Confessions of a Scrapbook hoarder

Confession: I am a hoarder. Especially when it comes to scrapbook paper. I buy it, but I don't use it. I keep it. In my paper organizer. Where no one sees it, even me. If it's really beautiful, I have a hard time using it at all. Ever. I buy and buy and buy more paper. Have I made myself any scrapbooks? NOPE. (To my credit, I DO make scrapbooks for other people, just not myself) .

***SIDE RANT (related, but a tangent nonetheless)
Alright, here's my issue with scrapbooking. There's too many options. For example, say I wanted to make a page about playing tennis in high school. I go out and buy this paper that looks good. It's got tennis rackets on it. It's cute. So I buy it and make a layout with it. THEN, the next store I'm in I find a CUTER paper and now my completed layout looks a little drab to me. It's nice, but it could be nicer. Then I get frustrated that I spent time on something that I'm not thrilled about anymore. If it's sewing, and I've made a bag with one fabric then I find another fabric I like better, I'd just make another bag (or another skirt or whatever). With scrapbooking, I feel that I've only got one shot at a particular event or group of photos. I'm too much of a perfectionist, I know. END SIDE RANT***

Anyway, this week was a monumental week for me. I used a piece of scrapbook paper. And a beautiful one at that. I've been wanting a journal with blank paper for a while. That's difficult to find. Most have lines. I don't like lines; they are too binding. Unless it's graph paper, then I love it. So I either like LOTS of lines or NONE at all. I decided to make myself a journal. Here's the results:

I bought the text block and book board from the Paper Source, which is a beautifully creative company. There are two Paper Sources in Boston. I had to go to Boston to the dentist (Which I HAAAATE) so I treated myself to a trip to the Paper Source to salvage the trip.

The paper I realized only when I started making the book is Sis Boom (Jennifer Paganelli , whose fabric I love, whose aesthetic I love, whose blog I read daily ------------> )

I started the process thinking I would post a tutorial. Then I realized I'm not good at that, because I forgot to take pictures of like 5 steps. I'll try better with the next one. This is the third book I've made and I really like it! And I used paper! From my stash!