Scrap Booking

I have been scrapbooking for 4 years now and love it. I recommend finding a CLose To My Heart consultant, www.closetomyheart.com and looking through a current idea Book. they are a fantastic company(I became a consultant a few months ago) and make it so simple and easy to get started.

I'm so glad to see that your moving forward. I think a memrory book is a great idea to keep their memories alive for your children! I would suggest going to your local craft store and look at their scrapbooking selection. You could put together a scrap book with your brother and Gram's pictures. I think it'll also be a little theraputic for you. Remembering the good times is a way to continually honor them.
God Bless!!

Scrapbooking is a wonderful hobby and a great way to relive the wonderful memories. I have discovered digital scrapbooking which can be done completely on the computer and then printed out to be put in an album. Some of the great things about this are:

-no mess
-supplies can be reused as many times as you want
-pages can be redone until you're happy with it without wasting any supplies or ruining precious photos
-lots of freebies can be found online

Warning--this can get very addictive, both in collecting the freebies and doing the pages.

One great site to check out is www.scrapgirls.com. They have a newsletter, message board, tutorials, and all sorts of helpful stuff. Everyone is happy to answer questions to help you.

You will need a photo program to do this. I personally use MGI PhotoSuite 4. Others use Photo Shop or Photo Shop Elements. Serif also has a free one available at on their site, http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/.

If you need any help with this, just message me.

Another suggestion that we did for our daughter, printed out photos and attached them to colored cardstock. These were then covered with contact paper, a hole punched in the top, and a binder ring put through the holes and closed. It's a way for her to look through photos easily.

Hi H.,

There are quite a few ways to do this. There are computer programs that have sample memory books that you can add your own pictures and journaling to. I use Scrapbook Plus. You can also do it by hand, by getting a scrapbook and some paper and stuff and put pictures and favorite memories, or letters and poems that make you think about the person. You could also check out www.diynet.com and look in the scrapbooking link for the show on the DIY channel. She has lots of ideas. I hope that this helps you out. If you need any more ideas or help or something feel free to message me.

M.

H. - I am so sorry for your loss! I am a hard core scrapbooker and I buy 95% of my items from ebay. I save a ton of money that way, especially if I buy all of my items from the same seller for the shipping discount. With a little bit of searching you can find all that you need :) Some sellers even offer pre-made pages customized to what you want, if you don't have time to do it yourself :) Good luck!

The way that I began scrap booking was to purchase one of those all inclusive kits like the ones at JoAnn Fabrics or Wal-Mart. Follow some of the suggestions in the kit and make a few pages. Then you can branch out more so on your own and simply buy materials on an as needed basis. A class can also be helpful but sometimes a little costly. Scrap books are very personal and I think the best ones are those that you put together without someone else's input. You can't go wrong when you create a scrapbook page based on the emotion and love that YOU feel.
Good luck!

Hi H., So sorry for your losses. I lost two very special people 3 years ago, just months apart. It is hard, but eventually the hurt isn't quite as bad. As fo a remembrance book, when my Gram was bad w/ Alzhimers, I made HER a memory book with older pictures and made comments and captions beside each one. This seemed to help her w/ remembering some of the past and people in her life, but also served as a help for the family taking care of her. Maybe try getting a photo album and putting in pictures of your loved ones. Write little comments, dates, or anything else you think your children should remember about that person. I know this is a little long, but hoping it helps. Let me know if you need anymore ideas.

____@____.com

feel free to email anytime.

Sorry for your lose H.. I starting to scrapbook last year and it's a habit LOL.

Michaels' offers a lot so does Pat Catan's. Since she was importan to you and your brother I'd go back into your pics and find pics of you and brother as kids with your gram. That would be a good starting point and write down memorable momments you shared as kids. Then try to mimic those with your child. Example if she baked, plan to cont. the tradition.

Good Luck
N.

Hi H.~ I am sorry to for your loss. I know how hard it is. I think a scrapbook would be very sweet. I have been doing it now pretty long. How I got started was just went to ACMOORE or Michael's bought some paper , an album, some stickers and adhesive and got started. Now though they have sets that you can buy that are great for new scrappers.( Just make sure that everythign you buy or plan to put against your pictures is acid and lignin free.} This is one of the most important facts to remember. Alot of the sets have everything in them including the album, paper, stickers and other embellishments . Just need to warn you , scrapbooking can become an addiction!!
Happy Scrapping,

L.