Back in the Saddle: Heritage Album

My poor, neglected scrapbooking projects. We've been busy around here for the past few weeks/months and some things just haven't had the attention they need.

As for the scrapbooking, I vowed this year to catch up on some long-neglected projects, and I have/had been doing pretty well with that. Then I took a break to make two "non-essential" albums which were also on my list, although not as important as my family albums. I considered both of those projects "low-hanging fruit" -- in other words, easy to finish up in a short amount of time. I also knew that completing them would reduce the amount of project-specific clutter which had amassed in my craft room.

Long story short, I did finish those projects (YAY!) but didn't get back to my other projects as planned. (If you're interested in the Harry Potter album or the summer camp album, you'll find them if you scroll back through recent posts.) This past weekend, I finally carved out a day to spend getting back to my heritage album(s). I'd been away from this big project so long that it took me a bit to figure out where I needed to start!

I have a wonderful, wonderful resource in my grandma's genealogy albums, which are now in much better order. I'm making scrapbooks for myself based on the information contained in her albums. I could not do it without her books. I still can't believe how much time and effort she put into them -- and without the aid of the internet!

I had also neglected my family tree on Ancestry, so when I finally got back to it there were many new "clues" to evaluate. I can't tell you how helpful it is to have a family tree to refer to with this type of project. Eventually I'll add the tree to the albums.

 As I've organized Grandma's albums, I've sorted through tons of loose papers. I've run across really valuable information like this narrative compiled by a long-lost family member. There are lots of details in a piece like this which can bring to life an otherwise "dry" family history album.

 

So now I'm at the point with this project where I'm trying to identify the really old photos (pre-1920).

 I have stacks of pictures that haven't yet been identified, but I feel fairly certain that with enough study I can figure out many of them. Every so often, I find a photo with a name or date, and I have used that photo to identify others. I've also been able to identify context clues, such as houses or buildings, which help me connect one photo to others.

 I made quick tabs for each decade to do a rough sort of the pictures that are dated. As I identify/date new ones, they go into the box. This makes it easy to pull out a few for scrapbooking.

 Since I'm using a binder album, I can easily move pages around as needed so I don't have to have all the identification done before making pages. Over the weekend, I finished a few easy pages with portrait or event-specific photos.

 

 

 And now that I'm back into this project, I'll get out the magnifying glass and see how much progress I can make on the not-so easy photos! This is where the real fun begins! :)

It's really good to be back in the saddle again!

Feline Friday: Muffin Mania!

 When our daughter and boyfriend visited this summer (oops, I haven't shared any photos of their visit!), they came bearing homemade blueberry muffins. I froze most of them to enjoy one at a time.

As everybody knows by now, Lily loves her baked goods, so nobody was happier about these muffins than Lily. I smuggled one upstairs to my craft room, thinking I could eat it in peace but of course, she followed me.

 As soon as I plunked the plate down on my desk, there she was. Now, I'm more than willing to share but if left to her own devices, she'd eat the whole thing! You cannot leave Lily alone with a muffin alone for even 30 seconds!

 Once she knew how tasty it was, a battle ensued!

Whenever there's a treat involved, Lily gets a Zombie look on her face. Seriously, her eyes sort of glaze over.

GIVE. 

MEE. 

DA. 

MUFFIN. 

NAO.

She'll go to most any lengths (or heights!) for a sample!

Which, of course, she got. :)

Feline Friday: Sock Model!

Daughter has been making knitting like crazy lately.

(Did you know that watching Netflix and knitting at the same time = KNITflix?)

Her knitting skills have grown by leaps and bounds, and it's fun to see what she's making come to life! She recently made her first pair of baby socks for a Christmas gift. Guess who was the PURR-fect sock model?

While I'm told that a sweater for Rory is in the works (shhhh, don't tell her!), it's clear that she needs her own matching socks! :)

Feline Friday

 So what do your kitties do on the weekend? Lily enjoys her YouTube "shows" of birds and squirrels!

 

 

 She can't wait to see what those crazy birds and squirrels do next! Will they eat too many sunflower seeds? Will the pretty yellow bird hop on over for dinner? Will that sneaky gray squirrel steal a nut? The plot is always riveting...at least until a nap beacons!

 

Here's hoping your weekend is at least as fun as Lily's!

Happy Feline Friday, y'all! :)

Feline Friday with Rory in Texas!

 We just returned from a very fun trip to see our daughter in Texas. Although Spouse visited in April, I hadn't been there since Thanksgiving. So it had been a very long time since I'd seen Miss Rory!

 The last time I was there, Rory wasn't too sure about me. But this time, she remembered that we are friends! She was super friendly and gave me a real Texas welcome! :)

 Rory loves going out on the balcony with her harness. Bailey has tried to take her down the stairs and out into the grassy area behind her apartment building, but Rory is afraid to do that. So for now, they stay on the balcony. As you can see, she's taking in all the outdoor smells!

  Look at that little face! And those whiskers!

