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When Linda Garner decided to sell her shop, Linda's Scrapbooking, last year, she planned to continue creating scrapbooks for customers and selling a line of tags wholesale. Little did she know that she'd soon be operating Linda's Scrapbooking again, although on a much smaller scale -- Thursday through Saturday only -- in what she's named the "Inspiration Room" at her Maryville home.

"When I left, I didn't intend to do this," Garner said with a rueful smile, gesturing at the racks of colorful papers taking up a generous portion of her Inspiration Room space. "I kept getting calls from people and having to do their books, and our wholesale business just kept growing. I was meeting people in parking lots delivering their things. So, I needed a place for my customers to come to because they kept calling, and I needed merchandise to fill the orders they gave."

Garner turned their unused garage into the Inspiration Room and now continues with many of the services she offered at her former location on Foothills Plaza Drive, now occupied by Scrappin' in the Foothills. She, daughter Melody Stinnett, and friend Sharon Moore make a line of poetry tags which are embellished with handmade die cuts, brads, ribbon, embossing paste, glitter and rubber stamping. The endeavor is fully a family affair: Garner's mother, Evelyn Whitehead, helps sort, bag and top the tags; 5-year-old grandson Carson Gribble sets brads in the tags, helps bag them and helps clean the Inspiration Room. Husband Robert punches holes in tag toppers while he watches television -- "He'll do anything for cornbread," Garner said -- and granddaughter Jodie Brown helps with customers and cleaning up.

Memories preserved

Garner offers pre-made scrapbook pages in all sizes; trio tags, which are embellished chipboard squares; dry-embossed die cuts; and invitations. Classes are offered on any scrapbook-related craft, and ideas and samples are available in the Inspiration Room. She will create shadow boxes, senior sports boards and display boards for funeral homes, as well. Gold Canyon Candles are also available at her shop, by home party or orders.

Knowing that many customers love the look of scrapbooks but just don't have the time or inclination to preserve their photos and memories themselves, Garner will create the books based on the customer's desires.

Phyllis Lawson, of Maryville, is one of many customers who has had Garner do her scrapbooks for several years. She first met Garner when she tried scrapbooking for herself and got bogged down, she said.

"I called Linda and said, 'help!'" Lawson said.

The latest creation is for Lawson's grandson, Maryville High School senior Reid Walker, based on his athletic accomplishments and honors from the time he was a small child.

"Linda has got great ideas," Lawson said. "When you see her work and what she does, I think everyone will agree that she does a fantastic job."

Every page a story

Clients bring in the photos and mementos according to what they want put together, then Garner puts her creative juices to work.

"I made sure (the items) are in some semblance of order and just go from there and do whatever each picture might need," she said. Her goal is to make each page a story that blends with other pages in the book.

One page in Lawson's scrapbook contains collector cards from Reid's sports teams. Garner mounted them on vellum, which can be seen through, so the backs of the cards with Reid's stats could be easily viewed.

"Each page is an individual thing according to whatever it needs," Garner explained. "Some might not need a lot of embellishments and others might need more. I try to keep them consistent. You kind of pick up on how the pictures relate."

This wasn't exactly what Garner had in mind when she sold her shop, but since she isn't staying open full-time, she says she has the best of both worlds.

"If I want to dig worms, I can do that, and if I want to visit with people, I can do that," she said with a smile. "I'm keeping busy doing what I want to do."