Scraps Of Mind

Welcome to Scraps of Mind. I'm delighted to see you. Why not check out the site, and if you like what you see, subscribe to my RSS feed and get daily updates delivered to you. If you're not sure what the RSS thing is, then check out this 'RSS made easy' post. Thanks for visiting and I look forward to seeing more of you.

Some of you may have come across the dancing lady before and driven yourself cross-eyed trying to make her turn the opposite way.

For those of you who haven’t, this is an exercise to discover if you operate predominantly from the right side of your brain or the left. Some people see her turning clockwise and some see her turning counter-clockwise.

Further down this post is an explanation of what characteristics each side of the brain tends to promote.

But before you read that, I’d like to do a little experiment to see whether scrapbookers have a leaning to one side or the other.

You see although scrapbooking is clearly a creative occupation, and is terrific at bringing out a creative side of you that you might not have prevously realised you possessed, I think there is also a side to scrapbooking that appeals to those who like structure and planning.

So take a good long look at the dancing lady and then answer the survey below and let’s see whether scrapbooking attracts more right brained or left brained people. And by the way, there’s no ‘right’ (as in ‘correct’) answer to this.

n

How do you see the Dancing Lady?

• I see her turning clockwise.
• I see her turning counter-clockwise.
• I can make her turn whichever way I want.

View Results

And for those who would like to what all this means:

If you see the dancer turning clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

So how did the lady dance for you?

And doesn’t she get dizzy going round and round like that?

Other Articles you might enjoy:

What’s the Best Software for Digital Scrapbooking?

Learn How to Digital Scrapbook

Black and White Scrapbook Layouts

10 Comments »

Here’s another really cute snippet from my friend Doreen.

She sent me this link to a really cute site called Little People - A Tiny Street Art Project.

This is sooo cute.

Slinkachoo is a British street artist and he has created and photographed these tiny scenes around Britain by handpainting the model people you get for model train sets and setting them up in various places around the country. He then photographs them and also takes a ’step back’ type shot so you can see the full perspective.

Apparently after he photographs them, Slinkachoo leaves these little folk in place to interact with any passers by who happern to notice them.

Here are a couple of pics from the site but you should definitely go and check the rest out for yourself.

Click on the pictures to enlarge, or better still click over to The Little People and see them all.

Having just finished rereading Mary Norton’s The Borrowers series, the concept of these little people scattered all over Britain totally appeals to me. And Doreen’s email was so timely that I just had to share it with you.

Other Articles You Might Enjoy:

A Page out of Life

Howl’s Moving Castle

Embrace the Space…on your Scrapbook Page

No Comments yet »

A Scrapbooking Novel by Kathleen Reid

Well with a headline like that you’d just have to try it out, wouldn’t you?

So I got my copy and started reading it late Friday evening.

By the time I’d finished it on Sunday afternoon I realised I’d just blown the whole weekend!

Who knew a scrapbooking novel could be that interesting?

Here’s the blurb synopsis of the story:

A frazzled mother of four, Ashley lets her best friend drag her to a meeting of the local scrapbook club, and she’s amazed at the way old photos and mementos can bring vivid color to sepia-toned memories.

Among the surprisingly diverse group is Tara, a single grad student whose search for love, like her relationship with her absentee father, has only brought her heartache — and some funny dating stories.

Then there’s Libby, a semi-retired teacher who thought she’d spend her golden years taking cooking and photography classes — not as a town pariah after her son is charged in a corporate scandal.

As Ashley copes with a husband whose love for her fluctuates with her wieght, she comes to depend more and more on her scrapbooking sisters. For only together can they face earthshattering revelations and emotionally unavailable men — and figure out their futures while artfully commemorating their pasts.

I truly wasn’t expecting it to be a page turner from that synopsis but it absolutely is.

The Scrapbooking theme is more like a background thread which is woven through the stories of three women.

You really get involved with their lives and as each chapter ends with a bit of a cliff-hanger before jumping to what’s happening with another of the three, you really want to keep reading to find out what happens.

Kathleen Reid’s style is fast paced and easy to read and I found myself able to identify with so many of the aspects of these women’s lives.

The scrapbooking group which runs in the background forms a solid base of friendship and personal support for a diverse group of women.

It is woven into the fabric of the stories of the three women that the book focuses on but it’s not what their stories are about.

Much like in real life, scrapbooking plays its part in helping us to keep balance in our lives and sometimes a bit of therapy to get through the tough times.

So if you like stories that are about people and their lives, and if you like a book that is fast paced whilst still taking time to draw strong word pictures of its characters, have a read of A Page Out of Life.

Oh, and the Scrapbooking theme is cool too.

Other Articles you might enjoy:

Black and White Scrapbook Layouts 

Step by Step Digital Scrapbook 

Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual

1 Comment »