Thursday 6 February 2014

Scrapbooking With Tartan

Hey there, folks. I hope you are feeling a lot brighter there than we are here on this blustery Thursday morning! We are working our way through a virus which hit yesterday. The (Not So)Small One tells us all the grown ups in school have it, and the kids are just fine. That sounds like a recipe for a whole lot of free classes to me..

Here, I'm trying to think of all the things I had been going to say about the page I made for today:

From High In The Sky - scrapbooking with tartan for Get It Scrapped

Maybe I was going to start with the tartan trousers I made for myself when I was heading off to college for the first time. Black Watch tartan, which I wore with a dark green jacket I had knitted. I thought I looked great. Ah, hindsight...

Or maybe I was going to tell the story of the very, very strange Halloween night when we were driving back  from Ikea in Edinburgh and all the lights in the car went out, and we lost an hour somewhere, and we ended up driving past Robbie Burns Cottage when that wasn't really where we were meant to be at all..no, I think I'm still saving that one up for the right time of year. It's a little spooky..


Or I could have been going to say that I nearly made a page about Edinburgh Rock, which is one of my favourite sweet treats (and which I finally learned to make for myself with this Edinburgh Rock Recipe). 

That photo, in that recipe post, shows us on our very first trip to Edinburgh, when Tall and Small were still not very old at all. We thought, then, what a beautiful city it was and how we would like to go back. So we did, several times; and then this year, of course it became a term time home for the little boy in that picture. So that's what my page is about. How you can go somewhere, see it through one set of eyes, not knowing what is to come in the future. And then,you  visit again, and see it all from a totally different perspective. I love this city. I've told The Tall One that, if he stays after graduation, I shall open a coffee shop or a sandwich business on The Royal Mile and visit him every day. He says he isn't too worried. He has tasted my sandwiches and I'll not be bothering Pret a Manger any time soon. Time will tell, time will tell..



This page was made for Get It Scrapped's article on Creative Techniques for Scrapbooking With Plaid Patterned Paper. Once I had determined that they were asking for what we call tartan, I decided I wanted to do a fresh look: tartan for today, something modern looking, so I kept the colours as light as I could and I used two sizes of the pattern, from a 12x12 sheet and an 8x8 pad. It's actually from a Halloween collection from October Afternoon, so, yes, I have saved the rest for the Robbie Burns page! In fact, I've saved the rest and found some more. I have a feeling this won't be the last Scottish page I'll be making over the next few years.

Happy Thursday!

30 comments:

Barbara Eads said...

Plaids are often my "go to" pattern paper. It mixes so well. I've also used the same pictures to tell multiple stories. I figure, they will be in different books, so it does't matter. The little bits of doily at the top add a nice texture to your page.

Karen said...

As always, I love the storytelling as much as the layout, but I do love the collage of photos and paper, and that lovely camera clip! You're so right about places, too. We loved San Francisco when we first visited with two teenagers. Who knew Sarah would live nearby for four years, and we would get a chance to know it more intimately.

Ruth said...

Funny how you can fall in love with a place on the first visit ~ as you know, that happened to me when I visited you and your city!
I like the idea of Sian's "caff" ~ more lace doilies than greasy spoon, I should think! Love the whole retro feel of your page.

Jennifer Shaw said...

A great page and I love the look of plaid especially for a framed page. A fun perspective for your journaling. Yes, we never know where the future will take us.

scrappyjacky said...

It's a great page....and I love how that tiny tartan surround pulls it altogether perfectly.

debs14 said...

How strange that you've ended up with a tie to the city after all these years.
My son's favourite coffee shop is The Brew Lab. I wonder if your son has discovered it yet?

Mel said...

I don't think that I've ever scrapbooked plaid but it works for you on this page.
My mom dug out a photo of a family trip to Harrogate when I was only small and this is where I ended up having Ellis! I definitely plan to scrapbook that one as growing up down south I don't think I imagined that would be the outcome!

Lou said...

and you pulled it off too..a fabulous page Sian. I remember wearing a tartan kilt skirt when i was young and the lovely pin holding it together x

Sandie said...

