Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Western Washington Scrapbooking Retreat 2012

It's that time of year again!  Like minded souls meeting at Fort Worden in Washington to create with paper. This year was very low key with only about 85 participants, less than last year. It was also earlier than last year. We met the last weekend in October instead of the mid-November time frame.



I was sick right before so I had a hard time planning and packing for this annual event. I also didn't feel like volunteering for anything. I just brought my paper and dove in without a plan.

It turned out nice! I felt better once I had gotten there and was settled...tissues to my left, tea to my right. I had signed up for the card swap and dug right in. Fourteen cards were needed to participate, and I new I wanted to use my new honeycomb paper.

"Happy Everything" - Front
Project 45 of 365

"Happy Everything"
Back and Front

I didn't get as much done this year, but I had a great time regardless. I finished my card swap cards on the first day, Friday. On Saturday, I did some writing in the morning and finished about four pages in my latest chapter book, then slowly poked around my bins for a Christmas card idea. For some reason it took me two days to make eighteen cards, but there was food to be eaten, laughs to be had, and creativity to be reigned.


Ornaments
Project 46 of 365

Oh, and before I forget, I won a really nice door prize! A top loading 12x12 Photo album with paper, double stick tape, brads, stickers, extra album sheets, all tied with two strands of ribbon. Sweet!

Here are the cards I've done for the past couple retreats:
A Single Daisy Can Be My Garden (2010)
Just a Note (2009)


Thursday, October 04, 2012

Story Map

Town Map
Project 44 of 365

I've been writing and writing...and writing. I'm loving it! Now that I have my characters figured out, I start to see story arcs where before I saw blank paper. I'm just going with it.

My first story is done with one major revision under my belt. I have sent it to another peer group for review and will learn their feedback at the SCBWI retreat set for the beginning of November.

My second story is finished with no real revisions made. I still have the last chapter to share with my regular writ crit group, then I will turn it over to a friend who is an exceptional editor. 

Now, I'm two chapters into my third book. At this time I was wondering about street names and how long travel would take between two set points. 

I had been using The Sims 2 Double Deluxe EA game to create my characters and their families. Then I was building some of the houses to match layouts with what I was envisioning. I laid out the town and added commercial lots...but then I found it tedious to flip back and forth between the game and writing. I also cannot label things, like street names for easy organization.

So, even though the game has helped me to this point, I had to turn old school and just draw out a map. I got a little carried away researching cool surnames and started adding them to my neighborhood. That's the creative mind for you...leads you down a rat hole when you least expect it. At least now, I have character last names at the ready :)