Lessons for Life and Scrapbooking
My dad is famous for his life lessons. He will preface these declarations with “this is life lesson *insert number here*” the number has no meaning he just slaps a number on there. The beauty of these life lessons is that they can be applied to so many different things in life and I took this opportunity to create a page about these lessons and talk about how I apply them to life and scrapbooking.
For this layout I used items from a kit that I didn’t use for the intended purpose, which is a lesson in itself, there are no scrapbooking police, no one will pound down my door because I used these on a 12 x 12 page instead of a traveler’s notebook! I also thought the blueberries were blue flowers until I was finished with the layout but you know there is another lesson, sometimes you make mistakes but things will turn out just fine.
My dad’s life lessons are all over the place, he taught me my love of reading and baseball and Vegas but also how to balance a checkbook and he instilled a strong work ethic and to treat people with kindness. In creating this layout I picked a photo of the two of us from my wedding and his favorite color is blue which is why I thought the blue flowers would be so perfect – oops. I still love how this turned out and I love that I have a page documenting these lessons.
How do I apply these lessons to scrapbooking?
Here are my five top lessons learned and applied to scrapbooking:
- I don’t fret mistakes – Sometimes I will choose the wrong paper, or misspell something but the important thing is I told a story and gave myself space to create.
- I tell my stories – Just because I don’t have human children I don’t let that stop me from scrapbooking and telling the stories of my life. I like to think that someone somewhere will care about this.
- Silliness is ok – Not every page has to be serious or about major events, they can be about wearing funny hats or silly faces. These are our pages we can do what we want, right?
- Use products you love – I went through phases where I saved papers for that special occasion but you know, tomorrow is not promised to anyone and you may be saving things forever, you bought it, you love it, use it!
- Make time – My dad says when people say they don’t have time it means they don’t have time for you. I use that all the time but also apply that to the things I really love. I make time for scrapbooking, just like I make time for cooking dinner and going to brunch with friends.
As a bonus lesson, never stop learning and never eliminate who you might learn from.
For the above page I talk about things I’ve learned from my wife Tamy but also things I’ve learned from my dog Brody, all important lessons and all things that make me a better person. Go out and find your lessons, hold them tight and document them! You never know when someone down the line might learn from them too!