The year is coming to a close, which makes me think of how to document 2006 before it's over. It's been a crazy year, so I'll probably do a project that reflects that (layers, layers, layers). Now's the time to start thinking of do-able New Year's Resolutions, and maybe find a good way to document those, too. I think that I will create a reminder to fulfill them throughout the year ("eat more vegetables" isn't exactly something I remember on a daily basis, which is why that resolution floated away from my thoughts last year- although i did gain an appreciation for corn on the cob).

For Christmas a friend got me a book called The Scrapbook in American Life. It's not a photo-based book on scrapbook trends, but a history of scrapbooks and their makers. I've only read a few pages, but so far it has fascinated me greatly, and inspired me to get out of my current scrapbooking slump.

Here's a review from the back of the book that really grabbed my at my heart as pertains to how connected I feel to this art form:

"'Scrapbooking' has become one of the growth industries of our time. Conventions, fancy scissors, and store-bought supplies attest to its popularity. But as The Scrapbook in American Life demonstrates, this is by no means a new phenomenon. Some men, a number of children, and lots of women made scrapbooks in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for an almost infinite variety of reasons: the collector's itch, autobiography, learning, and the simpe joy of arranging things in a telling or pleasing manner. As this excellent book suggests, scrapbooks are all about aesthetics, too- about the technique of collage which makes every woman an artist." - Karal Ann Marling

Alright, I'm inspired. Gotta go tear some paper now. Happy 2007!