#myselfiescrapbook - that's a wrap...

WOW!  What an amazing and wonderful project this has been.  I loved it from the start and it is definitely my favourite project ever.

I thought taking selfies was a bit silly and if I am being honest I only took them to annoy my kids.  But this wonderful project has taught me that taking a "Selfie" is so much more... 

It's about me getting in the picture, 

it's about me having fun, 

it's about me taking some risks (remember that hair shot LOL), 

it's about me capturing some very raw and unedited moments, 

it's about me getting my story told. 

and so much more...

It was also about relationships, both old and new,

It was about sharing our knowledge with each other,

It was about trying new things,

It was about learning new skills,

It was about learning that perfection isn't a requirement of life,

It was about being in a photo and loving how we look,

It was about laughing and enjoying the moment.

Here are the last few pages of my book...

Would you believe that I happened to own a T-Shirt that said "be your selfie"  LOL!  I got it last year when I was in Singapore and I have been keeping aside ready to take on the last day.

I followed Mandy's idea for the last page of my book. I felt that it finished off this project perfectly.  I  have been keeping the quote from Polka Dot Creative for my last page too.

I chose to document this journey with a photo book and proud to say that I sent if off for printing this morning.  And in case you are wondering what photo I chose for my cover...

Yep - that hair shot

I want to say a big thankyou to everyone who participated in this project and for all your kind comments and support that I have received.  It has certainly been a wonderful experience.  I know I keep saying it but it truly has been for me and one that I will remember for a very long time.

I really can't end this post without a huge, huge thank you to the amazing ladies who got this project up, running and who kept us all so inspired to keep going -

Jennifer - Sunlight & Air

Julie - How I Sustain

Kellie - Give a Girl a Blog

Jodie - Polkadot Creative

Mandy - Record Life

Jessica - Color Cast Designs

#myselfiescrapbook - that's a wrap

:-)

#myselfiescrapbook - week 3...

I know I have said it before but I am totally loving this project.

I am so good at starting projects but not actually finishing them, but this project is so different.  Not only am I doing it, keeping up and sharing it but I don't want it to end.

This week I went back to work so my creative time has been missing due to the fact that I am totally exhausted.  I am also not allowed to have my phone out at work so I haven't taken many photos but I have tried to be as creative as I could be with the ones I did take.

These are the pages that I have added to my photo book:-

I was tagged on instagram to list 10 things about me.  So I copied the words from the Instagram post and added them to the same photo that I used on the post.

I also added a copy of this layout to my photo book as it really describes how I felt going back to work.

and I added this, giving a glimpse of my day.

I am so excited with how my book is turning out and I will be sending it off for printing as soon as April is finished.

Yep, still loving this project!

love me :-)

#myselfiescrapbook - Part 2

I was going to share my photos for this past week and let you know how my photo book was coming together... but then today happened and I realised that I was meant to do this class for a reason.

Today was my daughters Year 12 Ball and I thought it would be fun to capture some selfies of her and I. But the more I thought about it the more I knew that I wanted to capture one specific moment in time.  That moment that I wanted to remember forever.

When it was time for Alex to get dressed I knew that it was just going to be me and her, in the room, no one else, just a moment between Mother and Daughter.  No one was going to be able to capture the photo that I wanted and I am not sure that having someone else there would have made the moment so special.

I set up my tripod, set up phone and made sure the remote was close by.  For a moment I thought, what are you doing! trying to get a selfie at this time!  But then I realised that these past two weeks of taking selfies has made me understand that I want to be part of the story and I am part of the story.

I wanted to be able to capture some moments where I was helping her to get ready for her ball. So as she dressed and put shoes etc on I just kept clicking off my remote as I was helping her.

But this was the moment that I wanted to capture. That moment when I looked at my beautiful daughter and realised that my little girl was all grown up.  It was the moment when she was all ready, I looked at her and I couldn't keep it in any longer and I cried.  Then she cried and we hugged... that was the moment, right then when I clicked.

and this is my second favourtie photo, when we both grabbed a tissue, looked at each other and laughed.

 What an amazing day, 

what an amazing emotion,

what an amazing feeling.

Never again will I question taking a "Selfie"

love me:-)

#myselfiescrapbook... Week One!

Taking "selfies" is not something that came easily for me.  In fact I thought it was just something that the young kids did.  Thats what my kids thought too when they saw my first selfie.

I am the main photo taker in my family, so basically if I don't take the photo no one else will.  I get quite a bit of flack from them but I have learnt to just let it go and keep taking photos LOL!  But the reality is that I don't get in many photos.  That became very obvious several years back during a camping trip.  When we got home and I started sorting throught the photos I realised that I was not in one single photo.  Not one.  Which made me think, in many years to come my kids will look at these photos and think, oh, didn't Mum come.

So I made a promise to myself to "get in some photos".  Which meant that I had to ask someone if they would take my picture and that felt quite awkward.  But the upside was that I was in the photos.  While I was happy to be photos I wasn't quite happy with how they turned out.  I don't mean that I didn't like how I looked in the photo, it was more from the view that after many years of taking photos I have a particular way that I like photos to look (from a scrapbooking point of view) ie. I like them to be lighter not darker, I like white space in a photo if I can, I might want a particular photo taken from a certain angle... anway you know what I mean.

The only way to solve this was to take a "selfie".  At first it was a bit weird (just ask my kids) but the more I took the easier it became.  The more I took the more fun I was having.  The more I took the more adventurous I was becoming in my photo taking.  The more I took the more I discovered how photo apps can make all the difference to a not so good photo.  Basically the more I took the better I got.

But then I noticed something truly wonderful.  I started documenting stuff about me, yep me!  Not the kids, not our holidays, but me.  When I came across #myselfiescrapbook on Instagram (my favourite social media) I got so excited and jumped right in.  You can find out all about it here.  This is a free class, yes free and there  are so many very talented and lovely ladies to help and inspire you along the way. You can find the links and first set of prompts here.

I have decided to do my pages digitally mainly because right now it's easy to fit into my life and if its easy then hopefully I will keep up.  I did struggle with how I was going to put it all together but I have now settled on a photo book from Snapfish.  I am using templates from Paislee Press.  It also means that I can just keep adding photos to book as I go along.

Here are my photos from week one...

I am totally in love with this project and I think it should be mandatory for every woman to do it.  I am finding it so much fun and very liberating.

Happy selfie taking

love me :-)