Happy birthday, mom! (Part 2)

So when you turn 80 yesterday's floral wall display just doesn't seem enough.  At least not for me.  Months ago I had asked her for ALL the family photos so I could start a pictorial timeline for myself.  Kind of like writing my autobiography except with photos.  I also wanted them so I could find enough to make a scrapbook for my mom.  I have made one for my siblings on their special birthdays over the past few years.  But she didn't comply so I had to use images I had in my own collection.  I also went to her public library and took photos of her yearbook pages.  (Sure couldn't ask her for her copies!)  And this is the result.

 Do you typically put something on the cover?  This has a protective vinyl sleeve so it couldn't be 3-D.  Rather than not be happy with a stamped image on the royal blue fabric cover, I left it blank and hope her baby picture will suffice.  I can always add something later.

 The pages are 8"x8" white or orange cardstock.  All journaling was computer-generated.  I know handwritten pieces are lovely but mine is more like chicken scratching and I wanted it to be legible for a long, long time.

 If you put the baby pictures of my grandma, mom and me side by side you'd be hard pressed to know who is who...except for the vintage, and less so, backgrounds.

 Isn't she a cutie?  She's always smiling!

 Except for this one photo...no smile.  Hmmm.

 The page layouts are my own efforts, ditto for the embellishments.  I wanted this to be as original as my mom.

 Like the pen nib cut outs pointing to mom?  Look at the lower right hand photo...she had an 18" waist when she was a senior!!! 

 My mom will just flip when she sees that bottom piece.  She'll be asking right away how I came to have that info. 

 Love that debossing folder!  The chain represents the family members and how we'll always be together, forever linked.  I'll have to tell her about that; she may not get that right away.

 These tags are from an old Provocraft die set.  I thought they made great journaling prompts.

Top photo: her 7 grandchildren





Bottom photo:  my youngest sister, her husband and daughter were unable to be here with us

 Mom's the clown on the left...Jesters for Jesus.

She racked up a lot of road miles when she worked for the State of Illinois...making sure schools followed the guidelines for the lunch program. 


Now she and my step-dad (but he's more like a dad!) travel extensively...I think Africa and Antarctica are the only continents they haven't visited.

Here they are on my sister's pond.  Don't you like how the shadow of the tree points to them?  That was an aftersight.





I didn't want the pages to be too fussy with embellishments.  The scrapbook is all about the photos, not the extras.  I also wanted it to be something she could use later in life recalling special moments, people, etc.  Maybe it would be the only thing that would help her connect to reality or in the here & now.  No matter, it's made with love and I hope it brings her much joy, both now and later.