Tag Archives: memory keeping

Jul 1

On being a Seaman.

Seaman is my maternal family’s name. It’s not just a name, but a way of life. Through unfortunate circumstances, I have lost touch with many of my relatives, but thanks to Facebook, I’ve been able to keep in touch with some relatives, for which I owe my mother a debt of gratitude. It’s not always easy to communicate to members of my family, and I understand that; we are not social butterflies who have zillions of friends we see or talk to on a daily basis. We are a family of deep, intellectual thinkers, and socializing is no one’s forte in our family. It’s taken me some time, but I am at the point where now I get it, and it’s really okay. We each have our own way of expressing ourselves, and when we don’t , it’s not to be taken personally for the rest of the family; there are lots of deep-rooted feelings inside that we would love to get out, but we don’t always know how, or, it’s just plain uncomfortable. I get it. For me, some of the best ways of expressing myself is through scrapbooking and photography. I know, UGH, scrapbooking? Really? But yes, it’s my way of journaling with photos in a bit of a more artisitic sense rather than just shoving my words into a book for no one to see. Sometimes I want others to see what I feel, but my words fail me, and this is my answer. I open myself up more on my blog than in any other way, especially in person. Here is just a prime example of something I have been needing to get off my chest to a dear uncle I miss (thank you for the photo, cousin Vanessa!!)

I tried my hand at ships knots, but it’s not easy with this baker’s twine!

All in all, my bottom line is that I want to tell you, Uncle John, that I love and miss you. You are in my heart and on my mind quite often, and I am ever so grateful for getting back in touch with Vanessa, and I thank her for sending me an email of this photo which I love. Let’s hope we don’t lose touch again, shall we? Best regards and much love to you and Aunt Ruthie.

Thanks to my followers for stopping by; more to come!

Dec 26

December Daily: days 18-25

Finally!! I finished my December Daily album. It was so much fun for the most part, but while working full-time, taking care of the family, and daily yada-yada chores, it got tough to manage. Not every day had fabulous activities happening, but that didn’t mean that not every day had meaning. That was my focus: the little things. Catching up on the December issue of Martha Stewart Living yesterday, I read an interesting article about a father who wrote letters to his son- from the time he was a baby- in order to ensure they would remember their life together; “to leave behind an indelible remnant for him.” This is what memory keeping is for me, and as I put together my December Daily album, I tried to keep in mind that this does not have to be a spectacular feat in scrapbooking history, nor is this going to end up in the pages of Creating Keepsakes magazine. I want to be able to look back in the years to come and simply remember. That being said, here is my album, from day 18 to yesterday (warning: lots of photos here!)

The ribbon really helps keep it closed!

I hand-painted the star using a stencil, then covered it all over with Mod Podge.

The Mod Podge smeared the cool December Daily tag I had from Bananafish Studios, so I covered it with this one.

This photo I used because this is a special tradition from my mom; it best symbolized Christmas to me.

Please forgive my spelling errors. I did enjoy doing this, but a small part of me is happy to have it finished! Starting on January 1, I will be starting Project Life for the first time. After tossing the idea around in my head for the last 3 years, I finally decided to do it. I chose the Clementine style, and my album should be arriving any day now. I am looking forward to that! I am thinking that the key to keeping up with it will be to keep the album out on my work table, ready and organized so I can slip photos and notes in easily without much ado. I also begin a new year of One Little Word (I need to discover my word still), and this coming Thursday, I will be starting a new adventure with Big Picture Classes, Journey to Happiness: What Matters Most. I am really excited about this class; I need it! Thanks for stopping by!