Words to Live by

Welcome to Scraps of Mind. I'm delighted to see you. Why not check out the site, you'll find a bunch of great scrapbooking and blogging articles, tips and tutorials on the Articles Page. And if you enjoy this or any other articles on Scraps of Mind, I'd really appreciate you giving them a thumbs up on StumbleUpon to share them with other Scrapbookers. Thanks for visiting and I look forward to seeing more of you.

There is a tide in the affairs of men,

                            which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.

                     Omitted, all the voyage of their life

                                       is bound in shallows and in miseries.

                          On such a full sea are we now afloat.

                              And we must take the current when it serves,

                                                                                             or lose our ventures.

William Shakespeare

Happy 4th July USA

Posted by karooch on

July 4, 2007

Roll up, Roll up for the Carnival

Have you ever been to a Blog Carnival?

Well here’s your chance to check one out. DigiScrapInfo.com have just launched their 2nd Digital Scrapbooking Blog Carnival.

I had never heard of Blog Carnivals until a few weeks ago when I read about them on Yaro Starak’s Entrepreneur’s Journey blog.

A blog carnival is a post in a blog that summarizes a collection of articles from many different blogs on a specific topic. The idea is to collect some of the best content on a topic in a given week. Often many other blogs link back to a carnival host and as such the people that have articles featured in the carnival often enjoy a spike in new readers.

Yaro Starak

And now there’s one dedicated to digital scrapbooking.

It’s a great opportunity to discover some new blogs that write articles and tutorials about digital scrapbooking and get to see more of what’s out there.

And by submitting some of your own articles to the Carnival there’s an opportunity to bring new readers to your own blog.

Tip: Only submit your best articles to a Blog Carnival. If you are interested in attracting new readers then only your best will do.

So head on over to the Digital Scrapbooking Blog Carnival at DigiScrapInfo and check out all the great material there.

And yes, I do have a couple of my own articles in the Carnival.

The Kilmore Celtic Festival

The last weekend in June is always a standard booking in my calendar for the Kilmore Celtic Festival. I wrote about this last year and each year it just keeps getting better.

I enjoy Folk Festivals as a matter of principal. They always have a great vibe and I get to hear some wonderful and diverse music from acts I would not be able to watch elsewhere. But the Kilmore Celtic Festival is always special for me.

The event starts on Friday evening with a dinner and a free Celtic Old Time Dance and ends on Sunday with a Celtic Banquet including entertainment from a number of the Festival performers. And in between there’s Saturday!

Saturday is the main game. Starting with the traditional Poet’s Breakfast from 8am, the Festival performances start rolling out across three venues from 10am till 7pm. Followed by an evening Concert featuring many of the Festival headline acts.

Once again Allan and I rugged up warm in preparation for the traditional Kilmore Festival weather and headed 60km up the Hume Highway for our folkie fix. We were a bit disconcerted then when the weather turned out to be quite mild (for Kilmore in June); the only brief shower occurring whilst we were indoors watching an act. It felt a bit unKilmore-ish.

Credits: Andilynn SiH Template 4, Marcee Duggar Music Kit, Shappy Princess Fall Kit Fortunately we got over it and hopped into the music. Some of our favourite acts were there, including the inimitable Ced le Meledo and his band Bric-a-Brac, with their exciting blend of Louisiana , Quebec , Brittany , North African, Medieval and Cajun music, and Ced’s jokes delivered in his wonderful French accent. Another favourite of ours Braemar. The duo that’s now a trio, played their great repertoire of traditional Scottish music. Their kilts combining with the height of the stage to raise the blood pressure of some of the ladies in the front row.

A performer that we heard for the very first time was Maria Forde. An Irish Australian (”packaged in Ireland, Delivered in Australia”) performing a great mix of traditional songs and her own compositions. And what a voice! Maria performed a number of songs, including Amazing Grace, without any musical accompaniment — always a great quality test for a voice. Absolutely superb.

Mandy and Helen performed a great set with a mix of traditional and their own compositions. Follow the link to hear a sample of their stuff. Mandy and I used to work together in another life so it was great to catch up with her and hear her play.

And the last act we caught, before heading off to Elaine and Greg’s place for a scrumptious dinner and a few wines, was Claymore. Claymore is a sensational Celtic Rock Band. They play fabulous music and are a wonderfully entertaining band to watch. They perform a mixture of traditional Scottish and Irish music with modern Celtic rock thrown into the mix for good measure.

So if you enjoy a bit of Celtic flavour to your music, check out the bands’ sites and sample some of their wares. I think you’ll enjoy.

And to everyone who lives in Melbourne or environs, I heartily recommend that you mark the last weekend in June in next year’s calendar and get yourself along to the Kilmore Celtic Festival. If you can’t make it for the whole weekend, get along for the Saturday. It’s a great value day.