Let’s have a Freebie Friday. What’s up for grabs this go-around? A book that’s all about freedom…
That’s right, it’s Photo Freedom by Stacy Julian. Woohoo!
OK, so for your chance to win you may just have to do a bit of soul-searching. Here’s what I mean.
In the last two weeks, I’ve come to a new appreciation about scrapbooking and photos and their importance. Sure, scrapbooking is a fun, creative outlet. We get to play with glue, paper, scissors and photos, but there’s something magical that happens when you bring together a photo and a story. By scrapbooking we have the chance to document our lives, to share our love for the people we love, and leave this behind when it comes our time to leave this planet.
The importance of my own scrapbooking has been weighing heavy on me since the passing of Tim Russert, followed just days later by the passing of a dear friend’s father. Both of these deaths were untimely and shocking. Both of the men who passed-on were incredible people, who inspired many, many people.
At the visitation of my friend’s father, I was moved by the hundred’s of photos they had showing his full and happy life. As Jay said afterwards, “there was no shortage of photos of (my friend’s dad) smiling.” And there wasn’t. My friend is a scrapbooker and she always has a camera at the ready; my friend’s Dad was always smiling, laughing and loving life. His love of life was infectious; you couldn’t help but be happy and have fun when you were around him. And this was so evident in the photos displayed at his wake.
Now, I didn’t know Tim Russert. (I did pass him on a sidewalk in San Diego many years ago, but that hardly counts.) Nonetheless, I was sad when he passed away. He was a Dad, and a son, and a husband, not to mention the impact of his career on the lives of so many people. For some reason, his passing stopped me in my tracks. It made me step back and think about the fragility of life.
I found comfort knowing that he had left behind a legacy; he had written books. Like his book “Big Russ and Me” which shares a piece of his heart and soul on paper. I was comforted knowing that his son and wife would always know what was in Tim’s heart. It is right there in black and white.
And then it occurred to me: we don’t have to be best selling authors to have this same opportunity. The opportunity to share our love for our loved ones and tell our stories is right there for us, right now, because we scrapbook.
I thought about my own scrapbooks and the gaps in my stories to tell. (And there are many.) I thought about how this aha-moment could help me shape the direction of my own scrapbooking.
My kid’s will remember that we went to the pumpkin farm every year; but will they know why they mean the world to me? This is the gap I need to fill in my scrapbooks.
Have you scrapbooked your most important stories? If so, what are they? Have you shared what’s in your heart and soul for those you will be sad to leave when your time (or theirs) comes?
I have for some. I made my Mom a scrapbook for Christmas last year sharing ten wonderful memories and what I love about her. I made my Dad a scrapbook for his 70th birthday. The scrapbook celebrated him, his life, and his children’s deep love for him. I made Jay a scrapbook for our tenth anniversary: 10 Years, 10 Memories, 10 Reasons I’d do it All Again.
But, my kid’s don’t have anything like this. And I haven’t told my own story.
These three projects are my new scrapbooking priorities.
So, the give-away for this Freebie Friday is very fitting. Stacy was the person who introduced me to the idea that I didn’t just have to document dates with photos. And I didn’t have to go in order. Without this breakthrough thought, I wonder if I would have made the connection that I could leave a legacy for my kids, in much the same way Tim Russert did, through my scrapbooks.
If you would like a chance to win Stacy’s book (that will show you how to organize your photos so that you, too, can scrapbook your most important memories, in whatever order you choose) here’s what to do:
- Leave a comment sharing your most important stories—either already told or those that you still want (and need) to tell on your scrapbook pages. Have you told your most important stories? What are they? Where are the gaps in your scrapbooks?
- Post your comment by Friday, July 11th at 8 PM Central time. (I’ll turn off the comments then.)
- I will draw not one, but two lucky winners at random.
So you have a full week to think about your most important stories to tell on your scrapbook pages. And if you feel you’ve done this already, inspire the rest of us by sharing the important stories you’ve captured forever on the pages of your scrapbooks.
Oh, and happy Fourth to those you in the U.S. Stay safe and go create some memories!
