Four years ago I promised a graduation photo album to my grandaughter, Class of 2013. I began gathering pictures, supplies, and information about friends, events, dances, anything that would help me put this book together. I used every means I could think of to get this information. Thank goodness for Facebook, twitter, school websites and district/state websites. Needless to say this takes time and patience and many, many notebooks filled with notes.
I planned to take one year at a time so the project wouldn't be that overwhelming. Good plan, but I didn't follow through very well. I moved cross country the third year in and when I finally got all my scrapbooking materials unpacked and organized I was three years behind.
Now that I have most of the photos I need stored on the computer or printed out I need to gather stickers, paper and embellishments for all the different themes of dances, homecoming parades, etc. I also need buttons, stamps, ink pads and colored pens. I can't forget the punches and my Cricut cutting machine and oh yes, make sure I have enough toner to print out all the pictures. I think I am now ready to begin. 
As I put together the pages of this book I realize that I too am taking this journey with her by assembling the memories of these high school years. I see first hand the accomplishments take hold and shape her into the great adult she will soon become. Pictures enable you to catch and preserve the actions and emotions that the human eye may catch but does not capture completely. The embellishments showcase the pictures and bring life to the page. When the page is completed it is a piece of art that you have just created.
As you work on a scrapbooking project there is always the distractions that you don't expect. As you prepare your day and plan an afternoon of scrapbooking, you don't anticipate getting an ad in the mail for the local craft store that is having a 50% or buy one get one free sale on all scrapbooking material. You know that you are going to need some more stickers or certain theme paper for part of your project.
So off you go to catch this sale and save some money. While you're out you see that another craft store is also having a sale, so of course, you have to hit both stores. They may have something you really need. Thus the above definition of scrapbooking.
So my advice to a beginning scrapbooker is to schedule twice as much time to finish the project as it really takes. Not only do you have the distraction of sale ads and trips to get more toner for your printer. You also have times when you just sit and look at your pictures, not having a clue of how you want to do the page. It's like when a writer tells you that they have writers block and are struggling with a book. We scrappers have the same problem. And if you scrapbook with friends, you have to allow time for snacks, storytelling, sharing your finished pages, set up and clean up time.
It's four years later and the album is finished. It's been packed up and mailed across country for the big event. Leaving the post office it hit me that this project had become part of my life and I wasn't sure I was ready to let it go yet. The supplies are now put away. My workroom is clean. What am I going to do in the afternoons now? Instead of a room filled with supplies and clutter, I have a feeling of emptiness.
Wait. The phone's ringing. Hello. You want to order 10. Yes, I can do that. My afternoons are free. And off I go with another project.
Sidenote: Click the tab above marked Book & Movie Reviews for my current book review.
