I have a question for you - I need your help. Every time I talk to a non scrapbooker about scrapbooking, somewhere in the conversation they say "Yah, but it is such an expensive hobby".
How do you respond to this comment???
I have trouble articulating my response, but in my head I am thinking...this is a hobby that has lasting value - I am creating something for my children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren. It's not a golf game that ends at hole 18, gone forever (and is cheaper too). What I love about scrapbooking is that I can enjoy(big understatement) the whole creative process - the craft part - but when I have finished I have preserved a memory - wow that is priceless!! I just see it as a win/win adventure! Am I deceived?
So what do you say to people who know nothing about scrapbooking except that "that is such an expensive hobby" ...and really in the scheme of things..is it that expensive? Really?
Help me out gals - I need to defend this wonderful craft! I am heading to a family reunion with a 40 page 8X8 family history as a gift for the grandparents...and someone is going to say it!
BTW...speaking of that 8X8 - the idea came to me Sat am at ....yah you know me...6am. I have been at it 12 hrs a day ever since - 12 hrs scanning and editing old, old photos and printing and scrapping - 9 pages to go - what a fabulous marathon! :) :) :) I will try to get them on the blog before I leave.
Love my scrapbooking buddies! That's YOU!
Julie
12 comments:
I can't wait to see the 8x8s!
I get that comment all the time...and I don't usually feel the need to say anything beyond "it's not as bad as you think it is".
One thing that's been encouraging for me is watching people who I've introduced to scrapping - after the first trip or two to the scrapbook store, they always mention how much cheaper it is than they thought it would be:)
I agree with you that it's win-win! You were created with a knack for creativity - live it up:)
One other note...when I became a Christian, I was in some bigtime debt and was put on a very strict budget. This budget allowed for precisely $2.31 a week to be spent on scrapbook supplies. Granted, I wasn't able to make massive books with tons of embellishments, but I did learn how to be creative in the material I used. Anything's possible on any kind of budget:)
Hey Julie,
I have gotten this question repeatedly. The reality of the cost of scrapbooking is the same as everything else in life (it is your taste and what you can afford): clothes, cars, houses, food/restaurants, holidays, decorating, etc., etc. With scrapbooking, you can choose to make it as expensive or inexpensive as YOU want. Whatever, it costs less than drinking or gambling or drugs and there is something to see as a result. Personally, I use it as therapy and it is less expensive than therapy and much more fun.
Yes you are right Sharon - it is therapy for me too - I have to say trying to get my heart down on paper has grown me and it has been a good thing!
I always say, "Yes but smoking is more expensive and so I think I will scrapbook instead" and that usually works okay.
Hey Julie,
The cost for me has been over a long period of years. I didn't buy every tool that I use the first few months. I have said things like "the things you see that I have were purchased over a period of (for me) 10 years. Not alot if you look at it like that! And I also is a win/win in that I am preserving the heritage of our family. Did anyone else love spending time looking at old photos of their parents and grandparents when they were small? That and storybooks with beautiful artwork engaged me for hours!! So..scrapbooking was a natural progression for me. If someone doesn't understand it or choses to be negative..I let it slide like water from a duck's back...and like was said about it being therapy..it probably costs a whole lot less than the medical kind!
Love to see what you are doing Julie!
Jan
LOL - Kelly that is too funny - I am going to use that one!
Jan - Your right, I do use my cutter way more often and have had it way more years than David's one wood! ;)
Jaime - yes- it is the creativity we so enjoy and the challange of bringing a page in on budget can be fun! My challange with this recent family 8X8 album was to use old stash - and I did - mostly.:)
Hey Julie,
I always tell everyone that
a)my children are alive today because I have a hobby.
b)my husband is alive because I have a hobby.
c)I am as sane as I am because I have a hobby.
d)I couldn't find a Head Doctor in my price range.
e)When I am happy, sad, excited proud etc. I can put these emotions on paper and create something that my children will look at in years to come. They will read what I have written and know how I was feeling when I created these pages. They will know long after I am gone how much I loved them and how proud I was of every little milestone and every accomplishment they had. I think this is a great legacy to leave them because after all don't we all want to know how much we are loved?
Scrapbooking is a great legacy to leave our children and grandchildren. Thanks for sharing Sheryl.
Thanks for all the wise words everyone - I am ready to answer the question!
Julie
I thinks that it is expensive...but worth it.
Everyone has a vice and mine won't break up families, land me in Jail, or offend anyone (i try not to scrapbook the blackmail photos he he he).
This is the best way to spend my extra cash!!
This is what I say:
"Scrapbooking is as expensive as YOU want it to be. There are enough techiniques and products out there that you can do it on a dime or Donald Trump's bank account balance! Nobody forces you to buy the latest trendy item. You scrap what you FEEL and as long as you put your heart into it, it doesn't matter how much you spend. But who can put a price on lasting memories? I'd rather spend a few dollars and get those precious photos out of the basement. Whose enjoying them down there anyway???"
I have a friend who is so cute and creative and she wants so badly to scrapbook. But she's a single Mum on an extremely small budget and ALWAYS tells me she can't afford it. With my little speech I think I'm swaying her.
Well its a question that I face repeatedly, especially with some of my work - hehe.
I have a lot of people question the cost of certain pages and then say see it is expensive. I take Great pleasure in showing them my pages that were made with nothing but little bits and pieces or just doodled with a pen. Pointing out that page cost me under a dollar.
Like the rest of you I explain I don't drink, smoke or gamble in a casino (its a gamble every time I walk in the scrap store hehe). I dont go to movies very often. I don't travel to far off warm places. So this is my passion my pride and my legacy for those yet to come.
Dawn - you are too funny! Yes it is a gamble everytime I walk into JSI as well - just sooo much fun new stuff all the time! But I am really using up old stuff all the time. That is all part of the creativity right?
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