Thursday 5 November 2015

Remember, Remember challenge at Stamps and Stencils

Hi everyone, it's time for our next challenge at Stamps and Stencils but before I announce the theme can I thank everyone who took the time to blog hop and enter our word search, we were thrilled with the amount of entries Thank you!

Onto this months challenge then and it's my turn to host! When I realised that the challenge fell on 'Bonfire Night', the words 'Remember, Remember the 5th of November' came into my head and the idea of a memory themed challenge formed. So this month we want to see projects inspired by favourite memories. This could be a  favourite holiday or destination, childhood memories, something from last week or your first memory or it could be as I've chosen something that brings back happy memories. Here are my journal pages.


So here's the story...we stayed in a cottage this summer and there were beautiful hydrangea bushes in the garden and it struck me how they always remind me of 'Auntie' Eva & 'Uncle' Jack, so why not make some pages in those beautiful pink and sage green hues of the fading flower heads. So I did.


This is my upside down book journal, pages were gessoed and then I tinted some embossing paste with Green Pearl and spread it through the Prima doily stencil. I then made up some sprays of Primary element pigments in Pear Blossom, Green Pearl and Ginger Flower. Sprays, splats and drips later I was a happy bunny.


Next some stamping with white fresco paint and some Sara Naumann Eclectica background stamps and then some Granny Smith fresco paint for the very appropriate quote from a Lin Brown Eclectica set. 'We do not remember days, we remember moments'.


Card stock and paper in green tones were given a wash of the Primary Element colours already used and then flowers from a JOFY set were stamped in black archival and cut out. I also added their names to the centres of the flowers.


So why do hydrangeas remind me of  Eva and Jack? Well here's the rest of the story..

Eva and Jack were very good neighbours and like a lot of family friends they were known as Aunt and Uncle by the children on our road, sadly they had no children of their own. Whilst my mum was a very good cook and baker, Eva would also teach me to make and bake things and Jack who was a very good gardener first instilled me with a love of gardening giving me cuttings and seedlings to plant.
They gave my mother a cutting from a beautiful hydrangea bush many many years ago, and it grew and flowered every year. When my mother moved house nearly 30 years ago she took a cutting from it, nurtured it and it still grows now. Without fail as the hydrangea flowers she will say Jack and Eva are flowering again, and that's why hydrangeas will always remind me of Eva, Jack and my mother.

So what are your favourite memories?


As always thanks for stopping by and can't wait to see what you come up with. x

15 comments:

  1. Dear Ruth, such a most beautiful memory, from your childhood, and so wonderfully transformed into these beautiful pages.
    Your background is gorgeous with your doily stencils and the dripping ,and the flowers so pretty and swetest idea, with the names spelled in their centers !!
    Have a lovely weekend.
    Dorthe, xo

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  2. Gorgeous inky effects, and I love how that pearlescent texture shimmers. Beautiful subtle shades echoing the glorious hydrangea in the final photo, and a lovely memory to go with it all.
    Alison xx

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  3. What a wonderful shared memories Ruth! And your pages speak of the beautiful flowers! xo

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  4. A wonderful memory you have shared Ruth, the flowers are beautiful on your gorgeous pages.
    Yvonne xx

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  5. Really lovely and delicately coloured pages Ruth and a wonderful memory you shared too.

    Hugs
    Lesley Xx

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  6. What a lovely story Ruth and a wonderful memory! The background you created for those pretty blossoms is just gorgeous and I love the delicacy of the colours - just beautiful! xx

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  7. What a wonderful memory and a really beautiful page to keep the memory alive! Chrisx

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  8. Great pages and happy memories xx

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  9. Beautiful pages to honor a wonderful memory! Wonderfully evocative of my favorite flower as well - very elegant make! xxx Lynn

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  10. Beautiful pages Ruth, love the delicate colours and your use of texture is gorgeous as usual. What a fabulous memory and so lovely that the Hydrangea lives on still. Sue C x

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  11. Absolutely bloomin' gorgeous Ruth! Love the scattered flowers. Jenny x

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  12. Hi Ruth, this is so gorgeous and great to see how you put it together. Sending hugs, Angela x

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  13. Absolutely gorgeous - I love the pearlescent paste, it gives it a real sparkle, and Hydrangeas are one of my favourite flowers.

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  14. What a great memory and a fabulous story. Love your mixed media project. Gorgeous colours, layout and theme so perfect and so creative with Eva and Jacks initials in the flower head..Love it! x

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  15. Gorgeous page. Love the soft colours and all the beautiful texture and shimmer. Your memory reminds me of a fabulous restaurant we went to in New York located in an old brownstone. They seated us in the garden, which was surrounded by hydrangea bushes of every colour and lovely music playing in the background - talk about a fabulous assault on our senses.
    Hugs!
    Cec

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It would be lovely to read any comments left, I really appreciate them all. Thank you so much for taking the time to drop by.