Quiet moment, old papers

In 2007 I went to a scrapbooking weekend. And while I was there I went to a local scrapbook shop (my first ever!) and bought some papers that I thought were lovely. I even bought matching stickers and embellishments, which I'd never done before. How exciting!

Five years later, and I finally turn that paper into an actual scrapbook page. Those circles are from the SEI Madera Island range, which is so old that you can't even get it on sale any more. I found the perfect use for them on this page about my favourite coffee shop. And that orange chevron behind the photos? The 'b' side of the same paper. Who says trends don't come round again?

That girl, this girl

Every so often, there's a post on one of the scrapbooking forums I use, saying 'how do I scrap the bad stuff?' And honestly, it's kind of tricky. There is no easy way to make heartbreak/illness/bereavement fit nicely in between pages full of pictures of your cat and the smiley everyday. Mostly, my answer has been - I don't. I've tried scrapbooking about all those things, but pretty paper doesn't make them better.

But life changes. And sometimes pages cover the hard stuff without even meaning to. This page above isn't a new one - it's from 2007. It was one of my favourite pages at the time, and got the most comments in my online gallery. I can remember where I was when the photo was taken, who I was with, what was happening in my life, and how I felt. I was mostly worried about growing my hair and losing weight, and trying not to get too sunburnt. Oh, if only I knew then what I know now...

It was the angle of the photos that inspired me to do a re-take. That, and the fact that it is exactly five years on. Where did the time go? That girl in that first photo feels like a different person. She was so insecure, so uncertain, so superficial. So excited about the future and so determined to make it work.

And in 2012, this girl? The future she is living is not the one she thought she'd have. And it's been a hard road to get here. This girl worries less, loves differently, works harder, sings more and has finally grown her hair, only to keep it tied up all the time. Still the same heart, same soul, same faith in herself. In 2007 that girl didn't need to worry because things were working out ok. This girl knows she doesn't need to worry because whatever happens, she can deal with it.

Scrapbooking from a starting point

Sometimes I need a kick to get me going, and sometimes something just inspires me. This starting point just seemed perfect for these photos from a fabulous wedding.

I made my own fabric flower (I know!) and used candi dots to look a little bit like confetti. I have two sizes of butterfly punch now and oh that makes me happy. So does layering two colours of butterfly together to get the contrast I wanted. And then after I'd done the whole thing, I stamped right on to the cardstock to create a journalling space. Lots of different elements that I love on this page.

Catching up - Christmas in June

One of my projects lately has been to go through my albums and work out where the gaps are. What stories are missing? And I realised that if you just looked through my albums (organised by year) you'd probably think I spend a lot of time shopping, eating cake & drinking tea, and taking photographs of my cat. There are lots of occasions that I know happened, that just aren't in there.

I think partly it's because I always have so many photos. My Christmas pile is one of the biggest in my box of photos. Partly it's because I struggle to see the stories beyond the obvious ones of family, dinner, and presents. And yes, partly it's because for several years, Christmas has been an incredibly difficult time for us all. Christmas 2011 felt very different and very positive, and suddenly as I went through my pile of photographs, it wasn't so hard to think of a story to tell that was more than just about the silly hats and how we always have our crackers between the main course and dessert.

Not every page has to be that profound, though - it's perfectly ok to showcase some of the daft photos that are inevitable when you start messing around with crackers.

And sometimes, when you go through the pile of photos that you printed out, you find some that  you can't remember taking in the first place. The story in those is absolutely priceless.

Sunday baker: Chocolate truffles

Last week I made chocolate cupcakes. They didn't work so well. My own fault for firstly using the wrong flour, and then running out of cases so I had to recycle the ones from the cakes that went wrong. It was never going to work. But after making two dozen cakes (and mixing them by hand when I couldn't get the mixer to work) I was determined not to let them go to waste.

I have lots of childhood memories that involve cakes Mum made, and I can remember her making chocolate truffles like these. Sticky and chocolatey and flavoured with rum, rolled into a ball and covered in chocolate vermicelli.

Mum found a recipe for me online here and I only tweaked it a little bit. I didn't add any sugar, used less cocoa because it was already very chocolatey, and then used rum flavouring instead of actual rum.

Don't worry, I didn't just make nine. My 24 chocolate cupcake failures made a nice even 40 truffles. And I've only eaten two of them so far...

I do my best work at midnight

Things that I do well at midnight: scrapbooking, blogging, surfing the internet, painting my nails.
Things I don't do well: sleeping, knitting and photography.

Singing it out

Mama said there'll be days like these, 

there'll be days like these Mama said.

Can you get that song out of your head now? It wasn't intentional, but the title of the page kind of stuck and now it's all I can hear when I look at this.

I love this page for lots of reasons...the pale chevron paper is one I made using a new stamp. That alphabet I've used for the title might just be my favourite ever. And there is paper that's not straight. I'm not quite at the level of layering some people use but I'm getting there in my own little way.

Another day in paradise

If I had a superhero alter-ego, I'd quite like her to be Glitter Girl. But because I don't, all I can do is follow the challenges she sets every week. Mixing fonts in my titles? Sorted.

Testing

I guess it's time I joined the 21st century? I am always a late adopter.

Blogging from my phone!

Stuff I make: the lampshade project

One of the joys of renting is that I can't really do anything permanent. Or more accurately, I could but then I would have to leave it behind when I inevitably leave. I'm not generous enough to do that, so I settle for making things that can be packed in a box.

Using a plain lampshade from Ikea and my trusty butterfly punches, plus some Glossy Accents (which I am praying is strong enough to withstand the heat from the bulb, otherwise I could wake up with dead butterflies falling on me.) 

I spent a pleasant couple of hours sticking it all together, grouping one or two large butterflies with lots of smaller ones. I decided not to go for all-over coverage for a couple of reasons - firstly, I didn't want it to look like my room was being swarmed by insects. And secondly, I got bored punching out butterflies. I am a lazy crafter.

And here it is in place. I'm kind of pleased with it, and I've found a legitimate use for my endless crafting supplies. Win all round :)