Although I am new, I am CONSUMED with a passion for scrapbooking now and wish to GOD I could make a living doing it.
I challenged myself to do a PL page for almost every day this year. I'm one month into creating layouts and I suddenly wanted to shout from the rooftops about all the amazing things I was learning on the journey. I was feeling really motivated; really excited to start this blog and post about what the digital side has to offer, and then I started down the rabbit hole of reviewing other blogs and realized the market is completely and totally saturated. I know I can't pretend to be one of these amazing mothers on the internet who have it all put together, talking about how they recorded another week full of amazingly beautiful memories of their seemingly-perfect children in a single (or even double!) 12x12 layout in what I picture as a quiet, tidy office during hours where their afore-mentioned children are playing peacefully or napping so "mommy can scrap".I’m NOT June Cleaver. I have two boys under the age of two who keep me on a constant rotation of feed, change, put down for nap, soothe, wipe, rinse, repeat from 7 am to almost 10 pm every day. Heck, I don’t even get a chance to shower half the time and when I do it's because I have to leave the house before the mouse runs away with our last crumb of food. My children aren’t perfect. I love them, but they get cranky. They cry. They test my patience in a way I never knew was possible. I get to scrap in my craft room - which is now full of bags, toys, burp-clothes and pacifiers from 10:30 pm to between 1 am and 3 am each night until I can't keep my eyes open.
There are those who have “made it” in the scrapbooking world who actually get paid for their work, combining professional-quality photographs, emotive color schemes, perfectly coordinated papers, artful journaling, and fun embellishments that somehow add up to a stylish layout with understated grace. I’m not there yet. Not by a long shot. I am a hot mess most of the time: second guessing my decisions and going through love-hate relationships with EVERY completed page. I don’t think I’m alone. I’m hoping that if I share what I’m learning, what inspires me, and my goals for the future, others can add to and expand on this with their own ambitions and advice - and not to mention, constructive feedback - and we can ALL benefit, move ahead and hold each other accountable / keep each other on track.
I can't promise that my blog posts will be perfectly manicured works of art that put Martha Stewart to shame. I can't say that every post will be important or interesting to my readers - but they will be reflections on what I am excited about and what I think might help make this passion into more than just a hobby. I can promise that I'm going to “scrap it like it is” and blog about it regardless of the overpopulated market, and here’s why: There ARE thousands of us swimming upstream trying to “make it” in the digital scrapbooking world and I think if we all shared our experiences and knowledge, we could all get there a lot faster.
We All Want It. So Let's Develop A Plan to Get There.
Maybe it’s my Type-A personality and 5 years of IT Project Management at a major consulting firm before I quit to be a stay-at-home-mom for my boys, but when I approach a new endeavor I get into a “single-minded laser focus.” I am the type who dives off the deep end to research, strategize, develop and achieve a realistic plan to accomplish my goals. This time I am flying blind, mostly, on what it *really* takes to be successful, but I hope to make up for it with amazing amounts of passion, dedication, and constant self-betterment. Some days I feel like I’ve maybe got the hang of it. I find myself checking and re-checking pages a million times a day to see who “pinned”, “liked”, “viewed”, and commented on my images - eating it up; reading a simple statement a thousand times over. Other days, I’m a failure and I know it, although I’m in the process of learning to shake those days off and start again tomorrow. The thing about scrapbooking is there’s always a fresh new page. A new day of memories. Something new to learn to get one baby-step closer to the prize. I hope you’ll join me for the swim upstream.Let's Summarize.
This is a blog to:- recognize that scrapbooking is about sharing the pride and joy we experience in life with others
- share inspiration, techniques, and templates
- try new things and learn from each other
- share our "processes"
- share goals and personal development plans
- grow together through feedback and discussion
That's all for now. Welcome, and thanks for stopping by. Check back weekly for new posts!
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