Burnout

It's been a hectic few months at work, it's been hectic in my personal life and my vitamin D is still extremely low, which isn't helping matters one bit!
So, all in all, it's not too surprising that when things slowed down at work a few weeks ago and we were somewhat getting back into our groove in our family, the sh*t hit the proverbial fan. It's like when people get migraines in the weekend or suffer a heart attack during their vacation because their bodies get to wind down from the day-to-day stress.

The good thing is that I didn't get above-mentioned heart attack. The bad thing is that I sort of experienced a mental breakdown remeniscent of my burnout 5 years ago.
Work I could have handled. The deaths of my grandparents as well. Even coping with the effects of my vitamin deficiency would not have been a problem. Just not all AT THE SAME TIME!

So I'm taking a short break, as per doctor's orders. I took a few days off work and will start working half days next week. I took an (already planned) trip to the island of Texel this past week to empty my mind and relax.

It worked. I'm already starting to feel better.
I'm not quite there yet but I think I stepped on the break in time before I got to the point of no return.

One of the benefits of a burnout? At least you recognize the signs the next time, before things get too much out of hand...

Reflecting on LOAD

I'm not going to lie, it was HARD at times and kept me up until late at night many days. But... I also really enjoyed it and have a whole album of LO's to show for it. As a matter of fact, I've already signed up for the next edition in September, courtesy of Big Picture Classes, called 'the Mother LOAD'.

What else did I take away from this?
- Though I usually only do double-page spreads, I actually did a lot of single page LO's during this challenge. Turns out I LIKE doing them. Who knew??
- I seem to have a preference for (off) white backgrounds lately: 12 out of the 31 LO's have either a white or off-white base.
- I stepped outside my comfort zone a few time using new techniques. I really liked the creative process.
- At the same time I stayed true to my 'tried and tested'-methods: using sketches (I couldn't scrap without them!), distressing edges (with ink or distressing tool), stamping, handwritten journaling (I'm too lazy to type...), alpha stickers...
- Even though it was hard setting aside time every day to make a LO, it was also really relaxing spending time at something I enjoy doing.
- I scapped a lot of pictures that have been on my 'when-I-get-around-to-it'-pile for a long time. I'm glad they finally made it to my albums!

I can't wait until September for the next round!

LOAD Day 31 - the final day! Whoohoo!

Today's prompt: create a page about a beginning or an ending in your life you want to celebrate.

Here's what I did:

A page about a major milestone in my life: buying my own house 2 years ago.
I have to say, I LOVE the different fonts in the title, and while the colours of the patterned papers don't exactly match, I'm OK with that. As Ali Edwards would say, I'm 'embracing imperfection' :-)

LOAD Day 30

Today's prompt: follow your heart. Go with the flow. Don’t measure, don’t scraplift, don’t look for external inspiration. Just do YOUR thing.

Here's my LO:

I took this picture of a prairie dog puppie at the zoo some time ago. He was so curious and came that close to the camera that it created a bit of a fish-eye perspective. I love this photo!
Super simple LO, no sketch used. The leaves are preprinted on craft-coloured cardstock and I cut around the edge of one to slide the photo underneath.

LOAD Day 29

Today's prompt: look back over the pages you’ve done this month. Has your style changed? Have YOU changed?

Here's my page:

Another tough one for me that I decided to skip. Instead I used pictures of our recent trip to Istanbul.

LOAD Day 28

Today's challenge: create a page about something you feel passionate about.

Here's what I did:

I honestly had no idea what to do (which is odd since there are many things I feel passionate about, but I guess hindsight is 20/20...) Anyways, I decided to use another set of photos from my Egypt-trip, this time of our boat trip on the Nile in Aswan, which, for me, was one of the highlights of the entire trip.

It was super relaxed, the scenery was nice and the lighting of the setting sun was gorgeous. Good times.

LOAD Day 27

Todays'challenge: find an older photo and reflect on its meaning.

This is what I made:

This LO is about the trip I took to Egypt in January. The revolution broke out just days after we returned home. The photo is taken from the Citadel, overlooking the city. It shows the overall 'brown-ness' of the city, the dirt, the lack of atmosphere, the poverty of its inhabitants.
While we were there, we discussed how we couldn't believe how the Egyptians seemed to accept their living circumstances. Turns out, they didn't. Good for them.

LOAD Day 26

Today's prompt: scrap a little thing. Something that seems inconsequential but in reality is the whole world wrapped up into one tiny thing.

Here's my LO:

This may seem silly, but it's a page about the ONE thing you can wake me up for in the middle of the night: the best Patatje Oorlog (war-style french fries) out there in my humble opinion, courtesy of Kalok in Rotterdam. Their peanut sauce is simply deee-vine: sweet and spicy at the same time. YUM!

LOAD Day 25

Today's challenge: think of a “telling detail” you can share on your scrapbook page.

My page:

I made a page about my unexpected musicality. I've wanted to take music lessons for a long time (I sometimes wish my parents would have encouraged playing an intrument when I was younger), and finally decided to go for it a few years ago and take drumming lessons. I decided to switch to bass guitar after 3 years, since that's also fascinated me for ages.

I'm not very good at either, but that's mainly because I lack the discipline to practice. According to my teachers I could actually be quite good if I put the energy into it. But due to my MANY hobbies and there only being 24hrs in a day, it's just a bit of dabbling for now. Nonetheless, it's another thing I've been able to mark off my 'bucket list' :-)

LOAD Day 24

Today's challenge: make a wish list layout today, or pick one goal or  and create a page about it.

Here's my page:

It's about my goal to visit the eight architectural wonders of the world. So far 5 down, 3 more to go!
The idea is that I can add to this page once I've visited the remaining sights.