Sunday, March 04, 2007

The BIG Picture

I am now reading Simple Scrapbooks' The Big Picture by Tracy Julian. This was published in 2005, but the words still ring true now as they must have then. Only in page 50 and I am reminded that:

*Scrapbooking is about your most important memories, not about the many pictures.

*You create because you feel compelled to do so, not because you have a place for it to go. (Aha! I don't really have to worry about making theme albums.)

*Scrapbooking products don't have an expiration date. (I say, yeah! Who knows and cares that I bought most of my stuff in October 2004 and am only using them now?)

*Anytime you hear yourself say, "I wish I had..." look around and say, "What if I...?" (I see necessity is the mother of invention in scrapbooking, too.)

*You can change your approach anytime you need to. (Score! This is not SODOKU.)

*If a design works for you once, do it again. (So if my page 2 is the same as my page 15, it would only mean it's still as pretty as it was the first time. Hmmm...if a design works for others, scrap lift. Hehehe.) Also, you can scrap a photo more than once.

*This wonderful hobby needs to work for you - not the other way around. (Hmmmm...it shouldn't even be called work.)

*Journaling doesn't always have to be "composed." Just write. (No more drafts and re-drafts. This is not a career in journalism. LOL.)

*You don't always need an obvious title for every page you create. (Alleluia for those times when I can't think of the perfect punchline!)

*If you love it, it ought to be part of your scrapbook. (Expect an LO about this book. Grin.)

*You can incorporate childhood photos into your current scrapbook to tell a story about you. (Those photos are coming out of their magnetic homes.)

*All our kids really need are the highlights, not all the pictures of events, etc. (Thank, God.)

And at this scrapbooking stage I am now in, these really make me stop and take stock:

"Remember, it's paper, pictures and glue - you can afford to experiment and discover and make mistakes."

Whew! That takes off a huge load called expectations from my shoulders.

"Everything changed the day I realized I have exactly enough time to scrapbook my most important memories."

I don't have to stress over my kids' baby pictures I haven't scrapped or that I added more to my "backlog" with last Saturday's party pictures. In fact, don't even say the word backlog or never being caught up. Who's putting me on a deadline anyway?

No rush, no hurry, just the pleasure of scrapbooking my life as it unfolds. I am so loving this book and I can't wait to read more.

1 comment:

Au Lim said...

Thanks for sharing the summary of the book, Lee...not that it will stop me from borrowing it though...hehehe...

And you know what, what you just highlighted are "my sentiments exactly" not because i am as enlightened as Stacy J. but mostly out of necessity. I have too many pictures (my eldest being 19 and with 5 kids! sus! kelan pa ko matatapos) and I have long since given up on wanting to scrap all of them. Neither can I be as "galeng" as some other scrappers who just seems to be born with the design talent. It's not always a designing competition after all (except for challenges, of course). Hmmm...maybe it is because of these challenges that we get caught up in distressing over producing "good" pages. I know I catch myself in those moments too. It is a these times when we need a good talking to by Stacy J. via her book.

We really need to quit stressing on scrapbooking. It is, after all, just a hobby. Now if only, I can quit stressing on WANTING too much of things I cannot afford! wahahaha...