Fire and Ice

I just read another blog entry somewhere about someone who wishes she could be a quicker scrapper and it inspired me to write about speed. As you know, I am one of those speedy scrappers and although I don’t have a specific technique I can offer a few helping points: 1. I work in order so the photo I choose is the one THAT COMES NEXT. No dithering, no wasting time choosing, just get the next one and go. I realize that this is very specific to me as I don’t do heritage and I have caught up with my photos, but it does help when it comes to putting a layout together quickly. 2. I don't spend ages worrying about what papers to use with it - I select a nice combination (or, even speedier, some color blocked paper) and live with my choice. I don’t think that every page needs to be a work of art and have perfectly matched papers – besides that can work out to be expensive. Spending ages trying to match up papers and cardstock and whatnot is time consuming and while I do actually like this...

Every once in a while someone posts a thread or photos (or both!) in a scrapping forum about their well-stocked scrap room, complete with hundreds of jars of Prima flowers, cardstock in every color of the rainbow and enough embellishments to open a small and profitable shop. I know that these people mainly want others to ooh and ahh their vast stash, very well decorated room and their flawless organization. They can go ahead and do that, kudos to them and YES I am very jealous... or am I? My stash is vastly smaller than that – it fits into a little cupboard and there is plenty of empty space for more. We have already discussed the fact that I just can’t seem to shop for things so hence the little stash... but there may be another reason: I don’t have very good memory. At the moment I can remember pretty much everything I own stash-wise – perhaps I don’t remember every single piece of paper but I can almost construct a layout in my mind, adding bits from my stash from memory. Of cou...

Yesterday I did something I hadn’t done for a little while – I went shopping for the perfect foundation. I suddenly realized that since my infatuation with scrapping increased, my life-long affair with Clinique had deteriorated and that just won’t do. After all, I still need to look good for all those photos! I never neglected the skincare part of the relationship – my mantra is cleanse-tone-moisturize – but more the cosmetic side of it. I’ve been using the same foundation I bought over a year ago and never mind that it doesn’t actually match my skin tone any more, I could do with something more up-to-date and full of the latest in skin reflecting technology or whatever. So there I was, fascinated by all the little pots and jars and shades of beige and pink and brown... and being utterly bemused by it all. I mean, I know what it all does but HOW to use it is another matter: I wear eye shadow and mascara and blusher and lipstick and all that. But I only ever do it in the same way – and ...

I am loving blue and brown at the moment. Practically every page I make (and piece of clothing I wear!) has this color combination. Two years ago, however, when I was searching for a duvet cover for our bedroom and I wanted something blue and brown, could I find it? Of course not! These colors weren’t “in” so it became an impossible task. If I want to find such duvet cover now, it would be a piece of cake. (I ended up buying a plain beige one!) Why do colors come and go out of fashion? Who are the people that say “this summer it is all about pink and green” or whatever? How do color combinations get put together and marketed for us to buy? And why is it that shops think no one wants to use colors other than trendy ones? If pink is in and you don’t like or suit pink, well, you’re in trouble as that will be EVERYWHERE. In scrapbooking terms, at least we can play with all colors and Bazzill of course is a good example. Papers do tend to cover the “trendy” colors but they don’t leave behin...

I had one outstanding photo and I scrapped it last night. It ‘s been a little while since I scrapped anything for myself (as opposed to CJs and gifts) so it was nice to get back into it, as it were. I’d been putting this off for a while because, quite frankly, couldn’t be bothered with taking all my stuff out just to work on one photo but then I realized that a lot of scrappers do that regularly so thought – why not? This meant I could spend a bit longer on a one-photo layout (which is roughly 9x9) and I really enjoyed it. I tried a few different techniques and was pretty pleased with the result. I will upload a photo as soon as I get my act together, I promise. Anyway, this was a great way to exercise my New Year’s resolution – slow scrapping. I still feel that because I’m quite lucky and am caught up, I should indulge in the hobby and not rush to complete but this means breaking the habits of a lifetime. I have slowly realized over the past few months that I am a completer: I read re...