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Post by justcindy on Jul 22, 2014 0:52:17 GMT
I've been feeling really overwhelmed lately and don't like the way I approach scrapping. I started (holy crap!) about 18 years ago, and for the longest time only did chronological albums. There was even a point when I was <gasp!> "caught up." I also did separate albums for vacations or special events ( my Dad's 70th birthday party, for example) But I never got around to telling stories...the ones that my heart remembered. Deeper than "we did this and this on this day, and it was fun!" I just never got around to doing it. Now, two of my three kiddos are out of the house, and all I scrap are pretty much just vacations. No day to day stuff. One album I've always wanted to create, just for me, is one I keep calling " the only album to survive." meaning, of course, if everything else got burned in a house fire, God forbid, what ONE album would I grab to save? I wouldn't want to grab just a random year album, or a specific vacation, or how would I choose which baby book to grab? So, I've always wanted to make this album....of random stories that have always stood out to me, special memories of each child, special relatives, and my favorite for what ever reason photos. And write about them. A book where the photos are second to the stories. A book with things that are important to me, to my family story, that I worry about a photo/story being buried in a chronological album that may never get read or seen once I'm gone. I get so excited when I think about beginning this book! But have I started it? Heck no, because I was always worried about getting caught up, or wanting to finish this project/album or that vacation album first. I had lots of family stuff going on when my oldest was in high school, and my desire to scrapbook ANYTHING pretty much dried up during that time. About a year ago, I thought a great way to get back into it would be to do a project album - so I picked a vacation and got to it. Now, I don't know how to get out of that mode of "all one event, pick a butt load of themed papers, etc." So, I came up with this idea.  I have a black, 12x12 storage box from Hobby Lobby that I started putting photos in that I want to tell a story about. Since my Dad passed away last fall, I've been given some of him growing up, and me as a child, that I've put in that box. Some are ones that I came across while looking through photos for my son's graduation party a couple months ago. ( BTW, A couple months ago already!? What is UP with that!!!?). When a thought or memory crosses my mind that means a lot to me, ( this also happened a lot during my Dad's illness and death, I kept a kind of journal during that time) I write it down and throw it in the box. A special bible verse or quote that speaks to me, write it down, throw it in the box. This box is part one of my master plan, stick with me! So, here I am with a collection of random stories, prompts, thoughts, and photos that mean something special to me, all in one place. I don't have to make time to sit down and work out what stories I want to tell, find photos, I just toss it in as I come across it. And I keep it on the shelf above my desk. Second part of my plan is, when I finish a page or series of pages, of whatever it is I'm working on, before putting away all the papers I didn't use, scraps and embellishments that are left, I'll pull a picture out of my " Stories I wanna tell" box and make a page with what's left of the supplies. It already coordinates, so that part is done for me already, and it's just one page that I'm working on, in an album that will be a long work in progress. Key word, PROGRESS. I'm so excited by this idea, I can't tell yall! I remember a great tip I read several years ago, about making a card with the leftovers of a completed page instead of throwing the scraps away. I just kind of expanded on that idea into solving an issue of working on more than one project at a time, which is a challenge for me. I am SO sorry this was such a long explanation, but I've gained so many awesome ideas over the years, I wanted to share this in hopes that it will help someone in a similar situation.  |
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Post by cmpeter on Jul 22, 2014 0:58:11 GMT
Awesome idea and I love your approach.
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Post by craftygamer on Jul 22, 2014 1:04:55 GMT
That is such an awesome idea for an album. I think if you stick to that process, you'll be moving along with that album in no time. Such a great idea that I may have to borrow it and use it myself.  Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk |
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PLurker
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,744
Location: Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Jun 28, 2014 3:48:49 GMT
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Post by PLurker on Jul 22, 2014 1:05:53 GMT
The one album to save is a great idea! Favorite pages scattered throughout various albums would be hard to save from a fire or whatever..
