Shimelle Sketch: Fort Cornwallis

I am struggling to keep up with my blog reader. I am one of the dinosaurs who loves Google Reader and I am really sad that it is disappearing later in the year. I still haven't decided where to transfer my blog list to - I have heard good things about Feedly but I have not had time to look into it any further. The reason that I mention this is that I am about five posts behind Shimelle Laine's blog at present. I thought this sketch was quite current but alas it isn't so. On the upside, I have a lot of great posts to look forward to if I ever get the chance to catch up.

The sketch I was drawn to was this one.

It is lovely and simple but with room to play. Just the way I like it!

 

Here is my take. I kept pretty much to the sketch although my photos were a bit smaller than 4 x 6. In lieu of patterned paper, I used a double strip of the gorgeous ombre washi that came with my Studio Calico February kit, Front Row. The colours from the tape blended so nicely with the patterned papers from the kits and helped showcase all the gorgeous tropical greenery at Fort Cornwallis. I love the AC Kitten Thickers on this layout too. It all just makes my heart happy. I suspect I may go back and outline the Penang at the very bottom of the layout as it is getting a little lost on the tape.

These photos are from our trip to Penang with my Dad last year. We visited Fort Cornwallis on the first day I felt halfway human. It was a nice little outing and it was good to see more of Penang than the beaches and great restaurants. There was a very sweet little cemetery there with graves of the early European settlers. The tropical climate was very hard on the women and children and it was really quite poignant.

By the time this post goes live I will be in Malaysia having a short break in Kuala Lumpur. For those who celebrate, have a wonderful holy season and for those who don't, enjoy your long weekend. We hope to.

Lanterns : A Shimelle Sketch

Sometimes you see a sketch and you think that will be a good creative prompt and it is, for that one layout. Other times you see a sketch and you know you will use it over and over again. This is one such sketch.

People get into scrapbooking for many reasons and for me it was a combination of the old favourite, just having had a baby, and a love of all the pretty patterned paper. I adored all the pretty patterned paper but I also found it totally overwhelming when I first started. As a result, I have some seriously unusable paper stashed away in drawers and I joined Studio Calico to save me from making too many expensive mistakes.

Here is the wonderful Shimelle sketch : 

 

Here is my take on it:

I really loved this scripty neutral paper and I didn't want to hide it and this sketch is designed for those occasions when you want to let a paper sing. The photo is a very bright one so it needed a little toning down and again this paper was perfect. All the other bits were scraps from My Summer of 69 kit and my Christmas add on that I had been working on previously. I loved the pop of colour from the ombre washi here too.

This photo is just a random single image of a float we saw being prepared along the Singapore River for the Lantern Festival. I loved it too much not to scrap but it doesn't really have any bigger story. I am happy it now has a home in an album!

I have linked my layout up to Shimelle's page. There are some lovely takes on this sketch if you are hunting for some inspiration.

There is a bit of school based excitement here this week. Miss Three received her first Scholastic Book Club pamphlet which filled my book loving heart with joy. The two of us are off to a performance of the Little Red Hen at a theatre tomorrow with the rest of her school friends. It is her first proper play so I hope she enjoys it.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!