I have always been a collector of sorts. When I was a child I enjoyed cutting out images from newspapers, magazines and even spending all my pocket money on scrapbooks to glue and organise my cuttings into. I will even admit to still having some of these childhood treasures hidden away in a box in my attic. My inspiration at the time was my favourite pop star and like many little girls at the time I thought Madonna was the coolest thing to come out of the 1980′s. I even managed to get my grandparents to cut out her concert images from their array of Sunday newspapers so I could cut and paste her images in date order or collect her latest concert photos. I was always so pleased with my little books of pretty pictures.

Nowadays I find myself collecting again but this time it’s not Madonna pictures, now I have a big love that inspires me and that is my three boys.

So I document their milestones like a hobby. I love to keep a record of little things like all the firsts, first cinema trip ticket, the first bib they wore and the first trip to the seaside. After reading an article about book printing by Elizabeth Halford I started to post my boys cute quotes and sayings on facebook. Then I decided it would be prudent to make little notes of all the kid-isms in my scrap book, all those funny little things they say, those words that make me chuckle can easily be forgotten or lost on the web.

Scrapbooking is a whole new world to me and like blogging it is very popular in the states. According to Wikipedia over 4 million women in the USA describe themselves as scrap-bookers.

I love to make my own cards for Birthdays and Christmas anyway and I really like to make everything personalised because growing up I could never find books, pencils or mugs with my name on, unlike my friends.
So, slowly, I am becoming a scrap-booking Mum. I take trips to hobby craft much more than ever before and I adore digital scrapbook websites, they are pretty addictive with their digital kits that include papers, and design elements like staples, flowers or fun frames. I play with layouts and see what I can make. I used my kits to make my customers a personalised profile picture and now the facebook timeline covers too… I enjoy that too much!  This image was my first attempt, it’s rather simple and I will get better at this but I plan on adding more little collages like this one to my blog as well as my home scrapbooking. It’s just a little romantic and sweet.

One of my favourite places to go is ETSY for the sheer variety of scrap book papers. There are many great websites out there to choose from and I love to shop for kits, so now I have an awfully big collection.  Maybe I am trying to be 13 again!
So if you fancy making a little scrapbook journal of your own, feel free to check out the links here for some inspiration and fun. You never know you might also love it.
To make a cool book of your baby milestones try this book making website called Blurb. Put your digital files collection to good use and create a lovely memory book for yourself or make gorgeous personalised presents for your family.
Also you are welcome to share your scrapbooking blogs and projects, I would love to hear all about them in my comments.