The Story of Fun in the Library

Now don't misunderstand me. If you read my last post and started thinking that I don't like scrapbooking then you would be very wrong ;-) I just think it's important that we keep stock of why we do this hobby.

Like a lot of people I got into scrapbooking when I had children so that I could document their important milestones and thousands of photos! One of the advantages is that unless you're a digital scrapbooker we are 'forced' to actually print out our pics. In this digital age most of my friends still take lots of photos but they never do anything with them - they just fill up hard-drives, memory sticks and DVD's. And how often do we ever go back through them? Or know the details about the time they were taken?

So I always take the time to add journaling to my pages. Commonly it's fairy lengthy as I try to get in as much detail as possible. Sometimes it's just a quote or a poem (like on this layout), but most times it's more than just the 'who, what, where'. Once upon a time I used to keep a diary but these days I like to think my layouts serve that purpose instead, so I journal my thoughts, emotions and sentiments... often brutally honestly.

The other great purpose of scrapbooking of course is as my creative outlet. I live out many hours of my life at work where I am bound to follow a very specific set of 'rules'. Everything is very structured and I'm bound to follow protocols and guidelines (with very good reason!!). But scrapbooking allows me to do as I please - throwing caution to the wind as I cut and paste and paint to my heart's content. After all, if it doesn't end up looking good then what have I lost? A couple of pieces of paper! I can live with that ;-)

I made this layout with the second Master's challenge in mind which is to create a layout 'with a unique background'. I stamped, embossed, sprayed and splattered and had a whole lot of fun doing it, (but ultimately decided to go with another attempt instead). Moodles is only 3 and can't actually read, but I love that she plonked herself down with this giant book and let her imagination take her away. Not limited to the idea that you should only borrow a book if you can read, she allowed her curiosity to get the better of her. I think we could all learn something from that!