There are plenty of articles and stories and tips and tricks on how to get started in Scrapbooking. But I wanted to look into WHY you might want to start in the first place? Or come back to it if you're lost your mojo...
I mean I've been asked so many times over my 'Scrapbook Career', "Trina why do you Scrapbook?". Funnily enough my answer changes pretty frequently and depends alot on my circumstances at the time. You may be the same?
So here's a few reason's why I scrapbook and why you might like to as well, and more importantly if you're not feeling the vibe right now, your mojo's taken a wee holiday, these thoughts might help bring it back and take you back to YOUR why.....
1. You have children
This is probably the main reason people are brought into Scrapbooking. It's a fun way to spend time, looking over photos and getting your memories down so they won't be forgotten. If you're anything like I was when I had young children, it was a blur, so to have my scrapbooks with journaling and photos, means there are memories that I may have otherwise 'lost'. And as a stay at home Mum, I felt like I got a little bit of me back.
2. You can make new friends through the many Scrapbooking opportunities.
When you first start Scrapbooking, it's often through a friend, or perhaps local shop? Then you start talking to people at work, or you meet out and about and realise they also Scrapbook. You find all these amazing online areas/groups/classes where you can scrapbook either online or meet up in real life going to retreats and crops. We all have something in common and it connects us. It's lovely.
3. You just need time out.
Life is so busy that people often find it hard to take time out without feeling guilty. When you're Scrapbooking, you're not only relaxing by doing something you love, but you also might be hanging out with friends, and are definitely recording memories for posterity, plus on top of that you're being creative. And that's a good enough reason by itself!
4. It's creative
Whether you are Scrapbooking to record your memories, or just as a creative outlet doesn't matter. Some people like it for one reason or the other (I've seen some pretty aggressive arguments about which is more important), some people like it for both reasons. Wherever you sit in this doesn't matter, it's a creative outlet which helps you relax and perhaps use a different part of your brain. That's got to be good for you!
5. Because starting and finishing something is rewarding
Even more so when it has a purpose.
6. Because photos aren't getting printed anymore and history is slowly being lost.
I've seen several articles about how today people are taking more photos than ever before, but they are not printing them and they are then getting deleted or lost before they are ever printed. When this happens, our history is also lost. I've recently joined a facebook page where people share the history of my local area. It's reminded me how important it is to record our history and printing photos and then Scrapbooking their stories are a fun way to help do this!
7. Because when you Scrapbook, you're always right! Grin.
Scrapbooking is personal. It's about your photos, your memories, your favourite papers, designs. So whatever you do is right. Whatever you like is perfect. However you decide to embellish (or not), to add a gajillion photos or just one small one, however you start a page, however you finish a page is the right way. And that is a really nice way to give yourself some freedom to make mistakes.
8. Because sometimes our memories lie to us...
But if you've Scrapbooked a page, written some journaling, then the truth lies there. And that brings up another point....
9. Because it's therapeutic.
Reliving past hurts can be healing. It can also be very painful. But when you Scrapbook them, you can choose when you want to tackle those hard moments and because you're doing it in a creative manner it makes it a little easier to deal with and a lot more fun! Sometimes it's the perfect 'closure' needed for a horrible time.
10. Because it's a wonderful gift and legacy for your family.
As my children were growing one of their favourite things to do was to look through our Scrapbook albums. They don't do it so much now they're bigger but when they do, they love them.
It's a real gift we're leaving for future generations to mull over, look over, laugh over, cry over. And it brings us together as a family.