So I Guess I Scrapbook?

So a few weeks ago after I saw this post on A Beautiful Mess, I re-caught the photo album bug. I’ve never liked calling what I do “scrapbooking.” When I hear the word “scrapbooking” I think of those aisles upon aisles full of (often super cheesy) stickers at Michael’s. I think of hundreds of dollars worth of supplies and countless hours going into a single page that highlights a single picture. I think of albums that quite honestly are more embellishment than photo, stuffy, formal, and TOO perfect. And I’m just not down with that. I don’t have the time, I don’t have the money, I don’t have the patience, and I don’t have the space to store all the STUFF.

That said, I do like photo albums. I like having all my photos printed and accessible. I hate the idea that everything is destined to sit on a hard drive forever, if for no other reason than so that my eventual children can sit and pour over them the way my brother and I poured over our parents’ when we were little.

And so they at least have the opportunity to laugh at my 2002 school photo with the popcorn shirt the way we laughed at my dad’s powder blue prom tuxedo with the massive 70’s lapel and my mom’s Adam Ant glasses.

But anyway.

The problem is, I think plain photo albums are boring. I like pretty paper, I like to occasionally include captions regarding what was going on in a certain photo…

So over the past year I’ve had to get a little more okay with the idea that, yea, I’m a “scrapbooker.” Some of that has to do with discovering Project Life – which is definitely a no-muss no-fuss way to get nice looking albums that let you be a little more creative than a straight up simple photo album, without feeling like your committing your entire paycheck and life to the scrapbook industry. The rest of it has to do with growing up and realizing that a scrapbook can be whatever the hell I want it to be.

If I just want it to be pictures pasted on a piece of pretty paper, that’s all it has to be. If I want to doll it up a little with captions and photo mats, then I can do that too. If I just want to stick a concert program and tickets in a page protector with nothing else, that’s okay too. It doesn’t have to be pretty and expensive and perfect. It can just be what it is.

So I’m a scrapbooker I guess. A messy, half-hearted, lazy scrapbooker.

I’m okay with that.

Are there any craft “labels” that you struggle with?