Meet Matilda Mallstomper

On 3/27/04 5:18 PM, in article ,
"Seanette Blaylock" wrote:

Cheryl Isaak had some very interesting
things to say about Scrapbooking WAS Meet Matilda Mallstomper:

I'm with Cheryl -- I don't "get" the current scrapbooking trend.
Oh thank goodness - I have wondered if I was the only person not into it.
And stamping for that matter.
Not my thing either [although rubber stampers use stuff that also
works nicely on polymer clay :-)].
The clay I at least understand. I'm not interested for myself, but can see
the attraction.

Try it sometime. :-)

OH no you don't, stitching, knitting, crocheting and beads are enough!

Lots of "paper" crafts leave me cold - just me I guess.

I can understand why some people are interested in scrapbooking and
such, it just doesn't tweak my interests.

Same here.
Cheryl

Deb Milner wrote:
On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 04:29:29 GMT, "Dr. Brat"
wrote:


Mirjam or Lula dismissing it (not that they have), but where do you get
off? Replicating little dots from paper to fabric is somehow more creative?

C'mon, give me my fantasy....grin

Since it's mine too, I'll gladly give it to you *grin* I'm just
suggesting what an outsider could reduce it to if one were so inclined.

Elizabeth
--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Karen C - California wrote:
Condescending?

Well, maybe because I've done calligraphy for pay, and the first thing I was
told was that I had only one chance to get it right.

And you just did it right off? You never practiced on scrap first? If
not, then you're the best calligrapher I've ever heard of.

When someone brings you a
$50 book for an inscription, it's going to cost you (the calligrapher) $500 if
you want to re-write it 10x till you get it perfect. You can't ask the
customer to keep going back and buying another book and another book because
you made a mistake. I did several pieces where an artist had spent dozens of
hours on the hand-painted sections -- again, I didn't have the option of
re-doing it dozens of times like I'm hearing some of my friend's customers do.
And these were projects done for pay and professional reputation; not hobbies.

Rule one, you don't write and talk at the same time. If I were phobic about
getting a caption perfect, I wouldn't write it in the middle of a scrappers'
coffee klatsch ... I'd do it at home and bring it with me.

That's because you're talking about something you did for pay.
Scrapbooking is a hobby. Getting together with others is part of the
hobby. Why do you have such a problem with it?

I did my first professional newspaper layout just about 30 years ago. You work
with what you've got -- you can't send the photographer back to an event that
ended six hours ago because you'd rather have the keynote speaker looking in
the other direction. Even flipping a hand-drawn graphic was a PITA in those
days. The end result may not be perfect; we learned to live with "good enough"
when photos weren't quite what Layout wanted. Now, if a
professionally-produced newspaper can handle not-quite-perfect going out into
the world, what's the big deal about a family scrapbook having Elmo in a
less-than-perfect position?

Some people care more about these things than others. Certainly not all
scrappers or even all scrap addicts feel the way you are representing
them. OTOH such attitudes are not limited to scrappers. I've met
needleworkers who felt that way and I've had students who were paralyzed
over writing papers because they weren't sure they'd be perfect.

The big question has to be "who -- other than me -- would notice?" And the
odds are ... no one. Junior's going to see that you found Elmos to match his
Elmo birthday cake. He'll probably never even guess that they were supposed to
face the other direction, if you have sufficient creativity to work around the
problem. (Either move the photo to the other side of the page, or put Elmo
somewhere else. A line of dancing Elmos across the bottom of the page would
work just fine; they don't have to be pointing at Junior.)

It's the "man on a galloping horse" rule and it applies to all
endevours. However, not everyone is successful at applying it.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change." Do layout
with a printer breathing down your neck for the finished pages and you learn
real fast that there are things you cannot change, and just have to live with
because you don't have time to hunt down the perfect illustration.

