Scraps Of Mind

My ScrapBlogging Journey - Part 4

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.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Entering the Blogosphere

Now somewhere along the way I became a bit obsessed about scrapbooking. My family would tell you it was very early in the piece. I like to think I was in control of my addiction for a while longer than that. Anyway, I thought I’d like to start a blog and, although I had no real idea what I wanted to do with it, I thought I’d probably write a bit about scrapbooking and maybe post a layout or two.

Scraps of Mind was born on 18th January 2006.

At the time I had no idea it was going to play such a large part in my life. Through it I have met so many wonderful people and read so many terrific blogs. Many of you reading this have shared my journey from those early blogging days.

In the early days I was posting about once a week. I wrote about events, and hobbies, oh, and a bit about scrapbooking too (!!). The response from the wonderful scrapbooking blog community was so encouraging I found myself writing a post every second day. Wow this was getting serious.

And more and more people seem interested in reading Scraps of Mind. This was incredible. I found I really enjoyed writing and developing Scraps of Mind, in no small part due to the wonderful support of my fabulously encouraging readership.

So I decided to try and develop Scraps of Mind a bit further. First I moved it to its own domain. And what a drama that was. I moved it onto Seona’s server first but we had a lot of problems because it is a Windows based server rather than UNIX (that’s the sum total of my technical understanding of the problems and I don’t really want to dive any deeper). So then I rented some server space from Pretentia.com (Thatch’s company) and we moved it again. Thatch got it bedded down nicely for me and we were off and running.

But sadly all the shunting around had broken many of my links with other blogs (so if you link to me on your blog, please check that it is pointing to http://www.scrapsofmind.com rather than the old Wordpress domain) and my traffic plummeted. Needless to say, I was devastated. But fortunately we have pulled everything back together again and are now driving ahead even better than before.

The next big move in my blogging progress was to join Yaro Starak’s Blog Mastermind Mentoring Program. I have to say that if you are really interested in building a great blog, this is a fabulous program. Like anything in life, you reap what you sow. So in order to get the best value from the program you have to implement the recommendations and put in the effort needed. But I’m really enjoying it, and many readers have commented on the improvements I’m constantly making to Scraps of Mind as a result of the Program. To find out more about the Blog Mastermind Program click here.

So where to from here?

The answer is, I don’t know. But I’m so loving this ScrapBlogging Journey that I’m happy to go wherever it leads me. And I hope you’ll be coming along for the ride.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Get more mileage out of your digital scrapbooking kits.

Let The Scrapbooking Edge Video Tutorials show you how.

And it’s back to reality…

Hi everyone, I’m back from my Italian and Greek Safari.

So grab yourself a cup of coffee and listen to the last leg of the trip on this podcast. You know what to do: just click on the green box with the arrow below and share the next five minutes with me.
Click on the speaker to downoad the MP3

And if you came in late you might like to catch up by checking out the following posts which bring you on the journey with me.

I’ll Be Back
Venice - One of my Favourite Places on Earth
Next stop: Florence
Idyllic Greece

Shower with a Friend for Blog Action Day 2007

Hello, my name is Karen and I shower with a friend.

I have been doing this since the beginning of January 2007. My friend is blue, and a little square…and has a plastic handle. Yes, my friend is a bucket!

Let me tell you my story.

I live in Australia: a continent and a single country that’s roughly the size of the USA (minus Alaska). The majority of this country is desert with little or no human population. Over 80% of the 21 million population is located around the coast line, especially the eastern coastline. And the two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne are home to over a third of Australia’s population.

When I moved to Australia, many years ago, it was a dry country, but I lived in Melbourne. Drought was a problem for country folk. I watched the tragic effect of el Niño and la Niña and all the other climate change events on the country and I sympathised with the people who lived in the rural areas and were suffering from the impacts of drought. But it wasn’t my problem.

In Melbourne the worst impact that I faced was that for a couple of months each year I was only able to use my sprinkler system to water my garden every second day. And I felt I was really doing it tough when, during the 2 or 3 hottest months I had to use a hose rather than a sprinkler.

But it’s different now.

The penny has finally started to drop with us City folk that our water resources are severely depleted and are not being sufficiently replenished by Winter rains. And this is not ’someone else’s problem’ any more. Water restrictions are becoming more serious and are now a part of life, rather than an exception to it.

Our water catchment areas are running at well below 50% and we’re through Winter. Even if we get good rains in Spring (and they’re not looking too great so far), we’re already starting from a significantly further behind position than we have in previous years. Suddenly we’re all investing in water catchment tanks in our back yards to catch the rainwater from our roofs, and grey water recycling systems to pump used water from showers and washing machines onto the garden or into our toilet flushing systems. Those leisurely 30 minute hot showers are a thing of the past. Anyone who averages more than 5 minutes in the shower is practically committing treason.

