Where are you in your life’s story right now? Are you in college? Have you just met your someone or perhaps even gotten married? Do you have kids yet? If so, are they asking you questions about what you were like before they were born? Whether or not you have kids are haven’t even thought about having a child yet, your story( the one about just you) is important. Life moves fast and chances are, you might not have done your story justice.Before my son was born, I didn’t think much about memory keeping. My husband and I took a few photos, most notably of our wedding and honeymoon. We lived our story but didn’t think about telling it until one day my son became old enough to ask. My memory keeping journey truly started the day I began to scrapbook the story of us, as a family of three. I had never thought to take the time to document much of the life my husband and I spent as just the two of us or the life we both led prior to meeting one another. It’s something I try to remedy, though I admit the cute photos of my son pull my attention in their direction all too often.
A few years ago, I signed up for a class called Before Your Story which was taught by Jennifer Wilson of Simple Scrapper. It gave me the opportunity to start working on that before story. I don’t know about you, but having a class with lessons to follow makes it easier for me to be more accountable. The class was originally offered at Big Picture Classes. I am happy to say that Jennifer will be offering it again through Simple Scrapper. I still have more of my before story to tell, so I felt this was a great opportunity to sign up and take the class again.
What to Expect When You are Expecting by Christy Strickler |Supplies Patterned Paper, Chipboard, Crochet Heart: Bella Blvd.; Letters: Basic Grey, Bella Blvd.; Flair, Wood Veneer: Studio Calico; Acrylic,Metal: Freckled Fawn; Inspired by a Sketch and Story Starter from Simple Scrapper Premium Membership
The class has not started yet, but I just couldn’t wait to begin a layout. I created this page about my pregnancy and included my son’s ultrasound. I have scrapbooked all about my son’s birth but never about the months prior to that. He really enjoyed seeing a photo of my belly and his ultrasound picture. I am looking forward to including more pregnancy stories for him in my Before Your Story Album along with some pages of my husband and I when we were first together. I have an album started, from the first class, with a mix of layouts telling each of our before stories. Essentially it has s section for our childhoods( his and mine) and the time we spent together while we dated. Since the first class, I have found a few more old childhood pictures and have a few more stories to share.
Would you like to join me? Class starts on September 17th. The last day to register is September 23rd.
Whether you have kids or not, it’s never too early or too late to start telling your story. It’s a very rewarding experience and it’s the perfect answer for those times in which you haven’t been taking a lot of photos and you just aren’t sure what to scrapbook about. The class inspires you to make an album which includes your story from birth onward.There are even suggestions for you in the event that you don’t have a whole lot of childhood photos to work with( Raises her hand- I don’t have a lot of my own photos).
Are your concerned about the time you need to take a workshop? I know I am! The workshop occurs right in the middle of my international move. Jennifer has planned the workshop so that the meat of the lessons are in the first two weeks. What this means is that you have the bulk of the lessons up front so that you can plan how to create your album. There will then be four more weeks to work on the album with Jennifer providing encouragement and gentle reminders along the way. That way, if you are like me and crunched for time in the beginning, you can still participate at your own pace.
Once of the reasons I chose to become an affiliate of Simple Scrapper was due to the great content that Jennifer offers through Simple Scrapper. The Before Your Story Workshop is another example of that awesome content. I enjoyed the class the first time I took it and I know I will enjoy taking it again.
You can discover more information about Before Your Story here.