wellness | finding your way

After I finished LOAD on Monday, I decided to sign up for Karen Grunberg's class at BPC (did you know you get rewards for buying BPC classes? For every $10, get a star, every 10 stars gets you $10 off. I forgot about it, and had two vouchers waiting for me! And if there's anybody left in the world who isn't a member at BPC, click this link to be referred by me, and we'll both receive 10% off our next class)

Layout-a-day definately helped get me scrapping again, and I've remembered some of the things that help make my pages authentic, but there's some stuff that I'm still struggling with, so I thought this class would help. When I made the decision in January to complete layout-a-day for February I went back to Karen's summary post last June from her  layout-a-day project (which is what she based her BPC class on) and scratched out some notes that would help me stay up-to-date. Those notes went like this -

sketches

• ella books
• 2 peas in a bucket
• something from almost nothing

products

• basic grey product of the month kits
• white/kraft cardstock
• my minds eye
• echo park

techniques

• paint/ink
• stamping
• stitching/sewing
• fabric

tools

• border punches
• butterfly punch

I also decided to get some photos printed in a mix of sizes - 4x6, 3x4 and 2x3

What I learned about this list while doing my layout-a-day project

Sketches - I had a couple of pages of favourite layouts from two peas printed out, and a couple of pages from pagemaps, and I referred to these constantly for a spark of sketchy inspiration. I only looked through my folder of ella books once, but was too pressed for time to follow through on the idea I had. I completely forgot about using something from almost nothing.

• I'm still in the scraplift/seek inspiration/use a sketch stage.
• I need to write down those sparks of inspiration so I can remember them next time.

 Products - I don't love Basic Grey as much as I used to. I went through a stage of buying every new release, which was part of the reason that I signed up for the product of the month kits. But I don't like the products. I'm going to complete the suggested layouts in the kits, because it could be that I just haven't played with it enough lately, but it might not be.

• having a kit of products, or matching embellishments, helps reduce the embellishment-anxiety I seem to be suffering at the moment. It also reduces the need to make decisions about what papers to use.
• I prefer bright coloured papers on kraft or white backgrounds. 12x12 and 8.5x11 are my go-to sizes, but I like to mix in the occasional 6x12 as well.
• Manufacturers of the moment include Echo Park, Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, My Minds Eye and American Crafts

Techniques -  I think because I was creating at the kitchen table instead of downstairs in my craft room, it never occurred to me to pull out paints or mists. I did, however, use ink to edge most papers and some photos. Colour of the moment is versa colour pinecone, but I've also been known to use bark, charcoal and black. I only sewed on layouts twice, once by hand and once with the machine. Sewing by hand is very calming, sewing by machine is stressful at the moment as the tension on my machine is terrible. I didn't use fabric on my layouts.

Tools - Border punches rule! I only have three at the moment, and a Martha Stewart double punch, but I need more. Using them adds a fun element to pages, and they are suitable for boy and girl pages. I even managed to get butterflies onto a boy page (or two), and need the middle-size butterfly to match my whale-of-a-punch and tiny punch.

Other stuff before you start - I need photos and a story in order to create. I'm flexible enough with photos that I can print them at home, although I did like having some photos pre-printed and then remembering the story behind them (or sometimes telling a completely different story). I definately need to write down the stories rambling through my brain. Having the stories written down is almost as important as having the photos taken.

I'm going to work on a layout-a-day-or-two starting next Monday (I say a-day-or-two purely because March is birthday month for Natalie and I, so we've got a few days out planned) as Karen suggests in class, and see if any of these things change once I'm creating in my craft room instead of the kitchen (with all my supplies around me instead of limited supplies)

Do you have a notebook/other method of writing down stories to scrap?

who turned the light on?

{source}

I tongue-in-cheek posted last week that I have lots of ideas, but lack follow through, and asked if that made me super-creative, or just lazy. I wasn't really looking for an answer, but it's something that has been on my mind lately. A friend shared a link with me via facebook yesterday - someone was looking for handmade items to be sold in a bricks and mortar store, and my friend thought of me. I told her I wasn't really sure, and after a bit of to-and-fro-ing, where she gave me some food for thought, I switched off and sewed up the quilt in the previous post.

Then I sat down with a pen and paper, and started writing some blog posts out longhand. Even in this time of electronics, I prefer paper and pen to keep me on track. What I wrote is -

I want to be THAT mum, you know, the one who can turn any idea into an opportunity to make something (and it would be nice to make a small amount of money from the creating), but I have a huge stumbling block - ME!

While I was writing my brain was whirling 100miles a minute, as it does when I have an idea, and I started thinking about a comment I made to Elizabeth last week, I wish I had half your imagination, and then I had a flash! I'm in the imitation phase of a new path! If you've listened to Stacy Julian's podcasts, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. If not, let me explain (but please listen to Stacy's podcast on creative growth, she explains it much better than I can)

Discovery is the first step of creative growth. Getting inspiration from blogs, magazines, forums, galleries, classes.

Imitation is next - listening to the voices of others, scraplifting, using sketches, creating from tutorials.

Divergance is the actual doing on your own. You have found your own way and you sail away from the shore

Crisis is the last step. The only cure for a crisis is curiosity and discovery. you must be willing to change passion, support group...

Everyone can find creative growth.

Where am I going with this? Well, I've realised that my passions are changing. I'm not as passionate about scrapbooking as I was, but I am embracing it as a part of the craftyness in my life. It's okay if I want to sew together blocks of fabric for blankets instead of scrap, because I am making. It's okay if I play with paint, and paper, and canvases, and fabric, and photos, because I am making.

Oh, and that opportunity my friend told me about? I'm not going to go with that one, but I'm going to knuckle down, stop procrastinating, and get on with making the few things I have ideas for, and then see where that takes me.