My fellow scrappers, it has been a while and for this I sincerely apologize. I am currently working on a last-minute album for someone very special to our family and it has been taking up most of my creative time. These are pages I will not be sharing but scrapping them has got me thinking about what kind of pages I enjoy creating the most. This post was born out of those musings, and it is a bit more serious in tone than my previous Scrap Stories.
I wish I could… I truly do… I try… I experiment… I dare… and I fail. Well, technically, not every time, but more often than not. Because it's not me. Because it's not what I do. Because it's copying someone else's style. So, no one will ever see all those pages I lovingly started and ruthlessly discarded.
What am I talking about? Art. And creativity. And self-doubt. Oh, and let's not forget my own carefully curated collection of personal insecurities. You know what they say about the grass being greener? Yeah… Especially when you're scrolling through galleries full of those pages—yep, those pages. Those jaw-dropping, eye-catching, thought-provoking artsy pages that just pop at you from the gallery and make you pause and whisper 'Wow, that's annoyingly perfect!" Those pages that seem all the rage and get the most likes and comments. Those pages that look deceptively easy to make… but take something I don't have - seeing the final image in my mind's eye.
No, hold your horses! This isn't a pity party. The point I'm trying to make here is that while I enjoy looking at artsy art journaling layouts that are more about a feeling than an event, the reality is that I don't actually enjoy scrapping them. That style is simply not my jam. Pun intended...
As a rule, my pages are practical - or at least that's what I aim for. Our life, meticulously documented and lovingly sugarcoated, preserved for posterity, arranged into albums in chronological order and printed to be leafed through during family gatherings. The undeniable proof that we are one big happy family who enjoy spending time together.
Making these pages? It’s my own personal brand of therapy—cheaper than a shrink and way more colorful. They’re my daily reminder that life is actually pretty great… even when the dog throws up on the rug again, which - let's face it - is a pretty cool event to document and journal about and offers the added benefit of breaking the monotony of scrapped perfection. Sure, my layouts might not be everyone’s cup of tea—more like a slightly chaotic smoothie of photos, memories, and torn papers. They might look a bit jumbled, a little "creative explosion" to the untrained eye. And okay, they don’t always rake in the likes or trigger a comment avalanche.
But honestly? I wouldn’t change a thing. Because these are the pages that make my heart do a happy little tap dance. They’re not trendy. They don’t scream "influencer energy" - my Jam-on-toast Instagram account is hopelessly obscure. But they’re mine. And that’s what matters.
So, here’s the grand takeaway: keep making the stuff you love. Let the trends do their thing. You do you. Because trends come and go—but joy? It's forever.