BEHIND LIFESCRAPS

A collection of notebooks and printed images, including an illustration of Alice in Wonderland, a colorful scene with trees and people, and various papers and artwork on a white surface.
Collage of cut-out images and text including the phrases 'Welcome to the project by Anna', 'LEGACIES', 'about feelings', 'Belonging in between', 'Discovery Observation', 'I have mixed', and 'Four Seasons'. Contains photos of a person at a desk, a woman with makeup, a landscape with drops of water, and a large red chili pepper.
A mirror with ornate gold frame contains a message written in pink lights that reads, "THOSE YOU HAVE THE CONFIDENCE OF A MEDIOCRE WHITE GUY TODAY." The reflection shows two women, one taking a selfie and another standing nearby, with a brick wall and some photos on a surface below the mirror.

There’s a pile of birthday cards I can’t part with.

A wardrobe ticket from my last party at De School.

Boarding passes, rugby tickets, a couple of omikuji that I have never translated.

Postcards, torn notes, and a handwritten list of new years resolutions once made myself write.

A piece of a red clay vase.

These are my lifescraps.

Hi, I’m Anna. And I’ve been a sentimental hoarder for as long as I can remember.

I’ve moved around a lot. Since 2008, I’ve packed up my life more times than I can count. But wherever I went, my scraps came too - and a couple of boxes basically hold my life together.

I didn’t think of it as art. I thought of it as remembering - proof that I was once (t)here — wherever here was. A coping mechanism at times, too.

A collage of cut-out images, text, and drawings promoting organic living, health, and happiness, including pictures of people, animals, and nature, with phrases like 'organic,' 'route,' 'boost,' and 'love,' and handwritten notes.

WHY LIFESCRAPS?

Turns out, they are.

From art therapy to identity research, there’s growing recognition that scrapbooking and collage can be tools for self-reflection, grounding, and healing.

[further reading: link 1, link 2, link 3]

For years, this was just my quiet ritual. My way of holding on and making sense of the in-between.

But this summer, something shifted.
I thought: what if I’m not the only one who needs this?

What if collage and memory-keeping and emotional upcycling are more than private coping tools — but something we can share?

And so, lifescraps was born.

Where we collage to reflect, scrapbook to connect, and give new life to what’s been tucked away — in drawers, in minds, in hearts.

I’ll be there to gently prompt, encourage, and support you through the process — and I’m always happy to share the techniques, structures, and creative workarounds that have helped me develop my own scrapbooking and collage practice.

From layout tricks and visual journaling ideas to memory prompts, layering styles, and ADHD-friendly approaches to “finishing” things — I’ll offer what’s helped me, and invite you to adapt or remix them however you like.

Scrapbooking vs Collaging FROM MY POV

SCRAPBOOKING IS…

I didn’t start scrapbooking because it was cute (though it is… kinda?) - I just couldn’t throw things away.

That ticket from an exhibition I never wanted to forget? That weird little sticker from a hostel? That wine-tasting menu from a date?

Into the envelope. Into the drawer. Into the box. => Months/years later: onto a page!

COLLAGING IS…

I found collage during a moment when words weren’t working.

I was anxious, stuck, and exhausted. And collage became a way to bypass language and let instinct take over.

No plan or expectation. Just pick a piece, then another, then another. I don’t think about it. I don’t force it. I just pick scraps. And somehow… they tell me something new.