Something for Sunday

Today I'm sharing the results of a project I've been working on for over a month. 

I decided I wanted all of my scrapbooks in one place rather than scattered all over the house. After all, these books are my legacy to my family! I am under no illusion that the books might wind up in some dusty antique store somewhere, but I just don't want them to wind up in the trash! I think even Good Will would throw them away. 

I was re-locating them to the library (what better place for books). Which meant I had to get rid of over 100 books. That was a little sad, but the truth is, I do not read actual books anymore (well, once in a while when someone hands me a book and says I have to read it!). I love my Kindle! 

I cleaned out and Butch hauled it all away. Something as simple as carrying the scrapbooks from around the house was a pretty slow process as I can only carry two at a time. They are pretty heavy. Butch did a lot of the heavy lifting too. I had to adjust all the shelves, but when it came to the higher ones, Butch had to do it. I will not get up on a step stool—taking no chances!

Here's a rundown of the albums I have. 

AYM—A Year of Memories—2009—18 albums

I’ve had this group going for 18 years now. The numbers have dwindled from 39 in 3 locations to just 6 now. Considering these last few are family and friends, they do want to keep going. I’m glad. 

I came up with this idea after teaching photo organization at the scrapbook stores and retreats. I wanted to prove to the “attendees” that if they followed my system, they would be able to put their hands on ANY photo within a minute! I also was a story-based scrapbooker and emphasized the journaling. 

The premise: Every month, I gave the girls a topic and a kit of supplies. Luckily, the scrapbook stores gave me a good discount. Then, the next month, we’d get together and share our layouts and stories. My proudest moment of these 18 years is that everyone has become a better writer and storyteller.

Barbara—26

These albums are all about me—from childhood to now!

Christmas—9

Zimmermann’s—6 plus 2 on loan which I don’t expect to get back.

Family—14 plus my three girls and 5 grandchildren each have several albums of their own.

Travel—13--either family trips or trips that Butch and I took together. Any trips we do on our own go into our own albums.

Butch—6

9/11—1—I did this one right after 9/11. I’m hoping that it will wind up in a school library somewhere.

Memories by the Year—4—I did these before I started Memories by the Month. They were made of individual events throughout a particular year.

Memories by the Month—2--just a quick double-page spread for each month of the year, hitting the highlights.

The Pandemic—2—Like the 9/11 album, I just had to devote the time to such catastrophic events! These are not necessarily historical recounts--but rather what we did during the Pandemic.

Home and Garden—6—I love flowers, gardens, nature and home. These albums are a mix of all.

Total:  109

I had plans to index each album by listing the titles of each page like my sister, Jeanne did. But then, I thought, "Do I really need to take the time to do that?" I do have most of the albums labeled on the spine. And, if I was trying to find a particular layout, it will take me forever. I made a "table of contents" in the majority of these albums, but not all. Plus, I'd have to remember what the title referred to. I have a lot of quirky titles in my books. So, I didn't do it. 

Okay, let's get to it.

Voila'!

So now that I've shared the pictures, I realize I should have waited until I actually "re-styled" the upper shelves. It's going to be hard with me standing below Butch on the ladder with me telling him what to do--not to mention that he loves that!!

You can see my Christmas wrapping paper in the corner. What you don't see is all of the rest of the wrapping material, ribbon, bows and bags for Christmas. I've left it back there for years now--just so I didn't have to haul it up and down the stairs. This year, I'm going to get it cleaned up and out of there. 

Okay, I guess that's about it from here. As you are reading this, I am on my trip with 3 friends--Queen Mary II Crossing. We started from New York on Saturday. This next Saturday we'll arrive in Southampton, England.

Oh and another thing. The Queen Mary has the largest library at sea--8,000 hard back books, 500 paperbacks and 200 audiobooks. I need to remember to take some pictures.

PS I have no idea when this post will publish due to the time change.