Why I'm a scrapbooker

I started scrapbooking in 2004. I wanted to give my brother a gift for his university graduation that was meaningful. A friend suggested I make him a DVD/slideshow of photos from his childhood. That involved a level of technical knoweldge and skills that was far beyond my abilities. So I decided to do a traditional scrapbook.

A few weeks after I made this decision, I found the LSS in our town. I loved the store. No big surprise, given my love of shopping. Then a few days later I discovered that London Drugs was having a free class. I went, and got reacquainted with a former classmate from high school. She invited me to come to a crop in Parksville. I was hooked.

I love the cameraderie of going to crops. I love the scrapbooking message boards. And I love scrapbooking.. I love playing with paper, cropping photos, and journalling. I've continued to scrapbook since making that initial album because the reaction I got to it was beyond my expectations. It was amazing to see that I could create something that could be meaningful to another human being. I don't consider myself to be creative, by any stretch of the imagination. I'm definitely not what you'd call 'artistic,' either.

I have always loved photography. Now I have a way to create something with my photos that is meaningful. I'm documenting my personal history, and that of my family. I don't have children of my own, but I hope that my cousin's daughter, and any children my brother may have, will be able to look back at my scrapbooks after I'm gone and have a sense of where they came from. I think it's the most meaningful gift I can give them.