Something to Celebrate

From the LM Archives

Something to Celebrate By: Susan Berg, Design Team Member
Happy Un-Birthday to You! Happy Un-Birthday to You!  Birthdays are not the only celebrations in our lives. Achievements in school, at our jobs, anniversaries, graduations, retirements, and religious milestones are all moments worth celebrating. Frequently, though, it is moments like these that we find the most difficult to scrapbook. Such an important occasion, so many wonderful memories and photo opportunities leads to at least a little extra stress when you sit down to scrapbook these times. While the focus of this article centers on journaling, a few pointers before you get to the actual scrapbooking: ** Before the big day, make a list of pictures that you want to be sure to take. If possible, include some staged photos that can be taken before the excitement takes over. While action shots are wonderful, should something happen to keep you from getting those, you will still have the planned pictures to include in your scrapbook. ** Consider having a majority of your pictures printed in a smaller size. Even if you normally scrapbook with 4x6 photos, try using 3 ½ x 5, half sheets, or wallets. This will enable you to include all of those “must have” shots without having your layout look cluttered and cramped and can provide a nice contrast to one special enlarged photo. ** Keep cards and/or letters received on the occasion to include in your layout. If there are too many, or combined with your pictures you have run out of room, consider adding a fold out mini-album or a mini-page between two 12x12 pages, or you can maximize your space with hidden journaling: under a photo or on a pull out tag. But pictures alone can only represent a portion of the importance of the day. Journaling for these events is what will be cherished for generations to come. And for many, this is where we start to falter. Always be sure to include the basics: who, what, where, when, and why. For things like this, the Making Memories Tag Maker is a terrific little item! Print up the information and make it into an attractive tag that can quickly give the vital information to whoever is looking at the layout. There are also several different stamps that make the perfect spot for jotting down a few highlights. For the more in depth journaling, consider writing a letter to the subject of the layout. Let them know how proud you are of them, what you were thinking at that moment, and what you hope this event means for them. With all the different lined paper products out there like Scenic Route Backgrounds and Karen Russell Narratives this is easy to handwrite and make even more meaningful. If your feelings are too personal for anyone who might look through your albums, consider tucking the note behind a photo. This will save you space on the page and allow you to be more candid in your note. Perhaps even more meaningful is to have the subject of the layout contribute to the journaling. How did they feel in preparation for their big day? Why was it important to them? How will this change their future or how they look at life or feel about the world around them? What changes will follow this event and how do they feel about them? If your subject is not very inclined to write their deepest thoughts out for you, consider interviewing them. The Chatterbox Instant Interviews Idea Book (on its second edition) or Scrapbook Trends’ Journaling Your Story can help. If a party or reception is involved in the big event, consider asking the attendees to help with the journaling. How are they feeling about the occasion or the celebrant? Do they have any advice? If they went through the same event, what impact did it make on them? Plan ahead and have something prepared in advance to help get these journaling gems like premade tags and acid free pens to write with, a mini album that can be attached to the layout later, or even just small pieces of paper. Whether the occasion is a baptism or graduation or retirement, you can preserve the feelings of the day with some well crafted journaling to complete your beautiful layout.
Design Team Examples To view all layout ideas and products used, please be sure to visit the Design Team Gallery:Something to Celebrate Or Click each image below to see a larger view! Madeline Franny Wendy Nancy Margaret Tracy Margaret