How would you explain your favourite hobby to a novice?

I have just had the most lovely Facebook message from an old friend. She is not a scrapper and has just read this Blog for the first time. In addition to the lovely warm feeling I always get when anyone is interested enough to comment multiplied about a thousand times, I was also amused at the number of questions she asked. We must seem like a really wierd bunch to the outside world! I have her permission to reply to her message here so that you can share it with me.

I learned from your blog that you have now been scrapbooking for 5 years (?) and that you typically spend 5 hr per week crafting and 16 hrs computing which included blogging amongst other activies. How much do you think you spend blogging, just out of curiosity? I will see how my average week divides up on activities and email you the reply!
I hate to think how much time I spend blogging - much more than I should! I typically spend 15-30 minutes each time I post but an indefinite amount of time visiting other people's blogs. I rarely have time to comment every visit, but I try to leave a comment if I have anything to say. I don't post every day, but my minimum is once a week, more if I'm taking a regular class. Look at this series of posts when I did  a really detailed analysis of my week.

I don't think I could ever be a Blogger - my lack of arts background means I don't have the confidence to express my ideas and feelings well in writing. I'm OK writing factual stuff though. Your blog has warmth and interest and something of your personality shines through. Holiday/ family pics look lovely! It was your FB post that said check out the blog for family pics that spurred me to track down the blog!
Thank you so much for saying this - it is what I strive to do, but mostly I don't feel like I've achieved it. You are way more traditionally 'artistic' than I am - I can't draw or paint to save my life!

Reading your blog I felt like I had entered a private world of scrapbookers - a totally new sphere for me. Reminds me of a FB post a 20 year old friend of mine posted "just been to car boot and made £70 selling old crap.... and met a whole race of people I never knew existed" But whereas this was a derogatory comment, I felt the world of scrappers looked like a very nice place to be (and much better than car booting). Not sure I could ever fully be part of it though as I don't have the time, or more importantly, the patience for the intricate fiddly bits.
Oh yes, we're a wierd old bunch, and it is only since I started blogging that I realised how big the scrapbooking world is. But every blogger I 'know' (ie:that I visit) is lovely. It really is a warm and fuzzy place to be where everyone is nice to everyone else (if they don't like what I post, they simply keep quiet!)
The intricate fiddly bits are growing on me -  I used to be a lot more Plain and Simple in my style. You'd be really good at Digital Scrapbooking though. Have you or J got Photoshop?

The world of scrapbookers seemed also to have its own language. Sometimes I felt completely lost - WOYWWers? Workdesk Wednesday.... crops.... hops? (is that like chain blogging??)... SMASH books....
OK, let me explain:
The Bluffer's Guide to Scrapbooking' Chapter 1
WOYWW = What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday is a group of over 100 scrappers from all over the world who take a picture of their work in progress once a week and post it on Wednesday. The Blog Hop (see Hop) is hosted by Julia Dunnit. She is partly responsible for the number of hours I spend blogging, though I am never able to visit more than a tiny proportion of the WOYWWers, and I don't post every week because I work all day on Tuesday and Wednesday so I rarely have anything exciting on my desk except marking!
Crop= a group of scrapbookers who meet regularly to craft together, usually in a village hall. I go to Scraploonies who meet on the first Sunday of every month-in West End . (See also Cyber Crop - an online crop in real time)
Hop, or Blog Hop =  an online event in which a series of bloggers write a post based on a common theme (colours, topics etc) Each blog links to the next person in the hop.
SMASHbooks = a new product more akin to the original idea of sticking lots of randon memorabilia into a book. Here is the link (since it's a brand name, I'd better advertise it, but I did my version with a plain notebook)

I think I got the gist of what a SMASH book is and realistically that is the one I could most likely do. As I always think of scrapbooking only at holiday time. Perhaps you could enlighten me further and maybe I could even see your Summer SMASH book?
 Of course, see above.

If scrapbooking isn't quite my thing I do nonetheless enjoy card making and photography. I would love to join you in Christmas card making session. Also perhaps sometime over coffee you could show me your digital SLR camera and tell me what to look for. I only have a point and shoot. I liked your macro shots (can't remember which blog post that was) and I like taking these myself. We could even take some shots together on a walk or something. Occasionally I go to see photogaphy or art exhibitions at my local Arts Centre here in Maidenhead (which is threatened with closure due to Govt funds being cut) and last night I went to a preview of a friend's husband's photo exhibition. My favourite photography exhibition ever was Ansell Adams at Hayward Gallery many years ago. If you ever see a photography exhibition you are interested in going to let me know.
Definitely. Let's arrange a date ASAP. It's October, which for me means Christmas cards and Autumn leaves. Combining these with meeting a friend sounds like perfection. I have fairly limited knowledge of the technical side of photography though. This series of posts is good.

Back to the blog. I loved seeing all the scrapbook pages you have done. Hard to pick out particular favourites but I did like 3 June and 9 June (minus the bit about the beauty gene though). Other posts I liked or made me smile, which weren't necessarily so much about scrapbooking (or is it scrapping??) were: 6 June, 17 June, 19 June, 25 June, 10 July, 27 July. The book "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" looks a good read and I might recommend it for my book group. The Comely mag sounded intriguing - I'd never heard of it.
Thank you for your comments.
Both scrapping or scrapbooking exist. (v. to spend too much time cutting pretty paper and sticking it down with photos)
You would love the 'Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society' and 'Oh Comely'. Glad you enjoyed the reviews. I meant to do more of them, but I haven't actually read that much which was really stunning this year - think I'm getting fussier in my old age.

PS I have noticed you don't put many family snaps up on FB but do on the blog. Is that a policy decision? Do you feel the blog is more secure?
It is a policy decision, yes. I don't know that blogging is any more secure as anyone could visit my blog in theory, but it's much less likely that unsavoury characters would be surfing craft blogs than that they would somehow find me on Facebook. (Hard to imagine a paedophile getting off on the use of distress inks!!) Also, on the blog I only use initials for my nearest and dearest, whereas their names are on Facebook so if someone did want to find out about us it would be much easier if the pictures were there too. I'm probably being paranoid, but in this case I think Better Safe Than Sorry.

PPS Who or what is the mystery "Shimelle" (good word that). As is "serendipity" ; ) Do you watch Miranda? She does this running gag about her favourite words. lol.
The Bluffer's Guide to Scrapbooking' Chapter 2:
Shimelle Laine is a well-known professional scrapbooking journalist and blogger who runs a lot of online classes. She is known by her first name only, which makes her the scrapping equivalent of Diana or Delia!

JYC. or Journal Your Christmas, Explore and Learn Something New Everyday are all Shimelle classes. Find her blog here.
Never watched Miranda, sorry!

PPPS This is the link to one of the Miranda bits about favourite words
Thanks. Very funny!!

So happy to be an ambassador for the World of Scrapping!
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