Our Third Last Night

Oooh, long time no blog! But it's been busy. First week back at school with all that entails, having a social with the guiders, which predictably went on all night (on a school night), squishing in a play at the National theatre and then, the crowning glory... The Last Night of the Proms!

There's so much to tell about that night, and it merits a post in its own right (see: the future) but for now, I want to share a few pre-scrapping thoughts.

When going to something like the Last Night, I know I'm going to want to scrap it afterwards. So I make sure I've got the camera stuff I want. In this case, I took the fisheye lens, because I knew I'd want wide angle pictures inside the hall and I know I'd be taking lots of self-portraits of me and the friends. The fisheye has a really wide angle of viewing so I know I can always get everyone in. After all, when you're queueing for ten hours, you may as well make your own entertainment :D

Once I know what camera stuff I'm taking, I can make sure I've got plenty of battery life and memory card space and I know I'm going to get millions of pictures. And maybe a few great ones!

Before any really scrappy stuff starts, I like to get my journalling down, while it's fresh in my mind. I often edit a bit afterwards, but I think it's always best for me when I sit down and type out whatever I happen to be thinking, the sooner the better. I have to type because my handwriting can't keep up with my thoughts.

Next, I go through the pictures, choose the best ones and print. I print at home because that way I can do any size I like. I do love photo strips if there are lots of pictures that are quite similar, and that can be great for scrapping. However, this year, I've got half a dozen or so that I really love and can't bear to shrink down. So I'll print them all at 6x4 and scrap one or two at that size. The rest can go in 6x4 divided page protectors so that I can still enjoy the full-size effect in my album.

When I've got the pictures and I'm good to scrap, it's nice to work out what colours are really going to work. With the last night, we dress up in red white and blue, and it's really easy to pick out and emphasis those colours using patterned paper. This is my page from last year, and I borrowed the union flag motif as well. The grid motif really helped to make the most of the photos; I had just a handful of good ones and the grid made it simple to incorporate them all.

Then I scrap! I often don't have an idea in mind, I just go with the photo and see what works. And what works for me is usually quite a lot of shuffling about bits of paper with the photo and wondering whether I can fit all the journalling in that space or not.

So, with this process in mind, I need to get my favourites printed and set aside some crafty time for this week. Fingers crossed!

Kisses xxx

P.S. Yes, that was us at 1 hour, 24 minutes and 55 seconds on iPlayer in the first half of the Last Night. Finding out if you got on telly is the cherry on top :D