SCRAP SESSIONS - REVISED

Hello again! I hope everyone is having a relaxing and reflective holiday.

I’m posting to follow-up on a cancelled event.

In the last post I’d invited everyone to a public meet-up for a paper craft group I’ve formed called SCRAP SESSIONS.

After some thought, I’ve decided to postpone the first meeting until a time when the purpose of the group is more established and more people are able to attend.

The reservation of the library room requires at least 10 members to join, and it would be a shame to fall short of the minimum requirement for use the space.

In short, I got ahead of myself a little. Which happens with any big idea. It’s better to give it some time to get the concept off the ground.

I’d gotten excited, which is a good thing, but I’m an advocate for many things (writing, photography, Astrology, Feng Shui, and scrapbooking), and each subject takes times to study.

I thank you for letting me explore my New Age fascination in a public forum. I wear the friendly, neighborhood weirdo label with pride. 

“The only concept or experience or core belief that I can attribute my other-ness to is that I just started out a weirdo and I stayed a weirdo. And it took me a long time to embrace my outsidership and see it as a strength rather than a weakness.”

-       Aisha Tyler

So, instead of jumping prematurely into a public event, let’s start here in the good ol’ digital world. I’ll post the same content as I would at the meetings, with some fun extras.

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and as the day of love is one of my favorite holidays, I’ve got big activities planned.

Just like the Cherry Blossoms, it’s been a loooong time (2004) since I held a group event to make homemade Valentine’s cards, and I think this year is the perfect time to revisit the craft.

And what better way to use paper and words to express your feelings?

I'll post the results here. It’ll be a good time.

And to sweeten the pot, and to sharpen my dormant blogging skills, in April I will be participating in the A-Z Blog Challenge.

This event is where bloggers post on a theme everyday (except Sundays) throughout April. The daily posts correspond with a letter (i.e. A is for Album, B is for Buttons, Brads & Borders, etc.) for all 26 days.

I last joined this challenge in 2012 with writing as my subject. This year, Scrapbooking will be my theme.

I’m excited about this topic, because although Scrapbooks involve photos, creative paper craft, and journaling, like a magazine to which you are the Editor-in-Chief, the books chronicle your story.

Scrapbooks are sentimental, but they are also powerful.

A hundred years ago, people had newspaper print, the typed pages of published books, memorabilia, handwritten letters, and post cards. These scraps, pieced together created a patchwork tale.

The other day I found a wonderful example of this - an article that touched on the purpose of written correspondence: a post card collection handed down to a Great Grand-Daughter.

The way the descendants could look at the post cards, and relive the adventures, is what Scrapbooking is all about.

Today we have texts, Facebook posts, SnapChats, and blogs, but the sentiment is the same. The photos, words, and meaning is unchanged – like a patchwork quilt, these conversations make up the squares of our lives.

Preserving those stories, mine and others, is what I’m passionate about, and I hope to share that experience with you here on this blog.

So, please check out the Narrative in the weeks ahead – I can’t wait to get started!

-         SNG J