by: Jacqueline M. Schimmel

There are so many reasons out there to scrapbook! For one, it's history, right? And it's important for us to remember and cherish these memories, especially for our generations to follow. I would have been so thrilled had my mother saved stories to go along with all her photos. She still keeps my baby photos and photos of her and her family in shoeboxes. Awful thought isn't it?

Well, we all have those tons of photos of our ancestors, at least most of us do, but there are so many other memories to cherish besides family trees. How about a baby's first year? You can document month-by-month how your baby is growing and all the things he or she is learning. This makes a great present come wedding time.

Apropo wedding, of course you'll want to save your precious wedding memories. Not only the professional photos, but also those of the reception, the church, maybe even your engagement party. There are subthemes such as the ring, the dress, the bride, the groom, the kiss, etc. There are entire lists!

What about your vacations! You don't want to just slap these photos in a regular album! That would be a waste! You'll want to share your story about where you went, what you saw and did, right? Names, places, dates are all very important for scrapbooking. That is the reason we scrapbook, to tell our story! The same goes for holidays, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc.

Do you have any pets? There are so many cute ideas and embellishments for pet pages out there. It is incredible! I've scrapped my big red tabby cat Pooky and made really adorable memory pages. To some people, pets are like children!

Ever remodeled an old house and have shot before and after pictures? Now, there's a super scrapping idea. You can journal in all of the work you've done to restore the house, how long it took, and any blunders that occurred along the way!

Scrap your feelings about something. There doesn't even have to be a picture on the page, just use your imagination and create a nice layout using just your words and emotions. It's kind of like writing in your diary, except it might be something you'll want to show someone else. So keep it clean! What about your hobbies? I've made scrapbook pages about scrapbooking!

Just a few more to get you going: graduation/school years and your job (in case it's worth scrapping). Have FUN scrapping!!!