Great Auntie Fanny's tin box
"Little things mean a lot", or "little things please little minds" are 2 sayings which seem to contradict each other. To take pleasure in the small things of everyday is something very positive, to have a little mind, perhaps not. But as a scrapper I can really take pleasure in small,mundane things which others disregard. A loo-roll liner, for example, is for most people something to throw away. I remember how my grandchildren used to treasure them, though, as building parts for robots, tanks, trees and whatever else their infinite phantasy suggested to them. A birthday present which arrived in a large cardboard box, was OK, but the box was something wonderful - a house, a station, a bus, or a place to hide. The present itself was only interesting when the box had been played with. Now they are grown up and far away and it is my turn to whoop with joy when I find something to scrap - a loo-roll liner for another tag album, a box made of corrugated card which can be used for so many things, a pretty chocolate box which makes a nice card background, and of course the ribbon that was on it and can be used again. Scrappers see the world from a different angle. Before we throw something away, we think about what we could make from it, how it could look like. I love recycling things ths way even if I am not always very "green" in my behaviour. I can remember thinking how strange my great aunt was because she always cut buttons off used garments and saved bits and bobs like lace and ribbons and pretty shells. Now I save my things in the same sort of biscuit tin that she used to use. It's not the same tin, but for me it is still "Great Auntie Fanny's box", and contains a strange mixture of scraps, buttons and bits and pieces that often prove invaluable in scrapping or card-making. And by re-using things, we can remember the nice events associated with them - the chocolates that were in the box, a nice evening out, a present we have received from a friend. This way we can really make memories. And recently, when a colleague visited me with her 7 year old daughter, my red tin made her day. She sat on the floor with it, let the contents run through her fingers, and said "Mummy, look, she's got a treasure chest". Out of the mouths of babes and infants.....