Rory has quite a wardrobe! (Sadly, I've been ordered not to buy her any more clothes...) If she's running wildly at bedtime, Bailey puts a t-shirt on her and she settles right down. It's like a Thundershirt, but much cheaper!

  Seriously, every time you turn around, Rory is doing something cute. As cats go, she's extremely active. Of course I'm comparing her to Lily, who is extremely inactive. :)

Glamour Shot!

 

  Bailey brought home the band's tenor drums for repair. Naturally, Rory had to inspect. :)

She's just the most precious kitty and a wonderful companion for our daughter. Love them both to pieces! :)

Summer Camp Album Project Finished!

For the past few months, I've been trying to work on my humongous backlog of scrapbooking. I've made some good progress on my own projects, but I recently took a break to make an album for my daughter covering the summer she spent as a Unit Director at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan back in 2014. 

 

In 2013, she was counselor at the same camp and created an album about the experience. That album turned out so well that we bought all the supplies at the time to make the second album. But recently I could see that she just wasn't going to have time to make the album, so I offered to finish it for her. After all, I'm in the business of Getting Stuff Done these days! :)

This ended up being a very fun and interesting project. It was the first time I've made an entire album for something I didn't personally experience! That slowed me down a bit and made the journaling part harder, but it was still a very enjoyable and doable project.

Luckily I had the first album to look back on and I basically followed the same format, starting with a collage on the cover page. I kept the pages simple so I could finish it up quickly and fit as many in the binder as possible!

The first challenge was photos -- or lack thereof. After the camp season ended, I had ordered a set of staff photos as I knew we'd need them for the album. Otherwise, I didn't have any pictures other than the ones I'd taken when we visited for a long weekend.

 

To make it easier, Bailey uploaded her pictures from her phone and Facebook to a shared folder on Google Photos. She made a few notes on each image and sorted them into logical categories.

When I printed the pictures, I put them in the same order as her folder and used her notes to help with the captions. The album starts with the staff training at the beginning of the summer and then goes through all four camp sessions and breaks. I used tabs (Becky Higgins Project Life dividers) to separate each section.

I made several traditional pages for this 12x12 album and also used a lot of pocket pages of various sizes. Thank goodness for pocket pages! You can fit so many more pictures in an album this way!

Look at this caterpillar they found on a picnic table! Those are not stick-on googly eyes -- that's his real face!

Another challenge: Bailey had a milk crate full of memorabilia from camp which needed to be worked into this project. I sorted through it and pulled out a few (actually a LOT) of pieces to add to the album. This is a piece of artwork made by one of her campers.

You can tell she's her mama's daughter...she saves a LOT of this kind of stuff! She even pulled down the laminated signs from her cabin wall and I added them to the album, too, along with programs, notes, and music.

Working with these photos made it almost seem like I was at camp myself! Can you be homesick for a summer camp you never attended? I think yes!

This project ended up taking me a bit more time than I anticipated, but it was totally worth it to document this wonderful leadership experience. Making this album gave me the opportunity to reflect on how the skills she gained that summer have helped her get off to a great start in her career as a music educator.

 

 I'm so glad to have this album done for Bailey to enjoy for years to come! :)

jp

Feline Friday: Boyfriend Calling

Every once in awhile, the Friendly Neighbor Kitty comes calling.

He stays for awhile, too, often nibbling on the catnip I planted just for this purpose.

Over the summer, Neighbor Kitty and I have talked about Lily being an Eligible Bachelorette. Of course, I've explained that he and Lily could only visit through the window.

Neighbor Kitty has taken this notion into consideration, as he would actually rather meet in purr-son. Nope, that's not going to happen, I explained. Safety first! :)

Hmmpf, he grumbled, and trotted away.

After giving the matter considerable thought, back he came. Seems Friendly Neighbor Kitty decided that he could work with a little "window shopping" and was ready to chat with his new girlfriend through the glass.

Lily? Oh, Lily...where for art thou, Lily dearest?

Alas, Lily is playing hard to get. Her busy nap schedule cannot be interrupted, even for the most attractive of suitors!

Feline Friday with Rory

 Our daughter's kitty, Rory, just couldn't be any sweeter. But she's not a "sit on a pillow" kind of cat. Nope. She's a busy, curious, active kind of cat and because of that, there's never a dull moment!

For example, every day when Bailey gets home from work, the bathroom drawers are open.

Every.

Single.

Day.

It's unclear exactly why Rory's duties include DDP (Daily Drawer Patrol), but she obviously takes her responsibilities very seriously. If the drawer is large enough, she'll even go behind it for further inspection.

 

When she gets home, Bailey reviews Rory's work (i.e., pushes in all the drawers). :) Of course, Rory is paid for her services with lots of cuddles.

Rory is always on the lookout for additional areas that need her services. No spot is too high for her to reach.

She has super sonic whiskers that allow her to detect areas that need her expert attention!

Aha! Here we see that the shower curtain rod seems to need some closer inspection.

 

With measuring complete, it's only a matter of time before Rory adds one more duty to her daily patrols! :)

jp