I need to record the story of my cousin’s life. He was my best friend and it’s been nearly a decade since he’s past & he has yet to appear in my scrap work. I think it’s time. Thank you for bringing the importance of this to light. My children will never know him & if he isn’t in my memory books, they might never even hear of him. And what a shame that would be… for he shaped, influenced and changed my life in so many ways, both in his life and in his passing.
Need some kleenex. Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!
Thanks for this opportunity…
Just this Wednesday I wrote on my blog about the importance of commemorating the memories with words. I am ashamed to admit that many times I do not follow my own advice. But I have decided to change that and start putting an emphasize on the journaling as well.
I always feel like I need to write the perfect story and end up writing no story … So from now own I will just write. No judgment. Just keeping memories alive.
The most important stories tight now are the stories of my family and my own life, thus far. My family have had so many once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Some good and some bad, and so have I. I would really like my potential children to learn about these stories, even though both my grandfathers and my grandmother have passed away. This is my mission at the moment. My calling.
Thanks for the giveaway. It is really generous of you.
Even if I don’t win a copy of the book (thanks for the contest!) this post has been a huge gift. My blog contains all sorts of stories of the little things that happen in our lives. My scrapbooks…not so much.
You’ve reminded me that I really need to create something lasting and tangible to give my children. There is something about a hand created book that says so much more than mere words floating around the internet.
Thank you for the reminder and the push in that direction. I’ll get right on it.
I already have Photo Freedom (got one of the first copies to hit my Archiver’s!), so I don’t want to be considered in the drawing, but I had to share this with you: I spoke with a friend yesterday who told me about a memorial service for her DH’s uncle. The uncle passed away from a combination of lung cancer and severe radiation burning that prevented further treatment of the cancer. He was blessed with the time to write letters to each of the members of his immediate family (including his twin brother), as well as a letter to the family as a whole, which was read at his service. Most times those who pass do not have the time/opportunity to write like that.
I believe that is why we should continue to scrapbook the ‘littles’ and the ‘feelings’ in life. THESE are our letters to our families, should we pass away without notice, so to speak.
It reinforced to me that I need to celebrate how I feel about these wonderful people in my life, and GET IT ON PAPER!
I already own this book, so I am not entering, just wanted to let you know that I too had this eye opening experience when I read Stacy’s book. It is not about the pretty layouts — while they are fun, it is not about the photos — even though they are cute — it is about the STORY and what the words and photos give us when put together. I too was so moved by Russerts death — I too did not know him, but felt that he was a good person who touched many lives. Lucky for his loved ones that he recorded his story — may we all do the same for our own children.
Happy holiday and I hope that the winner of this book will be as motivated to tell their story as I have become! 🙂 HeatherC
I don;t scrapbook. I started a writing journal with no pictures a month ago because I felt this need for my children to know the thoughts that I don;t talk about. But sometimes words are not enough. When I read this blog posting I thought…I should do this-combine my writing with photos. What a nice gift to make for my mother in law for her birthday this month, a scrapbook of the vacations she has taken with us in our short 6 years of marriage. Yes, she is so cool I like her to come on our annual trips because her husband doesn;t like to travel. She has always been so thankful. She is a calm spriit and one time in particular we got some yahoo directions to Yosemite National Park that stated take a “dirt” road…well we did, almost ran out of gas and luckily a fire road gate happened to be open so we got out of the mess. Never once did she fret!
I really want to tell the stories of parenting to my children as they are happening. I struggle with cooking balanced meals and discipline and I love to color with sidewalk chalk until it is too too dark outside. There are so many things crammed into everyday that I want my kids to be able to look back when they have kids of their own and know they are not alone in the struggles and triumphs. My mother recalls very little of the day to day stuff and seems to recall us as being perfect and needing very little discipline. Boy it would sure help me if she had written me a letter at the height of parenting frustration on day in about 1979.
My mom was sick for most of my young life, so what I really know about who she is has been little, but precious to me. Going through her things at her passing, I have kept little things that have no meaning to anyone but me… business card sized university activity passes, letters written by teenagers I later knew as adults, even silly things like dry cleaning and florist receipts. To me they are an insight into her normal life before I could remember her. I piece them together to create the vision of who I believe she was.
