H is for HANDWRITING #AtoZChallenge

Hello and Happy Monday!

I’m participating in the A-Z Blog Challenge where throughout April, each day will correspond with a letter of the alphabet. My theme – Scrapbooking.

Last week I touched on the foundation of the hobby (Albums, Cropping, and Glue). This week we move into the sentimental parts of scrapbooking starting with H is for HANDWRITING.

I wanted to give handwriting its own letter because, similar to keepsakes, a person’s script is special. Like a voice or a thumbprint, what you write leaves an impression.

I’m a bit of a hypocrite because personally, I don’t like my own handwriting. I’ve had friends tell me it that it’s pretty, but I just tend to be more critical of my own chicken scratch.  

I think that I take handwriting seriously because I have several teachers in my family, and they all had beautiful penmanship. There is a history to handwriting in culture. In the early centuries, everyone from kings to scribes had a style to their writing. I’ve witnessed a great change in this in the modern years. When I was growing up, I was taught cursive handwriting in school, and now, in the era of computers, the art isn’t passed down anymore. My niece asked me to teach her how to use cursive to sign her name.

With these changing times, it makes sense that the pieces of handwriting that are given to us should be preserved and cherished.

My Mom and I have conversations about this often. She and I both love to get “Happy Mail” – handwritten letters and cards sent by post that aren’t just a mailed advertisement or a utility bill. There’s a positive aura to anything someone has made with their hands. It’s a special thing when someone takes the time write a letter to you.

Here's a quick example story: I was visiting my Mom, talking about the subject of Happy Mail, when she pulled out a letter she had written to my great-grandmother. My Mom was 15 years old, away at summer camp, and the letter was drafted on the complimentary stationary provided by the lodge where she had stayed.

It was simple letter, brief and beautiful. Mom spoke of the hazards of camping (bug bites and a flash sighting of a snake), but she included details of her friends and how much she enjoyed the sunshine.

For me, the address on the envelope was even more fascinating, because all that was listed were my great grandparents’ names, their street, and zip code. This sparked a discussion with my mother as to how a letter could reach its destination with so little resident information. My mom explained that at that time (mid 1960’s), there was only one family with our surname on that road, and my great-grandparents lived in a small town, so box numbers weren't necessary.

Mom went on to tell me how, at the time, my great grandparents and their neighbors still utilized the phone technology called a “Party Line,” where all of the service recipients would take turns sharing one telephone connection.  

Party phone lines eventually became obsolete by the late 70's, but it marked an interesting time in the evolution of communication.

A classic example of this technology is in the 1969 movie PILLOW TALK starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson.

And I learned all of this history from one handwritten letter.

This illustrates what a unique addition like handwriting can do for your scrapbooking. There are a lot of different ways to include handwriting in your pages.

-         Basic handwritten descriptions and labels. Like a personal seal from the scrapbook artist, you can list the names and details on your pages. J

-         You can attach the handwritten words of a loved one or a friend, such as:

o   Postcards

o   Greeting / Thank you Cards

o   Letters

o   Handwritten Recipes

o   Small, Personal Notes

This is a recipe for my grandmother’s corn bread.

Another example – years ago, I'd discovered a coffee shop recipe for a flavored latte called a “Fog Lifter.” It's still a favorite, but I have to ask the coffee baristas to make the drink for me.

My coffee guy liked to draw illustrations after I’d give him the coffee syrup recipe
(2 pumps White Chocolate, 2 pumps Toffee Nut, and 1 pump Caramel).

I smile as I look back at these memories, all of them preserved with handwriting.

I kind of went around the world with this post – Letters from Camp, Party Lines, and Coffee Recipes – I thank you for hanging in there! Lol.

There will be a few more “biggie” posts before we get to Z, but I promise to make it entertaining and educational.

Please leave a comment if you’d like. There are a bunch of awesome blogsters participating in the challenge this year, so please browse their sites if you’d like to read more A-Z topics.

I’ll be back here tomorrow with more Scrapbooking how-to – I is for Impressions.

See you then!

-         SNG

SCRAP SESSIONS

Hello!

It’s been a long time. Too long. I'm sorry.

It feels surreal typing these words. Life has become busy, and my writing has taken a backseat to other pursuits.

I'm still carving out time to work on my fiction, albeit less often than I’d like sometimes. 

I read a statistic that the average American devotes 28 minutes to reading each day (online, books, news articles), and I'm thankful to anyone who would devote a few minutes of that coveted time to check out my blog.

