May is National Scrapbook Month. While I love using rubber stamps to make greeting cards, I don’t do scrapbooking. But, my fearlessly creative Stampin’ Up leader, Julie, does knows a thing or two about scrapbooking and posted a great article in her May newsletter which is worth sharing with anyone interested in capturing memories through this fun art form.

Question: I get asked this question often. “How do you preserve the memories that slip by unrecorded but not unnoticed?”

Answer: We all have those moments, the precious memories that we missed capturing on film. Your batteries died just before cake time at Baby’s first birthday. The sun slipped behind the horizon just a minute too soon for that last special vacation picture. I’ve heard so many stories from my scrap bookers about that picture they missed. During my California trip for Leadership last January I had one of those moments. We were on our way to the Hollywood sign (Who can go to Hollywood and NOT go see the sign?) and we got caught in traffic. We finally made it to our “perfect vantage point” for the perfect “Me pointing at the Hollywood Sign picture” just as the sun set behind us. The view was spectacular, the picture – not so much! I was sad to miss out on a picture that I’ve waited a lifetime to take, and I was determined not to let that memory go unpreserved. Then an idea came to me, “I don’t have to have a picture to scrapbook a memory!”
I got out my papers and stamps, created one fantastic Hollywood themed layout and in the space where I would have mounted my pictures I got creative. I have a big blank space with “Hollywood Sign Photo Goes Here.” In one of the spaces I journaled about the experience – being caught in a traffic jam that only a Californian could appreciate, the pretty sun set, and the comical view of us jumping out of the car and rushing to snap a picture while we still had light. I used a postcard in one of the spots. It’s one of the best pages I’ve ever done. Having to think about ways to preserve the memory instead of relying on the pictures actually resulted in a page that takes me back to my vacation better than many of the pages full of pictures.

Preserve all the precious moments in your life; a scrapbook is about more than just pictures, it’s about the memories we want to share. You and your family will love looking back for years to come and reading the stories of your lives. If you were so excited about baby’s first steps, jumping up and down and clapping, that your pictures came out blurry (admit it we’ve all done it!) scrapbook that blurry picture and tell your story! Do you have a fond memory of the last special day you spent with someone before they passed away? Scrapbook about it – you didn’t know you would need pictures of that day, but you’ve got them in your head so share them in your book!

Next time you pull out the scrapbooking supplies, I challenge you to create a layout without pictures, or with pictures you thought were not worth using, and recapture one of your lost moments!

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The above was reprinted with permission from Julie Edmond’s May newsletter. Julie is a Stampin’ Up demonstrator (I’ve bought LOTS of rubber stamps and craft supplies from her). Find out more about the wonderful Stampin’ Up products, and learn how to be creative at her “inkredible stamping” blog .