Hello, I am Jo and welcome to my about page.
I am a daughter, sister, friend, surrogate auntie, godmother, creative lady and a whole gamut of other interesting things.
When did you know you were creative?
I have always been creative, my first project which I remember is an embroidery sampler from infant school. My mum still has it on her dining room table. I was taught to sew by my mum who is a seamstress and I now embroider, crochet, knit and sew.
How did you become a scrapbooker?
I first became interested in scrapbooking when my good friend Teresa introduced me to it and I fell in love immediately with the concept. I'd scrapbooked as a little girl with sticky pictures and coloured paper, anyone remember Gloy? I have now been creating layouts for about 12 years. I have learnt alot from research and also from teachers like Shimelle Laine. My first scrapbook away day was one of her classes.
Here I am in the classroom in Portsmouth. I met some lovely people that day who I still meet annually for a scrapbooking getaway.
How did you get into blogging?
Now that was sheer fluke. I was ill at home and I just happened to find an article about Blogger and set up a blog. It all started from there but really became a thing when I took Shimelle Laine's online Blogging class in 2009. On the class, she taught how to set up and design your blog and how to write good content. I followed up that class with Beyond Blogging for Scrapbooker which was Shimelle's follow-on class. I was then lucky enough to win a class by Jessica Sprague on blog design and I have now redesigned my blog twice.
I love the ability blogging gives me to reach a wider audience, meet new people and bloggers and to think of interesting content to share. I have lucky to be part of some amazing blogging activities I never would have expected for example Kirstin Tweedale's Christmas weekend where I produced two tutorials and pdf instructions on making a ribbon wreath.
What can readers expect from your blog?
Primarily my blog is about creativity, whether that is scrapbooking, crochet, sewing et cetera but I also write posts about life, my personal experiences living with a mental health diagnosis, books I've read and anything which piques my interest.
I take part in some weekly memes, mainly Abi Beach's "1 photo, 20 words" on Mondays.
I am also taking part again in Ali Edward's One Little word. My word this year is "Light" and you can read all about my year with Light over the coming months.
What have you gained from blogging?
Blogging has been a truly wonderful experience. I am constantly learning new things and making new friends. I have made some wonderful friends and we have an annual weekend away for scrapbooking, fun and friendship.
For me, blogging has enabled me to have an adventure I never would have had otherwise.
What else do you love to do?
I live in Somerset in the UK so I have beautiful countryside around me and I am not too far from the sea. You can often find me in a local coffee shop eating cake and sipping Redbush tea.
Fun Facts about me
- I once worked with the choreographer of the film "Oliver"
- I was once part of a Star Trek away team from Japan to Mars
- I climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge
- I have met Daniel Day Lewis twice way before he was an Oscar winner
- I wrote a Christmas Carol one year for a BBC competition but only got to sing it with my school choir
- I love owls
- My blog name came about because I have curly hair and I scrapbook
