Old dogs and new tricks...
Sunday the 9th July 2017
Dear Diary...
I woke up this morning so nervous it was ridiculous... tomorrow I head back to Uni!!
I applied for and was accepted into a 4 year double degree in Arts/Education at Southern Cross University... I did a degree in Social Science when I first left school twenty....something years ago.
They say it's just like riding a bike ...
You never forget! And for the most part this is true.
I never have forgotten how to ride a bike... but bike riding has changed over the years .... it gets SUPER harder to ride as you get older!
I now I need one of those extra wide padded seats and after a mere 4 km, one of those paddled resuscitation devices comes in handy too.
Yeah I can still ride a bike ... but not very well!
What if studying is just like riding a bike ? Sure I can read a text book, but will my brain understand it?? How will I keep up with all those young whipper snappers straight out of high school?
It took 3 seconds for all of these thoughts to pass through my mind when I opened my eyes this morning and by the 5 second mark my heart was jumping out of my chest.
There was only one thing I could do after that...
Avoid thinking about it all together!
So off to my scrap studio I went and picked up photos from our last family holiday
and reassured myself that 'today I shall just scap these and try not to think of you-know-what!'
I used some of the new Maja Road papers to make this romantic layout. I used purple and gold Colour Blast paste with templates, a heap of laces I picked up at Bella Paperie and these divine Imaginarium Chipboards...
I love using complementing chipboard flourishes on layouts
As always Imaginarium have the biggest and most beautiful range of chippie titles
and this is one of my favourites... here I've covered it in Inka gold wax.
Opps... lost that 'be' in this photo ...lol
here's what it's suppose to look like...
So it ended up being a nice day after all ... with all thoughts of my inadequacies successfully avoided
🙂
I applied for and was accepted into a 4 year double degree in Arts/Education at Southern Cross University... I did a degree in Social Science when I first left school twenty....something years ago.
They say it's just like riding a bike ...
You never forget! And for the most part this is true.
I never have forgotten how to ride a bike... but bike riding has changed over the years .... it gets SUPER harder to ride as you get older!
I now I need one of those extra wide padded seats and after a mere 4 km, one of those paddled resuscitation devices comes in handy too.
Yeah I can still ride a bike ... but not very well!
What if studying is just like riding a bike ? Sure I can read a text book, but will my brain understand it?? How will I keep up with all those young whipper snappers straight out of high school?
It took 3 seconds for all of these thoughts to pass through my mind when I opened my eyes this morning and by the 5 second mark my heart was jumping out of my chest.
There was only one thing I could do after that...
Avoid thinking about it all together!
So off to my scrap studio I went and picked up photos from our last family holiday
and reassured myself that 'today I shall just scap these and try not to think of you-know-what!'
I used some of the new Maja Road papers to make this romantic layout. I used purple and gold Colour Blast paste with templates, a heap of laces I picked up at Bella Paperie and these divine Imaginarium Chipboards...
And they come in a set of 2 which is very handy 🙂
and this is one of my favourites... here I've covered it in Inka gold wax.
here's what it's suppose to look like...
🙂
Monday the 10th of July 2017
Dear Diary...
Today my first lecture was not due to start until 12 pm so I has all morning to do the 15 page reading they suggested you do to prep for the lecture.
The course is called 'Framing Modernity' . After I googled what this was I started the reading. I KID YOU NOT .... if it had been printed in Chinese characters I suspect I would have understood the same amount of the content!! And honestly I still couldn't work out what this subject was about?
So with a lump in my throat I put on my big girl pants and marched off to the classes. It took about half an hour of the lecturer speaking before I successfully worked out that this subject was in fact Art History ... what a relief ... I can get a handle on that I thought, as the information progressed 'Picasso' this, 'Manet' that etc .... and the best part of the whole lecture was when one girl put up her hand and asked 'What was that assigned reading all about? It was like trying to eat a brick?' the man beside me added 'A brick covered in toothpaste!' .... I was stoked ... I have no problems not understand stuff , just as long as no one else can understand it either!! lol
By the time I got home I felt much better, but was mentally exhausted ... will my brain really ever catch up to where it needs to be???
