True Confessions of a Late Blooming Scrapbooker

[MacSarah]

I did not start scrapbooking until about 3 or 4 years ago. I have 30 years worth of "Stuff" and pictures. I am not "current", that is to say, I have not scrapbooked everything that has happened since I started.


The big thing I noticed in the last couple of days is... I have NEVER scrapbooked ANYTHING related to CHRISTMAS. Just seems strange somehow.

[blbabe1234]

Not weird to me. I've been scrapping for about 4 years and just recently did a couple of Christmas layouts. They aren't really my fave subject to scrap. It all depends on your mood and what you want to scrap NOW. Its just a preference and nothing wrong with that. Remember, there are no rules in scrapbooking. There have been times where all you will see in my gallery (literally, back to back) for a month or two are my furbabies.

[cajenkins81]

I have maybe only 2 layouts of Christmas! I have a bunch of pics I need to print of the past few years, but I haven't been in the mood to scrap those, and have more current stuff I actually want to scrap. Plus, the papers that I have for Christmas are not my favorite, and I just can't get inspired for some reason. I will tho at some point, I just have SO many pics I think for me sometimes it's too overwhelming, trying to thin out some of the pics and figure out what I really want to and need to scrap and which of the 20 pics of opening gifts I don't really need, know what I mean? It will come in time. I only started scrapbooking 5 years ago when I started with my wedding album (for our 5 year anniversary) and I took a couple years off after we moved and I lost or misplaced a lot of my stuff, so I'm just now getting back to scrapping about a month now. So I Have a lot of stuff to catch up on. But, the way I see it, since there's SO much, it makes me only scrap the "really important" stuff and I get to relive those moments when I scrap them. Plus, since I Have so many pics to scrap (and so many more I need to print out!) I almost always have something available when there's a specific challenge that is presented on here! lol. (I'm already anticipating that there will be a Father's Day holiday challenge next month so I'm waiting to scrap those pics of my hubs and the kids! lol )

[oceanbreezes423]

Ia agree that there is NO right or wrong in scrapping. I do not have many Christmas either, not because I don't like scrapping it, but all my children and family live far away, and there really is not much to scrap. This past year I did not even put up a tree, that is really bad for me!!! Scrap what gives you the inspiration right now, and go back to others.

[mgehrke]

I find it difficult to go back in time and scrap when there is so much going on right now. I will eventually get things in the past scrapped, but on my own time.

[blfonty]

I've been scrapping over 10 years now and enjoy scrapping out of order, even though I may never scrap all my years and years of photos. I go with what inspires me like the challenges here. I also like to do Christmas layouts with all the pretty papers and supplies. I try to come up with something different on Christmas layouts so each year doesn't look the same. Maybe the new ornament I purchased/received, or a special lunch with co-workers, or just something fun that always happens - like our doggie tearing into the tissue paper almost before it's out of the holiday gift bags. It's all about the creative process and what that means to you. Scrapbooking for me is preserving the memories and the photos.

[sherelm]

Sometimes the memories you really want to remember are the STORIES, where you don't even have a picture to go with it! There's no rule, the suggestion is, however, if you are still taking photos (and really, who isn't?) that you jot down some things you'll forget if you don't write it down.

One Christmas my niece (now 17) wanted a stuffed mutant silk worm from outer space for her Christmas gift. It was on a TV show and the thing's name was "Silky". MY SIL sent me a lot of photos, and thanks to a lot of trial and error, I pulled it off. So yes, it's great seeing those photos. But the thing is, when I wrote it - I did write down some little tidbits, like when she boarded the plane, the pilot said to her "What is that?" and she proudly told him a mutant silkworm from outer space. He looked at my sil and brother and said "Here I thought I had seen it all. . . " And now when Ally looks at those pictures, she can remember the things we couldn't tell her then - because, of course, it was from "Santa" - not me. In fact I added a little note later on, when she first didn't believe in Santa anymore, and said "But SILKY! Where did he come from?" and then she looked at me and said "Oh yeah."

Just make sure you save the stories. Even if you can't do all your 30 years of photos in your lifetime? Maybe someone else will pick up where you stopped and finish - with your stories.

And trust me, mine will NEVER be done. I'd love, ADORE, to have just 30 years. I have some from the 1800s, and then we have a few from the early 1900s, and my mom got her own camera in the '30s - so I HAVE A LOT from there on out. I cringe.

