Everything!

By:Sarah Saint

What do I like most about dMarie.com? To sum it up in one word: Everything!

7 and a half years ago I went to a craft fair with my mother. I was getting married in a few months and would be moving to The Netherlands, so we were spending some quality time together before I left. We happened across a table where a woman had photo albums displayed. I love photographs and albums, and as I was about to be married, I thought I might be able to get some good ideas for a wedding album. Little did I know what I was about to see.

She was a Creative Memories Consultant and started talking to me about "Scrapbooking". I'd never heard the term before, though I'd kept scrapbooks when I was much younger. She opened the doors for me to this wonderful 'Scrapbook World'. I looked at her albums, the wonderful decorative pages and I was hooked!!

Two months later I was married and on a plane to Europe. I left my family, my friends, most of my belongings... and seemingly this new hobby I had fallen in love with. It almost seemed like a cruel joke- show me this great craft idea, then whisk me off to the other side of the world where they've never heard anything about it. I floundered about a bit, trying to do things on my own and find supplies in an unfamiliar country, all the while wondering what I was missing back home.

About a year later we moved into our first house. We got an internet connection and I could finally start trying to find out more about this "Scrapbooking" stuff. Then one day, I happened across a new website, "dMarie.com". Named after a woman I'd never met, but who had a passion for Scrapbooking that she wanted to share, and run by her husband, a man I knew only as "Mark", the mysterious computer guru and all-around nice guy, it was at first just a place to ask questions and try to find more information. It soon became so much more.

Not being anywhere near a 'Local Scrapbooking Store', crops, or anyone else that enjoyed this hobby, dMarie.com, and the other people visiting the site, became a sort of "Scrapbooking Club" for me. This is where I first learned just about everything I now know about this hobby. This is where I came with all of my questions and concerns. This is where I learned all the newest techiniques, terms, fads and products. For me, dMarie.com was, and still is, my very own "Scrapbooking University"!

And every year there is more. First there were Layout Central and Poem Place, two great places to find ideas for my own layouts. Then the addition of more bulletin boards and an on-line store. Then the infamous dMarie Bowls! I continually find more inspiration, more help and more ideas on the site- not to mention, I always have a whole lot of fun!!

But more than that, dMarie.com has become a "Home away from Home". There are so many people here that I consider my friends- even those I have never met in person. I learn about new fashions, new products, new recipes, new TV shows- in addition to all I learn about Scrapbooking. When I feel so very far away from "Home", I come to dMarie and in a matter of minutes, everything is okay. It's like visiting with old friends, sitting by the fire, chatting. In the best of times, I can share my joy. In the worst of times, I can share my grief. And through it all, I can find ideas and inspiration for scrapbooking all those times- both good and bad.

So, just what makes it so special here? What do I like the most about dMarie.com? It's not just one thing, one person, one part. It really is... Everything!

Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: What I like most about Dmarie.com!, by Alicia V.