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Sunday, February 24, 2008

Books of Scraps

For weeks, I have been preparing. Rarely do I study and prepare for anything with such intensity. When Reagan would go to bed, I would sit at the kitchen table, planning, organizing, brainstorming. I even used post-it notes. This was serious business. I was going to scrapbook.

Scrapbook. Both a noun and a verb. I’ve kept scrapbooks since I was in high school. If you were to start there and look through all my books, you would see a clear progression to more and more complicated layouts. The pages become more elaborate as the years go by. And consequently, the preparation to go to a scrapbook workshop also becomes more and more necessary.

Of course, in recent months, I have been working on a “baby album” for Reagan. This album will cover her first year - documenting important moments and reminding us that once upon a time she was happy just to be snuggled and cuddled. My goal for the workshop this weekend was to finish the last half of her book - 6 months to 1 year. In order to do that, taking some time to organize my pictures, stickers, paper and ideas was fairly essential.

For those of you who don’t scrapbook, the whole process may seem a bit silly. I know some people who think it is a waste of time. I know others who appreciate the end product but really don’t consider the amount of work that goes into it. And of course, I know some addicts like myself who can look at a page (any page) and marvel over the creativity that lives in the woman who put it together.

We sit in my friend, Michelle’s basement around a bunch of big Monroe tables. We bring boxes of paper, cutting systems, coordinated stickers, stacks of photos, pens in every color. We take out our pictures and carefully place them on a page. And we talk (hopefully not gossip) about our pictures, our families, our children. We tell great stories. We laugh hysterically, sometimes too much. We ooh and aah over each other’s pages. We have loads of fun. For 8 hours. Its bliss.

I like scrapbooking because I get to take a picture and make it into a story. I take one tiny moment of a memory and by putting it in a book I make sure I won’t ever forget. I take scraps of my life and create a page around them, because those scraps are oh so important to me. I love remembering where I’ve been so I can more fully appreciate where I am now.

I could scrapbook more often. I have a dedicated table in my basement for just such a purpose. But sitting in Michelle’s basement, surrounded by friends, seeing their ideas, makes scrapbooking a whole lot more fun. And when I look at my books I remember not only the events captured on film, but I also remember the joy of putting together each page as my friends and I laughed over our memories.

Such a simple thing, but such a worthwhile time.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are the poster woman for scrapbooking! Michelle

Laura K. said...

Aw, I wish I could have a scrapbook day with you! I'd love to see your books sometime! :)

Stephanie said...

I LOVE this post!! I love that you scrapbook because I do too...so I totally "got" all of that and I even pictured myself right there with you, in scrapbook heaven...it is bliss!

Miz Jean said...

Laura and Steph, you should BOTH come down and scrapbook with me! That would be AWESOME!!!!!!!