Raptorlicious with Mojo Jan 2018

Its nearly February (whew) after such a long, drawn out January (for me anyway). And its hot hot hot, between change change change, and then back to hot again. But I'm still clinging to my wonderful christmas break when I really got out there and used my camera to the max to get loads of bird photographs - many species a don't see at home. I've always loved 'raptors' (no, not those things from Jurassic Park), but now I'm loving them on a whole new level as they let me into their world via photography.

And I think I may have almost found my scrapping/creative mojo after having it take a little detour away and left me with jigsaws and decorating using christmas cards, toilet rolls, and folk art style work which is all I've been able to do last couple of months.

The Archiscraps Jan 2018 comp was a chance for me to pull out my camera again, and try and take a selfie that would suit the challenge. Well- lucky no one was watching. It was way easier when my camera was a little thing - now its humongous and weighs a tonne! But I got photos I was happy with. I also went and used my last stored gift voucher and bought some extra product, which I used on this page too, though only a little. Its been hard to find cute animals, cats in particular, fungi and playing cards! And I'm blowed if I'm going to scan in a whole pack of 50 odd cards! But I did get some things that were different, but still no tassels - so I had to design those myself from a piece of cord from a cord digi pack (with a knot at the top). Not sure which would be easier - making one IRL or digitally!

Raptorlicious Jan 2018 digi scrapbooking page, Archiscraps Jan 2018 'must use tassels'

So, there's my page (a bit weird - I was kind of channeling Cleopatra because of the falcons and what tassels reminded me of - arabian nights!). And here is the inspiration :

Archiscraps Jan 2018 - must use tassels

And here's my ingredients list:

Cilenia Curtis Tab-Tags no 3

JCD Chalk to Me no 5 & 6

Far Far Hill Freebies Vintage Scans kit of old style frames 0010

Sarahh Graphics Sunday with grandma - hearts small pink

Far Far Hill Christmas Wreath Skimersan - 003 (pine branch)

Mullens Among The Wildflowers - leaf

DitaB Designs Click n Summer Miemories Add Ons - flowers (darker)

PrelestnayaP Designs Hello Autumn element 6 (daisy flower)

Far Far Hill vintage tile kit - 006

Fayette Designs Beach Therapy - patterned paper solid brown

Frou Frou Craft - Lovely Birds no 3 patterned paper

Lou Cee Creations Chunky Rope no 3 (edited into my own tassels)

Experiments with Coffee Jan 2018

OK, its well known I'll try anything once and I just soak up new techniques all the time, so when I heard about coffee as a medium for painting, I jumped right in there and gave it a go. It was fascinating! A lot of trial and error, but I did like the sepia painting results. It was a fine line to get the real contrasts; I had to go very light and shade up, and then put those darks right against the bright whites to get anything to pop. It's something I would go back to and experiment more with!

This page shows the first four paintings I did with the coffee. There was a fifth that I was not as happy with. Neat, huh?

Experiments with Coffee digi scrapbooking layout Jan 2018

The Kraft +Plus Jan 2018 challenge of caffeine seemed to shout out to me and remind me of all this art experimentation I did before my amazing christmas break. So that's what I've done my page on. I was inspired by the wood and coffee browns and wanted to keep the page as simple as possible with wood/metal and coffee. I really enjoyed doing this.

Kraft +Plus challenge Jan 2018

Gilfillan Mystery Jan 2018

OK. That challenge from CSI was very challenging! It looked way easy, but i found it hard to contruct my page. Mainly because of my lack of resources in my stash; no cat, no playing cards, and no alice in wonderland style characters. Darn!

This page is about a post card I have had for about 20 years which I bought for 20 cents at a market. It was a weird kind of post card - it clearly has 'post card' on the back and looks old, but there is no description on the front or back, save a stamped name and address, which is probably the photographer. Is this the photographer's house? Or a client's house?

I used the page and style of the challenge to show how I went about investigating this post card further, what I discovered, and how I know a little more, but still not enough.

I used Harry Potter style shoe prints to get from 'step' to 'step' and tried to capture the feel of the inspiration from CSI. I wonder 'why' too many times a day, and this is one of those.

Gilfillan Mystery Jan 2018 - CSI #246

Item one : "I got this post card at a market years ago. I loved the spooky feel, and the white dog at the front door. I never knew anything more about it. But I kept it."

Item two: "At Christmas I decided to find out what I could about it and how old it is. There was this 'stamped' address on the back - G Gilfillan, 49 Lawrence Street, Glasglow' "

Item three :  "I went to Google Maps and typed in the address. However, there is a huge block of buildings at that address now, unlike the postcard house."

"Item four : "I tried the Gilfillan surname - and I discovered a number of Gilfillan photographers from early 1800's to 1900's in Scotland. But the only 'G Gilfillan'  I could find was Rev George Gilfillan a poet and writer. I suspect my 'Gilfillan' must be one of the descendants of the photographers. But is my post card before 1850 or after it?"

"Item five : although the addresses do not match, it could still be a photograph by a descent or pre-decessor. But is this the house of Gilfillan, or a client's house?"

"Item six : I did discovered there were lots of photographers in Scotland and England in the early Victorian era. The same name was also established in the USA with a judge, and a massacre of that name."

"Item seven : I always thought the white dog was waiting for its master, but after scanning the picture into the computer I realised there is a figure standing behind the dog in the shadows. So both are only watching the photographer."

Item eight : "I don't know if I'll ever know the truth... but I still love my post card!"

CSI challenge - #248

Solve this case : I was inspired by the colours, the items, the arrangement of the items, and that old-world feel.

I won joint Star Witness for this page Jan 2018. woo hoo!

Good Food, Good Company Jan 2018

One of the pluses of being 'home for Christmas' is that I tend to go out more with the family, particularly for lunch and sample the local cuisine more so than I would at home. Sometimes this is bowling or golf clubs, and sometimes something a little more upmarket. But I enjoy the company most of all I think, so Christmases for me is about sharing meals and experiences.

The title of my page is reiminscent of an X-Files episode. I used to love the X-Files. These days I'm afraid I would find it too scary!

I loved the challenge of Artastic's unusual colours for this time of year, and trying to fashion out a page with them.And vacation photos - well this is one of those! Plus I added the second hand car that mum got to replace her old car which also occurred over the Christmas break.

Good Food, Good Company Jan 2018

ARTastic Challenge Blog

Another New Year...

Yes, its another new year - year 2018. But before I think too much about this new year, I reflect on the old one - my Christmas break from work and spending time with family.

That's why the CSI challenge #245 with its interesting colours had to be a Christmas page for me. I used the colours, and the houses inspired me to do a christmas page with all my family on it, as we were all under one roof; something which generally only occurs at christmas.

Bird Break Jan 2018 - CSI challenge #245

Every year I take either a group photo or individual photos of us doing a similar thing. I also try and get a formal photo and a silly one too. Then I can use these in scrapbooking or to give the other members of my family so they have something of that Christmas.

I will come back and put the ingredients in.