Had to bring this here too....

Sundays are my days to post on the team blog for The Scrapbook Site and A Walk Down Memory Lane. Today's post kind of just struck me as I was roaming around the message board and, as I started thinking about it, it just kind of took shape.

The more I wrote the more I liked it so I had to share it here too. It's good food for thought (even if I do say so myself!) and while I don't want to stop you from visiting the team blog (there is SO much good stuff on there!!!) I didn't want to not have it for myself either! Hmm... too greedy?

So here it is...

Do you share?
by Lissa Ballard

A while back on the message board, Kelly asked:

"How often to you look at your scrapbooks? Do you leave them out for everyone to see? Do you have a special place for them?"

There were varying answers to this that were of interest to me. Personally, I like to keep my books where I can look through them and get to them easily for a multitude of reasons.

One, if there was ever a fire, I know where to go to grab my photos and my books quickly.
Two, I don't scrap chronologically so I'm always in need of adding a page here or there.
Three, I have many albums on which I work simultaneously.
Four, and most importantly, why do it if you're not going to have fun looking through them and enjoying the memories, the thoughts, the dreams, the lives of our loved ones and friends? Why would we spend time doing this great craft if we just put our work into books that are never seen?

Too often, people make their albums, get the photos into books and walk away from them. They seldom spend time looking through them, they don't show them to friends. The books just sit on a shelf, on a coffee table, or worse yet, in a closet, neglected. They're done. That's an accomplishment, but... why do it if you're not going to share your beautiful art?

This week, think about the reasons you scrap, think about the love and thought that went into creating each page. Think about how you chose the album (or albums) you did in which to place your art and how important it was choosing the right color, the perfectly decorated book, or whether it was leather, vinyl, canvas, bare and you decorated it, or cloth; think about the importance of D-Ring vs. post bound or other binding. You may have started out putting your layouts in the first thing you could find, but you've since begun using something that is worthy, that you selected carefully, for your layouts.

Every aspect of this craft involves careful selection, planning and a lot of love. Show your love for your own art and give yourself the respect you deserve. Get those books out in the open! Encourage your kids to look through them. Show them to your friends. Keep them in a more central place. Providing you use page protectors and don't have pets, you might even leave them open to a page you particularly like on the coffee table. Doing so will encourage your visitors and family to look through your books, enjoy them, even encourage talk among your family reminiscing special times, places and folks.

In essence, respect and love what comes AFTER the love and respect you give your work. Feed it! You'll find yourself feeding your stash more and more often, creating more and more and loving what you do even more than you thought you already did!