explain thyself scrapbooker!

So, met up with the ladies last night to help address wedding invites.
All in all a good time laughing, sharing stories and getting to know each other a little better.
And there of course was belly rubbing but it's ok when done by some one you know and like. (this occurrence has been happening quite a bit in the past few weeks. odd that one thinks it's ok to just reach out and rub one's pregnant belly...moving on.)

Then it came up.
Scrapbooking.
This is always a strange subject to touch on for me and I know for others who scrap like me, especially when you're childless.
I explain myself. I try to make it sound "cool" but I'm failing miserably.
I hear the usual..."I just don't have time" and "I'm just not that creative" when we really know it means "I'm just not that into it", no?
Totally cool. I get it. We all have different hobbies and/or activities we partake in.
Different folks, different strokes.
I know that what I do which is basically a form of documenting and archiving will be with me to the very end and even beyond.
Simply put, it makes me happy.
I wonder why I feel the need to defend my hobby as one that is not dated or geeky or be made to feel like I'm not a busy person myself.
But because this is a form of release from the everyday things like office gruel, traffic and life in general, I make time. It's not a lot, trust me.
I appreciate the few hours I get hovered over my paint covered desk, cutting up paper, & positioning photos.
I wish I had more time to do dedicate to my love.
 
So, I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
Even if you're not a scrapbooker, I know many of you are creative in some form.
Do you feel the need to defend your art? Your hobby?

Comments

[lauren]

great post, tina.
i do have to defend scrapbooking occasionally, but for the most part, i've just stopped talking about it with those who do not 'get it'. my mom loves documenting in her own way, so she understands my passion and a few friends do, too, so i am comfortable with them, but others? not so much. plus, i do my best work alone, so it has become my own secret (almost). my little treasure. i'll share with a wider audience when the time is right. :)
*

[Michelle Rydell]

Tina I can totally relate! I left you a message on the SC thread. P.S. You do beautiful work!

[C. Rayevich]

I think hands on creativity of any sort gets the "ohh.... well that's nice " retort. Maybe even followed with an eye roll. it could be sewing, knitting, etc.. some just don't 'get it'. I just remeber that those people are the ones that aren't leaving a documented legacy for their future generations. one day someone will have wished that they did, and unfortunatly it won't be there. on the other hand we have that for our future family. our story will live on even after we are gone. i have quilts and pictures from my great gma that i place at some of my highest treasures.
it's all ok T. We get it, and that's all that matters =)
xo

[sarah bowen]

I don't feel like I have to defend ANYTHING I do that brings me joy(well unless it's unhealthy), however when I do talk about scrap booking or it comes up in conversation and the inevitable and often condescending tone of "I just don't have the time" comes out, I always get a little peeved and do find myself instantly on the defensive. Because that statement always seems to imply that my time is somehow less important, and it's not! I often say that I have the same hours in a day that anyone else has, but I MAKE the time for the things that I love, and like you said, to each his own. That said, I don't really scrap anymore, but I am always on it when I feel like anyone is disparaging scrap booking or any paper craft. I just don't get either because I do a LOT of other crafts too and noone ever comments like that about sewing, quilting...etc...why documenting memories is somehow less than making a pillow for my couch is BEYOND me, lol...

[May]

I've been scrapbooking since childhood. The bulk of my years has been "child-less" scrapping too.

I think it's cool, and if backed into the corner by some "I'm cooler than you" person I ask a few questions of my own. Do they watch reality TV? surf gossip sites? read tabloids? Heck - do they watch more than an hour or two of tv any given week? If yes to any of the above guess what? They partake in activities *I* deem things I just don't have time for/don't think are cool.

so ha.

hee hee. To each her own - I encourage just having fun and enjoying your own stuff. No judgement on what others spend to use their time on.

