I feel like the fact that I scrapbook is my dirty little crafty secret. Like somehow I am going to lose my street cred if I have ever caught at a crop. In my sub set of Indie crafters who embrace their needles, hooks and pliers the idea of scrapbooking curls a few pierced noses. Remember what embroidery was before my buddy and fellow Austin Craft Mafia founder Jenny Hart revolutionized it? My spunky neighbor and close friend Vickie Howell helped make knitting cool again. Scrapbooking is awesome, most of the younger edgier crafters have just has not figured it out for the most part. This weekend I attended a Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook event and it was evident from the crowd that I was not like everybody else. However, I think my genera of crafter does not realize what they are missing. I’m on a one woman mission to let them know.
Truly, I thought scrapbooking was pretty lame myself until recently. It all started so innocently with my first Smashbook. Smashbooks are geared at crafters with tattoos, the ones that have Etsy stores, the ones that would never dream of setting foot in a store called ‘Sally’s Scrapbooking Station’. I once read that Smashbooks are the anti-scrapbook and that is kinda true. Don’t think of frilly layouts involving baby pictures and stork stickers. Think dream catchers, illustrations that could double as cover art for your favorite undiscovered band and accouterments to die for. Each book has a different theme. Within those books the pages are kinda empty. Notice how I did not say blank. The pages are filled with prompts, quotes, graphics, pockets and more. How you fill out your Smashbook is entirely up to you.
My first class of the day at the Creating Keepsakes event was entitled A Smashing Year With EK Success. The class was guided step by step as to how to fill a Smashbook. The best part about a Smashbook is that there is no right or wrong was to fill it - you can stick your concert tickets to the pages with old chewing gum and it would work. I have cut, glued, embroidered, fabric covered and painted pages in my Smashbook. The most interesting thing about the class is how the freedom of a Smashbook blew the minds of many of the students. I think if the instructor had flipped through my books they might have even been a little much for her. If you are one of those crafters that throws the directions out the window and just goes with your gut, then Smashbooking is going to be your new jam. Gather your fabric scraps, bits of yarn, locks of hair, doodled cocktail napkins and get smashing.
Smashbooking was the gateway drug into harder stuff for me. Once I started actually setting foot into scrapbook stores I started to discover other designers and brands like Amy Tangerine, Basic Grey, Studio Calico, Crate Paper, Glitz Design, Dear Lizzy and more. Hipness had long ago arrived to the world of scrapbooking, I apparently was the one that was not hip enough to realize it. Prints that I would kill to wallpaper a room in, stickers that make me giddy like I was 6th grade all over again and the inspiration to branch out of my comfort zone and try new things like mixed media.
The second class I took at the Creating Keepsakes convention was Mixed Media Mash-Up. I really enjoyed this class. Not only did I learn a lot of new techniques I walked away with a scrapbook page I was really proud of. Scrapbooking does not have to just involve paper, glue and scissors. In this glass we used India Ink, gesso, pieces of burlap, gelatos, sewing patterns, stencils, spray mists, modeling paste, watercolor pencils and more. Sounds more like an art class than a scrapbooking class does it not. The point is that you can make your own paper as well as buy it. It is easy to run out to the craft store and buy a complete kit with all the matching pieces, but it is more fun to create your own from scratch. I came home from class and ran right out to buy my own gelatos to try my hand and more.
Not to beat a dead cliché horse, but this really is not your grandmother’s scrapbooking. Sure you can still do it that way, but there is also this new world where art journaling meets Anthropology meets unleashed collaging meets Urban Outfitters meets flea market chic. I was looking for a creative and entertaining way to preserve my kids memories and photos, instead I found my new craft addiction. Come to the scrapbooking dark side, I promise you will never want to leave. Still not sure? Check out a Creating Keepsakes Class near you!