nostalgia

this year i am thrilled that March appeared so quickly. i thought January flew by. however i think February zoomed on even faster. i am not sad when winter moves along at this speed. just as long as the clock slows once the grass and hot sun appears.

i realized with shock that i am now preparing to teach my third layout class for Urban Scrapbook. my third design team kit is on my desk and begging for some of my time. it occurred to me yesterday that i can't really call myself "new staff" at the store. to me there are still lots of things for me to learn! but i've nearly had 2 months of shifts already. how did that happen so fast?!

it still feels like i just said "yes" to all of this and now here i am. i think i've reached the point where i feel like i'm getting the hang of the juggling and knowing better how to manage my time. it helps that March is a longer month.

i don't think the past few months have sped by due to the busy-ness of life. i think part of it has been due to the fun and excitement as well. the timing could not have been better.

it has been a surreal experience to have been a customer of Urban Scrapbook for so many years and to now be an employee. working with the girls that encouraged and challenged me over the years. i am very lucky.

they asked me how long i had been scrapbooking. i said since 2004, so about 5 years.

then i realized that it had been longer. 1995 i made our wedding invitations. parchment paper from Staples, a rubber stamp, gold ink pad and embossed using the back of my clothing iron. wow! 1996 was the year i made my first scrapbook. white 8 1/2 by 11 pages. one black pen. one package of rub-ons. "deckle edged" cut edges of some photos. "corner shaped" others. i made about one scrapbook per year of our vacation trips. one to Vancouver Island. one to Montreal. two to Mexico. i bought a new package of stickers or rub-ons for each album and a few new tools. very basic. my friend, Robyn encouraged me to not just take photos of vacation or celebrations. she said it is good to have photos of everyday stuff too. i always kept that in the back of my mind. how ironic that every day stuff is one of the biggest trends in modern scrapbooking.

then i changed from teaching full-time to subbing. i had extra time. off i went to Western Educational to buy a stamp, paper and pens to make Christmas cards.

at the same time i became friends with Kirsten who made cards. i had too, but they were very basic. Kirsten had some books by Becky Higgins she had borrowed from her sister in law. my creative world grew larger. then i learned about classes in cardmaking and scrapbooks. we took our first class at Treasured Memories (now Urban Scrapbook) on using chalk inks and stencils. good class. but, wow! i am so glad that i don't use chalk inks on my pages like that now! not that i ever did. i tried, but was not successful.

then Stampin'Up came in.

then i was pregnant. the baby was due in October, so i started the Christmas cards in September. i had an idea book by Bazzill and went off to the store to get paper and a new punch. all the cards were done and ready by the time he was born! i just added a photo afterwards.

my friend, Stacey, also had a baby born in October. she wanted to make a scrapbook for her daughter. i had been thinking about it but wasn't sure if it was a good project. on a shopping trip together i came across "Oh, Baby" magazine by Scrapbook, Etc. i loved so many of the layouts. having learned the tips of "scraplifting" by Kirsten i figured i would copy the layouts i liked and do a first year album for Aidan.

with the magazine and my photos i would spend hours going up and down the aisles with Aidan in his carseat/stroller and find the perfect paper. i learned immediately that it would be impossible to use the exact paper in the layout. a disappointing discovery. i copied as best as i could. as it happened i started to use my own ideas to make pages and gave up on scraplifting. i was never really that good at it anyway. as weird as that sounds! but i would still spend hours finding the perfect paper and embellishments for the photos i had.

with the kids, i took more classes at US. even the projects from 4 years ago still get rave comments!

given my history of scrapbooking, i knew that i would one day look back on those first "real" pages and shake my head at the basic techniques. however i took that into stride. i decided that the new techinques would be part of the fun. yes, those first pages still make me smile at their style. but i have awesome memories....of the shopping and searching....the many hours spent putting the page together....the experimenting. each paper and embellishment was chosen VERY carefully. truly, i remember how much i had fallen in love with a particular aspect of the page and how excited i was to combine it with Aidan's photos.

so, lets change the date. i guess in reality i have been scrapbooking for 15 years. but in all honesty, it is the last 5 that have felt like "real" scrapbooking.

i think i will look back on 2010 as another scrapbooking milestone. i feel a similar challenge that i did back in 2004. a challenge to try something new. stretch myself further - creatively.

i am excited for this phase!

i appreciate Pat and Lori for giving me this opportunity. for seeing something in me that i had not yet recognized myself. for encouragine me. for challenging me. i am thrilled to work alongside the same girls that i admired for so many of the last 5 years! to see my pages share the same walls as theirs.

let me not give you the impression that i deserve this. i am just excited for this time in my life. some days i have to pinch myself to check that i'm not dreaming.

i worked with Roslyn last night - she was one of the first "Urban Girls" that i got to know as a friend. thanks Roslyn! it is so nice to be surrounded by paper and other fun creative stuff. to be encouraged and challenged by people i admire. to go to work and be excited! i am very lucky.

just before i headed off to work, i was blog hopping while i had a quick supper. fortunately Cosmo Cricket was one of the first on my hopping. they were recently in Edmonton and posted a sweet video message by Heather and Sheri. both of them are Urban Girls too. the message was from another Urban Girl, Jan. these are the kinds of women i get to work with and be inspired by. so cool!

what a crazy long post!! is it even possible for me to not be long-winded?!!

i 'll leave you with a sneak peak of the upcoming March layout. all i can say is that it is a fun and colourful one. colours and products that can't help but make you smile.





i did not mention this before...and i should have! at the beginning.
i am sooooo thankful to Kristian. he has not ever complained about the time or money i spend on my hobby. he certainly reminds me to keep a balance! however he has always been my biggest and greatest supporter. he is the one who will sometimes suggest that i spend an evening or part of a day scrapbooking. he did whatever he could to arrange his schedule so that i could get out of the house for my regular scrapbook nights. he is the one who likes to see my projects when i am done and always tells me his honest opinion. he is the one who went out to buy and assemble the furniture for my present craft room. he is amazing!! if he ever doubted my abilities or passion for paper and ink then i would not be doing any of this today. isn't he awesome?!