Thoughts on cards, kids, photos

I was a cardmaker before I was a scrapbooker. In fact, I was a cardmaker before my 10-year-old daughter was born. I was immediately drawn to the idea that I could make something for someone while saving some money. Yeah, that saving money thing didn't really happen, but I sure did make cards for people! I amassed a good stash of stamps, paper, and tools. So, when my daughter was born, I had the basics for creating a scrapbook.

Some of you who know me already know the story of how I started scrapbooking, but let me fill in my other blogland friends. When my daughter was 2-1/2 years old, her dad and I decided on the Big D Word, but we still had to live under the same roof for a few weeks. I dove head first into documenting my daughter's first few years. Part of me needed a creative escape, but another part wanted to make sure I preserved those family memories before the three of us fell into the broken family category. The result was a chronological scrapbook from birth through potty training, a scrapbook that I created in less than one month. I also made her dad a scrapbook to take with him. Thank goodness I had the cardmaking basics down so I was able to whiz through that chronological documentation process.

As my daughter and I moved on as a mother-daughter unit, documenting our memories moved to the back burner. I still kept some memorabilia like her preschool class photos and report cards, but the only times I dragged out the camera were birthdays and holidays. A desk drawer collected the rolls of film from my 35mm Canon EOS Rebel. I operated under the assumption that if I wanted to create a layout, I had to pick up where I left off in time -- somewhere around my daughter's kindergarten year.

A part of me kept wandering the scrapbooking aisles, though. And when I got married in October 2006, I gave myself permission to scrapbook the honeymoon. It was then that I realized a hole was being filled. I poured myself once again into this craft I loved so much! But once the honeymoon and wedding were scrapped, I sat back and waited for the next big event to scrap, and part of me was sad.

While I waited, I searched the internet for tools to help me improve my scrapbooking. Thank goodness I did because I came across ScrapHappy, Simple Scrapbooks, and Stacy Julian who all helped me give myself permission to scrapbook everyday life.

Since then I have had a new perspective on scrapbooking. I have decided that, for me, the center of scrapbooking is the photo, and I can create a layout from any photo or group of photos I find interesting. This brings me comfort. I don't feel as if I am constantly behind in my scrapbooking. And I feel free to take the camera anywhere.

This morning as I dropped my daughter off at her second to last day of elementary school, I drove off in tears. Where did my baby go? Why didn't I document all five grades? What did I miss? As I got home, my daughter called. She sensed the tears in my voice, but I said I was fine. She asked me to bring her the towel she forgot for playday -- an annual school event involving lots of water. I got ready to bring it to her, and started thinking about my scrapbooking. That made me stop my pity party and realize that each moment of everyday life is a gift worth preserving. I headed to the school with her towel, and my new blankie -- my camera. As a result, I captured so many moments, expressions, splashes, smiles, and fun. And, I took what I think is the best picture of my daughter that I have taken in her 10 years. Eventually I want to scrapbook it, but I can't wait to share it with you.