Maybe part of the fun for those people *IS HUNTING DOWN THE PERFECT
PIECE* That's why it's a hobby, so that people can enjoy it the way
they choose. It's not the way I choose to pursue it, but it doesn't
bother me if others want to do it that way. Have you never put off a
project because you didn't have the right floss? I have. I hate
substituting unless I've chosen to. I don't want to be forced to, and
I'll wait and look until I can get the fiber I need. For me, that's
part of the fun.

I'm anal about my legal work. Judges "take off points" for mistakes. With my
hobbies, a misplaced stitch is no catastrophe. If I need to substitute a
slightly different shade of pink, oh well.

And that's great. Wonderful for you. Why do you have to condescend to
and criticize others because they take a different attitude? And why do
you have to condemn an entire group for a few overheard conversations
that you assume are representative? Surely you've done enough legal
work to know better.

Elizabeth
--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

K wrote:

Just because your "friend" relates to you a story or two of a scrapbooker
redoing a page to get it just right doesn't mean all scrapbookers do that,
anymore than a story or two of a cross sticher ripping out all the
lettering on a sampler because she used DMC 502 instead of 503 by mistake
makes all cross stichers anal. Sure would like to know who this friend is,
so I can make sure I never shop in her store. She seems to have such a low
regard for the people from whom she makes a living.

My sentiments exactly!

Elizabeth
--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cheryl Isaak wrote:
On 3/27/04 5:18 PM, in article ,
"Seanette Blaylock" wrote:

The clay I at least understand. I'm not interested for myself, but can see
the attraction.

Try it sometime. :-)

OH no you don't, stitching, knitting, crocheting and beads are enough!

*snicker* Come see me sometime, Cheryl. We can do some paper collage
together. DH set up a spin art box for the kids across the street and
it is such fun! I had more fun with it than they did.

Lots of "paper" crafts leave me cold - just me I guess.

I can understand why some people are interested in scrapbooking and
such, it just doesn't tweak my interests.

Same here.

*poke* That's because you haven't done it yet. I wasn't tweaked by
stamping or collage until I visited a friend in Albany with a wonderful
studio and papers and stamps and ink galore. I intended to stitch all
weekend but came home with the most wonderful collages instead. Same
thing happened with scrapping. I attended a class at an aquaintance's
house because she invited me and I didn't want to turn her down. Too
new in town to be snubbing invites. She didn't get the bug, but I did
and now I go about once a month (except this past winter when I pretty
much shut down all extracurricular activities to work on those damned
papers).

I think I've never met a craft I didn't like. The only way to stay sane
is just not to try stuff.

Elizabeth (on a true knitting jag lately)
--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Mirjam Bruck-Cohen wrote:

I think Karen you touched an interesting point , not about the Coffee
event ,, which has sometimes it`s own merit and use in Human society
!!!! But about the insistance of some people , that one NEEDS to have
the RIGHT paper , the RIGHT way to write or cut up photos etc,,,
This was the point i wondered about in the first place ,,,, There Is
NO wrong or right way to remember , to arrange memorial stuff . one
should do it in whatever manner one feels is right for him/her

But the point is that some people can't figure out
what feels right for themselves, or at least not in the
amount of time they have available to get it done. And
if some of those people would rather learn a limited set
of techniques and apply them in order to document their
lives *now* rather than spend the time slogging it out
with their artistic muse, that's not a choice I'm going
to challenge. They're not stupid. They know they are
subscribing to a method and that there are other methods
available. They choose that method because they *like*
it and *want* to make scrapbooks that look that way, at
least at that moment in time. If that's what they want,
more power to 'em.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Mirjam Bruck-Cohen wrote:

Ericka
I agree with you that people now realize the importance of keeping
information for further generations , in the form of photos/ documents
/letters etc.... and that Geneology is the other side of the same
urge. But that is just my problem with an `Organized To Numbers [or
Formats] ` scrapbooking , because eventually it will loose a lot of
the individulity , as well as valuable other info about the person
doing it.

