Some Artwork Selectable for Larger View
"Ctrl P" to Print
Ahoy There!
Angie Pedersen Author of "Book of Me"
When I first started scrapbooking over five years ago, I could not wait to get started on the boxes of photos of my kids I had gathered over the years. I was so excited to finally have a means of telling the stories of my children’s lives. Not only did I finally have a place for all my photos, but a creative outlet as well. Scrapbooking allowed me to become the keeper of my family’s memories (as well as the keeper of the cardstock!) I soon realized that scrapbooking was the perfect hobby for me. After a couple of years, however, I noticed something was missing from my scrapbooks -- ME.
I had spent countless hours pouring myself into the layouts in my albums, but realized I was in very few of the photos in my own books. So often, in the past, I left myself out of my scrapbooks, because I am the one behind the camera. If you look at my early albums, there are three people in my family: my husband and two kids. I was basically a “silent partner” in my family’s history. Even more striking, this realization mirrored how I felt about myself at the time.
By June 2000, I had been a stay-at-home mom for several years to two beautiful kids, and ran a modestly popular website. To most of my friends and acquaintances, I seemed to have it all together. But I lacked direction, and a sense of real identity. Actually, that’s not quite true. I experienced an almost “anti-identity crisis”. I knew exactly who I was – I was a wife and mother. Period. I looked around at what I did in a day – laundry, dishes, homework help, driving the kids to activities – and wondered what I was doing that anyone couldn’t do. I wondered, if we hired someone to cook, clean, and chauffer, would I even be missed? I wasn’t pleased with these nagging feelings of self-doubt, so I set out to prove to myself that I was contributing something unique to the lives of the people around me.
I began work on a Book of Me scrapbook. This project allowed me to really explore all the different pieces that make up my life – the sum of the parts that equal the whole person. It allowed me to recognize all that I have accomplished, and all the pieces that set me apart from everyone else.
As much as I enjoyed the process of compiling my Book of Me, I realized other scrappers might be searching for ways to create such a book for themselves. I wanted to help them by providing a roadmap for them to follow. So, I decided to write a book.
I started investigating the book proposal and book writing process. I looked into who already published books on scrapbooking. Then I researched how to put together a formal book proposal and query letter -- for this I checked a LOT of books out from the library for research. It took me two months to write the proposal alone.
I was very lucky: I sent the proposals out on a Tuesday in August 2001, and got an email from my publisher on that Saturday. (Generally, you’re supposed to allow a 3-6 month response time.) In talking with Elaine at EFG, I really liked her approach and style, and decided to go with her. I signed the contract in late August 2001.
My manuscript was due Halloween 2001, as well as all of the 86 original layouts. I got my first copy of the book in late April 2002, and it officially launched to stores on May 4th, 2002. So from the time I started researching the process, to the time I turned in the manuscript was 10 months. 6 months later the book was printed and available for shipping.
The Book of Me has been out for almost two years now: it’s in its fifth printing and has sold almost 50,000 copies worldwide. My second book, Growing Up ME, was released in February this year, and seems to be following suit. I am currently working on my third book, The Book of US, which will be released in February 2005. Being published has opened doors for me that I never dreamed possible. I’ve taught classes at both HIA and ACCI. I’ve taught classes all over the country, and gave a keynote presentation to 1450 people. I wrote and am teaching a class at BarnesandNobleUniversity.com and WritersWorkshopsOnline.com, where I wouldn’t have necessarily thought myself “qualified”. I’ve met and talked to hundreds of interesting people with fascinating stories, people that tell me I’ve inspired them to tell their tales. I get to spread the important message of having the courage to believe in your own stories, and be a “cheerleader” for many people I haven’t even met yet. Having a book published opens these kinds of doors to you, and allows you to dream of even more projects and possibilities. I love my job!
Tips for Scrapbooking about Yourself
1. Organizing: When organizing stories and memorabilia to scrap later, it helps to keep everything in one place. I use a 3-ring binder to keep all my material together as I write my books, and sometimes when preparing to scrap theme albums. I buy dividers, and use one for each chapter. I keep blank notebook paper in each section so I can jot down any quotes or ideas I find. I use pocket dividers that are 3-hole punched, or page protectors to hold bulky items. The key is to keep all your notes, ideas, and memorabilia in one central location, so you know right where to find everything when you go to scrap later.
2. No photos? People often say they can’t do a Book of Me because they have few or no photos. That’s no excuse! Just because you don’t have the photos doesn’t mean you don’t have the memories! Use journaling to “paint” the picture, instead of the camera! Use vivid descriptions to make someone feel like they were there, experiencing the event, so you have no need for pictures. Describe the setting of the memory. Use your senses to bring back images of sight, sound, smell, and touch. Describe what happened, step by step. All these details will paint a vivid picture of your memories. If you don’t have photos, your journaling can help someone visualize what it was like to be there, even if they don’t have the visual “cues” of photos to help them.
3. No time? If you go to a 5-hour crop, and plan to work on 5 layouts, make one of them about yourself. Make it more manageable, scrapping a layout at a time, instead of creating a whole album. Also, I pre-plan my layouts for when I scrap. When I have a spare moment, I put together “page packets” for layouts. I choose photos, background paper, matting paper, and decorative elements for one layout, then put all those together in a 2-gallon Ziploc bag (I use 2-gallon because I usually scrap 12x12 pages.) So when I get a moment to scrap, either in the evenings, or at my monthly crops I can get a lot more pages done because a lot of the “brainwork” has already been done, and I can get right to scrapping. Making that commitment to yourself is the only way these pages are going to get done.
It has been a pleasure to come aboard the S.S. Reflections ezine. Thank you for allowing me to share as we journey to South Africa.
Angie Pedersen
Author,
Book of Me
Growing up Me