Tuesday the 11th of July 2017
Dear Diary...
I don't have another lecture at uni until Thursday and there are no prescribed readings for that unit anyway so I'm free to scrapbook to my heart's content.
I've decided creating is the cure for stress of every kind ... I can't worry about anything while I'm cutting, gluing, painting... I get lost in the process, it's so sublime ... unless I cut the wrong thing or drop paint on a photo ... then I scream like a little girl and cuss like a sailor... But you know - all the other times it's a calm blue ocean of craft 🙂
This was my layout today ... using more the hand dyed laces from Belle Paperie and papers from Maja Road as well as my Imaginarium chipboards.
I sprayed these words with a fine 'mint twist' mist made by Marker Maniacs
and popped just a bit of Crystalina Kindy Glitz on it to give it a bit of sparkle as I was wanting to create a touch of magic on this page ... not sure if that comes through in the photo, but it worked out perfectly on the actual layout 🙂
Wednesday the 12th of July 2017
Dear Diary...
Another day to kick back and create ... my next lecture is tomorrow, the subject is called 'DESIGN' .... sounds awesome ... exactly what are we designing? Why can't I find a course outline? Half the battle of going back to uni is learning to navigate the online universe where apparently EVERYTHING now exists, and every lecturer uses differently!?!
On Monday in the tute, after the lecture I was asked if I had checked Black Board to see if this tute conflicted with VAS? I looked at the man next to me and honestly answered ...
'I haven't seen a black board in 15 years and I don't know what VAS is!'
He just laughed and explained that 'Black Board' is an online resource center for students and VAS was a visual arts unit ... I did look quite stupid... but out of 30 people in that room, he was just one person ... exposing my extreme lack of knowledge to one out of thirty people I reasoned was pretty good odds ... I could live with that!
Uni may turn out to be an excercise in working out what levels of humiliation I am and am not willing to live with ... when I put it like that though .... it sounds A LOT like normal life!!
Anyway ... one thing I can design with confidence is scrapbook pages, so that's what I spent yet another day doing ... this time I got right down to the nitty gritty process of making my own coloured texture paste ... I started with white gesso and added Colour Crush powders until I got this divine matte, teal paste. You could use any pigment powders to create this effect ... Lindy's colours are particularly bright and pure for this purpose.
Then I just used a Kaisercraft leaf stencil to apply the paste to the page in segments,
I treated my Chipboards with purple ink to compliment all the green tones on the page and popped some little flowers on the shapes to pull in the flowers theme in the photo.
This is a divine little chipboard set that gives a funky twist to the
classic flower look on a layout.
Thursday the 13th of July 2017
Dear Diary...
TODAY WAS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE!!
I was under the impression that my lecture for DESIGN was starting at 2pm today, but just to be sure I ducked into my 'Black Board' resource center to check ... and there in big bold red was an announcement that had been posted on Monday that the Thursday class was being canceled and everyone now had to join the Tuesday 9-12pm class.Opps ... I missed it!!
the rest of the day was spent in a vicious cycle of self loathing ...
I've drawn a diagram here so you can understand the big picture ...
Friday the 14th of July 2017
Dear Diary...
Yet another day spent in self loathing/hissy fit land.
Saturday the 15th of July 2017
Dear Diary...
today I received an email from the Australian Government just letting me know that as of last year they have a new exam that I am required pass before I can be allowed to complete my education degree ... they suggest I sit it next month and it only costs $180 !
In order to pass I must understand the basics of literacy and show competency including,
but limited to the following areas of numeracy ... proportional reasoning, ratios, fractions, percentages, decimals, scientific notation, interest calculations, and formulae calculations!!!!!
Right...
I grabbed my husband and told him I would be ducking into the uni on Monday to withdraw from this degree! Literacy I could handle but I'm dead in the water when it comes to maths ... thats why I want to be Art teacher and NOT a maths teacher!!!!
