I've just read a really interesting post about rejection (
here). And it's made me realise that I don't need to get my scrapbooking 'accepted' anymore.
I first encountered scrapbooking at playgroup. Another mum invited me and the boys over for a playdate and she had these amazing off-the-page albums. I asked about them and she said "oh you should totally start doing this". I was pretty ho-hum about it, I considered myself more of a logically brained person than a creative person. And felt I wasn't up to making anything like she had.
But the idea of doing something cool with my photos and not just storing them on the computer; and especially the idea of having the story with the photo; ... well, this idea rattled around my head for quite a while. And eventually I started scrapping in 'secret'. I bought a couple of magazines, some cheap papers and so forth and gave it a go.
And found that I really liked it. Ok, I was dreadful, uninspiring, bland and not creative. But slowly I got more confident and played more and occasionally I would produce a page that actually looked pretty good.
A couple of years of this 'secret' scrapping went by, and I eventually got enough courage to go to a retreat with other scrappers. The idea that I'd never done a class and had just, well, made it up by reading magazines was seen as a bit out there. I didn't really make any friends at that retreat, but I came away with lots more confidence and a huge improvement in quality.
I tried another retreat a year or so later and met
loads of great people and by now was starting to get comfortable with my own style. It's not arty, not fussy (which seems to be in fashion at the moment), but it's fairly stylish, graphic and tells the story!
So I figured it was time to get on a design team, or get published, and stop being all secret. Get out there and show off my new-found creative confidence. And, man, did I get rejected!
I've still never been published, but I have done a few guest designer spots for a
website or two. And am now on the design team for 2011 for
Scrapping Shoebox. Mission accomplished.
But what I've realised, most of all, is that it doesn't matter (which is probably easier to come to terms with since I achieved a goal!). I scrap for my own enjoyment, to tell the stories, keep the photos in an interesting way, to make the photos and stories more readily available to my family that stars in them.
I've also realised that scrapbooking is not the main part of my life. Being on a design team takes a lot of time, and I have a family and a burgeoning career that also need me to put in the time. Scrapbooking is a hobby that tells the story of my life, but it can't be life itself.
Some of the other creations I made:
