A Different Kind of Blog Hop

All aboard! Grab a cuppa and join me for a blog hop tour. My Scrapbooking/blog friend Karen (aka Scrapdolly) invited me to take part. It’s a little different to others I've followed or participated in. The idea is to answer four questions and pass the baton on to fellow bloggers (see end of post for my victims/bloggers). Karen's answers from last Monday are HERE.  Thanks for asking me Karen and here are my answers:

What am I working on? 

I always have something on the go, usually a layout or two for Scrapology. As these are usually a surprise, I can't share. I’m often working on a challenge several months in advance. 

The most recent Scrapology layout to have been posted,
scraplift of Gabrielle Pollocco's work.

I’m currently working on a birthday card for my brother, a 21st for my nephew, a Fathers' day card, an 80th birthday card and two thank you card commissions.

I have several UFO's, especially cross stitch projects. I've been sorting out my charts and kits, and passed on those I know I will never do. What possessed me to buy them in the first place is a mystery! I do plan to complete this one which I've been working on it for years - A converted painting of Marjoline Bastine’s, an artist I admire.

I have a crochet scarf on the go. It lives in the car for long journeys – only when Alan is driving! I have already made two - one for my mother in white, and this one for my sister in pink. I am working on an aqua one now - Linda gave me the wool for my birthday. I've had a few requests to make these scarves for others.

How does my work differ from others of its genre? 

This is a difficult one to answer. I asked my daughter (and biggest critic) what she thought, so I could add this to my comments. I'm not sure I have a style, I like to try out different things and I think each layout or card reflects this. I will then repeat those ideas that work well and leave others for those who do them better!

I don't work on one particular album at a time - I have a stack of photos I still want to scrap and will dip into them if and when I have a brain wave, find an ideal paper, or it works with a challenge or class I am attending or teaching myself.

In the mean time I scrap some events as they happen, and work on other albums as gifts for significant birthdays, most recently I compiled a selection of layouts for my father's 80th and created a few new ones to fill the gaps of significant events.

Being part of the design team for Scrapology means I have to try my hand at a lot of different styles and techniques - quite a challenge! What looks like a simple design often turns out to be quite difficult to reproduce in my own way.

My Great Great Grandmother Charlotte Allen

I have been very fortunate in having a vast treasure trove of old family photographs, so I scrap a lot of heritage pages. I don't feel these need to be dark and dingy in appearance. I love colour and try to make these layouts with touches of the period while using more modern papers and techniques along the way.








Why do I write/create what I do? 

I have always been inclined to write things down and record the events of my life, either for myself or to share with others. While I was away doing my nurse training I would write long letters home which Mum and Dad kept for me and I still have now - they are a lovely record of the time I spent studying. Before I had the children (back in 1992) I had kept a diary for most of my secondary school days until Andrew, Catherine and Emily were born. Then things got a bit too busy and as we were taking so many photographs of them (pre-digital cameras etc.) I would put them in an album, and write a lot about the events on the album pages, adding other memorabilia along the way.

One day in 1999 I found the first issue of a magazine called 'The World of Photo Memories' with some interesting ideas - including scrapbooking. (I don't know why but the second issue never came to life.) There were no magazines on the subject of scrapbooking at the time in the UK. This made me more thoughtful about preserving my photos in an interesting way. I started making some A4 pages and stored them in a basic ring binder. Later in 2003 I discovered UKScrappers and this is where made lots of scrapbooking friends and started going to crops and retreats and joined groups on the forum. It was interesting to see a photo from a Scrapaholic Retreat Annijo put up on facebook a few weeks ago. It certainly got us all commenting and sharing stories from that event in 2004.

I still meet regularly with many of the friends from our group the Blossoms in Eastbourne monthly at The Cardinal Colours Crop, and we go away for a retreat once a year.
I have also made a new set of friends at the Papermaze crop in Otley more recently.

How does your writing/creating process work? 

I can't believe I have created over 1000 blog posts since I started blogging back in 2009. I had been reluctant to start, wondering if I would have enough to say or be able to keep it up.

When my triplets were small I wrote for Cross Stitcher magazine, reviewing charts, then later added kit reviews for Cross Stitch Collection magazine. Then a few years on I designed cards for Quick Cards Made Easy magazine from it's beginning for several years. I was also involved in many of the early issues of The Scrapbook Magazine including launching the publication at Ally Pally.

Most of my writing now is based on what I want to record on my scrapbook pages, sometimes visible on the page and other times hidden away. I feel this is especially important for future generations when scrapbooking the family heritage photos. For many of these hours of research has gone into finding out more about the ancestor either by contacting family members or using websites such as Genes Reunited.

A recent Scrapology project with a photo of great Aunt Rose

Then of course there is my blog, where I like to share what I have created and give a little detail on how things were made and what I used to make them. If I have time I like to add some tutorials as well.

I'm passing this particular blog hop torch to other bloggers now ... friends both real and virtual ... they'll be posting next - Monday 16th June.

First up is Heather Jacob in Australia, I have admired her beautiful work for years (scrapbooking and OTP) her attention to detail is amazing. I follow her blog with interest - it never fails to be inspiring. You can find Heather on 'Art and Life' and she has written a few words for me to include here:

"To me this craft is the perfect combination of art, photography, beautiful paper, and glorious words. I have been playing with scrapbooking since 2003.

I am inspired by colour and texture and I draw inspiration from Nature, and to me it is all-consuming, inspiring and a natural expression of my inner self, which I love to weave into my works.

I love to include stitching, chipboard, journaling, muslin, fabrics, metal elements, inking, masking and texture paste, getting all messy bringing out the kid in me. OTP projects and altered art are faves of mine. I see my style as EARTHY with large amounts of layering and attention to detail…

I tend to lean toward monochromatic themes with a little shabby chic/grunge thrown in ... My work has been widely published, including Somerset Memories, Studio, Apprentice and all the Australian magazines."

Second is Sheena Rowlands, We first 'met' as fellow members of the Mojo Blog design team a few years ago. Sheena has an inspiring blog called 'Sheena's Scraps and Scribbles' where you can enjoy reading her blog - and learning about her beautiful creations and well as family news.

Sheena is a married stay at home Mum to 3 teens. She grew up with the philosophy of make it, sew it, grow it, cook it and has been creative one way or another though out her whole life including; salt dough ornaments, jam making, stained glass lamp shade making, card making, curtain & children's clothes sewing... She discovered the joys of scrapbooking in 2006 & after joining a local crop in 2007 her scrapping  really took off. As a member of ScrapaGoGo's Design team since 2009 Sheena has designed & taught classes at numerous events & retreats, she loves the buzz & enthusiasm this brings. Currently she also creates for Scrapology Challenge blog providing bimonthly inspiration to crafters. When there is time Sheena also loves to quilt & crochet.

The photos & memories Sheena records are usually of her family or her travels with her husband and she has embraced the concept of Project Life & is currently recording their lives for the third year.

Thanks for reading this through to the end and I value your comments.
Lynn x