The reluctant scrapper

By Kris

About seven years ago, before I had kids, I went to a church craft fair. At a table in the back, I discovered a large display of modern-day scrapbooks. Photos of beaming children stared out at me from among colorful stickers, checkerboard paper strips and paragraphs of handwritten notes. On the table sat a myriad of tools: corner rounders, assorted scissors (zigzagged, scalloped and straight), sticker and paper packs, and the requisite binders and containers for holding all the stuff.

"Ugh, I would never do that," I said to myself. "What a gigantic pain in the butt."

Fast forward to the year following my first son's birth, when a friend from my mom's group hosted a party with one of the leading scrapbook companies. I went to the party, had a party of my own, bought the startup kit, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Before I knew it, I'd amassed countless sticker packs; hundreds of papers of various colors, patterns and shapes; photo trimmers; scissors; adhesives; more pens than I could ever use in this lifetime; and all the bags, binders and rolling carts needed to store it. Four years later, how many photo albums have I put together? One. I'm almost done with my 5-year-old's baby book and recently started my younger son's. Which means I've got the last 3½ years' worth of pictures still sitting in boxes, plus all the photos from before I had kids.

Making these scrapbooks takes tons of time, which I just don't have. It brings out my evil perfectionist side, leading me to spend hours on one two-page spread. It mocks my innate need for project closure, because at this rate, I'll finish my 2005 album in 2015.

Despite all the money and time I've invested with few album pages to show for it, I can't seem to walk away. I love that the books allow space for journaling, and I love watching my kids' faces light up when they look at themselves on the pages. I know that the finished albums will be priceless heirlooms. I even enjoy going to "crops," where I can work on my books alongside women of all different ages and backgrounds.

So when I get fed up, deciding to sell my supplies and scrap the whole project, a little voice pipes up in my heart and says, "No, I would never do that!"

Comments

[momisold]

My son will be 8 in August. His baby book goes through 4 months...... I REALLY REALLY do want to complete the next 7 years of his life as he gets such a kick looking at his book. But. I. just. can't. seem. to. get. started.

[QC]

Another scrapper here. It's not unheard of for me to spend 14 hours on a layout.

There's a reason I don't do it very often.

[Marci]

I, too, love to scrapbook! Although I have been unofficially scrapbooking for 20 years, only during the past 4-5 years have I been serious. Collecting all of the papers, tools and embellishments has been so much fun. With three children, 10, 7 and 2, my time is very limited. So much so, that I haven't even unpacked my stuff since we moved (Oct. 04). Now that's bad! I have two books started and a couple empty ones.(I have good intentions, but no time). I am hoping to finish my youngest childs book (the first 12 months at least) before he turns 3! Unfortunately that is in August and like I said my stuff is still in boxes.

I try to go to "crops" at local scrapbook stores and hopefully I will get started again soon. My kids are like yours, they love looking at the books with their pictures and memories. It is a great way to preserve those memories for years to come.

[Misti]

I scapbook and I blog.

I first started scrapbooking when my first grandchild was born. She was born and is being raised in Europe. I live in the US.

Her reaction when she first saw her first completed book "Mamma, that's me! And that's me! And that's me!! Mamma, this beutiful book is about ME!" combined with my youngest son's fascination with his nieces' book, has kept me at it.

I now scrap for four children -- my granddaughter, my grandson, my two-year old son, and my oldest son's youngest brother, who is 10 months old. Someday I hope to get to the photos of my two older sons, who are adults now.

But I blog, too -- I document my youngest son's growing in words, which I want to someday print out to store in the back of his scrapbooks. (Being an older parent is such a luxury!)

[Heather]

Laugh,
Emma, I wish I was as good as you....I'm coming up on my third anniversary and I still have 2 pages left to do from our Honeymoon...
Not to mention the drive across country, the two kittens we adopted, the house we bought, first Christmas as a couple, etc.
And now, we're moving again! I'm so far behind I don't know how I'll catch up at this point....luckily we don't have children yet!
-Heather

[Charlene]

your post made me laugh...I had the same exact experience. a good friend of mine scraps and when I first saw her albums I thought...gorgeous, but she's crazy! the time, the money! I'll never do that! Then I had my son. Then I created my first album. Then I started selling the stuff! I stopped selling when I had more gear than I could use. My best friend's husband calls it "scrack"...because it's addictive.

I haven't scrapped in 2 years but have been storing pictures and waiting for time to do them. With baby #2 on the way, I'm eager to start his or her album and have purchased all the fixings. Now I just need to do it!

Good luck.

[Raquita]

Digital Scrapbooking has made it easier for me. I've only been scrapbooking for a little over a year, I started just before my daughter was born - I knew it ws something I was going to want to do for her. I do Digtial scrapping (using Photoshop 7 and my nifty digital camera - after bed time once the dear hubby is nessled into a video game or planted infromt of his lap top. I save paper scrapping for when my friends come over, who I have addicted to scrapping. Or to crop parties at my local scrapbooking store. My sister doesn't get it but knows she will when she has her first. Its just a natural part of mommy-isms - at least for me!!!! I hope you stay with it, the digital scrapping may help check out scrapbook-bytes.com for some ideas.

[Shannon]

Ah, I was addicted to scrapbooking from the moment I became aware of it. There are ways to squeeze in scrapping time. I have a 6 yo who actually loves to scrap with me - even if it's only for a few minutes until he gets bored. But I got him his own book and some stickers and gave him a big box of photos that I did not need and he has a ball taping and coloring and sticking.

Here's another tip: take a few photos you want for a layout and keep them out on your table (family room, dining room, wherever you can see them). Then as you have a couple minutes, do a little bit. First, crop them. Then decide what color paper you want for the layout. Then mat them. Before you know it, a page is done. I rarely sit down and scrap for a block of time, but I seem to get a steady amount done.

[terry]

See...I've taken the lazy girl's way out...I don't scrapbook; I blog.

[Emma]

I started scrapbooking after my wedding. It does take a very long time. How you find the time with your boys to look after I don't know.

I've just finished our Honeymoon pages and we've been married nearly a year.