There comes a time in every scrapbooker's life when they need to literally put their foot down and "come out of the closet" so to speak. This is usually because the closet can no longer hold the mass of gadgets, embellishments and paper. ...and in lieu of a catastrophic death by scrapbooking supplies when a guest inadvertently opens said closet, a choice must be made. Purge or Expand.
As luck would have it, I have a fabulously wonderful spouse, who humors me and my addiction (yes, no matter what anyone tells you, it is an addiction). I think that step one is acknowledging you have a problem: Scrapbooking. It is kind of like a 12 Step Process...and no, I do not yet know what all of those steps are yet...when I become a zen master scrapbooker I'll share. But, right now I am a neophyte... but this is what I have learned so far....
Step 1: Acknowledge the addiction...your addiction... Scrapbooking (and it is about you).
Step 2: embrace this addiction... after all it is not about me, I am creating a record for my decedents, recording history, preserving it if you will (yes, back to step one, I lose my token...my addiction, it is about me).
Step 3: Collect the necessary tools to "create". Mastered!
Step 4: Find a storage area. It can be a shoebox under a bed, a shelf on a closet, or (*cue the pearly gates, rays from heaven, ah-ha harp music*) a scrapbook room/ dedicated space.
Step 5: Find a place to create.
This brings us to the purpose of this blog. Step 4 and Step 5. ...and as I said before, fabulous spouse. Yes. When we were looking for a new house in 2008, I asked said fabulous spouse for a room of my own- a Scrapbook Room. It would make me ...happy, more productive, more organized...you know...all that. He, of course, wants me to be happy, is hoodwinked into believing that I am in fact helping to preserve memories for the future, etc, and as far as addictions go, this is definitely on the milder and less destructive end. So, we were green lighted for a house with a scrapbook room (if it was in our budget). We (I) found one with a master bedroom and attached nursery, perfect for (a) babies (NOT happening. I am perfectly ready at this point to wait for grandchildren), (b) a study/ office, or (c) Scrapbook Room!
Yeah! My own room- a Scrapbook Room! Since June 2008 I have been the proud owner of my own space! Upstairs, tucked away from the bustle of family noise... er the family. My Family. So, the euphoria did not last. I am a working mom of 3, with a travelling husband. So, I kept schlepping my stuff down stairs to scrap at the kitchen table so that I could spend "quality time" with my family which I only saw until 7:30 AM and then from 5:30PM-8PM (and husband until 10) and weekends. OK, I know that scrap time is not quality time, but at least there is intermittent banter... the occasional face that is not frozen with that "please just take the darned picture and stop embarrassing me" smile... the ability to stop children from escalating to the global thermal nuclear war phase of fighting... you know quality time.
I kept telling myself that my lack of scrapbbooking was due to the kids schedules- no not it. My lack of organization- my room looked like it was at the loosing end of a bar brawl. That had to be it. I kept dumping and rummaging , and it had to be organizing. One of my scrapbooking friends told me about a website for scrapbookers that might help: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/ and I discovered their message board with the last week of a 29 week Organizational Challenge. Agghh!
I missed it!!! I was this close and I missed it!!! ...Luckily, while I joke that my family stepped on a leprechaun on the way off the Island, and that is why if it weren't for bad luck I'd have none at all... it was not so this time. The fabulous Wookiemouse (scrapbooking guru, I am sure), who moderated the challenge, posted all of her information for those weeks here on blogspot! http://wookiemouse.blogspot.com/search/label/organization%20challenge
I read this opus of organization and realized what my problem was (besides myself). It was the space itself. What good is a Scrapbook Room where you never scrapbook?
So, I have decided to perform a hostile takeover of our dining room. It has never seen a meal (it has white carpeting for goodness sake!) and is an eyesore due to its current function of catch all. One of the TwoPeas members (Crisann) decided to revive this Challenge for the New Year! Thank you, Crisann. The next 29 weeks I will be posting my progress for any and all to see...warts and all. And, Hopefully, by the end it will be both organized, and using my space... creating again.
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