10 Life Lessons from Scrapbooking

With the Summer CHA show just around the corner next week, all of us paper lovers are soon going to be inundated with tons of yummy new product lines that we simply cannot wait to get our hands on.  In fact the sneaks out there already have me Uber excited to go and see them in person.  I’ll be there reporting for Craft Critique to check out the new trends, see the new lines from favorite manufacturers, and hopefully get to meet a few new ones as well.

I am the first to admit… I am a product lover.

Me likey the goods.

I sniff glue.

But, with this in mind, I’ve been thinking about just Scrapbooking in general, because as excited as I get about it…I don’t do it every day.

In fact I don’t necessarily get to a layout every week.

I’d like to certainly, but there are other crafts I enjoy and actually find easier sometimes because they don’t involve having to find the right photos or decide on the right story at the time.  But it’s always scrapbooking that will be my first love when it comes to crafting.  I proudly say I’m a scrapbooker, even though I’m not sure that term means as much to non-scrapbookers as it does to those of us that do.

No of course it’s not just pictures and words and pretty paper, though that’s the mediums that are used.

That would be like saying films are just people, cameras, and dialogue.

No… films are artists, visions, and life stories.

Just like scrapbooking is captured memories, feelings, and artistic expression.

Yes I’m one of those that believe scrapbooking can be an art…read on or move on my dears.

So why do I feel so strongly about it?  What exactly can you learn from pasting photos into an album with a bit of wording to go with?   Oh so much more.  As scrapbookers we learn life lessons.  Yes we do.  And here are just a few:

1. Pushing yourself to use the basics in new and imaginative ways can be 100 times more rewarding than constantly seeking out the bigger and the ‘better’.
2. Mistakes can lead to the most beautiful moments which you never would have realized without having been forced to try.
3. Sometimes there just are no words (and that’s OK).
4. The little every day moments matter just as much, if not more, than the big events.
5. Inspiration should be sought after, not expected to land in our laps.
6. Giving encouragement begets getting encouragement begets motivation to keep continuing on.
7. Surrounding yourself with those that ‘get’ you is important.
8. Sometimes… you just have to walk away and say you’re done.
9. You may have to make a great big mess in order to get anything worthwhile accomplished.
10. Possibilities are as endless as you allow them to be.

Thanks for stopping by today sweet friends and see you soon.

Seeking possibility,