Fire and Ice

Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing this hobby right – I have trouble shopping for stash, I am always running out of photos and I find it really, really hard to create layouts with only one photo. Yet almost all of the layouts featured on the big magazines have one photo – one huge photo and tons of text. I know there isn’t a “wrong” way to scrapbook (unless you stick your photos on upside down or back to front, ha ha!) but I sometimes wish I could change my style. Other times I am glad I have a style and that I am comfortable with it because it makes creating pages so much easier... but then again, I don’t think I would ever get published in a magazine. Or win a competition. Or be somebody’s scrapping hero. I do occasionally create one-photo layouts but it is usually because I happen to have a photo larger than 6x4 that I can use (I scrap 12x12 mainly so using a 6x4 photo on it’s own just doesn’t always work) and it is a special one. For me, my scrapbooks are about remembering a special m...

I don’t really get “altered stuff”. I have been invited to a workshop and I said I’d love to go, but mainly because maybe it will help me “get it”. I can see the thrill in creating and the satisfaction when it’s done... but then what do you do with it afterwards? Some of the altered objects are easier to understand why they are done: things like boxes are of course really useful and great if they are pretty. But what’s the deal about clipboards? I don’t normally use one, so why would I need to alter one and then do what with it? Or CDs? There seems to be a lot of one-upmanship about altered objects too - who has created the most outrageous, weirdest, wackiest thing. As a spectator I can see the photos and think WOW this is lovely! But secretly I am glad I don't have it lying around in my house. This is, in my mind, “electric knife” stuff: great as a gift but if you had one you probably wouldn’t use it. It sure would be cute to look at though!

I often wonder if I understand this hobby at all. I thought it was about saving memories, being creative and adding a bit of “you” to the record keeping... but from reading other people’s comments on various boards, I wonder if the real point of scrapbooking is to accumulate as much stash as possible without ever intending to use it. I know that there are many gorgeous and yummy things out there but is it really “whoever has the most stash wins”? Even if you never really intend to use it? What is the point then? All these pretties will then live in boxes, never to be seen by others – but if they are used in an album, everyone will get to enjoy them. I don’t plan my pages at all so of course I see the value of having a selection of things you can choose from as you work. But I surely don’t need every color Bazzill ever made! I generally work with what I have so I really like swaps and kits as someone else does the choosing for me. This means I get to try out something I may not have cho...

My new year’s (scrapping) resolution is to work more slowly. I generally throw together pages very quickly – some work out great, some don’t – but I never go back and re-do them. I like to complete things. While this sounds great, it means that a lot of the pages I’ve completed lately are not great, they will do but this doesn’t excite me. I need to break out of my box, try some new techniques and materials and I will only do this if I let go of my need for speed. I had a crop last weekend and only finished 5 pages instead of my usual 8 or 10, but I am pretty pleased with these pages and the time spent on them was well worth it. I feel that I can afford to slow down a bit also because I am completely caught up with my photos – I finished all the ones I had left at the crop. Most of the photos are of my little boy Samuel and now that he is no longer a baby (he is 2) I find I don’t take as many photos as I used to, perhaps because the milestones are further and further apart these day...

I think I ought to try out this blogging thing... everyone else seems to be doing it! So a big welcome to me to the blogosphere is in order.