Story Board~1.13.10

In keeping with the subject of Monday’s blog post, I decided to focus today’s Story Board on inspirational layouts that tell a story that isn’t entirely bright and cheery. Little did I know (well, I suspected…) that I would need to go through more than 3 times the number of pages I normally visit in order to find these 10 pages.

Hopefully these will inspire you to scrap a little more of your “real” …and somewhat imperfect… life!

Every one of us has someone in our life who has disappointed us. Hopefully through the process of creating “What Hurts the Most,” artist scrapperjade was able to work through some of that hurt. Nothing like a little scrap-therapy to help us move forward…

Teens and pre-teens can be tough to scrapbook about, especially their not-so-wonderful sides. “Created a Monster” by Bush Girl is a good example of combining a description of life “right now” with this gal, as well as giving some insight into mom’s thoughts about it, including her admission that she helped create the situation.

“To Move On” by snaggletooth75 is not only cool to look at, but it’s a good example of how putting something in writing can be a great way to reinforce the ideas in your mind. This will be neat for her to look back on in 10 years and see if she feels any differently.

As a parent, I don’t especially like to admit I don’t have all the answers. I enjoyed “The Penny Plan” by JenJ for a couple reasons – first, because I can totally relate to what this mom is going through, and second, because I may just have to copy her idea with my own kids!

To read “Right Now” is like taking a journey into NikkiE’s mind, right where all her fears and insecurities live. But it’s also an example of how she chooses to focus on the positive, despite her worries, and is trying to make a conscious choice to live in the moment. Powerful stuff.

“Is This Really My Life?” by Tracy107 made me chuckle, not because it’s particularly humorous but because I think my family must have visited her house! I could SO do a page like this … only it would be a real struggle to limit it to four examples. I like how she documented these particular frustrations but in a somewhat humorous manner. I get the feeling she doesn’t really get too bent out of shape over these things.

I know more than one scrapbooker who prefers to be behind, rather in front of, the camera. In “Eye of the Beholder,” gypsystar admits to feelings many of us probably have shared at one time or another. Not the easiest thing to scrap … and then share with all of us. I’m glad she did.

Scrapping the less-than-perfect doesn’t always mean deep soul-searching and admissions of inadequacy. A great example of taking time to document life’s mishaps is “Broken” by Christina. Hopefully mom will be on the mend soon…

Moms are supposed to be brave for their kids … not the other way around, right? I like how chia let us hear her thoughts in “A New Me” as she grappled with a fear I share with her … and then turn it around into a promise to herself to “be bolder and braver” in the New Year.

Oops! We’ve all done it … bought something that turned out to be a dud. At least something good came of melanier’s “Worst Buy of 2009″ … a fun scrapbook page to inspire us to document our real lives!

That’s it for another week! Hopefully you are now inspired to get busy scrapping all aspects of your everyday life!

Curious about how Story Board layouts are selected? Check out the end of this Story Board blog post.

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