[cajenkins81]

blfonty - such a cute page! I love that paper! I like your idea of capturing unique moments. We have so many of those right now with a new baby, last year was his 2nd technical Christmas but his first opening presents. And this year he'll really be able to get in to it. And then Olivia will be 5 this year. I know the time will fly by, so I'm enjoying what we have right now.


I actually have a page sitting on the side that I started onlast week for one of the scraplift challenges, but it doesn't feel right just yet so I'm stewing on it. I'm trying to at least scrap one family picture every Christmas, even if I don't do the mass of pictures from all the opening of presents. I have one pic from when we were at Disney for Christmas that year, and so I'll be doing a one-pic LO of a family picture each Christmas in front of a tree somewhere. This year it happened to be at my sister's. Last year Owen was a newborn and we were in front of the tree at the Library after my daughter's Christmas singing program. Otherwise, I'm going to get a lot of my pics in wallet size or smaller and just have a grid of pics, that way you get to see all the fun that was had.



Sher - love your ideas, and I bet with all the pics you have it does feel overwhelming. I don't have many pics from my childhood - yet. But I Will. My mom is slowly giving me all these things as I get older, and my grandmother has been shipping things to me from California - things they are afraid I won't get after they're gone I suppose. So for now I scrap current things, unless I come across old pics. And I scrap out of order, always have. I'm working on our Disney trip from 2009 and that brings me the most joy currently, then I work on recent things that I have pics of. We're on a fixed income right now so I don't have unlimited supply to buy all the pics I want. I have a lot right now tho, enough to last a couple more challenges worth! lol.

[MacSarah]

I have kept little notes to myself that journal the highlights, but never have I gotten anything on paper! I think a lot of it is that I am so over Christmas, by the time Christmas is over that I don't want to drag it out any longer.


Maybe I will scrapbook Christmas in July...

[joannie]

I think some themes are just easier to scrap!! My kids, birthdays, everyday stuff are easy. Holidays and major events I sit and stutter when I need to scrap them. Everyone is different!! Sometimes it takes a challenge from here to get going on holiday pages!

[PezKat]

For me Christmas is one of the easiest & most fun things to scrap! For lots of reasons - for one it's the easiest theme to take to a crop because I have sooo many Christmas embellies I don't need to take much else! But we don't have kids, so Christmases with nieces & nephews are the main kid pics I get to scrap (& they all live overseas now so it's a very special occasion to see them).

And I don't necessarily scrap them all (yes, it is allowed to throw photos away)! I usually do a double-page spread in our family album, maybe one page w/each of our families. Then all the rest go in the Christmas album along with our letter for that year and the photos we receive from friends. That way I can keep & scrap more of the photos w/o having our family album be overwhelmed by Christmas. Another idea is to list or highlight the special presents for the year or if there seems to be a running theme of gifts (last year was NFL teams, games, and cats - though for me it's pretty much always cat things, lol).

[1grandma]

I only just started scrapping in 2007 and I only have three or four Christmas LOs done. I love all the seasonal lines, but I just don't end up doing them. And I have lots to scrap too and am not currant. Oh well.

[MominCT]

Your not alone! I've scrapped since 1999 (hello construction paper and fancy edged scissors LOL!!) and I always have the hardest time with christmas and halloween. For me it's because it seems like the same pictures, same pages year after year!

[jrrah4903]

I also often travel to crops or my BFF's and bring Christmas, I agree with Pezkat, very easy to take and know you're going to have everything you want/need. Just bring all of the one theme along.

[debamas]

I'm not current either! I always have lots of options, never run out of pics!

[cajenkins81]

I think we need some of the June and July challenges to be some Christmas challenges!! haha

[Ayla]

I started scrapping when my youngest was a year old. But I was always a picture fiend, so when you add in the fact that I have six kids you can imagine how many thousands of unscrapped pictures I have. I only scrap as the mood hits me though so I scrap all over the place. I refuse to let myself get stressed about getting something "done"...that would take away the fun!

[Ayla]

And I rarely scrap Christmas unless there's something different like a special ornament or something. I hate being behind the camera instead of in all the fun.

[pattim]

I've been scrapping for a long while, too and Christmas is still a struggle sometimes. I love all the papers and embellishments, it's just getting me to commit to actually making the page...lol!

I think we need some of the June and July challenges to be some Christmas challenges!! haha

Love this idea! "Christmas in July" or June!

[letumom]

Maybe I will scrapbook Christmas in July...

Hmmm....I smell a challenge coming on from one of our newbies....