Scrap Retreat Part II: plus inspiration notes

Another busy weekend had by all, but I must say it was a good one. I had scrapbook retreat part II, which was thankfully, only an hour and 15 minute drive from home. My friend Bonnie goes twice a year (in Jan and Oct) up to Jasper, GA with friends from her church to scrap for the weekend in the fresh mountain air. I tagged along because they needed another person to fill up the house. I was a little shocked at how much fun I had. We ranged in age from myself (I think I was the youngest or at least close to it) to women who have children my age. As always I enjoy an infusion of talent, ideas, creativity and style. I love forcing it into one room and seeing what comes out, seeing who changes what to their style, process and more.


Of course I'm always self concious at these things, as I don't truly consider myself an artist. I look at what I do as art, but myself, as a person is not an artist. I credit some of my best LOs to "luck" which I imagine others would probably tell me it's talent. Nonetheless I don't feel like I have that "talent" spark, but perhaps I'm wrong.


What did amaze me about this trip though was how people reacted to some of the things I do on a daily basis that I feel is completely uncreative (or directly stolen from someone else). One example was how I cover chipboard and similiar mediums. I worked on another mini board book this weekend (did one last weekend too) and in order to get the photos or paper to cover the whole board I glue down a portion of the paper and go around the edges with the exacto knife. I typically sand the edges after cutting to ensure a smooth sort of edge. This technique caught quite a few people off guard (most asked about how to get the photos the same size and what i cut them out on). This shouldn't surprise me as Amy had just asked me about the same technique a few months earlier, but still it made me think twice. Where did I even pick up this technique? (I lean towards an old ScrapGoods kit, but I could be wrong.)


I also impressed the masses with my inspiration notebook. The poor book has been abandoned until just recently (when Amy sent me home with a giant stack of scrapbooking magazines). It's a simple enough concept though. I have a notebook that I cut out pictures of LOs from mags that I like, I sketch some other LOs that I like (esp if there are two on the same page front and back in a magazine). I have other sections tabbed out for other topics such as colors, quote etc. I'm planning on doing an "Anatomy of an Inspiriation Journal" post later this week (since people seem interested).

I photographed all the LOs and all but two side alteration type projects from the weekend and as soon as I'm done cropping and uploading photos I'll post them here so stay tuned in.

Posted in: inspiration, scrapbooking, scrapgoods, travel