Starting Over, Trying Again, Back on the Saddle????

Hi! I am not sure what you would call it, but I used to LOVE to scrap, then fell off the wagon...I now have a beautiful scraproom full of supplies I need to use, and the time to do it. However, motivation and mojo is failing me. Just realized I haven't been on this forum in 5 years!!! Anyways, I am asking for help!! I am like my first graders, fueled by instant gratification, lol, so I am looking for fun challenges and motivators to get me going again. All suggestions are appreciated!!! Thank you and I am excited to get my rear in gear!!!

Welcome!! So excited you are here!

Me too. Two years ago I lost all my scrapbooks and photos (long devistating story) and I spent the last year making cards and am a little burned out with that presently. I no longer travel because I lost my travel companion and my granddaughter has moved out of the country. so I don't take photos any more. I once had a nice family, but it is now just me and my dog Dottie. How do I get back to scrapping?

Hi Ladies welcome back.

Maybe if you try watching some of sb.com classes on card making and scrabooking it would motivate you back into scrapbooking and card making.
Just even looking at people gallery's would help.

I hope this helps out. I wish you both well.
I have started a cardmaking sketch challenge in the Stamping and Cardmaking forum. Would love for you to join in the fun. I post a card sketch every two weeks. Come check out what the ladies have done.

Here is the link to it:

http://www.scrapbook.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/16603...

Kay,
Sorry for all the loss and heartache you've gone through. But don't stop taking pictures!! You can photograph nature, friends, special meals, small victories. There is so much life out there. Find something you love and scrap it: a single rose, burning candle...snow falling. Find your passion again. It's there!! And stay here with us. This is a wonderful place to be.
All my best,
Donna

Hi ladies and welcome back.

Kay, I do understand what it is like to loose your scrapbooks and photos. I suffered a house fire in 2001, 2 weeks after my youngest son was born. In that fire I lost my oldest son's baby scrapbook, his 1st year calendar, hundreds of photos, a booklet full of cards that were given to me by my classmates when I was 16 and battling cancer....it was unreal. But, I got a new home and I had my kids and husband, so I got a new camera and started over. In 2005, I lost my home to a tornado. Again, there went my scrapbooks, photos, camera....I quit scrapbooking for a long time. But, what got me back into it was the fact that I homeschool my boys. They wanted "Yearbooks" like other kids their ages had. So, I set about to try to make them "yearbooks". As a result of THAT, twice I have been asked to head the local homeschool groups "Yearbook" committee. The first time, we used a traditional scrapbooking approach. This time (2015-2016 school year) we are going with more of a Project Life approach.

I agree with Donna, do NOT stop taking photos. Take pictures of your dog, take pictures of nature, take pictures of cards you make. Get pictures of relatives...even if they live outside the country. If you're good at photography, get into taking photos for other people. You can even make scrapbooks for other people. Do you go to church? Do you belong to any clubs? Do you work somewhere? Do you have friends? All of these can provide opportunities for scrapping. Scrap church functions, make baby books to give as baby shower gifts, scrap things at your job or things with your clubs and organizations. And shoot, if all else fails...scrap just for the sake of scrapping! You can scrap cards you receive, scrap interesting newspaper stories, or make a "Year Book". Basically, record events that occur in the world, the nation, your state, your county, your city, your personal life, etc. etc. etc. for an entire year. You'd be amazed at the book you will end up with. I know because I was given that exact assignment in 10th grade as a World History project and at the end of it, the teacher told us "In your hands you are holding history". That really HIT me. Not to mention that was the year that I battled cancer, so...

Nattyteacher, I once saw something AMAZING that my now 14 yr old niece's KG teacher did. She made scrapbooks out of 3 ring binders and 8,5x11 sheet protectors for ALL of her students. The books contained a photo of the child on the 1st day of school, art/holiday projects the children did that had their coloring and handwriting, pictures of any awards each child got (including lost tooth), and the books ended with "last day of school" but the pictures were actually taken on the last day of the week before school ended and the kids were given the books on the last day of school.

