Why do I scrapbook?
I have in some sense or another been a scrapbooker all my life– I’ve always wanted pictures of everything (I have kind of a bad memory, and photos help me remember things), and I have little bits of memorabilia (ticket stubs, wrist bands, maps, programs, badges, etc.) all over the place. I have construction-paper memory books, and photo albums (you know, the horrible-for-your-photos kind with the clingy adhesive and the plastic overlays) with ephemera stuffed in between the pictures.
I guess you could say that I made my first “real” scrapbook when I went to China in 2002. It was the first time I intentionally used acid free papers and glue, and got a “real” strap-hinge scrapbooking album. I had one package of 8.5″x11″ cardstock and one tube of glue… I stuck the photos and the paper right onto the strap hinge pages. I probably put together 50 pages… but I never have finished those captions… That’s still on a to-do list somewhere 😉 Thank goodness I decided to keep a journal during that trip…
In this post a while back, I wrote about how I got back into scrapbooking and kept going– an anniversary album for my boyfriend sparked a whole new desire to keep scrapbooking– especially since the night I gave him the scrapbook, we got engaged 🙂 Now I want to record the big moments, and especially the little moments, of our lives together.
Recently, I’ve gotten even more hooked. I started reading scrapbookers’ blogs, and the blogs of scrapbooking magazines. And last October, I went to my first crop with my best friend. It was 12 hours long at a scrapbook store about an hour from the town where we live. I was really worried that my creativity would “dry up” and I’d spend the whole 12 hours staring at one uncompleted layout. So I came to the crop armed with a plan. I spent time the weeks before the crop searching out challenges to motivate me– and it worked! I worked like a madwoman through the entire 12 hours.
And now I’m hooked on challenges. Since that crop, I’ve made at least 45 layouts and cards (you can see most of them here… with the exception of a few, the projects in that gallery are all projects I’ve done since that crop in October 2009), which is a lot for me in 4 months compared to what I’ve done in the past. Husband likes to joke that somehow I’ve even turned scrapbooking into a competitive sport! But I like the deadlines, and the thrill of taking a list of requirements and turning it into a layout I love.
I also love the challenge of making my own embellishments. I try not to spend a lot of money on scrapbooking, and so I don’t buy a lot of the beautiful products that are out there. Instead, I look at those products and I try to recreate them myself. Sometimes I fail, but sometimes they end up being exactly what I want– and original. No one else has the same ones as me. And I’m kind of proud of that.
Scrapbooking has become a wonderful creative outlet for me. I get *so many* ideas in my head, and I’ve been getting better at recreating them with paper. I can do something different on every page, if I want. It’s also a wonderful way to spend time with my best friend (yay for scrapbooking time with J!), and I’ve made new friends through the hobby.
Scrapbooking to me is not about the newest products, the fanciest paper, or the most extravagant embellishments (bought or handmade)– those things are nice, and certainly make pretty pages! But to me, scrapbooking is about preserving my memories. For myself, for my husband, and for our future children. And in the future, I want to make a conscious effort to include my faith, as well. I want my scrapbooks to be a witness to how God has blessed us, where He has taken us, and what He does in our lives. Because at the end of it all, it won’t matter how many layouts I’ve made, or even what memories I’ve preserved. What will matter is that God is glorified. And I want to spread His Gospel, and right now, I might have the opportunity to do that in some way with scrapbooking.
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Thanks for reading this really long post…
I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and then when I saw Shimelle’s challenge, I thought that maybe I should actually put my thoughts into words. This is not the most “original” way to explain this (check out Shimelle’s video, which she used to introduce this challenge; it is very cool, and her minibook by clicking on the badge below), but it’s a lot for me to put this out for all the world to see. (Plus, I haven’t had time to do this until now.) And even if I don’t make it in time for the challenge, I still want to write this down.
Edit on 12 February 2010:
I would certainly love it if you would consider voting for my entry! I’m listed as “QSOgirl at Vegetablog”. The poll is here:
http://www.shimelle.com/thisiswhyiscrapbook/678/vote-for-your-favourite-entry/
Have a look at the other entries, they are beautiful and come in so many different forms! Vote for whichever one you like best, of course!! (I have say, though, that I hope that you’ll vote for mine 🙂 )
Voting is open until the end of the month, and according to the post, you can vote once per day.
[…] would certainly love it if you would consider voting for my entry! I’m listed as “QSOgirl at Vegetablog”. The poll is […]
Hi Natalie…..I love reading your entries!!! It will take me some time to get through your blog but I am going to do it. Your pictures are so beautiful and I like the layout of your blog.
Hope you win “This is why I scrapbook”…can’t wait to see!
[…] scrapbook, work on a variety of sewing projects and garden. She recently wrote an eloquent post on why she scrapbooks and she often psots her layouts on her blog – […]
[…] variety of sewing projects and work in her balcony garden. She recently wrote an eloquent post on why she scrapbooks and she often posts her layouts on her blog – […]