"The Craft Group" plus...

A good scrapbook album… completed... is a wonderful thing. Julianne said it took a few years but her album is a lovely collection of memories of her wedding day and then a few main anniversaries… the latest big one being her 40th. The front cover. Groovy, Julianne. I love it! Lovely dress for a winter wedding. Love the embellishments!  Julianne and John… Happy 44th wedding Anniversary, which, using my highly advanced detective skills and mathematical calculations, I am predicting is coming up next month! Lovely album. You haven't changed a bit!

Scrapbooking doesn't have to be all girly and pretty. It can be boyish and gorgeous. (Maybe I shouldn't use that word. I always say "hello gorgeous" when I see a particular little boy. The other week, hands on hips, he said "can you please NOT call me that word!" Oops point taken young man!) Here is a gorg  very handsome page by Judy K preserving memories of her very photogenic grandsons. Nice textures Judy. You could also make a page like this, go to a local print shop and ask them for a colour photocopy of it and keep it in an album that way if you didn't want the bulk. The photocopier would have to be big enough to do A3. But I do like the use of different materials. 

There are just 4 days until The Craft Group has it's enrolment morning! It will be really nice to see everyone again and see what creations have been made over the holidays. I will take photos and show them to you!  I have an embarrassing number of photos to put on the blog over the holidays but alas, I didn't have the time, deciding instead to spend two and a half weeks camping by the beach. *sigh* Not to mention my de-cluttering attempt when I was at home, which did see me sort some things. The problem was I ended up with a bigger mess than I started with when I pulled the carpet out of the loungeroom. Oops, I got a bit mixed up between "decluttering" and "sudden spontaneous renovating".  In my list of things, I had so many scrapbook pages photographed but I wasn't happy with the quality of my photos. They didn't do the beautiful pages justice. This term I want to start featuring some of the best pages the scrapbooking ladies have made, so...

Isn't this the MOST gorgeous scrapbooked page you have ever seen? The letter and accompanying photo is just so special. You have to read it to fully appreciate it. Judy is so blessed to have a grandduahgter who loves her so much and who has written a lovely acrostic poem to tell her so. This is Judy and her granddaughter, Jade. Hey Jade, you and your lovely letter to Grandma are now famous! We agree your Grandma is pretty special.  We especially agree with the second last line!

Driving in the car with her friends, Marjorie was encouraged to write her memoirs.  She has so many stories to tell and so she took on the challenge.  She is combining a mix of stories, photos and little memorabilia. She has also worked on a beautiful page showing her in her midwifery uniform. Look at this next one. Here is a lovely reference from her high school. Sutherland Primary School is a lovely old solid building known to everyone as the local primary school. Many people don't know that from 1928 to 1958 it was a girl's high school. Click  here  and then click on 'heritage' to read a short history of the school. On the right are photos of : * The Argyle Cut which you can  read about here * Central Railway station , Sydney. * The Sydney Harbour Bridg e from the Royal Botanical Gardens. These places are all significant in Marjorie's story. You'll have to wait til it's finished to know why! I love the idea of writing a p...

We are very excited to have our very own "Cuttlebug" at The Craft Group!!! Did we beg, borrow, steal or buy it? No, Marion won it for us! She was at the shop "Alice in Paperland" in Rydalmere, Sydney and saw they were running a competition for someone to win a Cuttlebug. Marion had to write down why she wanted to win it. Well, she has a Cuttlebug machine and dies of her own which she brings along every week to share with other ladies at The Craft Group. She explained that we are a non profit, community group. She also told them that because of health problems, it is really hard for her to bring the equipment each week. It isn't all that light when you have a good collection of dies! Well, we are very thankful... and Marion's back is very thankful that she won it :) We will slowly start up a collection of dies and embossing folders ourselves and hopefully all the ladies have a play with it and enjoy creating some beautiful scrapbook pages...

Marjorie's daughter, Pam, was visiting from Newcastle and came along to The Craft Group for the morning. Like mother, like daughter, she made a lovely page for her scrapbook album. It features her daughter Jessamyn when she was one. She is now 21! I asked Pam where she got the pretty frame that surrounds the photo. She said her mum, Marjorie bought a pack of cut outs and that was in it and so she snitched it (my word, not hers). Ahh, isn't it great when your Mum loves the same crafts as you do and buys stuff... and shares :)

I love this page by Bev, the concertina 3D flowers, the colours which compliment the photo, her balanced placement of everything on the page and the mixture of die cut lettering and her own handwriting....  and of course the beautiful grandchildren!

Our scrapbooking ladies produce some of the most gorgeous pages for their albums. Here is a work in progress by Julie-anne. I love those buttons!