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Post by justcindy on Jul 22, 2014 1:36:38 GMT
The one album to save is a great idea! Favorite pages scattered throughout various albums would be hard to save from a fire or whatever.. that's exactly how the album idea came about - one place for my favorite/special pages, instead of having "buried gems" scattered through dozens of albums, that will most likely be tossed or at least dismantled once I'm gone. When my dad passed away, I had all these random photos given to me that I didn't really have a place for yet...so they just sat in a box on my desk. I didn't want to put them away in my regular photo boxes, waiting for it to be their turn to be scrapped, sometime around spring of 2063 or something, LOL! They just sat there for months. When I started going through photos of my son for his graduation, I had a handful of really special photos that I didn't want to just return to his unscrapped life photos box. I ended up putting them in the same box as those special photos of my father, and the idea was born! |
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Post by lauralaforest on Jul 22, 2014 1:56:44 GMT
I love this idea!! As much as I love scrapping the everyday, I feel I haven't left a "legacy" yet for my grandchildren to know the real me. I need to start journaling my own childhood and stories that I would want them to know.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 17, 2024 3:46:18 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2014 2:01:15 GMT
That's a great idea. You sound so excited about it! You are off to a good start.  |
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Post by redshoes on Jul 22, 2014 2:37:02 GMT
Good for you! What a great idea!
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jul 22, 2014 3:02:00 GMT
I just want to say THANK YOU for sharing this, what an awesome idea! I think the resulting album would be such a meaningful, treasured keepsake for your family. It is so easy to scrap all the cute and fun photos from birthdays and Christmas and vacations and that stuff that it also gets very easy to skip over the deeper thoughts and feelings that you really want your family members to remember and know down the road. Thank you for the timely reminder.
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Post by moretimeplease on Jul 22, 2014 3:19:11 GMT
Yes, Thank You for sharing your idea! I love it!
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Post by anniefb on Jul 22, 2014 5:56:02 GMT
Love your idea - thanks so much for sharing it.
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scrappington
Pearl Clutcher
in Canada
Posts: 3,139 
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Post by scrappington on Jul 22, 2014 11:18:12 GMT
What a great idea. You should have a little notebook, so you can right down your memories as you think of them. And remember the book doesn't have to be all about pictures either. good luck with your project. I'm sure it will be an emotional one, but after it will be well worth it. |
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kitbop
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,394
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Post by kitbop on Jul 22, 2014 11:50:37 GMT
OMG, brilliant! I often set aside scraps/supplies from a finished page and then use them a 2nd time (often taking a 1-2 layout break first, but they stay out on my desk to bug me  ) I ADORE your album idea, and will likely copy that. Right now, I guess you have a "box to survive" instead of "album to survive", but I'm sure you'l get through the box quickly with this approach! |
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Post by miss_lizzie on Jul 22, 2014 11:52:45 GMT
I love your idea! If I were looking at it, I'd feel like I was getting to know you--what's important, what's cherished. I've thought of doing a "My Favorites" album that's full of things I like--songs, quotes, places, things.
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Post by cannmom on Jul 22, 2014 12:24:06 GMT
Great idea for an album. Getting those meaningful stories scrapped is important.
I do the use the leftovers to go ahead and make another page thing when I have the time to do multiple pages and I love it. Such a good way to use up supplies.
