Have you ever wondered how your parents felt during the major world events of their time? Last summer I asked my mom and dad what they were feeling and thinking during the Civil Rights Movement. I would love to see a journal entry or scrapbook page from back then!
I don’t know if the elimination of Osama Bin Laden will stir the same interest in my grandkids as it does in us right now. Even if it’s not as meaningful to them, it might be interesting for them to know which of the world events was effecting enough to motivate their scrapbooking grandma to leave something behind.
So far, the events that I have felt prompted to document are…
- our breaking of another racist barrier with the election of the first African American president.
- 9/11
And now today I want to scrapbook my experience of learning that we finally got one of the most destructive people that existed in my own lifetime.
Five Scrapbook Prompt Ideas for Documenting a Major National or Global Event
Anyone can research old news events of the past. I think what makes scrapbook documentation of world events valuable is a combination of official news releases with our own personal thoughts and experiences.
1) Take Screen Shots of the Announcements
Take a screen shot on your computer of the live speech, press announcement, or article.
To capture only the part of your screen you want in your image, here’s how you do it on a Mac…
- Press Shift + Command + 4
- Click and drag the cross hairs to select the area of the computer screen you want to capture.
- Let go of your mouse and your computer will take the image.
If you are on a PC, google something like, “how to take a screenshot.” Look for the option of taking only the select area you want, rather than the entire computer screen.
Now import your image into your photo manager or pictures folder and continue on to the next prompt.
2) Add the words to your story into the metadata of your screen shot.
After importing my screen shot into my photo manager I added a whole lot of information and thoughts to my photo by as a caption into its metadata:
1) The Moment We Heard
It was 8:06pm on Sunday night. We had just finished dinner and our nephew, Danny, was over for the weekend. Izzy was on the couch and I was on the Ikea chair when Izzy got a text from his dad that we had killed Osama Bin Laden.
After ten years, I’d pretty much given up on the idea that we’d ever get him. It was stunning news. Happy exciting stunning news! I jumped onto Twitter to get more information and to celebrate with others.
Minutes later President Obama gave a live speech and the kids and Izzy and I all gathered around my lap top to watch.
2) What I Felt
Awe. I was in awe.
I was happy and proud of our military leaders, our service people, and proud of President Obama.
We celebrated with others online for a couple of hours, the tone eventually turning giddy after the shock subsided.
3) President Obama’s Speech
Yes, you can even attach the entire speech as metadata to the digital photo file! You can find the transcript here. Just copy and paste it into the caption field of your screen shot!
3) Take a screen shot of a text you sent or received.
If you don’t know how to do this, just google how to do it on your type of phone. It’s easy!
Next, email it to your computer, download the image, and then import it into your photo manager or pictures folder.
4) Get the front page article.
I don’t know if I’ll do this with the current event, since my reception of the news revolved around the internet and texts. But if the paper is still a significant part of your experience, I have an episode for the Paperclipping Members where I share an awesome technique for scrapbooking newspaper articles.
I’ve always loved saving them, but was also always frustrated with the various methods for adhering them to a page. After much experimentation I found a method of my own that I love.
Here are some layout examples of scrapbook layouts with newspaper articles:
With inserts of a second article and a transcript of the speech:
I shared my technique for seamlessly adhered newspaper articles in a video tutorial. If you are a Paperclipping Member and have not watched episode 71, go check it out and give it a try! If you’re not a member, this tutorial is only one of 168 to which you will get instant access when you sign up!
5) Capture Your Social Media Interaction on this Subject
My activity was mainly on Twitter, plus a little on Pinterest where I shared some hilarious photos Izzy found online that commemorate the occasion.
I did screen shots of my tweets (it took three or four shots to get them all. I might work with them in Photoshop to arrange them how I want and remove any that are not related. I might also do something with my photos on Pinterest. It shows the progression of how our feelings of awe eventually evolved into a playful and happy celebration.
There is no time for delay
If there is one thing I’ve learned it’s not to delay capture of current events. The world moves quickly now. Twitter moves quickly. It’s hard to find and gather these things just a week later! Even if you don’t want to make the actual scrapbook page yet, gather the evidence and your thoughts while you can!
Do you have other ideas for capturing this week’s most amazing news? Please share by leaving a comment?
