Shut Up and Scrapbook!

I’m really beating myself up about something lately and maybe you can relate…I hardly ever scrapbook anymore! There are a variety of reasons, but I find it so ironic, given that I AM Scrapbook Obsessed and all. From the time I started in 2002, I used to scrapbook probably an average of 5-10 hours per week. This was back when I worked full-time outside of the home, and yet I still managed to make time for it. Actually, I couldn’t wait to scrapbook! So, I would daydream at work all day about the pages I would create, then come home and scrap late at night after everyone went to bed. That dang alarm clock about got thrown against the wall most mornings, after getting only a few hours sleep, but…You know, I just felt in the groove and inspired and proud I was getting pages done and albums filled. I also went to crops put on by friends or at the LSS about once a month where, even though I had a chatty good time, I still came home with 5 or 10 pages done. I went to CKU twice in 2005 and came home re-inspired and with lots of cool projects done.

Next, there was a period of time, through most of 2006, when I hardly scrapped at all (although I kept on shopping!). I signed up for a European scrapbook cruise for October 2006, so I knew it was only fair financially that I forego the crops and the nights scrapbooking to spend time with the fam. I was going to be gone for 2 whole weeks in October, so I guess I felt guilty about going, spending the money, etc. and kind of overcompensated in that area (Jeesh! They were probably sick of me hanging around and were thinking, “Why doesn’t she just go scrapbook?!”). So, the cruise trip came and went and it was extremely awesome, a life-changing trip. If like me, you are of European heritage (in my case, Italian), you really should spend some time over there. I equate it to some spiritual experiences I’ve had, where my body and mind were overflowing with….just….STUFF! I wanted to burst from the depth of feeling when I experienced things like craning my neck back in the Sistine Chapel or hugging my long lost relative in Rome. So, the trip was just the very best experience (although I cried every night on the phone with DH because I missed my family terribly). When I got back, I felt so inspired by the classes we had, spending time with great scrappers from Creating Keepsakes, and all those glorious photos! But I have to admit that my huge cruise album project that started out with such grand intentions, soon became a burden, a project looming overhead everytime I thought about heading over to my scrap desk.

As 2007 started, all but one of my LSS’s closed and no one held crops locally anymore. I started working from home, became a s/b consultant, and began spending more time on the computer. Well, frick on a stick, I practically live here now! I discovered and soon became addicted (yes, literally addicted) to the CK Message Board because of all the scrap news, the enabling, the friendship, and the support I find there. I finally felt not alone, like there are other people out there who think about scrapbooking all day and enjoy talking about it as much as I do. Then I started this blog which, as much as I LURVE writing, does take considerable time. I’ve purposely stayed away from scrapbook shopping online, with Ebay, etc. because the last thing I or my credit card needs is another addiction. In the last few months, I’ve became a serious lurker at 2peas and discovered so many scrapbook blogs that I feel compelled to read. Which leads to ideas for explosion boxes and such that I must spend more time looking all around the internet for. On top of that, I now organize the crops instead of attending them and, woo-eee, does that take a lot of time (a labor of love, I tell ya). I’m blessed to be able to make a little bit of cheddar doing something as fun as selling scrapbook products.

So there you have it…”no time” to scrapbook. Is that ridonculous or what? I just have to laugh at myself (well, after I kick myself). I know one thing that holds me back is the disarray of my photos. Some are organized but many are not. Most of the recent ones still sit on my memory card or in iPhoto, just waiting to be developed (I’ve tried printing at home and just cannot get the colors right; I’m a printing failure and have wasted far too much time on that endeavor). My mom is visiting in November to attend a 2-day crop I’m holding. I’m going to ask her if she’ll stay an extra day or two and help me with my photos, because she is the Number One Organization Queen (I’m just the Princess, learning at her feet), and because she’s most excellent on the computer. On CKMB they have something called Walk Away Wednesday, where you just walk away from your computer on Wednesdays….NO! Don’t touch that mouse. Just turn around and walk away. Walk over to your scrapbook area and MAKE SOMETHING! So, maybe WAW’s would be a good start for me. With Christmas coming, I truly do have to get on it and make some gifts that I already have the supplies for. No fear, nothing will silence my ramblings on the blog here. But maybe I need to shut up and lurk on CKMB for awhile instead of constantly blabbering? And maybe I can just read my fave blogs instead of feeling I have to leave a comment every single time? Crud! Why don’t you just take away my Starbucks and force me to listen to gangsta rap while we’re at it! Shizzle…