Little BIG Brother

My latest page with my current Counterfeit Kit* fits the final challenge this month over at the CKCB because I have incorporated some vellum.  Not just any vellum, but Crate's Boys Rule Starry vellum ... the final scraps.  I received a full 12x12 sheet of it with my DT package from S J Crafts back in February and it has featured its loveliness on four or five pages now.  It makes me sad that there is none left, but one look at my pages and I am happy, especially when I look at this one:

The photo is from our Disney 2004 holiday which was full of photo opportunities and there isn't always much to say about them other than where we were or what day it was.  However, when I looked closely I realised that this photo represented No.2 Son's ability to put others first, especially his little sister and I felt that some journalling was required to celebrate his thoughtfulness.

Which also ties in nicely with Merly Impressions current challenge to tell a story on the front of your page.

*I have added a couple of papers from MME's 6x6 Cut & Paste Charm pad allowing me to use  smaller versions of the 3x4 cards in my kit and grabbed some white BG Chocolate Chip and Woodware Chippies alphas for a contrasting title.

Ten on the Tenth: Reasons Why I ♥ 2 Scrapbook

Welcome to August's Ten.  Ten is a big number.  I quite often start off with a great idea for a theme for a Ten and then realise that I have just an Eight, or a Seven or even a Three.  That's what happened when I was thinking about "Why I Scrapbook", prompted by a challenge at Merly Impressions:

1. It's my hobby - everyone needs a hobby, right?  This is my indoor one.
2. To relive the moment.  Scrapping the photos brings back the sights, smells and sounds of holiday adventures, first day of school nerves, choked back tears of pride at concerts and prize-givings, heartstring tugs at long-ago milestones ...
3. It's creative and lets my inner artist see the light of day.
4. My memory needs help.  I'm in my 50s and already the dates and details are jumbling up.  When did we visit that theme park?  Who was it that dressed up as a devil for Halloween?  Where was our first beach holiday?  I see my albums as insurance against old age!
5. Stories are important.  My story.  My children's stories.  Our traditions.  Our family histories.
6. Scrapbooking is for keeps - the pages are for my albums, my legacy of memories, preserving my photos
7. Scrapbooking is for sharing - the pages are for looking at together, hand-made with love, passing on the moments to friends and family and anyone else who is willing to be pinned down to the sofa under a stack of 12x12 albums!

So that got me to a Seven.  But I needed a Ten.  Then I remembered a particular photo taken last summer: My children and No.1 Son's girlfriend ex, relaxing in the garden, looking through some scrapbooks, chatting about the photos, remembering the holidays, teasing each other over the hairstyles or the clothes or the forgotten stories revealed.  And thus I had my remaining Three.

No full sheets of patterned paper were harmed during the making of this layout - scraps only!

Why do you scrapbook?  Do you have Ten reasons?  Or different Ten to share?  Why not link up with Shimelle and her readers here (providing she has managed to escape the Olympics)