Almost Mainstream

I remember quite clearly the day I discovered scrapbooking. It was August 2000, and a co-worker who had returned from spousal relocation leave in Florida tried to describe this thing called "scrap booking" to me. Apparently it was all the rage in Florida - the main topic of conversation between Moms at the playground. My coworker explained how she went to this home party - kind of like a tupperware party - and spent hundreds of dollars and tools and supplies which she had yet to start using.

I had heard about scrapbooking in the traditional sense of the word - literally, pasting scraps such as cards, newspaper clippings, etc. in a book with blank pages - but this new twist of decorated pages containing pictures and journaling piqued my curiosity. I decided to do some internet research. Strangely enough, I did not stumble onto the Creative Memories website (CM was, in 2000, quite likely the industry leader when it came to scrapbooking). Through my research I found out that a local camera store (Black's) sold some limited scrapbooking supplies, so I headed over and bought myself some very cutesy patterned paper, some shaped scissors, and a few sheets of stickers. And thus, an artiste was born. Lol!

I can remember how proud I was of my first page. I shudder with shame when I think of it now. Firstly, nobody had told me anything about acid-free lignin-free scrapbooking, so believe it or not, I built my first page directly onto a magnetic photo album page. I used a template to crop my photos into shapes like stars. I achieved ultimate sticker sneeze. I wrote my title in marker and put little dots on the ends of each letter. But man, I was pleased and proud. And hooked. I went on to create quite a few magnetic album-sized layouts. When I learned what a no-no this was, I rebuilt the layouts onto 8.5x11 cardstock and bought myself a bona fide photo safe scrapbook.

And now I am about to do something I have never done before. I am going to share that first layout (well, its rebuilt version) on the internet. I replaced the handwritten title with some stickers when I rebuilt it, but you get the idea:


Yes, it is cringe-worthy. But hey. Not everyone hits the scrapping ground running. I have no plans to redo this layout a third time. The style of the layout is a cherished memory in and of itself.

I spent the first few months of my scrapbooking "career" alternating between scrapping recent photos, and organizing years of very messy photos and negatives. I've often been asked what the hardest part of starting scrapbooking was - was it learning the techniques? Coming up with journaling? Design? Nope. It was actually two things: (1) searching through my kitchen, bedroom, hall closet, etc. for stray envelopes of developed pictures that had never made it into albums, and trying to figure out how old the baby in the picture is or worse, which baby the picture was of; and (2), having to endure the strange looks I got from people - friends, family, co-workers, strangers at cocktail parties - when I attempted to describe this new hobby of mine.

I'm not quite sure when scrapbooking became mainstream. I do however remember when it became mainstream to me. One evening, a year or two after I started scrapbooking, dh decided to take the kids and I to a Chinese buffet (pretty rare occurrence, we don't tend to eat out much). We drove to a place not too far from our house and dh, who usually parks right by the door of any establishment he is going to, actually parked quite a ways down the strip mall. I thought this was strange but when I got out of the car, I understood. I was standing in front of a bona fide scrapbook store. Oh. My. Goodness. And the rest is history.

Now when I tell people I scrapbook, they don't ask me what that is. Some do however comment that they would never have guessed I was a scrapbooker. I'm not quite sure what they think a scrapbooker looks like - but apparently, not like me! So despite the fact that scrapbooking is now mainstream, I still seem to be living a double life!