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Post by justcindy on Jul 22, 2014 15:18:06 GMT
I just want to say THANK YOU for sharing this, what an awesome idea! I think the resulting album would be such a meaningful, treasured keepsake for your family. It is so easy to scrap all the cute and fun photos from birthdays and Christmas and vacations and that stuff that it also gets very easy to skip over the deeper thoughts and feelings that you really want your family members to remember and know down the road. Thank you for the timely reminder. My goodness, you're welcome! I'm so glad I finally have something to contribute, lol! You hit the nail on the head....I was starting to feel like scrapping those vacations, while fun for me to DO, weren't really WHY I got into scrapbooking to begin with, ya know? I was feeling like it just doesn't matter- who CARES in 20 years that we dressed up one night on a cruise vacation? I started not liking the photos and almost feeling resentful about how many I "had to scrap" before I could start MY book. The thought even crossed my mind ( for about 4 seconds, but still!) that maybe I should just throw in the towel altogether. My precious MIL was my biggest fan of my scrapbooks and always asked to see what I had done since the last time she was over. She passed away 3 1/2 years ago, in the middle of all the teenage family drama(trauma!) that my oldest child was putting us through, and that's when my love for scrapping just dried up. I have been feeling such guilt that I have YET to really document in any way that I'm happy with, those special memories, and stories of WHO. WE. ARE. Not just what we did. I'm so excited about this on a gazillion different levels! Knowing now that I have a plan, it's put the excitement back into scrapping the other stuff, so it's ALL good.  |
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Post by cynipidae17 on Jul 22, 2014 15:23:37 GMT
I love this idea, I think I may need to steal it
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Post by justcindy on Jul 22, 2014 15:31:56 GMT
What a great idea. You should have a little notebook, so you can right down your memories as you think of them. And remember the book doesn't have to be all about pictures either. good luck with your project. I'm sure it will be an emotional one, but after it will be well worth it. Oh, I like the notebook idea....I keep a small one in my purse anyway, and I can just jot ideas down as I remember something I want for my book. And, you are so right about it not being about the pictures...another thing I want to include are snippets of my journaling, life lessons that have meant so much to me, my thoughts on becoming a mother, (22 years ago- holy CRAP) conversations I've had with God, things He's shown me and put on my heart. I want to write the story first, and then, maybe find a picture that could go with that story. I have been obsessed with photography since I was in 4th grade, (HA! another story I want to include!)so I have tons of landscape photos, dusty road photos, just random interesting stuff that I LOVE the image, but have never had a reason to scrap it - "Best day EVER! I got the perfect shot of this 80 year old mailbox I came across at a flea market!!!!" could you imagine?  Man, this just keeps getting bigger and better in my mind....I am starting to realize that THIS is what I've really wanted from scrapbooking all along.....and it probably DID need to take this long for it to gel into exactly what I want it to become. I know it will evolve from even here, as well. |
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Post by robkaynel on Jul 22, 2014 15:33:17 GMT
Great idea! You have me thinking about how I might approach something along these lines too. Thanks for sharing
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Post by justcindy on Jul 22, 2014 15:40:30 GMT
I love your idea! If I were looking at it, I'd feel like I was getting to know you--what's important, what's cherished. I've thought of doing a "My Favorites" album that's full of things I like--songs, quotes, places, things. miss lizzie, you DEFINITELY should start that album - think of it as a mixed media journal of sorts! That's how I'm imagining my book - part scrapbook, part journal, part autobiography. How fun would it be to work on that. It feels like a mix of 50 different crafts and ideas I've wanted to create, but jumbled together to be MY treasure. PLEASE start that book, for YOU! I love the ideas you have. I just had a thought of sharing pages and ideas together for this project. I'd love to see your ideas on including songs, specifically. there are some that mean SO much to me for not the obvious reasons... there's one song for each of my children that just reminds me of a moment in time with them. One in particular, I can't remember the name off the top of my head....a line in it is something like " don't want to close my eyes, don't want to miss one smile..." that song came out when my middle son was born, and I remember being up with him in the middle of the night for feeding and hearing it on the radio. It was so true....I was flipping exhausted, but I didn't want to close my eyes and miss a smile or sigh.... How would you put something like that together? lyrics from the song....a photo of us together at that age...and journaling. DUH! Sorry, I'm just working it out as I talk!  |
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Post by justcindy on Jul 22, 2014 15:51:18 GMT
HA! One more thing I just thought of - I'm gonna use my FAVORITEST of favorite papers and embellishments in this book. No using something up because I feel guilty for having bought it, no trying to make this or that work well enough so I don't waste it. For most of my project albums, its all about the beginning... I try to make the title page or first page first, as for me it sets the tone for how I want the entire album to feel. I just had a thought about what the title page would look like for this book....all that came to me is the title: "My Heart." Next page, I could journal about what the album is and how it is coming about....? ah, whatever. I don't want to do my usual MO and get bogged down in details before I begin. I just want to start. My book will tell me what it wants to look like and be called when it's good and ready. |
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Post by pamc on Jul 22, 2014 18:58:07 GMT
The best thing about your idea is that it works for you. How many times have we tried organizing and it never works? Good job!
