I’m the luckiest girl I know! Married to my best friend for 15 years, raising three beautiful children, I’m living the dream of getting to make a living doing what I love: creating scrapbooks!

I’ve been a scrapbooker since my high school days, when I used construction paper and rubber cement with ticket stubs and restaurant napkins—all in a looseleaf notebook. In the mid-90s, I discovered archival scrapbooking, and I knew I’d found my calling. In 2001, I created my first client album. I could hardly believe my luck—that someone would PAY me to scrapbook was astonishing to me! That job led to another, which led to another… and in the summer of 2003, I formally started my business. Literally hundreds of albums later, I still haven’t grown tired of my hobby. Because for me, it’s much more than that. It’s storytelling. It’s a learning experience. It’s connecting to the past and leaving a legacy for the future. Scrapbooking allows me to be creative both mentally and artistically. My own personal scrapbooks combine two of my passions, writing and photography, with two of my other passions: my family and my faith. I see myself as a Family Historian, recording the little things and the big milestones that shape us and define us, so that my children will know who they are and their children will know from where they came. I strive to bring you the same fulfillment. I want your albums to be alive with YOUR personality: your memories, your stories, and your little things and big milestones. I want your finished albums to evoke tears and laughter, sighs and snickers. I want to preserve your legacy.

I believe that journaling is the most important part of any scrapbook. You’ve heard the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” I once heard it in a different, but I think more fitting, way: “A picture is worthy of a thousand words.” I encourage you to write your own stories. Even if you tell them to me and ask me to include them—even if you type them out ahead of time—your stories will lose some of their oomph unless you write them out yourself. There’s something magical about putting pen to the scrapbook page. The photos bring back memories and stories that would otherwise be forgotten. I will strive to add quotes and titles that help create an atmosphere for your stories, but it is you who must do the storytelling. I feel so passionately about this that I offer a special journaling rebate. I know, I know. You’re curling your lip and saying, “But I’m a terrible writer. I won’t know what to say. I hate my handwriting.” Believe me, I’ve heard it all. And I don’t care. I want you to write your stories. You’ll thank me later. That’s a promise!

I feel blessed and fortunate to have crossed paths with so many beautiful families. It’s a strange relationship that forms when I scrapbook someone else’s life. I see your children off to their first days of school, I notice the new cars and new houses and I recognize the old neighborhoods and old friends. I accompany you to exotic locations and secret getaways. I’m privy to inside jokes and family traditions. I become part of your family for a short time—an unseen member who shares your joys and triumphs, and mourns your heartaches and losses. I look forward to meeting your family soon!

Stacy Kocur, memory artist

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