I heart Scrapbooking!

There are a lot of different hobbies out there. Some of mine include jogging, reading, shopping, bike riding and movie watching. And then there is scrapbooking. I really enjoy scrapbooking. I dabbled a little bit in scrapbooking while in high school ( I think the very first one I made was for my high school boyfriend aka Jason) and I did a tiny bit in college, but I really started to adopt it as my favorite pastime after I got married. There was a little store just down the street from our 1st apartment in Logan and it got me hooked. I love it for these reasons ...

1. It is a realistic creative outlet for me.

2. It is a good excuse to get out and hang out with good friends.

3. It keeps me busy on all of those rainy Oregon days.

4. It has provided a good opportunity to make some really great gifts that I'm really proud of.

5. Other than giving me a fun pastime, it is a hobby that has a point, that being memory preservation.

6. It is a hobby that I can include my kids in. (In fact, Mary has her own tote and has been seen accompanying me to many a "crop").

Below are pictures of an album I made for Adam & Diana as a belated wedding gift...

I felt the need to do this post as a tribute to my favorite scrapbook store. So after almost ten years of hard work and persistance , my little "home away from home" had to say good bye. Scrapbook Attack was its name and I had the privilege of being one of their customers and even from time to time one of their employees. I would like to give a little shout out to Sheri, Bev and Sam fighting a good fight and providing a wonderful work environment and just a fun place to hang. I'll miss them.

I dug up this article I wrote almost 11 years ago. My dad had just started our family newsletter, "The Heder Herald" and this is one of the first articles I wrote for it. Please forgive its over the top cheesiness...it's pretty bad, but I still thought it would be fun to post.

I tried to fight the tears that were forming in my eyes as I opened the gift my brother, Doug, had presented to me on Christmas Day 1991. I felt silly making such a big deal over my high school senior yearbook. I think Doug was especially surprised of the emotions stirred by his gift.

My parents had given me an allowance while I was in high school and I was free to spend it as I wished. However, once it was gone...it was gone. When it came time to purchase my yearbook at the end of my Senior Year, I had already spent my allowance on probably other less important items. In justification of my poor planning I thought, "it's not that big of a deal. Maybe I'll buy it later." When Christmas time rolled around I had already forgotten about the yearbook. My perceptive mother had not. Stumped as to what to get his sister for Christmas, my mother suggested to Doug the yearbook.

This gift of memories was more important to me than I realized. As I thumbed through the pages of my yearbook, I reminisced over fun and frustrating times I had with fellow classmates, friends, teachers and advisors. This book was a real treasure. Maybe this experience along with others is what has triggered my love for scrapbooking.

I have been lovingly criticized by my husband and my brothers that I'm a "scrapbook junkie". Scrapboooking has become the latest trend in the craft world and I'm the first to admit that I'm an addict. I can't help myself. There are so many cute papers, stickers, trinkets and tools, I get easily lost in the marketing and excitement of it all. If I find myself with a little extra money at the end of the month, I head to the nearest scarpbook store to buy the latest and greatest gadget. In defense of myself and my newfound hobby, I must ask, " Who's complaining?" With my new self-inflicted role of family photo historian, everyone loves handing their pictures over to me knowing that eventually they will be put into an album. My brother Adam, knows this to be true. After coming home from Germany one summer he handed over his pictures and within just a few weeks I had turned his German trip into a Bavarian adventure displayed in a fantastic album for all to enjoy! Okay, so that might be a little dramatic, but I do think the effort I made to pick up where my mom slacked with my brother's baby albums was appreciated. The only complaining you might hear is from my husband, when at 1 am he beckons me to bed and I say, "just 10 more minutes dear, I'm in the middle of working on the cutest page!"

Even though I am a sucker for all the hype, I actually do believe there is more to scrapbooking than cleverly trimmed edges or creative designs. The creativity of the process is what largely motivates me to pursue this hobby, but I feel that I have a responsibility to my past , present and future family to preserve and establish a legacy. It has also served as therapy in many ways for me as well. For instance, While I was living in Michigan I felt very alone being so far from friends and family. To keep myself busy, I worked on and completed my mission scrapbook. By reminiscing of fun and spiritual times, I was able to fill a certain void I was feeling at that time in my life. At the same time I was also preparing a book that my prosperity will be able to look through and get an idea of some of the great experiences I had.

Just as Doug was able to ignite unknown emotions with the gift of my Senior yearbook, my goal as a scrapbook junkie is to ignite many emotions through creative memory preservation in the years to come.