Welcome to my Blog

Hi and welcome to my blog!  I want this to be a place where scrapbookers or scrapbooker hopefuls can gather to be inspired.

Scrapbooking is way more than a hobby to me or a way to make money, as I disclose up front that I'm a consultant with Creative Memories. Scrapbooking is a way of life and it changes your perspective on things.  I have always been very sentimental and I've always saved things throughout my life... show programs, ticket stubs, letters, cards, and pictures.  I always collected these things in a box or glued them into those terrible scrapbooks that had the absolute worst pages for preserving memories longterm.  (It really was our only option back then!)  A friend from work invited me to my first crop and I have been hooked ever since.  That was almost thirteen years ago and I can honestly say that scrapbooking has changed the way I approach life.

At the time I started scrapbooking, I was newly married and didn't have children.  I spent a lot of time scrapbooking my furkids!  On 9/9/99, at the age of 29, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was devastated and that was a really difficult time, but I scrapbooked the entire experience. Why? Because it was like therapy to put down the thoughts I had that no one else could truly understand and because I wanted to persevere the cards and letters that people sent to me. The words they wrote brought me great comfort and really meant the world to me.  I captured all of it in a scrapbook that I can pull out now and see how far I've come. For generations to come, my family can know of that experience and hopefully better understand the stuff I'm made of and ultimately, the stuff they are made of.

I have three beautiful little boys who all came to us through the miracle of adoption.  For two of those adoptions we worked with a wonderful agency, Bethany Christian Services.  At Bethany, birth families peruse portfolios created by adopting couples.  Those profiles come in all shapes and sizes but typically they are typed up, contain a few pictures and are put in nice presentation folders.  Being a scrapbooker, I just couldn’t go with the flow on that one!  I spent a lot of time putting together a scrapbook about my husband and I, our jobs, our home, our faith, and our heartfelt desire to have a child.  In both cases we were picked very, very quickly and each family said that our book stood out to them because it told the story of who we are.

Isn’t that what scrapbooking is all about?  When I say scrapbooking has changed my perspective it’s because when my family and I are together, no matter what we’re doing, I enjoy capturing and recording the events that make memories.  When my kids look through the many books I’ve completed, they giggle, they remember, they tell the story and they know that their mom must love them a whole lot.

Scrapbooking has also enhanced my life by putting in my path some of the best people I’ve ever known.  I have found a sisterhood of women who have been my strength through the cancer experience,  who have supported me through the ups and downs of adoption, who have cried with me over a failed marriage and celebrated with  me over new found love.  We laugh together, we cry together, we support each other, and we are silly with each other.  We share a common love for what we do.

Scrapbookers are storytellers. It doesn’t matter if you create beautiful masterpiece pages…it really doesn’t.  What matters is getting memories down on paper and passing those memories on through the years.  Whatever stage you’re in, whether you are a beginner or seasoned pro, I’m here to help. Email me, find me on Facebook, come crop with me or call me. I’d love to hear from you!


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