What a difference a decade makes.

Ten years. One decade. More than fifty albums. Over two thousand layouts. And still counting.

This summer marks the 10 year anniversary of when I said I was going to make AN album.

Having always been one to flit around through different crafting capabilities, no one could have foreseen how big a role scrapping would play in our lives. Or how much money it would consume. Besides scrapping supplies, there is furniture, lighting, paint, cameras, printers, and let's not forget retreats. I am fond of the quote, "Most of my money is spent on scrap supplies and good wine. The rest is just wasted."

Around the five year mark, darling daughter commented to me that I had not, as I would normally do, moved on to something else. She was surprised I was still doing this. "So am I." I replied. "So am I."

It is interesting to note how this discipline slowly reveals your inner self. One small layer at a time is pulled back and every once in a while you get a glimpse or insight to what really makes you tick.

Lately I am wondering about "to what end do I do this?" I like to play with paper and make a page that supports the photo. Sometime taking a rather dodgy shot and turning it into something quite special. As I keep doing it, the layouts pile up, the albums fill the shelves. I wonder, how many albums is enough? How many is too much?

When I started, I used to have  six or eight ideas each day. Now I have a couple of ideas a month. Am I moving towards the end of my love affair with scrapping?

Recently I came to the conclusion that I really like to collect paper and alphabets. And the rest I can pretty well live without. Had I figured this out sooner, we might have save hundreds or even thousands on such peripherals as cricuts and copics and way too many embellishments.

I have to thank Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog and the master forgers for the help they have been over the past three years. As I move into my second decade of this craft, I hope they will continue to be there to assist me with inspiration and motivation. I have come a long way. Yet I have so much further to go.

A layout from 2008,

and a more current layout.

Thanks for stopping by. Double thanks for comments.