My Why - About Me

Just over 10 years ago now I became addicted to scrapbooking...no obsessed with it! About 5 years prior I had stumbled upon my first scrapbook album, and asked what is this!?! It was furry and a giraffe print, totally my personality (I am obsessed with textures and animals),and I just had to have it! Back then I had no clue what scrapbooking could really entail. The salesperson had told me it was just adhering pictures to pages with the odd journaling and sticker. So I attempted this craft. I was so disappointed with my effort that I put it away and didn't bother looking at it again until I moved out on my own 5 years later. That is when I started to meet scrapbookers, cardmakers, and paper crafters! What a whirlwind I was about to enter, full of colours, textures, and stamps. Oh my! Needless to say I pulled out my album, some DSP I still had and dove head first. I haven't stopped since. I'm still obsessed with textures and writing my families story down, but now I'm even more obsessed with stamping! That's why I am so grateful to my best friends mom, who introduced me to a world of inkingt. A world where your ink and paper can match perfectly without stress or running to the store for that perfect C/S for that one piece of DSP you really want to use. Stampin' Up! products have been a dream for me, and was exactly what I was looking for. When I met my husband in 2009 and we married in 2010 he carried me off to a whole new city and I had to leave my job at the FLSS. That was the first time I had decided to join Stampin' Up! and make a career out of it. I loved it and made so many new stampin friends. Stamping together is such a fun way to express myself and has introduced me to so many incredible people and has been so healing for myself and others in my life. It's amazing what some ink and paper can do for the soul! Not long after marriage some turbulence occurred in our lives and I had to stop demonstrating due to lack of interest. I was going through a difficult time and just couldn't find any motivation or inspiration. At that time my crafty things gathered dust, and I abandoned all efforts to keep in touch with anyone. It was such a hard time and I didn't know how joy would ever come back into my heart again. Although I continued to make the odd cards throughout that time, the healing process was slow and I had to eventually just let go and let God. After that time God brought friends back into my life that were able to breath some happiness and joy back into it. Slowly but surely I started to go into my craft room and just sit for a while, then I started to re-organise and work through projects that I had started and just walked away from. During that time my friend started to invite me over to paper craft and we healed our friendship over stamps and tea. Little by little I was coming alive again and it felt so good. My husband David was starting to have his wife back and I was starting to feel more like I could converse with others and not feel so awkward. Now I want to pay it forward. I want to stamp for myself, for others, and to share the joy of stamping with you. Creating a little bit of beauty in the world one day at a time. So feel free to pull up a chair and maybe stamp a little joy of your own...or scrapbook, or papercraft, or maybe just become a collector of pretty supplies that you just peruse once a while. Let me know what you want to see more of or share your stories of what stamping, scrapbooking, papercrafting, etc means to you. I'd love to hear all about your crafting journey!