Reflections

Primrose Millicent Page

25.02.1926 - 14.09.2013

Much loved and much missed. 

Endless sunshine

The mornings are colder, the skies are greyer, and the endless sunshine of summer has come to an end. I've just had a couple of weeks off work and this morning definitely had that back-to-school feeling. The problem is, I just don't feel ready for it. Can we keep summer, please?

I'm still scrapbooking pages from early summer, so I can keep the sunshine feeling for a bit longer. These photos are from July, and I've just had 400-and-something prints of the rest of our summer adventures delivered  to keep me going. I am seriously considering a simpler style of album to get all these memories recorded, maybe with some fancier pages interwoven rather like my Christmas pages. 

Hope you have some happy sunshine-y memories to keep you going through autumn!

Whoops, I did it again

I hadn't realised it had been so long since I updated here...sorry! Strange to look back at my last few posts and see what a scrapbooking kick I was on. Since then, it has mostly been my watercolour journal that's occupied my time.

I am trying to draw everything, everywhere. My art teacher once told me I should be filling sketchbooks, but I didn't know how. Now I realise that I can just draw what's in front of me.

Having a small journal (this is the Moleskine Watercolour Notebook which is about 13x21cm) makes it easier to fill a page fairly quickly, and I can experiment with different styles:

Don't worry, I am still scrapbooking. In fact I finished a page this morning. This journal is just a different way of recording life, and I am really enjoying it.

Opposite extreme

From the largest size photo to the smallest: a 4x4 print using one of my many photos from Instagram. There are various services out there that will print your Instagram pics, but I've found the best results when I upload them into Photobox on a standard size print and trim off the edges when they arrive. Simples.

Having a smaller photo leaves me more room for embellishment, and in this case also more room for the story of our second date. It's quite a long story, and involves me getting heatstroke and passing out in the middle of a field. Fortunately for me, it didn't put him off :)

I'm all out of enamel dots at the moment, so in a moment of inspiration decided to make my own using Liquid Pearls. This is the White Opal version, and I've discovered that if you put a good fat blob on the page and then flick the back of the paper really hard, the blob flattens out to become a lovely dimensional dot. Perfect for some subtle embellishment layers.

I haven't done so much scrapbooking lately as I've been busy filling my sketchbooks. Those photos aren't going to go anywhere, though!

Big photos

I like 6x4 photos. Or, 6x4.5 if I use the default proportion on a digital camera. One or two fit nicely on a page, leaving me plenty of room to write my story or add embellishment. Printing photos at a standard size means I can get them all done in one batch, without having to think about resizing or cropping or anything complicated. Easy. The vast majority of my scrapbook pages use standard prints.

Every once in a while I take a photo that I really like and kind of want to show it off. But I am decorating-challenged (two and a half years and the walls in this house are still bare) so I print big photos and stick them in a drawer and forget about them. I had this picture from one of our walks in the spring, and decided to make the most of it. It hardly needs a scrapbook page; it's all photo. 

162 days to go...

Yes folks, 162 days is all you've got until Christmas 2013. In the middle of the hottest summer in the UK for the last seven years, some wintery scrapbook pages are just what you need to cool you down.

This bloghop is the brainchild of the lovely Ruth, who has put together an incredible list of ladies all joining to give you inspiration for those Christmas photos that you still haven't scrapped. You should have come here from Catherine, and after me you need to visit Tasha.

The challenge was to create a project that was Christmas-related. And so I turned to me Christmas 2012 album to see what gaps needed filling. Last year as always, I took part in Journal Your Christmas, this time choosing to mix up project-life style divided page protectors with standard 12x12 pages. It began well...using a mix of photos and journalling cards, I put together several layouts that I really love in my album:

Ah, see that there? That's the first gap. And that point around the 17th of December must have been when I lost my way with the project and everything kind of ground to a halt. It gets worse:

That is a divided page protector with two pockets filled and the rest empty, showing the page behind. Grrrrr. It looks unfinished - it is unfinished, and when I look through my album the story of Christmas is incomplete. So this is as good a time as any to crack on and fill in those gaps. I pulled out the stash of paper I was using for this album, and the envelope of photos that I'd had printed and then put away.