Over Winter this year in Melbourne we’ve been on 3a Restrictions. Which are not very onerous. But the mere fact that we have any Water Restrictions in place over Winter demonstrates how things have changed for us. We can certainly expect higher restrictions to kick in this Summer earlier than in previous years. Our Governments are exploring ideas to address the problem; desalination plants, building new dams etc. But these are all long term solutions and the problem is clearly increasing rapidly year on year. And it’s no good blaming the Governments for not protecting us from this situation. Australia is a democracy, for Heaven’s sake. You get what you vote for. Any major political party that went to the polls with promises to invest this heavily in water conservation infrastructure at the expense of other social issues would have been slaughtered in elections a few years ago.

So now I share my 3 minute shower with my friend the bucket and use the water to flush my toilet to reduce my water consumption. I catch my washing machine waste water in a convoy of buckets to recycle on my garden. And I watch my annual Water Rates (taxes) zoom upwards as we start to fund our future water conservation projects.

My purpose in sharing this story with you is simple. Don’t let it happen to you!

This problem does not belong to the Country Folk or the ‘Tree-huggers’. This problem will be yours one day soon, City Slicker. Start paying attention now and find out what you can do to raise awareness in your community. Start treating water as a precious resource…because that’s what it is!

And make friends with a bucket. Showering with a friend does save water.

~This post is in support of Blog Action Day 2007 where blogs are focusing the World’s attention on one issue on this one day: The Environment. Scraps of Mind joins the millions of people who are participating in this event, either as bloggers or as readers.~

Other related Posts:

Blog Action Day 2007

Idyllic Greece

I think I might get to like this cruising lifestyle. Sitting in the sun on the top deck of the MS Perla in the middle of the bluer than blue Aegean Sea, a tall blue drink beside me containing three different types of spirits and a fruit salad hanging off the edge of the glass. Life is tough.

The Greek Islands have been wonderful; from the ancient ruins of Ephesos and Knossos, to the maniacal bazaars and the beautiful blue and white picture postcard island villages.

We stopped at Kusadasi on the Turkish coast and went to the ancient ruined city of Ephesos. Definitely one of the highlights. A truly amazing excavation complete with the public toilet which could seat 48 men on marble facilities and was a sort of Men’s Club and meeting place where the well-to-do men of the town could meet to exchange news and gossip. I wonder if that’s where the expression ‘toilet humour’ comes from. The magnificent three storey library dominated the main square… opposite the town brothel. The rumoured secret passage between the two has never been found. And of course the magnificent collonades and amphitheatre. Just wonderful.

But each of the stops we’ve made have been great destinations. So picturesque with gorgeous whitewashed little houses clinging to the hillsides accented by blue woodwork.

It was a great feeling to sit on the balcony of a terrace cafe perched on a cliff top in Santorini, sipping a frappe and gazing at the sensational view of the Caldera. It just doesn’t get any better. Romantics have located the mythical island of Atlantis at Santorini, which was created by a volcanic eruption. And when you see the place it’s easy to believe.

And after our return to Athens we fly back to the island of Rhodes for a few days to wind up the holiday. Oh my God! It’s almost over! How did that happen?

Other related posts:

I’ll Be Back
Venice - One of my Favourite Places on Earth
Next stop: Florence

My ScrapBlogging Journey - Part 3

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Discovering Digital Scrapbooking

I’m not sure how I was first introduced to digital scrapbooking. I think I was surfing the Net, looking for scrapbooking sites and came across one that had some freebie digital kits. I downloaded them and started playing around with them using Seona’s Fireworks program. This was a struggle as I didn’t know what I was doing. Hmm…not sure that a lot has changed. And so she found me an old, old copy of Paintshop. This was long before it had become PaintShop Pro.

That lasted until my next computer upgrade when I needed something a little more up to date, a little less ’90s. I purchased Photoshop Elements 2 for $20 on eBay from someone who had got it packaged with their new camera and didn’t want it. And my love affair with PSE began.

At first I just used it for editing my photos, because I am a very ordinary photographer (that’s a euphamism for ‘crap photographer’. Then I tried making some A4 sized layouts that I could print out on my home printer. I like my layouts printed. Sorry, but they’re not real for me unless they’re printed. So I thought the only digital layouts I could make were in the A4 shape. Pity, because I do prefer the square shape. And I really only created digital scrapbook layouts for my older photos which I was making an A4 album for.

I really liked the increased scope that digital gave me (not that I gave up my paper scrapbooking though). The forgiveness of that Undo button seemed to unlock a creativity that I didn’t know I possessed. And I loved it!

And when I discovered 8×8 albums, my digital scrapbooking cup was full! Now I could scrap in my favourite 12×12, resize and print in 8×8 and have ‘real’ layouts. Yaaay!

