A Goodbye Gift - Yearbook Collage

It's taken me a long time to figure out what I wanted to start this blog with.  I created this blog on June 5th, and I haven't had a clue about what to first write on.  As the name of the blog suggests, this will mainly be about my struggle to create, despite my intense desire to do so.  

This first post is about a DIY yearbook collage as a goodbye gift to some dear friends.  They are members of my church, Woodside Community Church, and they are moving to Washington D.C. for a new job.  All of our friends at WCC are pretty bummed about their move, yet happy that they'll be moving back to where they came from.  The 6 months with them have been full of laughter, learning, and fellowship.  Basically, they're pretty special people and I wanted to do something special for them, other than a typical group photo in a picture frame.  Oh, but I'll be doing that as well...here!

This picture was a little dark when printed, so I brightened it up with photoshop:

The leaves seem greener; people's smiles are brighter! Yay for photoshop! This picture was popped into a simple frame.

The collage took a significantly longer time.

This is the finished product. It's simple, clean, and has an eye catching focal point.  The only thing I would complain about is the inconsistent quality of the photos.  Some were taken off of Facebook and look grainy, especially compared to the third picture on the bottom row.  

**I have no idea when I started this post, but many many months later, I am here to finish it.

After the collage was printed, I asked the people to write a little goodbye/remember me message.  It was then slipped into another simple frame and the two frames were gifted on their last Wednesday night prayer.  I personally love that pop of blue from the only colored picture, the one of our church building.  

So, I have a few thoughts here.  In the beginning of the post, I talked a little about the title of the blog.  I think the time it took for this first post is evidence of my struggle.  I hope that this blog can become an outlet, a way for me to release this ball of frustration.  This means that I most likely won't be focusing on one medium.  I'll be sharing my writing, scrapbooking, knitting/crocheting, and other methods of expression.  

All of these things sound so creative.  To my friends, I do seem creative.  I am not.  When I write, I write about age old, existential angst that have been discussed skillfully and tactfully by much better writers.  When I scrapbook, I copy the beautifully created designs of other scrappers.  When I knit/crochet, I must always have the pattern of the meticulously created item.  

My intent is still to try, and to document my attempts here.