Old Letters

• 

Long before I was married, I kept scrapbooks. I pasted in cards, ticket stubs, ribbons from bouquets, invitations, report cards, little notes, event programs, greeting cards and personal letters. I don’t remember any rhyme or reason to creating pages; I just pasted things down as I got them. For example, one day, Bill left me a note in the quad at UCLA where we’d meet for lunch: “Hi–..I was here where were you? Dropped by to say hello before heading off to study – oh well will call tonite.” I had placed his note in my old scrapbook.

The photos on this page are from the last scrapbook I kept while in college. I found some letters from Bill, one actually mailed with a stamp costing five cents in 1967. The “Grim Fairy Tale” is actually three pages long, filled with Bill’s musings about classes, his goals, his doubts, the draft and his love for me. I showed Bill the letter this afternoon; he said he didn’t mail any letter from the Van Nuys post office on January 19, 1967. He said neither note was his handwriting. Hmmm, what doesn’t he want to admit fifty-five years later?

I am creating some pages about a few things I saved in my old paper scrapbooks. I want to tell the stories so my family will know why I saved them.

Photograph Memorabilia

• Arrange letters on white board. Take photograph.
• Open cards, placing ticket stubs and wrapping paper found inside cards. Take a photo of each.
• Create new 12×12 page.
• Place solid paper 1 from ArtPlay Palette Remembrancer.
• Place photo above solid paper.

Note: Using a white board for a background to photograph memorabilia makes it easier to blend a photo or to clip it to masks.

Clip Photo to FotoBlendz Masks

• Create multiple copies of the photograph of the two letters. Clip them together.
• Open just the png file of main masks from Remembrancer FotoBlendz No. 1.
• Place several masks and clip photo copies until just the letters are revealed as desired.

Use Template Layers to Build Background

• Open Remembrancer Artsy Template.
• Delete the small frames.
• Arrange the background layers below the masked letters, delete layers as desired.

Add Artsy Transfer Layers

• Open psd transfer 3 from Artsy Transfers Remembrancer.
• Place layers below template layers.
• Delete and move as needed.

Note: I group template layers and artsy transfer layers.

Add Splatters and Small Frames

• Place two small frames from template 5 in Artsy Template Duo ValuePack No. 1.
• Clip photos of cards to frame masks.
• Place red and white splatters from file 3 of Artsy Transfers Remembrancer below small frames.

Add Elements, Title and Journaling

• Above the small frames, arrange the png scrapbooking file from Memories WordART Mix No. 2.
• At the top right, place four layers from file 4 of MultiMedia Remembrancer No. 1.
• Place paper layer from transfer 3 of Artsy Transfers Remembrancer just above the masked letter on the right.
• Write journaling.

• 

After printing this layout at Persnickety, I’m going place it as well as the original letters and cards in plastic sleeves in a 12×12 album. There are a few other things in my old paper scrapbook that I will photograph for creating a pages. Writing the stories gives context for why something was saved. These are stories I want my family to know.