On a roll…

Well, my backlogged pile of pictures is gone…all ready for another pile. All told, between Friday and today, I completed 14 pages, which is a new record for me. I rarely get that many done in a month, let alone a weekend…it amazes me when things happen like that. The creative muse comes, and you learn to go with it! I also dabbled in some jewelry making…and probably won’t ever again. I don’t have the patience for it, alas. (And in case you have been counting pages, they’re not all here on the blog…gotta have some mystery, ey? Some of them are going to magazine calls.:) )

This week I’ve had three different people email me as mother of three (soon to be four) and ask rather astonished: "How do you do scrap? How do you find the time?"The short answer: I don’t have time. The long answer: without a chance to create and get my hands messy, I’d go nuts. So I make time. My husband is wonderful about giving me a chance to recharge- and I often use those times to scrap (hey- it’s good therapy!). But when I finally get the chance to sit down and create, I have a limited amount of time. My secret has been to "pre-think" the pages I want to do. It usually starts with a story I want to tell, or a picture that just knocks my socks off…and I think about it as I go about my day. I have a little notebook that I often jot down ideas in: page sketches, journaling, color combinations I want to try. When I finally do get a chance to scrap, I can focus on my favorite part- creating! I have also found that being a part of a challenge group always helps…it often gives you a kick in the pants creatively, and by having a deadline, you know that at least one page will get done!

I get the feeling that some gals feel like they have to scrap, because that is what "good mothers" do…and that they have to make every page a  fantastic piece d’ art. Please don’t feel this way! There is absolutely nothing wrong with slapping them in an archivally safe album (Target has a bunch of pretty albums for 4×6’s)…I’d love it, of course, if you had a memo near the picture about what was happening, but…it’s totally okay. You aren’t less of a mother or a woman. My kids love looking through my old albums and could care less about the "art"…the pictures are for them. The art and the story are for me. We all have different gifts…different talents…and that is completely okay. I give you permission to enjoy whatever hobby you enjoy, for you, not because anybody said it was what you should be doing. That’s the whole point of having a hobby, an outlet…it’s something just for me, something that I enjoy. For some, it’s gardening. Others, it’s sewing, or quilting, or drawing comics…or collecting things, or writing…the list is endless. I think it would be increadibly boring if everyone did the same thing. Etsy wouldn’t be the fabulous place it is without all these amazing artists in different mediums. So there…I give you permission to be your own creative self…whatever it may be!