PRT128 – Mushrooms and Daisies

Roundtable

This week we’re talking about scrapbooking with old photos. Come listen!

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  • Christy Connors

    This was another great episode. I just had 250 of my father-in-law’s photos scanned so this was perfect timing. Although mushrooms and daisies are not his thing, this was great inspiration. Also, since I’m a pen geek I have to let you know that I don’t think you linked to the correct Staedtler pens. I’m thinking they’re the “Pigment Liner Sketch Pens, 4 Line Widths”.

  • Jen

    LOVED this episode! I looked back through all my pages to see how many I’d scrapped with old photos. There were quite a few, including one with actual mushroom wallpaper!
    I threw them all together in a post on my blog http://hclappy.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/scrapping-retro-photos/
    Thanks so much for the inspiration to gather them all in one place. Some of mine are pretty garish, but I kind of wanted them that way so it’s okay. Thanks for another great episode.
    Jen

  • Loved this episode and So HAPPY about Angie & Ella reuniting with the Simple Scrapbooks crew at Big Picture! And I also use the Staedtler pens from Office Depot, those and Fine Tip Sharpies (which I’ve heard aren’t archival – but I don’t care!).

    I have been doing a ton of family history scrapbooking recently – all the way back to the year 1635 and last night I did one from the 1960s. I do not make these layouts in all beige! I try to match the feeling I have about the subject matter or the photos – not necessarily with the actual subject matter.

    So fun to hear about The Olympics from Shimelle!

  • Omg, I LOVE that wallpaper and I cannot believe you ran into it again in another home — how bizarre and fun. I don’t think I would get rid of it either! :)
    Thx for sharing that post! I love it when you guys do a blog post response to the episodes!!

  • Wow — tell me about the scrapbooking that goes back to 1635!

  • I actually have my family history done back to 1066 on one side and 1200 on another. My father and grandfather were avid family historians – what always bugged me was that they didn’t put it all together in a visually fun way – it just seemed like lots of old photos and computer printouts of family trees. It seemed so boring! My dad died in 2003 – a month before my daughter was born; back then I didn’t have time to go through all of the family history boxes (13 huge boxes packed full of photos and history – my dad was apparently working on a book – and there are stories in there – its just like a treasure hunt finding them). Anyway, in the past year I’ve have more time to go through the boxes and do research on ancestry.com and the combination of today’s amazing technology with family history and my dad’s work, I can spend just a short amount of time, find a story and then I scrapbook it. I take it in small pieces. I have a few three ringed binders organized with dividers by family tree branches and I just add in the pages as I make them – I’m not in any particular hurry, but just one story at a time feels really good. I also like this type of scrapbooking as an alternative to what I do most of the time, which is stories about today and my family and my kids. I have made several pages that will be up on the Get It Scrapped site soon and I’m pretty sure Debbie Hodge is planning a Family History month at Masterful Scrapbook Design for November 2012. I know you’ve done a few shows about family history scrapbooking and there’s a lot of information out there, but it always sort of gives me the feeling that I got when I looked through my dad’s stuff, I want to make the family history bright and exciting and fun and accessible and memorable, even if that means that I add my own spin on things – like that page about Maude and the cruise – my aunt told me about the cruise and told me how uptight my great-grandma Maude was and how it looks like the ladies had a big fun time – maybe a little racy time on this adventure after my great-grandfather died, so I made that page in a whimsical kind of way even though it does not probably accurately portray her trip. Its the impression of her trip that is almost more important to me.

    Ok, not to get too long winded here, but in the Pixar Movie Brave, they talked about family stories and myths and how it isn’t totally important if they are true – but if they are stories than can be used for making sense of life today or giving a perspective or teaching a lesson – then that is what is important about those old family stories.

    And I’m not too concerned with getting all the dates & trees down because that’s already been done for me. I think someone who didn’t have as much information as I do might have a different take on family history scrapbooking.

    Here’s another page about my Great Uncle Roy and his wild life – he was apparently a sharp dressed man with lots of disposable income and two girlfriends who travelled with him at the same time – so Hugh Heffner. So his page doesn’t include any photos of him but includes these funny facts and the pocket includes printouts like the census and WWII draft card and other historical more serious stuff.

