thinking about Christmas already??

The latest twopeas blog challenge:

Challenge:
Think Christmas.
Think about your Christmas tree, if you have one.
How do you decorate it? what do you use????

Well, I used to have two trees. One was all gold/white/clear ornaments with little white lights. The other had multi-colored lights and all the "other" ornaments. Well, two trees became too much work for me!

Now I have one tree. And yes, it's fake. After years of saying it had to be real, DH finally got tired of falling needles, etc. I put tons of little white lights on it, mostly buried in the tree to give depth.

Then lots of ornaments. Some of the ornaments are the gold/white/clear ornaments. Some are home made. And many have been collected throughout the years - every year I give DH an ornament as part of his Christmas present. His ornament can be from a place we travelled to that year, it can represent a place we travelled to, it can be about some other activity from that year, or sometimes it's just something cute that I think he'd like. He sometimes gives me an ornament, and sometimes his folks give one or both of us an ornament. So one thing I enjoy about decorating our tree is pulling out those ornaments and remembering what each ornament is about. I try to always label each gift ornament with to: from: and date - some day my memory won't be quite so good!!

Anyway, I then add just a little bit of tinsel, enough to get some reflection from the white lights, but not enough to hide our cool ornaments. And our tree topper - right now we have a Santa. We had a star at one time, but it didn't work well. I would like to get a different topper - one that lights up (our Santa doesn't).

This year will be tough for our tree. If I put one up, it will be the first time with our new kitties. They came to live with us after New Years last year, so they haven't had the pleasure of playing in a Christmas tree yet. Our last Cat was great - he never touched anything on the tree. So this will definitely be interesting - my babies are still young enough that they like to play with and chew anything and everything, and they are really really curious about everything too. I'm not sure yet that I want to attempt putting the tree up this year!

dinner party for 10 (ok 11, including me!)

Recently I’ve been doing some “pre-work” for a circle journal in my CKU-Chicago dorm group. The cj I’ve been thinking about is themed “What 10 people, alive or dead, would you like to invite to dinner?”

Fun idea, so I’ve been soul searching, trying to really decide who I think would be interesting to chat with.

However, a prior twopeas blog challenge made this significantly easier. Not that long ago, I listed some folks whose lives I would like to scrapbook. Well, obviously I chose them because they intrigue or interest me and I want to know more about them, their life, and/or the time frame in which they live(d). Those seven people would all be invited to dinner: daddy, Cleopatra, Oprah, Thomas Jefferson, Socrates, Amadeus Mozart and Howard Carter.

I would also invite:

Albert Einstein – what an amazing intellect. I think it would be interesting to see if he could talk “down” to those who aren’t scientifically as advanced as he was. It would be fascinating to find out how his theories evolved, and how society at that time treated a man whose theories were sometimes contrary to “common knowledge.” I’m also interested in finding out to what extent, if any, his wife was involved in his work.

Joan Baez – but not because of her music, for which she is most well known. I would love to talk to someone who lived during the 60s and 70s and was involved in the anti-establishment movement. I often feel I should have been born decades earlier than I was, because the hippie / flower child lifestyle really appeals to me. As a bonus, Joan was/is an activist for many causes that resonate with me: non-violence, human and civil rights, and the environment.

Marco Polo – a famous adventurer during the Medieval Ages. It would be fascinating to hear about his travels from Venice to Cathay (now China) and back through many countries, where he observed cultures distinctly different from those prevalent in Europe at the time. I am especially intrigued by Polo’s time as a high-ranking official of the court of Kublai Khan, a Mongol who was an Emperor of China. Altho much of his travels are detailed in “The Travels of Marco Polo,” at his deathbed, he left the famous epitaph for the world: "I have only told the half of what I saw!" – I’d like to hear the rest!!

scrapbook challenges/struggles

The latest twopeas challenge:
Blog about the struggles you face as a scrapbooker.
What are the challenges in your life, related to this craft?
Anything you have trouble doing/understanding?


