Photo Find

I love looking through photos. This is always the inspiration I need when stuck for ideas for a layout. I found this photo just recently and the colours were not too bad as it had been sitting in a box for years. My favourite prints which had been on display are the ones that are fades and unfortunately in some cases irreparably damaged.

This layout was created from a scanned photo of Myself and Mum. I love this photo. Me with a spade and Mum with one of our Chinese army bags probably containing some rocks we have found. I love fossicking out in the Australian bush. Nothing like the smell of eucalyptus. So distinctly Australian.

Note to Mum: HELP!!! Mum do you remember this holiday? I think this was on our holiday to Bairnsdale where Ross and I met you, Dad and Jetty Boy. All morning I have been trying to think of the name of the wonderful red rocks we found that were full of fossils. My mind is blank..... Help! I'd love to polish the faces of one of my stones.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Change of scene

Life is chaotic at the moment and the more chaotic and unpredictable my everyday life the more I crave peace and simplicity. Translated into real, (digital "real")  life this means that my blog now has a makeover and my recent digital scrapbooking layouts are also simpler and cleaner. If my life ever really became less stressful I'd probably start scrapping like one of those amazing Brazilian scrappers.

Anyway back to my new blog photo which is immediately identifiable if you have ever travelled to this country. It was taken in Myanmar last December. For those who don't know where I am talking about, Myanmar is also known in the west as Burma. But please do not use the name Burma, although this is what our leaders like to use to refer to the country. I think they do this as they believe using the official term Myanmar gives some sort of acknowledgement to the corrupt military regime. This is wrong!

Burma is the name that was given to the country by Britain when they were the rulers and it refers to the largest ethnic group the Burmans. This group however is only one of many ethnic groups so the name effectively disenfranchises everyone else. The people in Myanmar always refer to their country as Myanmar. It may not be perfect but that is the name.

The photo was taken in the backwaters behind Sittwe travelling to Mrau Oo.  The boat trip can take anything from 3 to 7 hours depending on tides but it is no difficulty as the scenery is just wonderful with glimpses into the daily life of the local people. Our boat on the way up had a roof deck with a few deck chairs where we lounged. Here are some more photos.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Travel memories

I'm slowly scanning in the boxes of slides from my travels. Sometimes it really does seem so long ago especially when I look at photos taken in the late 70's and 80's. It is wonderful at times to make a discovery of a photo that really stirs the memories or evokes the time and place. A few I have picked out to scrap in layouts. These will not be co-ordinated travel books as I did for one of our trips to India but more a collection of pages with notes from my travel diaries. I am thoroughly enjoying the trips down memory lane.

Orissa in Eastern India

Beidai He in China

Swat Valley in Pakistan

Central Highlands of Yemen

Bali (as if you couldn't tell)

Photos are linked if you are interested in seeing the credits or a larger size.

Love beyond measure...

There has always been a special bond between my eldest daughter and our Kelpie. It started when Amber was 3 and we had just purchased our little puppy. We were struggling to try and find a name when suddenly Amber came out with "Cheetah". If you know anything about kelpies you would know just how perfect this name was. Cheetah has just turned 14 and is not as fast as a Cheetah now but still has the tenacity of her namesake, Cushings disease and all.

Here are some recent layouts:

Credits for all layouts can be found here. All by Studio Ztampf!

July Guild Kit and Weekend Sale