Hello Friends,
I’ve noticed lately that a couple of my friends are using the phrase, “I’m a user not a collector.” Many of us who like to scrapbook, whether it be Creative Memories or an eclectic style, like to collect supplies. There’s always a new set of paper that would be just right, a cute sheet of stickers, a new gadget we want to try. It can really be quite expensive.
I’ve had a few really tight years financially lately. I have found that I truly am a “user” when it comes to scrapbooking supplies. My family albums are all Creative Memories. In the beginning, I was just too scared to use anything else. Good marketing, eh? I expect that I will continue to use their albums for my family albums. I’ve been out of pages for my books for some time. They’re rather expensive to buy. So, when a friend asked me to come scrapbook with her, I thought of another thing to do.
I have tons of leftover photos that were either duplicates or just didn’t make it into the CM albums. I also needed some nice Christmas gifts for my mother-in-love and my kids. So, off to Wal-Mart I went. I bought acid-free cardstock, acid-free page protectors, and acid-free craft glue stick. Then, I got busy making pages!
I already had most of the photos separated by event or at least in chronological order in envelopes or in my big CM file box. I just took out a file, whatever I felt like working on that night, and separated the photos into four or five piles. Then I would make a page with whatever pretty stickers or paper I had on hand, for each of my children and/or my mother-in-love. If I didn’t have enough photos, I’d just decide who I thought would enjoy them most and make pages for those people. I didn’t sweat the small stuff. I just worked quickly, with love, and enjoyed it so much: because, it didn’t have to be perfect!!!!!!!!
I journaled or put Bible verses on each page. I then finished the pages by putting the recipient’s name and the date of the pictures on the bottom. That way, I can do them in whatever order I want and put them in correct order later. Freedom!!!!!!!
Lastly, all the pages went into a file folder together, in random order, until I got page protectors and notebooks to put them in. I used 1 1/2 inch nice quality white notebooks. They have a cover that allowed me to slide in a 10×13 photo; so, each child has an album with his or her photo on it! Now I finally have a use for 10x 13 photos!
Shortly before Christmas, I put the books together using the acid free page protectors that you can buy in the office section of Wal-Mart. They turned out great. I’ve been using the same method to add to the books ever since. I’ve already had to move one child’s pages to a larger book! Naturally, the older ones have more photos because they’ve been alive longer!
What’s the point of telling you all of this?
FREEDOM!
I now feel free to be creative even if I don’t have the “right stuff”. These albums may not last a hundred years; but, they are blessing my family right now. I was putting off putting things into albums because I couldn’t do it “right”. In the meantime, the kids were forgetting. I don’t want to do that anymore.
So, when things get better, I expect I will continue my Creative Memories albums. They really do have a superior product. BUT I am not going to let my perfectionism get in the way of making wonderful memory reminders for my children NOW.
Making do!
Just Something to Think About…
Laura
Happy at Home