I have been contemplating all that I have gained as the documenter and memory keeper of my family’s social history. I have learned so much. I have felt so much. I have also done so much.
Scrapbooking Forums | The owner of a paper crafting store in Elgin, Scotland told me about an online forum called UKScrappers way back in 2006 and this was the first community of like-minded people that I encountered. A community that was helpful, welcoming and encouraging to newbies.
I subsequently learned that small groups of that community were actually the exact opposite of what I had initially experienced and I stopped using the forum. I do, however, continue to recommend UKScrappers to anyone I meet who wants to know more about scrapbooking.
There was also a brilliant international community at Two Peas in a Bucket, which sadly closed in 2014.
Crops | What joy to discover that scrapbookers would gather together for a weekend of crafting, making new friends and learning new techniques! I was an immediate fan and attended my first Crop in June 2008. The Best Friend and I are off for a weekend crafting very soon.
Shimelle | I had no idea that the paper crafting world had its own superstars, and the name I heard most was Shimelle. Almost Beyoncé-like, in that she seemed to be known by just her first name. 🙂 Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her numerous times, and taking classes, both in-person and online, with her. There’s no denying that she is a talented paper crafter who has turned her hobby into a career, but she is also an absolutely lovely person as well.
Friendships | I’ve made so many friends through scrapbooking, people that I would never have met without our shared hobby. Some I am still in touch with, others have fallen by the wayside due to changes in their circumstances and a few simply disappeared into the ether.
An evolving hobby | I’ve talked before about how awful my first scrapbook pages were and am in the process of reviewing and in a lot of cases, redoing those early pages. I don’t count redoing pages as any kind of failure, more an evolving process of what I have learned over the years about what works for me.
Documenting our stories and preserving our cherished memories has been a fulfilling experience for me. I know that I will keep documenting, writing, taking pictures, and doing something to preserve these things in ways that are meaningful to me.
This West London Life 
There really is a lovely community of like minded people out there! I remember the Two Peas in a Bucket website – gosh that was a very long time ago. I met Shimelle once, at a crop which happened to take place on National Scrapbooking Day – it really did feel like I was meeting a celebrity!
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Do you ever miss scrapbooking at all?
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When I look at the lovely pages you make, it does make me nostalgic! But the reality is that we simply don’t have the storage for more albums; the ones I made are rarely looked at. (probably because they are on a very high shelf that isn’t particularly accessible!) I miss the crops, and the friendship that grows between the people who attend them. If only someone would organise something where you could take any creative medium! Then you could have a table of crocheters, one of knitters, scrapbookers etc etc. Now there’s a thought …
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We obviously need to organise a multi-craft weekend for a select few!
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What a lovely read Ruth. Scrapbooking, specifically, December Daily is what brought me into your world of scrapping & blogging. Alas in my world, I no longer have friends that scrapbook, they all gave it up after a couple of years, but, I do have some wonderful memories of our away weekends of scrapping. Today’s layout share, shows why you are a rock star of the scrapping world!
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Thanks so much for your kind words. x
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My baby sister got me started scrapbooking. We do it together via Facetime. I was recently in her new house where she is creating a she-shed out of her upstairs with a whole room for scrapbooking and crafting. In the room where I slept during my visit, she had a long shelf almost the length of the room with her albums. So many memories. So many hours creating these beautiful pages. We laugh that no one will ever look at our albums once we are gone but we sure have had fun making them. Have never heard of Shimelle, so thank you for linking to her blog. Wow!! But wow for the pages you create, too.
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Future generations will love to have your albums, I promise!
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