A few weeks ago, the Scrap Gals had a podcast about the demise of double page layouts. (Episode 131 if you’re interested in listening to it.) It’s one of my favorite episodes, precisely because they are taking a potentially controversial topic and exploring it kindly, from their own perspectives and experiences.

I’m not sure that their theory is right or wrong. In my experience, I make double page layouts fairly frequently, when the subject calls for it. Usually, it’s an event with a lot of pictures. Sometimes it’s a more story based layout. Regardless, it’s a decision I make almost as soon as I decide to make a page.

My most recent double page spread, from last month.

There is one thing that they mentioned that really got me thinking though.

When you started scrapbooking, what was your goal? Were you scrapbooking to create pretty photo albums? Were you scrapbooking to get all your photos documented and organized? Did you start scrapbooking to tell stories? Did you start scrapbooking because you loved the product, the artsy play time, and the photos and stories were just an after thought?

The scrap gals theorized that the people who create scrapbooks with mostly double page layouts are more concerned with getting their photos out of storage and out where they can be seen. Their goal is to create pretty and accessible photo storage. They may even have the unstated goal of eventually being caught up, with no older stories to tell.

While that may be true of some scrapbookers, that’s definitely not true for me. Each and every time I use a double page spread, I do so because that’s what the story demands.

I scrapbook for a very melancholy reason. I know from personal experience, that life can change in an instant, and people that we love can be lost forever. I scrapbook because I wish I knew my father’s story, and his father’s story, and I don’t want my kids to wish that about me.

I know I am not going to get every story told. I know I am not going to document the history of every photo in my possession. (Digital camera=too many photos period.) That was never my goal. My goal has always been to tell my story. I do tell a lot of stories about my kids and the rest of my family and friends, but that’s because they are important to me.

So what are your scrapbooking goals? Share them here, or over on Facebook. I’d really like to know what you want to accomplish with your scrapbooking.