…Which led to Hybrid Scrapbooking

Then I started adding ‘real’ embellishments like brads, silk flowers, foldout concertina books, lift up tabs for hidden journaling, ribbon, buttons etc. and I discovered I was a Hybrid Scrapbooker.

I started making cards and mini-albums using hybrid techniques for a great unique look. My family started to expect that I would produce something a bit ’special’ as a card for any milestone events. My teenage nieces told they feel excited when they open my birthday cards. I created some really cute little mini-albums where I made the album cover and pages as well as the layouts.

And it finally started to dawn on me that maybe, just maybe, I might actually be a bit creative after all.

Part 4 of the story to be continued.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Next stop: Florence

Florence is such a beautiful city I just couldn’t wait to get back. I was here for a single day two years ago and that just whetted my appetite for more. Magnificent Renaissance sculptures adorn the city, taking art out of the galleries and into everyday life.

Neither Yvonne nor myself are big fans of large hotel chains and we always try to stay somewhere a little ‘different’ if we can. So the opportunity to stay in a Florentine Convent (Francescane Missionarie di Maria) was too good an opportunity to pass up. It’s a beautiful tranquil haven just a short walk from the Piazza del Duomo in the centre of Florence. The only downside is the slightly Cinderella-esque curfew of 11.30pm. But we can deal with that OK, if only for the pleasure of staying in this 15th Century Florentine Palace.

As soon as we arrived in Florence our first port of call was Vivoli’s Gelateria- this place serves Frank Sinatra’s favourite ice cream, which he had shipped to him wherever he was staying. In a country which makes the best ice cream, Vivoli’s is something special. As you can see, when arriving in a city steeped in history and surrounded with amazing architecture and art, we maintain a focus on the key priorities of life.

This time I actually got to go into the Ufizzi and the Accademia which I didn’t have time to do on my last visit. I love the art of the Renaissance and the feast of it that is available in these galleries is total sensory overload. And I have to say that the David di Michelangiolo in the Accademia has a radiance about it that the brilliant reproduction standing in the Piazza della Signoria does not seem to capture. There is something special about the ‘real thing’ that creates an atmosphere (even when surrounded by dozens of tourists). Although the abnormal size of his hands really freaks me out.

And of course, maintaining a sense of perspective, there’s the shopping. We hit the San Lorenzo Markets big time and enjoyed a shopping frenzy; returning to the Convent exhausted but satisfactorily laden with shopping bags, our minds racing as we worked out how we could fit all our stash in our luggage. In my experience, there is always a way.

Florence is a centre for beautiful paper but sadly (or should that be ‘fortunately’?) I’ve seen no evidence of Scrapbooking here. Ah well.

It’s been great to spend some quality time in Florence. Such a marvellous city and so steeped in beauty at every turn. Of course there’s the Art; absolutely everywhere you look. But let’s not forget the delicious Tuscan food. So delicious. And somehow I’ve found my clothes seem to be getting smaller. I think it must be the Italian air.

Other related posts:

I’ll Be Back
Venice - One of my Favourite Places on Earth
Idyllic Greece

The Story of a Scrapbooking Orphan

Hello. My name is Seona, and I’m a scrapbooking orphan.

It’s been a few years since Mum started scrapping. I suppose it started innocently enough: she came back from an overseas trip and decided she wanted a way to capture the photos and memorabilia (the flat ones, anyway) in an attractive and easy-to-view package. So she got some cardstock and glue, and for a couple of weeks the dining table was covered with paper and photos and the floor below it was covered with scraps and offcuts.

I’ll admit that the results were pretty impressive, especially since Mum’s always maintained that she’s not a creative person. But it turned out to be only the beginning. It’s true that a strong obsessive streak runs in our family, but this one was slowly taking over the house!

The years have only seen this obsession grow. I’ve watched with mounting trepidation as she scrapped her way through my life (I much prefer my baby photos to anything taken from about age 15 onwards). I’ve watched as paraphernalia and magazines slowly took over the study, a process which greatly accelerated once I moved out! I’ve watched as she moved into the world of hybrid and then (mostly) digital scrapping, and helped now and then with the technology-related queries. And lately I’ve watched as she took it to new levels by blogging about it.

I must confess to having fed the addiction from time to time, though. Mum’s never been an easy person to buy presents for, so once I found out that gifts of embellishments and papers and paper-working tools would be happily received, it opened up a whole new avenue for gift giving! Who could resist that?

From my point of view, it’s been an interesting learning exercise for both of us: Mum learned that she’s a lot more artistic and creative than she’d always thought, and I’ve learned a whole lot of new jargon and just how many photos of me are in existence.

Hmm… not so sure about that last one being a good thing….

Other Related Posts:

I’ll be back
My ScrapBlogging Journey - Part 1