Has it changed my life? You bet it has!
By:Monika R.
"Hey, honey, sorry I cut your head off in this picture, but if you crop a bit at the bottom and you do one of those mat thingies, no one will notice!" Yup, that's my DH talking, the guy who had no idea how scrapbooking would impact him when I started getting into this. Actually I've been scrapbooking for 25 years, but back then nothing was acid-free and no one knew what die cuts were for or why a circle cutter was a good thing. It has only been the last year or so that our credit card balances have been steadily creeping upward as my punch collection has increased! However, you wanted to know how scrapbooking has changed my life and so here goes...
Yes, I've always taken pictures, but mostly I'd stuff the envelopes in a box, to be put in a scrapbook about once or twice a year. Sound familiar? I thought so. Now, however, I stock up on the mega film packages at Costco. The photo store owner greets me by name and knows I want 3 by 5 matte twin picks. He even automatically makes singles of the pictures with bad facial expressions or pictures that are blurry! And if that's not bad enough, when I go clothes shopping for my son and daughter I keep future layouts in mind. I also have two cameras loaded with film at any time and my son automatically smiles and grins when he sees that I have the camera in hand. He also requests that I take one picture of him for every picture I take of my daughter. Ahh..if only I had bought stock in Kodak!
Now, about my supplies. Well, I started by buying one scrapbooking kit. Then I bought some fun paper. Then I saw a punch and BAM!! There was no return! I started storing my scrapping stuff in one file cabinet. My husband does not realize that scrapbooking stuff multiplies like rabbits and he's wondering what happened to our office! I now have shelves filled with containers of punches, pens, adhesives, scissors, stamping stuff, magazines, idea books, and embossing templates. My file cabinet is overflowing with paper. My CIS sticker binder is filling up quickly. My die cuts are coming out of their drawer, and my stamps now have their own 6 drawer organizer. As a matter of fact, there is a very narrow little walkway in our office to enable us to sit at our computer. Everything else, including counter space has been claimed by ME!!! The scrapbook Addict!
And...speaking of computers! It used to be that my husband could come home from a tough day at work and relax a bit at the computer. Even here, scrapbooking has invaded our life. From the first time my husband pursuaded me to enter "scrapbooking" into a search engine, life has not been the same. I couldn't believe all the websites related to scrapbooking were out there! Where had I been??? My bookmarks quickly filled up with scrapbooking on-line store sites, idea sites, punching sites, stamping sites and more and more links being added every day. Often my husband would ask me what time it was at 2 a.m. as I surfed for more ideas. And then the time came...One day my husband came home with a new computer, just for him to use! Of course, that was after we had our second phone line installed because no one could get through to us! And good thing too...I discovered scrapbooking chatrooms! And chatrooms led to secret pal swaps! And secret pal swaps led to more excuses for shopping!
Yes, you could say that scrapbooking has changed my life. I couldn't think of a better hobby. I've made many many on-line scrapbooking friends. And if DH ever starts complaining (he hasn't yet) about how much scrapbooking has invaded our life, I'll remind him that this is NOT a frivolous hobby. I am documenting our past for our kids. So what if I check in regularly at dMarie's with my credit card in hand?
Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: A Lifetime of Memories, by Karen Ramirez-Smith
