Working on that mojo

I'm sure it's just burnout, it happens to everyone, it happened to me when I first arrived in Canada, it will, I'm sure, happen again. I think sometimes I get fixated on trying to constantly produce "wow!" layouts and that is wrong. I'm always telling others that not everyone layout has to have that wow factor. In fact I think if you had an album where each page knocked your socks off, then it would be sensory overload. I, personally, think an album flows much better if you have mostly good pages with the odd spectacular layout thrown in every now and then. By spectacular I don't mean that it has to be so artistic, or so different but more that you have spent just that little bit longer thinking about it, that you finally got out those coveted chipboard alphabets, that you just seem to want to hold on to, and actually use them. And then there is also the fact that we don't always have the wow pictures to produce the wow layout. I want my albums to record our 'real' lives not just the beautiful studio portraits (of which I'm definitely going to get myself) but what happens in the everyday, the playing with the Rescue Heroes action figures, messing around in the garden. And let's face it, not all those candid shots are good shots but I do want them in my albums.

Anyway, I digress, thanks to Bev I have decided that I should just go back to basics in an effort to rediscover my scrapping mojo. So I think I need to plod my way through it and in the mean time get out the sketches.

What I like about sketches is that they really do help you kick start your creativity. You start out with the intention of just going the sketch as is and by the time you finish you can often end up with something completely different. Sketches give you the option of being more creative, or not, if you so please. I'm particularly loving Becky Fleck's (of Memory Creators) at the moment. There is a good variety of sketches, for multi photos, single photos, and large photo formats (very popular in the Gauger household lately due to the recent Photobox special offer of 10 10"x8" photos for the fantastic sum of £1).

Thanks also to those of you who have set me challenges, see also Chrissie's blog for details of the challenge she has set, I love a challenge or two.

I didn't get around to doing much during the recent UKScrappers cyber crop but did sit down yesterday and complete Pam's flower class, below left, and was impressed by how simple and easy it was to create flowers. Definitely something I will use in the future. I also did a very quick layout inspired by one of Becky Fleck's sketches. So 2 pages in one day. Woohoo, I'm on a roll...

      

Still searching

For my scrapping mojo!

I thought the UKScrappers cyber crop would have helped kick start it but alas, I really just didn't get in to it much. We have had a visitor, Richard's mum, staying this last week and I just felt too guilty (why?) to spend the whole weekend closeted away in my scrap room and so only did one layout from the crop all weekend. Shame on me as there were some fabulous classes. This is my take on a great class taught by Theresly. I'm loving it. Loving the colours, the crispness, the snow (I miss the snow!).

I think part of the loss of scrapbook mojo is that I'm just so tired. The stress of the last few months has caught up with me. I keep telling myself to go back to the basics. Do some sketch inspired LO's, scraplift (something I just can't seem to bring myself to do, weird eh?) but every time I sit down to do so I just spend my time shuffling papers around and doing pretty much, well, pretty much nothing!

Any suggestions? Perhaps I should be going to Florida with some of my other scrapbooking pals? I'm sure that would get me back in the scrapbooking mode, LOL!

Oh, Kat's birthday party was a great success. We saw Ice Age 2, not as good as the original in my opinion, and then wandered over to Pizza Hut for supper. The 4 girls she invited along are so cool, a great bunch of girls. They were making me laugh with all their 'silly' girly chatter. Particularly the following quote (from a movie, I think?) that they were practising and planning on saying to all the boys at school: "Girls with butts like ours do not talk to boys with faces like yours!". I want that printed on a t-shirt!!!

Here is a little photo montage (a la Ali Edwards) of the evening.

My baby girl is 10

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. Katarina is 10 today.

It only seems like yesterday. That tiny (6½ pounds) little baby girl who was so quiet and slept all the time, we didn't know we had her. That chubby, moon faced little toddler with the cheeky grin, it's only looking back that we noticed how moon faced she was! The stubborn pre-schooler who refused to learn any of her letters because "mummy, I'll do THAT when I get to big school". And before we knew it you were at school and growing up even quicker than ever before.

10. A whole decade. And we have loved (almost) every minute of those years. She is such a lovely girl, I know, I'm biased, but she is. Such great company. A budding scrapbooker. A ballroom dancer. A girly girl. A joy.

Happy 10th birthday darling daughter!

To bring it back down to reality, and to stop this being too schmaltzy, Richard and I only realised this morning that we've just made it through the easy 10 years. It's the next 10 that will be the challenge

Not much to say, only A Million Little Things!