Two things: 1) There's still *plenty* of room for
originality and individualism, even within various "schools"
of scrapbooking. 2) I don't believe for a minute that any
of this is stifling anyone's creativity one iota. Anyone
who wants to "break out" and try something more original
will do so. The ones who are more conservative and "scrap
by the numbers" probably wouldn't be documenting their
history *at all* without that level of support.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Who cares about the form? At least they're getting their story down on
paper! Really, that's what it comes down to. If the form makes the
creator happy, then wonderful!

Meredith

Ericka Kammerer wrote:
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen wrote:

Ericka I agree with you that people now realize the importance of keeping
information for further generations , in the form of photos/ documents
/letters etc.... and that Geneology is the other side of the same
urge. But that is just my problem with an `Organized To Numbers [or
Formats] ` scrapbooking , because eventually it will loose a lot of
the individulity , as well as valuable other info about the person
doing it.


Two things: 1) There's still *plenty* of room for
originality and individualism, even within various "schools"
of scrapbooking. 2) I don't believe for a minute that any
of this is stifling anyone's creativity one iota. Anyone
who wants to "break out" and try something more original
will do so. The ones who are more conservative and "scrap
by the numbers" probably wouldn't be documenting their
history *at all* without that level of support.

Best wishes,
Ericka

On 3/28/04 8:55 AM, in article , "Dr. Brat"
wrote:

Cheryl Isaak wrote:
On 3/27/04 5:18 PM, in article ,
"Seanette Blaylock" wrote:

The clay I at least understand. I'm not interested for myself, but can see
the attraction.

Try it sometime. :-)

OH no you don't, stitching, knitting, crocheting and beads are enough!

*snicker* Come see me sometime, Cheryl. We can do some paper collage
together. DH set up a spin art box for the kids across the street and
it is such fun! I had more fun with it than they did.

Only if I can bring DD - she'd love it! I loved that when I was a kid - a
little paint, and such a neat effect.

Lots of "paper" crafts leave me cold - just me I guess.

I can understand why some people are interested in scrapbooking and
such, it just doesn't tweak my interests.

Same here.

*poke* That's because you haven't done it yet. I wasn't tweaked by
stamping or collage until I visited a friend in Albany with a wonderful
studio and papers and stamps and ink galore.

I've gone to a few "stamping" parties - I never like coloring either. LOL, I
can't stay in the lines.

I intended to stitch all
weekend but came home with the most wonderful collages instead. Same
thing happened with scrapping. I attended a class at an aquaintance's
house because she invited me and I didn't want to turn her down. Too
new in town to be snubbing invites. She didn't get the bug, but I did
and now I go about once a month (except this past winter when I pretty
much shut down all extracurricular activities to work on those damned
papers).

I think I've never met a craft I didn't like. The only way to stay sane
is just not to try stuff.
The "thing" that has called me a few times is weaving. And I have a
potential teacher too. An other daylily addict!

Elizabeth (on a true knitting jag lately)

Cheryl,
Back stitching the last bits of the paperdoll teddy!

When I think of scrapbooking, I think of vacation photos and slides -- I cringe
at the thought of being forced to look at the photo albums some of my relatives
keep. The last time my step-father's sister visited, she almost immediately
pulled out an album of photos taken when they set up her daughter's mobile
home. I didn't find that particuarly interesting. I wouldn't find it
interesting even if it was in a nice, fancied up, sticker and rubber stamp
loaded album on acid free paper.

Remember all those jokes about people putting the neighbors to sleep with their
vacation slides/movies/videos, etc.? I feel that way about scrapbooks. If I
find them boring, I'm not going to do them myself.

When the "house-raising" photos came out during the in-law's visit, my daughter
insisted that I pull out every quilt project I had going. A little payback,
she said later.Of course, we were very polite while looking at the photos, of
course, and they were very polite while looking at the quilts -- for all I know
they could have found them snore city!

Katrina L.