First things first. Sort the photos into the ones I want to use, and then start grouping these together. Most of these pictures are from Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and I'm not worrying about the JYC 'daily' format. Then I got to work putting this in to some kind of order!

(Sorry for the strange colours, the light had gone by this point.)

Photos from Christmas Day morning on the left - the back of the previous insert with lots of gaps. I've been using this alternate photos/journalling block layout throughout so I thought I would continue it. The page on the right is a new insert, using three photos I just couldn't choose between. I wanted to make a bit of an emphasis on 'eat, drink and be merry' so I separated each word from the phrase on to a separate insert. To create some repetition, I punched three hearts to embellish the photos, which also filled in the gaps as for some reason I'd had these printed at 5x3.5 inches so they don't quite fill in the spaces. 

One of the best things about picking up this project after such a break, is that I don't feel guilty about doing cards which are simpler. And yet, these are some of my favourites.

Maybe there's a lesson in this: work quickly and worry less. And it's amazing how having a kit can help my creativity.

Am I finished with my Christmas pages? No! I still have another couple of page protectors' worth to do. But now that I've got my stash out and found a working method, I shall probably carry on and do them all. Hopefully thinking about cold winter days will help me keep cool over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for sharing my contribution to the Christmas in July bloghop. Your next stop is Tasha. Have fun!

On a roll

Lately, sketching and painting have taken up almost every spare minute. In the mornings, on my lunchbreak, as soon as I get home in the evening. I have stopped worrying about being good enough and I am just drawing, drawing and drawing. It's an itch I have to scratch, a hunger I have to satisfy, and every other cliché you can think of. I don't have any grander aims in mind other than I must do this. And I will see where it leads me.

I don't worry about pages being perfect. It's just play.

Making a conscious effort to try something different, use different media, keep going when often I would stop.

While the inspiration keeps coming, I will keep filling the pages of my sketchbook. 

His & Hers

Sketching outdoors is incredibly intimidating. It's really hard to choose my subject, to place things on the paper, to get the proportions and perspective correct. I am working on it - taking my little sketchbook out and trying to do a few sneaky sketches when people aren't looking. It's quite tricky to avoid people looking at your work. I'm told I do a good 'stern face' though, so that will come in handy. In the meantime, I am working on drawing from life in the safety of my own home.

Chris and I have desks which are opposite each other, so we can work on our many hobbies while still being a little bit sociable. This is his side. Mine will be slightly harder to sketch because I will have to stand in the kitchen doorway to do it. It's a small house, but it's home.

A few of my favourite things

Polka dots. Watercolour. Handwriting. Glitter and sparkle. Scenic walks with my love. These things make me very happy indeed. I have stacks of photos waiting to be scrapped, and that makes me happy too.

I seem to get every bug going lately, most recently a kidney infection which has left me lying on the sofa again. I get very frustrated and cross when I am unwell, I think because it reminds me how flippin' fragile I am. I hate being weak and unable to do things. I hate relying on other people. Ugh. All the lessons I have learned over the last three and a half years are forgotten as I wallow in feeling sorry for myself. Maybe it's just a reminder that it is ok to lean on other people. Time still feels like the most precious thing, and I have to remind myself that I don't have to spend every minute in crazy activity. Rest. Relax. It is ok. 

Tranquility - an evening walk

I haven't done a walk post in a little while. We often go for a stroll, some longer than others, and I take loads of photos. Some of them make it into scrapbook pages, and I might post one or two on Instagram. I think it's nice, though, to have all the photos in one place so that when I look back I can remember where we went and what it was like. There is a scrapbooking podcast that I  listen to (Paperclipping Roundtable) and their most recent discussion is with a woman who suffered amnesia and lost eight years of memories. Wow. I can't imagine. Without even listening to it I have started reflecting on life and how I record it. I haven't kept a paper journal for a long time, but I am considering how I can make sure I am keeping my memories safe. The idea of being 'caught-up' with scrapbooking isn't something that appeals to me as I like to craft when the mood takes me. But what about those important stories that I just haven't got round to scrapbooking yet? I need to think about that. 