A lovely page Sian and a lovely post. Edinburgh is still on my list of places to visit. It is indeed strange how a place can have different meanings over the years and how we never know when we will be drawn back.
By the way, I love the image of the tartan trousers and knitted jacket ;)

Miriam said...

Oh you are a wonderful story teller Sian. Your page is lovely too. I hope the virus passes soon.

Amy said...

Our little moment comes from visiting an outback town 17 years ago - we had a unique experience there and in years to come I have found out it is the hometown of one of my closest online friends ... very strange since the population must be a maximum of around 100 people!

Nathalie said...

What a great prompt that makes the wheels turn in my brain! So inspiring! It's also interesting how the modern colors make the tartan less noticeable

Maria Ontiveros said...

We stayed a week in Edinburgh the first time we took a family trip to Europe. Henry had a great time in the Scottish Football Association camp; Clara and I loved shopping and taking side trips out to Stirling and Glasgow, but mostly we loved strolling around the city which I thought resembled one large museum because all the buildings and statues were some gorgeous.
Rind

Anonymous said...

Love the page and this post made me smile. I once made a page called I love you but I don't always like you. on which Gracia and I listed things we loved about each other and things we didn't. One of the things she listed was I don't like you coming out with me in those green trousers - you guessed it - they were my black watch tartan ones and I thought they were very stylish!

alexa said...

I think this is one of my favourite pages of yours, Sian! The mix of colours, the angles, the use of black and white ( or sepia, I am not quite sure), is visually stunning.

Melissa said...

A fabulous page Sian & a great story about the town and how it plays in your family's story - then & now.

Sheena said...

What a wonderful story, beautifully told, as always x
I've only been there once over 10 years ago now but reading this I want to go back...

Jo said...

A great layout and some lovely snippets of stories :)

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

I just love your little stories, Sian. And so funny that your boy isn't worried about you opening a sandwich shop any time soon.

Lovely layout - it's so fun to study all of your sweet details. xo

Ifa said...

LOL...he might not like your sandwiches but others might ? I have said to my boys I am buying the house next door to them to be near but then obviously I can't buy two set of houses...hmmm. Sorry I haven't visited for a while.

Lizzie said...

When I come to High in the Sky, it's storytelling I enjoy as much as the great scrapbook pages that accompanies those stories.
And you didn't disappoint this time either. I love TTO's comments about your prospective sandwich shop. I like those photos - we all made our first trip to Edinburgh last summer, on a day trip from Berwick-on-Tweed, where we were staying. We also thought it was a lovely city (though somewhat overcrowded, as it was The Festival & Fringe time!)... I think we'll go back.
The plaid is fun too. Is that one a Tartan, or is it just a plaid with no Family or Clan? Anyway, it's a nice one.
Great page, great stories; as always, great fun!

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

Isn't it funny to think of you all there when your children were small, with no idea of what the future would bring. I think we will probably end up moving to wherever S wants to go to uni so that we can support him. Hope he chooses somewhere nice!

Micupoftea said...

LOVE the clean, crisp style and neg space! Unique design :)

Carmen said...

I love tartan. LOVE it. Love Edinburgh too - Greyfriars Bobby always makes me a little sad. I still yearn for a pair of tartan trousers and from as far back as I can remember, when I used to plan what MY house would be like as a child, I always wanted a green tartan sofa. Still do.

Love this page Sian - I'd come to your tea shop ;) Ooh and I need to read that Robbie Burns story!

Alison said...

Love the comment about your sandwiches...lovely layout,
Alison xx

Lisa-Jane said...

I love the little pops of tartan - very modern indeed :)

Susanne said...

Tartan and deer heads - now there's something I never thought about for scrapbooking. And of course, you gave them both a fresh airy look. You do amaze me.

Ginger said...

I don't think there is enough plaid paper! It's a pretty layout :)

Jennifer Grace said...

I love thinking of you visiting there with a small boy and him studying there as a Tall One! It makes me wonder where my little one's feet will tread as they grow! The thistles on here look very cool! x

Anonymous said...

Great looking layout Sian and I got a chuckle out of TTO's thoughts on your sandwiches.

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