Dear Urijah

Love, Grandma

Getting people involved in my scrapbooking has been a little experiment I've been conducting since Christmas. It all started when I asked Matt to make a scrapbook page for our album. Then I asked him to do the journaling for another layout. And now, I've moved on to bugging my parents.

I've been working on this album of Urijah for nearly a year now and I've been struggling with creator's voice. Whether the journaling should be from my perspective, his mom's, some omniscient super being! Only in the last few layouts have I really narrowed down what I'm trying to say and how I'm trying to say it.

Writing directly to Urijah seems like such a simple concept, but it took me months and months to figure out! If he looks at these pages one day, he'll have a book not only of him, but written to him.

And with that in mind, I approached my parents about doing some journaling for me. I wanted to hear from the grandparent perspective. And I really wanted to include their handwriting. It's such a lost art, actual handwriting. We've taken it for granted for so long but during this age of technology, I've come to realize how important it is to preserve something so simple yet so entirely personal.

Love, Grandpa

These pages are very simple because I wanted their writing, their words to be the true focus of the layouts. While I had to conceal a bit of my mama's (such a wordy girl!) journaling, it's still a prominent feature on the page. And while my papa didn't have much to write, his message is still poignant. (I love that he calls himself "Grampa")

I'm so glad that I included something personal from both of them. I also think they were happy to share in what's become a deeply personal hobby of mine. And what better way for them to be involved than in their grandson's album. It was something so simple for them to do, but makes for an even more special treasure.

Maybe you'll ask someone to contribute towards a future page of your own. I'd love to see it if you do! Happy scrapping

xxbesos

j.leija