Hi, my name is Shay - I'm a scrapaholic!

By:Shay, Corona, CA

Hi, my name is Shay - and I'm a scrapaholic. It all started about three years ago when I was pregnant with my second son. I was trying to organize the millions of photographs of my first son when my friend introduced me to that ... that word ... the "S" word ... scrapbooking. "Why don't you start Scrapbooking and get all your pictures organized?" she said. Organized? That's the other word I try to steer away from. I'm an obsessive organizer. To briefly make my point, my closet is organized such that all the long sleeve shirts are together, as well as the short sleeve. But wait, they are also "colorized." I think that's all I need to say. Okay, organize my pictures. I needed to do this. I had to do this. But I always approach everything with a plan.

I wanted to take a beginning scrapbook class, but it seems every one I signed up for would be cancelled due to lack of enrollment. It seems I was trailing the bulk of scrapbook junkies. Then I walked into Memories & Milestones in Corona. Lisa was so nice (at least it appears so - now I'm convinced she is one of the leaders of this scrapbooking cult) she gave me my own private class to get me started. It's been downhill from there. You see, I have an extremely busy schedule and very little free time to myself. But every chance I get, I scrapbook (this is usually like 2 a.m.). Thank goodness for the Internet. When I'm doing a page, it seems I always have an "idea." If only I could find this color paper, or this type of die cut, or this kind of sticker. It seems I always find what I had in mind on dMarie.com. And at 2 a.m., it's easy to shop!

My pages are coming along slowly but surely. I can't just throw them on a page. I have to plan and visualize every one. You see, next to my children, my pictures are my prized possession. I'm happy to report that I'm almost done with my first son's baby pictures (I'm up to 980,738). Unfortunately (or fortunately) my second son does not have as many. (It's true what they say about your subsequent children.) I don't care that it takes me hours to do a page, as I will cherish it forever. And if you think my children will ever get their scrapbooks - I don't think so! They will have to pry them from my cold dead hands. (As a scrapaholic, I'm still working on my 10 steps - as you can see, I have not yet fully recovered.) So is scrapbooking important to me? Yes it is. It helps me organize and preserve my most precious memories. I urge everyone to try this addiction.

Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: Why I Have a Passion for Scrapbooking, by Laura Harvestine