How it all began, then ended and began again.

My name is Kristal 'The seriously non serious scrapper' and I LOVE TO scrapbook. I'm not good at it but I love it ☺ When professional scrapbookers, and my more serious scrapbook friends come across me and my comments on Youtube and posts on FB they cringe.  I'm that scrapper most scrapbookers hate.

I activey  started scrapbooking in 2010 after I was laid off from work at a prestigious Law firm. I kept looking for a job, but where I live in Canada work is limited and I was un able to find anything. I went on interview after interview in my field of work but nothing.  I decided I needed something to do to keep me occupied so I didn't go more crazy than I already had.  

Its so boring and small where I live most Canadians except for the Maritimes forget about us, and the rest of the world (Except oddly enough for China and Japan) Don't even realize we exist.

In 2002 I had touched on scrapbooking and made one as a gift for my dad to commemorate the ground up rebuilding he did on his 68 Mustang. There were no printed papers (unless I made them myself), the borders, embellshments, edging, destressing etc were all done by hand as there were no readily available scrapbooking places around us, and online shopping was still untrusted and taboo. (Also there were no online scrapbook shops at the time). However my dad did buy me the 'new fangled' design scissors so I could add shaped edges to pictures, papers etc. They were the greatest thing ever when I got them. I was obsessed with them. I still love them and use the same set.

Suddenly I feel old.

My dad used his scrapbook to show the guests and judges at the car shows he attended how much time, work and money actually went into his car. He won several first place awards due to it....Or so he says.  

I attempted a second book based on my budding relationship with my now husband and our friends, but at that age in our lives people kept breaking up and divorcing so the memories I had captured was more of a depressing morbid reminder of all the love and friendships lost during those early years.  No one wants to remember or look back on crazy ex in laws or friends who started families or married too early and had their lives and marriages  crash down around them in flames....

I stopped scrapbooking until 2010 when I was recently married late 2009 and I lost my job early 2010. As I said I decided to use it as therapy and thought it would be a great idea to scrap about my parents lives and relationship from when they were kids up until shortly after they married. I figured it would give me a chance to learn more about them and my other family members that were barely spoken about by digging  through the boxes of literally dusty old albums and pictures my parents had, and that my Nana had living burried deep in her basement at the time.  I worked so hard on that book for about a year and a half. 

By the end of 2010 I had gotten a job at the new MICHAELS store that had arrived, and now had access to limited printed papers (remember I live in a little province where few people knew to deliver or sell supplies to), stickers that wern't from sandylion, a few embellshments ( not many at the time) and anything else I could imagine to slap onto my scrapbooks. 

Finally my book was done. Lots of research into older family members and reprinting of the pictures taken in the 20's and 30's occurred. My still mostly hand done detailing and embelishments created painstakingly for some time hours on end also displayed proudly on the pages. 

I took the book to my parents to show them. They looked at it once with disinterest and said I could keep it. They didn't want it.  Obviously I was heartbroken. A year and a half of work flipped through in  less than 30 mins and then handed back to me with a simple 'nice. I was so disheartened I didn't scrapbook again until 2017 after I had lost another job (several after Michaels) after  being put in the hospital due to mental illness related issues. 

The Dr suggested that I should go back to scrapping and use it as therapy.  Since I was alone every day on disability dealing with my severe mental issues, had no access to a car, and lived too far away to walk anyplace to keep me entertained I decided to get back to it. I had hundreds of pics of my 4yr old daughter to work with, along with the 7 year old untouched supplies and access to pinterest and youtube so I was ready to go.