You inspire me...

Hey girls :) 

This month, as soon as I saw the challenge over at Once Upon A Sketch and this beautiful sketch

I knew what I wanted to say with my layout. There are many people that inspire me every day but there is only one that is with me for more than 35 years, constantly inspiring... 

My love for books started at a very young age... anyways, the journaling which I started writing on the tags, took almost all the back of the layout to finish... I wanted to say so much... it reads: 

"My oldest friend... you keep inspiring me after so many years of being together. We met when I was so young, remember the day I opened a present and there you were? I am ashamed to remember the pout on my face when I saw you... you were not a usual gift for a little girl, especially then, especially in my family of farmers, especially in rural Greece of the 1970's.  I now know that the present  was a very wise choice, the person who gave it to me had the same need for refuge.. she might 've been much older than me but she grew up with the same difficulties. And she knew... 

Reluctantly I gave you a chance... and then the magic happened... You were my silence when the shouting around me was unbearable... You were my laughter when I wanted to cry... You were my tears when I needed to let them go... You were the only one I reached for when the pain was too much... and you were always there... never disappointed me. 

You introduced me to friends, to characters that I still love... you showed me places and other parts of the world, in the future, present and past... You were my serenity when everything was going wrong and as a child I kept looking at you for refuge, in fact I still do sometimes, although I have many people that love and support me in my life... You are a big part of myself and of what I am today... you inspired me to be stronger, to look up and hope... it didn't matter that your characters were not real, for me they were, they fought for what they believed in, for what they deserved, for the things they wanted, for the love they wanted, they were brave, they overcame obstacles, they laughed at themselves, they helped others, they fell madly in love, they loved deeply, they wanted to be happy, they lived in the moment, they always won at the end (well, most of the times... )

For all the inspiration for greatness, thank you. I may have not reached it yet, but I have come a long, long way from that frightened little girl who used to fall asleep with you in her arms.
You are still with me in this journey and you will always be my friend....
always... "

Thank you for visiting ladies

Sleeping angel

Hi ladies!

Today I made a layout for my beloved nephew and his cute little face when he sleeps. When he's awake he's a force of nature but look at him now... such an angel!

I used the sketch #126 from Sketchabilities ,

lots of paper layering and splashes of colours with mists! I used gesso and stamps and modelling paste to make a base layer for my photo. Sis, it's in the mail :)

Without you I'm nothing!

Κοριτσάκια η καινούργια πρόκληση στο Scraps N Pieces Challenge Blog ετοιμάστηκε, φόρεσε τα καλά της και έκανε την εμφάνισή της! Σας περιμένουμε όλες να παίξουμε! ΟΛΕΣ, με κοιτάτε καλά καλά κι εσείς οι πίσω που σκύβετε;;; ναι, ναι κι εσάς ;) 

Το θέμα μας αυτό το μήνα είναι 

Δημιουργήστε λοιπόν για κάτι που χωρίς αυτό δεν μπορείτε να ζήσετε ;) Ο τίτλος είναι προαιρετικός. 

Γι αυτή την πρόκληση λοιπόν, έφτιαξα μία art journal σελίδα για κάτι που όντως δεν μπορώ να ζήσω χωρίς αυτό. Χρώμα! 

Το background έχει γίνει με τα καινούργια Distress Stain Sprays 

του αγαπημένου μου Tim Holtz <3 

Κάθε φσσσστ και χαμόγελο στη μούρη μου παιδιά, μ' αρέσουν πάρα πολύ! Modelling paste με το καινούργιο μου στένσιλ της 7dots που πολύ μ' αρέσει και δεν είχα τέτοιο (ακριβώς ίδιο... καταλαβαίνετε, είχα ένα ψιλοπαρόμοιο αλλά ακριβώς ίδιο δεν είχα, οπότε δεν ΕΠΡΕΠΕ να πάρω;;;;) 

Οι κοπελιές είναι με στένσιλ του Andy Skinner (τα οποία είναι τα καλύτερα στένσιλ που έχω ποιοτικά, μακράάάν από όλα τα άλλα και έχουν και τη μάσκα μέσα! αμέ! δεν το πετάξαν το μέσα ή να το πουλήσουν ξεχωριστά! όόόχιιιι το βάλαν μαζί γιατί ξέρουν ότι υπάρχουν και φτωχές ψυχές) και βαμμένα με μαύρο γκέσο. Φυσικά δεν λείπει και το λευκό Uniball. 

Ελάτε να δείτε τι έφτιαξαν τα ταλαντούχα κορίτσια του DT αυτό το μήνα και ελπίζουμε να σας εμπνεύσουμε να παίξετε μαζί μας! 

Φιλάκιααααααα

Ahoy!

Hello :)

You know about the crop we organized as the ScrapsNPieces design team and the super fun time we had. It was October 19th and we used the new collection Thoughts Keeper, by 7dots. It was coming just off the press, so we were biting our nails if it would actually arrive on time for us to make the kits. But after a loooot of worrying it was here and it was fabulous. 

But since it was Thoughts Keeper we used and in the frenzy of organizing the crop I didn't even look at the this one. I have to tell you, now that I had time to play with it.... it's amazing!!!! I loved Thoughts Keeper but this one, Destination Unknown, I fell in love with! I actually have a lot of pictures of my hubbys love, sailing, that the Destination Unknown collection is perfect for!!! 

For this layout I used scraps of paper and book pages and lots of gesso (but you can't see most of it since its behind the photo. I used a sort of velum page from a maritime office (thanks Roula!) that had maps for harbours on or something like that, I actually have no idea what those symbols mean ;) 

Stencils, modelling paste, mists, stamps, twine... and voila: 

Of course I'm entering the 7dots textures October challenge with this layout :) They only asked for two different textures... well I must have more than 5 on there :) 

Thanks for visiting, see you soon! 

You make me happy!

I've been feeling creative lately... it comes and it goes but I hope it stays for a while this time... You know how it is, you get messy and you smile. 

I know it will sound strange but I find inspiration in my daughters smile. She laughs at the most trivial things and I look at her, amazed, how she finds happiness in everything. She's crazy and loud and never stops moving and I find myself trying to imitate her spirit. To find happiness in the little things. 

As a good (and wise) friend of mine said, stop trying to be perfect, stop worrying over every little thing. You can't be perfect and the sooner you accept your imperfections the better will be for you. I try... I need to try harder. 

But I'm so happy when I play with my daughter and she laughs out loud with a stupid face I make or a skit we make our dolls do... So for my daughter, I made this.. colourful and fun

How can you not smile when you see that face? 

I am participating in the Get Messy Challenge over at Frosted Designs and The Studio Challenges. I used a script stamp for the background so I enter at the Mixed Media Monthly challenge too. 

Thanks for visiting :)