The Sisterhood of Scrapbooking by Tasra

Editor's Note: NSA Member and author Tasra Dawson shares her thoughts on the 'sisterhood of scrapbooking' - how scrapbooking goes beyond the cutting, pasting, and writing.

Girl Time. (n) A bonding ritual essential to females and indescribable to males, characterized by unmitigated chatter, sudden bursts of laughter, endless supplies of tissues, and chocolate.

—Girl Time, Laura Jensen Walker

 

Scrapbooking is how I’ve made some of my closest friends. In fact, my friend Chrissy is an independent consultant and was the first person to invite me to a crop at her home. Nervous and scared, I took my small bag of supplies and decided to be brave and attend. I felt nervous, shy, and embarrassed by my limited supplies, but I went anyway. I had no way of knowing that she would become one of my closest friends and supporters. We often stayed up well past midnight scrappin’ our photos and talking about our lives, marriages, kids, and dreams. Our friendship was the foundation for our families to meet and become close friends. We happened to have kids the same age and in the same grade, which worked out nicely because they could keep each other entertained while we talked. That was nearly five years ago.

When I moved two hours north of my hometown earlier this year, I remembered the lessons from my friendship with Chrissy. Scrapbooking became the key to making friends in my new home. I found a few local scrapbook stores and again packed up my supplies and headed off into the unknown. I didn’t know anyone, hadn’t even visited the stores, but knew that I would find friendly faces and women with a common bond: our love for scrapbooking. I still attend a bi-weekly crop at one of the local stores and look forward to it every time. It’s a 3-for-1: girl time, me time and craft time. We bond over hot mochas, See’s dark chocolate, and an ever expanding scrap table. It doesn’t get much better than that.

A close second for me is visiting and participating in online scrapbook forums and message boards. Every time I skim through posts in online scrapbook forums, I’m humbled by the sincere and heartfelt relationships that I witness and experience. Women from all walks of life and in varying social classes, life stages and even different races are unified and brought together by our love for scrapbooking. Who knew that something as simple as an album, some photos and a little bit of embellishment, could create something as powerful as the sisterhood of scrappers.

Ironically, I find that sometimes I spend more time “chatting” and posting in forums than I do actually creating pages and completing layouts. I’ve met many scrappers who experience the same phenomenon. The exciting thing for me is that I have been able to build friendships with women whom I might never meet in person: a friend in Norway who tells me about my Norwegian roots, a designer in Paris who allows me to live vicariously through her, a mother in the Midwest who keeps me constantly laughing. These friendships have saved marriages, inspired change, and even helped get layouts and stories published. I am a better person because of the friends I have made.

One thing that saddens me is when I hear about women missing out on these opportunities because of fear. Sometimes it’s insecurity about our ability or talent as a scrapper, sometimes it’s shyness when meeting new people or being in new situations. Even comparison and competition can get in the way of great friendships. In my humble opinion, I think that whatever it takes to move past these fears, just do it. It is well worth the effort.

There is something so intimate and personal about the friendships that form through scrapbooking. People invite me to look through their life stories as they share the work they have done in their scrapbooks. They inspire me to capture my family’s life and look at it with a new perspective.

One of my personal goals is to make time for friendships, girlfriends, and sisters. I sincerely believe that girlfriends are necessities, not luxuries, and it is through my girlfriends that I grow and learn. It’s easy to get bogged down with the busyness of life and forget what’s really important—people. Scrapbooking brings that back into focus for me. Once I joined the sisterhood of scrappers, my life has never been the same.

Comments

[Chrissy]

Hi sweetie! Miss you! I'm looking forward to scrapbooking together soon! There's a coffeshop just down the road and I'll bring the dark chocolate.

[ethnic scrapbooking]

Never thought about scrapbooking about all the close friendships I've made as a result of this passion...thanks for the inspiration...I'll get started on that mini-album right away!