I believe memories are important, and each one of us has a significant story to share. You may have all your stories and memories written down, documented and completely organized. Or, if you're like me, your stories may be all over the place: on sticky notes, hanging on the fridge, folded and hidden inside your Bible, in journals, and under piles of other parts of life, like bills. Even if this is the case, I imagine that the majority of your stories, like mine, are somewhere inside your memory. I for one, have not shared nearly enough of these stories with my husband and kids.

I began scrapbooking as a teenager, and it is by far my favorite creative activity. I vary between simple & straight-forward "get-it-done" pages and more detailed, intricate designs. While I enjoy digital album-making, I absolutely love holding beautiful, smooth paper, photos and scissors in my hands and creating traditional layouts from scratch (or scrap-lifting great ideas that others share!). And my kids pore over the scrapbooks I've made - especially my oldest's baby book (I'm still working on my younger two - 13 years later!).

I'm a homeschooling mom of 3 teens, so I scrapbook slowly - in the margins of life. Sometimes my pages are simple (Fast2Fab albums and pages are lifesavers for this!). Oftentimes, though, I find that slowing down and playing with our Creative Memories punches and tools to create more detailed layouts is good for my brain and soul. Working with the colors and combining shapes, photos and words help me be more focused and loving in the rest of my life and relationships.

Sometimes I journal alot- like in my kids' baby books - that I'm still working on 13 years later. Other times, just a little caption under a photo is enough. And then there are the pages that are 90% writing, with very few, if any, photos.

In all of this, I believe that as we create albums and journal our thoughts and memories, and as we SPEAK those memories to our families, we are all enriched. And, it is up to us to share the important stories from our lives with our kids and grandkids. If we don't, who will?

I hope you'll find inspiration to encourage you to begin or continue your memory-giving photo & story projects. Wherever you are in your journey, I am here to cheer you on.

-Jamie