About Sharing

I have been doing a lot of reading and thinking about scrapbooking the past couple of months...but I have to admit I haven't done a lot of actual scrapbooking. You see, we are in the midst of of a whole basement re-development which will hopefully be done within two or three more weeks. Right now our garage and spare room (not to mention the hallway, living room, closets and dining room!) are full of stuff that will eventually have a home in the basement. AND...all my scrapbooking gear will also have a home there! I am so excited to finally have all my beloved tools and supplies in ONE place! It has been in boxes all over the place and it hasn't been easy to get to it or use it. I will have plenty of storage, as well as work/workshop space. I picked up a new book by Simple Scrapbooks contributor Wendy Smedley called the Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker, and I tell you - after reading it I am planning on being organized AND inspired! It has fantastic ideas, beautiful inspiration rooms pics and best of all a workbook with exercises to go through to really help you zero in on what will work for you, your scrapbooking style and your space. Great read!

I also picked up Rebecca Cooper's (another Simple Scrapbooks contibutor) book Real. Life. Scrapbooking. which has really made me think about WHY and WHAT I scrapbook. Rebecca is a mother of three living in small town Alberta (nice to see a great book by a Canadian, eh?) who stretches her supplies, scraps after her kids go to bed and uses templates or sketches for multiple layouts...smart lady! Lots of great layout ideas as well as heartfelt commentary.

I have often thought about what I could contribute to others within this huge scrapbooking industry and I have come to the conclusion that I am best at SHARING (so now you know why I named my blogwhat I did! :)) Being a teacher, sharing must come natural to me...I WANT to share - knowledge, skill, ideas etc. I don't want to keep it all to myself. I think that's why I enjoy being a Creative Memories Consultant...I can share my passsion with like minded people and help them preserve and share their memories.

SO...I am ready to expand my scrapbooking business from "just" being a CM Consulant! I am ready to share on a much larger platform! These are some of my goals and aims for my scrapbooking:

1) To have my layouts and/or articles published in a scrapbooking industry publication

2) To increase the number of scrapbooking events I plan to allow scrappers the time, space and place to complete their albums (classes, workshops, retreats, all day crops, special events and seminars)

3) To reach and teach more people in different environments - seniors, children, patrons of scrapbooking/craft stores, churches, continuing education

4) To share my talent for design and scrapbooking by offering to complete albums for others - traditional and digital

Wow...actually putting those goals into writing is a bit scary! But, I am committed and will be working consistently towards these goals. I hope to share my progress here, as well as using it as a place to "share" all my other ideas with all of you! Wish me luck? I certainly wish you luck!

Noreen