  • Cindy_deRosier

    I’ve been scrapping older photos recently (not mushrooms-and-daisies old, but instead photos from 2002 when I first started dating my now-husband). I have been struggling with how to journal them. I scrapped before I met him and after we married, so all the journaling in all the albums is written as present-day. But it is hard to journal these. Do I remember back to what I would have said in 2002 or do I write from a 2012 perspective, which will only highlight the scrapbooking hiatus I took when we first started dating? It’s a constant struggle.

  • Janelle Horsley

    Thanks for another awesome episode!! I was wondering if anyone has any resources for dating old photos? I have a ton of my grandparents’ pictures scanned, and it would be nice to organize them by (approximate) date/decade. With over 10,000 unorganized scanned photos, it would help to get as close as possible so I can find them later. For example, my grandparents had a ton of those square, color photos that are 3.5×3.5″ with white borders (like old-school Instagrams, I guess). I think they were taken in the 1960’s sometime, but knowing when that particular type of film/photo style was released (or popular) would help put a more accurate date on them. I was hoping I could find info like that for all types of film/photo styles – I have some strange shiny ones, the regular 3×5, Polaroids, etc. I know it’s kind of geeky, but I figured I’d ask :)

  • Maybe this isn’t a real answer ;-) but I just do both: sometimes I write it as then, sometimes I write it as now. In the video I did for National Scrapbook Day this year, there’s a page called ‘Since Then’ and I listed all the big things that had happened between the photo of us in 2007 and the day I created the page. But I have scrapbooked photos from that same time period and written them about where we were going and what we were doing in a way that it didn’t matter if I recorded it in 2007, 2010 or 2012. A little of both, erring toward my gut instinct when I look at the photo, is what works best for me. :) (Of course your mileage may vary!)

  • I bow down to your mushroom wallpaper. Completely. Bow. Down. You are awesome.

  • Amazing that you could trace your family back that far – and of course, scrapbook it! :) One thing I had in my notes but it didn’t really end up fitting into the discussion was that I’ve done a little version of family history research lately – my family tree is a bit here and there, but what I was most curious about was discovering when different branches of the family tree made big moves from one location to another. I think it was really my curiosity as someone who emigrated myself! I could pinpoint when whole sections of the family moved from one area of the country to another and all changed professions – at one point they are all rambling up and down the eastern seaboard as farm hands, then all in a two month period they move to the midwest, settle, start having bigger families, open family businesses… that sort of stuff was really interesting to discover and then cross reference to what was going on at that point in time in US history, so I could figure out with a pretty good guess as to why they would have made those choices at those times. Vague but kinda cool! :) Anyway, I’m not planning to beige it up either – I figured map prints were particularly relevant since that was the biggest thing I learned about those ancestors… and then the other thing I discovered was that when they did start up their own businesses, they were mostly in making things – saddlery, dressmakers, barnraisers, that sort of thing. So those sorts of patterned papers that look like dress patterns or building plans seem perfectly acceptable… and with a bit of luck, not all beige. :)

  • I’m a new listener and making my way through all the past episodes. Thanks for keeping me company in the mornings as I plow through busy work, bill paying, and other bits of assorted life. I also appreciate the fact you guys don’t try to make the show too fussy by over-editing and using peppy jazz music to define segments, etc. That stuff makes me a little crazy.—-

    I have a suggestion for a future show. Recently, there was a bit of a fuss over a scrapper who posted a tour of her scrap room, which was jammed packed with so many supplies that it was impossible for her to do any scrapping! It was sort of an eye-opener.

    A big discussion about “hoarding” ensued on several papercrafting communities and everyone seemed to chime in with an opinion of where scrap supply happiness ended and where scrap supply “hoarding” began.—–

    I’d love to hear the panel’s take on what a reasonable scrap stash *is*. I’m interested to hear about how much supply those who work in the industry keep on hand, beyond the new products they receive and must use for design team/manufacturer work. How does a “professional scrapper” decide what “makes the cut” (no pun intended) as far as product from years past? How much product does they purchase beyond what they are being provided with? How do they decide what to add to their stash- is it the things that appeal or is there a decision making process involving consideration of the products they are regularly scrapping with? —–

    I’m a regular de-stasher but I also will admit to having sheets of patterned paper that dates back to 2005, when I started scrapping (which has now evolved into art journaling). I keep the stuff I love, but my definition of “love” has gotten much more narrow over the years. —–

    Thanks for the show. :-)

  • Hi, Chel! Welcome to the Roundtable! :)

    Thank you for getting this specific with your topic suggestions. All these specific questions make it much easier for me to do a show on the topic.
    We’ve discussed all of these things before in various episodes about organization (but without distinguishing between free product some of our panelists get), though never in a dedicated topic like this. So I think maybe we can do this! I’ll go add it to the possible topics list.
    Thanks for the suggestion!