Yes, my parcel from A Million Little Things arrived, this morning, safe and sound. And here it is in all it's yummyness:

And, for the enquiring (notice I did not say nosy) amongst you, a list:

• Foof-a-la Rub-ons - Scribbles by Rhonna Farrer Enchanted



• Foof-a-la Rub-ons - Scribbles by Rhonna Farrer Graffiti



• Rhonna Farrer Papers from the Enchanted and Graffiti ranges



• Imagination Project Papers - Center City - East & West Village ranges (these are even yummier in real life)



• Basic Grey Papers - Urban Couture and Hang 10 ranges

The only slightly worrying thing is I don't remember ordering this much paper. I've made a conscious decision not to order any more paper. I have more than enough already and do not need any more. Hmmmm, obviously when I enter any scrapbook store my mind goes blank and I go into automatic pilot mode. I really, really do not need anymore paper. I. Must. Stop. Buying. Paper.

So, now all I'm waiting for is my Scraptivity kits (March and April) and my pre-order from Two Peas to arrive and I'll be all sorted.... except I am in real need of those Making Memories flower foam stamps....

I did it! {Updated}

I completed a LO. And before someone posts out the obvious to me, I know it's gone midnight so I haven't strictly uploaded it within time BUT I would have if Richard hadn't moved the bloody scanner and unplugged it {grrrrrr}.

I'm not sure about it but I'm happier with it than my first attempt and so am calling it quits and putting it in my album. I didn't end up using any of Ali's lovely stamps (I will definitely use them though as they are de-lish) but decided to be brave and just go for what felt right for me.

The lettering is very Elsie Flannigan and was inspired by her Two Peas Tokyo Girl font. I still couldn't find the right shade of pink and after wasting over 1/2 hour looking for the children's colouring pencils {another grrrrrr - why can't they tidy up after themselves, or perhaps they have and that's why I couldn't find them!} I got out the inks and water brushes.

Edited to add: You know, I just couldn't let it go. It still didn't feel 'right' so I've made a couple of small adjustments and, whilst I don't think I am ever going to love this LO, I am happier with it now. Revised version on the right.

Easter Monday Ramble

I need to scrap but I think I've just forgotten how to.

Since moving back I've really only done pages that have had to be done, either for classes I've been teaching or for the LO I did for Scrapbook Inspirations £5 Challenge. I've not really done much general scrapbooking. This was understandable as I just didn't have the space in our rented house nor the stash as it was still in boxes distributed around the house.

But now I have no excuses I find myself generating them. I haven't got my scraproom just so, I need to sort out my stash better, I should update my blog first... and so on. And I still feel as if I've lost my mojo. I know I should just sit down and do something and I would then get over the hump.

So, I'm going to publicly challenge myself to create a LO, scan it and upload it to my blog by the end of today. I've been wanting to re-do Ali (Rowe's) fabulous doodling class that I recently took at Scrap Magic's weekend ScrapManic crop. The pink was just too pink and it makes me shudder just looking at it so it has to be re-done. So perhaps I'll do that.

Scrapbooking keeps me sane, it feeds my soul (I know very american mumbo jumbo but it truly does make me happy) so I know that once I get back in to the groove I'll feel better and my mojo will come back.

Not that I feel bad at the moment. I don't. Life is really getting back on track. Moving in to our own home is a big help, I'm loving the space and am excited about turning my own little part of it in to my own oasis of creativity. I'm currently looking in to storage and trying to find quirky, interesting ways to store stuff.

Ok, need to go as Harriet is nagging me to play on her new Nintendo DS game, Animal Crossing: Wild World, and sadly I really want to play too!

PJ {Day 7}

You know, I think I'm going to pretty quickly get completely hacked off with this whole "take a photo a day and stick it in a journal" thing. Today I feel more like "I'll tell you where to stick it!".

But I'm determined to stick with it. I have to, I took a trip to Borders and drifted into the Paperchase section and bought this gorgeous photo album/journal type thing, so I have to keep going. I think though after today my daily photo will be relegated to an album in my sidebar as I'm getting bored of seeing them in my blog, let alone any unsuspecting people straying my way. I mean, I don't want to bore the pants of people anymore than I already do.

So, now I'm torn, do I post a photo of my album/journal or the hyacinths my friend gave as a 'welcome to your new home' present? Hum-te-hum-te-hum....

Journal, I think:

Photo Journal {Day 6}

My scraproom is getting there, slowly, but getting there. You see it's got to get sorted as I'm the type of person who can only sit down to scrap once everything is just so, everything that has a place is in its place, and I have a clean, clear desk.

