is a birch twig stuck into the grille of the car. That's still a Swedish tradition in many places. I also know that it is their very first Renault followed by a great many others over the years to come. That's why I called my layout "Dreams on Wheels".

I started by misting white cardstock around the edges with TA Burned Red and then stitched on the paper from Glitz after having scrunched and tweaked the edges. The photo is matted with papers from Glitz Love Nest, Basic Grey Curio, Prima Jack & Jill and Swedish Pysselgumman at Pion Design.

Flowers, bling and leaves are Prima. I poured TA Glitter Glam in Golden Goddess on the leaves and some splatter to the left but it looks like I've accidentally dropped dollops of mustard instead LOL. The green splatter on the lace is TA Glimmer Glam in Organic Garden. The ligher cream colours splotches is Shimmerz Candle Light. So disappointed none of the painterly effects looks like it does IRL.

Thanks for your visit, lovely having you! till later, xxx Eila