So what do you scrap?

"So what do you scrap then?"

I had a fellow scrapbooker ask me this at a crop once.  This came right after I said that I was not married and had no children.

So you can only scrap if you are married and have kids?  Wow.  They didn't give me that memo at the very first Creative Memories party I went to.

That was many years ago.  Now I am married.  However, I still don't have kids. 

Guess what?  Someone said to me not too long ago, "I don't know how you do it.  If I didn't have kids, I'd have nothing to scrap!" 

Oh man.  I'm breaking all the scrapbooking rules here, aren't I?

I scrap my life.  Yep, my life.  I celebrate me.  The people that I love.  The things that are important to me.

I have a great husband and we have a blast together.  I scrap that.

I have awesome friends that I love to be around.  I scrap that.

I like some really cool things and go really cool places.  I scrap that.

I am a pretty awesome person.  I scrap that.

You don't have to be a certain thing to be a scrapper.  You don't have to be married, straight, have kids, be young, be old, whatever.  Just BE yourself... and go scrap that.

Why do I scrapbook?

I've been pondering this a lot lately.

I began thinking about it back in the spring.  I was lucky enough to take a class (in person!) from Jessica Sprague (see earlier post).  Then that evening, she delivered a key note speech in which she had us all to think about why we scrapbook. 

Here's what I have come up with so far:

I scrapbook because I want to celebrate my life.  I have a story to tell.

I want people to know that I was here.  That I mattered.  That I laughed, cried, loved, lost, triumphed, and failed. 

I want to give myself a chance to play and explore.  As adults, we don't get that chance very often. 

I want to have a safe place where I don't have to follow any rules.

I want to leave my legacy.

So tell me... why do you scrapbook?

FREE class by Jessica Sprague!

I just love Jessica Sprague.  I really do.  She is so sweet and really loves to bring digital scrapbooking to the masses.  At a scrap weekend I attended, she gave a speech about "Why I Scrapbook" that brought me and the whole room to tears.  She is all about helping you share your stories.  I bought Photoshop Elements 7 and am now doing more digi and hybrid scrapbooking because of her.

So imagine my giddiness when I saw on her site that she is doing a FREE CLASS!  Yes, you read that right, FREE!  This class is called "Holidays in Hand" and it's all about capturing the memories of the holidays.  Not a digi-scrapper?  NO PROBLEM!  This class is for everyone.

Yes, it says that the class runs from Nov. 16-23, but don't let that scare you.  You don't have to sign in and do stuff every day.  You can do it in your own time.  That's another good thing about Jessica's classes -- once you register on her site, the classes you take are yours forever so you can go back to them as many times as you need. 

Registration begins Nov. 2.  Go sign up... you won't be disappointed!

Actually made a Halloween layout!

I never make Halloween layouts.  In fact, I bought the paper and embellishments (all from Imaginisce... it's their really cute "Spooky Town" collection) with the intention of doing something totally different with it.  However, I took these pictures of my jack-o-lanterns yesterday and the pictures were just too cute not to scrap.

In other news, I found out today that I have been taken off the schedule for the month of November at my job.  This is not good, what with Christmas coming up as well as the added expense of some plumbing issues at my house.  Talk about scary... Halloween has nothing on me right now!

Digi-layout

One of my very first digi layouts!

Layouts!

Nemo and Friends layout

A layout from our 2006 visit to Epcot

Nothing to it but to do it!

I'm getting off my butt and making it happen, y'all. 

I'm applying to some design teams.

Do they pay anything?  No. 
Will it be fun?  I hope. 
Will it be able to help me share my love of scrapbooking with the world?  Definitely.

So wish me luck.  Let's see if I can make something happen!

Decline of the scrapbooking "business"

A new post over at Scrapbook Update got me thinking about scrapbooking and its "decline". 

Why do you think that the industry has seen a downturn?  Is it strictly due to the economy or are there other factors?

Besides the economy, I think that another reason for a decline in scrapbooking purchases has to do with saturation of the market.

Paper lines have all begun to look the same.  How many companies need to make paper with owls/woodland animals/cherries/birds on it? 

Then you have companies like Hambly Studios... pretty, high-quality products that are different, but too "far out" for most scrapbookers to use.  How many things can you use chandeliers and vintage bird cages on?

Then we have a million tools that all do the same thing.  Corner chompers, paper gators, round-it-all... whatever you call it, it's still a corner rounder.  Just because you color something pink and give it a cute name doesn't make it "new and impoved".

My personal vote for scrapbooking's "jump the shark" moment (and if you don't know what jumping the shark is, look here)?  Fiskars Rock Paper Trimmer. 

So tell me what you think.  Do you think that the scrapbooking business is dead?

I'm a GUEST BLOGGER!

Go check out Nancy Nally's wonderful blog Scrapbook Update.  Her blog covers the "business side" of the craft/scrapbooking industry.  Today's post is by none other than ME!!! 

Thanks to Nancy for gving me the opportunity to blog for her!!!!