Why Save Memories
In the age of smartphones and social media, our pictures are around us all the time. Sometimes, I gloss over the wealth of memories I have access to because of the abundance of pictures I have. Lately, I’ve been taking some of my special pictures and memories and saving them in a tangible way. I want to surround myself with images of people I love and the times I felt most happy. Life is rough sometimes, and I need reminders that amidst hardship is friendship, kindness, and love.
Saving Friendship Memories
I’m a middle school teacher, and school just recently started up again for me and my teacher friends. Before we began shaping young minds for the year, a few of my besties got together at an event called “Vintage Ohio” and sampled many of Ohio’s finest wines. We were absolutely ridiculous and had the best time. My friend Natalie and I took this picture on SnapChat which we called “makeup on makeup” because the filter makes us look even more made up than we originally were.
To create this layout, I used a pre-made background paper from the Recollections paper pad called “Mixed Media.” I fussy cut the wine glasses from the kit Friends I Can’t Forget and watercolored them with a beautiful cabernet color! On the bottom of the journaling, I used the line of bottles and glasses from “Drink and Cuss” to bring in the theme. The top right sentiment came from Drink & Cuss and it perfectly depicts how I feel about Nat. She is my bad influence, and whenever we get together, we bring the party. And everyone knows, there ain’t no party like a teacher party. Instead of putting the layout in a scrapbook, I like to frame them and keep them out around my house!
Saving Tough Memories
I’m usually a pretty quiet person about the sad and hard parts of my life. I don’t like to burden others with what I’m dealing with, but life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes life is about hospital beds and chemo treatments. Those memories are more difficult to save because they are always tinged with sadness. I refuse to ignore those moments because, within the grief and fear, my sister and I have had many good memories. In this photo, Lauren had a collapsed lung and had like 4 procedures to get it reinflated. She was bored and frustrated and wanted to go home. So I brought home to her, and we did word puzzles and I laid in bed with her and watched cake decorating shows.
The sentiment from “What Will Be…Will Be” really spoke to me. I can’t fix Lauren’s cancer. I can’t make her pain go away. The only thing I can really do is love her as much as I can. The layout is a reminder of how much I love her, no matter what happens. The rose from “Rebuild Your Life” is one of my favorite images of all times, and I thought it went perfectly with the rose crowns we got from Snapchat.
Monthly Saving Memories Challenge
1. Make A Memory Tangible with Unity– Maybe you want to make something with a picture. It could be a layout, a card, ornament, or something else unique. Maybe you want to save an item like a ticket stub or baby footprint. Either way, use your Unity stamps with your memorabilia to save your precious memories.
2. Share Your Project on Unity Show and Tell– Share your project or projects in the “Saving Memories” Album on the Unity Show and Tell. You will have until the end of September 2019 to enter!
3. Comment and Encourage- Don’t forget to look through all the other inspiration in the album. Comment kind things and encourage others to take part in this challenge.
