A Neglected Hobby Revisited!

My new friend, Tracy, invited me to attend "Scrap Mania" at the Archiver's store yesterday. Archiver's is a little piece of heaven wrapped up in one store for anyone who invests time and creativity (and money!) into scrapbooking. They hold these events just about every Saturday of the month where you can come in from 5-11pm and spread out at one of their tables. When Tracy invited me to go last week, I didn't waste any time agreeing to join her. And rather than waiting until 5:00 to meet at Archiver's, we arrived at noon! So we spent almost ELEVEN HOURS working on our scrapbooks. I decided to start small since I had never been to Archiver's before and didn't know how much space they alotted us to work, so I brought a very small album I have been putting together. This is a collection of pictures in memory of my grandparents~

Cover page featuring my grandparents, Bair-Bair and Poppa, surrounded by a collage of pictures featuring their exquisite gardens~
This page is proof that it takes a little while to get back into the groove when you haven't scrapbooked in a long time! This is my least favorite of the pages I worked on yesterday, but it still makes me smile to see my grandfather fishing out the water after the lake flooded near where they used to live. (If you can't see the blue writing, it says "More Water ~ More Fish!")

I had to refrain from using this awesome stencil on every single page I put together~

These two pictures were taken at my aunt and uncle's house. All I did for the border was take the scraps from the pictures and cut them into little squares.

My grandmother was in love with her flowers. There is another page I was able to work on, but could not get a decent picture of to put on here, where she is beaming over her most recent blossom. The quote I put on that page, which seems rather appropriate for my grandparents, is "I will be a healer and lover of things that grow."

I truly enjoyed getting to sit for hours working on one of my favorite hobbies. While I don't own all of the absolutely incredible tools and accessories that the ladies around me had, I enjoyed working on my simple little book. Working on something like this naturally took me back to the days when Bair-Bair and Poppa were still alive, when they would stock us up with their newest jarred preserves, take us for walks through the gardens to see the newest blooms, and how I always wanted to be just like her. My grandparents were simple people: thankful, humble about the ways in which they were blessed, and simple. Therefore, I find it only fitting that the book in memory of them remain sweet and simple, illustrating how much they enjoyed the little things in life.

I also loved the time I had to spend with Tracy. Ever since visiting the church where we are currently attending, I have been extremely encouraged by her. Now if I can only wait patiently for the next Saturday when we get to join together in the mania that is scrapbooking!