Me & My Brother **** Maja Design****

Good morning, today is my day on the Maja Design Blog. Here are a couple LO's I did for my post. The first on I did using a photo of my two youngest sons. I love this photo, they look like little angels...

I used the Vintage Spring Basics Collection for this LO. Out of this collection I used 2nd of April-BS, 3rd of April,3rd of April- BS,4th of April,4th of April-BS, 5th of April,5th of April-BS , Days to Remember Sheet & some of the BS's of the labels. The chipboard used is from Scrap FX...

I achieved some of my texture through, distressing the paper, hand stitching, did some stencil work & decided to use up some alpha to add more texture to the LO.

I also ripped some paper as you can see in the upper right corner. I used yellow thread for my stitching. When I completed my stitching I was not happy with it, as the yellow just seemed to bright, for the soft yellow that is in the paper. So what I did is mixed some perfect pearl, perfect pearl with water, then used a small paint brush, I went over all my stitch work to soften it......

Just look at those blue eyes, they are so cute!!!!

I used picket fence crackle on the kites, Alpha & wordlets, once the crackle dried I rubbed in a dark brown chalk to bring out the cracks. I scanned the kites,then printed them on reg paper. I used a non permanent adhesive, I attached it to the Maja paper, then cut out the pieces. I find this is easier & more accurate then tracing.....

Here are some hand rolled flowers...

I scanned the train as I did the kite,then cut out all of these tiny pieces of paper to make the train. I used liquid pearls on some of the wheels.....

This is a very special LO I did for my oldest son on his birthday.. It was my oldest son's Sigurdurs 32nd birthday on August 24th & he shared his birthday with my husbands father (Afi). We named Sigurdur after Afi, they were 70 years apart. Sigurdur also was born on my mothers birthday (his Gran). We have lived next door to my parents for the last 30 years. So Gran was like a 2nd mother. Sadly Gran passed away on June 4th at the young age of 76. Mom has been struggling with Progressive Neuromuscular Disease & Osteoporosis for the last 6 years. She has had many falls & fractures, the last one being a hip fracture. This would be moms 3rd non weight bearing fracture. Mom fractured her hip on Oct 3rd & remained in the hospital for about 3.5 months, then I moved her into my home, to care for her. Mom loved creating. She could sew, knit & do just about any other craft that interested her. Her real passion was her flower garden. While mom was living with us, we talked lots about gardening, because spring was just around the corner. My gardening style differs from my mothers, but we have both received many awards on our gardens. My colors in my garden are deep, fall colors because of the color of our home. When I became on the DT for Maja Design, I decided to stage a garden that would go with their Vintage Collections. The garden area that I choose was the tree fort area on the river bank,that my sons built as young boys & still always go to that area as it is a very peaceful place. It is tucked away from my other garden areas,so it allowed me to make a change there. Well, I probably drove my mother crazy, because I was so excited about this garden,& as I started to plant it I even became more excited, so I would not stop taking about it. When mom past away I decided to make this garden, a memory garden of my mother. Mom had enjoyed watching her grand sons develop this area, & this was the year I had planted it in all of moms favorite colors.Mom's favorite plant was hydrangea's & I had planted lots of them in that area this year. With all of my talking, mom wanted me to take her to see this area. It would have been difficult, but I did promise that I would take her when the hydrangea's started to bloom. So in this LO, I have a photo of moms memory garden, a photo of my mother (Gran) & of my son Sigurdur. Mom was a very soft, gentle, kind women, she believed in celebrating Life. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIGURDUR !!!!!!!!Mom "Gran" you are in our thoughts every day, but even more so today, as it is your special day .

I used the Vintage Spring & Vintage Summer Collection on this LO...

From the Vintage Spring I used: 1st of May,3rd of May, 3rd of May-BS,2nd of May,2nd of May BS & 10th of March

From the Vintage Summer Basics Collection I used:1932-BS, 1924,Here are some close ups of detail...

I used picket fence crackle on my chipboard pieces,then rubbed in brown chalk & inked the edges....

A photo of my Mother & memory garden....

Some hand made flowers using a Die & tulle...

Thank you so much for taking the time to look.....Rachelle