In Loving Memory of Dad . . .

In Loving Memory Donnie Spencer 7/22/1936 - 3/10/2015

Its been nearly a year since I posted anything to my blog and with the arrival of spring, I finely feel ready to return to my creative work.  I needed to take some time off after my dad passed away last March.  He was 78 years old, had a loving wife, two daughters, five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.  Dad had been ill for many years and he put up a courageous and brave fight.  Even though I thought I was prepared, at least intellectually, when the time came, my heart and spirit were broken and the journey towards acceptance began. 

My dad was a self made man with little more than a 7th grade education.  Yet he was fascinated with anything and everything mechanical.  He had a beautifully inventive and creative mind, was a very accomplished master machinist and innovative mechanic.  My dad was adventurous and loved the outdoors, especially isolated places where no one else could be found.  He taught me how to camp in the wilderness, build a camp fire, fish in steams and in the ocean.  Since he was so mechanically inclined, he passed that along also..  I grew up being his 'monkey wrench' fetching every tool imaginable from his vast collections at the shop.  

As an accomplished race car driver in the 60's, he  taught me to work on cars and how to drag race.  I learned everything from how to do a simple tune up and change tires, to fixing or replacing transmissions, drive trains, engines and everything in between.  At age 5 years old, to the horror of my mom, I water skied on dads shoulders in the ocean.  At age 7 he taught me to ride my first motorcycle and let me drive the boat.  Dad always hoped for a boy, but was quite happy teaching his little tom boy instead.  I'm not sure how many little girls out there got fishing reels and rods, riding boots and leathers, or car spoilers for their birthdays, but these were contestants in my life.  When I was 10 years old, he helped host my Camp Fire Girl troop.  On our last night, following our bead ceremony, he had taught the girls so much about the wilderness, we gave him an honorary Native American Indian name "The Great White Father."  He was proud of that name and certainly lived up to it. 

Dad loved his family and many friends, and lit up when he was inventing, tinkering with projects, walking the pits at the drag races, attending the rodeo and watching John Wayne movies.  As his illness progressed he was content to remissness about the 'good ole days,' and enjoyed the races, rodeo and movies from the comfort of his favorite chair.   He held fast to traditional values and was proud to be a a Spencer.  Dad was always curious and resourceful, frequently stubborn and opinionated, but at his core he was a kind enough to give you the shirt off his back, loving enough to say so and help in any way he could, and he was a true dreamer.   

My father touched many, many lives in so many ways, I know I'm not alone in missing him.  Thank you for loving me and always being there for me.  I am blessed to have you as a dad and grateful that you will always be with me.  With all the love a daughter has to give, may your heart and soul always know how much you are loved.   May you forever abide in the kind of love, peace and joy that makes your cup overflow.

Spring is here, the flowers are blooming and song birds have arrived.  The beautiful blue jays have returned to nest once again in my yard.  Three is so much life and rebirth with spring, my spirit has been lifted and renewed.  Its time to follow my creative dreams once again.   Thank you for joining me in these sweet memories.  For all of us who have loved and lost, peace be with you. ~ Dawna

Love, Cherish and Adore

Hi Friends,

Happy National Scrapbook Day!  I hope my scrappy friends are working their paper magic today.  I'm dropping by to share my latest layout of my endearing grandparents John and Vesta Jones.  Last summer I was able to visit my dad and he wanted me to have this lovely picture of them.  Although they didn't live nearby, my parents took me to see them several times when I was a little and the one thing I remember so clearly about them is how sweet they were on one another.  I think this photo captures their love for each other perfectly! 

Their sweet smiles ooze happiness to me and I can imagine grandma leaning her head back oh so slightly for a little cuddle against grandpa's shoulder.  They are so sweet together, I wanted their photo to take center stage on this vintage inspired layout.  To do that, I kept the design fairly simple but played up a few simple techniques to create loads of great dimension.   

I started by cutting a this lovely photo frame and shadow from my Cricut using the CTMH Artiste cartridge.  I placed it center stage and layered it up with cardboard so I would have plenty of room to tuck goodies here and there to give the layout a sense of  balance.  Then I sewed around the bottom layer using black to give it a subtle pop of contrast:  

I used the same layering technique to lift the double punched corners, printed flowers and balloon.  This simple step adds so much depth to your layout, I just love the added dimension.  

To increase the vintage appeal I tucked some beautiful cream colored Venice lace just along the bottom of the frame.  This also helped to soften the bold color of the coral hand rolled tattered roses.  See how nicely the added dimension lets you layer in the flowers and leaves tucked here and their around the ornate frame. 

