As of now, I've done 12 classes/workshops. There were even a few freebies in there! What I like about taking an on-line class is that it forces me to ‘keep up’. There are usually a ‘suggested’ number of layouts to do, per week. I say ‘suggested’ because it’s not supposed to in any way, bring on guilt of any kind. It is stressed, that you can do everything at your own pace, choosing to do ONLY what you want to do, or doing nothing at all, if that’s what you want to do. In my case, I WANT to keep up. I like to post things into the gallery of the class I’m taking, and I LOVE the feedback I get from the other scrapbookers and occasionally by the teachers.
The class I’m currently taking is called Yesterday & Today, taught by Ali Edwards, whom I love. You can read her blog here. So far each class I’ve done has started its ‘new week’ on a Thursday. So each Thursday morning, I head downstairs with my piping hot coffee to receive my email, watch my video tutorial, and basically figure out what needs to be done for the next week.
I have to laugh at myself, because I get kind of ‘dog with a bone-ish’ when I’m taking a class. I want to watch my tutorial, work on my computer and basically not be interrupted for a few hours. (Which is hard, considering I’m here with Madelyn each day) and my job title is stay at home mom and NOT graphic designer…
Anyhoo, this class is about looking back at yesterday, and looking ahead to today. It’s about capturing the stories that I think others will want to know, if God forbid, I weren’t around to tell them to anyone. It plays on my guilt slightly, that perhaps I’m just not keeping good enough track of my life as a Mum. Perhaps I just strode through my younger years, taking everything for granted, and not detailing what was important…
I’ve created 2 layouts so far, one was simply to let me off the hook, for any guilt I might harbor over not doing enough/documenting enough/being good enough, etc. (I’m pretty sure I’ll need to come back to this one time and time again, constantly re-reading it to myself and convincing myself things are ok).
The next layout I did was for the title page of the album I’m creating. It’s using pictures that I’ve scanned in. And I have to tell you, I’m amazed at the quality. It makes me think I should be scanning in every picture I ever took BEFORE digital came along. And I’ve only been using digital since Madelyn came along. Crikey, that's A LOT of scanning...
I’m looking forward to completing this week’s assignment, which is documenting 6 random childhood memories. I went through some pictures, and as I did, I was amazed at how memories came flooding back. I looked through pictures of my childhood, not all of them, but a pretty good selection of them and it’s shocking the memories that begin to flood. Things you can suddenly remember JUST by studying a picture. Will it really matter if my kids don’t know how much their Uncle Chris and I fought as kids? Or that one year we went as Hobo’s for Halloween? Or that I was younger than Mason is now, when we got our first puppy (seriously Mum… were you THAT brave OR just plain crazy). I don’t know if it will matter to them or not. But it is a part of my life, and it matters to me. And if I’m not around to tell them, then I guess they just won’t get told. I think it’s quite safe to say, that I’m coming around, ever so slightly to Ali’s way of thinking.
And look at that, almost an entire post without complaining about the weather. But I HAVE to. It's like a winter wonderland outside right now. And it's been cold. So very cold. And I'm not looking forward to another 6 L O N G months of it. Because the chinook might blow in like it's supposed to, and we might reach the 'supposed' high of 21° by Saturday, but WHO CARES, winter is a com'in.
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