Greetings from a paste-eater

by Brooke

Gina invited me to join this blog because I am one of her "Creative-type" friends. Originally, that meant theatre. However, even though I have an MFA in acting, I don't do that much theatre these days. My posts will probably revolve around scrapbooking---with the occasional cake I made for the kids' birthdays thrown in just to show you how many, many things can be done with cupcakes even if you do not excel in cake decorating. Anyhoo, it's mostly going to be scrapbooking, so I thought I might clear a few things up. I think scrapbooking, outside the "scrapbooking world" tends to conjure up images of soccer moms waving deco scissors around as they try to document that their children's lives were, in fact, perfect. And, inside the scrapping world, I can't say that such an image doesn't exist. I am active on a scrapbooking message board that is rather clique-ish. There are "Suzy Scrapbookers" (the soccer moms who want pretty pages but don't want to have to think creatively), the "Digi Gals" (people who have gone to using Adobe photoshop and other software to create their pages), the "paste-eaters" (people who like to use real paper and stuff when they scrapbook instead of creating it all on the computer), the "pubsters" (people trying to get published in scrapbooking magazines), etc. I am a paste-eater who dabbles in getting "pubbed" but mostly likes just adding page after page to our family's albums. I also teach classes at the scrapbooking store in town. It will be fun to post some of the pages I create that I like but don't think are "pub-worthy" and still want to share. I will probably post the materials list (in case anybody is interested in that kind of thing) and a little about what inspired it, etc. But, why blog more when i could sum up some of my other feelings about scrapbooking in a layout? The message board I mentioned earlier had a contest called "Why do I scrapbook?" I entered and got an honorable mention (which made me pretty darn happy) with this: Materials
Cardstock: WorldWin Treasures (kraft), Prism (orange), HP (white)
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (elephants), American Crafts (flowers), Sweetwater (school book), Daisy D's (teacher), A2Z Essentials (swirl)
Stamps: Paper Studio (large), Stampin' Up (small), PSX (heart)
Ink: Stampin' Up and Color Box
Pen: American Crafts
Other: Dymo Label Maker
Journaling:
THE MAMA: I never realized how bittersweet parenting could be. As you celebrate a new skill learned, you mourn just a little for the baby-ness left behind. Scrapbooking helps me feel like I won’t forget the dearness of their different stages. I feel proud documenting their milestones and like I also have an outlet to be wistful about how they are ever-changing and growing.
THE ARTIST:So, yeah, I have an MFA in acting., not visual arts or graphic design. But that doesn’t mean I can’t play with paper and words. Performing and scrapbooking have the same idea at the heart: telling stories. I don’t get to be on stage much right now and this satisfies my need to create and to share.
THE STUDENT: I never want to stop learning. About so many things. But, Scrapbooking is a great source for always being able to learn something new…trying something different, exploring a new technique, getting excited about new products and how to use them.
THE TEACHER: Ever since I was little, if I learned something, I immediately wanted to share it or teach it to someone else. So, I’m a university professor. And, naturally, as my love for scrapbooking grew, I felt compelled to start teaching at the scrapbook store. My classes aren’t always the most popular because I don’t always want them to totally copy the original design...I want them to explore and try their own thing. I get a rush when something clicks.
THE ANXIOUS: It’s not a joke that scrapbooking is therapy for me. I guess I should not have been surprised that I developed post-partum anxiety and depression after Eva was born. I have several relatives on Paxil, after all. But it totally floored me to feel so out of control. I discovered, though, if I kept celebrating how wonderful life was through scrapbooking, eventually, I began to feel that life really was wonderful. After both the kids, scrapping was what helped me get back to normal…and any time anxiety rears its ugly head, I know scrapbooking will help tame it.
Quotes going around the edge of the page:
That it shall enver come again is what makes life so sweet-Emily Dickinson
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time-Thomas Merton
The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as long as we live-Mortimer Adler
The mediocre teacher tells; the great teach inspires-William Arthur Ward