My students have been asking me to start my own site for a long time now, so I have finally done it! I am not a blogger by nature, and my life and my schedule tends to get so crazy at times, that the last thing I need is something else to try and keep up to date! After all, I have a hard time keeping up with balancing my checkbook! However, at the request of my faithful followers, I am going to give this a try.
Just in case you have tripped over this site while surfing the net, let me introduce myself to you. My name is Sherree Smith and I am a scrap-a-holic! There--I admitted it! (Now just 11 more steps to go! Ha!) I am a veteran scrapbooker of over 10 years. Almost 9 of those years have included teaching scrapbooking classes at area scrapbook stores and various other scrapbooking functions. I have not received any formal training for this career--heck, I'm not even a graduate of Scrapbook University! I am just a self taught enthusiast with a love of the craft and the gift of gab!
My teaching career began quite unexpectedly from a routine trip to one of my local scrapbook stores. I had a layout that I was trying to complete, and I needed another paper to match the work that I had already completed. So, with album in hand, I was off to the scrapbook store. There was a new store that had opened across town from me that I had been dying to visit, and this little dilema created the perfect opportunity. Down the aisles I went, album open, pulling paper after paper off the shelf in an attempt to find just the perfect match for my creation, when the manager of the store approached me. She asked if she could see my album as she was trying to get a feel for the style of scrappers in this area, and she loved to see what her customers had created. I reluctantly handed her my book--feeling uneasy that maybe my work would not be up to the level that a store owner would expect--but she loved it.
We sat down and went over my pages in great detail, and ultimately our conversation got around to her asking me if I would be willing to teach some scrapbooking classes for her store. Well this was something I hadn't considered! I was not totally a novice to teaching--my job in Human Resources had included hosting employee meetings and benefits education classes--so I thought "WHY NOT! I CAN DO THIS!" And that day my life took a dramatic turn--a turn towards a new career doing something that I totally love! Since that day I have taught hundreds of classes, done design work for a locally-broadcasted scrapbooking show, and even created my own tutorial cd along the way.
During the years that I have been scrapbooking, this craft has evolved into a much different animal than it was when I started. Back in the "olden days" the supplies available for scrapbooking were few, limited to mostly paper and stickers, with some punches and templates thrown in for creativity. Well, we've come a long way baby! (There I go, showing my age again!) Now the aisles are a smorgasbord of almost anything your heart desires! there are tools for anything and everything you might want to create, or if you don't want to create, you can find embellishments for just about any subject you can think up!
While I am not about to slap your hand for taking the short cut to ready-made embellishments--I have even been known to use them myself on occasion--I am an "old school" (there's that word again--old!) style scrapper. I get a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction out of creating my own embellishments and designs with my own chubby little hands. So I guess you would call me a paper crafter. I particularly enjoy creating one-of-a-kind paper piecings with a level of intricacy that would drive a lot of crafters crazy! But for me it's therapy--I love it, I live it, and I love to share it with folks like you! So--let's get started on this journey together, and we'll al see where it leads us!
HAPPY SCRAPPIN'!
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