I love everything crafty! Ever since I was a child I loved working with crayons (doesn’t everyone), clay, painting, photography, sewing, pencils, metal, and I tried my hand at many more art and crafts. But I have to say, photography was my favorite! My Mom and Dad cave me my first camera when I was eight, and I became a shutterbug!
The first time I tried Scrapbooking was around fifteen years ago, after my too wonderful kids born. Joshua (1995), and Ashley (1997).
Being a stay at home mom made money tight…not a lot for my many crafts. But one day My Auntie Brenda sent one of her many parcels. As per ritual I packed up my babies and went to the Greyhound to pick up the parcel. The parcel went between Joshy and Ashley’s car seats, both their chubby little hands on it for the whole drive home. When finally in the middle of the living room, I let them go at it, tearing the tape of the parcel, and loving every minute of it!
Toys for Josh, toys for Ashley, many times “cash” in cards for the kids, and always something for me. This time I pulled out a blue 12 by 12 inch album. Then came papers, scissors, punches, pens and stickers (did I mention I was a sticker freak when I was little?).
Since then, every parcel that came had scrapbooking supplies. As the scrapbook industry grew my parcels changed as well…stamps, glitter, pop dots, flock, embossing powder, magazines!
Six years ago, I had started working outside of my home for the first time. I was an Administrative Secretary and I loved it! I had been working for 2 months then everything came to a halt. I had a stroke. It was in the left side of my brain. I had every test in the book. From spinal taps to MRI’s…the stroke came from a 2cm hole in my heart. None of my Dr’s through the years ever heard it; it was too big to hear. I was told that it was a one in a million chance that a clot would go through. The Dr’s in Vancouver said I shouldn’t have lived past 10 years old. I defiantly shouldn’t have lived giving birth to one baby let alone two. My cardiologist said I am a walking miracle. A year after the stroke I had heart surgery, to fix the hole in my heart. I was given a 50/50 chance of living. . But by the grace of God…here I am.
I think the worst part of having a stroke, I lost my creativity…I know this may drive some of you up the wall...I had to use a pattern to make my daughters costume for a play, for the first time! My mom had no pity for me at all “welcome to the real world “Teller”! Thankfully she taught me how to read a pattern! LOL All kidding aside, the hardest part was I felt I had lost a part of me, I wasn’t complete. If I were to describe my self the first word that I would come to mind is that I’m creative. I had ‘word aphasia” which basically means I couldn’t talk for a few months after the stroke (very frustrating). The right side of my body is weak (I still shuffle). I couldn’t scrapbook, I would sit at my desk and wouldn’t be able to do anything…and I became depressed, I would try and have devotions and the “words wouldn’t speak”. I would try and read a book, I’d set it down, pick it up again and I couldn’t remember what I had read and have to start all over again.
It took almost a whole year before I regained my creative spark again. One month before the heart surgery. I was in the hospital, asked my husband, Jeff, to bring all my scrapbooking supplies to the hospital. I’m not sure why I got my creative spark back, maybe it was because the thought of dying and not leaving my kids with the memories a scrapbook can bring.
Know I want to share scrapbooking with the world! The techniques I’ve learned, and share all the little things about Scrappin’ that bring me joy.
I invite you to tell me your story if you like, and share those same little things that make you scrapbook page come alive with me!
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