Hello! I’m Melanie and I live in Salisbury, Wiltshire with my husband, two of our three children - our eldest is at University - our cat and two rabbits! I am a Science Technician and work in a School in town.
I have always taken lots and lots of photos. My family have always been my main focus - in fact my daughter recently said a huge thank you to me for having taken so many photos of them when they were younger - she was looking for photos of all the different sports teams she had been in at Junior School and naturally she found plenty!
I also enjoy gardening so love to take photos of the flowers and shrubs in my garden, together with the wildlife that visits it. And of course our cat - he has a particularly cute way of sprawling across the full length of a sofa or bed!
I first ‘discovered’ scrapbooking in 2004 when I was invited to a Creative Memories ‘party’ - it was a bit like a Tupperware party with photographs! I bought some basic tools and an album and then did nothing for a few years!
Having babies and toddlers did not leave much time for crafting! I would buy craft magazines and get my scrapbooking ‘fix’ that way! In 2008 I discovered a fortnightly evening scrapbook class close to where we were living at the time and that was great. I was up and running!
But it has only been the past three years or so that I have been able to make the time to scrapbook regularly (although between 2009 and 2011 I set up and ran a twice monthly scrapbooking group in Germany as there was nowhere for me to go to enjoy and share my hobby! We were there with the military and I provided kits and page demos to other military wives. That was a fantastic experience and meant that I scrapped regularly as I had to have several pages ready to showcase for each class).
I now scrap just for me and my family. I love looking at photographs and if I can produce pages or an album that is creative and beautiful and that other people will enjoy looking at then I am happy. I will scrap random photos, just because I love the photo or because it has a particular significance, but I also enjoy scrapping events or holidays.
I have particularly enjoyed creating albums for our children documenting their school days - seeing their faces upon receiving their gift on their 18th birthday filled me with love and joy (our youngest has not turned 18 yet so best keep this a secret!) Time spent at my craft table is a privilege - sometimes the creative process is a slow one, but so long as I am enjoying it then that is fine by me.
And time spent at my craft table is now often shared with my daughter as she also loves to scrap and document holidays and fun and memorable times. It is truly special to be able to share this hobby and passion with her.
Being creative in whatever form is wonderful and is a fantastic way of switching off and just catching your breath a little bit. It doesn’t matter what you do or how often you do it. Just take a little bit of time out for yourself and enjoy it.
Best wishes, Melanie x
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