My Style

I've been scrapping in some form or another for nearly 10 years now. Over time, I've struggled to find my own personal style and get comfortable in my skin so to speak. I've gone through periods of comparing my artwork to others' and finding my own to be lacking. But finally, in time, and probably with some degree of God's help, I found a degree of comfort and satisfaction in my artistic style. While mine may not be the most wowing or the most creative pages out there, I find that I am happy with them.

My style has formed to be something like this... I like the photos to tell the story. I like the colors and elements and patterns to accentuate the photos somehow without being overbearing (hopefully... at least that's the goal). I tend to do big, centered blocks o photos for whatever reason. I don't seem to be the girl who can scatter things around the page and make it look right. I love that style on other people's pages, but it just doesn't work for me. I love to document the stuff I want to remember most.

But most of all, I love to scrap the every-day. Really, it's those things that I cherish more than any major holiday or milestone. And if I'm honest, I think it's those things I'm most afraid I will someday forget. So I want to have some visual reminder to myself, as well as a message to others, that these moments happened, that they were a part of my life, and that they mattered to me. That's important. And it has played a rather large role in helping me to settle into my own personal scrap style.

Anyway, I know that's a bit of random information, especially for those of you who don't scrap and could care less. But I was looking through some of my recent layouts, and I realized they all share some common characteristics. That observation prompted the thoughts behind this post. So forgive my randomness. Here are a few layouts I can share with you.

Everyday Miracles
This layout was done for April's Girl vs. Scrap challenge at One Story Down. (Come check it out. There's a free gift for participating... definitely worth it!) The challenge I took was to document an every-day miracle in my life.

Here's the story behind this layout:
One day I was grumbling to myself as I stood in front of our pantry, thinking I didn't have anything to make for dinner. As I was turning up my nose at what we did have, and wishing we had something we didn't have, I was convicted about my attitude. I became clearly aware that many many mothers suffer this trial on a daily basis, not knowing what they will feed their children, or how they will fill their bellies. I realized as I took a closer look at the pantry that we had more than enough to sustain us. Just because we didn't have what I WANTED, did not mean we didn't have what we NEEDED. I was reminded of the Israelites feeding on manna for years and grumbling about that daily miracle. Right then I stopped my grumbling and took a fresh look. I found enough to make some homemade soup and sandwiches, and we ate a filling meal that night.

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Yum
Another every-day kind of moment. This one has a lot less meaning behind it. I just happened to have my camera near-by when this happened. Sebastian was lounging around, enjoying a Tootsie Pop he had gotten at school. Lilly took an interest in said Tootsie Pop, and hopped up to check it out. She kept sticking her nose right up in his face, sniffing around, bu she never got brave enough to take a lick... which is probably good, because cat licks on your sucker is kinda gross... although I used to let my cat drink out of my cereal bowl when I was young (don't tell my mom *lol*)

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