Yes, I write and I like it.
Yes, I take pictures of everything and everyone and I like it.
Yes, I scrapbook and this is the perfect pairing of two things I enjoy doing and it makes me a historian of sorts. I am writing the stories of our lives and capturing the illustrations of these stories. It's an ongoing series, one that I will likely never finish and I'm okay with that.
Before you think that you don't have a story to write and illustrate, take a peek below at my "Flashback Friday" stories this week. Scrapbooking isn't just a hobby, nor is it just for 'moms' or 'families'. Scrapbooking is simply storytelling and each of us has a story and a memory bank filled with emotions and words. Scrapbooking is a way to write our own book, complete with pretty pictures and visual words that will always evoke emotion from any reader as they relate a phrase you have written to a memory in their own lives.
Dig out your photos, a pen and some paper. Look at the pictures and listen to the words in your head. Transfer them from the heart onto the paper next to the photos and there you have it...your story told as no one else could ever tell it.
Yep, that's me! Circa 1974.
On the right in the Classic Pooh shirt with big red bow and red pants. This is one of about 3-5 outfits from Kindergarten and First Grade that I remember absolutely loving...most likely to the point of driving my Mom crazy by wanting to wear them on repeat!
I don't remember a lot about Kindergarten, but through looking at photos, it is easy to walk down memory lane and have a photo jog to get the memories flowing. My Mom saved enough of my schoolwork to give me a good start, but not too much that it was overwhelming. Actually, it was just right (just like the porridge in the Goldilock's story)! As I jotted down memories of being 5, it was a quick realization that I have always loved school, learning and creating.
This chapter of my story also helped me recognize (1) how different Kindergarten is for my kids, (2) how much my daughter looks like me, (3) how easily the 'smells' of school came flooding back and (4) how school portraits really never change! Oh, and that brown dress in my inidividual photo? Yea, that was a favorite too...felt like I was flying high as I channeled my inner Holly Hobbie with the patchwork design!
A more recent flashback story written! Summer of 2004 - I was a few months pregnant with Caroline and attended a Stampin' Up! convention with my crafty girlfriends in Orlando! We took advantage of the proximity to my favorite place and enjoy Disney as well in between meetings and workshops. It was a great time and so different from a family vacation. Truly an experience to remember and friends are an important part of anyone's story!
The last story is a little different.
It's not about a specific person or a specific time.
It's the story of special childhood memories that took place in Ocean City, Maryland over many summers and many years with many family members. Again, I did not recall specific events and dates to this memory; I simply dipped into the memory bank and withdrew the memories forefront in my head. Sure, there were many others great events that happened on these trips, but these are the ones that quickly came to mind and were just enough to convey the feelings of family, warmth and fun that I wanted to remember.
Journalling reads:
"Many summer vacations growing up were spent in Ocean City, Maryland. Pop Pop would get a week’s stay at a beach house each year as a benefit of the company he was working for. That meant the Porters and Leases got to vacation with Mom Mom and Pop Pop. It wasn’t always the same home and all of us weren’t always down there the entire time together. Often, during the week days, Dad, Pop Pop and Uncle Chic would go back home to work, leaving a grandmother, two moms and six cousins to have fun in the sun and chaos and then they would return for the weekend. Too many memories of this annual vacation to count but a few that stick out include: *eating cantaloupe with Dad & Mom Mom on the porch *reading the book adaptation of “Grease” bc I was too young to see it in the movies *getting locked in a bathroom with my cousins *jumping waves with my Dad & Pop Pop *lots of giggles *Mom & Aunt Ginny rinsing off our sandy feet when we got freaked out coming up to the blanket from the water *driving into downtown Baltimore with Mom Mom in a station wagon to pick up Pop Pop to head to the beach *sitting backwards in the station wagon to go to Ocean City w/o seat belts *riding bikes on the boardwalk *fishing and crabbing off the bay side *the mobile home *uncovering secret steps in the sand near one of the summer homes … all in all, just magical memories of family times though I’m sure there was a good bit of chaos and stress among the adults even though the kids never knew!"
And that's my flashback or throwback for the week. A little more of my story written down; a few more photos rescued from a box or envelope. And it's proof that you don't have to scrapbook chronologically or by person/event to tell a story. You just need to pick up a pen, find a photo and capture the emotion that makes your story come alive!
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