Documenting His Story

Recently, in one of the scrappy groups I am part of on Facebook, a woman asked for advice on scrapbooking events in her husband's life that she is not part of herself.  Lots of scrappers responded, including myself.  One of my biggest ongoing scrapbooking projects outside of our family / my son's book is documenting my husband's running adventures.  He's been running for about 6 years, and with each race, he gets another race bib, pin, medal, and/or other memorabilia. In an effort to avoid accumulating those various items in a box somewhere, I've worked to incorporate these items into his scrapbook.  I've included the details in the photo captions below. 

My husband plays an important part in helping me prepare and organize each race's memorabilia.  After a race, he pulls out his current scrapbook, places any race bibs/pins/etc into the next available page protector.  He also documents his statistics on a pre-printed Race Stats form I created and keep stocked in the back of the scrapbook, and then he slips the completed form in the page protector with the memorabilia.  When I'm ready to scrapbook, I grab the book, print pictures, and get to work.

When it comes to the actual scrapbooking, I find it helps to use page maps and sketches.  I also don't worry too much about matching my papers to the colors of the pictures.  If the race has a theme (such as a St. Patrick's Day run or a Christmas run, I use papers to fit the theme instead of matching the pictures.  My husband tends to run in bright colors so those cheering for him can spot him so if I worry too much about matching the pictures, his whole album would look like an 80's throwback.

Anyway, that's enough about my process... now for the real reason most of you are here.  The pictures!  I tried to choose a a variety of layouts showing different ways I incorporate my husband's race memorabilia and the Race Statistics form.  Please note -- I have blurred race bib numbers and other details in pictures below to help protect our personal information.

Scrapbook cover with window showing picture
of shoes and years documented in the album.
Album "belly band" (made using leftover ribbon from a  race
medal and wide elastic) helps hold the thick album closed.

Cover Page

I removed the pin back from the race pin and used the pin front
as an embellishment on this layout.

I mounted the dog tag / chain received at the race
to this layout for embellishment

Layout using race medal and part of attached ribbon

I took apart the race medal / ribbon from this race and used part of the
ribbon in place of one of the paper layers and filed down the ribbon holder
on the back of the medal to flatten it so I could add the medal to the layout.

Race stats hidden in flip flap mini album
(behind Fall panel on right page)

Completed Race Stats sheet and Race Bib in page protector
waiting for me to print pictures and scrapbook

One last thing before I go, I mentioned using flip flaps in my captions above.  For those of you unfamiliar with flip flaps, they are clear pockets made from the same material as page protectors.They have a sticky strip at one end so you can apply them directly to the outside of your page protector allowing you to include additional photos / journaling with your layouts.  Close to My Heart offers various sizes of flip flaps.  To see the full collection or order flip flaps for your own projects, click here.

Due to the variety of layouts I've shown in this post and the extensive range of products used, I will not including a supply list today.  However, if you are interested in knowing the details of anything I used, please leave a comment and I'll be happy to respond with the information.

To order any of Close to My Heart's fabulous products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, design with {heart}!