Scrappin on the Sly...Memoirs of a sneaky scrapper

October 27, 2006

Here to stay?

Now for most who know me already know this, and for those who don't, I'm going to let you in on a little secret...It takes A LOT to hold my interest. I get bored very easily and then I'm off to the next exciting thing. You know how it is...you think of one thing, and it leads to another, and then to another, and then another. Well, that is what is like in "a day in the life of Tisha", especially in the world of hobbies and crafting.

I come from a very crafty, talented, and resourceful family. My mother taught me to crochet when I was about 7 years old. I crocheted, and crocheted, and crocheted, until I lost interest and then it was off down the road of crafting discovery. I then took up mop doll making, but that didn't last long. That segued into plastic canvas where I quickly learned that my limitations to square lines didn't "mesh" well with my creative nature. (no pun intended) In high school, I was drawn to art. I took a tour through painting in the various mediums...acrylics, oils, watercolors. I dabbled in charcoal, pencil drawings, and pastels. I spent hours cleaning ceramics and dry brushing until perfection, but alas, that did not hold my interest either.

It was at summer camp during my last year of high school that I discovered Photography. Yes, I had always loved to take pictures, but I never really realized how much I liked the feeling of a camera in my hands. It was then that my instructor gave me black and white film, a manual camera, and the whole wide world. I came back day after day developing roll after roll of pictures. It was then I realized that I had been taking pictures all along. I realized that I saw most everything as a picture, even when I didn't have a camera in my hands. Photography is the one hobby that I haven't lost interest in over the years, and scrapbooking just seemed like the logical follow through. I have hundreds of photos, all just waiting to be scrapped.

I've been scrapbooking for well over a year now, and I have yet to lose interest. Every new page is a new creation. There are new techniques to learn, new photos to add, new styles to try…the possibilities are endless. Digital scrapbooking was just another door that was opened for me in the scrapbooking world. I couldn't be happier that I finally answered that door after my Mother stood knocking on it for so long. (OK Mom, just this once, I'm admitting you were right!)

Will I lose interest in scrapbooking in the future? Will I be off to the next exciting thing that catches my eye..(ooooh shiny!) No, I don't believe I will. I don't want to be someone who...years down the road, can't recall the story behind the photo that someone is looking at, or that I have left this world leaving behind a box of pictures for someone to sort through with no stories to go with them. There are many things that come and go, but the memories of our life...those we hold on to and cherish forever.

posted by downadirtroad @ Oct 27, 2006 | 3 comments | |

October 23, 2006

Scrapbook of the Week!!! WOW

OH MY GOODNESS!!! I am so excited to have been voted scrapbook of the week! Thanks everyone who voted. I sincerely appreciate it. To be honest with you, the page that won was created in pieces on breaks at work. Five minutes here....three minutes there, it all adds up really. I'm hoping to be able to find the time to put another couple of pages together in the next couple of weeks. I chip away at it, but sometimes it feels like I never get anywhere.

posted by downadirtroad @ Oct 23, 2006 | 2 comments | |

October 9, 2006

Scrapping in leisure

Wow, what a weekend! Somedays it's a wonderful thing to have a public service career, namely each day that is a government holiday! This short break from my hectic life provided me with something that I rarely ever get....the time to just sit down and scrap without having to sneak it in.

I wandered around the house this morning after all the chores were completed, breakfast had been cooked, homework tackled, and all the animals were fed...I felt, well, a little strange. I had a few free moments, but what was I to do...HMMMMMM. Hello!!! It's scrap time!

I do have to admit, it felt strange. Sitting down at my computer at home, not worrying about who was coming around my desk, or looking over my shoulder. I almost couldn't pull things together to scrap in leisure at home. It just felt too awkward. Finally I thought, I need to start a new project so that I can feel at least pressured enought to effectively scrap in my given "style".

So I began baking some brownies hoping that running between checking thier progress and scrapping would give me just the pressure boost I needed. Well, I did manage to complete a page. Not my best I believe, but completed. Maybe I'll just stick to what I do best.

posted by downadirtroad @ Oct 9, 2006 | 5 comments | |

October 5, 2006

Look out digital scrapbooking....here I come!

Hello, my name is LaTisha, Housing Manager and Grant Administrator by day, college student by night, and Secret Scrapbooker every minute I can find in between. I scrap on the sly. The very first digital scrapbook page I ever made was on the laptop while in class. I have to sneak in scrapbooking wherever I can find the time, so it's best to just not give me the opportunity!

Really, I LOVE scrapbooking, I do! Finding the time to scrapbook...well, that's another story. As we all know too well, somedays life is filled more with the things we loathe to do, rather than the things we love to do and time is a rare thing. My life is no different.

I began traditional scrapbooking nearly two years ago. Thousands of sheets of paper, a stack of ink pads, boxes of stamps, containers of brads and eyelets, yards and yards of fibers, hundreds of die cuts, and an overflowing amoire later, I still have yet to finish a complete album. I was drawn to traditional scrapbooking because I am naturally drawn to most anything creative. I love the feeling of the textured papers at my fingertips, a gluestick and dots make me feel like I'm a kid in art class again, and I adore the idea of someone being able to sit down with my scrapbook and flip through the pages of my life. But then I got to thinking... When am I ever going to find time to do this? OK, so I do manage to squander a few minutes here and there, I'm usually away from home when this happens, so I have to tote along this wheeled monster full of scrapbook supplies just in order to make a single page? OK, reality check!

My mother was drawn to digital scrapbooking from the start. She's my computer guru and anything she can put on a hard drive she instantly falls in love with. So while I was out fondling papers at the scrapbook store and collecting supplies, she was downloading graphics and learning how to create her own. She tried in vain several times to lure me to "paperless" scrapbooking, with no success. Finally I gave in and here I am.

Honestly, I couldn't be more excited. While my days and nights have not gotten any less busy, in the few minutes I have, I can sneak and scrap. I'm never more than a few seconds away from a computer either at work, at school, or at home. So, armed with my trusty flash drive, I have everything I need right at my fingertips at a moments notice and I become dangerous! We're a match made in heaven digital srapbooking and myself. I think I might have found a new love, but just don't tell my boyfriend! LOL

posted by downadirtroad @ Oct 5, 2006 | 5 comments | |