Old Photos, New Life

Do you remember those old photo albums that had a plastic sheet that peeled up off a page covered with adhesive?  You just peeled up the plastic, stuck your photos on the page, and then laid the plastic back down over them?  Seemed pretty darn cool back in the 70's & 80's, but now we know all about acid and lignon and all those other things that wreak havoc on our mementos.  Not to mention the fact that after a few years the glue dried out and your photos started to fall out of the albums.

Well, I have a whole stack of those puppies, ranging from ones my mom put together when I was a wee one all the way through my college "scrapbooks."  ("Scrapbooks" as in the old fashioned meaning -- just some photos and ticket stubs with a note of explanation.  Not the current meaning which involves oodles of specialized product that I can't seem to get enough of.)  So I'm slowly working to transfer those memories to archival safe albums, and of course I can't just stick them in a new-and-improved plastic sleeve and be done with it.  Oh no.  I must create!

So here is one of those creations, which I made in response to a sketch challenge from the new scrapbooking challenge blog, Paper Lovers Studio.

The photos and journaling are just as they were in the old album.  They're just on a cuter and safer background now.  I wanted to keep my original journaling for a couple of reasons.  One is that it's a little insight into the Me that existed 20 years ago, and the other is because it preserves what my handwriting used to look like.  I have Essential Tremers, so as the years have progressed, so have my shakes, and my handwriting isn't so nice anymore.

I'm also doing the Dash Your Stash challenge from the Club Creating Keepsakes forum and have been on a spending freeze since December (in anticipation of going crazy at the upcoming Creating Keepsakes Convention vendor fair), so everything used here is from my stash.  The cardstock and Dear Lizzy badge are from American Crafts, patterned paper and crocheted flowers from Recollections, journaling spot from K & Company, felt flowers and buttons from Michael's, paper flowers from Studio 18, and letter stickers and metal clip from Making Memories.