Once I actually start to work on something, then of course all hell breaks loose and once I'm finished the room looks like it's been hit by a hurricane. And worse of all stays that way until I'm ready to sit down and scrap some more. Where by the process starts all over again and I have to tidy up my work area before I can start on something.

Anyway, I digress. I have been working on my scraproom and it is getting there, slowly. And to prove it here is a picture taken, oh, 2 minutes ago, of my cardstock, all nicely sorted according to colour.

Doesn't it look pwetty? I'm actually going to move away from this type of paper storage and go vertical. Mainly because I've got so much less room than I'm used to and even though I am clearing out quite a lot of stash (I already have around 2 boxes full of stuff) I still have too much stuff that I'm not prepared to part with as it's stuff I love

Photo Journal {Day 5}

So, it's Day 5 in the Art Journal world (said in a geordie Big Brother accent) and seeing as it's almost Easter I have dug out my cute little eggs that I use to decorate my little twirly twiggy things in the dining room.

As I gathered them up by the loops I thought the colours were fab and decided to take a photo, hard to do with just one hand and an SLR camera, and at the same time change my blog header too (seeing as I was helping Chrissie, via telephone, to create a new header) to get me in the mood for chocolate on Sunday! LOL!

Scrap watching

So I'm waiting for some parcels. 4 parcels to be precise. And no, they aren't all scrapbook supplies! Oh, ok, if I'm honest 3 of them are!

2 of them I'm not overly worried about, at least not yet, but one of them is a parcel from A Million Little Things and was apparently sent off, surface mail, just over 6 weeks ago, and I still haven't received it. I've also just realised that I placed the order whilst still living in the rental house and didn't ask for it to be delivered to the new address, mainly because it didn't enter my head that the parcel would be sent surface mail and I thought it would arrive fairly soon-ish. I've spoken to our old landlady and she hasn't received it or even a slip of card saying that Royal Mail have tried to deliver it but no-one was home, that sort of thing, so, where is it? I suppose it could have been caught at customs and that is delaying it but I don't know, I'm getting nervous now and even worse I can't even remember what I ordered. LOL! I 'think' it could have been some Rhonna Farrer stuff but who knows.

The other 2 parcels are from Two Peas and are some pre-orders which I know have been shipped this week so shouldn't be too long in arriving and my first 2 months subscription to Scraptivity, a Canadian scrapbook kit company who do the most amazing stamps!

So, I'm back to stalking our friendly postman, Greg, who I think is on holiday at the moment and I think sending an email to A Million Little Things to see if they can tell me anything more about my order.

I need my new stuff, I'm blitzing my scrapping room once and for all today and I am then going to get my mojo back, even if it kills me in the trying.

Photo Journal {Day 4}

Our best friends came to visit today. I say our because they are all our best friends. Niki is mine, Cam (her husband) is Richards, our eldest daughters were born 9 days or so apart and have been best friends ever since, our middle daughters are good friends too, and their youngest daughter, Erin, has been patiently waiting for Noah to get to an age where he can be a good playmate too - and now he is, they were inseperable all day.

We took the opportunity to have a little birthday celebration for our big girls, who'll be turning 10 in the next few weeks, and the smiles on their faces say it all.

Photo Journal {Day 3}

Nearly forgot about my photo journal today. How bad is that, eh? Only day 3 and she forgets!

Noah got in to the Rescue Heroes big time whilst we lived in Canada and we finally got around to unpacking his boxes that they had been stored in. He was so excited and has played with them constantly ever since. Here he has proudly lined them up before going to bed.

Happy Birthday L'il Sis

So, it's my little sister's birthday today.
HAPPY 36th BIRTHDAY TRACI Cheers and I'll have a drink on you later.

Photo Journal {Day 2}

Photo of the day, which is embarrassing as it shows that yes, at 5:36pm, I am still in my PJ's. But what the heck, we're having a pyjama day, this includes the children, they are still in their PJ's too. We don't do this very often but normally once during an extended holiday we have a designated 'Pyjama Day'.

Round and round and round again

You know how fashions from the past come back around again. The same thing obviously happens with scrapbooking.

I am in the process of seriously reducing my stash. As I am unpacking I am sorting out stash to sell, rak etc as I go. I have to, my scrapbook room is less than half the size I had in Canada and truly, there is only so much stash you need and can use.

