...signing on to Big Picture Scrapbooking on Wednesday, July 1, to register for Cathy Zielske's class, Me: The Abriged Version.
Now, before I continue, I feel I should say that I have no financial stake in Big Picture Scrapbooking. I don't really "know" Cathy personally. Though we have met and her class did change me. Hence this message.
Here are Cathy & me, circa 2006. I wasn't yet gluten-free, I wasn't yet truly happy, and I wasn't yet a published author. I was still Allyson Bright, about 6 months before my wedding. Just me. 25 years old.
I took Cathy's class at CKU in 2006. I signed up for it on a whim. It was based on a really cool book called Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life . It seemed like a neat concept. Create an encyclopedia of my own life. The little stuff. Stuff I hadn't scrapped yet. Why not? Part of me thought, sure I could create this on my own. But would I? Likely not. So I signed up and the rest is history.
The result? An amazing weekend of close friendships, personal storytelling, and my favorite album EVER.
What these photos don't show is that this album captured me more than any other I've created. I come back to it over and over, and it's still my favorite. I've been scrapbooking for more than 10 years. I've made hundreds - maybe even thousands - of pages, and have shelves full of albums. I've published two books and taught dozens of classes. But if I could only keep one album, this would be it. My design style is nothing like Cathy's. But this album is distinctly me.
I'd like to show you what I mean by sharing three entries from my album. These are, without a doubt, the ones people comment on most after reading my A-Z book of me:
Grill Marks
As a young girl, I refused to eat anything with grill marks on it. If a hot dog was boiled or microwaved, it was my favorite food. Put it on the grill, and I'd turn it away. Something about those charred black lines just turned me off. When I was about seven or eight years old, we went to a restaurant and I ordered a hot dog. Dad informed them that I wouldn't eat it if there were grill marks on it, assuming they'd cook it another way. When the hot dog arrived, the restaurant staff had painstakingly taken a knife and cut out each grill mark from the hot dog, leaving a series of small cuts where the charred lines had been. It was at that point that I realized maybe I cared about this just a little too much.
Heaven, Entering
I remember looking out the window of the car as my family was driving one day when I was about seven or eight years old. It was very cloudy outside, but I noticed that there was one spot where the clouds had broken and beams of sunlight were shining through to the ground. I thought to myself that someone must be going to Heaven. I said a small prayer for whoever that person might have been. To this day, when I see clouds open like that, I still say a prayer for whatever weary soul may finally be heading Home.
Unique Talents
I can sing the entire alphabet song backwards. I can give people the bird using my right foot.
So, you get the idea. These little things about me would never have been recorded if it weren't for this class. I mean, would I ever make a traditional scrapbook page about being able to flick someone off with my foot? I'm thinking no. Or about my habit of prayer? I'd like to think so, but I'm not betting on it. What I love about this album is that it captures all of these little things about me which add up to a very real picture of me. Some of my entries are very serious, others very silly. Without realizing it, I created a very real picture of me when I created this album. Not the "these are my hopes and dreams" me or the "I love cheese" me. Though those things are in there. But me. Anxious-about-getting-married me. Obsessed-with-Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer me. Hates-vegetables me. Patriotic me. Faithful me. Thankful me. Real me.
Creating this album was a journey, one I'll never forget. If you want to be changed, sign up for this class. Again, I have nothing to gain by sharing this with you. Only that I believe you have EVERYTHING to gain by taking this class.
