Hello

Hi there friends of SAG, how are you, scrapping up a storm? Me? Well, not so much. I've increased my work hours and I've been struggling with the home/work/life/children/scrapping balance - I am not sure it really exists actually, more like a time allocation issue I would say!

Two things today. First, a friend of mine and a friend of SAG, has started a lovely monthly journaling prompt inspired by Ali Edwards' class 31 Things. I think it is something that would appeal to many of you and I know Alexa will welcome you with open arms - and, if you need some journaling inspiration, she has it aplenty. You can click HERE to find out all about it and to read her beautiful words. I've included my page here today.

Secondly, I'm about to upgrade my camera body and I was wondering if any of you out there have any experience with the Canon 5D MKII. It's a full frame camera and I want to know if the Sigma 24-70mm EXDG is a compatible lens? My preliminary research says yes, but I thought I'd check here too as I know many of you are interested in all things photography. I'm also interested in your thoughts over this particular body and the 7D, perhaps I am better off saving a few dollars to put towards a lens? I'm only at the preliminary research stage and am in the process of liquidating some assets for the purchase ... I want to make the right decision as I'll have this camera for a while.

That's all for now, let me know your thoughts.

what is perfction?

One of my favourite bloggers is Karen Russell. For a long time now I have been regularly popping in to see what she is up to. Now don't get me wrong, I am not some strange lurker of others lives but there has always been something about her photos that has completely drawn me in. To the point where I almost feel like I 'know' her and her lovely family.  I just couldn't put my finger on what it was I loved so much about her photos. Yes, they are what I would consider technically brilliant, the focus and lighting was always spot on but it was more than that.

This week I started her class...'Snapshots of a good life'. And within 5 minutes of downloading my first lesson the answer was right there in front of me, the reason I love Karens photos so much, they are "emotionally perfect". I love the notion of an emotionally perfect photo for so many reasons.

Our first assignment was to find a photo we had already taken that we considered to be emotionally perfect. Well, seems I was going to fail my first assignment, choose JUST 1!!! ONLY 1!!! Oh man, easier said than done, here are a few I considered...

As scrappers we know our most powerful pages are the ones with those photos that speak to us and the words that record treasured memories kept for generations to come.
Here are 2 of the simplest pages I have ever done yet I consider them emotionally perfect pages!

Todays post was supposed to be a question and answer post (and yes again I am late)...so here is my question to you...

Do you scrap for
1. just the fun of it?
2. to record the memories?
3. both of the above!

And if you answered 3 (which I suspect you may) then can I add a challenge to this post...

Go now and find a few 'technically perfect' photos, choose the simplest template/layout/sketch you can, set your timer for 5 minutes and journal as much as you can about your photo. DO NOT stop to fix grammar, spelling etc (worry about that later) ... just type/write ... and don't get hung up on sentence structure (remember I am a school teacher and so I can give you permission to forget all you know about grammar)...put it all together and please share with us!

I'm not supposed to put the link here today (if you don't tell the others I will so we can all see your pages...shh).


Diane
xx