Bottleneck!

Hmmmm... I mentioned in an earlier post that I had so many ideas I wanted to get done and that my creative juices were flowing. Well, they are - at least in my HEAD!

I'm not sure why, but it seems when I sit down to do something, I can't quite work out how to pull it together. Might be the humidity, or the heat - or just about ANYTHING!

Last night when my scrapping buddies were over here, I was expecting to be on a roll. Well, it turned out that after getting the cards done that I wanted to have finished last night, I couldn't work on any of the layouts that I have noted! How does that happen??

** There's a white background challenge for the SE forum - didn't have the photos printed as I had only taken the photos a couple of days ago. Maybe I will print them off here at home. Quality won't be so great - but that page will hopefully get done.

** There's the BOM challenge issued by Janine - I'm planning on doing my handbag contents. Nothing much has changed so I know I can do the pic for it - I just NEED to do it!!

** There's the sketch that I know will work really nicely for a few pics I have from a couple of christmases ago.... I just can't quite find the right paper. Think I've got one pattern sorted, but it needs some stripes..........

I know htat there are going to be 101 projects coming up - I'm about to pick up that motherload of photos soon! I just need to get on and DO IT!

So this brings me to the thought of the day that I got from Ali Edwards' newsletter. What is my Personal Creative Manisfeto? A WHAT??! I hear you ask. In a nutshell, I guess I'd interpret it as a personal description on the philosophy behind the creative stuff you do- a creative mission statement. She's challenged us to think about building one for ourselves. After reading this, I kind of had the thought that maybe that is the bottleneck issue for me. WHAT am I trying to create? Who am I thinking I'm creating it for? At the end of the day, it's all meant to be fun and something for me to enjoy doing instead of angsting over whether I'm doing it well enough for someone else to like it. So, I'm thinking that maybe I could spend 10 minutes pondering this idea further. Hopefully at the end, I'll know a bit better and actually get those ideas OUT OF MY HEAD or notebook and ON TO PAPER!

In the meantime, I DID manage to stick the final piece on a layout - so I did complete one last night in the end.

364

364. Three Hundred and Sixty Four. Sounds pretty close to a year doesn't it?

It's not. That is the number of photos I've just gone through and put on a disc to get printed. wow! OK so I won't be scrapping EVERY SINGLE photo - but wow! I thought I had a few to catch up on. Have I said it enough yet??!! Wow!

We only have dial up. I'm NOT going to be putting them through to DigitalMax in time to take up their special offer of 15c a pic. Bummer - 'cos that would have saved a wee bit!

These photos are all the ones from last year that have been put neatly into folders on the computer, waiting for me to come back and sort out which ones are the ones I really, really want to scrap. I still ended up with that HUGE number! A lot are still duplicates - I find it too hard from looking at one photo and then another and deciding which of the two I actually want. So, I'm taking heart that the majority of these will be sent to other homes of friends and family that are always demanding to see actual pics.

I thought I was going to get a couple of layouts done tonight - instead it has taken me best part of 2 hours to get this lot sorted. Clearly though, it's been a good 2 hours. In theory, I think it means that I will not have to go back to 2006 for scrapping sources. That is a good thing: I have a LOT to do from well before then! And I'm thinking that it might mean I can keep up to date with 2007. That's a good thing!

Mind you - I now have the photos - I'll need to get creating won't I?!

Lists

Are you a list person?

I'm not really. Ok, I'll make grocery lists and To Do lists - but it seems that the only time I refer to them is at the end of the task / day to see what I missed. Somehow the actual act of writing things down puts those things in my head. The important stuff sticks - mostly. The not so important stuff often doesn't stick. I think this is called "Volcano Management" !

Anyway, a couple of fun lists via Ali Edwards looked interesting so I thought I'd try and make them.

THE ESSENTIALS

These are the items that you reach for time and time again - the things that you absolutely must have in order to create.

• My paper trimmer - it's the only way I know I'll cut a straight line!
• Scissors - I finally got some sharp, pointy ones so I can now cut in nice and close
• Inks - chalk ink is becoming a must have, but I would use ink somewhere in almost every page I think. The absolute minimum colours for me would be black, platinum, and sepia.
• Photos!
• Pens - i'm doing my best to "love my handwriting" - I use a black zig, and white pigment ink pen
• Adhesives - i have a few but the two I use most are double sided tape and Henzo glue
• Cardstock
• Patterned papers - I have to have some

OK, so with that list I could create. Don't know if I would be happy with every page. Probably would like to have a list of things that I'd like access to even if I couldn't bring them myself.... ribbons, brads/eyelets, rub-ons. Yeah, I think they are almost on the Essentials list!

The second list was "THE GOOD STUFF" - those things that you're using lots at the moment and are making your brain zing!

