Scrapbooks - they're more than just scrapbooks

I'm not a serious scrapbooker, though I think it's a fabulous hobby, and I have made a few scrapbooks.

The first scrapbook I've made is still a work in progress. It is how I document every single quilted item I've made. I write down the name of the quilt, when it was made, if it was entered in any shows and won any awards, who the quilt was given to, what inspired the quilt, any little quirks about that particular quilt, etc. I love to occasionally leaf through that scrapbook and get my memory cells working ...

My son has been fortunate enough to travel a bit with his father so I have made scrapbooks for each of these trips - last year he went to Israel, Germany and Holland with his father and I'll admit that I have yet to make that particular scrapbook though I do have all the photos, ticket stubs, brochures, receipts, etc. that they brought back - I just need to find the time to sit down and assemble the scrapbook. Maybe this summer ... I've made scrapbooks for his trips to South Africa, Venezuela, Germany, and Philadelphia. While these scrapbooks may not mean much to him right now (he's a teenager, 'nuff said), I know one day they will.

Sometimes a scrapbook doesn't have to be a traditional scrapbook. I started a "journal" of projects that I've seen that I would like to make one day. The journal contains photos and directions for more projects than I will ever be able to make but I have made a few. I then take photos of the finished product and add them to the journal along with information about how I made the item, problems I may have encountered, cost, if I gave it away as a gift.

The idea for the journals came from a Martha Stewart show - they are simply the black/white composition books you can buy at Walmart. They are then covered with pretty scrapbooking paper (or you could use wrapping paper). I use some of the pretty color duct tapes for the binding. I have found that sealing the edges with clear scotch tape helps to keep them pretty, especially if they're heavily used like mine. You can also use this same idea for covering plain little cheap-o memo pads. They make terrific little give-aways, and who can't use something to jot down notes (or poems or song lyrics or memories).

My friend Laura and I have gotten together twice to make journals - they are fast, easy, fun and cheap to make. We have a ball making them. If you make any of these journals save the left over paper - it can be used for smaller projects, or you can make bookmarks, or you can use the left over paper to make gift tags.

I think it's so important to keep a record of the things that you make. Once you give things away it can be difficult to not only remember the details of that project (my memory is terrible) but also to get a photo after-the-fact.