Monday Giveaway : Studio Calico

i love freezing that one moment in time; that priceless expression, the gummy smile, or look of wonder. time travels and i need to be able to go back to that one moment and remember.

Our first home is for sale in Oregon, and considering that we moved to Utah over 4 yrs ago, I wouldn't expect my son to recognize it. But today, when I showed him the photo on a link that an old friend had sent, he immediately knew it and asked to see his "tree", the one we planted when he was born. And there is was, bigger and still beautiful, in the photos of the backyard.
Life moves so quickly and there never seems enough time for all we want to impart to our kids, so I am grateful for the way memory-keeping helps me share stories with my son, helps him know where he came from, and possibly, hopefully, gives him a few tools for the writing of his own story.

my favorite think is that it allows me to have a creative outlet in all the craziness and take a moment to sit, document and enjoy the things that are important...my family, friends and ordinary(as well as important) times of my life. Its a gift to me now and one for my children in the future. This hobby has also allowed relationships in my life that would have never been created if it was not for scrapbooking. These relationships have given great depth to my life. That I am grateful for!! Dawn H

My favorite thing right now is learning to scrap about "me". There are so many things I'd like for my daughter to know about me. So if I jot down a few details and scrap some information or pictures, the better. I think she will get a nice picture of the real me.

i have found a "wanting" to know what my daughter does everyday. so i have started to record it in a cheap calender... everyday events and sometimes i get to be sneaky and capture a picture or two.
i have started to do the same with my everyday struggles and trials.
love le anne

Oh my, really there are so many things I LOVE about this hobby, but probably my favorite right now is just to record things I might otherwise forget. I am an "older" Mom and I regularly forget things like when they walked, talked etc. So I can easily go back and look at my albums (I scrap chronologically and am embarassed to say I am caught up...shh...don't tell anyone). My son is 7 and my daughter is 5 and I easily forget so many things but I LOVE to look back with the kids on some of my favorite layouts about their bedtime rituals or playmates or whatever. We look at the layouts and the memories come flying back and I can talk with them about how much fun we have had and about memories left to create.
I love this question.
Valerie

my fave thing right now is writing down the funny things my kids say and do. i love to write down the things that are their faves right now so that they can look back and remember specific details at that moment.

HI ALI!
MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT MEMORY KEEPING IS THAT I REALLY ENJOY MAKING LAYOUTS, FOR ME IS SUCH A RELAXING AND NICE TIME.
TIME FLIES AWAY WHEN I'M WORKING ON MY SCRAPBOOK PAGES, I LIKE THE CREATIVE PROCESS AND I LOVE SCRAPBOOK ITEMS!
IT'S NICE TO SHARE MY ALBUMS WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

Ohh good question! I would have to say being able to reflect on every part of our life together. My dh is active duty military and his job takes him away from us (my son and myself) a lot. My pages keep him updated with everything that our little guy does and the milestones he hits while daddy is away.

Wow, so many thoughtful responses. Im in awe.
For me scrapbooking has evolved so much in the past ten years. My first books have that funky patterned paper with the edged scissors, lol. Its so much better now, but now matter how much product there is out there , its all about recording those moments, those memories, the mundane , the life changing, all of it. No matter if its 12x12, 6x12, or 3x3. Its all good. I want to remember my life, I want my kids to remember my life with them. When I cant remember today or yesterday, someone can open an album and remember for me.

I think my favorite right now is finding other ways in my home decor to include memory keeping, besides just in my scrapbooks.

My favorite is capturing the little things we forget over time and lose forever...the funny names the kids have for things, those weird sayings that you only get if you're family, that moment that is momentous except for the fact it's yop your right now....the everyday that strung together makes up your life.

My favorite thing is that its my "me" time plus its creative and productive at the same time. I could spend my "me" time being a couch potato (which I still do some nights) or I could spend it making tangible reminders of how lovely are children are and how fast they are growing.

My favorite thing is *using what I have*. Whether it's using the older supplies I love rather than buying the latest and greatest or using the mediocre picture because that's the one that tells my story the best, I am getting better and better at this.

I don't want to forget what life is like now - with my girls 1, 3 and 10 and my boy becoming a young man right before my eyes at 14.
Thanks for the inspiration - Susan

That taking the photos keeps me in the moment- realizing what an amazing time I'm having right now.

My favorite thing is having an actual hands-on record of our daily activities, celebrations and things I think are important to document. I regularily wish I had taken the time to record events, activities and special celebrations when I was younger as a reference to how I live my life now.

My favourite part of recording memories ATM is telling it from my perspective and adding in my 'why' . Why I think this memory is special enough to record. EG Yes it is my son and daughter playing in our lounge room on Sunday in July but it warms my heart to see this because he had just been away for two nights and three days - at 2 years old it was our longest time apart!

Getting the chance to tell the story of something big or little right now and loving the process / having fun. And by doing it now, maybe having the story told in the future to someone who might be interested in what Nana and her family were like.

My favorite thing is doing digital scrapbooking, all the fun and none of the mess.