WOYWW - Getting to know the Ancestors!

Hello and welcome to WOYWW at Magpieheaven! If you have happened upon this blog and you'd like to know what the acronym WOYWW is all about click HERE to find out more about why we show and tell about our work desks every Wednesday. Julia is our hostess and makes it possible to shrink the globe to the size of a tea-cup by the wonders of the Internet, bringing together old friends and new every week! So what's on my desk this week! If you've visited before, you may recognize my ancestors on my mother's side of the family. (My father's family were from Poland, a little Jewish village destroyed completely in WW2.) I scanned these photos into my computer after discovering them when helping my mum sort out her house ready for the house-move. At the time I knew nothing about them, but my Great Auntie Rene has been able to share her family research with me now. For this reason I am including their images, transferred onto fabric as part of a special birthday card for her upcoming birthday when she will be eighty-six.

The gentleman I now know to be my great-great grandfather, George Allen Payne. He was born in a little village called Milton near Abingdon. He loved music and learned to play the violin, but his greatest love was the church organ and when he left the village school he was apprenticed to an organ builder in Lambeth by the name of Hunter. George married Alice Hunter, the lady on the right, who was the sister of his employer! At the moment the various elements I want to combine on the cards are merely placed on them. My plan is to stick them down today and see if I want to add any others. Can you recognize any of the stamps I've used?

Last week when I played along with the Paper Artsy challenge and Jo Myhill, I had a go at transferring images onto fabric and this is what I have done again here. I still want to add some tissue covered buttons inspired by Alison Bomber who is guest designing at Paper Artsy this week. I love these vintage images so much I can see them appearing on lots of future projects! I still want to use them on a shadow box!

I know so little about Alice, but as I made my elements I felt that a natural history theme was emerging on the card where she was depicted. I have only a vague plan for a project when I start so where this came from I'm not sure. Maybe I'm going a bit mad, but I started to weave a little story. Did Alice find herself attracted to George's innocent charm; did he retain something of the boy who dreamed among the hedge-rows; maybe he brought a breath of rural air to Lambeth, sharing his love for dragon flies, butterflies and birdsong!
This week I've had a couple of challenge wins, which have lifted my spirits no end. Craft is keeping me sane and bringing me such joy! I am sorry to report that the kitchen is still at a standstill! We are beginning to suspect that Kevin must have some problems, as it's getting on for five weeks that we've been waiting for our cupboard doors and nothing else can move until they are installed. We are phoning tonight so perhaps we will discover! My mum's house-sale seems to be progressing well after the Asbestos scare, which was unfounded, and it looks as if we might exchange towards the end of this month so huge flapping of wings in delight about that! Perhaps I'll soon see the end of all the reams of paper the solicitor keeps sending me to read!!! I'm off to peep in at the window of some other deskers and see what lovely things you've been making and what adventures you've all been having in Crafty Blogland. Have a wonderful day everyone who flutters by. I have to go out later on today, but I'll try and return the visit and get round to as many desks as I can,