All About Me Scrapbooking: An Intro
When was the last time you scrapbooked about YOU?
Many scrapbookers first connected with this hobby when something big happened in their life – an engagement, a wedding, or a new baby being the most common. The desire to create a record of that once-in-a-lifetime event or to capture all the precious sweetness of a baby’s first moments got many of us hooked on this hobby.
Just as women spend most of their time focused on the needs of others, so too does our scrapbooking time tend to focus on others rather than ourselves. Whether it’s children, spouses and partners, extended family, or friends, we record their triumphs, their growth and development, their big events and their small, sweet moments. But we here at the Sweet Shoppe firmly believe that just as we should make it a priority to care for ourselves, we should also take the time to scrapbook about ourselves.
This is commonly called “All About Me” scrapbooking.
What is All About Me scrapbooking?
At its core, “All About Me” scrapbooking includes any layout that’s about you. It can encompass everything from the facts of your personal biography to your likes and dislikes, your beliefs and values, your opinions and your experience of historical events.
I first learned about this approach to memory keeping in 2002 when I took a class at my local scrapbook store from Angie Pedersen, author of “The Book of Me: A Guide to Scrapbooking About Yourself”. It was not only eye-opening, but tremendously exciting – the idea that I didn’t need to wait until I had photos of “a big moment” to create a layout … instead, I could create a scrapbook about me, myself, and I – my view of the world, my perspective, my experience, my lessons learned, my hopes and my dreams. It really expanded my view of what scrapbooking was about and made me realize I could be doing so much more with my layouts.
Why is “All About Me” scrapbooking valuable?
Some people worry that creating “All About Me” layouts is narcissistic and has no value when the truth is the exact opposite! When you create this kind of layout, you’re giving a tremendous gift to your current self, to your future self, to everyone who loves you, and to anyone who may want to know more about you in the future.
A gift to your current self
Creating “All About Me” layouts is a form of self-care and a gift you give to your current self. Writing for Psychology Today, Kevin Bennett, Ph.D. says “Regular writing is known to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, and it can be used as a form of stress and emotional regulation.” In an article for Positive Psychology, Jeremy Sutton, Ph.D. writes, “Research suggests that journaling can help us accept rather than judge our mental experiences, resulting in fewer negative emotions in response to stressors.” It can act as a form of emotional carthasis, help increase your cognitive processing, and aid in emotional inhibition. And an article on the Mental Health Benefits of Journaling at Psych Central notes that “Expressive writing … can be a powerful way to process stress, trauma, and different emotions.”
In other words, when you create an “All About Me” layout, you’re engaged in an activity that has a positive impact on your mental health, easing anxiety, depression, and helping with trauma processing.
A gift to your future self
Imagine yourself a year from now, three years from now, five years or a decade from now, going back and re-reading the layout you created yesterday. How much personal growth will you be able to see? What will have changed? What will have remained the same? Bennett notes that this type of activity “can be beneficial for mental well-being as well as for personal growth and self-awareness.” So every “All About Me” layout you create is a gift to your future self.
A gift to others
And without a doubt, your “All About Me” layouts are a gift to others. What would happen if you received a fatal diagnosis, and knew you wouldn’t be around for your family and friends? Many people who find themselves in this situation focus on writing and recording their thoughts and experiences to leave behind for those they love. But why wait? None of us are promised tomorrow, so make time today to start scrapbooking about yourself. Someday, when you’re not around, your words will be a soothing balm for the grief of those who love you. And it will give them a chance to get to know you better.
Who should create “All About Me” scrapbook layouts?
This kind of memory-keeping is for everyone. For example:
- Anyone going through a transition: like parenthood, grandparenthood, marriage or divorce, a career change, etc.
- Anyone working on their health: mental, physical, and spiritual.
- Empty Nesters (who finally have time to focus on themselves!)
- In other words, everyone!
How can you get started creating “All About Me” layouts?
Here are some resources that can help you get started (or back into) creating All About Me layouts:
Books
- Legacy: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Personal History by Linda Spence
- Tell Me Your Life Story® Series Books (8 books)
Monthly Challenges
In our new Choose Your Own Adventure monthly scrapbooking challenge system, you’ll find a category dedicated to All About Me scrapbooking. Each month, you’ll get 5 new challenges that will help you focus on creating layouts about yourself. For example, this month (January 2024) the five All About Me challenge prompts are:
- a selfie,
- your biggest secret,
- your family,
- something you’re good at,
- and your hobbies.
All About Me Guided Templates by Cindy Schneider
If you’re looking for an easy way to get started, look no further than the All About Me series of layered templates created by Cindy Schneider. In the Sweet Shoppe, you’ll find dozens of gorgeous templates, professionally designed by Cindy, that include guided prompts to help you get more about yourself on the page and in your scrapbooks. You can check out the entire series right here.
Follow this blog series
And finally, keep an eye right here on our blog for more posts about creating All About Me layouts. Each month, we’ll dig a little deeper into this topic and share all sorts of ideas for your next All About Me layout.
In the words of Linda Spence, “Look back with tenderness and courage and write from your heart, and perhaps someone, someday, will find what he or she needs to live life with more understanding, compassion, confidence, and acceptance.” Whether that someone is yourself or someone you love, it’s worth every moment you spend creating All About Me layouts. So join us, and make this the year you create more pages about YOU!
