Scrapbooking - More Than a Hobby!

One day last September, I saw that my local scrapbooking store – Scrapbooks and Memories – was having a special fundraising all-day Saturday “crop” to raise money for Breast Cancer Research. Sue, the owner, is a breast cancer survivor.

Hubby’s first wife, Jayne, had this disease and had been able to survive 21 years. My friend in Ontario had just had a mastectomy. This is an important cause to me. I was just barely learning how to crop but I thought I would go over to support the cause.

I didn’t know anything about a group of ladies cropping, or what food a person would take. So, I took some pink M and M’s and a few photos, scissors and glue to the shop.

There was a nice large room full of big tables and happy women, all working on their layouts.

Of course, since that day, I have acquired some more “tools of the trade” and I just love purchasing special papers and embellishments that can make a page so special! Additionally, I have met several new friends.

My friend, Bonnie, had made me a scrapbook as a gift when I became an American citizen (four years ago) and I loved browsing through that book.

Working on projects at home resulted in a massive mess and I learned to go to the “crop room” at Sue’s to really set up well. I always take at least one bottle of diet green tea and get kidded that when the tea is gone, I am out of there. (Also, there are energy bars tucked in my kit.)

Naturally, Ava was a super subject to crop and I even made books for her grandparents and parents. Of course, I scrapped books of Buddy, Hubby & me, our vow renewal, and church activities.

Two years ago, with the help of her two daughters, my sister-in-law, Louise, moved from her home of 44 years to a retirement community in the Cleveland (Ohio) area. There was another topic!

I have just finished graduation books for a friend and a niece. I made a memory book for our snowbird friend of his winter in Texas. My book of our friendship is almost ready for Judy in Ontario.

In January, Louise’s great-grandson, Josh, arrived and his parents update me monthly with photos. I love it when people send me a large assortment of photos so I can pick the ones I want to use. I crop them and send them on up to Louise who shows him off to her friends.

Ongoing – in between projects – I take old photos from when I was a youngster in Toronto and assemble them into a special memory book. My tricycle had a Union Jack on it! That might be a hint to my age!

Scrapbooking has been fun and calming for me. I really enjoy it and look forward to the get-togethers every week. High tech is coming to Scrapbooking but I hope to still be able to use simple ways which are so calming and relaxing for me.