Resurrection

Sometimes life takes some strange twists and turns, and my own life has been no exception to this. For those interested, or not... I am in the midst of "turning over a new leaf", which seems to be appropriate for autumn, with leaves falling and mist and fog taking over the weather. So much has changed since I last wrote here. I forgot this blog was here, as I had started another blog elsewhere. I find that there are too many limitations in the code for the templates they allow you to use here, so I wasn't paying attention. Sorry.

Someone asked me a question. I think that it is never too late to start over, but it is not without it's difficulties. There are barriers and baggage that seem to want to be stumbling blocks, and sometimes we have erroneous theories or perceptions about the present situation that can keep us from moving forward. I have often found that I need to pitch one approach, and try something new, when it seems there is no way to get past the perceived barrier in the present. Creative thinking is called for here! This is where the huge growth spurts happen... in the often desperate "what if?" ideas that we think of, but might discard without trying, simply because we are so accustomed to a routine that has been working for years. Often, the routine is holding us back from becoming our best self, or producing our best work, in whatever field we are wanting to be creative in. I believe this holds true for all creative people, whether they are a musician, painter, or whatever.

Memory can be a help, or a hinderance. It is up to each person to decide which memories are good, and which are harmful. I want to preserve my good memories, and learn from the harmful things in the past, so that I can be ready for the future. I am hopeful that this is one of the best parts of "me", and that it will keep me growing and young in heart, as I go forward in years. I'll try to post some photos again soon. I'll have some free time this week.

Elaine

July is nearly over already???

Wow, this month has flown by! I was very fortunate to be able to take part in a weeklong workshop with Akemi Nakano Cohn, at Coupeville Arts Center, in Color Rice Paste Resist on Silk. This is a topic that has been of great interest to me for years. I have been fascinated with two techniques, katazome (which is rice paste resist through hand-cut stencils), and tsutsugaki (freehand drawn rice paste resist, sort of reminds you of squeezing icing or toothpaste through a small hole in a tube, in order to draw). Both methods can also be used with color added to the rice paste, which, when steamed, creates intense color on the silk that is very permanent. This is a dying art in Japan, though there are those artists who are working to keep the art alive, not only by their own work, but by sacrificing some of their studio time to teach others what they know.

I was very pleased with what I learned, though as is my nature in a workshop environment, I didn't produce a lot of "product" during class time. I came out with 3 pieces, all of which were illustrative of what I learned, though not all were as successful as I would have liked. I guess most of us can say that? There were 6 of us in the class, from all over the US, and I saw some really great work being done. I think I may have been the least experienced when it came to working with silk.

I'll be back in a while, hopefully, to post pictures from the class.

I haven't done much (okay, not really any!) digi-scrapping lately. I've spent more time in the garden and rearranging the house, and haven't been on the computer as much as I usually am. I HAVE been taking more photos, though, so maybe some of them can be shared.

I hope to get some serious work done this week.

Being horribly sick, and breaking my "scrapping barrier"

I have NO idea what I am doing, but I am determined to learn, to make some nice "pages", to save some of my family photographs from years gone by, and do something with the photographs from our trips, as well as the photos I take all the time. I have SO MUCH graphic design experience, but how will that translate into something so totally different? I've never made a scrapbook in my life! Okay. I take that back. I made a baby book, one of those horrific things that are premade for you to fill in when you have a child. I don't remember for how many years I actually tried to keep up with it, but it wasn't much fun, or very attractive, really. And I have several of those nasty photo albums with the "magnetic" pages, photos are often "polaroids" (remember them?) and fading fast. I need to save those photos. All my wedding photos and others are in boxes, along with every other photo I've ever taken, prior to the 'save a copy on CD' era.

So... I spent some time the past few days, determined to get over my fear of foolishness, and actually made a couple of layouts! Guess what! They were well-received. So, if I can figure out how to get them on here, I'll share them. I don't think anyone is reading this blog. Thank goodness.

Okay, so here is the first layout. I did two challenges this past weekend. One was for Lara's Digi World, and we had to use a mini-kit she provided, to make a layout. I had a hard time with this, and hadn't a photo I thought would work with it, so I didn't put a photo in. This is how it came out, and I believe she plans on even showing it on her blog! This page is called 'Daisy Days'.

Then, at the same time, Sunshine Girls' new site, Sunshine Studio Scraps Forum, there was a week-long challenge called "Emerging Layout", in which you were given pieces day by day for a week, and invited to make a layout as you went along. I wanted to play, but couldn't get Photoshop to play nice with the idea of these digi-scrap things! I couldn't manage to do anything right! It took me 3 days, but I finally got going, and managed to start on THEIR challenge, while at the same time, working on the one for the other challenge. This time, I was really late posting my starting layout, but managed to keep up for the last few days, though I'd scrapped myself into a corner and left no room for a picture! But it turned out pretty well. Here is the second layout:


And, THIS one even won me a package of Quick Pages! Very cool. And some people had encouraging things to say, so I am going to keep at it. The worst of it was, that I was getting sicker and sicker as the week went on, but I didn't go to the doctor until I was VERY sick indeed. So now I am on antibiotics, but I am improving, so I don't have to go to the hospital tomorrow. Maybe if I keep busy with this, since I can't go outside and I can't do much except in small spurts, I'll be satisfied. I am sleeping about 4 hours, then I wake up, take more pills, drink water, and back to bed. I think the fevers have about stopped, or at least are less. I can't concentrate on the knitting right now. I tend to fall asleep and drop it, then when I wake up, I have no idea where I left off, or if I remember what to do next!

Scrapping is easier, so long as I remember to save constantly! I have a new challenge I am going to work on, and I am going to do my best to keep blogging, not just drop it for months and say nothing.

If anyone IS reading this, please leave me a note and let me know, but be nice. Some of us are new to this whole blogging thing, much less the scrapping too. And now I'll have to start taking photos of my spinning and knitting to post them, LOL.

See ya!