Anyway, I get to my Zig writer scroll and brush pens, think about them for all of 2 seconds and decide I haven't used them in a couple of years at least so yup, they must get added to the list (I'm drawing up a Word document of everything that must go). I have about 20 odd or so of them. Why? I never use them! Next I come across a brush lettering instruction book(let) and then realise why I have so many of these brush pens. Remember Susy Ratto? And her lovely (!) brush lettering? I was laughing at myself, like you do, rather like seeing a photo of yourself in that Charlie's Angels jumpsuit you just HAD to have when you were 8, when I suddenly remembered what else I 'learnt' to do with those brush pens. Flowers! Very cute, almost Prima like, flowers. And DOODLING! Of course we didn't call it doodling then but when I looked through the book, that's basically what it was. Weird, huh?

So upshot is that my Stash To Clear list suddenly reduced by about 6 or so Zig brush pens, the ones which are good colours for creating flowers, and I feel a LO coming on, Susy Ratto style but updated for the year 2006!

Photo Journal

Jann, a friend of mine from Canada is urging her fellow Kindred Creations spirits to keep a photo journal. I think it's a great idea and will be fun to look back on in few months and see the little snapshots of life.

The idea, not a new one I know, is to take one photo a day, print it off and just stick it straight in to a journal. You can write a little about it if you want to but it's not mandatory. The main thing is to take one picture and just get it in the journal. No complications, no 'art'ing it up, no reason to prevaricate as it's supposed to be simple.

So, here's my photo of today. My lunch. A simple good old British bacon butty. Good decent back bacon was something I really, really missed whilst living in Canada.

Oh where, oh where has my scrap mojo gone?

I've lost it somewhere (and before someone else says it, I know it always seems as if I've lost it).

I want to scrap. I've been wanting to scrap for ages but now that I've got the space, in fact my own scrapping room, and my long lost, beloved stash, I. Just. Can't. Scrap.

I've lost my mojo, it seems. It's probably a combination of all the stress of the last few months catching up on me, this darned sinus cold I have and the fact that the rest of the house is in such a mess that I feel I should be doing THAT instead of scrapping.

You'd think after the ScrapManic weekend I'd be all fired up, but alas, no. In fact during the whole weekend I managed to create a whopping 2 whole LO's! Woohoo - not. The first one taking up most of the weekend. And they weren't that great either. Pretty simple, which does seem to be where I'm going at the moment, but certainly not worthy of taking all day to complete!

       

Oh well, I'm sure it will come back to me soon. I'm off to PaperArts for a crop tomorrow so maybe I'll be inspired by all my scrapbooking friends there?

Feeling blah

I've got this terribly irritating cough, you know the sort, a dry, pathetic cough where you never seem to be able cough enough to clear it, and it's keeping me up at nights. Then this morning I wake up with a pain in my sinus and feeling even more yucky.

And I have so much to do. I won't be able to scrap until I get my house sorted and tidied.

Oh, well, tomorrow is another day...

Playing blog catch up

Ok, I'll keep this brief but just wanted to get my blog all caught up with what's been happening in my world since my last few posts (author reserves the right to expand on a few topics at a later date!).

• Moved house, slowly, over the last few weeks, not as stress free as I'd imagined and now THIS house looks like a bomb site (what's new?)



• Major internet connection problems (which partly explains why I haven't been able to post for as long as I have). I think the initials BT stand for something completely different. In fact they have still not connected us and we are now in dispute with them (almost definitely more on this subject to follow)



• Loads of visitors to our new house in the first week (before we'd even really moved). My mum & step dad arrived on the Wednesday, left on the Friday, my sister (& husband & 5, yes 5, children arrived on the Saturday and stayed until Tuesday). Great to be with family but perhaps the timing could have been better?



• Mother's Day. Totally spoiled and pampered all day. Taken out for a very posh meal and obviously my 'Just in Case' section is working because he bought me the beautiful dichoric glass heart pendant {note to self 'update Just in Case section often'}



• ScrapManic - YAY! - last Friday and arrived home last evening (more on this later I think)

Now it's the first day of the Easter holidays and I'm looking forward to some down time. Where you don't have to rush around in the mornings (not that I do much, this is pretty much Richard's domain), no school uniform to get washed and dried, no going through the trauma of persuading Noah that "really pre-school is great and you'll have a fantastic morning darling" (knowing full well that within 5 minutes of dropping him off he'll be having a whale of a time, and no rushing around to all their various activities.

I'll catch up in more detail later but for now a great big hello to all my friends, cyber ones or not!