Another meaningful scrapbooking experience :

Hi everyone well I am on mid semester break this week, not that it feels like much of a break as I want to get SO MUCH assignment work done, so when we get to our study and assessment weeks I can concentrate on my exam study joy, joy :S

Today is Wednesday and I am feeling a little stressed with everything I want to get done study wise and finding it frustrating because I just get into it and then have to leave for a couple of hours work and then come back and get into it again. Argh it’s a bit of a pain so today I decided that I was going to do some scrapbooking cause I need to for this my last blog insert.

I set up all my equipment on the table in the kitchen cause I couldn’t be stuffed moving it into the lounge and, doing it in the kitchen meant I could use all the bench space as well, so had ample amounts of room to spread out. I was set as I had the equipment in front of me to use, the folder of different coloured scrapbooking pages sitting on a chair beside me on one side, and on the other side I had my filebox of photos which  I have organised into the different days, and stages of Toby’s life, so I was set. Now one last thing to do, I put some nice relaxing music on to listen to while I did my pages. 
Rosemary Caulton( 1994) in her article on occupation and healing states that "work is something which needs constant attention paid to it, it is a moving along - an active process, a constant concentration on where you are in relation to an end, an awareness of how what you are confronted with the result or the artifact, the object of your work, your transformations, your effort, you are embodied in it.  And even if it is about poetry and mathematics, the feeling is that work is fundamentally, or originally, grounded in the real, physical, environment we are part of - we are never far from the elements which are our surroundings."
I also pulled out my Berwick Outdoor Experience camp scrapbook to get some page ideas, encouragement, and motivation for my designs and all my studies, and everything else going on in my life. It is such a great source of inspiration to keep me moving forward, and not give up on what I am doing.

These are two of the activities, Mountain biking around the Berwick forest, and abseiling down the practise wall. This is when I was stuck upside down for 10 minutes till one of my teammates came down and cut me lose.

I felt much better after looking at it, and was able to get into it and achieve five more pages, which was great. The pages were all very different from each other. I tried to use lots of bright colours, because I want the album to be fresh and cheerful looking for my nephew Toby, so when he is older he can look at it and get as much pleasure from seeing his life history, as I get from remembering all the special moments in his life. When I look at the album, it gives me a real sense of peace and contentment, knowing I have produced something that can be kept as an heirloom of family history for both Toby and my future generations to see. When I reflect closely at why I enjoy scrapbooking, it is because I know my self esteem and self-worth are pretty low sometimes, but through my scrapbooking I can make something attractive and beautiful to show others, even when I am not feeling so attractive myself. Scrapbooking brings out the best in me and my creative expression lends a story to itself. I feel that I am in control of my creative side and that in itself is a gift, which is wrapped in love and selfless giving not just bringing joy, but also brining providence.... Therefore there is much more than meets the eye when I scrapbook. It is a unique part of me that I leave behind for future generations. It is a language of love and commitment.......