Tea At The Ritz

Afternoon tea at the Ritz back in 2014 to celebrate my Mum's 80th Birthday. These photos show me with my daughter Catherine. This is the last of the projects I finished at the Merly Impressions Retreat in July. Chrissy of Merly Impressions, designed the original layout and this is my version.

This layout was designed with the Kaisercraft Keepsake collection of papers. As well as the kit provided I used a 12" x 12" 'Photo Frames' acetate sheet. 

Thanks for the designs and kits Chrissy, I still have plenty of papers and embellishments in my kit as well as the two 'Beyond the Page' projects to make - all I need is a little free time to make them!

Thanks for looking.
Lynn x

Smile - Good Times

Another layout I made at the Merly Impressions Retreat in July. I was inspired by a creation from the Kaisercraft Design Team by Anita Bownds. This photo was a selfie taken on Brighton beach last December when Catherine and I went to see Andrew. We were in search for Snow Dogs by the Sea during the Trail in aid of hospice care.

I used: white cardstock as the base and s splattering of Kaiser mist spray ink.
Kaisercraft papers and stickers from the Indigo Skies collection. The title was cut using a Kaisercraft die. Most of the borders were from the sticker sheet, or manufacturer's strips from 12" x 12" papers. The strip above the photo was cut from paper using a Martha Stewart border punch.
I finished of with a few black dew drops and some Tim Holtz Idea-ology pen knibs.





It was fun creating this one.
Thanks for looking
Lynn x

Twenty Twelve Olympics

I may be well overdue, but I finally made a scrapbook page of myself with the Olympic torch from the 2012 London Olympic Games. I wrote a blog post at the time with photos from the occasion, just five days before the opening ceremony when the torch arrived back in Kent from across the River Thames to Erith Yacht Club. It was carried by one of our young members Aaron Reynolds. The torch had travelled across the water on a fireboat. 

I made this page at the Merly Impression Retreat using Kaisercraft papers from the stunning butterflies from the Indigo Skies collection. The design was based on one I found on Pinterest the original was created by Kylie Kingham for the Kaisercraft Design Team.

I used
Indigo Skies papers
Kaisercraft sketch circle and frond dies, and Sizzix Tim Holtz alphabet dies.

Dark blue cardstock

Kaisercraft Spray Ink
Blossoms from my stash.Thanks for looking
Lynn x

Miss Meena & The

The bonus kit at the Merley Impressions Retreat last month had these amazingly colourful Kaisercraft papers from the Bombay Sunset collection. I knew when I saw them they would be ideal for recording the show my daughter Catherine worked on recently - Miss Meena and the Masala Queens.

 

Most of the decoration on this page is created by cutting images from the 'Daybreak' paper. The butterflies are cut with a Martha Stewart punch and I added some gems and gem swirls. I used a Tim Holtz layering stencil and some texture paste to add dimension to the background 'Sundown' paper before adding my photos.

Another page completed towards my daughter, Catherine's theatre scrapbook album.

Thanks for looking
Lynn x

Beautiful...

Today I'm sharing another layout I made at the Merly Impressions Retreat in July. The original layout was designed by Chrissy and I adapted it to suit my photograph. The Kaisercraft collection used for this page is Lilac Whisper. The White Wood paper made an ideal background for stamping the border around the photograph.

 

The cardstock, dies and stamps are also Kaisercraft.  The resin flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The stitching was created with 49 and Market stamps.

The black and white photo of my daughter Catherine was taken by my daughter Emily when they had a photogrophy session at home to create a portfoio for Catherine's theatre career. 

Thanks for looking
Lynn x

Emma

Today I'm sharing another layout using the Golden Grove paper collection by Kaisercraft, again I made this while at the Merly Impressions retreat a few weeks ago. 

A little family history - although we are now not sure of the link, so I am doing more family history research to see if I can find out. I was sent some information and these photos of Emma a while ago. She is a very distant relative, but I loved the photos and thought they deserved a place in my family history scrapbook.

In addition to the Golden Grove papers I used some Kaisercraft chipboard letters, coloured with Fossilized Amber Distress Ink and protected and made shiny with Gossy Accents.
I used a length of antique lace to complement the lace collar worn by Emma in the photo. I tied some yellow jute twine around the layout and over the lace. The clusters of flowers are from my stash with cardstock swirls cut using a Kaisercraft die.

