Friday, September 21, 2007

july, august and september...

Okay, so I have been waaaaay behind on my "Year to Remember" class...



Just to refresh your memories, every month we have an "art challenge" and we're supposed to complete a layout for that month. This summer was just crazy and I got so behind...but since I got back from Phoenix I've caught the scrappin' bug and I've just been wanting to scrapbook like crazy!! So here are my July, August and September layouts for my calendar. As always, I shamelessy "lift" Heidi's work. There is something about her stuff that when she shows us a project or a page I cannot get it out of my brain....so I just copy her work and then learn from the techniques that we've been taught and make it my own later. Whew! I have to say, I am loving these pages, especially the September one...so fun!









On to other things....



Graham got home last night after being gone for almost a week for work....oh, how nice it is to have my husband home!! It's always surprising to me that I actually AM capable of being on my own with the girls, but it is definatley way better to have help and just makes me appreciate my husband so much more. I am truly lucky. I've been wanting to blog constantly lately as well, but time just doesn't allow it...if I had about 5 more hours in everyday (and if I didn't need sleep) then I'd be good...everything would get crossed off my list!




Kim and I went for lunch yesterday to good ole' McDonald's with our kids (she mentioned this on her blog) and we just chatted like crazy. We have some fuuuunnnn things planned for the Goodie Box over the next couple months, so you won't want to miss out! It's always fun to bounce ideas off of each other....we are just so on the same wavelength when it comes to scrapbooking that it's super easy to agree on things and come up with fun stuff...I can't wait!! I truly love this hobby. I wish that non-scrapbookers could really understand what it means to me, and how much MORE it is than just sticking pictures on paper. It is about living, capturing and remembering everyday moments. It's about recording our lives in more than just a journal. It's an art form, an expression of who I am. It's my creative outlet...something that I can do for ME, yet my whole family can enjoy it, too. I just love, love, love it. And I'm grateful for a husband who supports me in it, too. I totally remember the first time I showed Graham my scrabooking stuff before we got married. I had 2 sets of those little 8.5x11 plastic drawers filled with cardstock, patterned paper, some punches, pens and diecuts and that was it. I thought I was big-time, totally happenin'...haha!! I remember Gray was like, " I don't get it, it's just paper." and now he totally loves and appreciates what I do.



(Oh, and those 2 sets of drawers have turned in to this:)







On Stacy's blog a while back she asked the question:

"If you could change one thing about scrapbooking (and/or our industry in general) that would allow more people to embrace and enjoy this amazing hobby, what would it be?"

This totally got me thinking.....what would I possibly change about this industry that would make more people WANT TO SCRAPBOOK??? My answer is this....I wish people would just embrace the hobby without worrying about "how good" their work is compared to other people's. Isn't that one of the things you hear people say the most when they look at your scrapbooks?? "Oh, I could never do this as well as you can", or "I'm just not creative at all" or "no matter how hard I try, my pages are never as nice as yours." Responses like this just make me so sad!! I would hate for my girls to miss out on albums full of memories just 'cause I was comparing myself and thinking that I wasn't good enough.


Guess what girls????



You ARE good enough!!!



No matter what your style or budget is, no matter if you have 1 hour a month to scrapbook, or 1 hour a day to scrapbook...your work is awesome! I think Donna Downey said it perfectly when she said "I am perfect just the way I create." I wish that everyone would embrace their style and just go with it and be proud of it....'cause guess what? Your family will way rather look thru albums than look thru none at all...and I can guarantee you'll never hear your kids say, "Um, mommy....this page isn't as good as (insert a scrabooker that you admire here)." Haha!!! Trust me....all of our work is perfect in our own special way...and when in doubt....just scraplift!!! (*see above pages*)



Whether you're a hardcore scrapper or not....I challenge you all to do a little scrappin' this weekend...trust me, it'll be worth it!




T:)

6 comments:

Andrea said...

Thanks- so needed to read that. My kids love the 20 pages I've done and look at their books all the time. I think they are horrible. So haven't done more. But I should. And I realized I do need to copy. Atleast till I get more comfortable with it all. So true to have something rather than nothing.

Anonymous said...

Hi Talia - It's so great to know that you "scraplift" too. I always feel a bit guilty but in the end my pages never look exactly the same as the ones I set out to copy. I'd loved your comments about comparing - why do we do that? And anyways our children are just happy to look at photos of themselves so somebody elses album won't interest them!

Oh and I love your scraproom, I am so envious - mine is in containers and baskets in a cupboard. I even looked at my walk-in-robe sideways the other day! It must be so much easier having it accessible all the time. But please tell us when you have time to do so much scrapping. You seem to achieve so much - perhaps I should spend less time reading blogs!

Bye for now Ange NZ

the goodie box girls said...

I love your layouts....isn't it nice to be able to scraplift? lovin' this post...gets me motivated to scrap!

Kara said...

i love your area talia!! i wanna come to canada and scrap with you!! LOL, i have 2 girls too. our girls can just play all day together.
keep scrapping!! i love your pages!!

Andi said...

Talia...you are so right! I am one of those scrappers who has a hard time letting go...trying to lose that bad habit! Because that is SO not what this hobby is about! Thanks for the reminder!

Anonymous said...

Talia, that is exactly what I wanted to hear....the other day I was looking at my pregnancy album and hated most of the pages but loved to read all my notes from almost 4 years ago..... the beauty of this hobby is that you can always get better and change your pages the way you want!!!
thanks for your advise and I loooove your room....it made me want to change my table and get organize the way you are.
Love reading your blog
Sylvia ( Grande Prairie)