My life is consumed, for the most part, with scrapbooking. I have a room in my house for it, a budget for supplies, and if there's any free time, it's usually spent sitting at my desk creating or at least thinking about a future project. Besides my work here at ScrapStreet, I also teach about five classes a month at my local scrap store. Overall, that's a lot of scrap time!

When I tell people about my hobby, I get a lot of questions - "How do you do that?", "How much time does one page take you?", "How did you learn to do this?" - but the most common one asked from the non-scrapper layperson is, "Why do you scrapbook?"

I thought Jamie Leija's ultra creative project could sum it all up for us! "This is Why I Scrapbook" was created as a result of a challenge by a website to consider why we choose to scrapbook, and Jamie created a very personal project depicting the reasons.

Notice the sentiment on the side of the can? "I scrapbook because I ... CAN" Very clever play on words Jamie! I also love that part of it is printed on the picture itself.

This very thoughtful little creation was made with a paint can, and paint chip cards were used to make the actual pages of the book! I love the way it all stays with the theme and takes scrapbooking to a different place with the supply choice. Not just the boring old paper anymore!

In her very own words, "Think out of the box when it comes to your creativity and scrapbooking. I'm constantly finding new materials to use, simply by being aware of the potential all around me. Take a second glance at the brown paper bag you're about to toss, reconsider the cutouts in a DVD holder, as they could become a mask, dig into your office supply drawer. There's a wealth of possibility wherever you look!" I could not have said it better!

By using the paint chips, you always have pages that will coordinate with the colors of your pictures and theme. The design of the paint cards also gives you a ready made journaling spot. Easy!