Scrapbooking a tribute

[Marilyn Michetti]

O.K., I'm moving this to the WC instead of JQ because I need LOTS of advice. Blythe, thanks for asking about my mom, and Ellen, you too.

My mom hasn't passed away yet, but I decided the scrapbook needed to be ready so she could enjoy it too. It will then be displayed at her memorial., and I will have one for each of her grandchildren, (6).

I'm not a scrapper- too many other hobbies, so I started by writing down some of the stories she tells and matching them with pictures. Well, there's just too much. I have her birth certificate, marriage license, maps, etc., and a geneology someone else did. There's way too much to just put captions under the pictures. (Oh, one more thing - it's now seven identical books).

My question! Where do I put all the stories? Do I put them at the end, or in a separate pocket with all her recipes? I want it to be nice, without being junked up?

Any advice would REALLY be appreciated from those of you who do 15 - 20 pages at a time. Thanks.

[BronxTigger]

Okay, just the thought of that big of a project sends my mind spinning and makes me want to not even start, so I'm impressed already!

I like how you said you already matched the stories with the pictures, to some extent. Remember that you don't need to include ALL the pictures that go with it, just the best and most important/relevant pictures. The rest can be kept in a photo storage box. Personally, I'd probably try to put the stories in chronological order, or as close to it as possible. I'd mount them onto cardstock (like 8.5x11, then you can get standard sized page protectors and standard sized binders, cutting down on cost). You can put the story on one side and then the pictures across from the story on a 2-page spread (2 facing pages). If a story is longer than a single page, you can use the same color cardstock for each story and the accompanying photos, then change the color for the next story so it will make visual sense (more so than this sentence!).

You can make one BIG book with three sections: "official papers", the stories/photos, and the recipes. Or, you could make three smaller books. Again, with the photos, you don't need to caption ALL of them. You can find some that are similar and group them, then "journal" for all of them combined.

If you choose to do the recipes separate, you can type them and then print out the copies and get them bound into a cookbook at Kinkos. Or, if they are handwritten, you can make copies at Kinkos and bind those.

[Caroleh]

Since you're not a scrapper, then I would suggest the same as Bethany. Do you have pictures of your DM cooking anything? Those would be really neat with the recipes.

I do the pictures and stories together. Do you have pictures of her as a baby? Birth certificate with baby picture...marriage license with wedding pictures, etc...

If you need help pm me and I can try to walk you through it. Sorry, I didn't answer on JQ, but I've been extremely busy sewing the last couple of days. I need to get things sewn before the end of September and August is already going too fast.

[Marilyn Michetti]

Ain't it the truth? It seems like time is speeding up, and I'm lagging - the gap is getting bigger and bigger.

The pictures are in chronological order. Two pages of mom, grandmom, great.....,etc. One page is of her as a baby on a background of a map of Toledo, and her birth certificate. The second is pics of her family during the depression. There are two, after that, of my dad, who died in 1964. The next two are of their marriage, where they lived, etc. The next ones I'm still thinking about, but have six copies of about 18 different pictures - some of them REALLY interesting. I actually have one of her and Madalyn Murrey, (O'Hare), as students together, and one of my uncle that was on a ship that had just pulled out of it's berth at Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. It's all great stuff, but too much. I can fill the book, but want to do it nice.

The stories are essential, and stop with myself, brother and sister. I'm not going any further with grandchildren, or "greats". There are alot tho', and I'm considering sending them to a site that will print them in a hardbound book. I need six, so it would probably be $$.

The recipes - I'm writing on cards stamped like, well, recipe cards, and putting them in on a page that is like a descending file box, so they can be picked out.

I'm kind of enjoying this first attempt, but have already spent thousands on porcelain doll tools, kiln, and greenware, plus oil and acrylic supplies for painting. You know, when you start a hobby, it's going to be expensive, and we're "old". DH wants to downsize

Thanks for reading. Any suggestions are welcome.

[Caroleh]

I know what you mean by another expensive hobby, I do so many. The other day I came home from work and told the DH I wanted to learn to do stained glass, he looked at me and told me I make beautiful stained glass quilts and that's as far as my stained glass is going to go.

[BronxTigger]

Marilyn, it sounds like you already have great ideas! I don't know what you need our help for!

I think you are off to a great start and it sounds like you have such good artifacts that whatever you do will be cool.

I think the hardbound book idea will be expensive, although I don't know if it would be more or less expensive than creating 6 more books by hand like you are doing for this first one.

I wish I could see it!

[Marilyn Michetti]

I wish I could see it too !

[ElenitaB]

Marilyn, I suggest you take a look at the books they have available over on Shutterfly. Some of them actually seem right up the alley of what you're trying to do.

I suggest that you gather what you're writing in one pile, and then matching them up with your pictures in another. There is nothing wrong with having an entire page of writing that matches up with an entire page of pics. Also, have you asked the grandkids for their input (maybe you could "interview" them about their grandmother)?

I recently did two tribute books for a partner at my company that retired. We had lots and lots of text, and some pics. The format we used was an 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper on its side (horizontal). I hope it doesn't trip you up if I suggest that you think of this project more as a magazine than a book.

[MsMin]

When my dad took his last trip to WDW in 2006 I made my parents a scrapbook covering the trips over the 40 years we have gone to WDW and DL. They loved it. When they are older and have so much there isn't much you can do or buy for them but to share memories.
I have also collected 160 family recipes and want to bind them but my dd knows how to bind a book by hand and we wanted to do that but now so many ppl want copies it will be difficult but I do have that separate.
Since my dd is a graphic designer and deals with printed text all day she absolutely loves things that are hand written and thinks families should preserve handwritten stories and not in text. I know that's a lot of writing for 6 books but remember to preserves some "natural" things including your mom's hand writing on a note or recipe. Photos added in w/ mementos may be all you need.
Good luck with your project. I was thinking of you all week last week when my dad's kidneys failed. They have miraculously started to work again so he can spend a little more time with us too. for your project!

[Nana]

I did this for my Mom when she first got sick. We did display it at her meorial 4 years later. Today her scrapbook has a special place on my coffee table. EVeryone who comes to visit raves about 2 things in my home. One is the scrapbook. One is the quilt my Mom made me with pictures throughout my life. Just goes to show that the homemade gifts really are priceless.