There was a question posted on two peas this morning, and I found it something fun to think about. (I’m pre-warning you – it’s long!)
How did you start scrapping and how long have you been doing it?
I can remember lots of times when I was very young when I would color a picture and attach a photograph to it. I also kept EVERY single piece of memorabilia I could since I was pretty young too. I’m weird that way. When I got to be about 8 or 9 I progressed to cutting things out of magazines to decorate pages. I’ve always been crafty.
Finally, in 8th, 9th and 10th grade I created a scrapbook (which I still have today). It was by no means “archival” in any way, shape or form. It was in a dreadful magnetic album with photos where I “embellished” by cutting and pasting magazine quotes and titles, added bits of stationary and stickers and journaled. I love it so much that I have kept in tact and it remains in that dreadful magnetic album. I know I have to remove it, but it will be a HUGE project and I really just cannot dismantle it until I can begin to work on it. Soon. Very soon.
When my son was born in 1994 I decided I wanted to do something similar for him. I purchased a baby book and used magazines, pictures, stationary cards and papers and other items and embellished a book for him. In late 1994, just before Christmas, I was introduced to D.O.T.S. (now CTMH) and was totally hooked on the brand new papers and the cute stamp sets they had. They were NOT into scrapbooking at all yet, but I saw new things I could add to my son’s baby book. I bought a few things and had fun. Sometime mid 1995, I attended a CM party and was hooked at the concept of there being a term for what I love to do. Scrapbook. When D.O.T.S. finally introduced Close to My Heart and their awesome new scrapbooking items, I went crazy. I considered becoming a consultant again.
I did my best (it all looks REALLY awful now) to create a beautiful album for my son using CM, stamps and the stuff I was using before. Except now I had die cuts too. LOL
In 1997 I moved to Mesa, Arizona. I had no idea that I was about to become obsessed. First, I went on a massive search to locate a D.O.T.S. consultant nearby. She was a doll and I continued to update my stamp sets and loved it. I had considered becoming a consultant in 1995 and again in 1996 when the scrapbook stuff was released, and at that time, I was leaning even further towards it. Especially when I realized how many people did not even know it existed. However, I used to drive down this one road on the way to the pediatrician’s office for my son, and always passed a store (in a little house) and wondered what it was. One day I finally stopped. What I discovered was a true scrapbook store. I had found heaven on earth. Memory Lane – when it was in that cute little house! It isn’t there anymore, and for whatever reason that makes me sad. I spent TONS of time (uhm, I’m ashamed to admit, several times a week) in that store and they all knew my son and treated him so well (Pam, I have no idea where you are today, but I have the CUTEST pics of you and my son Ryan you allowed me to take!). I took every class they offered, some I even took more than once just to have something to do.
Two years later I moved again. I located a local D.O.T.S. consultant, but now I knew that scrapbooking stores existed and I went on a search. I found a bunch in various locations and eventually after being a customer for a few months, I started teaching classes at a local scrapbook store in Dallas, which again is now gone. Apparently the scrapbook owners must have thought I was okay, because after teaching for a few months, I was selected to teach at the GASC (in Arlington) in 1999! That seems SO long ago now. Well, really it was.
In 2000 I left my husband, got divorced and moved back to my home town of St. Louis and am still as obsessed as I’ve ever been. There were a few scrapbook stores when I moved back, but the best have all closed now. Thank you Archivers and Michaels. *sob*
I still teach classes, sometimes at the local YMCA, sometimes at a community center, and sometimes I do private classes. I am now an official Close to My Heart consultant, I don’t have to search for a consultant every again (although I don’t plan to move away from the area ever again) and I still love teaching others how to scrap. So that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
If you made it all the way here and read it all, thank you. I didn’t mean to get so long winded but it was really fun to think about and figure out the timeline of when everything happened. It was also fun to pull out my original DOTS catalogs, consultant registration forms and even a few old hostess packets (from my own parties I hosted) LOL
Have a happy Tuesday!
Tonight is our first “online” class for Holiday in Hand. I’m really looking forward to it, as its been awhile since I have done an online class.
