Ten years later

My fellow Booya Girl Kristi Hellyer posted a thread asking us to share one of our first scrapbook pages, and so far I have been the only one brave (or foolish) enough to do so. No one has commented on it, not even a, "Hoo boy, you've come a long way." I'm imagining them all nodding their heads and thinking, "This explains a lot."



Sure, it's pretty bad (sticker sneeze, anyone?), but I had never taken a class, or read a scrapping magazine or idea book at the time and I was really proud of that first page. I had walked into MJDesigns, which became Michael's later, looking for craft supplies for my Sunday School class, and noticed a trail of cute diecut shapes taped to the floor. They led to a wonderful aisle full of cute (at the time) papers and stickers and markers and punches. I walked out with what I thought I needed to get started, which for me has always meant jumping in with both feet and buying way too much. I had bought an album and page protectors that didn't go together, and a bunch of other stuff I really didn't know how to use.

So I like to think I have come a long way. I still buy way too much stuff, and the same mean little raspy-voiced longtime smoker rings me up at Michael's ten years later, but I have taken a class or two and read an idea book or fifty. Twenty-nine completed 12x12 albums sit on my shelves. I think the only thing I have stuck with longer is my husband, and much like him, this wonderful hobby keeps me sane. It reminds me of my priorities and provides evidence that our life together is fun and loving, no matter what future psychotherapists might be told to the contrary. And of course I can't forget the many talented and amazing women I have met through scrapbooking, both "in real life" and online.

Happy 10th scrappiversary to me. Maybe I should buy myself something...