A New View On My Hobby

I do not know what has come over me lately. I just want to scrap all the time! I rarely ever feel this way, so I am riding this wave while I can. My style is changing to an even simpler one because I am sick and tired of trying to make every page publish-worthy. It has been a long time since I have submitted anything to the magazines anyway. The last publication I had was in June for the Simple Scrapbooks special issue: Scrapbooking Secrets using Simple Schemes. I believe that was the last time that I had sent anything in for a call. It just doesn't mean as much to me anymore. I have had 16 published layouts by Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Leisure Arts, Memory Makers, Paperkuts, and Scrapbook Trends. That doesn't include the book that I just did for Lark Books. That one was funded by Michael's and should be out in 2006. I was the papercrafter for the book. I am not sure what the title will be, but it will be all about weddings. Anyway, I am not meaning to go on and on about my scrapbooking publications. I just need to remind myself of all of the accomplishments I have achieved. Now that I have done that, I am going to let it all go (for the most part). I do not need to be published any longer to feel the validation that I am an okay scrapbooker. From now on, I am scrapping for myself and my family. I may submit a couple here and there if there happens to be a layout that is a perfect fit for a call, but I will not make layouts especially for submitting. There is not enough time in the world to keep up with all the magazines and books any longer. I am burned out and I realize now why I haven't scrapped much this summer. The fun was taken out of it. It was work rather than a hobby. The Michael's book was the straw that broke the camel's back. I had 10 weeks of deadlines and each week a bunch of projects would be due. Sometimes, I would stay up until my hubby went to work the next morning just so I could get my stuff done. I had never felt so exhausted in my life! That book really hurt my desire to scrapbook for myself. Now that it has been said and done since July, I have rested up and I have a new outlook on my hobby. Who really cares if I get published again?
I am currently on 2 design teams-The Scrapbook Club and The Scrapbook Stand. Both are fantastic monthly scrapbook kit clubs that send me goodies every month to play with. I love the gals that own them and they are wonderful to work with. There are a LOT of gals that would give anything to design for these 2 clubs. They are both well-known and highly talked about clubs that produce magnificent kits each and every month. Subscribers stalk their mailboxes each month around delivery time and write about it on their respective message boards. The excitement on these 2 sites is phenomenal! I am so proud to be a designer for them. On The Scrapbook Stand, we are working on choosing a couple of new designers to add to the team. The try-outs were astounding. I am so glad that I am already on the team and am not being judged amongst the talented auditioners ;) Being in their shoes really stinks. You can be an A+ scrapper, but not make the team because the competition is so fierce. There are limited amount of spots to fill too. The thing is, I need to remember that I am lucky to be a part of these teams and that not just anyone gets to be in my position. That should be enough validation for me and it now is. If you want to check out these 2 sites, see the links in my right-hand sidebar.

Sorry about this crazy post, I just needed to type my feelings out. Now I feel better and I will be happier doing what I love to do. The layouts that you see are quick ones that I did yesterday and today. Since my style is less embellished now, I am able to crank 'em out a lot faster :)