Like No Other

Have you noticed that your scrappin' friends are nothing like your "regular" friends (assuming the two don't totally co-mingle)? I believe I mentioned that I made a new scrappin' friend last week. Actually, I've known her for about a year, but neither of us realized that the other was a paper crafter until last week. Anyway, it's been my observation that scrapbooking people are some of the nicest, kindest, giving, encouraging people you'll meet. How often do you encounter a hobby that isn't competitive?

Think about it: sports, theatre, choral singing--each one of these hobbies brings with it the trap of competition. Sure, you don't begin any of these with the intention of making it a race, so to speak. But in the end, at least if you're anything like me, there comes a certain jealousy when someone else does something you wanted to do. And you begin to devise ways of beating them out the next time.

In scrapbooking (or just paper crafting in general), I don't find this at all. Sure, I might be a little envious of someone's absolutely gorgeous layout and say "I wish mine looked like that." But then, you sit back and admire your own work and think "but mine's beautiful in a completely different way." And you certainly don't find people in the aforementioned hobbies that are willing to outright give you "equipment" from their stash. But in papercrafting, we do nothing but share. Think about all of those crops you've attended. Did you ever say no to sharing stuff from your stash? Did you ever have someone tell you no when you admired something from their stash for your work-in-progress? No and no. It's so refreshing to have a hobby that's so uplifting, encouraging, bond-building...just fabulous.

And all of that is basically a huge thank you to Emily for the wonderful bag of goodies she shared with me last night! I can't wait to get in the craft room this weekend! And I hope to always pay it forward.