[Carrie K]

yes yes yes!! im a scrapbooker with no kids too so i know what you mean! i have lots of kids IN my life so i scrap all of them :)
I usually try to just avoid telling people i scrap..lol When the subject of crops comes up they make it sound ridiculous that i can sit there for 12+ hours...i dont try to explain that it only feels like four cause youre having so much fun!
And i hate when you show someone your album (your heart and soul on display)...they just flip through quickly and are like "thats nice" "youre so creative"...Im like WAIT!! i spent HOURS literally on EACH page...please give it some respect...haahaahaa!
I dont think you CAN get it if you dont do it...and how can i describe how paper or color makes me so happy...and how proud i am when i do some technique...or how excited i am when someone i "know" gets published...lol

Ive stopped trying! i dont need to convince them they can do it too and that its not a "waste" of time...its my happy secret. But when i DO meet a scrapper IRL...we are INSTANT friends (except the snotty ones that think i "dont do it right")

omg...im such a rambler...i hope this makes sense!! obviously i feel passionaate about this im just not as articulate as you Miss A :)

[Danielle (vtpuggirl)]

All the time. And I admit to just chickening out with just "photography" and moving on with no mention of scrapbooking for fear of strange stares and sideways glances. Actually, it's rare that I mention it to strangers at all anymore. It's normally dh who rats me out. :P

[Anja]

ugh. I don't even try anymore. I have some online friends that share the passion, but most people (aside from family, best friends and boyfriend) in my daily life don't even know I do this thing.

[Beth Ann]

Great post and topic Tina.
Most people in my daily life (and office/cubicle job) don't know of my scrapbooking passion. Lots of other great comments here that I totally agree with. And I hate the "I don't have time" stuff too. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. It's what we decide to do with them!

[kelly]

i hear what you're saying.
i don't know where the idea that scrapbooking and children go hand-in-hand came from. it's completely about doing what you love.

[effie]

popping up out of nowhere here to say this is always interesting to me, this notion that scrapbooking is/must be child centered. As a single girl, I only have me (and any assorted family or friends or cats) to scrap about and why does that sometimes seem like a waste of time. I find myself thinking this at times, and then wonder at my sillyness.

Some year I'm going to do one of those 365 projects all about ME just to see what it says about a year in my life.

[marita]

Somebody wrote this awesome quote in one of my birthday cards this year....it says everything that I feel about scrapbooking, which is my hobby. It goes,

"I am dedicated to my creativity,
in all its forms
in all its expressions.
I am dedicated to this journey
for which I make no excuses."
-Juliana Coles

Maybe that'll help you, like it helped me... :)

[france]

great post. i am a married woman without children and people are always surprised that i scrapbook...they definitely associate it with children. i can't even call it photography since i'm not very good at that. It's still sort of strange to me that even other crafty people tend to be a bit judgmental when it comes to scrapbooking...i use to dress it up and call it art journaling...but i don't bother with that anymore.

[charlane]

i think you've got a lot of good input here and don't know that i have a bunch to add to the already stated themes. i will say, that it could be the case (as it is with me) is that i don't make the time because (1) scrapbooking intimidates the hell out of me because everyone's looks so beautiful and the few times i tried, mine looked like crap; (2) i'm passionate about photography and it is what i'm devoted to, i can't make the time for something else as time consuming; and (3) i have too many other hobbies that i've tried and keep putting aside because i appear to somewhat lazy. lol *teasing* (sort of)

i think people try to put down what they really do not understand because they do not want to seem stupid, uncool or uninformed. i feel the same way when someone tells me that i must have a really nice camera when i show them my photographs.

they might as well say wolfgang puck must have a really nice frying pan.

[Dena]

Yes. I feel like i have to keep it a secret. Everybody acts like it's silly or childish. I don't tease my friend who has a horse and i listen for hours when she talks about her horse and btw, my hobby is a lot cheaper! I wish i had one friend who "got it" and we could hang out and scrap together!!

[Jill]

I'm with you, Tina! Also not having children, I feel like some people consider this a self-absorbed, "I can't get enough of my own life" type of indulgence. For them I explain it's a form of journaling for me because I'm inherently a reflective person, esp when my layouts/projects are focused on my everyday life, my observations, my feelings. On those pages in particular I know I made an extra effort with design, photo, journaling and esp embellishments to use only what reinforces my story, feelings, observations, etc. Basically, it's visual journaling.

