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In many ways, my life in Belgium has been a sabbatical from my life in the US. Pulled out of the workplace and a busy commuter lifestyle, I've had time to pursue hobbies, something I never did at home.
In fact in the US, it would be safe to say I had no hobbies at all, but since moving to Belgium, I've adopted scrapbooking, rubber stamping and blogging. Not only have they been a wonderful creative outlet for me but also a way to record my experiences in Belgium and Europe. While blogging built on my long-standing life as a writer, scrapbooking is entirely new to me. I decided early on to scrapbook postcards from our travels here.
This summer I've devoted time to reading articles and websites on papercrafts. I've begun to develop and finetune my own artistic sensibilities. I love the way scrapbooking builds on photography, communications and graphic design — subjects I studied in university. As I look through the scrapbook pages I've created here in Belgium, I can see my layouts and techniques progressing. After months of dabbling and experimenting, I finally feel I'm getting somewhere in terms of creating a personal scrapbooking style and getting my books together. With time and practice, I'm hoping my pages will improve further.
Reviewing my work and sorting through the stacks of postcards and memorabilia associated with our trips has brought home how far I've traveled in every sense of the word. I can see how my world has expanded and how my artistic and creative sensibilities have unfolded. I've caught a glimpse of how being an expat and stepping out of my comfort zone has remodeled my perspective inside and out.
My blog records the process as well, the highs and lows and challenges of leaving the familiar behind and venturing into new territory, one small step at a time. My next project is going to involve scrapbooking excerpts from my favorite blog entries — illustrating my very own 'postcards from the edge'. I can hardly wait to start.
17 August 2006
© 2006 Veronica McCabe Deschambault. All rights reserved.
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