Scrapbooking Stimulates the Mind

Each Monday, I discuss my Scrap Happy project based on Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun.

When I first brainstormed ways The Happiness Project could be adapted to scrapbooking, I wrote:

• How might the mind be stimulated in other ways to support my scrapbooking?
• Take a class (learn a new technique/tool)

This one is tough. I fully believe that scrapbooking in and of itself, stimulates the mind in new ways. I don’t think it is too much of a stretch to say that most people who don’t just scrapbook, but identify as a scrapbooker, come to view the world through scrapbooking and in this way, our mind is stimulated in new ways. For example, we make decisions about what to photograph, which piece of memorabilia should be saved, and ultimately which stories we want to preserve in a scrapbook. As we become more involved in the hobby, it might spur us to learn new things. For me, I now do some basic photo editing on my computer. I am working on taking better photos. I buy new scrapbooking items like glimmer mist spray (still figuring out how best to use this stuff), washi tape (which, may actually be my new favorite go-to item), or fringe scissors (which I still haven’t ever used on a layout!) just to figure out what to do with them.

I think my favorite new way of stimulating my mind through scrapbooking is by participating in blog hops. I host A Happiness Blog Hop based on this series and I participate in the Colour Combo Bloghop and Ten Things. Each hop, gives me a challenge to create a layout or a blog post around a specific theme. Yes, sometimes, this is work and can be frustrating. But in the end, I am satisfied with the results and am glad I pushed myself to create something I would not have otherwise created.

What about you? How do you stimulate your mind through scrapbooking? Comment below or join the conversation on facebook or twitter.

Related Posts:

• Pay Attention
• Examining the True Rules of Scrapbooking

If you want to read more about Scrap Happy project based on Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun or my Scrap Happy Project, check out the other posts in the Scrap Happy series.