Got the summer blues? I definitely have today. This video by PES helped to cheer me up though! (Via A Practical Compendium of Random Things)

Scrapbooking comes in for some tough criticism at times. I consider it a craft, definitely, but sometimes scrapping sits awkwardly beside other "more artistic" activities. I use the quotes because I consider scrapbooking highly artistic, if not in the traditional sense of the word. Sister Diane, aka Diane Gilleland, is a crafter who records and posts podcasts to her website
craftypod.com. The podcasts have covered a range of subjects and this week it was the turn of scrapbooking. In this week's podcast, Stop Hatin’ on Scrapbooking!, Sister Diane spoke to scrapbooker Lain Ehmann who is also a contributing editor to Simple Scrapbooks magazine.

Lain spoke eloquently about scrapbooking, albeit from an American perspective, explaining the different aspects of the craft and explaining how there are as many types of scrapbooking as there are scrapbookers. (She also mentioned one of my favourite scrap-related stats which is that there are more scrapbookers [in America] than there are golfers!) She dispelled a few scrapbooking myths (for example that you need kids to scrapbook, and that you can only use acid-free products) and emphasised that scrapbooking is a way of telling stories.

Although I'm not sure how many non-scrapbookers will be swayed by the interview, I think it's refreshing for scrapbooking to be given a fair hearing. Scrapbookers are creative people and have earned their place in the craft world. The breadth of styles, techniques and formats we see in reader emails and layouts is wonderful to see - and proves that scrapbooking has something for anyone interested in recording their stories and memories. If you've got 20mins today have a listen to the podcast and let me know what you think.

You can download the podcast here: Stop Hatin' on Scrapbooking!, or visit Lain's blog Scrap Happy.