I can relate to the troublesome teen trauma. My scrapbooking kept me sane - it reminded me that things weren't always horrible and gave me hope that we could make it past all the bad times. Sometimes I would come home and find him looking through our scrapbooks. I felt like it was one of the ways he was telling me that he remembered as well. Many years later and he's the best dad ever now.
Thanks for telling us about your project! I hope you post some pages.
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scrappington
Pearl Clutcher
in Canada
Posts: 3,139
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Post by scrappington on Jul 22, 2014 23:27:05 GMT
Do you have some supplies on the go or a basic kit prepared so you can just Start. Its a great project. Keep your enthusiasm
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Post by woodysbetty on Jul 23, 2014 0:00:48 GMT
Wow!! Genius, such a great way to build an album and story....I keep thinking how wonderful it will be to have each page unique but also tied to who you are at the time you scrapped them. An amazing blend of past and present......
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Post by karenl on Jul 23, 2014 0:06:55 GMT
I really like your idea! Hope you will share pics as you complete.
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Post by boxermom73 on Jul 23, 2014 0:34:09 GMT
Wonderful idea! I can't wait to see the finish project or projects as you go!
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jul 23, 2014 4:38:04 GMT
I just had a thought of sharing pages and ideas together for this project. I'd love to see your ideas on including songs, specifically. there are some that mean SO much to me for not the obvious reasons... there's one song for each of my children that just reminds me of a moment in time with them. One in particular, I can't remember the name off the top of my head....a line in it is something like " don't want to close my eyes, don't want to miss one smile..." that song came out when my middle son was born, and I remember being up with him in the middle of the night for feeding and hearing it on the radio. It was so true....I was flipping exhausted, but I didn't want to close my eyes and miss a smile or sigh.... How would you put something like that together? lyrics from the song....a photo of us together at that age...and journaling. DUH! Sorry, I'm just working it out as I talk! I've been thinking about this a lot recently too. DH and I celebrated our silver anniversary this year and we had a nice party with many of our family and close friends. I was going through creating a playlist on the morning of the party and asked DH if there were any specific songs he would like me to add (other than the obvious ones) and he said, "Why are you worried about that when we have so many other things to do right now?" LOL, ironically enough I must have had at least ten people comment to me during the party about the song selections on the playlist! There were quite a few songs and every one was picked specifically because the lyrics were/are meaningful to us. Some were old songs from when we started out, some new from this year and everything in between. I think DD might find it interesting some day to have the list and maybe the lyrics and to know why those songs in particular were chosen for this special event in our lives. I'm just not sure how to go about it. |
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Post by alexa11 on Jul 23, 2014 5:10:52 GMT
Great idea! Thanks for sharing!!!
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Post by irisheyes on Jul 23, 2014 5:26:04 GMT
I love your idea. What an amazing treasure you are creating.
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lilypop
Shy Member
Posts: 34
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Post by lilypop on Jul 23, 2014 14:41:42 GMT
Brilliant idea! Please share with us your journey with this album. We'll keep you excited and motivated with our enthusiasm for your project! Right, Peas? |
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I have a black, 12x12 storage box from Hobby Lobby that I started putting photos in that I want to tell a story about. Since my Dad passed away last fall, I've been given some of him growing up, and me as a child, that I've put in that box. Some are ones that I came across while looking through photos for my son's graduation party a couple months ago. ( BTW, A couple months ago already!? What is UP with that!!!?). When a thought or memory crosses my mind that means a lot to me, ( this also happened a lot during my Dad's illness and death, I kept a kind of journal during that time) I write it down and throw it in the box. A special bible verse or quote that speaks to me, write it down, throw it in the box. This box is part one of my master plan, stick with me! 
)
