aesthetic self-discovery

 i've been considerably occupied and knackered lately, so it came as something of a surprise when i unwittingly realized i could actually afford the time for not one, but two scraps. and both within a week, at that. guess i'd primarily attribute the increased time on my hands to foregoing some of those habitual night gaming sessions, heh. about time i devoted more evenings to intentionally nurturing other sporadically-neglected pursuits:)

also, i've been mighty besotted by amy tangerine's line of embellishments and paper. it's no stretch to say that she's been a pretty colossal hit with the local consumer scene, and her quirky, genius takes on a multiplicity of themes positively make me suck my breath in and inwardly holler, now how on earth does she do it? i absolutely love amy tan's recipe of fusing simplistic, linear backgrounds with oodles of funky embellies that explode with a myriad of colour, a blend that consistently works out. it's never eyesore-ingly overdone nor boringly minimalistic, and i believe as a scrapper it's necessary to work just the right balance out, though more often that not, that's easier said that done. and did i mention that her washi tapes are absolutely wicked? i'd been eyeing a set of those for weeks, and finally indulged myself after i realized i was hopelessly sold to a self-proclaimed amy tangerine craze phrase. well i haven't regretted that purchase (yet!), because the tapes are just divine. if you'd kindly direct your gaze to the second layout above, you'd be able to spot them easily. aren't they just the swellest? :)

one thing i've begun to discover is that i'm progressively beginning to forge my own unique scrapping style the more i engage in it. needless to say, it's something i heartily welcome because for months i've been struggling to establish some semblance of individualism and character in my creations. and after some time, i got predictably tired of experimenting with so many different borrowed styles. there was also the constant stress that accompanied my efforts to ensure that layouts were "exactly the right style" that i had in mind, and that ultimately proved a massive killjoy. in the end, i hurled the idealism out of the window and discovered that scrapping was a ton more meaningful and enjoyable. i've said that perfect art is positively oxymoronic, and will continue to echo that. the amazing thing is once i began to seriously internalize the gravity of that statement, what followed was nothing short of intrinsic motivation and aesthetic self-discovery.

i reckon i'll be refining my style more in the coming months, and i look forward to where that's going to take me in my artistic journey :)