Scrapbooking makes me glow

I guess I glow. I did not know that I did this. But, last night, while talking about scrapbooking, I was told that I “glow” when I talk about my passion for it with others.
 

I guess it makes sense. Some people glow when they talk about training for a marathon and about how they managed to finish it. Others glow when they talk about their fantastically low golf score. Still others glow when they talk about their latest vacation.

Me – I guess I glow when I talk about scrapbooking.
 

After thinking about it, and spending some time really examining it, I came up with a few answers and ideas as to what makes me glow in terms of scrapbooking.
 

1. I get a chance to document my husband, my kids, my life, my family, and my friends in a very tangible and long-lived way. That means a lot to me. I can share it with them and with others for generations to come.
2. For me, it is a creative release. We all need that hobby, that sport, those one or two activities that allow us to be free – to be who we really are. Scrapbooking is one of those activities for me. It helps me to find peace when times are stressful. It helps me to express myself in a creative, yet meaningful way.
3. It is a chance to make new friends. What could be better than a Friday night crop alone? (People usually think I am super weird for heading out to a store by myself on a Friday night…) Nothing is better. Why? Because it gives me the chance to meet new people, build new relationships, and do this all around the one creative outlet I am passionate about. It is an instant “thing-in-common” with the person sitting across from you or with the group at the next table. It is a given. It is a way to start a conversation with people without really even having to try.
4. It is something I do for me (with the pretense that it is for the family). Let’s be honest. At the end of the day, do my boys REALLY care what type of embellishment, what type of punch, or even what coordinating paper I used for my layout? No. I do, however. So, while we do this great and noble thing of documenting our families, relationships, adventures, etc…, we are also doing something for ourselves. We are making time to do something we truly enjoy – even if it is sometimes done under that pretense of memory preservation.

A few other things also came to mind last night while I was thinking about my glow…

• I have woken up at night with an idea for a layout that I had to write down.
• I keep a journal of sketches for layouts.
• I carry paper, pen, and a camera – everywhere!
• I see patterns for paper in everything – a shirt, a tablecloth, a Kleenex box…
• I count down the hours until my next chance to craft.

So, maybe there is something to this “glow” that I supposedly have. Maybe there is something to that huge smile that spreads across my face every time I try to convince someone else to try it.

It is a fiery passion, deep in my soul, to create, preserve, and embrace life through actions and living, but then also through documenting and reliving those moments in a very meaningful way. It is a passion to live creatively and to spread that to others. It is a passion for everyday moments like folding the laundry or a trip to the park – not just the big ones. It is a passion for making something out of a pile of “stuff” that others outside this circle of “cropping” might never understand.
 

Hi, my name is Stephenie Hamen, and I am a passionate scrapbooker.