For years I’ve been wanting to compile it all into a scrapbook so that my daughter can “know” her grandmother, but with the shear masses of stuff, I have no idea where to begin and have never begun. My biggest regret is that in the unawareness and self consciousness of youth I rarely sat still for a photo and have very few photos of us together.
The realization I’ve made lately is how this tendency has carried over to me as a mother. I still don’t like to see myself in photos and find that I am not in all that many pictures with my daughter. It is hard being the one who is taking the photos, to find opportunities for such, but as I look at how quickly time is passing I realize that my daughter has many reminders of what she has done, but few of how much a part of me she is. Much like what you were describing.
I’ve made a vow to use my tripod, be more silly, and document the smiles and laughter I want her to remember. If she has photos to remember us joyous together, she will have little opportunity to doubt how much I love her, or so I believe. My favorite tangible reminders have nothing to do with coordinated paper or the right pen or just the perfect quote. They are special because they are real and imperfect. It’s the emotion they present. Emotion is what’s lacking in my scrapbooks. I aim to capture more of it.
Right after 9/11 happened, my husband left for Afghanistan for almost a year. I didn’t have photos from him because he was special ops. and they were not allowed to take pictures or send anything home. I only have a few letters and emails that I printed up to put in our family scrapbook. My kids were ages 2, 4, and 6 at the time and they really didn’t understand what was happening in the world and why Daddy had to leave. I’m thankful that I have my journal writings, a few letters, and email copies to share with them when they are ready. I do have a few photos of the kids during Christmas time when we opened presents without my husband. That was our first Christmas without him. Hopefully with these few items from that period in our lives, our children will be able to share what went on and how my husband and I felt for each other.
Oh MAN..I was just SEARCHING your blog last night for this book. I’d seen the title and thought “i should go find that, it sounds like what i need” but hadn’t written it down! I couldn’t find the entry anywhere. SO then I searched Chapters trying to find the title, but couldn’t.
YAYYY!
My scrapbooks tell an awesome story, ours. Starting out as a young couple making minimum wage and barely surviving to where we are now..our educations are completed (for now), our careers are solid and we are able to provide for our kids. We even own a home now! It’s such a journey we’ve taken together in our 12yrs as a couple and now we just celebrated our 10th anniversary and I think it’s amazing! I look forward to the next chapter!
I too have been inspired by Stacy Julian’s previous books. I would love to enter to win her newest book! I have taken some of Stacy’s ideas to heart and I now do a ‘Just Because Album” I still do the traditional chronological books for each of the boys and the family. But the Just Because Album is just for me. Just because I want to remember that moment, that picture, that memory. Most of the pages have just one photo and heartfelt journaling to accompany it. This is going to be my favorite album, I can already tell. Only 8 pages into it, but that it the process, slow and steady and when the picture or moment really moves my spirit. Thanks for making me excited about this album again. Maybe I’ll add a page again this weekend! Nancy
The memories that I really need to get on paper is the birth of my first son and the aftermath that we survived. When I tell the story, most people say “and you STILL had 2 more?” We were both very sick and when all was said and done we had spent nearly 3 weeks in the hospital, him first & then me. But what I really need to record is the way my wonderful husband just stepped up and took control of baby duty while still working and visiting his wife in the hospital. He would get off work, drive 45 minutes home to get the baby, drive 45 minutes back to the hospital to visit for a while, the drive 45 min. home and do it all over the next day!! He was a trooper!
That is one of the most important things I have yet to scrap. :0)
What I need to get in my scrapbook but can’t bring myself to do it is when my 3yr old son got sick with ECOLI and he had to be lifeflighted out of our little town. I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter at the time and was an emotional wreck. My son is fine now but for some reason or another I can’t bring myself to scrap this part of his life.
I also need to get in writing all my miscarriages. My children know very little about them but when they are older I would like them to know how I felt. These things are important to me I just need to get them scrapped and journaled
I would love to scrapbook my wedding and honeymoon pictures. I don’t know why I don’t make them a priority!!!! I love my husband and love being married (18 yrs now). I think I have the perfection problem…..I don’t want to mess up which is crazy!!! I teach scrapbooking and love to create.
