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I got a comment on a post recently that prompted me to think about the art of scrapbooking.

scrap·book
noun
1. : a book with blank pages to which you attach photographs, letters, newspaper stories, etc., that help you remember a person or time.
verb
1. create scrapbooks as a hobby.

It’s a book for photos, drawings or clippings. How, why or what you put in it is totally up to you. It’s such a personal preference. It can be a mini album, a big traditional album, a Project Life album, a notebook from Target. It can have lots of words or no words, painting, stickers, paper…

For some it’s a strict preservation of memories and for others it’s simply an artistic outlet with no other purpose than to let off a little steam with paint + ink.

It can be trendy or traditional, colorful or monochromatic, thick or thin, digital or heaped with paper. A toddler can make one or a great great great grandmother can make one. There are no rules.

Some of us choose to share our personal scrapbooks online for artistic inspiration. What we share is OUR take on scrapbooking. You might love it, you might hate it and that’s ok because a scrapbook as a definition is a book of blank pages. What you put in it is up to you. You may not even like scrapbooks and that’s ok too!

Here are some of the things I’ve been working on lately – Studio Calico sneaks

A start to finish layout video

Some “love” notes

What is a scrapbook to YOU? I’d love to know! Share your thoughts or link to your work in the comments so I can appreciate how different this art form is to all of us!

Author

Allison Waken is the founder, writer, photographer, and content creator of All for the Memories and All for the Boys.

4 Comments

  1. Tori Bissell

    For me:

    A scrapbook is
    – Memories captured
    – Love poured out on a page
    – Me
    – Shared

    A scrapbook is me. Me on a page. My life, my love, my memories, my friends, my moments, my events poured out. It is life, love, memories, friends, moments shared.

    For me it’s not about being trendy or in style. It’s not about using the right products or the newest. For me it’s not about making it archivally safe or making it for someone else. For me it’s not about making it for my great great grandchildren or feeling the need to write everything down. Instead, for me it’s about being me. I am not me if I’m not being creative and artistic. So when I scrapbook, that scrapbook is me. It’s me on the pages of those albums.

    • Allison Waken

      Love that! The archival vs non archival is a good point too!

  2. Kathleen M Smith

    I see scrapbooks as an artistic way to document my family history. It becomes a reference source and answers the question "where did the time go?"

    • Allison Waken

      Where DID the time go?! 😉 Great description!