~memory book with old valentines~

Are you one of those people who saves cards

for sentimental reasons but you never

really know what to do with them other

than stash them in a box?

 If so....here's an idea

for a Valentine or anniversary gift.

   

 Each year I try to top the Valentine I made the year prior.

After nearly 20 years of this, it's getting difficult and I'm 

running out of ideas and energy. Last year I

couldn't figure out what to make for Valentines so

I got to looking thru all the Valentines we've

exchanged over the years as inspiration. 

Yes......we have kept them in a little box along with

other cards and letters we've exchanged thru the

years. After that much time, it's become

quite a collection. Rather than make a Valentine

for him last year, I decided to make a memory book

with all of the Valentines we have exchanged over

the past 19 years. This is how it turned out.   

I used this hand made binder that my aunt (who's really

my 2nd cousin) gave us a couple years ago .

It's made from wood that she stained and constructed

herself. This was just the project I was waiting

for to fill this monogrammed binder!   

I gathered up all of the Valentines we've exchanged

over the years and put them in chronological order.

I bunched a few of them together and tied with

ribbon or tulle and placed that in pockets I 

sewed onto the page (cardstock).

Each page is a little different and you could

design them to your liking.      

 This folks, is the first Valentine I ever made him.

19 years ago......1994. We were so poor and the only

supplies I had were pictures, yellow legal paper,

crayons, tape and pink toilet paper (remember when they

used to make colored toilet paper?). I think they
stopped making it because it turned out the dyes
in it were a bit too "harsh" for some people's 
who ha's and nether regions.    

 

I decorated some of the "pockets" with smaller sized

Valentines I'd made. If the Valentine was double sided

I made a color copy of the back in order to see

both sides and the message.   

 Once I had the pages done, I put them in thick

plastic page protectors so the cards won't fall out.

 I always make my Valentines and write a simple 

message. My husband on the other hand, buys

the most beautiful, sappy and love sick card

he can find......and I absolutely love it!

 Another way to display them is to place them

on your cardstock and make a slit in the page

protector to slide the card thru. That way you

can actually open the card and see the message.  

 For those years when we had a long distance 

relationship and had to mail our Valentines....

I used the actual envelope as the pocket and stuck

that right to the cardstock with a bunch of 

Valentines in it.  As you can see, I also scattered

a few pictures of us together througout the years.  

 It's a bit thick and bulky but it's just fine for where it 

sits, on display in our window ledge.  

I will add a page to it each year with our Valentines.

You know what that means now......

I gotta figure out what the heck type of Valentine

to make this year.    

~memory book for kids school work~

 Remember the free 8x8 book offer thru

Shutterfly that I told you about a couple weeks ago?

I got mine and let me just tell you,

I am THRILLED with the way it turned out.

I made a book for my little guy's pre-school graduation.

I scanned some of his best school work and momentos

from pre-school and used them to fill the book.

You can customize the cover as well as all the pages.

Have a look......

 The front cover.

 These next pages are some of my favorites.

The book is twenty pages....these are just a few.

 It was my husband's idea to have his teachers 

sign the book....so glad he thought of it.

I think in the years to come it's what will make the

book so special. 

This is the back of the book.

Now do you see why I love it?

I'm telling you, if you haven't already jumped on

the photo book bandwagon, you need to.

It's a great way to record events and memories

that can be easily looked at and stored.

The books are just as neat as scrapbooks but

they don't take up as much space. I make a 

few books for my family every year. 

If you haven't already done so,

go to Shutterfly and make your free book.

(click here to do it!) 
(I think the offer ends May 21, 2012.)

~songs of life~

A very dear and close friend of mine 

moved out of state this week :(

I really wanted to give her a going away gift.

I wanted it to be something special

and personal but also needed to make

sure it wasn't adding to the crap

she already had to pack up and move.

  

Among many other things, it's safe to 

say that she's my "concert buddy".

Music is a huge part of both of 

our lives and has been a 

significant part of our friendship.

Over a period of 10 years we have gone

to many many concerts together.

I decided on a book of memories

with all of our concert stubs.

I got a blank board book at Michael's and 

decorated each page with scrapbook paper

I had on hand. 

 

Here is the front of the book.

I made pockets for each page with 

scrapbook paper and put a photocopy

of the concert stubs in each pocket.

 

 

 On the back of each concert stub

I wrote a memory of that 

particular concert.

Matchbox 20 is our favorite so

it got two whole pages.....

so many memories that I had to write

about them on a separate note and 

put that in the pocket instead.

I didn't take pictures of every page

but I think you get the idea. 

I wrapped it up and took it to her

the night before she left....

She loved it and we had

a GREAT time laughing and reminiscing 

about each memory before we said goodbye.

 

The back pages were left empty

and blank on purpose.....

signifying future memories that we 

will fill the pages with.

They may be fewer and far between

but they will happen.