TheBanyanTree: The Scrapbook

[Margaret R. Kramer]

We went on the cruise in May 2002.  It was our first cruise together.  I was
nervous about going, because I don’t like crowds of people and structured
activities.  I’m very shy and introverted, so I have a difficult time
meeting new people.  But Ray talked me into it, and off we flew to Fort
Lauderdale and embarked on an eastern Caribbean cruise.

It was a dream vacation.  The ship didn’t seem crowded at all, and after we
got our bearings, we had no trouble moving around.  After a few shy moments
with our tablemates, by the end of the cruise, we were chatting like old
friends.  I got to bake in the sun.  We went to a beautiful beach in St.
John’s.  We went horseback riding in the tropics of Puerto Rico.  And we
went bone fishing in the Bahamas.

Ray took 400 digital pictures.   I shot several rolls of film.  I kept the
daily newsletters and the menus.  I had maps, pamphlets, and other
souvenirs, too.  Shortly after we got home, I went to the scrapbooking store
and bought the big book, extra pages, stickers, cut outs, and other stuff to
put the scrapbook together.

I organized all the stuff by date and put each day’s stuff into big manila
envelopes.  Then I began the process of typing on the computer my journal
from the cruise (I had brought a notebook with me and handwrote my
thoughts).  I downloaded Ray’s pictures on my computer and then printed out
small almost thumbnail size copies on sheets of photo paper.  I used my
paper cutter to cut them into individual prints.

I had everything ready.  But did I begin working on it?  No, because I had
never done a scrapbook before.  Oh, sure, I had made scrapbooks when I was a
kid, but I just glued some cards and other junk into them.  This was going
to be combo of photos and other things that would be a good synopsis of our
cruise.

So the stuff just sat in the scrapbooking corner of my office.  I probably
should have taken some classes, but I couldn’t imagine taking a class in
order how to learn how cut out pictures and put them in an album.

I think the most difficult thing is thinking of the design and how it should
be set up.  I tend to try to work out things in my head before I start them,
so I suppose in some deep recess of my brain, I was continually trying to
get my ideas for the book together.  I looked at magazines to get some
ideas, and because the pages shown are so artistic and would take such an
incredible amount of time to make, I just got discouraged.

I went to a class last spring and learned about collazles.  They’re plastic
templates, a razor blade, and a foam back that can be used to crop photos
into ovals or circles or make letters or other designs.  That’s what I
needed, because I wanted to crop some of the pictures, but didn’t know how.
I bought a collazle.  And it sat along with my scrapbook on the table for
months.

When we went up north in February, I brought along my scrapbooking stuff.
Ray and I had our creative mornings while we were there.  He worked on his
paint-by-number and I worked on my scrapbook while the sun heated up our
little unit, we played new age CDs, and Lake Superior’s waves shook off the
ice.

My creative juices were flowing.  As I worked on each page, I tried
different things.  I used different arrangements with the 4X6 pictures,
cropped Ray’s digital pictures into little ovals and scattered them
throughout the book, and drew or cut out little palm trees, fish, and
seashells.  My journal entries had been printed on pastel colored paper and
were glued into the book.

I got a big chunk done  up north, but I wasn’t finished.  I had a busy
February, with something to do every weekend, but finally, finally I had
this free weekend in March.  No grandkids, no projects, no anything, except
some time to finish this darn scrapbook.  I have last year’s cruise stuff in
a bag in the closet – so I have to get working on that scrapbook soon.  And
we’re planning to go on a cruise this year, too.  I’m going to be hopelessly
behind if I don’t finish at least one book.

I had JS Bach’s Passion of St. Matthew playing on my stereo.  I lit some
incense.  I had a candle burning.  I cocooned myself in the corner of my
office and cut, cropped, glued, and arranged new pages in the scrapbook.
Time disappeared as I worked.  As I set up each page, memories of that
cruise came back to me.  I could feel the sun on my body, taste the
delicious food, hear the music from the shows, and rock with the waves of
the ocean.  I finished most of the cruise book when I stopped for the
evening.  All I have to do is the people page – pictures of people we met on
the cruise, the final farewell page, and a cruise summary page.

Today I’ll get our roast dinner going in the crock pot.  I’ll get our bread
baking in the bread machine.  I’ll go work out this afternoon, and when I
get back, the last CD of The Passion of St. Matthew will go on my stereo,
incense will be lit, and I’ll crop away and finish this scrapbook.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

Springtime is the land awakening.  The March winds are the morning yawn.
~Quoted by Lewis Grizzard in Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You