Graduation

Today is the 25^th anniversary of my high school graduation. 

It seems like a lifetime ago, but in reality 25 years passes by at the speed of life. 

At that point in my life, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do or what direction I was heading in. Some days, I still don’t.

I don’t have any pictures of me from high school. They were all lost during various moves. Sometimes I wish I could look back and see where I was and where I am today.

Were there any glimpses of who I was to become in that 18 year old smile? If I look in the mirror today, can I see who I was then still?

I was a bottle blonde in high school. I remember when colored contacts came out, I was desperate for blue eyes too. I wasn’t happy with my natural looks, and it took me a very long time to accept that I was a brunette with green eyes. The fact that I still highlight my hair proves that acceptance to be tenuous at best. I always thought I was ugly, and had no idea of my own power until I was much older. I will never be a beauty queen, but I am beautiful in my own way.

I also battled my weight in high school. I still do. I struggle with it. I have been on a gazillion diets over the last 25 plus years, and honestly nothing has stuck. I am currently reading a well recommended book called Made to Crave, which I hope can help shed some insight into why this is a difficult area of my life and one that requires much work. I had lost a lot of weight in high school, and at one point wore a size two. 

The problem was I also was doing a lot of unhealthy things to maintain that weight, and when I think back to how much that impacted my joy, it makes me sad. I starved myself to the point I passed out at my after school job. I also did the old binge and purge, to the point where it ruined the enamel on my teeth. Healthy eating habits were a mystery to me until I met my beloved-who was into body building at the time.

 I learned so much about nutrition and healthy choices from him-and after all these years, I am still learning.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, other than being a wife and mother. I bounced around a lot of career ideas: librarian, teacher, accountant. I wound up in accounting, which I have grown into, on my terms. I have had many different careers from stay at home mom to retail management to accountant. Each one added a new facet to me, and made me who I am today. 

Some life lessons I could have done without, but then again I wouldn’t be who I am today without them.

I'll Remember You

If you plan it, you will scrap.
Like most things in life, scrapping requires planning, whether you are a digital scrapper, using a system like Becky Higgins' Project Life or a traditional scrapper, you need some sort of organization and planning.

First you need pictures.

Then you need your supplies. You wouldn't bake a cake without checking the pantry, so you shouldn't scrap without checking your stash for your supplies. Nothing is worse than being ready to go and being out of something!

Then you need to get down to business. You need to decide what you are going to do for your page. I like use sketches as a jumping off point for my pages.
There are a few resources for them:
Creating Keepsakes magazine
Old Becky Higgins sketches
Www.scrapbooksetc.com
Www.mycroproom.com (the sketches linked to this post are from there)
Or google "scrapbook sketches", click images and a bevy of them pop up.

Now you are ready to scrap. I am what is called a simple scrapper. For me, scrapping is telling a story with words and pictures. The other doo dads on my page need to enhance my picture and story, not distract from it. The picture below, from http://kristiilockart.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html (which is a beautiful blog) is an amazing page, and I love looking at pages like that, but I'd never do them! I like my pages simple. The "sassy" page, from http://www.simplyparticular.com/2009/09/more-unfinished-layouts-completed.html is more my speed. I should also note that my design taste overall is very clean and modern. Im not into lots of frills (Victorian and country are definitely not my taste) so that aesthetic transfers to my scrapping as well.

I have my sketch next to my space, and my supplies for that page lined up and it's show time! I trim papers and cardstock. I put everything on the page and make a few minor adjustments before the adhesive comes out.

Sometimes, the page comes out exactly like the sketch. Sometimes, it doesn't. Guess the sketch that inspired my sweet baby layout? Hint: the finished product looks nothing like it!

There isn't a right way or a wrong way to scrap. That was actually a hard concept for me to get my head around. It's true-because you're telling your story. Over the years, I've let others negative comments have space in my head because they didn't like the pages I did. "too plain" or "you need more stuff on there" or my favorite, "too much journaling". They were putting their design ideas and style on my page. Just as is said in yoga practice, keep your eyes on your mat, the same with scrapping: keep your eyes on your own page.
I'm not a big fan of folks critiquing your work, unless you've invited them to. I just think one cattie comment can turn someone off from scrapping all together, which is a loss. My work may never be featured in a magazine, but that's not my goal. I'm telling my family's story. I made an album of my son's 5th birthday party, and to this day he looks at it about once a week. That is why I scrap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivFYVAntpw0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Memories are Made of This

Scrapbooking is one of my passions. In fact, it is so much so I've been accused of staging photos because it would make a great scrapbook page!
I do take a lot of photos, and with the use of my phone, I can take them and then upload them to get printed rather easily.
The only issue is the time factor. Even if you are making a plain page, you still need time. I find scrapping at lunchtime allows me to stay current. If I wanted to, I could even make embellishments for my pages.
Highly unlikely I'd be making layered paper flowers (which are beautiful but too time consuming to do, but I would probably buy) however, I'd probably be cutting cardstock to mat pictures.
I have my portable scrapping bag, which includes:

Small paper trimmer
Scissors
Adhesive
Circle punch
Paper
Pictures
Cardstock

I have a cute travel jewelry case that I have repurposed for scrapping. I use a plastic envelope to hold my paper, pictures and make it completely transportable.

I can do a layout in about 15 minutes. My pink stamper (www.mypinkstamper) has some really great sketches to inspire you to do a quick, easy layout. One of my favorite sketches keeps it simple and easy. If you have the time, you can scrap. It might not look like something like the super well done "Logan" page I found on line, but it can preserve the memory!