Yesterday evening, we picked up some chips and a pineapple fritter (to share, I couldn't possibly eat a whole one) and drove to Gurnard seafront. We sat in the car and ate our food...why do chips always taste better outside? Then we walked slowly along the front, past the kids bringing their boats in after sailing club. Just after the boathouse, there was a turning to go up the hill and into a small wood, and a most beautiful sunset behind us.

This is where the photos start to get a bit grainy, because I only had my phone and the light was fading. Even so...the path looked so inviting, rising through lush greenery with the last of the evening sun glinting through the trees. The wood was quite dense and silent, a proper hobbit-wood and we half expected to see Frodo and Pippin sheltering in one of the secluded corners. There was lots of evidence of animal activity, but they all kept out of our way as we walked through.

Apart from this little chap! As we came out of the wood and onto the road again, Chris suddenly stopped and pointed. Whenever he does this I know it means he's seen something, and if I want to see it too then I have to keep quiet, move slowly, and try and see along his line of sight. Just how he spotted this little guy in the hedge, I have no idea. We moved so, so slowly to try and get a better view, and I really didn't think that the mouse would stay there if I took my phone out to try and take a picture. But he did. We moved closer and closer, snapping a shot with every step in the hope that one of them would come out well enough to see. By the time I got close enough to take the shot above (and there's no zoom on that, it's as it comes from the camera), I was holding my breath to try not to disturb him. I had my arm out holding the phone, and my other hand trying to fend off the branches and random insects that were doing their best to put me off. Mr Mouse, though, wasn't in the least bit bothered. He waited until we were up close and looked right at us, before turning and making his way slowly back into the depths of the hedge. Magic.

That moment is going to be a hard one to beat. I am so glad that there is that photo there to remind me, and I am so glad I've written down just how magical it was. Walking back to the car we could smell a beautiful floral scent from one of the gardens nearby, and could see the mist rolling in from the West. Beautiful.

Scrapbook catchup

I always, always write on my pages. Well, almost. There are one or two where I think 'that's pretty' and that's enough, but otherwise there is always a story. As a child I can remember that when I was asked to write a story it would go on for pages and pages without ending. With my scrapbook pages, I make a conscious effort to write something that at least finishes. Sometimes there is more of a twisted tale, sometimes a page is simply a record of something we've done. Either way, it makes my scrapbooks a wonderful place full of memories. And pages without much writing are easy. I usually do them either as a warm-up if I haven't been scrapping for a while, or I will do one quickly at the end of a craft session. Bish bash bosh. 

I've realised that despite having an influx of cute and fluffy things in to the house this year, my photos and scrapbook pages have been disproportionately degu-related. How could I forget the chinchilla?! The answer to that is that he keeps biting me, and also that he is semi-nocturnal and quite difficult to get a good picture of in daylight. More on both of those things to come, don't worry. But Pep is Chris' lil' dude, and it would be remiss of me not to tell the story of how he came to live here.

Writing, writing, writing. Much less about the photo and more about the story. This was not a quick page - it took me a while to figure out how I was going to include such a lengthy story. And then rather than writing it out first, or even typing it and sticking it on, I just went for it. Straight on the page. I think it turned out rather well :) 

Busy little bees

Things have gone quiet here on the blog front lately, and as usual it isn't for the lack of anything to write about, but because life has suddenly become so busy that there hasn't been time to sit down and put some words + photos together.

When I first met Chris and he told me he kept bees, I didn't really have any concept of what it meant. He became known as 'bee-man' when I talked about him to my friends, and it was one of those things that sounded interesting in a vague sort of way. Mostly I loved his enthusiasm for it, the way that he made bees sound so engaging and his plans for a bee empire. I helped with the honey collection at the end of last summer, but didn't really get involved apart from that. 

