The Story of a Scrap Addict

By:Tracy Poole

I became a scrap addict in July of 1997. I had been given a Creative Memories album and supplies as a baby gift by a very generous friend. At the shower I was more excited about the Gymboree gift certificate and had no idea how the scrapbooking supplies would change my life.

I had heard of Creative Memories before and even seen other people's albums but it had never really interested me despite the fact that I enjoy crafts and take lots of pictures. Now my interest was picqued though. I bought some fancy sissors (a must have I thought then) and some acid free paper but didn't dare cut a picture until I was able to attend an introductory Creative Memories class. I was so afraid of messing up! I was so proud of my first page and went home and set up a card table and left it up in our little living room for working.

Prior to going to the class, I would work on my magnetic style albums once or twice a year. Now I was going to use safe materials and was inspired to get my backlog of pictures out of drawers! I loved the aspect of journalling the story behind the pictures to make them more meaningful and using color to make the pages more attractive. I was soon showing anyone who came to my home the work I'd done on my albums. My skill and style improved greatly after I started learning more from the layouts and discussion boards at various scrapbooking sites on the Internet especially the dMarie site.

People began telling me I should become a Creative Memories Consultant because I loved scrapbooking so much. But I just kept saying "No way" as I wanted to have time to work on my albums and besides people could get decorative supplies at MJDesigns. Well MJDesigns closed the stores in my town and I started thinking of how inconvenient it was to get supplies from my CMC 35 minutes away. I began thinking about becoming a consultant and finally prayed about it. I've now been a CMC for over 5 months and love sharing my love of scrapping with others. I love to see people get excited about preserving their family history through pictures and stories and have fun doing it.

Some people say scrapbooking is a fad, but I say it's a very worthwhile and meaningful activity that is worth the time and money you invest to create something lasting that also makes people feel special.

Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: Why scrapbooking is my favorite craft, by susan f.