So I realized that I never mentioned that the lovely Ronee Parsons new book, Modern Memory Keeper, was available.  It is probably because my copy hasn't arrived and I haven't seen it page by page.  I always need visual cues for my memory to kick in, lol.

Anyway, if you plan on attacking that stack of heritage photos you have and making a scrapbook this book is a great place to start.  It is all about heritage scrapbooking but it encourages you to have a fresh take on it and this includes the colors you use (no browns here!) to the stories you pick to tell.  I had the wonderful opportunity to contribute some art to this book and I definitely learned a few things along the way.  First, I learn that I actually like to scrapbook heritage photos.  I know, weird, but I never had an urge to do it before.  I got some stories down that I would never have tackled before.  Second, I learned how to "mend" a photo.  I had a very old photo that had some damage and was torn in half but I learned how to "fix" it digitally and you know what?  It wasn't nearly as hard as I imagined it would be.  Shockingly not hard.  I was able to mend the photo and reprint it for family members and they couldn't believe it was the same photo.  It still had all its heritage charm but the tear was gone!  There were other things I loved but those were the most important things I took away from working on this book.  I cannot wait to get the book so I can learn some of the other things that are included.

This is one of the stories I would have never got down if I hadn't worked on the book.

It is filled with funny stories about how all our Grandparents got their nicknames.  It seems nobody in our family is content with calling them Grandma and Grandpa!

I made the ablum completely from scratch using cardboard, patterned paper (mostly A2Z and Bo Bunny) , transparencies (handcut and edges painted) and zipper ties for bindings.

This is also another page I created for the book which uses memoribilia.

I copied a love letter from my Grandfather to my Grandmother and included it on the page.  I needed to scan it and print it because the letter now belongs to my Aunt but she lent it to me so I could copy it.  I stapled the copied letter at the top so you can lift it and read all the pages.  It is kind of nice to have this personal item in my scrapbooks now.

I can't wait to see the whole book. :)  Congrats Ronee!

And guess what?  My missing luggage has arrived!  So I thought I might show you what I am up to today (fingers crossed).

Remember I told you I went on the shopping floor at the GASC this past weekend?  Well this is one of the things I got in my mad dash.  These albums are by Melissa Frances and measure I would guess about 8-9" high.  The half shapes fold out to a full shape which looks really great as a finished album.  The best part?  They were 3 for $5!  Yup, I had to ask again 'cause I couldn't believe it.  They had tiny ones too but I went right for the biggies!  In my mind I planned the star for a "Magnus" album and the flower for a "Harper" album.  I thought we could fill them together over this summer break (last day tomorrow!).  The third album - no plans yet but something will come to me. :)  So today I plan to get the albums started - you can see I have already started to pull papers (under the albums) for the covers.  I can't wait to get scrappy!

I also picked up this from the same Melissa Frances booth.  Made of wood and painted cream, about 12" long.

Not my usual thing but as soon as I saw it I thought - jewellry box.  I am going to cover it in bits of papers and maybe some photos and use it as a jewellry box.  It was on sale for $9 which was a steal I think but they knocked it down to $5 because one of the latches was broken.  Woohoo!  I love deals! 

Especially deals that I don't have to search for!  I mean, it took me all of 5 seconds to find this super deal.  Can't wait for the next GASC to see what I will find there! Grand Rapids here I come!