A few months ago, I told my dad....hey, I think I want to be a consultant for a scrap booking company so that I can make some extra money to help pay for my hobby. His reaction wasn't quite the usual, "Oh, really....hmmmm...." that I am used to receiving whenever I tell him about some new adventure of mine. Instead, he was actually enthusiastic for me.
Dad reminisced, "Back when you was a little girl, Nellie, I remember you used to go through all the pictures and snip 'em up and you were always cutting stuff out of magazines....way back before this scrapbooking even existed, you were already doing it....you like invented it..."
"Haha, Dad, hardly," I replied, "If I were just a few years older, I would have invented it and now I would be rich....my dream job would be designing stickers, stamps, and papers......and I would be on the top of the industry."
He was right. When I was younger I poured over magazines for tiny things to cut out and words and sayings to use that might go along with pictures that I had taken at camp or church conventions. I loved to use memorabilia from everywhere I went in albums, long before it was mainstream to do anything archival safe, I was pasting everything right onto and beside my pictures. I cringe when I look back at my version of 'cropping' and my horrible photography skills...but hey, I WAS only 15, I remind myself.....Here is a sample "layout."
After our conversation, I started thinking....Wow....fancy that....me, the head of some big company....I would love to edit a scrap booking magazine and write product reviews.....imagine all of the freebies I would get to play around with...And other women, from all over the world, would see that little 1" picture of me, editor, executive....and think, wow...She has the life.....she gets to enjoy doing her hobby every day...and make big money for being creative. She probably has the coolest office/crafting area....its probably pink...with lots of patterns and cute little containers...and all of her notions are probably labeled, and organized.....
Don't get me wrong, I do make money using my creative talents every day....and I get to play around with art supplies and influence people....I just do it on a much smaller scale and my pay check and freebie stash isn't quite as impressive as someone at the top of a leading magazine or product line. Being an art teacher isn't quite the life that people dream about and I don't have a fancy office....but scrapbooking is something that I get to do for myself...everyday...and I really enjoy it....after all, I did 'like' invent it....
