SCRAPPER, ARTIST, WOMAN

Why do I scrap?

* To create something that my children will remember me by.

* To help ME remember the moments of my life.

* To share my life with my distant family and friends.

* To feed the need in my soul to be creative.

* To indulge my lifelong delight in all things paper!

* To express myself in a way that is unique unto me.

* To enjoy being one of a community of like-minded people: my scrapping buddies.

What are the defining moments of my "scrapping life"?

* Going to that first "Creative Memories" party.

* Picking up my first "Creating Keepsakes" magazine.

* Creating my first REAL layout.

* Joining Aussielayouts and discovering a whole new world.

* Attending my first SWIG.

* Getting my first LO published in a mag.

* Becoming a member of The Scrap Heap Inspiration Team.

* Getting my first acceptance in CK - the mag that really started it all for me.

All these things must seem small and silly, but scrapbooking is a MAJOR part of my life. It isn't just an expensive, timeconsuming, obsessive hobby (although it IS all those things ROFL!). It has become a part of me, something I am lesser without. And I know a lot of my scrapping friends will understand THAT!
When I was a travel consultant we would sit and chat, and invariably our chatter was filled with the jargon of the trade: airline, airport, aircraft codes, phonetic alphabet, airfare acronyms etc. Outsiders would shake their head in bewilderment. Now I am "retired" I miss that special language I would speak with others in my industry.

Aah, but then there is we scrappers. Only another scrapper would understand what I mean when I wax lyrical about how I used some digibrushes on my pic, embossed with Opals on my Retro flowers punched from Wild Asparagus, then attached them with brads to some 12x12 Basic Grey along with some Cherry Arte rub-ons, some chippies painted with MM "Manila" and inked with Pinecone Versacube with a bit of doodling, some Primas, a strip of Cosmo Cricket attached with my Fastenator and a Heidi Swapp Silhouette hibiscus. Hee hee! I'm back in a gang!

My next anticipated venture is being involved with The Pink Locker Project . I have been invited to organise crop on their National Crop Day next March - thanks to my online scrapping buddy Steph - thanks Steph! It is for a great cause I urge you to all get involved. And congrats to my dear friend and fellow Scrap Heap Inspiration Team member Chrissy who has been invited to be a guest designer for TPLP.

And finally, I, like, it seems, so many other scrappers recently, have been exposed to the horrid side of blogs and message boards lately. I was referred to a US board recently and I was sickened at the absolute vitriol that was spewed by those people. It literally made me feel ill and I tell you I will NEVER go on one of those again. An Aussie Blog site was referred to me this week. It has a great premise and most of the threads and comments were interesting and constructive but OMG some of it was bordering on the American ones. Personal, nasty, bitter - just horrid. I had been benignly participating up to this point. I then deleted the link from my favourites, and any other reference I had to it so I wouldn't be tempted to go on there again. It is so easy to get caught up with wanting to defend a position or smooth the waters and become a target for these people. A few of my friends have been personally hurt by these Blogs and it has brought home to me how lucky I am to have my wonderful group on Aussielayouts and my regular blog-readers and bloggers out there. Luckily, I think there are more of these than the other. It's not just scrapping. I was checking out the Australian Idol site today for some information and ended up on a blogsite. Just reading a few comments was enough. It is a sad reflection on people today I must say. Hiding behind call-signs and anonymous log-ins. Anyway, I'm starting to sound like one now ROFL! To everyone who has been hurt by these blogs - I'm so sorry, it's terrible and remember there are more of us "nice" scrappers our there than the nasty ones.

Everyone has individual scrapping styles, from full-on fill-every-space, to minimalist; classic to funky. All of them are fantastic in their own way. Different things appeal to different scrappers, which is pretty cool. Some want to scrap once a week with a few friends; some scrap at home, happy to be alone; some scrap only for their family albums; some like to submit to mags and others don't; some want to make a living out of it, some just want it to be their hobby; some want to call themselves one thing and others couldn't care less; some scrap their kids and family; some like more artistic subjects; some have no children and scrap their pets, their friends, their travels only. Some are teenagers; some are SAHMs, some are career women; some are Grandmothers, there are even some MEN out there!!! IT'S FANTASTIC! So let's celebrate our differences! It's a small world, after all.

My 2 minutes is well and truly up :)

Trace xxx