The Girl on the Other Coast: April 27, 2013

Here we go again! Another collaborative post with my west coast friend, G. This time, G is thinking about our favorite hobbies. We'll take a look at hers here. Curious how I answered? (Humor me. Pretend you're curious.) Take a virtual voyage to Little Italy and find out!
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What's your favorite hobby?
I love scrapbooking. It's a great creative outlet which combines my love ofphotograpy and my need for preserving memories. I actually get giddy when I've completed a page. It just makes me smile seeing my pictures with cordinating paper and cute little embellishments.

When did you start?
I started back in 1998 after prom. LOVED it. I would spend my weekends creating pages. I was even published in two different magazines!! That was super exciting! But when I started grad school my time became extremely limited and something had to go. It was a toss up between showers andscrapbooking. (HA!) Once I started teaching, I was so overwhelmed thatscrapbooking was the last thing I thought of. For the first few years I was so overwhelmed that I was only able to scrapbook a couple of times. Thankfully that's changed recently!



Who inspires you creatively?
When I first started I really admired Becky Higgins and her simple yet creative pages. I still love her ideas and how they have evolved over time. I think Project Life is a fantastic way to record real life. I'm excited to start creating my own album for 2013.

Amy Tangerine is a huge inspiration as well! In November I was lucky enough to have lunch with her. She is such a delight! She is the one who really encouraged me to start scrapbooking again. And I took her advice seriously! Within the past couple of months I've been able to create more than I have in the past couple of years! And? She included me in her book!! How cool is that?!  





Where do you do it?
Usually at my kitchen table. There's enough room to spread out and get down to business! I'll also scrapbook at Jen's house. We have a lot of fun there as well.




How did you start?
I honestly can't remember...but I know I passed by a local scrapbook store and went in. I was in HEAVEN.

I truly am grateful for a hobbie that I love, friends to share it with, and being able to preserve our memories.

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(edit to add my answers)


What's your favorite hobby? I would have to say photography.

When did you start? I've had a camera as long as I can remember. Seriously, my dad got me one when I was probably in second grade? I've always loved photos--looking at them and taking them. I've always had a camera with me at any sort of event, big or small. I started to delve into a little more earnestly about eight years ago when I got my first digital camera.

Where do you do it? Anywhere and anywhere I feel inspired! I I am participating in a great photo-a-day prompt challenge, so I have to be prepared anytime the opportunity presents itself!

Who inspires you creatively? No one specific person. I am inspired by certain angles, lighting, perspectives that I see in other photos. I try to make note of them and use that as a springboard when I am taking my own.

How did you start it? My old family photos have always been a treasure to me. I love looking back on old memories--things we did, places we went, holidays we celebrated, everyday life I cherish--and I wanted that legacy to continue through me. So I took photos. And then I got a basic digital camera where I could immediately see what worked or (far more often) didn't, instead of having to wait while I finished a roll of film and had it developed when I would no longer remember what I did when I took the photo. As I graduated to bigger and better cameras, I have begun to explore, experiment and teach myself how my camera and each of my lenses (I only have two for now) works and how manipulate the settings to achieve the photo I'm hoping for. I haven't used my current camera (a Canon
EOS Rebel XSi) on automatic since I got it (other than to see what the camera thinks is best for a situation in which I am struggling to find the right setting, then I see what it uses and switch back to manual to tweak the settings it used to fine tune for the image I want)! I'm pretty proud of that. I still have a lot of throw-aways (much cheaper with digital!) but not as many as I used to and every once in a while, I get one I am really proud of.  It's fun a hobby, it's challenging, and I have something I value to show for it.