Hi there! It’s the 10th today, and I’ve got a new instalment of Inspired by for you! This time we chose a word for the theme…

Warmth

The days are getting shorter and shorter now, I’ve already started wearing cardigans and sweaters, and I’ll have to bring out the knitted scarves and gloves soon too.

I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m not a huge fan of winter or gloomy autumn weather. I don’t care about the cold, but I do mind the days in which it feels like dawn all day long.

We’ve had days like that this week in fact, and I’ll just have to get used to it again, but it’s still a bit frustrating especially when you really need to photograph or film something.

The word

Warmth – when Riikka suggested it as a theme, it immediately made me think of ‘hygge’.

I don’t know if it’s still as big of a ‘thing’ as last year. I haven’t felt the need to read any of the books about it because I think I already get the concept.

It’s very similar to Dutch ‘gezelligheid’ (though not entirely the same), and I totally need lots of it to get through the winter months.

I even made a mini book about it once, long before I had ever heard of the term ‘hygge’.

Old-school scrapbooking

I’ve had a look in the blog archives to see if there is a post I could link to, but… it seems I’ve never shared it here. I think it must have been a design team project (for Piens Atelier) that was exclusive to the DT blog.

It’s oooooold. I made it in December 2007! But the funny thing is that although I maybe would not use the exact same supplies, I could still make a very similar book today. It’s actually one of the very few scrapbook projects I’ve made that doesn’t feel super dated!

All of the small pleasures I feature in the mini book are still valid too, though I’m sorry to admit that I’ve gone a bit off chocolate ever since I’ve had my braces installed…

Conclusion

Sometimes I’m tempted to just throw all of my old scrapbook projects away. I’ve gotten rid of some already. You know: the ones that I didn’t like in the first place.

Honestly: it would be okay if I chucked the lot because most of the pages and projects are documented in photos anyway. But for some reason I still hold on to many of them, and this mini book is one of the few that I really like.

It was created at a time when I was only a couple months into blogging. Receiving product to create with was brand new to me. I wasn’t drowning in supplies yet and I was super stoked to get a pizza box full of new scrapbook goodies in the mail. It made me feel so inspired!

I also remember being really pleased with the photos I took. I didn’t own a DSLR, no iPhone: my compact camera was my best friend, and I carried it everywhere. I took photographing (and memory keeping) seriously. Eager to learn and get better at it.

That all seems so long ago now.

Nowadays I have several good cameras to photograph with, but I mostly use my phone. I still enjoy shooting photos, but I’m not taking memory keeping seriously at all.

I seem to be more interested in random things that just catch my eye, and most photographs I take are work-related. I haven’t scrapbooked in a long time, though I do enjoy composing digital photo books.

It will be interesting to see where I’m going next. What will change and what will stay the same? Will I still enjoy the same small pleasures in 10 years? Will I still love photographing more than anything else? And what will be the primary device to shoot with?!!

We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we!

Before you go: be sure to check out Riikka’s Inspired by post for this month on her blog Paperiliitin!

Take care, make things ‘hygge’ and have a wonderful week!

Inspired by is a blog series by my friend Riikka and I. We decide on a theme (and that theme can be anything from a film, a book, a painting, to an item, colour scheme or material), and then we create something with that theme or thing in mind.

We keep what we’re making a secret until reveal day on the 10th when we show you and each other our creations.