Blog Hop with a Difference

Janice Nicholls, a very near and dear friend who I hold close to my heart, asked me to join her in the journey of a 'Blog Hop With a Difference'.  I love Janice's work. She inspires me so much more than she will ever know. And being able to see her creations in detail in real life is very much a bonus. Love you Janice, and thank you for the asking to jump in on the journey.

This is different to most hops as you don't create anything new for it so it's less stress in pulling it together. You showcase whatever it is that you are currently working on, but its mostly about getting to know who I am, what it is that I do and why I do what I do by answering six questions. From what I have read up on other blogs in the hop, it doesn't even necessarily need to be a Scrapbooker, but someone who inspires you, whatever their genre. 

So.... getting to know ME. 

- WHAT AM I WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?

At the time of composing this post and scheduling it, I am about to pack up my scrap room and drive an 1.5 hours away to join a bunch of friends for 2.5 days of scrapbooking, so there's not a lot going on my desk atm. But this LO has been sitting there over the last few days waiting for that moment of frenzied action as the idea finally becomes known to me.

The other thing that's been happening this week is the swapping over the old post bound albums for the ring bound albums. The first couple of scrapbooks for each of the kids are of their newborn layouts, and those particular albums are handled a fair bit. (School homework, School Show and Tell amongst other things) and they were worse for wear. In fact Sean's had fallen apart and I was really struggling to put it back together. So out came a spare ring folder and problem was solved. So I've started replacing the 4 other post bound albums too.

The other thing, and more productive in terms of $$$ earned, I dedicate to photography. Scrapbooking lead me to wanting to take better photos. With that determination under my belt, I completed a Diploma of Photography, which didn't teach me how to take a better photo, but to learn to use the tool in my hand. Once you have a handle on how to create with a camera, the images will come.

Tiff Firth Photography focuses on Family, Commercial and Landscape imagery. Its allowed me to replace my hardware kit up to full frame Pro Level, travel to places that I would not have dreamed of 5 years ago. ie: Grand Canyon,

Los Angeles, Lord Howe Island, New Zealand, Kangaroo Island (Australia), Great Ocean Road (Australia) and our own amazing back yard, the Eyre Peninsula.  I love the friendships I've made over the last 5 years, watching the families grow, and dream of further photography trips. I'm heading to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana next year.  A dream of a life time.

- HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO CREATE A LO?

Right now, far far toooooo long. Family, Commercial and Landscape Photography has become such a large part of my life. My life is full of the volunteer things I am very involved with, and quite often when I am home in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed, I am zapped. So right now it might take me a week or more to work from beginning to end on a LO. Sometimes longer. And that really irks me a lot. I used to do a LO a day. I need to find balance.

- WHAT ARE MY FAVOURITE THINGS I LOVE TO CREATE WITH?

Hahahaha. Thats's easy. 

1. My Silhouette Cameo. I can't seem to create without it.

2. Mists and Gelatos to create watercolour effects.

3. Textures, Sequins, Touches of Gold.  

4. The Photos. I love all things Photography. Thankfully the kids are still happy for me to take their photos as they know I use them in my scrapbooking about them. Mind you, they've recently upped their Paddlepop ice cream fee to Milo Ice cream cups. ;)

- HOW DOES MY CREATING PROCESS WORK?

I'm a chronological scrapper, and just a little bit organised with photos already lab printed ready to go. Normally I reach for the next photo in my 'works in progress' album, look for a colour palette or use the colours within the photo. I sometimes also look at sketches as a jump off point to get started. More often than not, what I end up with is nothing like the sketch as I put a lot of 'me' into the creation process.  

- HOW DO I BECOME AND STAY INSPIRED?

This is exactly what I am struggling with atm.  I have so many things on my plate that suck my energy, that by evening, when I do have my 'me' time after the kids have gone to bed, I'm just too zapped. 

I work better if something is out on my desk ready to go, rather than an empty/tidy desk. 

If I'm really stuck I check out a few blogs,  a challenge or two, sketches and colour palletes, or put the photo away and move onto the next one. I'll come back to that first one later.

- WHAT IS MY SIGNATURE STYLE?

That's a tough one to answer as its forever evolving. Not long ago I would have said watercolours, lately it's been mixed media, yet other times its florals. Overall I think my style is fairly simplistic with the photo being the king pin of the LO. The story is so important as are the names and dates. Every photo has a story of why it was taken and unless that story is recorded, it fades with time.  I blog for me, not for an audience, and I use my blog as my virtual diary. I record the detail, and come back to it later to use that story on the LO.

Above all. This is my scrapping ethos.

I scrap for me and the kids. Not for publications, not for accolades and certainly not for monetary reward.  If someone likes what I do, that's an awesome bonus, but as long as the kids and I love it, that's just fine.  

The idea of 'The Blog Hop With A Difference' is that you pass the journey forward by nominating up to 4 other inspiring people. These ladies will reveal their posts on July 14th.

Beck Beattie was on my immediate list of inspiring Scrapbookers. I had dabbled a little in Gelato's a while ago at CHA in 2012, but it wasn't really until I saw Beck's work with them that I lost my hesitation. They are deliciously awesome. And with Beck's awesome tutorial videos, I picked up so many techniques with mixed media as well.

Janine Koczwara's photos of her blue eyed kids on her LO's had always caught my attention.  Her beautiful clustering of blooms on her creations is just amazing.  No wonder she's on the Prima DT. I do love the water colouring effects with textures she uses too.

 Thank you for taking the time to read a little about me and what I get up to. I'd love for you to go to Janice's blog for a look, and Beck's and Janine's when they do their blog hop on the 14th July.