A gorgeous LO and photo of your nana. You are certainly right to treasure it. I am the sentimental one in my family, the one to cling to the old family photos and memorabilia that no one else cares about when an aged family member passes on. Those things mean more than gold to me, for they are the things we can never come again, that should be preserved for future generations to respect and revere.
When my grandmother died in 1985 we discovered she had had a secret first marriage that none of us knew about. Apparently my grandparents were not married when my mom and my aunt were born, and they didn't marry until several years later. My grandmother never spoke of this secret marriage, and we would not have learned of it except for a love letter that was found after her death. My grandfather had been married previously and his first wife had been comitted to a mental institution where she lived until her death in the early 40s, about the same time my grandparents married. I can only surmise that was the reason why my grandparents had to wait to really get married.
We have found other interesting skeletons in relatives closets. I think it's exciting and I'd love to learn more about these people's lives too, just as I'm sure you'd like to learn about your nana. I don't think my grandmother had an easy life either. I hope that someday we will be together again and she will be able to tell me all about it. In the meantime I am enjoying gathering family photos and starting to scrap them. I'm just a beginner, and I love to see the amazing work other people do and hopefully gain some inspiration!
There's not much more I can say that hasn't already been said many times by everyone else. This layout is simply stunning!! This is what scrapbooking is all about!
This is just stunning!! WHAT a photo! What a beautiful couple! You really did your beautiful gramma justice with this layout! I love it. Love the colors and the entire layout is just incredibly stunning! I have several of my fav 12x12's framed around my room....if I had that one I know it would be up on the wall!! GORgeous!
This is just stunning!! WHAT a photo! What a beautiful couple! You really did your beautiful gramma justice with this layout! I love it. Love the colors and the entire layout is just incredibly stunning! I have several of my fav 12x12's framed around my room....if I had that one I know it would be up on the wall!! GORgeous!
This is just stunning!! WHAT a photo! What a beautiful couple! You really did your beautiful gramma justice with this layout! I love it. Love the colors and the entire layout is just incredibly stunning! I have several of my fav 12x12's framed around my room....if I had that one I know it would be up on the wall!! GORgeous!
You have truly created a magnificent LO. The hidden journaling is absolutely wonderful and an inspiration for those who enjoy Heritage albums. Into my favs.
Into my favorites!! I have heritage photos to scrap - I can envision my mother's HS photo using this line of papers. Thanks for the stunning inspiration Cindy!!
This is one of the most beautiful layouts I've seen. Perfect choices on everything, I especially like how you did the pullout. One to save for inspiration, thanks for sharing it!
CINDY!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY I want to print this out and put it up on my inspiration wall!!! Or maybe my living room!! So what if it's not my family? It ROCKS!!! It's absolutely gorgeous, girl, and a FANTASTIC contest entry! I could go on forever, but I'll leave it as LUSH, ELEGANT, FRESH, STUNNING, AMAZING and, if I were a judge, most definitely a winner!!!!
Thkis page is stunning! The picture is truly wonderful! The BG papers are perfect for this LO! I love the hidden journaling! You did a fabulous job on this page!
I am speechless! What an awesome beauty she was, truly 'Bella'!! You layout is stunning! It's a sure winner in my book! Even now as I look at it again, I am taken by the beauty of it! She is simply lovely and her dress is exquisite! And the layout is breathtaking!!!
I am speechless! What an awesome beauty she was, truly 'Bella'!! You layout is stunning! It's a sure winner in my book! Even now as I look at it again, I am taken by the beauty of it! She is simply lovely and her dress is exquisite! And the layout is breathtaking!!!
OMG this is absolutely gorgeous and I mean drop dead gorgeous!! I love the papers you used and your journaling is perfection!! And that BG papers was the perfect pick!! Stunning pic!! WINNER! WINNER!
LOVE EVERYTHING!!!! It's elegant and stunning and heartfelt and just truly beautiful!!! Understated elegance at its very best!!!!! Rooting for you all the way!
This is really what it's really all about, isn't it?
You've created a beautiful way to commemorate a treasure from the past. Whether it's a photo from yesterday or a portrait from long ago, I think we're all trying in our own ways to do what you've accomplished here.
Cheers to you!
OMG Cindy! This is soooo perfect! I love all the little touches you've made, the flourishes, the ribbon, the tag, the stamps. The journaling is so heartfelt and moving. I love that picture, indeed, your nana is so beautiful and so was her gown. This is definitely not plain and boring! Straight to my faves! May I scraplift this? It's a great wedding page! :)
This is STUNNING!!! I keep staring at it in absolute awe! You are right, the BG papers are perfect, and your design and journaling just make it a gorgeous, winning entry!!! Best of luck in the contest - you have done a magnificent job on this!!!
