Seven Deadly Sins Of Scrapbooking

Many of you will have heard of the seven deadly sins. They are sometimes also referred to as cardinal sins or capital vices and were originally used in early Christian teaching to help teach people right from wrong. 

I was watching an episode of Charmed the other night on TV and they mentioned these sins. My brain immediately drifted and wondered what the seven deadly sins of scrapbooking might be. Incidentally, I sometimes think I get obsessed with scrapbooking; it encompasses my every daydreaming thought (ideas for layouts, color combinations etc.) and it dawned on me in that moment that this in itself was one of the deadly sins.

See if you recognise any of these characteristics in your own scrapbooking.

Greed - How many of you have, over the years, amassed a collection of scrap products which you lovingly refer to as your stash? How many of those products in your stash have you not touched because you haven't found the right layout to use them on yet? Do you have to have every color of Stickles ever made? Do you have a large collection of Cricut cartridges, some that you haven't even taken out of the original packaging? Do you hoard stuff excessively and buy things when they are on sale even if you don't need them. If you have answered yes to any of these questions then you could be guilty of greed. You need to watch your spending and try to use some of your stash - why not join in on the no-buying challenge on the Scrapjazz messageboards.

Gluttony - Along the same lines as greed, gluttony is looking at overindulgence and over-consumption and in fact the two sins go hand in hand. How obsessive are you about having the latest and greatest products that are out on the market? Are you subscribed to every blog and manufacturer's email newsletter just so you can keep up-to-date with what the latest products are? Do you try to keep up with the Jones'? Simply buying too much when you shop is gluttony. 

Lust - Lust is another sin linked to both gluttony and greed.  Lust however focuses on excessive thoughts. (Refer to my example of my every waking thought being about scrapbooking!) How many of you lust after lovely products? Do you window shop in all the online scrapbooking shops but never buy anything? Do you follow links from the message board to different products? Do you enable others by providing them with details of your finds? Do you just love touching the new BasicGrey paper or soaking in the scent of a product new out of the packet? Say no more!

Sloth - I'm actually pretty organised in my craft room but I do go through periods of laziness and then this turns into despair which pushes me into completely cleaning my craft room again. I am terrible at putting things back when I've used them on a layout. I cover my desk with scraps of paper and ends of ribbons; I leave my scissors on the table and cover them with more paper. I tip buttons all over the top of the paper to find just the right match and then push them to the side instead of putting them away! Is this sounding familiar to any of you? How many of you are unwilling to worry about the mess you close behind your craft room door? How many of you put this down to simply being creative? How many of you just don't care?  Sloth is basically laziness and can be overcome by ensuring you always pick up after yourself.

Wrath - A difficult sin this one is. It focuses on rage and anger, something that is rarely witnessed in the caring scrapbook community. I am sure, however, everyone is guilty of this sin in small ways. Have you ever stuck something down on a layout only for it to be wonky and then got annoyed with yourself when you tried to correct it and then completely messed the layout up? Have you ever shouted at your kids just because they picked up that inkpad in your craft room and tried to copy your creativity? That could be considered wrath.

Envy - Do you envy the work of others? Are you jealous of other people's creations; perhaps wish you would have thought of that great idea first?  Have you a desire to create work like your favorite artist? Are you the kind of person that prefers to scraplift others' layouts and lead by their inspiration?  You may be guilty of envy.

Pride - This is the most common sin in my opinion. This is looking at how you feel about your work when you have completed it. Do you ever feel that inner glow when you've completed a layout you are happy with? Do you keep looking at the layout again and again; perhaps if you have uploaded it to the gallery do you keep checking back to see if others have left you comments? Taking pride in your own work isn't a bad thing, but if you excessively praise yourself and never leave positive and reinforcing comments on other peoples work then you need to watch your step! Vanity falls under this description also.

So there we have it, the seven deadly sins of scrapbooking. Next time you are sitting down at your scrap space to create some magic on a page think about these sins and see if you can see yourself in them.