Tractor album

I've been busy putting together an album of my dad's restored antique tractors. This is something we've had planned for awhile so it's not a Christmas gift, but I would like him to have it before he heads south for the winter.

Last year, my mom gave me all of Dad's antique tractor pictures. I quickly figured out that I could not tell one tractor from another, so I gave them all back to my parents, along with a form to fill out about each tractor. Dad diligently provided all the information I requested and made notes about all the photos.

At the time Mom passed away unexpectedly in May, this album had been high on my to-do list. I planned to start it over the summer, but I just could not face such a daunting project. Recently I decided that it would be a nice project for Dad and me to work on together. Although I haven't let him see the album, I've had lots of questions for him and it's been fun seeing how excited he is about having his collection documented. I'm looking forward to giving it to him this week.



I used a Making Memories 3-ring binder for the project (it still has the protective covering on in this photo). I used mostly 12x12 pages with a few 8.5x11 mixed in for interest and practicality. The album is completely full!

The biggest challenge I faced in working on this project was figuring out a repeating format to use for documenting all eight tractors and a host of related photos. I did not intend for this to be an "artsy" kind of album...the purpose is to document everything about each tractor, from where he purchased it to the type of restoration he has done. Once I determined a very simple workable format, I picked out papers and cardstock to repeat throughout the album.

I've been taking Cathy Zielske's online class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking, and I used a sketch from that class for the cover page.

Each tractor has its own section which begins with an enlargement of the tractor. Thank goodness for scanners and Picasa! I had to work with very old photos, many of which had funky colors. It was nice to be able to do some color correction as I went along. (Thanks to my friend Cheri who Photoshopped a damaged photo for me!)

For each tractor, I followed a similar format. Since I had had my dad fill out a form about each tractor, I used his own words as much as possible in the album. I pulled information about each model from the Internet, so that a person who knows nothing about farming (that would be me!) could understand a little bit more about each tractor's design and features. (Please ignore the typo on the above page -- it has been fixed!)

I'm very excited to have this big project done, and I feel great about having helped my dad document a very important part of his life. Can't wait to give it to him.