Note to Self with the Inspiration Elevator

I was delighted to be asked to join in with the wonderful ladies at the Inspiration Elevator this month, the purpose of the team is to take scrapbooking to the next level and challenge us to grow...so this months challenge is from Cathy Harper, and is as follows

"I have been thinking about my challenge for months now. This is such an amazing team, I am thrilled and humbled to be a part of IE...each of you are amazing designers. I often wonder what I am doing here amongst you.

I scrapbook for the joy of it, the creativity part of it, the love of paper part of it....I hardly ever bare any of my feelings in any of my work! I often tell my kids that they can make up there own stories to their pages..I am that terrible about journaling. I guess it is a bit superficial or a whole lot superficial.

So here is my challenge.

I want you to create a page about REGRET.

“No regrets”…they say we should live our lives without regrets… if it were only that easy, right? Most of us hold onto 1 or 2 (or a mountain full) of things we feel regretful for in our lifetimes. A lost love, those words you WISH you had said, the weight you wish you had lost….you know them, right?

I encourage you to confront them….take those suckers on and scrap about them… or just one.

This can be something superficial to something serious and painful… it’s up to you how far you want to dig. I DO encourage you to use this as an opportunity to really stretch yourself. Journaling is very powerful and you might be surprised by how you feel afterward.

This is going to be super tough for me (I may already regret it, lol )...as I am one who lives with a mountain of regrets and know in my head that I should move on, let it go. I am hoping this challenge will help me actually "let go" of some of these things. Maybe by putting in down in 12x12 form, creating it, seeing it and feeling it, that I can put some of it to rest! It's worth a shot! Pictures, no pictures...that is all up to you!"

This got me thinking a lot and I have hidden the journalling behind my photo...I don't live with lots of regrets (fortunately) - I make loads of mistakes, and regret things all the time but then I learn from them too - so they are valuable lessons to me and change me.  So my take on regret is a page about something that I don't want to regret at the end of my days....which is to make sure that I cherish each moment.  I still remember some words of a friend who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and she spoke about the way that diagnosis makes you look at life and appreciate it and I think sometimes in the busyness of life I forget to appreciate it.  

Gosh very philosophical for a Thursday morning -  as it is a photo of me (for some reason I wear sunglasses in the photos of me that I like! there is probably a subconscious reason for that too :)) I got to use pink and some of the lovely Dear Lizzy papers, and some old sassafrass stickers and studio calico Heyday papers.  There is lots of stitching and I let the threads hang down for a messy effect on this one. I started by dry brushing some white gesso on the background and then layering up my papers.  I love the mason jars in the Dear Lizzy range and have the stamps too - and it seem fitting to have a jar of hearts, like a jar of cherished memories.  Still thinking philosophically, the purpose of scrapping is to cherish memories which part of the reason I love it.  I used some cosmo cricket word phrases too and then stapled on a scrunched up banner in the top right hand corner and added some flicks of glimmer mist too.  

There is lots of inspiration from all the team so here are all the links

I hope you will stop by and see what the designers on this adventure have created:

Cathy Harper

Sue Sykes

Lisa Spiegel

Joanne Burton

Christa Uttley

Laura Whitaker

Audrey Yeager

Lisa Moen

Laurel Seabrook

Ann Jobes

Katherine Sutton, Guest Designer

We would love to see what you are inspired to create.   Add a comment below and we will be sure to drop by and say hello!