My first instinct: struggles? How can there be struggles re: scrapbooking? But then I start thinking about it a little bit more…

For me the biggest challenge has to do with other people’s misconceptions about scrapbooking. Many people don’t understand why I scrapbook since I don’t have kids – they don’t “get it,” that I enjoy scrapbooking as an art, a creative outlet, a balance in my life, and that I’m creating albums for ME to look at now and later in life. Some people think that I must have all kinds of free time – they don’t realize that I MAKE the time to scrap because it’s important to me. And then there’s the ever famous “aw, what’s scrapbooking but cutting pictures and slapping them on a page?” – ARGH! And those people will just NEVER understand that there is so much more to scrapbooking – it’s like graphic design and art combined, using color, texture, design, photos and words to convey feelings. However, for the most part, I’ve learned to shrug these comments off with the realization that it’s THEIR loss.

There are also the time challenges. I would love to sit and create all day every day. But other things call… such as work, housework, DH, kitties, volleyball, motorcycling, etc. Some fun, some not so fun. But they all prevent me from spending as much time as I would like in my studio, organizing and scrapping. And yes, I love organizing my scrap supplies as much as I love scrapbooking! ;D

I also have an internal struggle regarding the money I spend on scrapbooking. I don’t want to even attempt to determine how much money I have poured into this “hobby” of mine. I have enough supplies to last a very very long time, yet I buy more. Why?? Because I see stuff on sale, because it’s cool, because if I don’t buy it when I see it, I may never see it again because inventory turnover is so quick in this industry. This type of spending is very foreign to me – I’ve never been much into shopping. But buying scrap supplies has become an addiction. I justify it by saying “When I’m working at home I can find the right papers or embellishments for just about any page I work on.” And yes, I’m pretty sure that’s true. And I also justify my spending habits by seeing and knowing how much other scrappers spend – there are tools that cost hundreds of dollars, and I know scrappers who buy pretty much each and every newest tool out there, no matter what the cost, because it’s “new and improved.” I don’t do that. So I can always tell myself that since I could spend so much more I’m really not that bad.

And right now I’m struggling with the direction the scrapbooking industry has taken. For the past couple of years, most pages that are published are single picture one page layouts. Most people I know don’t scrapbook like that. Layouts are usually 2 or 4 pages. And they almost always include a group of photos, at least 3, more often 5 or 6 or 7 per two page layout. I used to love getting my scrapbook magazines and thumbing through them, looking at the layouts. Now I just get really disgusted, because there is so little in the magazines that I find useful to me. Last night I looked through one issue from this summer – out of hundreds of layouts in the mag, there were TWO layouts that were two pages, the rest were all one page. I am letting all THREE of my mag subscriptions run out, because I’m so upset and disgusted with them.

So I guess even with something I love as much as scrapbooking, there are challenges... hmmm....

so why do I scrapbook??

An interesting thread has developed at twopeas, my fave scrap message board. The original poster wondered if others felt like her – that she doesn’t “fit” into the scrapbook community.

I was the first to respond. And heck yeah, I definitely don’t feel like I “fit” into the typical scrap groups, mainly because I am childfree.

Now, I don’t usually like to generalize, but it’s pretty easy to do with scrapbooking. Most scrappers have kids. And many of them are scrapping for their kids, to preserve their heritage, in hopes that someday their kids will appreciate it.

So why do I scrapbook?? I do it for myself. I enjoy it. And that is sufficient reason for me. However, there are other reasons too – again, for myself. I like the idea that in the future I can look back at what I did and who I was at various ages. Because my job is so analytical, I need artistic activities to keep me balanced. And of course, there is the little issue of collecting scrap supplies – OMG there are such cool products for scrappers!!

I am different from "most" other scrappers in other ways too: I'm liberal, I'm a Democrat, I'm not a girly girl, I'm not religious (to say the least!)... but these usually don't matter when it comes to the scrapping world. It's just the kids... always the kids.

I don't think other scrapbookers realize it, but almost all that they talk about (again this is a generalization) is their kids. And I understand that, because kids are a huge part of a mom's life.

But scrappers - cut me some slack - I really don't care that your kid loves to wear some superhero outfit or has a fave pair of underwear or whatever. Talk to me about something YOU do, that YOU enjoy. Or let's talk about something we have in common. But please don't drone on for hours about your kid(s), knowing full well that I have CHOSEN to not have kids because I don't want that life!

And now to get back off that high horse... ;D

The people I scrap with most frequently aren't like this, thank goodness. Yeah, they talk about their kids a little, no biggie. But they are also able to talk about other subjects. Hey scrap buds - I love you guys!!