(DISCLAIMER:Wow, this turned out crazy long but after 5 years of reading scrapbooking forums I have never once offered anything so I guess this post just inspired me to write and I didn't stop. Since I may never do it again, I am just giving you a fair warning that it's long and should I ever feel that I have something to say again, I will edit myself much better but I am now too tired to even spell check or read over to see if it makes sense-it started to but I got lost)
Okay, normally I just lurk on the paper craft boards from time to time, depending on what my newest toy is, to read and learn from what is being shared. No matter what I board I find, one thing is constant, when it comes to your craft, you are all so dedicated, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and organized (just the word organized makes me soooo jealous but take it as a compliment). I am always in awe of how you encourage and teach each other to keep getting better. I enjoy reading the boards as I also get inspired by your excitement and love for what you are doing. Of course, it also reminds of what I am NOT doing with my house full of "stuff" that I have easily spent a small fortune acquiring.
Pssstt....Word to the wise, should my husband ask around about me, I was never here and all that "stuff" I was referring to. Well, it's worthless or I just got some incredibly great deal. They are mainly gifts or they were "practically free". I think he has become pretty familiar with my standard explanation for the newest "must-have" item that has suddenly appeared because there's just no hiding certain things. Well, let's face it, at this point, there is no hiding anything. When I realized there was no way to just make my Cricut just "blend in", I just acted like it was nothing. When questioned I reacted as if it was nothing more than some over-sized glue dot holder thingy that I got for "next to nothing". I am not sure how much longer I can recycle the same few stories of how I acquire all this without spending "hardly anything". I mean how many times can I say "Oh, but this was the last one on the shelf and it's going to be a year before it's available again" thrown in with lots of coupon referencing, "90% off sale day" and "Did I get a deal or what, baby?" Poor guy. It must suck to be a brilliant software engineer and have to pretend that you are dumb enough to believe your wife's absurd tales. I know deep down he thinks we are just about 2 more of my"quick runs to the craft store" away from being a "very special episode" of Hoarders....oh, the things we do for love. Lucky for me he loves me. For the record, I am madly in love with him,
Wow, that went waaaay off what I was getting at here. Oh yeah...so, I actually just found this board through searches for information about the L Letterpress (don't ask, don't tell). As I said, I am strictly a reader and I don't stay on any forum or site long. I just land wherever the search takes me depending on what project I am into at that point. So I usually don't even join and I certainly don't post a thing so if you have actually read this far, I apologize and I won't make a habit of this. This board caught my eye because of all the interesting subject lines. I was intrigued. I am used to "Help! Scor-Pal vs. Scor-It? Which one?" not"Sexpresso Stands: For or Against". I thought to myself "Ali, you may have found a place to stay" Of course after this post, I can go back to being invisible because who has time to read a novel? I do love the idea of a scrap-booking forum with a community that is well rounded enough to jump into a discussion over the best photo editing software or hottie bingo (sounds fun)
I always feel I have much to learn and little to offer (other than questions) but when I saw the subject line of this post "Would this be inappropriate or funny?", I knew I just had to check it out. You see, I may not be your go to girl if you need any help welding letters with your cricut, but I like to think I know a thing or two about funny....I'm not so bad at inappropriate either. Hey, I am a true blue Southern Belle who just recently moved to Boston due to my husband's transfer and we love it! I am the one with accent! I think my life may be a balance between inappropriate and funny so I just feel like I can speak to this. I mean, finally, after all these years, a topic I can join in on. Hooray!
So, first, Anazelia, I just plain like you, girl! I can't begin to tell you how refreshing it was to see those photos of your daughters with what you wrote but the sweetest part was to see how much of a kick you got out of them. It was clearly enough to make you want to share the feeling in a sort of comical layout so they were saved. I started to think about the laughter that you will share with them over that layout forever. That's something your daughter's will be able to get that same feeling when they open that book to that page no matter where they are. They can always look at that and laugh. They will look at it and see their funny faces through their mommy's eyes. The fact that you knew they were funny but second guessed yourself because you cared about what they thought says a lot about you. You are clearly a good person (with a great sense of humor, btw) who wouldn't do anything to embarrass anyone. I really loved reading the positive responses you got from the community (Doviana and Earthmom's responses stood out for some reason...they seemed to get it and I believe one of them regrets not doing something like that now, so there you go) and Letumom even shared a LO (nice job!) and it clearly worked out. I hope that if everyone said don't do it, you would have anyway because it must reflect your sense of humor as well as your husband's which will be important to capture because that is who you are. That is something the girls will grow to know about you both and how nice to have that captured in layout. I guess I realized I need to make sure I am really showing our life as it is daily not just special moments, if that makes sense. My family is dynamic and colorful, like I think most are and that one layout you want to do reminded me that I need to be sure I am showing that...not just taking my pretty pictures and my pretty paper and so on....So, thanks for inspiring me. I told you I always get something from these forums.
I do want to add that I would be much more concerned if my daughter thought that something as minor as a quirky photo would justify an angry, embarrassed or even upset reaction. Please! If there is one thing in this world I think I have successfully done for my children is given them a sense of humor. I make sure they see that I can laugh at myself because life IS funny. Life is magical, sweet, touching, heartbreaking, beautiful, terrifying, painful, wonderful and a million other emotions all strung together and we are the fortunate ones who get to turn our view of what we see into a captured moment of a life that we are privileged to be a part of in some way. So, I say make the page and show them how much it makes you laugh so they will always know it's part of the human experience to see ourselves in many lights. Again, this is not making fun of anyone...these photos mean something to you because you know those girls. I love to see the crazy fading Polaroids of my brother and I looking like we were dressed in the dark and my mother cut our hair with a blindfold on but I bet I they are so funny to look through together and laugh at our hair and clothes etc.
Sorry to go on about that but these are the things that make me scrapbook. I think it's documenting life as we see it around us in a way that informs the mind and entertains the eye. I usually explain to people that I don't do this for me or for even my kids as much as I do for the generations I will never know. I want them to know what we were like and what we thought and what we did and how we lived, loved and laughed.
So, yeah, that would be why I NEVER post and never will again. I am a lurker but I will always encourage anyone to do something funny. I like funny!
Officially signing off....The very long winded and poorly edited but well meaning, Ali
PS. Oh one last thing- I can tell you right now I would rather see those funny photos of the little girls than those bizarre and disturbing photos parents actually have done of their little girls for these hideous child pageantry "glitz" photos, that's for sure...oh, don't even get me started. Yuck!)