I have scrapbooked WITH KG and 1st graders....believe me, they can get INTERSTING. I have some UGLY (but priceless) scrapbooking backgrounds that my children made for us to scrapbook a family vacation in 2007. I like the photos, the post cards, the little maps...but...those backgrounds....the only thing I love about those is the memories of my children making them.

Have you checked out the Challenges board? I think there are several there that might could help you get your "instant gratification" needs.

Ali, loved your post! God bless you.

Welcome back to the Forum! Would we be considered motivators?

• suebird Said:

Most definitely!! Thank you all! I am in my room, challenges figured out, pictures out and off and scrapping!!!

I think Ali's post is perfect!
Please don't let life interfere (nor stop) your scrapbooking
You can scrapbook other people's pictures. I have a smashbook where I scrapbook pics and articles from magazines. Those pics I would like to be able to take myself, those things others wrote that I would like to have written, pics of the places I would like to visit, even pics of fashion (outfits I like, shoes, purses, etc.)
Remember that often there are no REASONS not to scrapbook, just EXCUSES.
Welcome back and hope to see some new pages made by you in the gallery very soon.
Hugs.

Natalie:

If you're looking for a creative boost, Marci B will be starting a new ATC (artist trading card) challenge for February pretty soon. These cute little projects are great for kick-starting your mojo in enjoyable, no-pressure way. Also, joining the swap is so much fun: it's the best kind of happy mail.

If you're interested in how all this works, check out the discussion thread for the January ATC swap under the Swaps heading, in the forum.

Welcome back!

• nattyteacher Said:

I'm the same way! If you look at my gallery everything is from the last 3 months and then nothing for like 8 years. I am insanely inspired by the challenges here. When I came back that's where I started and it has really helped my style evolve. I am just starting to find myself in scrapping. Just jump right in! You won't find a more talented group of super sweet scrappers anywhere.

• Mother Goose Said:

Oh no! I agree with everyone else here. Don't stop taking pictures. Take pictures of trees, your dog, other people's dogs, other people's trees. Whatever! There's inspiration everywhere. Have you tried art journaling? It's a great outlet for some of the feelings I hear coming through in your post. If you're looking for inspiration, look no further than our own gallery. There you'll find pages to scraplift of every style and difficulty level. Whenever I fell my mojo slipping I just go to my favorites and find a random layout to scraplift. And as an added bonus, if you like to share, there's even a few scraplift challenges. Good luck to you!

Kay, so sorry for the rough time you've been through. You'll find lots of love and support here, so welcome back! I agree with what everyone is saying and would like to add, if you're a card maker and burnt out on that the new trend is to do bible journaling. It was everywhere at the tradeshow this year. Sometimes just a slight change can help get the juices flowing again. I've add a few selections from the store for reference. There are some projects linked to the projects so you can see what I mean. Have a great day!

Kay, I will have to add my own two cents about both art journaling and bible journaling. I do not "journal" IN my bible. But I do make pages about scriptures that speak to me. I think it was the trend of "Faith Booking".

I also "art journal". This is one from last year.
I Am, I'm Me By Flhomeschoolmom

And I "junk journal". This is one of my junk journaling pages.
I Want Candy By Flhomeschoolmom

And, sometimes I "journal" a newspaper article.
Attempted Murder!! Really??? By Flhomeschoolmom

Some people consider those three things scrapbooking, but I don't because one is done on a piece of notebook paper, one is done with paper over a part of a beer box, and the other is just paint and ink mixed with a graphic from an old planner. 2 of those three were done using music for inspiration.

I don't upload all of the pages/projects that I make because some are VERY personal and right now I'm not comfortable putting those pages online.

I have whole scrapbooks just for my dogs and pets, but they are going to be split into more than one as it has gotten so big. I have one just for my rabbits. You can have scrapbooks for anything and everything. they are yours and you can do them any way you want. As long as they make you happy!!! I have gotten so much help and motivation from this site this week. Hope it helps you as well!!