Family History and the Organizing Game- Scrapbook Albums (2)

In my last blog, I wrote about scrapbooking the past for our family histories. This blog I am writing about ‘scrap-booking the present’.

I am doing Scrapbooks for all our grandchildren, eight in all. It is not their birth, first tooth, first steps, kind of scrapbook, but rather the story of our relationship with them.  From our first meeting -usually in the hospital when they were a few hours old, to their birthday parties we attended, school award days, dancing recitals, sporting fixtures, school holiday fun together and family gatherings. Along with suitable photographs and memorabilia, I add some labels and journaling. They are usually a double spread with who, where, when and sometimes why included somewhere on the pages. A few random pages below. Still more to do on these pages, when I get the time. However, if I don’t, they are adequate.

from Tayla Mackey, Scrap-book

I do a few pages each year, for each child, as our lives progress along. This will be a gift to them after we are no longer here, or perhaps moved to a Nursing Home and can no longer care for ourselves.

from Paige Mackey, Scrap-book

I have made other gifts for each of the grandchildren too. These were rugs, quilts, clothes, and toys when they were babies, but there are also other special items they themselves requested.

For example -Our youngest grandson asked me to make him a Super Hero cover for his bed. We sat down together to talk about what he wanted in size, colours, and design and I drew up a rough sketch. When he was happy with it, I then worked out how to accomplish the project. It was part of his birthday gift last year.

From Sebastian Gartside, Scrap-book

Another granddaughter saw a picture of a mermaid- tail rug on Pinterest and asked if I would make her one. It took me a couple of months to work out the design, and get it done. Four years later it is still her favourite thing to snuggle into to watch TV in the Winter. I made it large enough so she wouldn’t grow out of it. The dogs love to snuggle into it too if she leaves it on the floor.

Photographs of these items are scrap-booked into the albums along with scraps of textiles, wool, ribbon and other materials I might have used in making the item.

All the family knows I’m doing these albums, and often like to have a peek at them while visiting, but they know they cannot have them yet. I also know they are all looking forward to their special gift in the future. Another way I’m saving our family history.

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Family History and the Organizing Game-Scrapbook Albums (1)

One of my big challenges in the last few years is to ‘declutter’ and reorganize our home. We have inherited much of our grandparents, parents and children’s ‘stuff’ over the years, and that is not counting the mountain of possessions, my husband and I have acquired over fifty years. It is time to do something with it all.

Some of the documents, photos and paper memorabilia can be digitized and shared, but I also need to take care of some of the ‘originals’ for the family archives of the future.

My mother kept many items, which meant something to her in the proverbial ‘shoeboxes’, which I inherited.

As I am the eldest in the family and cared for my mother for over fifty years, particularly in her later life, I have heard many stories and can identify much of the material in those shoeboxes.

I have now scanned and photographed all the original material, and have digital copies saved in various places for safe keeping.

The original paper, card and flat items as well as photographed items, I am gradually scrapbooking into acid-free albums. I have journaled, labeled and added as much information as I can to each item. The scrapbook pages are often plain and basic at this time, but I can always add embellishment later. I need to get the basic albums done first, as time is of the essence now.

Many of the scans are also being scrapbooked into albums-one for each of my siblings. I usually try to get a few pages ready as gifts to my siblings at Christmas and birthdays. One of the ‘Christmas Gifts Past’, was the story of our parent’s Kitchen Tea and Wedding in 1946.

Our mother had kept all the gift cards and pieces of paper from all the Kitchen Tea and Wedding gifts. I glued each card or scrap of paper to a folded piece of acid-free scrapbooking paper. In the folded piece of paper, I added any information about the people, who had given the gift, and even what the gift was if I knew. To curious people flipping through the album this information was ‘hidden’, but when the page was removed from the album the card could be opened to reveal the extra information.

Sometimes the Christmas gift pages are not about Mum’s Mementoes, but my childhood memories of special items, places or events that mean something to our family.

The pages below are about our family’s first car- a second-hand Austin 7, which Dad painted, Fire-engine red. Wherever we went, it was recognized in a moment, and was affectionately called ‘the little red bug’.

This one is about Mum’s ‘house-cow’ who was a bit of a pain and would often ‘run away’ and have her own adventures.

It will still take me a couple of years to complete this project, but I am on my way.