MY CURRENT SCRAPBOOK CHALLENGE

My mother had done some beautiful albums long before I was on the scene and I remember they were on black pages with white ink. Each photo was held in place by those odd but interesting little corner holders. She had meticulously jotted a note, date, location, name or thought by each one. I specifically recall the album she had created for my father based on his years as a Marine (Semper Fi!) in the Pacific during WWII. It also included photos of their brief courtship, engagement and subsequent marriage (one week later!) They had corresponded for approximately 3 years prior to this whirlwind event and I am blessed to have the majority of their letters to one another carefully packed away~awaiting me to learn how best to preserve them.

My older brother recently gave me a box of OLD family photos and I am attempting to create family heirloom albums for my sister, brothers and myself. While I have enjoyed a modicum of success with albums for each of our 3 daughters, a family album, a Christmas album, a history of my husband's Air Force career (16 years worth of "his-story" compiled in an album in 4 days in complete secrecy!) and a Teacher's Album for a friend, I have not attempted anything as daunting as an HEIRLOOM album. The style I have used in my albums so far is much more contemporary than appropriate for these family treasures. There are many options of papers, lettering, decorations, etc to choose from and I am deciding which give the best presentation for the photos. I am researching how to preserve and restore the integrity of the photos, (although most are in perfect condition!) the duplication of, and proper methods of storing originals.

In addition to this I have the challenge of creating a family heirloom album for my husband's side and wanting to showcase his Japanese culture throughout it. I want to try and reflect this but am frustrated by what is currently available on the market as "Japanese culture". His beautiful picture bride great grandmother's photo just doesn't belong with anime!

I have purchased a couple of wonderful instructional books on heirloom albums and will keep you posted on my progress as I go along.

UPDATE! (NOV 2001)
Well, I took the plunge at last! What inspired me was Creative Memories' newest limited edition album in "Sand" with the "neutral" pages! This album is so pretty and just perfect for older photos with sepia tones. My consultant gave me a good idea of combining white and black pages within the album also. So far I have sorted through the photos separating them into chronological order and paternal and maternal relatives. This has led to a side hobby into our family history. Fortunately for me, my little brother (...although in his 40s and over a foot taller than I am he is still my little brother...Sorry "J"! HUGS!) is a wealth of knowledge and information in this area. I have really loved our online chats as he tells me things and I can only keep saying "No way!" (He must be laughing hysterically at me). I have spent some of my scrapping time doing research into archives, files, etc. I have found interesting and fun things I might never have without beginning my album. A couple examples are train trivia (my grandfather worked on the trains) and words in Welsh (from my mother's side) which none of us know one syllable of. I intend to include these finds into the album and further enhance the knowledge of our heritage as well as the album.

I have included family trees, love letters exchanged between my parents, photos, clip art, stickers, diecuts, hand drawings and lettering. I have completed around 28 pages so far.

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