How easy it is to neglect one’s blog when life is so full of things that need immediate attention and the things that bring joy and comfort slide into the ‘I’ll get to it, can’t you see I’m busy’ pile. Time waits… not.

Recently I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Even more than usual. (smile) You might have heard that the store will be closing next month. I’ve been asked if we will open again in another location, but right now, I’m not sure. There is no time to reflect or to thoughtfully plan. It has been a whole lot of ‘doing’ and I’m looking forward to some quiet. And some solace. This is kind of a sad thing.

I felt like making a layout using a really old photo of me. I think this was when I was just a slight bit older than Sarah and a few years younger than Mei. This is why I love scrapbooking. This is the reason I do this. To hold a moment, past or present. To put thoughts or feelings in words. ‘Today I looked at this old photo of a younger me, i thought of all the things I’ve learned and experienced, all the places I’ve journeyed, whether in a plane or vessel, on wheels, or on foot or in my head and I pause at this point, if only for a brief respite from the busyness, long enough to be grateful, long enough to notice that I am in a good place and that I am still me” If I didn’t sit and scrap this, or write these words, they would escape. I would not remember them. But by scrapbooking, I can come back to this page and sometime later, even more than sometimes, I can revisit this place when I felt just this way. Awesome.

I have never used so many flowers on a single layout. Most are Prima. This little bit of vintage lace is from Mei, from her travels to Europe. Another butterfly from Crate Paper”s Random collection. The yellow and black polka dotted paper is from Graphic 45. Recently found treasure. I wish I had more! It was fun doing this one. I’m pleased that it turned out in true modern vintage style.

It has indeed been an interesting year. Are you ready to say November? In the week that I’ve made the announcement to close I have received so much feedback from people, that ranged from shocked to seriously sad, and I want to say to you guys, you are truly inspiring , and while this old lady needs some downtime, there will be more for you, just that the ‘what’ has not been established but the thoughts forming in my head are of a place of sharing, more than a place of commerce. As it comes together I will update, who knows, modern vintage style classes might be on the cards. For now, no promises, so no disappointments, I sure have had enough of those. But I believe it will be good.

If you’d like to keep updated on store happenings, visit smidapaper.com and sign up for smida stories, our newsletter. I have an update overdue I know, but I’m not sure what to tell everyone…in the meantime, there’s still a good 4 weeks of smidapaper shopping to go, a whole lot of heaving boxes and rearranging for me and then some christmas crafting for a charity bazaar we are taking part in ,December 9 & 10 plus a little puppy to house train. I think that before I can say November it might just be December. But I’ll try to pay attention to the details and hopefully drop in here from time to time to share some crafting and some life stories. If I don’t see you till November, I wish it will be a good one for you . Thanks for dropping by.

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 30th, 2011 at 7:14 pm and is filed under Modern Vintage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.