Diary or Scrapbook?

My Dad is 85 years old and has kept a diary since he was drafted into the RAF at the age of 18. He's never missed a day! When he goes on holiday, the diary goes too!

Me? I've never kept a diary. To be faced with a blank page every day with nothing noteworthy to write upon it would be anathema to me. It would force me to confront the monotony of my daily life!

Dad's also a dedicated photographer, ever since he bought his first camera in Italy during the war. A Kodak black and white film camera. It cost him the grand sum of £32! That fascination with photography has passed to me. Nowadays it's digital images, making it easier to get good photos - and no waiting for them to be developed either. Thank goodness! So I choose to record the less mundane occasions of my life by scrapping photos I've taken of those events. I love photography, although my efforts are pretty average. I take the usual family and scenic photos (like Brighton Marina above) but also enjoy trying to get a different 'angle' on my life (see Choices post at http://cupboardcrafter.blogspot.com/2009/06/choices.html).

The combination of photography and scrapbooking is, in my opinion, a happy marriage.....and more visually interesting than pages of handwriting in a diary. Sorry Dad.

Flowers

Confession time. I must admit I like flowers.

I made these cards and the scrapbook page a couple of years ago. The flowers were made using Hot Off The Press templates and scraps of decorative paper. My daughter was 18 months old in the photos and her favourite 'toy' was the watering can- but only because she got to play with water!

I have used the flower templates many times and flowers appear in many of my scrapbook pages. Looking through my photos has reminded me that I must get them out and use them again.

Every so often, and especially when I am lacking inspiration, I will revisit old techniques or pieces of equipment. I've recently used paper-weaving, border punches and stamping on scrapbook pages. If I need a spur to start my creativity I will set myself a challenge e.g. to use only green papers on a page. To really step out of my 'comfort zone' I would use yellow or pink! Eek! Confession time again: my favourite colour is blue. Were you to look through my scrapbooks, I defy you to miss the preponderance of blue!

If you are a fan of flowers like me, there's a chance for someone to win blog candy on The Stamp Man website including Kay Carley flower stamps. Here's the link to follow - http://thestampmanuk.blogspot.com/2009/06/stamp-mans-1st-blog-candy.html#comments

Good luck.

Choices

What is the Unwritten Rule that says when I'm tired and trying to get to sleep my brain whirls around coming up with award-winning, flowing, perfect prose? Yet when I'm sat here trying to write, no clever words come to mind?

Anyway, upon signing up for this Blog I had to fill in the usual forms including 'My Profile'. Such questions requiring an answer like 'my favourite music'. I mulled over the obvious choices and decided to be minimalist, after all you don't want an extensive list when reading a Profile do you? Just a snapshot of the person. So, I typed in Rock....but I also like R&B and Soul (but not the really old stuff) and Santana (what category does he come under?) ..... but I don't necessarily like all Rock songs either. Arghh!

After extensive deliberation I left my entry as 'Rock'.

Then I was faced with 'what are my favourite movies?' and 'what are my favourite books?' ...... for goodness sake! I could be here all night!!

Maybe I shouldn't be blogging, perhaps I should be 'Twittering'? Surely twittering would focus my mind, clarify my ideas? Keeping to a set number of characters would definitely stop the waffle, wouldn't it? Nah. That's not me at all!

The scrapbook page above was made earlier this year. A secret message which should be hidden behind one of the smaller photos (but is actually obscuring it) reads - 'All the decoration in our house is a compromise as my husband would paint all the walls Magnolia if I'd let him! Our divan needed replacing and I quite liked the idea of a metal bedstead, which him indoors was completely against. So our new bed is entirely my choice and I just love it!

Cupboard Crafter

I have a stressful fulltime job and a relaxing day to me is a day spent crafting. Like today. However, there are one or two obstacles I have to overcome before I can spend a blissful day puddling paint, sprinkling glitter and ribbing ribbon!

Problem Number One: My husband has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and has to hoover the house before I start crafting (or do anything actually), only then can I get my crafting stash out.


Problem Number Two: because of the OCD everything in our house has to be put away, everything has it's place and I can never leave things out overnight! So I have to get my Stash out of the cupboards where it's stored and carry it into the Lounge before I can sit down and get started! I've ammassed so much crafting stuff in so many boxes that that in itself is enough to put me off! But not today. Today I've had a happy day playing with paints and stamps, and am completely chilled!


I am a fan of Glenda Waterworth www.graphicus.co.uk as followers of her will see in my card sample output today!

Now I've got to pack up all my Stash and lift it back into the cupboard until I get another day off work to play!