Strike a Pose

"The camera, the former figure of scrapbooking. The camera, the object you use to capture moments. The camera, the one thing that we all depend on in scrapbooking!"

When I think of the word “Family”, I think of my Husband, my Kids, my Mother, My Brother, my In-laws, Aunts, Uncles… the list goes on and on and not necessarily in that order.
I think of my friends, especially my long time friends who are like family to me and my new friends, who I love getting to know. My family members are the people most often scrapped about. When I think about all the albums I have made, almost all of the pages are about family.

My recent layout classes with Lynn Thune; the most amazing photographer and scrap booker I know, who continues to inspire me on a weekly basis, help me reflect on past memories and create layouts to hand down to generations. Lynn is taking a break at the end of May to spend time with new grandbabies on the way and I don’t know how I’m going to get through the summer without her. (I’m expecting blog updates on a regular basis to keep me inspired Lynn!) Lynn’s classes have led me to spend hours, both in my Mom’s storage closet and my basement, digging through boxes and albums of old photographs, picking out the perfect photo for the next layout. Hours go by as I sit and reflect on the time and place the photo was taken, who took the photo, was it a happy time, and was I even born then…. And all the lasting memories it holds. I now have boxes of photos and hundreds of design ideas in my head to put them all into special albums, to preserve the memories, to hand them down to my children and hopefully to future grandchildren.

While digging through my old photos I came across this photo strip of Craig and me taken in one of those $1 photo booths in the mall. I carried this photo strip around in my wallet for years and then returning it to the old photo box. I just had to include it on a layout. Isn’t this what scrapbooking is all about? Gotta love it!

Sometimes photos are our only connection to the past, so carry your camera with you wherever you go, you never know when you are capturing a memory.

To all my scrap booking friends; today I challenge you to find that perfect photo and take the time to enjoy the memories it brings to you and then create the perfect layout!

Vintage Variety

I have an addiction for the eclectic. A collection of old and new displayed throughout my house. I love old things and I love a good bargain; vintage photos, sewing machines, bobbins, cameras, kitchen utensils, furniture, books, toys, vintage quilts, (although I have yet to purchase one)…. The list goes on and on.

I miss all the things that we used to have growing up, the things my grandmother, my mother and even I had, only to dispose of at one time or another. I’m now suggesting to those of you who love the memory that a vintage item brings, to hold onto it. I’m not suggesting that you become a hoarder, unless of course you want to be featured on the next episode of TLC’s “Hoarders”. But keep the things that have special meaning, things that might bring a smile to your face when you look at them, things that remind you of a loved one. I now regret giving away some of my old things and am now on a mission to find them again…. Not necessarily to purchase them, but to just know that they are still out there.
Lately I have been on the look-out for vintage ephemera; old postcards, photos, programs, labels, ticket stubs, coupons, stamps, film strips, claim checks, patterns, cards. I have been using these items on my most recent scrapbooking layouts in a book titled “Remember When”. I have also been saving ephemera from my daily life that I would normally throw out without thinking about it and try to include it on each of my layouts; recently train tickets and tour ticket stubs from our trip to London & Paris and on this layout a ticket stub, claim check and old book paper.

This weekend, I spent some time going to an antique show and sale as well as a few antique stores in our area. The most enjoyable part of going to the sale is taking the time to look through each vendor’s stash, to reminisce and feel excitement when I come across something that I had in my childhood, the old fashioned things I grew up with in my home. This past weekend I came across a set of mixing bowls that my Mother had, the white ones with an orange and red pattern around the outside of the bowls, I was tempted to buy them but only until I saw a beautiful pink mixing bowl (pink, of course being my favorite color). I saw an old doll house that I used to have, a few Barbie dolls, a couple of quilts that were in bad need of repair, books I had as a child, my Mother’s china pattern, those lovely avocado kitchen canisters that everyone had because they matched the appliances!

But I went with a purpose; to try and find an old camera to display on a shelf in my scrapbooking room and an old typewriter to sit in the corner of the same room. I hit pay dirt. An old camera from the late 1930’s in mint condition and not too costly and then an old Remington Model 5 typewriter in beautiful condition, very clean and in working order… bonus! I bargained him down to a price I was willing to pay and when I took it home and started typing on it I was amazed at the clarity of each letter and the smoothness of each key stroke. I was ecstatic with my finds. Now maybe to try and get rid of a few old things in my house (no, not Dale!)… to make room for the new “old” things.