Have a great 4th of July,
Tracy in AR
I have 5 children, 3 adopted. The story of how our adopted children came to us is long and involved and not very pretty for them. I haven’t been able to figure out how to do an adoption album that they can enjoy along with the reality of where they came from. I have journaled all these years so my thoughts and memories are there, it’s just sitting down figuring out how to put it all together. My sister passed away 8 years ago and I haven’t done an album of her because it’s still too painful. But I am not a chronological scrapper so I have lots of pages with connections to the past and for that I’m happy. When my daughter graduated from our homeschool I put together 13 years of memories for her and it was incredible. I’ve also started a blog to record my thoughts and beliefs and have them ready when I want to scrapbook them. So all in all, I’m on the right track but still in pursuit of new treasures to pass down!
I’m not sure what I would tell about my own life, or how to share that with the kids. It seems like what I am able to do best is share our current lives so they have something to look back on and remember about growing up in our family. I am not a scrap booker. In fact I can’t stand to scrapbook. I am however a blogger and while I have rarely ever kept an on going written journal, I will blog regularly. So what i have done is create a second blog for my kids. Since we homeschool it has a large component of homeschool material, as well as photos of all the wonderful things they create, stories of how they play, things they say. After I get a little farther along I plan to turn it into a book using Blurbs. This way I have a record that they can hold in their hands and look through. I am very excited about doing this. Blogging is also helping me be more aware of taking more photos, although I still stink at that too.
Susan
also blogging at classicacademy.blogspot.com
I take tons of photos and my obsession with pictures got worse with the birth of my 2 kids. Unfortunately I have NO pictures printed off our digital camera (which was bought 5 years ago when my children were born).
Now with 5,000+ pictures to be printed I want to get the stories behind them written down in a way that won’t take me forever. I am thinking about a hybrid type of album – part scrapbook/part 6-photo sleeves.
So to answer your question, the most important story I want to tell is “why”. I want my children to not only see the pictures from their baby naming ceremony, but know the meaning behind WHY we chose those names. Look at pictures of our house and know WHY we bought it. See pictures of my turtle collection and know WHY I started collecting them.
I think I am inspired now to go have some of those pictures printed…
Happy 4th of July.
WOW ! I stumbled onto your blog tonight & LOVE IT !!!!!!!
I also LOVE STACEY !!!!!!!! And would love her book ……
One of the things i started about 4 1/2 yrs ago was a 9×9 album “All about me” (it is for my kids) It has now grown into 2 albums & soon will make it 3…..the photos aren’t scrapped in any order. The photos that have been scrapped also include all kinds of tid-bits of me & what makes me tick & likes/feelings/etc….everything from a photo of my mom preg. with me, to photos of me preg. with my own kids. The simialarities & differences…memories good & bad & secrets…..my parents found out i have a tattoo, beacause i scrapped about it, not because I showed them;) As i get older and my kids grow & aask questions & clue into things….it amazes me just how much of “me” that i am sharing.
Thank you for asking & allowing us to share here.
~S
I would love to have this book…I so need it. I’ve greatly slacked in my scrapbooking..just because of the amount of photos and the overwelming of it all. The most important story I’ve been wanting to tell is 2 years ago my sister donated her kidney to me. I want to document this in a special scrapbook..before I forget all the special details and all the fingerprints of God that were in this blessing of my life. I would also like to document special things about my aunts. I have 5 aunts and I would love to have a special book that just shows all about special moments with each of them. Thanks so much for the chance to win.
one of my most important stories is when my then 2 yr old got hurt on christmas eve and he stopped breathing at the hospital. i wrote a letter to the doctor that saved him and i kept that letter and never sent it. i did the page a few years later and then emailed the letter. no photos on the page, just the letter and the story of what happened, but i needed to write it down to remember (well there are photos underneath the card..because the scrapbooker in me took photos of his “boo-boo” not realizing the sad events that would happen next.) scary to think that would of been the last photo of him alive if the doctor did not respond so fast!