There but by the

grace of God and the love of scrapbooking go I. On Saturday I attended a crop and had a fabulous time. I met three new friends and was reminded of how I knew most of the other women there who were also my friends.

In richness and in richness
I made friends in South Florida before we ever moved here six years ago because I taught scrapbook workshops in the area. These women are still my friends today. I moved away from a dozen more friends in Virginia that all came into my life because of scrapbooking. I still catch up with these out of state friends when I go back to visit and even smiled at a couple of them as I walked down the aisle during my wedding last August.

And speaking of my wedding, we wouldn’t have won our dream wedding if it hadn’t been for the thousands of scrappers all over the world who faithfully voted for us last summer. The generosity and dedication of women I’ve never even met still overwhelms me.

In all kinds of weather
Then there was the time that I fled West Palm Beach just ahead of a hurricane and traveled across the state to stay in the home of a generous scrapbook friend that I had met only one time when I taught a workshop in Orlando.

I have traveled all over the country because of scrapbooking; I have attended all the major trade shows as a designer and instructor. I have laughed and cried through my own life and the lives of others. I have healed. I have learned. I have grown.

The next generation-about these layouts
The pages today are another result of getting by with a little help from my friends. Just when I thought I would be perpetually behind on the pages documenting my grandson’s first year—I received a generous gift from Annette. She had all these pre-done pages she’d prepared for her Club Scrap business that she gave to me for Christmas. So while they might not scream of my style, they are most definitely a work of love and of friendship.

Spring Fever

I’ve had the best time doing the clearing in my studio and using “found items” to create new items. These found items are from old swaps, left over creations from stamping sessions, projects that just never quite came together, half used sticker sheets, and kit items I never used.

I’ve only scanned a few of the many projects from the last two weeks—but they will be filtering in as the days progress.

After completing the digital Easter layout last weekend I used some paper piecing items from a swap I did back around 2000 combined with digital titles and photographs placed on five (or more) year old paper. What a feeling of accomplishment to combine all that older stuff with photos taken three days prior.

I began this journey with goals. I will clear my studio and ramp up my creative process by working my way with the hope that this process will generate more finished items than ever before. I want to get back to pleasing myself instead of working within the confines of what appeals most to the industry and today’s latest technique or trend.

I thought I would be coming up with all kinds of fabulous new approaches to projects that reflected this great insight. I have done some fun and different projects but I’m finding almost as much gratification just from using up all these tidbits in combination with some newer techniques. Cliché as it sounds; it feels like “old school meets new school.” I’ll work on coming up with a more catchy name as I go along.

Our own spring fling

Now this is fun--not only did we have a great weekend but thanks to the "miracle" of digital photography I got to finish it all off with a scrapbook page. As far as the layout--thanks to my organizational folders I used a combination of elements from Designer Digitals and Go Digital. My favorite technique, which I candidly overuse these days, is photo clipping with masks to get that funky photo effect.

As far as the weekend--We went to PBUMC Saturday with our favorite borrowed kids from next door. We started the morning with a pancake breakfast, then visited the bake sale, the rummage sale, back inside for the praise fellowship before heading out to hunt for eggs and topping it all off with a tasty hot dog lunch. That's one run-on sentence describing one run-on day of fun.

But wait, there's more--just like on the Sham-wow commercials. On Sunday I woke up early and attended the sunrise service. It was wonderful. We sang my favorite Resurrection songs and I wept and smiled the whole time. After service I came home and made hot cross buns for us before we relaxed, enjoyed our life in the neighborhood, and then watched the Masters.

I posted all the photos on Facebook if you want to revel in more cute-ness.

Life is good. I wish you joy.

Is it Art?

Trick questions for you and me….

If you spend hours and days on one project and you adore the finished result is that better than creating smaller pieces that might not be your best work, but they’re fun?
If you sell your work and some one pays a ton for it—does that make it “better” than the work you do for yourself?
If you make cards (mail art) from supplies left over from other projects or scraps on your table—does that make them less important?
If you use materials like rubber stamps, photos, stickers, and other embellishments—does that make it less than original art?
Isn’t all art “altered art?” A traditional painter alters a canvas with oils, a tole painter alters wooden shapes or canvas bags with acrylic, a legacy artist alters 12” square cardstock with photos and embellishments, and a photographer alters a photo by cropping and framing.

Pattie Donham,

http://pattiewack.blogspot.com/ the original inventor of blankets with sleeves (smile) sent me to this ExtremeCraft http://extremecraft.typepad.com/ website from her blog. The blog’s title line is: “A compendium of art masquerading as craft, craft masquerading as art & craft extending its middle finger.”

March came in and went out like a lion for me. I had quite a few motivators and I am grateful for the energy. I made a list of all my March projects and before I could finish it I went and made 8 new spring cards to mail for Easter. Cool beans-- or perhaps that should be cool jelly beans.

My March scrapbook layouts are in the post below. I did digital, traditional, and hybrid. I worked predominantly in 12” by 12” except for a wall hanging. I also printed out all my digital layouts in 8” by 8” size to compile in a separate album. I’ve been meaning to do that for a while now.

Artwork Here:

The green square card was created for my brother and sister-in-law. It is truly an ode to my promise of using what I have and revisiting what has made me (and others) happy. The stickers came from a purchase at Paula Massie's store, scrapbook corner back around 2003. The tag is even older. I made it for a Rebeca Sower tag swap right after we moved here in 2001. The post card background is a scanned post card from my grandfather to my grandmother in the 20's.

The "He is Risen" card was made for my parents by recycling an American Greetings card that my Grandma sent Henry and I in 2002. She loved purple, and it was a perfect base for this. She would definitely appreciate the reuse of product. She and I used to make our Christmas cards in this same way together. This was a woman who washed and saved aluminum foil all her life. Grandma never thought of it as recycling, she just did it to "waste not, want not."

I was spurred through this creative spurt in what felt like a rush. I created scrapbook layouts in short amounts of time, I grabbed scraps and assembled ATCs and cards. It just flowed. Sometimes, when that happens, I start to think that my work can’t be valuable because it took such a short time to complete.

I have decided to release that derogatory thought concerning my creativity and take heart in the fact that I love what I make and I really enjoy sharing it with others too. This passion is a calling, a gift from my great Creator. I will honor it and I know that it is art.

May you enjoy the new life of spring and the renewal of your spirit during this season however you choose to celebrate it.

Catching Up

I've been too busy creating to blog--which is how it should be some weeks. My apologies. I've had my own version of March Madness and like the tournament--it's spilled into April. Here are some of my recent layouts in no particualar order. Click to enlarge if you want to see more detail. Coming soon are all the cards and altered art I've made...wheeeeeeeeeee