Gardening Celebration Space

I wanted to do a Mother's Day celebration space, but it was only for a day. The work to shop my home, design the space with what I have found, and make it aesthetically pleasing is too much for just a day display. 

In the end I decided to put together a gardening theme. My mother was an avid gardener and had a beautiful flower garden in the back of her house. So this was my tribute to my mum, who passed away in 2004, ten years ago.

I didn't think I had a lot for this space, but as it turned out I did. I made a trip to Dollarama and found a wire fence, and fake grass, as well as some silk flowers and windmills. I had the flower pots, the watering can, the trowel and gloves, and I had that adorable bird, that I have used countless times, that was a Christmas gift from one of my kids at school.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out and I think my mum would enjoy it, too.

Scrapbook layout of Mum's flowers

Who knew??

I actually did another layout today.  Must be on a roll!  I have been sick almost all week and haven't had the energy to do anything.  Now it looks like I'm a scrapper all over again!

Seems to be blurry here!  Anyway this is a couple of photos of my parents and their long time friends.  My mum is the one who looks like she's about to be under the table!  While I was home in England this past summer, my mum's long time friend Connie died.  She is the one in the top left corner.  So now I figure the two of them are raising hell in heaven!

Christmas 2003

After a really long time I finally got a 2 page layout done.  I realized that the mess on my workspace was not allowing me to even envision anything creative.

So I cleared it off and immediately got inspired to get busy creating a layout.

I chose 2 sketches by Valerie  Salmon, that complemented each other.

My mum spent her last Christmas with my sister Lorna and her family.  We had no idea that it would be her last one, but they sure do look happy.



The paper, poem and some of the embellishments came from a swap that I did over 5 years ago.  I wish I could remember who gave it to me, but I think it may have been from a yahoo group that I used to belong to, PST.

LayOut A Day LOAD

I am participating in the LOAD (layout a day) challenge on bigpicturescrappbooking.com and have so far managed to keep up. However it isn't always a layout, some times I have made cards, when time is limited or my inspiration is lost.

Below are the pages I have created so far.

Camping at Brightlingsea

Way back in 1966 I was around 10ish and my dad decided to take our family on our first camping trip. A friend of his loaned us a tent which looked more like a marquee, and after setting it up in the back yard to make sure he knew what went where, we discovered that 6 of us fit into it with lots of room.

We set off for Brightlingsea, a seaside resort about half an hour from our home. The tent was pitched and we started our holiday. There was freedom back then for children to explore without the fear of abuction. My siblings and I did a lot of exploring. That night after Mum made us dinner on a propane powered stove top, we settled down for a good night's sleep. What a night! No one could get comfortable. Sleeping on the ground with no mattress was new to all us kids. There were countless complaints!

Next morning Dad drove home and sort out all kinds of cushions from our house. Couch cushions, pillows, even the actual foam seating from our couch! So that night we all slept a lot better!

Here is a layout that I just completed today. Here you can see the opening of the tent with my older brother and my 2 younger sisters. I think the youngest would have been about 3 or 4.

David went for a boat ride, and I love the picture of me and my sisters waving him off!

The Many faces of Mum and Dad

Mum and Dad came to visit me in 1997 a few months after George's death. It was great to have their support and feel their comfort for that very difficult time. It was harder to say good bye at the airport this time.

Mum's Memorial

My mum died suddenly from complications during surgery in July 2004. We whipped up these cards that everyone could take away with them.
In Loving Memory of
Eileen Hicken
16:08:29 - 21:07:04
Beloved Wife
Devoted Mother
Much Loved Grandmother
Loving Sister
Thoughtful Mother0in-law
Caring Friend

Our Hearts Ache With Sadness
But Memories Of You Will Comfort Us

Daddy O

This is one of my favourite 8 1/2 x 11 layouts. It is my dad, whose nickname is Chick, and my mum sometime in the 60's.