Memorabilia Maze

I just loved this idea!  I too have a lot of memorabilia but it’s a lot more than one large box!  I like the idea of the movie tickets because I save them and have for the last 20 years. 

~~Rachel

There’s a large box on a shelf in my scrapbook room. Most of the time it sits there patiently, but every now and then its contents whisper, “You need to do something with me.” This box is packed with memorabilia. Programs, postcards, ticket stubs, and more—all of it waiting to join the rest of my scrapbook pages. Every now and then I try to tackle the issue, but I become so overwhelmed with all the stuff—and wondering what to do with it—that I give up.

This month I gave myself a creative challenge. I decided it was time to figure out some techniques to help me scrapbook my memorabilia. I quickly identified the biggest reason for my struggle: I have memorabilia but no accompanying photo(s). I soon found three techniques that work for me.

Technique #1

On the A Thing Divine page, I treated my pieces of memorabilia as if they were photos. Postcards lend themselves quite well to this technique because their shape is similar to that of photos.

Tip: The fun frame pattern on the Etcetera Designer Series Paper gave me the idea to cut along the edge of one of the frames and tuck a ticket inside. It’s the perfect size for this and results in a nice interactive element.

Technique #2

I’ve collected a number of movie tickets over the years but didn’t have photos to go along with them. What to do, what to do? For my Secret of Life page, I turned the memorabilia into embellishments. With the Beautiful Wings Embosslits and Delicate Doilies Sizzlits Dies, I transformed the movie tickets into delicate ornamentation. I loved being able to use up all those tickets! I also took a couple of generic photos that suited the topic.

Tip: The photos and butterflies looked stark against the Very Vanilla background, so I added some Crushed Curry ink directly to the paper to add some color.

Technique #3

When I looked through my memorabilia box, I found a bunch of cards from my co-workers here at Stampin’ Up! I definitely wanted to scrapbook them, but the cards are so lovely I wanted to make sure they could be viewed easily. So I decided to display the cards in rows using Window Sheets as pockets. A large envelope would also have worked, but the Window Sheets let the memorabilia take center stage.

Tip: Here’s how to create the pockets:

1. Cut a 12″ x 12″ Window Sheet into three pieces that are 4″ wide.
2. Lightly draw a line in pencil on the patterned paper background to mark where you want the top of each pocket. You can vary this based on what you plan to put in the pockets; I marked lines at 3-3/4″, 6″, and 8-1/4″ from the top.
3. Hold the top edge of the Window Sheet on the first line and sew across the bottom. Hold the second Window Sheet strip against the second line and sew along the right edge. Repeat with the third strip.
4. Erase your pencil lines. (It’s important to do this now before you sew the sides of the pockets.)
5. Sew along the side edges to close the pockets on three sides.

I have loads of memorabilia left to scrapbook, but my box is a little lighter than before. And I have these three techniques to try the next time I delve into the box. Have you ever used memorabilia in your scrapbooking? What technique(s) did you use?

Alyssa H. Senior Writer/Editor