When I first started scrapbooking, it was because I had been doing genealogy research for my family for several years and had amassed quite a collection of photographs and copies of things like marriage certificates and census’ that I didn’t quite know what to do with. From that point, I realized that there were many things about family photographs that I had forgotten over the years and many of the family members in the photos were no longer living and I couldn’t go to them and ask them to refresh my memory.
I realized that I needed to start writing down this vital information and my memories about the family members in my photographs before I forgot any more of it. If I didn’t, my children and grandchildren were going to look at those photos later and have no idea of what they were looking at.
I have always liked to write and I found that trying to write down what I knew about these photos brought up memories and feelings long forgotten. The natural thing for me to do was to write these memories down. It can be very cathartic to write down what you feel inside.
For some people, writing about or talking about their feelings makes them very uncomfortable, and they have no idea where to start. There are several ways to do this without even having to write paragraphs. You can write down lists of say, one to ten things that come to mind when you look at a photograph. Or you can use a top ten list. I did one of those on a scrapbook page I did for Mother’s Day.
Top Ten Things I Learned From My Mom
1. Dependable mom’s will go to great lengths for their kids.
2. You can still be your kid’s friend while being their parent.
3.You are never too feeble to sit on your Mom’s lap.
4.With God, all things are possible.
5.It’s better to keep your mouth shut and look plain than to open it and remove all doubt.
6. There are no tiresome questions.
7. Blood is thicker than water.
8. I am fair as beneficial as anyone else.
9. I can do anything I put my mind to.
10. Sometimes it’s o.k. to lick the beaters.
You can see my scrapbook layout here: http://scrapbook.com/myplace/index.php? mod=galleries&u=118161&m=view&id=1365601&page=1&a=141395
You might also try a bulletted list. If you are not sure what that is, here is an example.
** John and Mary
** June 5, 2006
** Trip to Alaska
** 30th Anniversary
** Had a very memorable and enjoyable trip
I found that I would remember things that should go into my scrapbook at odd times, when I was away from my scrapbooking supplies and area. So, I started to keep a journal after years of not keeping one. If you keep it handy, it is a great location to start writing these random thoughts down for future use and you will be surprised at the creativity that they inspire. You may find that you decide to go an entirely different direction with your scrapbook page.
I recently found that I wish I had been able to meet my Mom’s grandfather. I had heard many stories about him from Mom and my Grandma as I grew up. Some of them were not so great. I found him to be an intriguing character. So, I sat down and wrote a letter to him in which I included the things I would ask and say to him if I were able to go back in time and meet him.
You can see the letter I wrote here: http://scrapbook.com/myplace/index.php? mod=galleries&u=118161&m=view&id=1365449&page=1&a=141395
If you sit down and look at a photograph and hit a brick wall when it comes to what to write, here is a helpful list of things to include to start with.
WHO–Include the names of the people in the photographs, this may not be evident to future generations because people change in appearance over time, and they may have never met the people in the photos. If you know, be sure to include who took the photograph. If you are like me, you are not included in many photos, because you are behind the lens.
WHAT–What is the occasion? Is it a special even or holiday? Is there something happening that is particularly memorable? What do you remember happening?
WHERE–Where was the photo taken? Any background information could give meaning to others looking at your photo, especially to future genealogists looking for clues.
WHEN–Including the date of the photos helps to put it into proper context for the future viewer. Just writing Birthday is not as informative as writing Jane’s 16th Birthday, 1967. It will help people feel a connection to your subject. It is also helpful to include the date that you scrapbooked the photo and who you are.
WHY–Why does this photo hold special meaning to you. There must be a reason you chose to scrapbook this particular photo. Being realistic, you will probably never be able to or want to scrapbook every photo that you have.
These basic questions are still hard to remember, so I made up some index cards to keep handy when I am scrapbooking to remind me. And if I need to go and ask someone else what they remember about a photograph, they are handy for me to take along.
Another method to spark your memory and journaling creativity is to pretend you are telling a story. You could pretend your audience is a small child, for instance.
There are a miriad of tiny details that you could include with holiday pictures. Does your family have any special recipes or maybe some traditions that are specific to your family. My family are not big drinkers, so my Mom started making us non-alcoholic cocktails from cranberry juice and Sprite when we were children and now it doesn’t seem like Thanksgiving without it.
For a quick creativity sparker, try free association. Write down the words that come into your mind when you look at your photograph and then do a word search from them. This is a huge way to make your page more interactive for the people who view your page or you could then circle the words on your page
When it comes to handwriting, almost everyone hates their absorb almost as bad as everyone hates their photo on their drivers license. But it is important to add it to your pages. You don’t have to do all of your journaling in your own handwriting. You can use a computer or lettering stencils or letter stickers for instance and then add a cramped of your gain writing. Or you could use hidden journaling behind the photos or elements on your page to put your handwriting out of site to the casual viewer. This is also a spacious technique for adding heartfelt and private journaling that you don’t want just anyone to read. If your journaling tends to be like mine, it is literally more like a journal entry and most people do not want everyone to read their diary or journal. You can fold paper or card stock into pages and tuck it underneath a photo in order to include more on your page. One nice and neat way to do this is by adding pockets or envelopes on your page. As far as neatness is concerned, you can utilize a ruler and a pencil to lightly draw straight lines to write on and then go back and erase them. There are templates available to help you write in a straight line or even in shapes like circles now. A word to the wise, write your journaling down on a separate piece of card stock before you add it to your page. The last thing you want to do is make a mistake on an already completed page. But if you do, you could replace the letter or word mistake with a sticker alphabet or a word phrase sticker.
When all else fails, quotes and song lyrics are readily available on the internet by going to a search engine. I have started amassing a large collection of them on my blog. lascorpia64.wordpress.com/
Often one thing leads to another and then another. Scrapbooking and journaling have been no different for me. I started out with genealogy which led to old photographs and documents. And in turn these led to heritage scrapbooking and then scrapbooking my more current photographs and these eventually led me to journaling.
The tangent that I am now off on is memoir writing. I have begun writing down the things I want to remember about my life and what I want those who follow me to know about me. I find that I want to leave a tangible imprint on the world. If you would like to learn how to write your memoire, you can find useful writing prompts on my blog.lascorpia64.wordpress.com/
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