A Different Sort Of Blog Hop

My blog friend Sandie invited me to take part in a blog hop tour. This is a little different to ones I am used to participating in because the posts are spread apart and the hop spreads OUT as it progresses.  The idea is to answer four questions and pass the baton on to three fellow bloggers.  Sandie's answers from last Monday are here.  Thank you for asking me Sandie - here are my answers:

What am I working on? 

Currently I'm finishing off a page for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Members' Blog Hop on May 24th - it's another page for our Disney 2004 album (from before I started scrapbooking).  I put a load of fibres in my CKCB kit and I'm working hard on incorporating them in interesting ways ... haven't quite managed to use these yet, but it I'm working on it!

How does my work differ from others of its genre? 

Oooh!  A squirmy question if you're British and don't feel comfy blowing your own trumpet.  The facetious answer is that the use of my own photos guarantees that my scrapbooking is unique!  The serious answer is that we all gradually develop a style of our own; a way of sticking paper and photos onto card that we're comfortable with.  I'm a bit of a control freak and like things to be "just so" which means that my "style" is fairly clean and simple, plenty of straight lines, limited layering, not a lot of ink splatters or random stamping because I can't control exactly where or how well they will go and I won't be able to click "undo" if they go wrong. 
You won't find a lot of pastel pink on my pages either ;-D
I do love to share though ... hence the blog, and the teacher in me isn't averse to writing up instructions and tutorials.  I invented the Lean Mean Mini Book for a class at the Exall Crop back in 2010 and adapted it to make a larger version, the Lean Mean MAXI Book for UKScrappers.

Instructions for this and other projects can be found here

Why do I write/create what I do? 

First and foremost scrapbooking is fun.  It's my creative hobby.  I used to make cards but got fed up with putting my heart and soul into something, only to wave it goodbye at the post office.  Secondly I want to remember the stories behind the photos we have.  I can't imagine forgetting any of the details while everything is still fresh in my mind ... but experience has shown me that it's all to easy to confuse dates and places, names and backgrounds once a year or two has elapsed.  Scrapbooking is helping me counter my future forgetfulness!  Thirdly it allows me to preserve some memories for the family.  Nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing the kids leaf through the old holiday albums.  Here's a layout I made about exactly that!

How does your writing/creating process work? 

I have a huge stack of photos to scrap (some of which are printed already)!  In fact, so many photos that I generally need a separate impetus to help me pick the "next" ones to use.  Sometimes I'll find an on-line challenge to join in with, using a sketch or a title prompt or a colour scheme to get me focussed.  Sometimes I'll decide that it's about time to use up a particular set of papers or a scrapbooking technique and grab a photo to suit.  Ultimately I'll get close to completing an event-based album and will be desperate to scrap the final two or three pictures so that I can stop feeling guilty that it's taken 10 years to finish it!
After that, it's a question of arranging photos, cutting paper, sticking stuff down, adding embellishments, changing my mind, re-arranging things, starting the story-telling, checking the facts, sleeping on it, re-jigging the journalling to fit the space I've made for it, adding some pockets because there was more to say, redoing the title as I've had a better idea ... and eventually deciding that I've finished!
Not at all speedy, but then it isn't a race as far as I'm concerned!

A page from my on-going Book Of Me - hopefully not finished for a LONG time :-D

I'm passing this particular blog hop torch to three other bloggers now ... friends both real and virtual ... they'll be posting next Monday 26th May.

First there's Lisa, one of my fellows on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog.  Lisa is an uprooted Brit living in Germany with a love of photography, pretty paper and story telling. She combines these passions into scrapbooking with lashings of pink, a sprinkle of romance and a whole lot of words. Scrapbooking has opened up a world outside her craft room (if only virtually!) of crafty challenges, friendship and blogging. This has helped her form new relationships with fellow crafters around the world, rekindle old friendships nearer to home and to strengthen connections to family and friends. You can find her at Recklinghausen Musings and Whimsical Musings.

Then there's Mary Anne from UKScrappers.  I say from, but really Mary Anne *is* UKScrappers as she's the creative powerhouse organising the sponsorship, arranging the challenges, moderating the boards and giving scrappers from the UK (and elsewhere) a place to virtually hang out.  MA is an American living in the UK with her husband and two kids and fills her free time with all sorts of hobbies including scrapping, stamping, quilting, art journalling, mini-book making, digi designing and, most recently, gelli plate creativity.  Her blog title really sums up her wonderfully eclectic style - scrappystickyinkymess - and it's full to bursting with free downloads, instructions and ideas!

And last, but by no means least, there's the lovely Lesley, whom I met at my monthly crop three years ago.  A person with limitless enthusiasm for a challenge, great organisational abilities and a heart of gold; I am so happy that scrapbooking has added her to my circle of friends.  Lesley's a fellow Master Forger at the CKCB as well as part of Wear Craft's DT; she scraps about her travels and adventures with her family, tells tales about her time in the Royal Navy and showcases photos of her beautiful chocolate lab; you can find all this and much more over at Oh! Blog It!