The journalling will have to go on the back as there is a lot of it! Here is a very short summery of Emma's history as we know it so far (please skip this bit if not your thing!):

EMMA GOLDFINCH / STOKES / TANDY / DAWSON 1844-1934
(Stepdaughter of first cousin x 4 removed)
Emma born on 22^nd May to Mary Ann Goldfinch in Eastry Union Workhouse near Deal. Her mother married William Thomas Valentine Stokes (who is thought to be Emma's father) on 29^th September 1850 at Northbourne, Kent.
In the 1951 Census Emma is listed as a pauper and still in the workhouse.
By 1861 Emma calls herself Emma Stokes and has left the workhouse to act as nurse to the family of Captain Richard Hanford (they have a small baby and 4 other children) and he is a Captain in the 7^th Royal Fusiliers.

Emma marries George Tandy (1841-1881) a Private in the 7^th Royal Fusiliers, on 22^nd Nov 1864 in Deal Parish Church, and has her first child - George James Tandy 1865.
Her daughter Ellen Emma Tandy is born in 1867. Then Emma has two more sons, Charles Daniel in 1868 and  Joseph in 1870, by now she is in Dorset, at the Anglesea Barracks, Portsmouth.

Two more daughters follow - Annie in 1872 and Esther Mary in 1873 both born in Dorset. Then Harry was born in 1875 in Colchester and Louisa in 1878 in Dublin followed by Ada Charlotte in Cork in 1880.

By the time of the 1881 Census the family are in Pembroke and George Tandy died there in the same year.
Emma marries George Dawsonalso a Private in the 7th Fusiliers, on 24^th July 1883 in Hounslow, Middlesex. The couple had one child in 1885, named Frederick Thomas George.
By 1901 Emma and George are in London, living in Hanover Square.
Emma is a widow by the 1911 Census and lives with her daughter Ada in Hownslow.
In 1924 Emma is living with another daughter, this time Ellen, still in Hownslow.
In 1934 Emma died in Hownslow at the age of 89.

Thanks for reading
Lynn x

Going Away

 

This is one of the layouts I created at the recent Merly Impressions retreat using the kits provided by Chrissy, this one I have changed a little to suit my size and style of photo. 

This page uses the beautiful Golden Grove collection by Kaisercraft.

The photo is one of my Mum and Dad about to go away to Wales after their wedding (1957).

I also used:
Texture paste
The Crafter's Workshop Art is' 12" x 12" stencil
Yellow jute twine
Fossalized Amber Distress Ink
Old letter stickers
Blossoms
Martha Stewart leaf punch

The quote is from the manufactures strip at the bottom of the patterned paper.

Thanks for looking
Lynn x

New Home

One of the exciting events of last summer was my daughter and her boyfriend buying and moving into their own home. This is the second of my layouts using the January kit from Merly Impressions and the Kaisercraft Ubud Dreams collection of papers. These papers have such lovely designs and colours.

This photo was taken on the evening they moved in and we all met up for a small celebration before all the hard work began! They had both worked very hard over the last few years meaning that they saw little of one-another at times, however this made it possible for them to save for their deposit.

Again I made a few changes to Chrissy's lovely original design.
I used machine stitching rather than hand stitching and my title was made with some old K & Co. alphabet stickers. I also added some resin flowers from my stash.

Catherine and George are currently working on the bathroom, having transformed the bedroom and with help from many members of the family cleared tons of rubbish and jungle from the neglected garden.

Thanks for looking
Lynn

Fish and Chips

The first of two layouts created using the January kit from Merly Impressions. The layouts were designed by Chrissy and I have added a few twists of my own. The design is created with the Ubud Dreams collection from Kaisercraft.

The photo was taken last last year shows my dad with my brother on their last visit to Wickham Bay, a lovely fish restaurant, near where they live in West Wickham. This restaurant has been decorated with weathered wooden panels and tiles which are an exact match for these papers! - You can just about see the tiles in the photo.

The main difference in my layout to Chrissy's lovely original was missing out the fussy cutting flowers as they were not really appropriate to my theme. I also gutted the centre from the frames and added my own centres. I created the wording on the computer and printed them onto some scraps of patterned paper to fit inside the frames. I machine stitched around the edges of the papers using a navy blue thread rather than the hand stitching suggested.

Thanks for the design Chrissy - it has made a lovely memory for us of our dad.
Back with the next one tomorrow.
Thanks for looking
Lynn x

Cool Dude

I was inspired to make this layout while attending the Merly Impressions Retreat back in July. Chrissy had a display of her recent layouts and was happy for me to take photos and create my own version. I was able to buy some of the same papers and substituted others. Some months later I made this while at a crop. It has taken me a few more months to get around to sharing it with you all!

