Scrapbook Stores and Kindred Spirits

I lived in Fremont for close to 15 years before I met another artist. I met plenty of mom's with children the same age as mine, mom's at soccer, baseball, gymnastics, the list goes on and on. Then one day I walked into a small scrapbook store, one of the few remaining at this particular time in history. I signed up for a journal making class with a teacher named Traci Bautista, then a little known local artist. Wow,I couldn't believe it, a class full of women painting, drawing, stamping and coloring paper. I was home! From then on I took more classes and met more people, some crafters, some scrapbookers and some artists. Many became friends, some created art groups, some taught but most importantly, all loved to create!
And now as I reflect on the closing of another local scrapbook store. I am saddened by the closing of the store but mostly by the loss of yet another place where the creative gather to inspire, laugh and yes, create. Fortunatly for me I have a rather large collection of names, numbers and emails that I can call to propose an artist's gatering, get a list of upcoming workshops, borrow paint or paper and most importantly: be inspired! Although I was never much of a scrapbooker in the literal sense, I started this inchie, atc, Moo card, book altering, vintage collecting journey... in a scrapbook store. I will always be grateful to the store owners who made this possible. Special thanks to Monica, Sherri, Laurie and Suzy for being the source of such inspiration and the meeting place of so many kindred spirits!