Preserving Precious Memories through the Art of Scrapbooking

There are many things in life I love to do... cycling, swimming, skiing to name a few, but when I'm indoors, one thing I really enjoy doing is scrapbooking. In fact, I LOVE to scrapbook! I've been scrapbooking for over 10 years now, and I love it as much today as I did the day I began. I suppose it has to do with me being able to get in touch with my creative side, which is something I enjoy doing (those of you who have read my previous posts about creating crafty wall letters already know this about me). I get to be artsy. I get to be unique. And I get to create something that is meaningful.  

  

I currently have a total of nine scrapbooks (five that are completely finished) that include special times in my life (i.e. my high school graduation, my first day of Kindergarten, fishing with my family, etc). It's simply a beautiful way to preserve precious memories, not only by including pictures from the past but also captions, that when you read them, really take you back to that place in time. 

Scrapbooking allows you to tell a beautiful story. It's a way for you to remember a time from the past that meant something special to you. I honestly could spend hours scrapbooking... that's how much I love it. Of course I don't actually get to these days with little ones, so I just work on a page here and there. That's what's nice about it too... there's always something to scrapbook. Just bring pictures and your imagination, and let the story unfold!

(A little view of my set-up when I'm ready to put some new pages in my scrapbook.)

(My current nine scrapbooks... I'm sure I'll be adding to this collection soon.)

 (A shot of a couple of the pages I've done in the past.)

In addition to scrapbooks that consist of memorable times in my life, I've also started scrapbooks for my daughters that include my pregnancy, their birth, and their first year of life as well as other fun times. I've included our certificate for completing the child birth class, the hospital certificate with those cute little first footprints, ultrasound pictures, baby shower announcements, the weight/height/head circumference charts from each pediatrician's visit, and much more. In my other scrapbooks as well as those for my daughters, I also like to include things like holiday cards and birthday cards as well as other souvenirs like tickets to movies or theme parks. In the picture above I included metals that my husband and I won in a triathlon we competed in as well as the bike log of all the stats (heart rate, total miles, average speed, fastest speed, etc). Just by adding those little extras really brings those pictures to life and creates a more memorable story. 

Another memorable addition that I've included within my daughter's scrapbooks is a page for each month of life during their first year that includes a couple pictures that were taken during that time as well as a message describing certain facts and moments that occurred during that month (e.g. skills that were learned, milestones that were accomplished, etc). It's my hope that my daughters, Ava and Audrey, will look through these keepsakes with a special joy and be glad these books were created for them and possibly be inspired to create their own for their children one day. 

If you haven't already started a scrapbook of your own, I encourage you to do so. If you're worried that you won't have time for it or that you won't finish it, don't be. That's what's nice about it... you can spend as much time on it as you want, make it as detailed as you like, and it will always be there waiting for you when you want to come back to it. There's no time limit and don't set yourself up for one. Just have fun with it, knowing that you are creating a timeless keepsake that will be treasured by you and your family for a very long time.