I used:

Kaisercraft - Fly Free Collection - 2 x Gal Pal, Sister

Kaisercraft - Boho Dreams Collection - Feather

Basic Grey - Basics

Martha Stewart Border Punch
Prima - Art Ingredients Glass Beads - Zinc
Sheena Douglas Wild Rose-Briar Stamp Set

DMC embroidery thread - white

Great fun to create with this photo of Rosie taken earlier this year. 

Thanks for looking
Lynn x

Maud

This layout is another that I created at the Merly Impressions retreat at the beginning of this month. Chrissy designed the kit using the Kaisercraft Always and Forever collection, together with stitching and much fussy cutting of roses and doilies.

I added my own letter stickers - the glittery American Craft Thickers have been shaded with Distress Inks.

Here is the little history I have discovered about Maud:

Maud Holder (nee Fricker - My Great Aunt by marriage)
Born in July 1886 unknown parents
No Census records found, No marriage records found but married Frank Henry Holder (1888-)

They had two daughters  - Doris born 1923 and Beryl Margaret born 1925

I had to do a lot of restoration work on this photo in Adobe and I am pleased with the results.

Here is Chrissy's pretty layout:

Many thanks for looking, may be some time before I get back to you with my 'beyond the page' projects!!

Lynn x

Gladys Lillian

Gladys is another of my Grandfather's siblings (there were fourteen of them in all!). I created this layout at the Merly Impressions Retreat back at the beginning of the month. It was one of the kits included in the weekend and designed by Chrissy. The design is created with Kaisercraft's Cottage Rose collection. Creating the layout included using texture paste through a stencil, stitching, punching around the page with a Martha Stuart PATP set and Distress Inks.

A little history for my photograph:

Gladys Lillian Holder - My Great Auntie Gladys.
Born in July 1896 Bromley, the seventh of fourteen children to
Frederick Henry and Emma Jane Florence (Williams) Holder.

The 1901 Census shows Gladys was 4 years old and living at
120 Southlands Road Bromley with her parents and eight of her siblings.

At the time of the 1911 Census Gladys was 14 years old and working
as a Morning Girl Domestic but living at home with her parents and ten of her siblings.

Gladys married Ernest Matthew Bush (03/05/1895 – 02/07/1963) circa 1920
They had one daughter Edna May in 1922 born in Bromley

They emigrated to Canada and lived in British Columbia (Gladys’ sister
Florence and husband Charles Kiff also emigrated to Canada).

They did travel back to England for a while as they were here for a family reunion in 1960

Gladys died in Vancouver in 1966

Chrissy's beautiful original:

Thanks for looking.
Lynn x

The Magic of Merly

A big thank you to Chrissy, Paul, Merley and the team of Merly Impressions for another great weekend retreat at Wyboston Lakes in Bedfordshire. I was great to make new friends and catch up old friends throughout the weekend. Linda and I travelled to the retreat on the Friday so we were already there for the start of the event on Saturday morning. We did quite a bit of retail therapy on the way!

When we arrived at the retreat on Saturday morning, everything had been organised beautifully and this is what greeted us when we arrived in our cropping room (one of three).

This was my little work space for the weekend 

Chrissy's attention to detail is simply amazing. And I cannot imagine how many petals and butterflies she must have stamped and cut out - so much patience! You can see the booklet we were all given with detailed instructions for all the projects. The pizza box contained all the kits,

This beautifully decorated bag contained the bonus project and we had been asked to bring a small photo of ourselves along for this.

The lovely jar held a few tiny embellishments and lots of questions to break the ice and get us chatting - but I think we are all pretty good at that!!

Here are Chrissy's original projects (all using Kaisercraft products) for the weekend - I will be back with my interpretations once they are finished off.

3 layouts

An off the page project

and a bonus project (this was hiding in the little bag).

Before we went away we were given a little homework, to make a card for someone else on the retreat. Here Is the lovely card I received from Lorraine - thank you.

this is the card I made, using one of the techniques from the Creative Chemistry 101 class

A great weekend all round.

Thanks again Chrissy and team, and enjoy your well earnt holiday.

Thanks for looking

Lynn x

Holder Family

'H' is for Holder.

A little extra from the Merly Impressions kit was this design using a large initial.

The photograph is my grandfather Ernest Charles Holder's marriage to Sylvia Maud Giles on 31st December 1921. A lovely photo, but really sad, because although in October 1922 Sylvia gave birth to a daughter Phyllis, sadly she died in the November.

The border was cut with a Martha Stewart punch around the page set. 

The patterned papers are from the same collection as the previous two layouts.

More fussy cutting of flowers from the patterned papers, together with another pre cut vine and plenty of 3D foam pads.

I cut my initial 'H' with the Cricut and the Storybook cartridge.

I used another Martha Stewart punch for the butterflies and scattered some of the remaining gems.