As 2017 begins, I am taking my writing and creative endeavors in a whole new direction, and it is my hope that you will join me on this new adventure.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that one of my side talents is scrapbooking. A positive use of all of my favorite hobbies, I find the process of arranging photos, short journal entries, embellishments and mementos therapeutic.

I look forward to sharing this interest with you by posting scrapbook techniques, with some projects that you can practice at home with your family.

Throughout 2017 I look forward to sharing paper craft projects that pertain to life and writing, to show the different ways in which you can hone your journaling craft. J

I understand that to the outside observer, Scrapbooking can seem a little cheesy. A glue, glitter hodgepodge of sappy sentimentalism that garners millions in revenue for craft supply corporations.

The sales statistics do ring true, but terse numbers don’t express the human truism:

The creation of art is representative of life.

People use art to express their emotions, observations, knowledge and experiences.

The order or structure given to the expression is just as important as the art itself. In writing, the telling of a story using letters is called epistolary narrative. The outline in which the documents presented almost act as a narrative voice.

It may be writer-bias speaking, but I’ve always been amazed at the power of the written word. Paper is a powerful thing. Centuries ago, (if you’ve ever conducted a genealogy search of your ancestors, you can attest to this), the only way you could find out if a person lived was through physical records.  If you didn’t have a birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate, last will and testament, or were never listed on a population census, it was as if you never existed.

Oh, the pride that’s still felt when you see your name in the newspaper, or on the cover of a book ( J ). Even in this age of universal digital correspondence, it’s a testament that the printed word still reigns.

Words, pictures, and captions are influential. More than just media, they tell a story.

When historians want to chronicle the life events of a public figure, they first turn to the personal letters written from that person to those closest to them. Centuries after the Revolutionary War, the thoughts and motivations of George Washington are discerned by the hand-written letters sent between him and his generals.

Gaps in the biography emerge when there are letters missing. Take the famous English romance author, Jane Austen, for example. Although Jane never married, it had been speculated that she’d had more than one big love in her life. This fact can never be confirmed because the personal letters that contained this information, sent to her beloved sister, Cassandra, were burned following the acclaimed author’s passing, (seemingly at Jane’s request).

What is interesting is that these were casual letters. An informal document of everyday events. A timeline of the person’s ordinary existence. Jane Austen didn’t pen the words for public view, they were her private thoughts and feelings. In essence, her life, preserved on paper.

Scrapbooks work the same way.

The books stimulate memory, and from a psychological standpoint, memory is instrumental to health. My nieces love to go through my old books, and when I flip through them I get a renewed since of purpose.

I see where I’ve been and that gives me an idea of where I want to go next.

It’s said that you want to collect memories, not things. It’s good to purge, anything that is not serving you, let go, so that new experiences can take their place.

It’s a new year and we have new goals.

And the fun thing is that you can outline a Scrapbook any way you choose.

Here’s a few scrapbook themes that I’ve seen:

·        Travel Books

o   Trip to other countries, National Parks, the 50 States, the Northeast or special sabbaticals.

o   Many of my fellow authors perform extensive research for the plots and settings of their books, and venture to those locales to soak up inspiration.

o   Readers, too, get inspired after getting a ‘glimpse’ of a place they’ve been introduced to in a good book. Sometimes conventions are held at the location to celebrate the theme.

·        Yearbooks – Annual Timeline of personal events

·        Fashion Books

o   Collection of images that speak to you (like a multipage dream board)

o   Catalog of designs that make up your personal style

o   Hair and Make-up techniques

·        Faith Books – A documentation of a spiritual journey

·        Health Books

o   I’ve seen people journal their path through severe illness

·        Baby Books

o   If you have more than one child, even volumes

·        Sports Books

·        Weddings and Honeymoons

·       Ancestry Albums / Archive of Family Photos

Scrapbooks have long since been used a way to catalog, document, and preserve your own story. Historically, scrapbooks have been used by rebels to fight prejudicial propaganda, by doctors and scientists to journal and compare their findings, and by everyday people to save keepsakes that contain a special story.

My scrapbooking began in 2004 with a beautiful book given to me by a friend.

When I open the cover I see a bracelet and picture my older niece made for me when she was little, and it warms my heart. The pages are far from perfect, but they don’t have to be.

It’s not about the finished product, it’s about the love that goes into it.

My style has evolved since then but I still have much to learn.

And in that endeavor, I hope that I can share ideas and grow with other creative individuals, like you.

So, with that lengthy introduction – I will working with a Scrapbook theme this year and hope that you will join me as I explore this fun area of story-telling.

Happy New Year to all and I hope to see you here on the Narrative!

-         Shelley