Worth the Wait

This layout tells a story - and features a topic I don't often scrapbook about - me! I typically don't like to pose for photos by myself. I'm good with shots with the kids or Jim, or other family, but rarely will I pose alone, but I was too excited not to in these pictures! It's a long story, but worth it to understand the smiles . . .

If you've followed my blog at all, you will have seen me reference Allison Davis and Scrapbook Generation. Scrapbook Generation is a brick-and-mortar store in Springfield, MO and also an online store. It is owned and operated by two sets of sisters, Debbie Sanders and Karin Rush and Debbie's daughters, Allison Davis and Stacey Arnall. Before I even heard of Scrapbook Generation, I was already an Allison fan.

Allison was on the Creating Keepsakes magazine design team. I devoured every issue of that magazine and read it cover to cover. I would put sticky notes on layouts that would catch my eye and noticed that every layout done by Allison was flagged. I was at a Creating Keepsake Convention class a year later and I was mentioning that to the woman I was sitting next to, and she told me I could buy sketches from Allison online. That was my introduction to Scrapbook Generation and I never looked back!

Fast forward to 2021. . . I made the statement to Jim that "one day" I would love to attend Scrapbook Generation's Luxury Crop, We Create. Because they had to cancel the event in 2020, they were doing a lottery system in 2021 for the extra tickets. Jim told me to put my name in the lottery and I got picked!! I was ecstatic! I booked my hotel right away, and as it got a little closer, I reserved my plane ticket. I was counting down the days until I would be there.

I was due to fly to Missouri on September 9, 2021. On August 20th I was admitted to the ICU with COVID pneumonia. I'm a little fuzzy on the first few days I was in the ICU. My family said I was MIA for a few days. I was on a bi-pap machine and not able to talk on the phone until my oxygen was stable. The first time I talked to Jim, I remember feeling so excited and happy even though I was still feeling pretty weak. After the initial greetings and I love you's, when we got down to talk "business" he told me he had contacted Debbie Sanders and told her I wouldn't be coming to We Create. I protested at first, not realizing how truly sick I was, insisting I could make it because it was still two weeks away. He assured me that they were holding a spot for me at We Create 2022, but that seemed like a lifetime away.

I realized that he did the right thing in canceling, but it did not feel it at the time. I came home from the hospital on August 31st and was still weak and sleeping with oxygen on at night when September 9th rolled around. I was looking at all the Facebook posts from We Create, and in my head, I knew there was no way I could have gone, but it still didn't help the intense disappointment I was feeling.

By the time September 2022 rolled around, I was fully recovered and so ready to go. In July I started counting down the days! I was FINALLY going!! The weekend was everything I dreamed it would be and more! I soaked up every single minute I was around "kindred spirits" who were just as addicted to scrapbooking. I sat across from a local scrapbooking friend, Lisa, and we made two new friends. I took five classes with Allison Davis and shopped at the on-site store. I was in scrapbooking heaven!

So I did not hesitate at all to ask Lisa to take these photos of me with the We Create signs - and I even struck a pose. I was more excited for this event than I am for Christmas morning, and I can feel that enthusiasm every time I look at this page.

Scrapbooking Tips:

This page was so easy to put together because I used a paper line designed by Debbie Sanders just for We Create! Nine times out of ten, I like to come up with my own embellishments and paper combinations, but I also LOVE these paper collections from SG that take any guess work out of scrapping time.

The large circles and polka dots were already printed on the base page. The stars, cameras, phrase strips and the circle with Missouri were all cutouts from the We Create paper collection. The mats under my photos were also on the cut-out sheet. I layered some stars and cut-outs with foam adhesive to create some dimension. I love how this page turned out, and I smile every time I remember this event. It really was a dream come true.

I still have plenty of pictures to scrap from this event! I'm looking forward to creating even more layouts with this paper collection.

Supplies:

Paper, Cut-outs from Scrapbook Generation

Scrapbook Generation now has a handful of paper collections that are amazing. They are looking to fill the gaps in the industry by producing unique themes. What I really love about this collection is that fact they are designed by scrapbookers for scrapbookers and the paper is extremely high quality.

To check out Scrapbook Generation's amazing collections you can go here: https://scrapbookgeneration.com/sg-exclusives/paper-collections/