That's What It's All About!

Previously we discussed how to use scanned photos to create a digital scrapbook album which can be printed into a hard bound book. But what about the originals?

While it is true not everyone can have a copy, originals are still important documents. Be they newspaper clippings, photographs, certificates, drawings, or rationing stamps (got some of those!) the "real thing" will fade and disintegrate over time without proper care. The scans allow you to view the same information indefinitely, but there is something priceless about holding a document handled by others decades before.

Museums and historical archives have been using various techniques for years to preserve artifacts. While you may not be willing to go to the lengths taken to preserve, say, the Declaration of Independence, there are still great options available.

Archival Mist is a product carried in most scrapbooking stores. This spray is a fine, clear mist which coats any paper document and neutralizes the acid. I use it in my daily scrapbooks when I save items, such as a birthday card, not made specifically for scrapbooking.

Individual pockets, soldered from typical page protectors, can be created for any document you wish to protect, as well as handle. By making a pocket the size of a postcard sent home from a grandparents honeymoon trip and attaching it to the front of the scrapbook page you can see not just one side, but two. Proper pin-prick air holes continue to allow dangerous acids to escape from the postcard while the plastic protects it from fumbling fingers.

Most of us have saved snippets along the way. Whether it is your wedding announcement or a child's hospital band from birth, these artifacts will fade and fall apart. But at Designs of Mine, preserving memories is what we are all about!

Digi Grandma

Last week I told you about the treasure trove discovered in my grandparent's home. Boxes filled with family history, carefully kept for future generations.

Today I'd like to tell you what I am doing with it.

Photographs do not split well. Who has the right to Great-Grandma Laura's school portrait? One of her four children, her grand children, her great-grandchildren, or her great-great-grandchildren? To solve this problem I have hired a company to scan each of these precious photographs and turn them into digital files.

Digital photos, combined with the massive amount of historical information provided by Great-Grandma Henrick, will allow me to create scrapbooks for my entire family. A family tree, copies of memorabilia like the receipt for Grandpa Henrick's first car (a Chevy Roadster purchased in 1929, days before the stock market crash), the newspaper article of a family member "missing" only to be discovered hitching a ride on a train to travel to the next state to enlist in the army. All of these can be added to my computer files, uploaded to a printing service, and bound into a hardback book. At about $40-$50, depending on the type of cover chosen, anyone and everyone will be able to order a copy of this book.

So everyone can have a copy of the picture of my Grandma modeling her first bikini.

Roots

A few months ago my Grandpa passed away. As my Grandma preceded him in death, with this event came the task of sorting through their personal belongings. And oh, what treasures we found.

Albums from the 50's, 60's, and 70's, newspaper clippings of births, deaths, and marriages, aging wedding invitations, and, best of all, boxes of photos in old folders, some dating back to the late 1800's.

In six file folder boxes (you know, the kind from the 60's) are the portrait images of my great-great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other distant relations. As best as I can tell, the oldest is one of my grandpa's mother at about age 8. She is wearing a calico dress and pinafore, hair plaited in two braids, sitting with 40 or so other children in front of a school house. It may have been a two-room school, as the photo also contains two school masters, severe and demanding from the looks of it.

Also in the boxes are my Great-Grandma's collection of family history. I believe she started with her husband's family and traced back four generations to the Henrick family arriving in America from Alsace-Lorraine. It was fascinating reading, but even more interesting was her own paternal family tree, going back eleven generations to a family settling in the New World in the early 1700's. By the time the family tree arrives at the Revolutionary War, they are third generation Americans (or Britans. Whatever.).

And I cannot tell you how grateful I am. My family took the time to preserve their stories, their photos, their beliefs and faith, their history, and their records for me to see today.

What will you leave?

Type-B Scrapbooking

I am a type-A, left-brained, organizational junkie. I like order.

That being said I should tell you-- you don't have to scrapbook that way. There are no rules; you cannot scrapbook "wrong." So do it the way it works for you.

If it takes you months to find all the baby pictures you wish to preserve, whats wrong with ordering a few pages today from the pictures you just had developed? Pay for the pages as you organize the pictures, (which will allow you to fit the scrapbook into your monthly budget in pieces, rather than all at once) and just do it! You are not behind. You are not out of order. You are recording memories. And that means you have a scrapbook.

Choose a D-ring album (like a 3-ring binder) and slip the pages in where ever you wish. Isn't it better to have some pages, some stories, some pictures, preserved than none at all?

So go with what motivates you. Choose what you enjoy. I give you permission not to feel guilty about the rest.

Survey Says

I'm wondering, are there people out there who are interested in digital scrapbook albums? What about albums created digitally and printed out for viewing in a book?

If you have a comment-- leave it now!

Why Wait?

Stress-free scrapbooks have been our goal this month-- how am I doing? Last week we looked at ideas for adding more pictures with less cost.

Now I want to cover the "story." People scrapbook for a lot of reasons. And while "creative outlet" in certainly viable, most of us just want to capture memories. Whether you just want to document your life for yourself or you are passing a legacy on to your children, the idea is to tell a story.

So keep in mind that if you are doing that, you cannot scrapbook a "wrong" way.

But you can scrapbook in a more timely and cost effective way!

First, think about the story you wish to tell. I'm working on an album right now that covers childhood. Key points are, obviously, each grade in school, major family vacations, holiday traditions, and family members. Instead of scrapping every photo, we are working to choose just enough to tell the tale. For example, select photos from each grade go together on ONE two-page spread. An entire year of life in six pictures.

Because you probably don't need 20 albums to remember your childhood.

Here's another hint. If you have young children, start their scrapbook now. As the school year winds down, pick ten of your favorite photos and contact me. For less than $25 per year, you will have a 26 page album by the time your child is a Senior. So simple-- so doable!

What are you waiting for?

The Quest Continues

Happy Monday!

In our quest for simpler scrapbooks, last week we discussed not using every photo. But what if you really like them...

If you really like them-- scrap them! But just because you scrap them doesn't mean they need their own page. Here are some ideas for adding more photos to a single page or single spread (that's the two pages which face each other). The cost involved is minimal. To use these ideas your page will be classified as a level 3 (Check the website if you need clarification!), which does cost a bit more than the first two levels, but is still more bang for your buck than adding more pages!

First option: create a pocket behind the page. Add tabs to the tops of your photos and place them in the pocket. You can pull them out and look at them whenever you like!

Second option: choose wallet sized photos, or even use the index provided when you order pictures.

Third option: order a small album, such as an explosion or paper bag album to display lots of photos and still stay in budget. I did this for my son's first birthday and I love it!

Fourth: add photo pockets to your scrapbook. Simply slide 6 4x6 pictures next to a layout. This worked great for last year's Christmas pictures.

Until next time!