In 1971, Memorial Day was officially established for honoring the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. We are proud to have a collection to help create scrapbooks to honor those who serve: Honor the Brave.
A few years ago I learned that my neighborhood friend, Harry, had served two tours of duty in Vietnam. Since then he has shared fascinating stories about his experiences, and my respect and admiration for him has grown. He goes with the flow and is always content in his circumstances.
After we released the Honor the Brave collection, I asked Harry if he happened to have any photographs from his time in the Army.
One night he stopped by with four spiral bound magnetic albums and told me I could use whatever photos I wanted to. I carefully removed many of them with the blunt edge of a craft knife while others simply slid out from between the "magnetic" page and the plastic cover. Some photos already had a bit of damage.
I can't wait to show these pages to Harry and get his help with adding a bit of journaling. If you're concerned about scrapbooking older photos in a modern format, take a closer look at the completed pages below . . .
Layouts 1 & 2
Most photos in Harry's album were 3x3" square, while the pages are designed to accommodate 4x6 photos. I was able to overlap two photos within the 4x6" space on page one.
Smaller, cropped photos can be added to areas without mats. For example, I like how this image melds into the page title.
The spot for a larger photo in the upper right corner balanced out nicely with the addition of ribbon.
Layouts 3 & 4
I was thrilled to find memorabilia in Harry's album, including several cool postage stamps.
In addition, Harry typed a poem which I was able to successfully remove from the original book without damage. These poignant words made such an impact on me.
Layouts 5 & 6
Once again, crop two smaller photos to fit within a 4x6" space. Considering these photos were taken on film during a time when you had to wait for pictures to be developed, he captured some incredible images.
Trim a single photo to spread over the three smaller mats above the page title on page five. Crop photos only 1/8" smaller than the mat in cases where the mat is 3" or less.
Layouts 7 & 8
I'd like to think this young man felt the same admiration for Harry as I do today. This weekend we'll take the time to remember and honor all of those who have paid the ultimate price in service to our country.
To learn even more about this special edition collection, see my original blog post. Karen also used this kit to create a gorgeous trifold album for her dad. Check it out! Finally, stop by tomorrow to learn more about how I used the re-release of the rubber stamps that coordinate with this kit.
I hope you have a safe and meaningful Memorial Day weekend honoring the brave!
Tricia
