January 2: MOC9 Why I Scrap Journaling Challenge
962 words
Credits:
M3 Oct 2018: Journal/Introspective/Muse
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Mixed-Media-Monthly-Journal-Introspective-Muse.html
lbw_M3_Oct18_banner2 & wa5
PaulaKesselring_M3Oct18_Elements (21)
rjefferies-M3-Oct18-staple
awolff_basics_photocorner2
https://the-lilypad.com/store/the-basics.html
PaulaKesselring_WriteIt!_M3Oct18AddOn_Elements (1, 10, 2, 21, 27,3,4,5,9)
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Write-It-Elements.html
paulakesselring_writeit_m3octaddon_morepapers (12)
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Write-It-More-Papers.html
paulakesselring_TypeWriterKeysAlpha2 (WHY)
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Typewriter-Alpha-1-and-2.html
paulakesselring_ephemera11 (1 & 4)
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Ephemera-11.html
paulakesselring_photobooth_elements (2)
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Photo-Booth-Elements.html
rjefferies-M3addon-Oct18-mmartistry-paperpiece & stitching01
https://the-lilypad.com/store/M3-Oct-18-Mixed-Media-Artistry.html
rjefferies-p-art-sigkit8-mma-(flora01, 02, 04, stitches, tape01, threads02)
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Pocket-Art-Signature-Kit-8.html
font: Times New Roman
(photos are some of my earlier pages + computer screen of one of my trip books)
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Journaling:
"Why do I scrapbook??? There are many reasons why I do, but mainly because I am a memory keeper. Growing up, my Mom was a memory keeper and our family historian. Looking at her scrapbook (the kind with the ecru thick color paper, the hard cover with the string tie) made me want my own. I must have gotten mine for Christmas, but as I look back at that, it reflects the different phases I went through... my collection of all things "Happy Days" and Henry Winkler, taped in with the photo corners. It also captured my memories of school with report cards and then of course High School and late teens of ticket stubs and playbills and booklets to match.
I was always a photo taker. We had a "Brownie camera" for a bit that I would take photos with. Then for Christmas when I was around 13, I got my first 110 camera. I took photos all the time. While I may have stopped scrapping in the physical "scrapbook", I started to fill up a lot of the magnetic photo albums. While I never added journaling other than a date and a place, it was a simpler way of scrapping, through photos. I allowed the photos to spark my memory of the stories. I did that for years...taking photos with the 110 camera and then graduating to my Dad's old Nikon. I loved to get the photos developed and placed in an album right away. I was capturing moments of my life through the lens, although not really learning much of photography... just auto shots. I continued just taking photos and placing them in albums. I did save bits and pieces of ephemera from the occasions and tucked them in with the photos in those magnetic albums.
Another reason why I scrap, is because I love crafts and creating things artistically. Over the years, I dabbled in other crafts too (cross- stitching and calligraphy being the prominant 2). It was around 1998 when we got the Internet and a PC that came with a photo program called Paint Shop Pro, and things changed for me. I found that I really could no longer cross-stitch or write in calligraphy, as my hands were cramping up and my eyesight strained. I just couldn't do that anymore, and that saddened me as another reason I loved cross-stitching was because of all it's wonderful colors and what i could create with the colored floss.
Learning and using Paint Shop Pro allowed me to still create and play with color and that was it for me. I did a lot of on-line tutorials to learn the program, and then I kept changing to different software as I learned more of what each did. Looking on the Internet, I discovered digital scrapbooking. I would use the software to make cards, and then I saw people were using things called elements and scanning in their photos to make beautiful pages. This ignited a spark in me that would fit the bill for many things: my creative side, my memory side, my learning side and my teaching side. I found a site ("Moland") that had all these wonderful papers, elements and a forum to share the pages I created. I started to document the memories of our life. I was printing them out myself on 8x8 card stock and putting them in clear sheets in a book... oh the colors and the wonderful pages I made! I then found that printing and ink was getting a bit too costly. I wanted to buy more goodies, but I had a budget for my crafts, and I had to choose wisely! I started to only print cards I made for people. The scrap book pages I made afterwards, I just saved to my hard drive and viewed them as a slide show. The digital scrapbooking gave my creativity a new life. It allowed me to explore my creative side and combine all of the hobbies I love into one! I do make/print some books for us. The books I create are our trip books. I have now created at least 5 of those books. In addition, I have created wedding books, a 30th anniversary book, a canvas print made into a clock, and other canvas prints as gifts for family and friends .
This wonderful hobby of scrapbooking has opened a door to another world for me! I can do a lot of creative things without getting dirty and creating a huge mess! While I may not print out every page I make, I scrap memories and old photos with stories enjoying the reminiscing. It also brings to life for me those that are no longer with us, that I miss so much. Remembering them or 'that story' while I am scrapping gives me comfort. The pages I make I also post in online forums so I can share them with family and friends. It has been over 20 years now that I have been digital scrapping memories and moments. Along the way, I have joined different scrapping communities on-line. I have met many friends who live all over the world from the comfort of my home that share this wonderful hobby! (I have also met one of them -Cynthia- in person, when we traveled to the UK.) So now to answer the question again, why do I scrapbook? The reason is simple: take photos, create things, enjoy the process, reminisce, document memories and share my interest with others. I have the added bonus of helping others along the way to document their own memories too! When I look at all of the pages I have created over the years, I smile. Those photos and memories have come to life!" 
