Well we made it and I hope you are not too jet-lagged because we are going to be busy!
Each day as we visit a new area we will follow a simple plan (because when you don't have a lot of time in a new town, it's good to have a plan).
Each day we will include:
- an inspiration photo
- a colour board
- a couple of layouts
- a cultural lesson
- Australia 101 (fun facts)
Alright, lets visit the "OUTBACK"
1. Inspiration Photo - Uluru - Central Australia
Photo by Leo Meier
The rich colours of oranges, reds and browns define outback Australia and represent the harsh conditions as well as the beauty of our deserts.
2. The colour board:
Sometimes a simple way to play around with colour is to create a colour board; no pressure as you are not using any of your supplies or photos. I used my stash of old magazines (and there were plenty of American ones among them!!) and just ripped out images that caught my eye. Don't over think this part, just look for your inspiration colours.
I cropped these pages and then took a sheet of white cardstock and played with the colours, referencing my inspiration photo regularly and finally glued it all down. Now I had something tangible to hang on my pin board so I had a point of reference when choosing cardstocks, patterned papers and photos to use in my layouts.
3. The Layouts:
sketch inspired by Cathy Zielske's Big Picture Scrapbooking class, Design Your Life
The colours in the photos contained a lot of browns and neutrals so I thought a kraft base would work best and the orange letters added a pop of colour.
These photos were from my 2008 trip to America. As soon as I saw my Grand Canyon photos I knew that the colours were universal and would work with my outback theme (you don't need photos of Australia to make this colour scheme work).
4. Cultural Lesson:
"My Country" - a poem by Dorothy McKellar
The love of field and coppice, of green and shaded lanes, Of ordered woods and gardens is running in your veins. Strong love of grey-blue distance, brown streams and soft, dim skies- I know but cannot share it, my love is otherwise.
I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror- the wide brown land for me!
The stark white ring-barked forests, all tragic to the moon, The sapphire-misted mountains, the hot gold hush of noon, Green tangle of the brushes where lithe lianas coil, And orchids deck the tree-tops, and ferns the warm dark soil.
Core of my heart, my country! Her pitiless blue sky, When, sick at heart, around us we see the cattle die - But then the grey clouds gather, and we can bless again, The drumming of an army, the steady soaking rain.
Core of my heart, my country! Land of the rainbow gold, For flood and fire and famine she pays us back threefold. Over the thirsty paddocks, watch, after many days, The filmy veil of greenness that thickens as we gaze. An opal-hearted country, a wilful, lavish land - All you who have not loved her, you will not understand - Though earth holds many splendours, wherever I may die, I know to what brown country my homing thoughts will fly.
This poem is a very famous Australian poem. The first verse is often left out because of the evocative opening to the second verse. I can not hear or recite this poem without a lump forming in my throat.
5. Australia 101:
I know, I know, an obvious choice! Most non-Australians (OK, the rest of the world) recoil in horror at their first tentative taste of vegemite, but this yeasty, tar like spread is a staple of most Aussie pantries. The trick is not to spread it on to thick!
Phew...are you worn out from todays adventures? Now go look in your stash and see if you can pull some photos or papers that take you to the outback and then scrap an "outback layout". Don't forget to share your work with us.
See you tomorrow...we are heading south!
