in honor of national scrapbook day (which is always the first saturday of may)

Saturday was a great day. It was National Scrapbook Day. Did you scrapbook? I didn't. (I know - big gasp!!!) But don't worry. . .on Sunday I went with my friend Angie to this neat-o scrapbook store called Scattered Pictures and made a very cool foldable book. Yep, I made it. Completely out of paper. Plus a little adhesive. The class was free - I just had to buy the paper. I have had this thing for paper for pretty much my whole life. I love it in every color, shape, form, texture, and size. I love cards and stationery and journals. I love Hallmark stores more than you'll know. But if you put me in a scrapbook store, I could walk the aisles for hours looking at all that cool paper. Ask my husband or my sister if you don't believe me.

Now, I know, a lot of trees have lost their life over my love of paper. But after moving out here, I've come to realize that there's this certain kind of tree that grows really fast that they harvest just to make paper pulp. You drive by the potatch (I think that's what it's called) forest and there are literally millions of trees, all planted an equal distance apart from each other, and it goes on for miles. I have never seen anything else quite like it. They have like a 10 year life span, then they cut them down and replant. Just think of the oxygen being produced out here. It makes me feel good about the environment I live in :) Well, that, and all those trees help keep my nice paper stash!

So about the scrapbook I made. It's 3 pieces of cardstock and 5 pieces of coordinating patterned paper (some of mine were double-sided) - all 12X12 size. I made it with our upcoming 4th anniversary in mind, so it's a little on the lovey-dovey side. But it's so stinkin' cute. I showed it to my class, kept unfolding it, and they were cheering and oohing and ahhhing. You would've thought I'd just shown them the Crown Jewels of London or something. But they're like that. . .easily excitable. If only they followed directions a little better, we might've made one for Mother's Day.

When you untie the ribbon and open up the cover, you see this. (Picture a cute picture of me & Phil on the beach right there.)

Move the blue page to your left and unfold some more.

Swing the pink and blue open like a side-by-side refrigerator and after one more unfold, you get this.

All the little panels open and you can scrapbook your heart out on every single part.

The ribbon gets fed through the back cover.


I wish I could give step-by-step directions, but I'm holding them for ransom until somebody comes out here to visit me. I do know that the square panels are 6X6 and the rectangular doors are 3X6. It wasn't hard to make. And get this, I can go back and retake the class whenever I want! I'll just have to pay an extra buck for the adhesive.