I love September.
It’s a month that brings a crisp feeling to the morning air signalling that the
seasons are changing, the days get shorter and you can enjoy guilt-free comforting
food like apple crumble!
With the change
of season starting in September, it brings with it a symbolism of change and a
new start for me more than any other month. Perhaps it was because a new school
or university year began in September, but at this time of year I always have
the urge to start a new journey and learn something new. In September I feel
the desire to buy fresh stationary supplies, a new pretty notebook and a pen.
Last September I took an evening class to learn to knit. I had a huge sense of
satisfaction when I got to take notes on the first page of that new notebook
for the first time and picked up the basics.
This week I wrote
about my love of photography and posted up two photo collages. I love taking
photos and really enjoyed putting together the collages and the short blurb to
go with each image. I think the blog post came from my underlying desire to
start scrapbooking. For many months I’ve been thinking about dabbling in
scrapbooking either with paper or digitally so that I can combine photos, memories
and my love of patterned paper and fabric. I’m so inspired by those who craft
beautiful scrapbook pages for their albums, keeping a lasting memory of events
that have happened, whether they are big events such as a special birthday or
small things like going for coffee at a cafe.
I haven’t made
any progress to start scrapbooking yet, partly due to the cost of setting up a
stash of embellishments, partly because I’m trying to focus my learning on sewing
and gardening, but perhaps there is room for one more new thing to try out! I have some pretty papers, some clear stamps,
plenty of photos and a keen desire to go for it and document what I’m doing. I’ve
enjoyed making cards for friends and family this year so hopefully I’ll like
scrapbooking too.
Something
happened on Saturday morning that made me take that leap I’ve needed. An email newsletter landed in my inbox that I
felt I was drawn to read and follow up on. The newsletter was from
Shimelle.com
and was about her annual class that she runs called
Learn Something New Every Day. Shimelle is a highly talented scrapbooker with a fantastic blog that
I regularly take a look at and am inspired by. I was drawn to this statement that
Shimelle posted on her blog the following:
“Learn Something New
is all about being aware of the world around you and taking away one little
lesson from that world each day for a month. You can approach it in terms of
gratitude. Or patience. Or steps toward a goal. You can then take on the
documentation in any style you want: write in a journal. Make a minibook. Write
daily blog posts. Take a daily photo”.
It sounds great doesn’t it?...and with
that thought I signed up! I’m hoping that by having something to inspire me
everyday and to focus on will be the gentle introduction to scrapbooking I need. Take a
look at Shimelle.com to find out more about the course.
September is a great month to learn something new, start a new routine and begin a new journey. I’m
looking forward to seeing what I learn over the next month of experimenting with
paper, using my photos and writing, to hopefully create something by the end of the
month. I’ll let you know how I get on!
Labels: papercraft, photography, scrapbooking
