Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Power and Gift of Scrapbooking










Note: While I am on my trip I invited 3 ladies to guest post for me. Meet Soraya!! I interviewed her a few months ago for "Make My Monday". I love her work and am always inspired by her posts. She is a MUST Read for me:) Please stop by her Blog today!!


I started scrapbooking seriously when I was pregnant. I am an artist but stopped painting at that time for fear of exposing my baby to all the toxic substances. Scrapbooking became a major creative outlet for me and was a great way to prepare for baby. I plunged right in buying all sorts of how-to books and fell in love with all the decorative papers and epherma. I made layouts to fill a whole book that included ultra-sounds, a baby shower and a month by month of baby’s first year. All the while…I never really understood how powerful this craft  really is; it is visual storytelling in art form.  Here are the extraordinary gifts I received…


Communicating with future generations:

 I was able to preserve memories of Tara’s life that only I, as her mother, would know. These memories will get passed down to generations…how powerful is that? Tara’s great, great grandchildren can read all about Tara. They will have an idea of their roots; they will know where they came from and have a sense of identity and belonging. I can communicate with my direct descendants yet to be born!  


Writing:

Another gift is that I started journaling  a lot on my pages. My writing took on a whole new direction and a whole new avenue of creativity laid before me. My writing became infused with vulnerability, honesty, humor, heart and soul. I started writing poetry again and once I wrote a whole page about Tara’s beautiful little feet! The minutia of life became important enough to preserve.


Photography:

 My photography skills greatly improved; I wanted only the very best pictures for my layouts. I started taking pictures from different angles and in different light. I started capturing the mundane and the beautiful. 


My Art:



 Scrapbooking also affected my art. When I started painting again after the birth of my daughter, I found myself using decorative scrapbook papers and my own text. I loved the visual elements of storytelling that I was now able to incorporate into my art.


I don’t get a chance to do much scrapbooking now…I am very busy with Tara and painting…but one of my all time fave things to do is to pull out the beautiful book of Tara and re-experience her magical beginnings. Its’ all there…preserved, cherished and come to life on these pages. It brings tears to my eyes and fills my heart with the most incredible joy.

7 comments:

  1. Wow your work is great! I love the painting as well as the Scrapbook. I have a Journal and an album for my son as well. Someday maybe I will learn how to scrapbook.

    Im over from the toucan tribe!!

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  2. Wow, what an awesome post. Love the part about communicating with future generations (they may be people we'll never meet but we can still "talk" to them...how cool is that) and I LOVE the picture with "My Art:"

    Visiting from BlogFrog and Toucan Tribe.

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  3. Lovely post. I have never done scrapbooking, but now you make me want to try!

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  4. Wow! This is just lovely! Funny how those little people affect all parts of our life, isn't it!

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  5. Hope your having a good trip! Oooh I also want you to know that I given you and award!

    http://www.kreativeknack.com/2010/10/starting-is-hardest-part.html

    Have a Great Day!
    Nikki

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  6. I agree whole-heartedly with every point you made! Scrapbooking, for me, is soooo much more than a hobby. It is self expression and a record of my life. Awesome post.

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  7. so inspirational! I really need to get around to scrapbooking again. I haven't decided to switch to digital or keep with the paper. Decisions, decisions.

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I appreciate your thoughts and ideas...they inspire me!! I will be visiting you soon. Have a CREATIVE day!!