I also have friends who pay a lot of attention to their consumption and use of paper, and who try to not have "a lot of stuff." While I try to do the same in my daily living, it's a challenge when you love a hobby that often involves collecting. I don't this out of guilt or shame, but I've found myself only purchasing what I know I will use, donating product I no longer find inspiring and using more papers from my daily life in my projects. It feels better. More real life. More a true reflection of what's really happening in my life. Like you said, different strokes, different folks. We happen to call making things a passionate hobby. . . and really, crafting/creating for the joy of the process and beauty of the result is a purely human trait. We were created with that ability - whatever form it takes - why not celebrate it? :)

Great post - thanks!

[Andrea MacDonald]

To be honest for the longest time I didn't even tell my friends I scrapbooked. For some reason I felt embarrassed. I had one friend who teased me about it so I just never told people. Then as I started meeting more scrapbooking friends that complimented me on my projects I decided I had no reason to be embarrassed. It was a fabulous hobby that I love and now I am a teacher at my LSS I'm on DT's so who's laughing now? My friend that has no hobbies and no fun job or me?
Great post!

[stephanie]

I think I did need to defend my hobby at first. But once I started showing people samples of what I do, people are really cool about it.

I think I defend myself more, because I don't have the stereotypical scrapbooker look. People are surprised at what I do. I am an urban girl, and at times I am done up and fly. I get away from it by explaining its photography and story telling. It being the producer and publisher of your own magazine. That spin always seems to put a different perspective on it for others. Popular society has cultivated this image that is wrong. Me as a scrapbooker is not what people expect to see.

[vee]

I get the same remarks and simple put: I LOVE it and it makes me happy! uhmmmm, is it too much to ask for a new baby bump pic?! lol, said too much! almost friday ma! xo

[Nicole]

Love the belly pats...sort of. I actually had someone give me the 'ole pillsbury dough-boy poke once...that was NOT fun.
i have mostly run into the "i don't have time for it" folks. which, in a way, we can all relate to time-issues. it's just whether or not we're able to make the time.
unfortunately, i don't really know many people near me who scrapbook, so i go it alone and rely on the few message boards i check out for some kind of banter on the topic. as for weird looks, hey, whatever. some people totally love collecting...uh, i don't know...dolls...and i don't mock their hobby. or some of the other more interesting ones out there. if they're going to mock mine...paper is way cooler. =P

[Alexa]

Yeh, I know where you're coming from. Most of my close friends know about my scrapping and are very supportive, especially if I get pubbed or something. They understand that it's something that makes me happy. But they don't really 'get' it. I don't have any friends irl that scrap which makes me a little sad, but I get by with my online friends. I can't even get along at crops. Most people who scrap here are middle aged and/or have kid. I hate to generalise but every crop I've been to has been the same, I just don't feel like I fit in. Because I don't have children and I mostly scrapbook about myself. I also feel like my style is very different to a lot of UK peeps and that makes me feel out of place. I love to journal and it's not too popular here. So I have given up trying to go to crops and make do with scrapping on my own and sharing it with the online community only.

As for my wider social network, I don't even bring it up. It's too hard to try and explain, people immediately think of sugar paper scrapbooks and stickers.

[Anna Sigga]

Fantastic post girlie - so know what you mean!

If something makes us happy - we make time for it! Simple as that. :D

[Valerie]

I've been in this position on more than one occassion. I usually get to the point where I have to point out that everyone has something they are really interested in or passionate about. This is my thing. Then usually the conversation ends.
Great post - thanks for sharing this. Btw - love your work!

[Kate]

I don't think people appreciate what it is we do - it's telling a story, it's being an artist, it's having a outlet, and more. I know for me most especially people I work with are like - You what? Scrapbook? Like with stickers and stuff?

Sometimes you just want to crawl in a hole but usually instead I'm like "yup I scrapbook, you are into television or golf or whatever and I am into documenting my life story" - Keep on defending our hobby I think it's AWESOME!

[heyjenrenee]

LOVE this post. Never know how to talk about scrapbooking. Always feel like even saying the word 'scrapbooking' is going to make people look at me weird, or start to giggle. Totally try to defend it awkwardly anyway. (Totally doesn't matter, though.)