sept/oct memory makers. a/k/a the last one. ever.

sigh.

just typing that makes me sad.

so, the september/october issue of memory makers magazine is on newsstands now. i think. i haven't checked. but it's lovely. filled on every page with art that normal people like you and me put together, touched with their fingers, added a piece of their hearts, and then sent off, at the time not knowing that their art would grace the final pages of this institution of scrappiness.

the cover features an adorable layout by my amazing friend katrina, and features an adorable photo of my amazing friend susan's little guy. over the past three years, i've made so many wonderful friends and precious memories because of this magazine. hopefully those will last much longer than the printed page.

and so, without further lachrymose drivel ...

the topic for this issue: using unrelated photos to tell your story.

we all have so many photos of so many different things, but how many of us feel like we can't share thoughts or memories without using coordinating pictures? how many of us have ten different pages of the same event year after year, without any journaling because the information never changes?

why not shake things up a little? find semi-related photos and use them to illustrate the story. or find completely unrelated photos to illustrate the words you want to write that don't necessarily have photos ops accompanying them.

for this issue of the magazine, my story was about our yard and how gorgeous it is in the fall. now, do you see a shot of my Yard? no. were all the photos taken specifically with this topic in mind? no. they are just random shots i've taken over the past five years of our property in the autumn, but i pulled together my favorites to show just why it is i love our yard come october.

you can do the same thing with your photos. start using the ones you've been ignoring because they don't "go with" anything. look at your photos in a new way and FIND the story within them. or build a story around them.

and as a bonus, i'm going to share another layout from my book, "your words, your story," that was built on this same idea.

these photos have absolutely nothing to do with the conversation about which i wrote, but they are as much a representation of who my son is as the story in the journaling. there were no photos for the story, there was no story with the photos, but together they work.

take some time to look through your photographs with a new eye. see if any stories pop out at you as you flip through them, or if any emotions come up depending on the photos you find. a + b doesn't always have to equal c. sometimes a + b = good scrapping.

Comments

[Amy Coose]

Love your LO's, Michelle. I'm sad, too. ):

[Denise]

SO sorry that this was the last. :o( I love the topic of the issue. Cannot wait to see and read it. Beautiful layouts!

[Allison Waken]

These are beautiful!

[Nicole Stark]

so sad!
thanks for sharing your layouts and your approach to journaling. just the push i needed to tell a few stories.

[catherine feegel-erhardt]

sad !
without THEM... I wouldn't have met YOU.
without THEM... there wouldn't have been US... (masters o7)
without them... sad !
your friendship will always be !
xo
catherine

[lisa truesdell]

beautiful los, michele. so strange to think that mm is just.. done. =(

[Erika]

so pretty!

[Kimberly]

I so love your CRISP-Clean style. Wonderful.