When I sat down to write my “philosophy” about scrapbooking or creativity in general … I really had to think about it..

I thought about journaling… Nahh, scratch that, I am still learning how to do that and finding the discipline in me to make sure it’s done on each page!

I thought about style… Nah, scratch that, my style is ever evolving and changing year over year!

I thought about the pictures… that would be my inspiration for my page, but then sometimes my LO can inspire the choice in pictures I use… so, nah, scratch that too!

I thought about how it leads me to document our adventures, wee ones or big ones… or how it gives me a way to share my sons childhood with him and others.

So, really, I don’t have a certain style or a quantifiable approach; for example, right now I like rustic messiness and have embraced patterned papers and lots of layers of embellishments, but a few years ago I was all card stock and colour matched! lol

So this thought lead me to why am I doing this? I have even stopped dead at a couple of retreats (and Cheryl and B can confirm this) and asked, why the hell do we do this Honestly. And here is why:

I thought about the materials: the embellishments, the stickers, the papers, the sprays, the stencils, the idea books, the brads, the flowers, the adhesives, the magazines, Mr. Holtz (of course) Ms Gerber (best sketcher in town), Ms. Swapp or the folks that have taken Recollections to a new level, I even thought about Becky Higgins – one of the pioneers – or Provo Craft (yup, throwing it back) or Canadian Scrapbooker or the fine accomplished artists of our Facebook group like Michelle, or Rhea, or Cathy just to name a few of the many talented ladies. I thought about how I was invited to be apart of this awesome blog and the deep friendship it has led to between Cheryl and I –whom I cherish – which also leads to the deeper connection it has created between my sister Brande and I!

So after writing and reading this a few times over, (type A, I wanted to be sure to answer the question), scrapbooking comes from my soul and the community that has been built around me (because of scrapbooking) feeds my soul. It’s no different then a guy that plays hockey because of the team relationships, or members of the Lego community, etc. We surround ourselves with people that share a like passion and that shared passion feeds our souls.

All theses things have evolved me as a person, added so much to my life, through friendships and communities, and continuously feeds my creativity powers. The more embedded I have become into this art, the more creative and soulful a person I have become. It shows in my pages, in my art, in the expansion of my techniques and the commitment to the community around it.

So, I celebrate it, I celebrate others art work, my art work, those who make the tools that I use to create my art work. So my philosophy is, no matter your approach or principles, no matter your style or your layout must haves, no matter the pictures or the reason, CELEBRATE the fact that you are creating. Put the glue to paper, brush to paint, spray to stencil and simply CREATE! And CELEBRATE!

~ S