There was some additional howling ... more hissy fitting... and even a good amount of tears. In the end my husband had to give me the old
' You can't quit the first time things get hard' speach... one he had long practised on the kids to perfection.
I agreed to try.
today I received an email from the Australian Government just letting me know that as of last year they have a new exam that I am required pass before I can be allowed to complete my education degree ... they suggest I sit it next month and it only costs $180 !
In order to pass I must understand the basics of literacy and show competency including,
but limited to the following areas of numeracy ... proportional reasoning, ratios, fractions, percentages, decimals, scientific notation, interest calculations, and formulae calculations!!!!!
Right...
I grabbed my husband and told him I would be ducking into the uni on Monday to withdraw from this degree! Literacy I could handle but I'm dead in the water when it comes to maths ... thats why I want to be Art teacher and NOT a maths teacher!!!!
There was some additional howling ... more hissy fitting... and even a good amount of tears. In the end my husband had to give me the old
' You can't quit the first time things get hard' speach... one he had long practised on the kids to perfection.
I agreed to try.
Monday the 16th of July 2017
Dear Diary...
While at uni today I found out that I don't have to sit my basic literacy and numeracy exam until the very last prac session of my degree, so it turns out I have almost four years to prep for the test rather than 1 month! Thank goodness!! I may just be able to handle that.🙂
I also managed to get some scrapping in this afternoon ... finishing this layout made with the new 'Lilac Whispers' collection from Kaisercraft and Imaginarium chipboards...
Purple ink and Crystalina kindy glitz were the main ingredients in this layout ...
Tuesday the 17th of July 2017
Dear Diary...
I had the most amazing day today ... things might actually be looking up for me.
At 9am I FINALLY made it to my 'DESIGN' class ... it turns out to actually be about 'Photoshop' .... I was so stoked ... I have ALWAYS wanted to learn how to use Photoshop. Especially when I gain weight - I can see MANY practical application for this program when it comes to weight gain😜
But the best part of the class was at the beginning when the teacher explains that just before he starts teaching us how to manipulate images using the computer he wants us to experience what its like to use the original tools .... then he hands us magazines, scissors and glue.
'Make me a picture using these' he says ...
OMGosh ....
it's SCRAPBOOKING!! I think to myself .... YYYEEEESSSSS ....
well the rest of you can just go home now because I own this .... I WIN this round!!!
.... wait ... did I just say that out loud???
_______________________________________________________________
Kelly-ann Oosterbeek has been a scrapbook and paper craft designer for the last 18 years and lives in Northern NSW with her super-sized family.
She has her own line of gloss finish butterfly stickers ( featured on the projects in this post), and sells these along with Kaisercraft Collections and layout kits online ...
www.kellyanno.com
An enormous smile plastered all over my face - a great way to start my work day! Gotta love a story with a happy ending. 😂
ReplyDeleteAwwww.... thanks for your comment Julie ... now I have an enormous smile on my face too :) xo
DeleteLove reading your blogs Kel, you know how to put a smile on my dial. Loving your work! Change your uni days 😢. Just jokes 😉
ReplyDeleteNine weeks Donna and we get Tuesday back :) YAY... Thanks for the encouragement lovely xo
DeleteGo Kelly-ann. Scrapbooking will keep you smiling and sane. Love the happy blog and the chipboard elements.
ReplyDeleteThanks Carolyn, it's always nice to get positive feedback xo
Deletelove reading your dear diary, kel, it puts a smile on my face , the things you get up too, i plan on things but at the end of day, nothing is done again ,but ive been busy all day, with only half finished projects to show for it , lol, i must be slowing down keep up the good work, it will pay off eventually
ReplyDeleteThanks Jacqui ... I do know what you mean though ... I have some half finished projects too ( I didnt mention them here of course lol) fortunately the journey is the fun part xo
DeleteLOL! Goodness Kelly-ann you are totally amazing! I've been toying with doing an arts degree but keep putting off making a decision - no time, too fatigued, the thought of all that stress.... you make me want to reconsider. I loved reading about your uni adventures & hope for another instalment;)
ReplyDelete