Kathie uses scrapbooking as a way to record her stories, so her layouts nearly always include journaling. Furthermore, thanks to a zealous grade 3 teacher, she has beautiful handwriting and happily includes it on her pages. Jamie will rarely pose for the camera, so much of what Kathie captures in her photos is candid. This, together with her stories makes for real and meaningful pages that will be wonderful to look back on in years to come.
This layout tells the story of a new kindy song. Jamie was so sweet singing it and doing all the hand movements. He was happy to sing away while she snapped off some photos. Kathie’s captured the lyrics of the song alongside each photo. Song lyrics are a wonderful way to add journaling to a page if you are lost for words. Kathie’s supplemented the lyrics with some further journaling that reads:
“These are such fun days – these days with a four year old in the house. You’re at kindy now and between that and my work, you and I only get to spend two afternoons together during the week. Ah, how I treasure our time together. The other day you taught me a new song. I so loved it; I had to photograph you as you were singing and doing the hand movements. I just wish I had thought to video you too, so I would have your sweet singing recorded.”
This photo is one of Kathie’s most precious. Not for its technical brilliance, but because it’s the first photo of her son, Jamie, just a few seconds after he was born. Kathie has been unable to scrap this photo. She’s tried, but the pages just never seemed to work out right. However, she fell in love with Webster’s Pages Lullaby Lane collection and decided she would try again.
The journaling down the side of the layout is from Kathie’s journal on the day that Jamie was born. Kathie has kept regular letters to her son, since this one. They are a wonderful resource to look back on now, some four years later.
“I heard your dad gasp and then I heard you cry. I looked down and they were lifting you up to me. You were here! They placed you on my chest and you snuggled into me, all sweet and warm. Oh! I gazed down at you, drinking you in. You were so tiny and so very very perfect. I was smitten. I was overwhelmed with emotion. Do you know, I loved you so very much from that first moment I met you. You were with us. Finally! You were real!"
"I held you close and the midwife wrapped us both in a big, warm blanket. All warm – you and me. Your dad and I looked at you in wonder. Our little baby! “Look at him!” I said. “Do you think he looks like a Jamie? I think he looks just like a little James.” Your dad agreed and so you became our Jamie."
"Now, several hours later, I look at you in your crib and I can’t believe it. You’re mine. So perfect. My baby. My son. I can’t get my head around it yet. After so many years of longing and yearning, I have a perfect baby boy. It still seems surreal, like I have someone else’s child at my breast. But you came from us. You are our flesh and blood. A part of us. I blink back tears. Who would have known I could feel such overwhelming love for you!"
"I hear your little noises as you lie sleeping and look across at you. My baby son. So adorable all wrapped up in your striped blanket. You begin to stir, to wake and fuss. I call out to you softly. You stop, listening. You know me already! My heart swells. I love you so much. So very much more than I ever imagined possible.”
This next layout is by Melanie Harris. Kathie was drawn in by the photos on this layout at first - the gorgeous blue eyes of Melanie's daughter and the sweet Humpty fella. But then she read the journaling and was just sucked right into the emotion that Melanie captures in her words. Journaling is powerful on pages, and this is a perfect example. What a beautiful moment to have recorded. It's one of those moments that probably would have been forgotten in ten years, if it were not for this page.
Kathie is a huge fan of the work of Ronda Palazzari, from Denver USA. Her work is so full of wonderful details. But it’s more than that – Ronda is also one of those scrapbookers who records her story on her pages. It makes her pages that much more captivating. It’s like reading a book. Each time Ronda shares a new page with her blog audience, it’s like she’s revealing a new chapter. A new story is told.
This layout is a great example of that fact that sometimes it only takes a few words to convey a powerful story. Sometimes it can be just a few well chosen words.... like “I am just missing the verb”.
