Scrapbooking

(I have been trying all week to make this item to share! Real life keeps getting in the way with the recording of life. Sheesh!)

In addition to the retreat, a while ago (I think last summer) some of the scrapbooking blogs and websites were taking turns posting layouts that addressed the topic "Why I Scrapbook". (I can't seem to find what was inspiring me then, but I did find a gallery of layouts on the subject at Write.Click.Scrapbook.) After being on such a good scrapbooking roll, I've been thinking about why I love it so. It's a little funny that I'm so into scrapbooking, though I should have seen it coming. After all, I hoarded paint chips from Home Depot as a child just because I love bits of colored paper!

But when I started scrapbooking, I really just wanted to make a baby book for Zack. I specifically did not want to get "into" scrapbooking, as it sounded like a time and money sink. I also though it was a rather laborious way of doing the simple job of showing someone a few photos.

But as I started actually doing it, I fell in love with it. All the prettiness really helps. Who can resist the beautiful colors and textures, the brads and tags, the velvet flourish paper, oh my! I definitely enjoy the artistic aspect of the hobby. But the real heart of it is in the story. As I've talked about before, I love story. This is a way to capture the stories that really make the pictures meaningful. It records the history of the moment - the traditions, the events and the everyday life that are so quickly forgotten.

Really, it's the same reason that I like blogging. The story of life is captured best in the bits of everyday stuff, the stuff I won't remember this time next year unless I write it down. And the connections possible when we share those bits are what is so compelling to me about reading blogs. So, yeah, scrapbooking is more involved than sliding photos into an album (and sometimes I do that too) but it is richer in story and sharing too, and that's worth so much to me.

The image above is a "digital layout", meaning I made it all on the computer using Photoshop Elements. More on that soon!