5 inspirations to kickstart your 2012 journalling and scrapbookery

List by Danielle

"Scrapbooking is cheaper than a therapist."
~ Original source unknown, quote found at scrapbook.com

Clunky title? Clunky title. *nods* But did you know that our Central Library is having the coolest exhibition at the moment, Saved Memories: Scrapbooks 1570 - 2011? On display in the softly-lit and mysterious spaces of Special Collections are a selection of heritage scrapbooks, with intriguing bits and pieces of the past pressed between their pages, old photos, hand-drawn sketches, long-forgotten tidbits from Auckland's past... if you're at all interested in that kind of collagey treasure hunting, you should go check it out. If you go between 12 and 1pm on a Wednesday, you will even get a guided tour of the best bits, from exhibition creator/curator Kate de Courcy! And for those of you who can't make it in to town, here are some other sources of inspiration for starting off 2012 with some artsy journalling and storytelling of your own.

Added bonus: Auckland Libraries' online exhibition: Sarah Mathew's album
"Turn the pages of a Victorian scrapbook" - and you can! Page through Sarah's scrapbook, a digitised version of the 1830-1885 book kept by Sarah Mathew, wife of New Zealand's first surveyor Felton Mathew. Along the way you will find gorgeous sketches of her travels, illustrations of plants and animals, and actual keepsakes (including emu feathers - 'Poor Jack my tame emu killed by a dog 1835'). The album is here, and there's an essay for those who want to know more about the woman behind the scrapbook.