Why I scrapbook

 

I have been scrapping in various ways since 2006.  Since the middle of May I have been moving around and living out of 2 suitcases and 2 boxes so have not done any layouts but have had albums and blogging.  So I think of scrapbooking broadly as covering anything where I take words and photos and pretty things to record stuff.

The words came first – in my early 20s I started to write in a diary most days – plain day to a page diary and a black pen.  I had a camera but tended to use it for holidays and big events and I kept the photos in a normal photo album with no captions. I did various crafts (mostly fabric and wool based) and enjoyed making things.

The use of pretty things was prompted by reading SARK and Simple Abundance which both have a message of using lovely things in even the most simple of things.  Since then I have used colourful pens for everything expect the most formal letter or signature.  Mostly I use purple and orange.  So my daily dairy was still in a normal book but now written with colourful pens.

So all the elements were there – writing about my life, photos, pretty things, craft and creativity but they were separate things that I did.  It was a chance discovery that brought them together.

In 2006 I was browsing in my library craft section looking for some inspirational reading for the Easter long weekend and I found the two Cathy Z books.  It all made perfect sense to me – combine my journal writing, my photos, crafting  and colour.  I had picked up some scrapping books before and had watched scrapping segments on TV craft shows but they did not click, the styles were not right for me.  I subscribed to Simple Scrapbooking (I miss it) and was hooked.  When my house was packed up my stash filled several boxes – looking forward to discovering it all again when I finally unpack.