WOWOWOWOWOOW!!!!! This is stunning!!!!! Love the elegant pps, the frame (especially the rounded part that holds the hidden journaling), and the great journaling about this gorgeous pic; tfs :)
Absolutely GORGEOUS! What an elegant page for a beautiful woman and dress! i love the intracacies of this LO. Love the detail and the journaling. It is a perfect LO! Great job! Winner for sure!!
This is absolutely the most stunning layout I've seen! You were right to wait for the right papers to come along and these are just perfect. Your journaling is very much heartfelt and really tells alot about your grandmother. I wish I had more pictures of my grandmother when she was younger. This layout really makes me wistful about my past and how much I don't know! Again, superb job!
Wow! This is absolutely gorgious! When I went to get my BG stash, I didn't pick those papers because I wasn't sure how to use them, this is just wonderful, now I've got to get those papers to use on one of my layouts! Your layout is definately going into my favs! TFS
This layout is one that I've wanted to do for as long as I've been scrapping, however never could seem to quite find the right papers. Thankfully, Urban Couture came along! It's perfect for what I had in mind.
The journaling is hidden on a sheet that slides out from behind the large photo. The rounded part of the frame is actually the top of hidden journaling. I created a sleeve for the sheet to slide into so that it would hold the correct placement since it is a key part of the page design.
I've also stamped a small flourish (Heidi Swapp "Drama" foam stamps) under the title to carry some of the yellow from the Urban Couture paper up higher on the border framing the title.
The scan is cutting off just the tiniest margins of the background paper (BG Ruby Shoes) from the top and bottom of the layout.
Thanks for looking!
TITLE: Bella
PRODUCTS: Cardstock (all Bazzill) - Beetle, Red Robin and Chowder Patterned papers (all Basic Grey) - Fusion (Ruby Shoes); Urban Couture (Jacquard and Brocade); and Black Tie (Diamante) [i]Rubons[/i]- Basic Grey Holy Cow black alphabet Basic Grey Holy Cow white flourish (on top of journaling card) Heidi Swapp Scrapbook Scenery Diamond Drama 2 (directly on photo) All My Memories Decorate Ribbon Deep Black (striped) Heidi Swap Chipboard letters - Crimson upper and lower case (title) Heidi Swapp Silhouette Images - Shapes black (on date tag) Basic Grey [un]dressed chipboard tag Heidi Swapp foam stamps - Drama
Non sponsor products Making Memories Scrapbook Colors paint - banana Melissa Francis Monogram Transfer frames (on date tag) Crat-T Products Metallic (cream) rub-ons "ruby" (used to color date tag) Colorbox Fluid Chalk inkpad - Chestnut Roan Hero Arts Shadow Ink - soft grey
JOURNALING: "Que Bella! That’s what comes to mind when I see this photo. The phrase means “how beautiful” in both Spanish and Italian, and it seems a perfect statement on this portrait. This beauty is my grandmother Maria de Jesus, known to her grandchildren simply as Nana Mary.
Our family is fortunate to have some beautiful portraits of Nana Mary when she was young. She was striking, photogenic and clearly enjoyed having her picture taken. Of all the early images of Nana, this one intrigues me the most.
There are so many things about this portrait that I adore. It’s a work of photographic art, elegant and sophisticated. I love her non-traditional yet perfectly chosen bouquet of calla lilies picked from the family’s garden. I’m fascinated by the absolutely tranquil and serene expression on Nana’s face. Most of all, she is wearing the most stunning wedding dress I think I’ve ever seen, and I only recently learned she made this couture gown with its frothy train herself. This photo is a family treasure cherished by all her descendants and often referred to simply as “Nana’s picture”.
The portrait, however, is most compelling to me for the untold stories that lie within. I want to know more about the woman in the portrait. Who was she? What were her hopes? Her dreams? What attracted her to this man that she married? What were those early years like for her? How did she cope when he abandoned her?
Nana was very reserved when discussing her past. She wouldn’t talk about that first marriage. Despite its beautiful inception it ended after less than ten years, leaving her alone with three small children in the middle of a world war. Joe left the country and returned to his native Mexico. I can’t help but wonder what affect this had on Nana. Did this contribute to the hard, bitter side of her that we sometimes saw?
Happily she found a new love and remarried, so maybe it was respect for Grandpa Mike that kept her quiet. Or perhaps simple vanity was at the root. She had been such a beauty and as the years passed she seemed to find aging difficult. Whatever the case, it was a closed chapter and try as we might we could not find a way to re-open it.
Sadly, Nana has passed now so there are no more opportunities to unlock the mysteries of this portrait. I don’t expect to find answers to my questions, but I keep hoping somehow that I will."
The portrait was taken by Ricci Studios of Los Angeles (apparently no longer in business).
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