So, as much as I love paper crafting, I haven't seemed to be able to bring myself to do it. Partly, I think, has had to do with life being too sad--illness and death of family members, other health difficulties, closing sb business, church changes, loss of friends. As I look back on photos and pages of much earlier years, so much was different--boys were young, parents healthy, family and friends abounded, life was good. Nowadays, it's easy to let losses overwhelm. Recently read a book--1000 Gifts. The premise is that we need to intentionally look for and be grateful for all things--big, small, good, and even bad--every day, every hour, moment by moment (author refers to this as greek word, Eucharisteo). God is Giver of all, and everything He gives us is for our good, even the painfully bad. Not always simple to grasp, but true nonetheless. Even in the dark times, there is still beauty in what is around us, so many gifts easily overlooked. How much our perspective changes from grief and loss when we become busy about "counting" the endless gifts God gives us. So while life has become very different now, God is good, gifts abound...and I want to scrap them! ;)
Part Two of not paper crafting has had to do with space. I use the family sunroom as my workspace. Besides the lack of space due to clutter, the sun had faded much of my things and dust from having to have the windows open had thickly coated every square inch of the room. I should have taken a "before" pic but you wouldn't have known what you were looking at! Again, too overwhelming to deal with, but finally I dove in. It took days--literally over the course of days, and days, and days--but every button, ribbon, sheet of paper, etc. has been sorted and organized. What treasures I found! Old projects, unfinished projects, items I'd forgotten I had, and some pretty funky, old papers. Removed the coat of dust from everything and even cleaned the carpet. Everything now has a place, in a container, not to mention a label. The breathing room is now amazing and I can't wait to CREATE!
