I Sat on the Couch Today

There’s an art journaler named Michelle, who put up an entry on the Written Down com’s art journal challenge. Go here to see it, and while you’re at it, leave a comment - we all appreciate them.

What interested me intially on this one was that Michelle used a paperkin on it. Yes, a real live paperkin - I thought those things were dead. What interests me now is the journaling she used. I should make it a motto -

I sat on the couch today. Maybe I will go again tomorrow.

She didn’t actually have a “go” in there - I’ve added that, as I like the idea of a trip to the couch, kinda like a short mini-break from life really. The problem with scrapbooking sometimes is that it takes a lot of space. There are some scrappers who manage to do it on their couch, but not with much equipment that is.

I once tried it on the couch - the process is painful -

1. A sizzex machine (not that I hardly use it anymore) doesn’t fit properly on the coffee table, and bending forward all the time from a couch sitting position to the sizzex handle is not good for the back either.
2. Diecuts get stuck down the backs of couch cushions very easily.
3. So do scrapbooking pens, and scissors.

Of course, couch scrapping was just made as an environment for digi scrapping. Have laptop, will travel (to the couch that is). The only requirements are a power lead cord to the nearest power supply. Scrap a layout - whilst enjoying actual family conversation; or watching your dearest soap, or reality tv show.

In our family, the couch is greatly becoming a thing of the past. This has not past me in irony either - we have three large couches in our living room, two of them were handmade to my hubbie’s design. Sofas are major purchases nowadays also - they should not be treated lightly as a household furniture item. For the cost of a sofa I could be getting me a laptop, also. But if your friends ever came around and find that they have an empty living room to be entertained in (and solid wood flooring to sit upon), then I would suggest that a new lovely laptop might not be quite so impressive.

In the meantime, whilst awaiting having friends who actually do come around for entertainment, our family routine has degenerated to this - my daughter occasionally bounces on the couch, my hubbie occasionally lies on the couch, after escaping domestic chores like cooking. I’m always at the computer, or scrapping desk. Even the household cats have forsaken the couch for better softer options like the garden, or the bed. Family time together is brief, and that’s perhaps what is missing from society nowadays. The couch or living room used to be the communal centre of the family, just like the dining room table. Nowadays, we rarely gather there. Perhaps we should take more mini-breaks to the couch. Perhaps there is a need for laptop portability to bring back that couch living.