Bee-keeping season rolled around in the spring, and it was time to start inspecting hives again. Chris decided to do it at the weekend and invited me along to watch (with my camera, of course). I borrowed a bee suit and away we went. 

Bees are amazing. They are surprisingly calm when you lift the lid and start having a look, and many of them will just carry on with their work while you do yours. I watched Chris doing his inspections and took lots of photos.

Chris pointed things out to me (can you see the queen in the picture below?) and after a while I stopped taking so many photos and started to hold a frame, or help by using the smoker. I started to pick up the terminology, and understand what we were looking for. It was a very proud moment when Chris asked me to lift out a frame by myself and check it, before carefully lowering it back in. These bees are his babies, and I was honoured to be trusted with them.

Since those early inspections, it has been a steep learning curve as our original four hives started showing signs of wanting to expand, so Chris carried out some 'artificial swarms'. This left a queen egg in the old hive, and took the old queen and half of the bees into a new hive. Four became seven, and all was looking promising. Then the swarms began! And this is what has kept us so busy over the last few weeks:

Sometimes bees decide to swarm by themselves, and they will cluster on a tree or post while they look for a new home. When this happens - and someone spots it - Chris gets a phonecall and we drop everything and rock into action. The theory behind swarm collection is simple - the bees follow the scent of the queen, so get as many as you can into your basket and hopefully if the queen is in there, all the other bees will go in too. In practice we rarely seem to get the queen first time, and not all of them have been in such convenient locations as this tree. 'All of them', you ask? Our original four hives, with artificial swarms and 'incomers', are now a total of 17. Not all of them will produce honey this year, and we are braced for one or two to do less well, but even so - I keep having to pinch myself. 17 hives?!

I confirmed my status as bee-keeper rather than bee-photographer last weekend. Chris got a call for a swarm, and he couldn't go. The only way for us to get it was for me to go by myself - so I did. With a bit of help from Chris' mum (also a bee-keeper) who kept a close eye on me, I did it! These bees (above) are now safely in their new home. Their queen isn't laying yet, but there is still time and we are hopeful that they will do well.

In the midst of all this excitement, I totally missed that June 6th was the third anniversary of my most major surgery. As we sat on the Downs earlier, enjoying a picnic lunch after a morning of bee-inspecting, I couldn't help but reflect on how far I have come and how much my life has changed. Even this time last year, if you had told me how I would be spending my time and how good I would be feeling, I would have thought you were being ridiculous. I count my blessings every day, and there are many.

Adventures in my sketchbook

Scrapbooking has taken a back seat recently as I rediscover my sketchbook. I am so inspired by blogs like this one, this one, and this one, that once again I have decided to stop just reading and create some art of my own. These phases come and go and I am never sure how long they will last for, so I am trying to make the most of it. There is something immensely enjoyable about sketching and colouring, looking at lines and shapes and tones. Sometimes I just doodle, and draw patterns that I will fill with colour later. It calms and soothes me, and nourishes my creative soul. I don't know where this adventure will lead but it is most enjoyable indeed.

That was (inter)National Scrapbooking Day

Last Saturday, May 4th, was not only Star Wars Day but (inter)National Scrapbooking Day. A holiday celebrating my favourite hobby? I can get on board with that. The websites and forums that I follow host all kinds of challenges and online chats - generally the only problem is keeping up! There were positively hundreds of challenges out there, including a total of 34 from my two favourite sites. The chances of me completing 34 layouts was always going to be slim, even with an extra week to complete them all. However, I did manage to make three layouts - and more important than just completing them, they are three layouts I love.

My take on Two Peas in a Bucket's Challenge #2, to follow a sketch. 

 Inspired by Shimelle's challenge to scrapbook with 6x4 photos.

Two Peas in a Bucket's final challenge, to be inspired by a page we had bookmarked from the gallery - my inspiration was this lovely page from Crystal.

Hope you've all had a good weekend...I am just about to place a big fat order of photos for printing, so there will be more scrapbook pages to come!