Over the weekend I scrapbooked for the first time in months and months. I don’t know for sure why it had been so long – obviously we were consumed with house details for a while, and I still haven’t hung pictures yet. I have been reading a little more than average, although most of my reading has been fluff. I haven’t really been challenged.
I don’t have musical talent, and I’m not very artsy-craftsy. Scrapbooking is my only female-type thing that I am good at. Unfortunately, it’s a lonely thing for me, too. Some of my friends like to scrapbook, but none of my friends do Creative Memories like I do. So when I go to the events, I go alone. I like Creative Memories, because I like supporting small businesses, I think their products are a little higher quality, and they speak my language as far as all the acid-free products. For example, my consultant told me that the pens they use are the same pens used in the Library of Congress. That is speaking my language – I understand the importance of making sure the ink and paper won’t fade, and it impresses me that they would use LC-quality products.
Scrapbooking is different than other creative ventures. You can’t exactly leave it open on the table and display it like you would a piece of pottery or a painting or a mosaic. People have to ask to see it, and looking at someone else’s scrapbook is not necessarily all that interesting (I realize that I am running the risk here that reading about scrapbooking is also uninteresting). Mike is supportive but clueless about all my tools and how much work I put into a page. I have come to realize that I can’t scrapbook for approval, or to be admitted into the crafty women’s club (I know there’s a club! I just haven’t been accepted yet). I do it for me. It’s like journaling plus cute stickers.
I am reasonably good at scrapbooking, probably because I focus on the journaling and making sure I tell the funny or cute stories to go with the pictures. I have a real sense of accomplishment about what I have done, and I like to look back on my pages and remember the fun times I have documented. I do find myself taking better pictures now, and my interest in photography has grown.
I consider myself feminine, but not really girly a lot of the time. Scrapbooking isn’t something I thought I would get into – I just wanted to do our wedding book and leave it at that. But I like the idea that my kids can look back and know about the things Mike and I did together. I like that, when we are having a hard time, we can look at my books and remember the good times. I like having something as solid as a book to document our history. And I especially like that it grows along with us. It’s not stagnant, but it’s a growing document.
It’s nice to feel like I’m doing something valuable.
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11 Comments
sarah does creative memories…well she used to…she said she needs to get back into it.
I’m curious … why are people who scrapbook reticent to leave it out for show? Is it a social norm?
I think that stuff like this is neat, but I know that I am not detail-oriented enough to do it right. I’d probably like to read yours, Kari, but then I’m also the type that won’t ask for such things because of weird, foofy stuff in my head.
I don’t know . . . I think it seems kind of self-serving to leave it on the table: “Here, look at my scrapbook! Compliment me! Read all about my life!” Also, I am under no illusions that anyone is all that interested in the details of the trips I take. I like to show them to people, but I get embarassed when they want to read everything I’ve written, because I know that takes a while. It takes a true friend to read someone else’s scrapbook. hehe.
Hmmmm. I could see where that would come to being a social norm, and frankly, I understand the modesty that prompts it. Y’all certainly know what my biggest hobby is, but I don’t tell the whole world about it.
:shrug:
Why do we spend all this time on this stuff that’s important to us and figure that it’s only important to us? I’d love the answer to that question, because, as you say, “[i]t’s nice to feel like I’m doing something valuable.” Is the value proportional–directly or inversely–to the number of people who know about it?
I don’t know . . . I don’t think it will be more valuable now that I have blogged about it and more people know about it (and might even ask about it at some point). I tend to see the value as more for an undefined group of people in the future: children, grandchildren, etc. I also read the book by the founders of Creative Memories, and one part mentioned that marriage counselors recommend scrapbooks because they do help one look back on the good times. The divorce counselor they quoted said that if more people had them, they might be able to keep things in perspective and stay out of her office. So, when I make a page, I feel like I am investing in my marriage, which is where a lot of the value lies for me.
I can certainly see the value in that.
How would someone know to ask to look at your scrapbook if it was not in plain sight?
PS My wife scrapbooks (Creative Memories) and even I have done a couple of pages.
It’s not hiding in a box underneath the house or anything.
It’s just on the shelf.
But do people know what it is, sitting on the shelf? Is it spine-out or face-out?
I don’t walk into people’s houses wondering “Do they have a scrapbook I can look at?”
So, let me get this straight. Your point is that people aren’t interested in scrapbooks because they aren’t aware of them (the very nature of a scrapbook insists that it be placed somewhere shelf-like). I would argue that I have friends who just plain aren’t interested. And those friends also have children with sticky fingers. Better to put the books on the shelf out of their reach.
However, Roger, when you come to North Carolina, I’ll let you look at my scrapbooks.
Hmm, did you see my “road trip” comment in Brian’s thread by any chance.
The point that you have ironed out does sound like what I am supporting, however I am just being devil’s advocate. I don’t care what you do with your scrapbook. Until I get to NC, at least.