Finding Truly Unique Free Scrapbooking Ideas

A cousin who has proven to be very artistic and highly skilled in crafts had taken up scrapbooking as a new craft form and became obsessed with attending every scrapbooking seminar or forum she could find. She scoured the internet for free scrapbooking ideas and libraries for scrapbooking books.

She became so adept at it that soon, she had turned it into a business and was doing custom scrapbooks as well as having scrapbook parties (like Tupperware parties) where she dispensed tips and other free scrapbooking ideas. But it soon came to a point where she felt that everything was becoming repetitive. Free scrapbooking ideas generated from the normal sources were somehow wearing themselves thin. She felt that free scrapbooking ideas were simply recycling themselves over and over without generating anything fresh.

So she stopped doing her research for free scrapbooking ideas. She went to the library but avoided scrapbooking books. She examined her files and deleted all the free scrapbooking ideas she had collected and filed. She wanted something that wasn't downloaded nor recycled. She wanted something different; unique free scrapbooking ideas that were truly original.

So she went back to her fine arts background. She went to modern museums with exhibits of art works done with a paper medium. She went to libraries and browsed through old documents and rare books for inspiration and ideas. She took long hikes through nature trails and did yoga sessions outdoors. She looked into herself and around her because she realized that the best and free ideas are still the ones that we find in ourselves. She literally redefined what it meant to have free scrapbooking ideas.

Everyone waited for her return with bated breaths, but when she did come out with a new set of scrapbook works, it wasn't only her works that changed, but her personality and perspective as well. Her search for unique free scrapbook ideas led her to something that had never been seen before and the crowd that gathered at her scrapbook party was absolutely stunned. Even the venue for the party which was held in a gallery was in keeping with the scrapbook works.

The scrapbook works were fabulous and were virtually art pieces in themselves. There were scrapbooks with illuminated pages like those seen in old books of the 12th century. There were some with pages made from papyrus, reviving that old Egyptian art of papermaking. Some imitated the style of old botany books painted on with natural and vintage dyes and stitched with real dried plants and flowers. There were scrapbooks bound with cowhide, old leather and wedding themed scrapbooks studded with crystal beads and antique lace. Her modern set of scrapbooks even integrated technology with miniature LED screens, voice recorders, computer chips and USB ports.

For her, it was a triumph not of design or skill, but of approach and perspective. For those in the same design or theme rut, one's automatic turning to the internet for free scrapbook design ideas might not be that of a good idea. True art is really something personal, something taken first from inside one's heart and soul and that source may be the most original and unique of all.

Scrapbooking