I have not done this in years. Some background: I have scrapbooks from 2 different missions trips I took back in high school, and 1 from college. This was before "scrapbooking" existed as its own industry, and I just glued down ticket stubs, photos, etc and scribbled down my thoughts/memories. I love those books. After I got married (back in 1996) I became aware of what was happening in the markeplace with "real" scrapbooking, and purchased an acid-free white album and a bunch of cheesy stickers/papers to document our special day. When I look at that book now, I cringe. Don't get me wrong - I'm thankful that it exists, but it's absolutely not my style, and it seems stiff and silly. I have 2 other scrapbooks from our early married life, but they're a bit more playful. I kind of gave up on scrapbooking after a couple years (even before we had kids) simply because I wasn't enjoying it. It felt like yet another item on my To Do list, and rather than enjoying the pictures, I was thinking of the hours and supplies I needed to complete pages. NOT good. Recently, I completed 2 digital scrapbooks with Shutterfly, and I was thrilled with the results. Will definitely be making more of those.
I've made a few paper-loving friends here in Texas, and attended a scrapbooking retreat a few years ago - but stamped and made cards the whole time. I went again 2 weeks ago, but this time I scrapped. I uploaded my hundreds of pictures and ordered prints (then was sweating it out, hoping they'd arrive before I left!), then gathered all my goodies and drove three hours with a friend. We left on Friday morning and came back on Sunday afternoon. Bliss.
I organized all the pictures (that process ate up a good portion of my Friday!) and managed to do the trip to Florida (we drove, and had a short visit with another family) and the first day and a half of our Disney experience. My style is very different now - the other ladies who are were at the retreat all favor the more traditional big layout style, and it was funny to see their reactions to my album: a funky mix of page sizes (predivided pages mixed with the occasional layout), and a simple color scheme (and no, I'm not matting the photos to accent my husband's shirt color). I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm so happy to say that I'm actually ENJOYING the process as well as loving the outcome. Here are a couple shots (I know it's not the best quality, but I'm trying to break free from the yoke of perfectionism, LOL)
