Welcome to my Obsession . . .

Most of you know by now that I am totally OBSESSED with scrapbooking. I have some pretty new blogging friends, though, that may not really understand this obsession and why it's what it is.



I have always loved photographs and have always been great at keeping photos in their albums (in our den, on the top shelf of our bookshelves, I have probably 20 photo albums full to the brim! Now, of course, I have just as many scrapbooks too!). I grew up with a photographer for a father, so I was always surrounded by photos. Now I'm married to a photographer, so we have TONS of photos and I wouldn't have it any other way!

About five years ago I discovered scrapbooking and I've been hooked ever since. I'm attracted to scrapbooking for a lot of reasons, but mostly for two--it is a way for me to capture my memories through both photos and the stories behind them (I love to know WHAT happened in a picture, who the people are, and the meaning behind them. Don't you just hate it when you find an old, faded photo and have no clue who the people are in them?), and it's a creative outlet for me. I'm so NOT an artistic person, but I've found an outlet that I feel comfortable in and sometimes it makes me feel like I'm back in art class in elementary school and I'm NOT the inept kid who couldn't draw a straight line.

And now, lo and behold, they have entire stores that sell only scrapbooking stuff and now you can feed your addiction. Papers, stickers, alphabet letters made out of chipboard, really cool mini albums, buttons, ribbon . . .anything you can think of to put on a page to tell your story. And there are magazines and books to inspire you (and websites and blogs and on and on . . .)

Anyway . . . fast forward to today's post.

I find time almost everyday to work on some sort of scrapbooking project. Sometimes it's getting a half a page done, on other days it's doing three or four layouts. Here are some pages I've created in the past week--



I created the above "Super Star" page with four pictures I just love of Sydney having a mini-concert in our living room one night (in fact, I shared these pics a few weeks ago on my blog). I cut the stars from some other patterned paper, and added some cool alphabets letters and rhinestones. The journaling is around the stars and the side of the page and says:

Sydney loves to sing . . . to perform . . . to bow . . . to act silly . . . to make us smile. Living room concert, singing to "High School Musical," August 2006



I've found that a benefit to having blogs is that they create instant journaling for my scrapbook pages. For this memorial page in honor of Gary's Papa Doug (who died just over a month or so ago), I used the post straight from Gary's blog that day. It was powerful and said much more than I could say looking back now.

The page is really much more vivid in real life; for some reason, it's washed out and you can't really appreciate how pretty the paper is and how cool the metal tags are on it. But you CAN see the awesome picture of Papa Doug; I love that one of him! He looks so young and in his element (in the journaling, Gary says that some of his strongest memories are of his grandfather grilling for the family).



This page above is one I just finished yesterday about McKenna's personality. I titled the page, "Type A," because she is definitely a type A personality--no nonsense go-getter who is always motivated and wants to do everything right. (Where in the world did she get that from? I have no idea, because I'm like a Type G or H personality!) The background paper is cool because it says things like "organized," "prepared," "priorities," "just do it," and "focused." I bought it as soon as I saw it, because I knew it would make a great "McKenna page." Also love the little journaling tag, because it looks like a calendar page. And look Adrienne, I used some of your "leftovers"--those KI letters and those SEI puffy stickers.

The journaling on it says: "Boy is McKenna ever a Type a personality! She is an over-achiever, perfectionist, organizer, and leader! She gets mad sometimes when people cal her 'bossy,' but she just wants things down well and right! She loves to organize things and dream up big plans. She uses calendars, planners, and file systems to keep everything on track. I wish I was more like her in that way!"



This last layout was really special to do and is an example of the kind of scrapbooking I'm wanting to do more of. I really think that scrapbooking is most important for preserving our feelings--and to help people after me (my children and their children) understand who I was. For this "He said, She said" page I took a quiz from the Simple Scrapbooks Quizzes book and "interviewed" Gary about his feelings of me. While he answered his questions, I took the same quiz (so we didn't see each other's answers until we'd both finished).

(Btw--you can click on it and it will get larger.)

Our answers are on the two journlaing pages--

What attracted you to Cheryl/Gary?

him-- The way she seemed to brighten up the room
me-- To tell the truth, it was strictly his looks and his charm on the first night I met him. He was so cute and very charming in the way he approached me.

What does she/he do that makes you laugh?

him-- She makes me laugh in a variety of ways. Her passion about sports and winning does it more often. Sports are year-round in our family and she can get quite passionate about it.
me-- When he starts acting like a little kid with the girls--tickling them, making pooting noises with them, being generally silly with them. He doesn't feel like he always ha to be the "adult."

Where was your first date?

him-- We met at the Ox Restaurant, but our first date was going to see Tim McGraw and a nice Italian dinner.
me--Dinner at Sal's Italian Restaurant and to Midnight Rodeo to a Tim McGraw concert.

Was it love at first sight or a friendship that blossomed?

him--Passion at first sight. Love came quickly.
me--It was definitely attraction at first sight. I think we told each other we loved each other within two weeks!

Are you more alike or different?

him--I think we were extremely different and have grown more alike.
me-- We are very different in the way we handle things (he is a "type A" and I'm more laid-back!) and we used to laugh a lot about our huge political differences. We've become more alike over the years and now just don't talk about those political disagreements.

How do you settle your differences?

him-- Quick outburts and then we talk about the problem after the storm has passed.
me-- Gary gets mad, I want to talk about it right away, then I realize I need to let him simmer for a while.

Do you agree about the temperature in your house?

him--No, I like it cold and she likes it warm.
me-- No! Gary likes the Arctic Zone and I like it much warmer!

Is there a place that you'd like to re-visit with Cheryl/Gary?

him-- Our beach in Aruba.
me-- I'd love to go back to Aruba.

What three words best describe Cheryl/Gary?

him--Outgoing, Creative, Adventuresome (I have many more, but you made me stop at three . . .)
me--Strong-willed, Passionate, and Intelligent (why can't I have more words? How about creative, sensitive, competitive, and handsome too?)

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Thanks for letting me share those with you!! And remember--those of you who might be the scrapbooking "type," but also those of you who could care less about it--today you are making memories! Take the time to preserve those memories by taking photos, scrapbooking, or journaling in a journal (or on a blog!). How important will it be someday to look back on what you created and wrote--and to remember the good times (and even the hard times) and recall what life was like "way back then."