Love Where You Scrap

Monday, September 13, 2010

Hi all!
It’s Trish and I’m back with a new blog post!! I’ve had to miss my last two blog posts due to some health issues, but don’t worry I have them typed up on my computer ready to be posted at another time.

Now, for once I’m not on here telling you how to do something. As much as I love doing that, I’m still not quite up to all that. Today we’re going to talk about your scrapping environment. One of the things I remember most about my art classes was my art teachers stressing to us to love where you work and to fill it with things that inspire and motivate you. In the age of laptops it is so easy to just pick that computer up and move it with you wherever you want to scrap. Don’t get me wrong, when I had my laptop I loved doing that. I could go outside and scrap, scrap at school, scrap at my mom’s, just scrap wherever I pleased. But even then I had one main place I scrapped. Most people also have one main place they scrap, be it at a desk, on the couch, in a comfy chair, in bed, or even in the kitchen. It’s just that one place where we automatically plop down and get to scrapping.

My place is my desk in my corner. And man oh man, I love my spot. It’s full of things that when I feel down, or stumped I can look around at them and gather inspiration, happiness, or motivation.

(Yeah, it’s messy – but I’m messy and flourish in chaos. lol)

My corner is in a corner of my living room. I can easily keep an eye on the kiddos from here and scrap away without feeling like I’m losing quality time with my family.

As you can see I have a lot of stuff surrounding me while I scrap. But except for some of the junk on the desk and on top of the boys craft trolley (the purple thing) I specifically pick what all surrounds me. I have my inspiration shelf, my craft spot, and my motivation. This is the happiest corner of my house for me. I’m surrounded by things I love and that bring me joy and pride. I’ll give you a little background on some of the stuff and why it got the honor of being in my happy spot.

The Inspiration:
This is my shelf full of things that inspire me. The most important thing is Zach’s picture. He came in second place in the K-4/Kindergarten division in his school’s art contest with that picture when he was in K-4. He was so proud of it and I was so proud of it. It has to actually be one of my most prized possessions in my entire house. Now, I don’t practice Buddhism, but I have quite a collection of Buddha figures. Something about them has just always made me smile and brings me peace. The collection started with a set of two large green Buddha’s my husband’s grandmother gave me that she had had a long time, and over the years John and I just pick up random Buddhas that make us smile when we see them. Also, you can see part of my huge fairy collection. The two featured on my shelf are from my grandmother who bought them because she said they reminded her of me. (They each have orange hair. lol) Two of my favorite pictures from my childhood are on the shelf. One is of me and my grandfather. He died when I was 13, but before he passed he was the grandparent that I was closest too. We would spend whole weekend wondering around thrift shops, old bookstores, going to the movies, or just going and being together. He always encouraged me to do and be whoever I wanted… even if it meant he would go out in public with me wearing the most tacky-awful outfits ever.  The other picture of me… well it is just so me. lol I’m very full of myself. And I do mean VERY. When I get to feeling down or  like I just have no talent I look at that picture and remember that I can do anything, and not only can I do anything, I’m also awesome at what I do. The picture of John and I is old. It’s from not long after we had Zach and we were 17 and everyone kept telling us how we would never end up staying together. I look at it and smile for the man I love and gloat over proving all those people wrong. The award is from my senior year of high school. I was voted the most artistic and creative person in the school. And lastly my Max and wild thing. I love the book “Where the Wild Things Are.” I can recite you that book. lol That statue makes me think of my own wild things, and they are my ultimate source of inspiration.

My Art-spiration:
I love this picture. I drew this my senior year of high school. It’s not my best piece of art work at all, but of everything I’ve made this means the most to me. It was so difficult for me going back to school my senior year after having Zach. Most of my teachers thought I shouldn’t have come back, and that by doing so I was depriving my son of my attention, that I should be working so that I could financially support him, and that there was no way I could keep up with my responsibilities at school and a baby. I’m more than delighted to say I proved them all wrong by not only finishing the year, but by graduating with the best grades I had received in my whole time in high school. It took me forever to do that picture. Between homework and baby, art definitely took a back seat. But I did finish it, and reminds me that not only am I a awesome mom, I can do what I put my mind to.

My Crafty Zone:
The only way I get crafty now (other than digi scrapping) is by knitting. Very very very slowly. lol I’ve had to move my knitting stuff to where I can see while on the computer because I found out if I had it elsewhere, I forgot about it. This way I always see it and can remind myself I have more stuff to do that just scrap.

Now, I’m not saying you’re scrapping area needs to be chalk full of junk like mine. lol Just look around where you scrap and think about what you see. Think about things that might motivate/inspire you to scrap, and try to get some things around you that will help you. Even something as simple as picture of your kids or grandkids or pets that you can look at from time to time that remind you why you scrap will help.
Take a picture of where you scrap and make a layout with it telling us why you scrap where you scrap! It’Ll be fun to see where everyone works.

Have a great day, Lu will be back tomorrow with a fun product spotlight!

TrishUncategorized 7 Comments