I finished off the layout by adding my chipboard titles "Love, Cherish & Adore."  I finished them with Pearl Drops in Avocado color and added a layer of glossy accents to give them some shine.   And finely I added stickles to the leaves (using eucalyptus), flower centers and rolled rose edges (using fruit punch), and white roses (using diamond) for some pretty sparkle. 

Well friends that's it for me today.  I want to thank you for dropping by and I hope you take the time to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day by creating something from your heart!  Hugs ~ Dawna

Romantic Parisian Inspired Envelope Mini Album

Morning Friends,

Today I'm sharing this pretty vintage style envelope mini album I created for my dear friend Susie (aka Scrap Smart) in a swap being hosted by Ilovepapillons at sb.com.  Susie loves all things vintage and feminine so I decided to use a mix of two of my favorite paper collections (Prima's Romance Novel and Marion Smith's Garment District) to make her this romantic vintage style, Parisian inspired envelope mini album.  

Side view of envelopes and cards assembled

The album cover measures 8x6 with a 3 inch spine.  The envelope pages were created using 6 each standard A7 black envelopes.   And the photo wallets with photo waterfalls were created from the A7 cards.  Once assembled there is enough room for 54 matted photos, and 23 journaling tags.  That's plenty of room for Susie to document whatever her heart desires!  

Finished Envelope Pages with File Folder Photo Wallet Cards

To create the envelope pages, the envelope flaps were sealed closed first.  Then all four sides were trimmed down by 1/8." The front and back of the envelopes were covered with distressed paper leaving a 1/4" frame.  Then I closed up the top and bottom of each envelope by scoring a 3" wide strip cardstock in half, punching it with a Martha Stewart daisy edge punch.  I burnished the fold then sandwiched the open envelope ends back together by gluing the daisy strips to the outside of the envelopes to close them back up.  This allowed the photo wallets to fit snugly into their envelopes without any slop.  The punched  bottom boarders double as stops for the journaling tags and the decorated burlap belly bands hold the tags safely in place.   Finely, the remaining open envelope bottoms were secured with score tape over the spines hidden hinge binding system.    The only opening left is the outside for holding the photo card wallets in place. 

  Envelope Pages Sandwiched Back Together with Daisy Punch Strips

The photo wallets were created from the A7 cards.  I used the We Are Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board tool to create two sets of three staggered file folder tabs for words.  I left the left side of the cards straight so they fit flat and evenly inside their envelopes against the hidden hinge. 

Outside File Folders with Word Tabs

Inside File Folders with 3 Tier Photo Waterfalls

Photo Card Wallet out of its Envelope

I covered the left inside of the cards, front and back outsides with distressed paper leaving a 1/4" frame (see above).  The right inside of the photo card wallet features the 3 tier photo waterfall (also, see above). 

File Folder Tabs Facing Spine

When the cards are in their envelopes, the tabs face towards the spine (see above) to prevent the tabs from getting tattered by the elastic loop closure or by repeated use (see below).  

Elastic Loop Closure

Now that you have a good idea of how the album was created, lets look through its lovely pages:

Page 1 Folded Out

Page 2 Folded Out

Page 3 Folded Out

Page 4 Folded Out

Page 5 Folded Out

Page 6 Folded Out

Inside of the Back Cover

The inside back cover has a large deep pocket which has been popped up with foam tape to create enough depth to hide the metal tip of the elastic closure loop.  The outside of the back cover is sweet and simple:

Back Cover

Now lets have a closer look at the front cover:

Front Cover

The front cover features a sweet picture of Susie and her dear husband in the foreground of the Eiffel Tower.  The wooden frame and chipboard corners were embossed with gold to go with the gold lace covering the album spine.  A pretty crystal knob and elastic loop act as a closure to keep everything nice and neat,    The cover was embellished by layering a vintage Prima flower, with Prima's filigree leaves, a few black Prima bumper flowers, a gold tulle bow, gold ribbon, and a handmade stickpin.    

Finished Spine

The spine is decorated by layering it with burlap, black ribbon and has a back to back layer of gold Venice lace.  As a final touch, a chunky brass charm adorns the spine with Parisian and vintage inspired tassels, chains and trinkets.  

Chunky Charm Close Up

Well friends that's it for me today.  Wishing you all a wonderful Good Friday!  Until next time, create something beautiful from your heart and choose to live your  life inspired!  Big Hugs ~ Dawna