We Make a Great Pear

So I am participating in a blog hop challenge. It is such a great idea. I am new to challenges at these sites. I have entered a few challenges and they have all been on paperclipping.com's Crop Circle community. I knew scrapping was big but there are so many blogs about scrapping and everyone brings something different to the table. It's amazing how creative people can be. I am truly inspired. This is my entry for the blog hop challenge. In the interest of full disclosure, I also entered this layout in the February Challenge of Paperclipping's Crop Circle.

Ok so the challenge required a specific sketch/layout....Check!

The layout also had to be about reflection....My journaling says "so lucky to have each other. We've come a long way in 5 years." These photos reflect a glimpse into these five years for better or worse, richer or poorer....Reflection theme....Check!

Finally, the third requirement of the challenge was to use ribbon and a silver title....Check!

Wish me luck!

Paperclipping Roundtable

I’ve started listening to a podcast each week about scrapping called the Paperclipping Roundtable. I only listen to 2 or 3 podcasts and this is one of them....and the only one related to my hobby. This week's show was really interesting b/c it was a solid conversation about what scrapping tools may or may not be worth getting and why. It’s a really great show if scrapping is your thing. And I trust Noell Hyman, the woman who started the roundtable - her recommendations and her style. And she is a self-proclaimed spend-thrift, proving that you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to make beautiful pages. She has video tutorials, some free but most are for members that have really helped me with my scrapping and photography. On some levels, it has helped me with some redecorating around the house.

On this week’s show the panelists discussed tools that they have regretted purchasing. While I consider myself an intermediate level scrapper, most of the tools I no longer use or regret having boug

ht when I first got into the hobby. So what are those regrets?

1. Fiskars punches - corner, border and emboss with border. I just don’t use them and never really did. The issue isn’t cost b/c these tools are not over $20. For me the issue is clutter. I always try to find a way to use them but just don’t succeed in doing so. I would use the border punches more often if they weren’t so hard and stiff. Compared to the ONE Martha Steward border punch I own (because they are pricey), there is a huge difference in Martha's punches and their user friendliness. It cuts like butter. The Fiskars punches give me arthritis. Martha’s border punch is a much smoother squeeze. Fiskars not so much.
2. Another purchase I am mad I made was as recent as January - the ScrapOnizer Clear Solution System. It’s sitting on my book shelf. Still clear. Still empty. My intention was to use it for crops. Just pick them up and go and best of all find everything more easily (because they are clear). But again, not so much.
3. I don’t regret buying this next item but I do have buyer’s guilt about getting a Gypsy. Actually my husband got it for me for Christmas at my request and I just haven’t had the time and energy to really learn it. I thought it would be much more user friendly. This was a pricey purchase and it's just sitting on the shelf looking pretty.

Now the fun stuff. I love my cricut but I wish the cartridges were cheaper. I do get them for half price or less on Ebay, thus alleviating some guilt. I LOVE my MacBook because Once you go Mac, you never go back. AND I love photoshop. I am so glad I taught myself how to use it. And finally my absolute favorite toy is my shiny new Canon Rebel Tsi SLR camera. What is scrapbooking without that tool?!?

One Little Word

I took an online class with Ali Edwards on BigPictureScrapbooking.com and loved it. She focused a lot on learning to scrap and journal about yourself and not others though they are equally important to who YOU are. Well since that class I have been following her blog and she has a new project called One Little Word. She asked her readers to pick a word that would represent our year. I chose REFLECTION. That is what I want out of this year. I want to reflect and then take those reflections and move on to the next level of my life. Reflection is broad enough that I can reflect about anything - life, family, finances, career. But it’s specific enough that it resonates on a lot of levels. It’s definition is clear and it’s goal is obvious...at least to me.

Check out spell with flickr to get an image of your little word

Why I Scrap.

I originally started scrapping because I had hundreds of photos of my baby’s first year of life. As I got deeper into the hobby, I learned that there was so much more the hobby could be for me. I have now moved on to a Heritage Scrapbook with old photos of my family and my husband’s family. Lately, I have gotten retrospective, using scrapbooking as an avenue for journaling. Scrapping has also reignited my love of photography. A picture says 1000 words. When you scrap a really great photo, the words are infinite. And digital photography, photoshop and a host of other tools has created so many opportunities to be creative.