Welcome to Wednesday. Today is ballet day, play at the park day--both regularly scheduled programming items--and, as an added bonus, a walk down memory lane day.
Before I begin, let's take a test. [I know you all cheered the day you finished school because you would no longer have to write any exams (that's the Canadian way of saying "take any tests"), but I feel good about your success on this one.]
I began scrapbooking because:
a. I just had a baby
b. I just got married
c. I brought home a new pet
d. I have a child graduating
e. I have a new grandchild
f. I took a really awesome trip
I am an "a." Here is my story. It may sound a lot like yours...
I was working my first job and pregnant with my first child, when I met a friend at church who scrapbooked. She showed me her wedding album filled with stickers, white paper, and gorgeous photos trimmed with shaped scissors. (Very trendy for the time...teehee!) It was very pretty but seemed more than just a bit overwhelming. Though beguiled by the beauty, I thought to myself, "This probably isn't for me."
Just after Nigel was born, I decided I wanted to take photos of him holding candles to represent his current age. I went back to work after just one month, and on the edge of my computer I stuck a yellow post it note on which I would write all the sweet things he was doing that month. A few months passed and I missed neither notes, nor candle photos.
Meanwhile, due to a very tight, I-have-way-too-many-student-loans budget, I had decided to make Nigel's birth announcements on my own. Looking up stationary stores in Salt Lake City, I ended up at a then much smaller store named Paper Creations. Invitations in the front, scrapbooking in the middle, and cardstock in the very very back, I had to stroll (okay, maybe I could have walked quickly, but I have always had an affinity for all things dealing with stationary and color) through the scrapbooking supplies in order to get to the cardstock. I did just buy what I needed, but the seed was planted.
A few months later, on Memorial Day weekend, we took Nigel to a friend's condo pool where he swam for the first time. When I got the photos back, I wondered to myself if perhaps I could start a wee little scrapbook for him with some of those papers I had seen at Paper Creations. So I took in the photos, found a paper that matched my theme and bought that one paper. Within a week, I had downloaded some fun fonts (another longstanding love that predates scrapbooking) and made this page.
And that was the beginning. I allowed myself three layouts a month, and one month marker layout (with the candle pictures). Each time, I would select my three photos, drive to the store, pick out my three papers, and then go home and make my layouts. I stuck to this routine until I found Two Peas in a Bucket. Even then, though I loved what I saw, I continued on to make my regular layouts...
...until I found Jackie Bonette. And then everything changed. Her use of quotes, words, and color had me at hello! For the first time, I completely copied a layout.
And I kept copying her exactly until I figured out how to do it without her. This led to my letter templates phase during which time, Better Homes & Gardens called me and asked to publish this layout. I nearly died when they called. "Holy freaking moly" ran through my head more times that I can possibly type.
At the end of that summer I had a stroke and could no longer scrapbook with patterned paper as it made me dizzy. So from here we entered my cardstock stage. About this time, Becky Higgins' book came out. Another life changer for me.
Then remember our love of the Cezanne and Scriptina fonts?
About this time, I made my first "digital" page (made with text boxes in word perfect).
Then came Bazzill monochromatics and a call for pages for Becky's Sketch book. I sent in more than 20 options.
Next, came my beginnings with Simple. My love for all things Jackie had blossomed to include Jamie Waters (for her sweet mama words), Joy Uzaragga (for her well balanced pages), and Shelley (then Sullivan) Laming (for her amazing use of color).
I nearly had to go into hiding during the "vintage" phase, but it actually was the time that I truly "found myself" as I had to look inside myself, and not at the current trend, to see what made me happy.
That was almost five years ago. Now I have my standby colors, designs, and preferences. I liken it to my colored t-shirts and bluejeans. Every now and again I will buy a blouse
and I may like it for awhile, but I am most comfortable in my jeans and tees.
Though I also try to remember that just as the style of my jeans changes from time to time, so, too, can my scrapbooks.
So even if I have my groove, there still is room to experiment and try on new things.
Because you just never know what you may learn to love....
How did you begin? Have you found your style? Do you let it flow and grow? I am excited that our Flickr group will soon be available so that I may have the pleasure of seeing your first layouts and your creative journeys. We'll let you know when it is ready!
Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to visit the next few days to see more of our first layouts. They are sure to make you smile! And feel good about yourself, too! teehee!
