Imperfect Lives: Scrapbooking the Reality of Your Everyday — Book Review

A compassionate, story-first book on scrapbooking that gives you permission to document the messy, ordinary, and hard moments—not just the highlight reel. Sixty women share layouts with the stories behind them, plus supply lists you can follow. It’s about honest journaling and meaning-making out of imperfect lives.

Who It's For

Scrapbookers stuck on perfection or “nothing here is scrapbook-worthy”

Memory-keepers who want to process tough seasons through words and photos

Beginners to intermediate scrapbookers who like prompts, themes, and real examples

Readers who appreciate story context and supply lists

What You Will Learn

How to document imperfect, everyday life (not just milestones)

Using reflective questions and prompts to unlock real stories

Turning small, ordinary scenes into meaningful pages

Writing to your younger self as a powerful journaling format

Approaching complex family narratives with honesty and care

Linking supplies and design choices to story intent

Imperfect Lives Review: Highlights and Memorable Layouts

The Crystal Ball: A reflection on whether we’d want to know the future; choosing to live one day at a time. Includes a clear supply list (patterned papers, chipboard letters, acrylic accents, rub-ons, brad, paint, ink, pen, staples) that makes it easy to recreate the feel.

In This Picture: A cancer story that made me think of my own mother’s leukemia and how illness can be hidden until it can’t. A reminder that pages can hold complicated truths alongside love.

The Space Between and who could have known? (Rachel Hall): Early marriage, parents’ divorce, bulimia, depression—courageous examples of “scrapbook therapy” that validate telling the whole story.

Wonderful World: Everyday beauty in the park with her sons; how scrapbooking can open creative doors (even product design dreams). A nudge to see documenting as a catalyst.

Lick-finger-Rub: A tiny, universal memory—a parent wiping a smudge with a spit-and-finger—that instantly transports you. Proof that micro-moments are worthy subjects.

My Grandma’s Kitchen: Sensory storytelling that bridges generations. It reminded me of the recipe box my mom gave me—an heirloom of daily life that deserves a page.

Note to (Younger) Self (from editor Tara Governo): “Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up. Listen more, speak less.” A format that makes journaling flow.

The Black and White Layout (Jaunita): Turning 30 as a light-switch moment. I resonated; hitting 30 made me hungry for change, and seeing how others evolve gave me grace for my own shifts.

Doin’ My Daddy’s Time: On a grandchild navigating a parent’s imprisonment. Striking line: “When there is a big difference between childhood memories and the stories a family tells, you end up with an adult who doesn’t trust her own instincts or her own reality.”

Section themes that work: Life Lessons, Portrait of a Woman, and more tie the book together with quotes like Reggie White’s “God places the heaviest burden on those who can carry its weight” and Dolly Parton’s “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”

Personal Takeaways

Not all pages are about overcoming; many celebrate ordinary moments—small trips, kitchens, parks, gestures—that hold as much truth as big events in our ordinary, imperfect lives.

Reading slowly (not just flipping for pretty pages) surfaced dozens of stories I still want to document.

This book strengthened my conviction to be brave, be true, and let albums reflect reality, not just smiles.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Honest, therapeutic approach—permission to tell the whole truth

60 contributors = diverse voices, topics, and styles

“Story behind the layout” blocks help when on-page journaling is hard to read

Practical supply lists make ideas more repeatable

Strong prompts and reflection questions spark writing

Cons

Some creative fonts obscure journaling

Light on formal design instruction

Brand callouts can feel era-specific

Bottom Line

If you’ve ever thought, “My life isn’t scrapbook-worthy,” Imperfect Lives will change your mind. It centers everyday honesty—messy kitchens, complicated family stories, small gestures—and shows how to turn them into pages that matter. Buy it for mindset shifts, prompts, and relatable examples; skip if you want advanced design theory.

Personal Note: My "Who R You" Layout

Going back through older layouts, I paused at one I titled “Who R You”—a mixed media reminder of who I am in Christ Jesus, even in an imperfect life. People will label us, sometimes unfairly, sometimes with cherry-picked truths. But identity is deeper than labels. When I fall down, I don’t have to stay down. On days I need reminding, I turn to Scripture and let those promises shape my pages. If this book encourages anything, it’s this: tell the truth of your life—faith, doubt, joy, struggle—and let your albums hold it all.