Producing memories for my daughter and accomplishments for me

By:Terra, Springfield, GA

I first began scrapbooking in 1999 to begin a memorable way to record the many events of my daughters first year. I started with a simple $15.00 kit from Walmart that I thought was the best thing since sliced bread. What a horrible waste. Every page began to look boring, thrown together and exactly like the one before it. I became so discouraged that I quickly quit. I told myself that it was for the best since my daughter wouldn't want to look at a scrapbook that looked like a child did it.

In 2001 I was dragged to a Creative Memories class by a friend. As much as I told her and myself that "scrapbooking wasn't my thing" I knew deep down I was hoping that a class would show me what real scrapbooks were supposed to look like. I got a big suprise when I realized what I had been missing. While I thought scrapbooks came from together from a $15.00 kit I found out there were so many things to help someone get started. Instead of me sitting there and thinking I could cut a perfectly round circle, I learned that a circle cutter existed. Right then I was drawn back into scrapbooking.

I immediately began poring over pictures from the past 2 years to begin scrapping. I frequented the local scrapbooking store so often they knew me by first name. I would look at the wall full of beautifully put together pages and think jealously, "Why can't I do a page like that"? As I looked at a page that looked almost identical to my own, I was hit with the sudden new outlook on scrapbooking.

I had spent so much time concentrating on making mine look like everyone else's I had forgotten the real importance of scrapbooking. To record my daughters memories. Right then I knew that my pages were perfect. Pefect in my image of perfection. It doesn't matter if they look simple or elaborate, its knowing that I accomplished that page.

I now have so much more confidence when I scrapbook. For someone who can't draw a straight line much less cut one, I can't help but feel an extreme sense of pride when I flip through my albums. My confidence has shown immensly in my scrapbook. I now have friends who are jealous of my pages. I just tell them there is nothing to be jealous of. Pride and confidence in myself and my abilities helped me develop the pages that there jealous of. It doesn't matter if anyone likes my scrapbook as long as I do. Having confidence in myself hasn't only helped my scrapbooking its also helped me battle my lifetime weight problem.

I never before had the confidence to help me control my eating problem, but after believing in my abilities as a scrapper I was able to gain confidence in myself as a person and say I can do this. As a child I had a horrible self esteem problem because of constant teasing by my peers. I no longer worry about what others think about me. With something as simple as paper, glue, scissors and memorable pictures I've gained enough confidence and self esteem to take me through the rest of my life. Scrapbooking will forever help me grow as a mother, wife, friend and confident loving person.

Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: What I like most about dMarie.com, by Andrea S.