I added a spot of Liquid Pearls to the smaller butterflies.

Thanks again for the inspiration Chrissie.

Thanks for looking

Lynn x

Robert & Elaine

For the second layout from the Merly kit I scrapped a photo of my brother, Robert and his wife Elaine on their wedding day in 2012.

This also involved stitching, and I used the machine to make holes around the paper before hand stitching with the DMC stranded cotton provided.

I used a different Martha Stewart punch around the page set to Chrissie Tingey of Merly Impressions.
The patterned papers used are from the Kaisercraft 'Secret Garden' collection. 

I cut my flowers on the Cricut and the Four Seasons cartridge, inked them with Distress Ink and added flat-backed pearls. The pre-cut vines were supplied in the kit.

I used some old Provo Craft letter stickers for the date, and some new Basic Grey letter stickers. These were white and dies with Distress Ink.

I added the rhinestones supplied.

Thanks for the inspiration Chrissie.

Thanks for looking 

Lynn x

Golden Wedding

Last weekend we had our crop at Cardinal Colours and had a great day crafting with friends. I took along a card to make, which I can show you after the wedding I made it for later in the month. I also took along a kit from the recent Merly Impressions Crop I was unable to attend. The kit was designed for three layouts and uses papers from Kaisercraft's Secret Garden collection.

Here is my first layout with a photo of my great grandparents, Frederick Henry Holder and Emma Jane Florence (Williams) on their Golden Wedding in 1936

I did scrap this photograph many yeas ago when I first started scrapbooking, but since then I have learnt a lot more family history, and although I knew who the people were, I didn't know it was their golden wedding photo for the local paper.

The page was designed by Chrissy Tingey and is more or less true to her original design with a few minor changes.

I used a different Martha Stewart punch, Kaisercraft one. I created my holes for stitching using a sewing machine with no thread, then with needle and DMC stranded cotton provided I back-stitched along each of the four strips before mitering and sticking into place. I wrote part of their story on the strips.

I cut a title from the card stock in the kit using the Cricut, then stained and glossed it. The rhinestones and die-cut swirls were included in the kit. There is a lot of fussy cutting which was a task for an evening in front of the TV, along with the hand stitching!

Thank you for the inspiration Chrissy.

For the record, here is the newspaper article about my grandparents and their golden wedding:

MARRIED 50 YEARS.
MR. AND MRS. F. HOLDER’S LARGE FAMILY.

Mr. And Mrs. Frederick Henry Holder of 120 Southlands Road, Bromley who celebrated their golden wedding On Sunday,  have fourteen children, all of whom are married, and 24 grand children.
Their marriage, at St. James’ Church, Hatcham, New Cross, on February 8^th 1886, was the first solemnised in that church following the Tooth Riots. “There were terrible scenes at the church for several Sundays just before then,” said Mrs. Holder to a Mercury reporter,” and the Anglican Church children took possession of the church from the Catholics on the Sunday before the Tuesday on which we were married.”
At the time of their marriage, Mrs Holder was twenty-year-old Miss Emma Jane Florence Williams, and Mr Holder was five years her senior. They came to Bromley immediately after and lived in Nightingale Lane until they moved to Southlands Road, 26 years ago. “Southlands Road was then an old cart road with fields all around us and a gate leading into near St. Luke’s Church” said Mr. Holder. “When you walked up the Broadway you could only see a few little old shops.”

Former Foreman at Bickley Station

For 49 years and two months, Mr. Holder worked on the railway, first with the old South-Eastern and Chatham Railway, and then the Southern Railway. He was at Cannon Street Station nearly five years and spent the remainder of the time at Bickley Station. He was Forman there for nearly 33 years, and on his retirement, in December, 1927, his colleagues presented him with an inscribed silver watch as a token of their esteem.
  “Bickley Station is not what it used to be,” said Me Holder. “We used to have big engine sheds before they were transferred to Orpington.”
Three of Mr. and Mrs. Holder’s six sons are following in their father’s footsteps, one being foreman at Victoria Station, another being a guard at Bromley North and the other a porter at Bromley South.  The eldest son has a tobacco and confectionary business in Southlands Road, another is employed in a London solicitor’s office; and another is at Bromley Post Office. Two of the daughters are in Canada.
  Mr. and Mrs. Holder enjoy excellent health and are still both very active. In the summer Mr. Holder regularly goes to Croydon three times a week, to do gardening work.

Thanks for looking

Lynn x

Phyllis Irene Sylvia Holder

Phyllis Irene Sylvia Holder is my mother's half sister (my Aunt) who was born on 22nd October 1922 She emigrated to New Zealand with her new husband Robert (Rob) Dodd, after they married 12th January 1946. I recently found details in the UK outward passenger list for The New Zealand Shipping Co. Ltd. 'The Rangitiki' set sail from The Port of London on 30th May 1946.