• Flowers - yes really! With two boys I haven't been doing many girly pages so with a few challenges and a determination to get some sort of "pink" in there, I'm getting flowers on many things!
• Rub-ons - ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes! Titles, swirls, Big swirls, stitches.... yes please gimme!!
• Buttons - I'm a newbie to buttons - and I LIKE
• Chipboard - I'm liking lots. Still a little restrained as I figure out what to do - but I'm wanting to use it quite a lot.
• SERIOUSLY patterned paper. I'm trying not to be scared of mixing it up. The couple of pages I've down wit more than one bit of pp I'm liking LOTS. More experimentation coming up.
• paint - yet another "new" thing for me - but I love the effect I'm getting. i got a bottle of texture paint in a kit last month. Have no idea what to do with it at this point so feedback on some ideas would be welcome!
• Serviettes - I got put on to this by a friend for card making .... and now I see it creeping into a couple of my pages. All to do with the FUN serviettes I've been given!

So these are my lists. What would be on your ESSENTIALS and your GOOD STUFF lists?

[Will post some pics once I've organised (!)]

More cards

Hee hee... I got them done! I'm feeling very good tonight!!

The first card is for Dad - again thanks to a serviette from Keryn's collection. I had to (well, I wanted to - my mod podge jar that is MIA is less than a 1/4 full anyways..!) get some more mp from Spotlight today. I sooooooooo have issues with that store - but I will be kind and spare anyone reading those dramatic (painful / boring!) details...

Anyway, I am truly happy with how this turned out. The end result is quite different to what I thought I was going to do with it. Wven better - I got some ribbon in there!

This card is one for a Miss about to be 6 all the way in Belgium. I used my brand new sparkly MP here, cut out the angel and the stars - the bottom one has been raised with foam tape a little. Donna, I no longer have sparkle envy!!

I can't believe this Miss is actually almost 6! I first met her and her mum in Antwerp when my Mr 5 was literally 5 or 6 weeks old! Her and another friend who were to become good friends during our time over there. It was scary just thinking about how fast time had flown when they were all turning 5 over the last year. These were our first born babes! Mr 5 was just 18 months when we returned to NZ so he doesn't remember them - unless looking at the photos in the albums. I think the names are more like characters in a familiar book now!

These two ladies, and the 2 kids (and dads!) - as well as an additional two families became like family to me while I was over there. It seems very strange to know that people who were part of your every day fabric are literally on the other side of the world, sleeping while I do day time stuff, working while I'm dreaming...! Most of the little group have gone on to have No's 2 and even 3 in the intervening years. Little people we may never actually get to know, yet still have a connection with.

I owe a huge debt of friendship to these girlies. My very sanity and survival in a place so far from home often came down to you - miss you as always! (.............................I do - it's just I'm a hopeless letter writer...!!!)

The whole friendship thing has me thinking at the moment. I've signed up for my first ever circle journal through SE and am having to put together my two pages for it. I'm a little worried that my standard is different to the others - they are seriously very talented ladies!! However, I'm looking forward to challenging myself - and best of all, learning lots. About scrapbooking, but I'm guessing - a lot about the ladies involved - and me...! Yikes!

Oh - by the way - all you friends back here in NZ may be called upon soon..........think I'm gonna need some pics of you lot too........... :)

Ok, thoughts are heading into the silly area. must be my night-nights time.

Birthday flowers

A little something I have done for my sister's birthday next month. I've used serviettes obtained from Keryn's great stash. I'm quite pleased with the fact that I have used all three tulips - I usually will use just the one. However, I picked up that bright pink ribbon with the lime stitching and I thought it went so well with the colours in the serviette that I could use the stripes as well. Super pleased with this.

I was MEANT to be doing my Dad's card.... couldn't find my Modge Podge! Grrrrr - I have so many "safe places" that I never find things again! So, while I AM trying to get into that organisational mode, I seem to shoot myself in the foot a little now and again!

Being organised is one of my "Resolutions" this year. Truth is, it's usually a resolution EVERY year for me - I never quite get the hang of the concept. This year is a bit different - I'm still thinking about what it means to me. I found a definition on The Free Dictionary as: Methodical and efficient in arrangement or function. Yep, that sounds like what I need.

I am managing bit by bit (yes, it's baby-steps for me at the moment) to organise some things, but in the bigger picture I still manage to clutter and lose things. That old phrase "A place for everything and everything in its place" is really true.

So after a bit of time spent (unfruitfully!) looking for my modge podge, I was getting very frustrated. Nowhere near my HAPPY word for a while. Something reminded me that this was the very thing that I was striving to fix within myself this year - I don't want to be getting grumpy at the little things. So I took a big deep breath, realised that I wasn't going to suddenly get organised in order to complete the cards I WANTED to get done, and wondered what else I could do this evening, in the same vein, that would focus me back on getting something done. Then I remembered that my sister's birthday was also coming up. Et voila!

Adding a tick beside the list of cards I need to do - yep, makes me HAPPY!

Oh, yeah - I also managed to send away two of my SE swaps today - both on time. AND, I managed to tick off all but two tasks on my daily To Do list. Not too bad for she who is completely DISorganised! Baby steps are helping :)