Stop the Madness and Start the Scrapbooking

Okay so i said i'd explain why i'm doing this and what kind of scrapbooking I want to do.
I was thinking about why i'm not getting anything done. Anything of real signifcance.
I got distracted.
That's a pretty simple explanation.
I bought a lot of stuff.
I looked at endless books and websites.
Before I got into all the madness that has become scrapbooking - maybe 8 years ago - i actually created a cute scrapbook for a friend of mine. My first "new" scrapbook.
I'd put photos in albums but never wrote things down, added decorative elements. that kinda thing.
I spent maybe a week on it.
Oh and i'm sure if anyone saw it now they'd be horrified at all the Mrs. Grossman's stickers and deco scissors i used.
But you know - I had a ball making that book for her.
We were Brownie leaders together and had become good friends.
I'd taken pictures the whole time - as i am a picture taker.
I really love to look back and remember fun times, good friends. you kwim.
Anyhow, I had the best time making that album
And you know it was one of the best presents i ever gave - she adored it.
We laughed the entire time she looked through it.
I know she'll keep it forever and have great times looking through it in the future.
And if i hadn't made it - well time has a way of fuzzing up the memories doesn't it?
You remember the basic elements but you forget the little things that clear up the edges.
After that i made an album for my mother - that one took much longer.
Course it took in a lot more subject matter but still - it took longer.
Then i made an album for my little sister.
That album took a year to make. And i know why.
It was about that time that i really got into looking at magazines etc about scrapbooking.
Again, I'm not blaming anyone but me.
I just got very distracted by all this pretty stuff in the magazines.
And got very critical of what i was doing in these books i was making.
I didnt just make them anymore - i agonized over every little thing.
And - really i don't know why.
Who else but the recipients were going to see them?
Well - in my mother's case - others did see the book.
She showed my aunt and my cousins when they came by for lunch one day.
They were mesmerized.
And went on and on about how much they loved it.
And let me tell you i was not in full madness mode yet at that time.
So - wow - someone else saw the book - liked it a whole bunch - and i wasn't even going totally crazy at that point.
Hmmm.
Made me realize - as i remembered back on that occasion - even though i wasn't making these publication worthy pages - mine didn't look anything like what i was seeing in the magazines - the recipient and others actually enjoyed it. They loved it in fact.
So - conclusion - i can just go back to making my scrapbooks and stop worrying about every little thing.
So that's where I'm at now.
I've remembered why i was doing this in the first place and remembered that people liked what i made just fine before i got overly involved in all the products and ideas and techniques.
Blah-di-blah
I can still do something a little off beat or try a new technique or incorporate some interesting new product if i feel like it. But i'm not going to obsess anymore.
Well - not anymore than is possible for someone like me
More than anything i just want to make my scrapbooks. So i am going to.
I've stopped the subscriptions to the magazines i was getting. I loved them. But instead of scrapbooking i was reading them - and getting distracted and confused.
Confused?
Well they weren't showing the kind of pages i like to make.
And I'm going to leave it at that. I don't want to digress (yet again) into what is wrong with scrapbook magazines anymore.
I'll just say i am making something different and mine are ok. And to continue looking at magazines that aren't helping me accomplish my goal is just - well a waste of money for one thing. and my time. They're all lovely magazines. I'm just not their target audience.
And that's ok :-)
I'm gonna make things for my family - and for me.
I want to remember stories of my family - past & present.
I want to save some seriously deteriorating photos.
So that's what i'm going to do and i've already begun.
More on that tomorrow - the how i'm gonna get this done part