Phyllis is the daughter of my grandfather Ernest Holder and his first wife Sylvia Giles. Sadly Sylvia died a few weeks after Phyllis was born. Phyllis served as a WRAF in WW2 when she met Rob who was a Spitfire pilot.

Phyl and Rob had three daughters and now have many grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

I made this layout using a kit from the Merly retreat last summer. I was unable to go to the retreat, but lucky enough to purchase a few of the kits. The kit layout was designed by DT member Pam Thorburn but I adapted my layout inspired by many of the others shared on facebook after the retreat, I especially liked the one by Elaine Rolfe, 

From the kit I used:
Patterned papers & Collectables - Kaisercraft - Bluebell collection

Gems & Cardstock - Kaisercraft
From my own stash:

Lace & Distress Inks

Thanks for looking

Lynn x

Mother's Day - Godmother

I made a card to send to my Godmother for Mothering Sunday. I used an image I coloured at a recent retreat using Promarkers and a new Woodware stamp.

I used:
Stamp - Woodware - Special Bird
Patterned Paper - Kaisercraft - Marigold Collection - Maple from Merly Impressions
Flower buttons - Bazooples from Cardinal Colours
Die cut letters - Sizzlets Alterations Alphabeticals die from Papermaze
Pens - Promarkers, Bazzill cardstock and ribbon from Cardinal colours


Happy Mother's Day Barbara.
Thanks for looking
Lynn x

William David Holder - Heritage Layout

I have been busy working on the family tree as I have had some time off work. It was time to create some pages for the male ancestors (always find it easier to create pages for the ladies). After shuffling papers around for the afternoon, I finally made a decision and got going in the evening  yesterday. With the help of some inspiration from the Merly Impressions monthly challenge sketch for October.

Here is my layout featuring my Great Uncle Bill (William David Holder). 

The hidden journalling reads: 

"William David Holder

Know as Bill, my great uncle.

In researching my family ancestry I discovered William
was born on the 16th August 1906 to Frederick Henry Holder
& Emma Jane Florence Williams Holder, 13th of 14 children.
They lived in 120 Southlands Road, Bromley, Kent.

Bill married Ivy Maud Elsdon (1901 - 1987)

They had five children - Barbara, Philip, Lesley, Olive and Robin.

I found a relationship with Lilian Freda Elizabeth Able and their child Christopher .

William died in Bromley on 27th December 1978."
Lynn 30/10/2014 Here is the sketch:

I used:
Acrylic paint to drybrush
Patterned  Papers and Element Stickers - Kaisercraft's Pickled Pear Collection
Dies - Wplus9, Spellbinders, Sizzix
Letter Stickers - Snap Studio, Simple Stories
Other - dew drops, Chalk Inks, buttons, Twine, 3D Foam Pads, Brad, wooden element and Liquid Pearls

Thank you for looking, just two days left of this challenge.

Lynn x

Engaged to be Married

My great grandparents feature in this layout, adapted by class kit designed by Chrissy Tingey of Merly Impressions. I was unable to attend the retreat this summer, but did purchase some of the kits. The one for this design was sold out but with the help of Linda who kindly purchased me some of the papers and gave me her left overs from others  - I was able to put this page together.

My journalling has been printed onto left over scraps and cut into strips then inked, and layered up with more scraps and inked again, I have added it in sequence around the photos. It reads:

"Frederick Henry Holder and Emma Jane Florence Williams.                                                    

These photographs are thought to have been taken in celebration of their engagement. They were married at Hatcham on 9th February 1886. Emma Jane would have been about 19 and Frederick was 25 years old."                                             
                                   

The stitching was created using a Sew Easy tool by We R Memory Keepers, and DMC black embroidery thread.
I used a dark grey sheet of Bazzill as a base.
I used Sizzix dies to cut the photos and their mounts. I kept the photographers details from the bottom of one photo to add to the layout.
The papers and butterfly stamps are from Kaisercraft's Kaleidoscope collection.
I used black chalk ink for distressing the edges of everything.
I added a few tiny butterflies cut with a Martha Stewart 3 in 1 punch. The fronds are also a Martha Stewart punch.
Stickles was added to the wings of all the butterflies to give some sparkle.
The roses were from Snape Maltings last Christmas.
The letter stickers are from Prima.
Under the tears I have added a little antique lace.


Here is Chrissy's delightful original design:

Thanks for looking and thanks to Linda for sharing.
Lynn x