  • I have a total girl crush on Shimelle and love her entire philosophy on scrapbooking! Seeing her scrap her childhood photos has inspired me to tell all the stories I want to tell, not just my present day and I enjoyed hearing everyone’s perspective and approach to older photos and stories.

    Here’s a question I have, when I was younger I cut into quite a few pictures- whether with my fancy zig zag scissors(!) or just cutting around people.( I don’t think I was following trends or anything, I think I was just 12 and thought it was fun-ha). Is there any hope in being able to salvage them and scrap them now? Most wouldn’t be originals but I’m not sure if I could dig those up. Some I’ve been able to crop into squares and do a grid type layout, but there are more of my brothers and me that I’d like to do something with.

    thoughts or ideas? Digital fixes? Thanks for a great show!

  • Thanks, Noell! And thank you for the show- I’m addicted :).

  • Angie Lucas

    Fun discussion! Oh, and the link to my pick this week isn’t correct. My pick is the Staedtler Pigment Liner Sketch pens, although the Ballpoint stick pens linked above look like LOTS more fun. :) Here’s the link: http://www.staples.com/Staedtler-Pigment-Liner-Sketch-Pens-Assorted-Line-Widths-Black-4-Pack/product_428755

  • Loved this episode ladies and I totally bought a bunch of Sassafras paper from one of their last collections that was just like some old floral sheets I had. Thanks for sharing!

  • Sarah DG

    Shimelle! I just started listening to this episode, but I had to jump in and say that we DO have Paralympic TV coverage here in the US! It is not nearly as much coverage as the Olympics, but it can definitely be seen on TV. I was just watching earlier today, in fact. And I totally agree: very inspiring and amazing!!!

  • Anya

    Awesome show! I am so inspired that I feel like calling my mom right now to get the stories only she knows about her and my dad and my grandparents… Have at least three different options on approaching those stories… And by the way, I have never scrapped an older photo without turning it to b/w first. If I don’t like the colors on the photo, chances are – it will never get scrapped.

    Thanks for the inspiration!

  • Helen Anne

    One of my favorite lists is the mindset published each fall by Beloit. http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/ Its always interesting to read what is common in the life of todays freshmen as opposed to what I think of as “new” stuff. I listened to the cultural change eposide earlier today and thought these lists could be useful if you want a list of changes over the last 14 years

  • CarolineD

    Hello all! I just wanted to say thanks to Izzy for the tactful correction about pixels. Not all pixels are created equal and that’s a huge misconception that seems to have gone largely unchecked. Your phone may be 8 megapixels, but the sensor on your phone is really, really tiny – something like one third an inch measured on the diagonal. And on that teeny, tiny space, they’re cramming 8 MILLION pixels. Think how minuscule that is. In contrast, your scanner is scanning at resolution of 300 dots per inch (or 600…or larger, you can change that on most scanners) It may be hard to visualize and it’s not a true apples-to-apples comparison, but the scanner is capable of gathering far more details. Also, since the phone goes in and out of purses and pockets the lens is often a little compromised, optically speaking.

    I hate to be all technical, but the sensor (and its size) is a much bigger contributor to picture quality than megapixel count. I’m not dissing camera phones, but I’ve heard people say “My phone’s camera is 5 (or 8) megapixels, and that’s almost as good as my dSLR.” and that’s simply not the case.

    I could go on, but…you know…blah, blah, blah.

    Thanks for another great show!

  • Thank you! I don’t think this is too technical and I think it’s important. It’s always been obvious to me that my iPhone quality is not as good as my scanner or dslr and it’s really bothered me that people suggest using it to scan old photos without explaining that it’s not a worthy option for printing and archiving.

  • Heidi

    Although this has been touched on before (just having what makes you happy, not what you think that you can eventually use) — I don’t think that we can hear enough about this. There is one episode in particular (In Ten Easy Steps) that I have kept and listened to over and over. It has inspired me to look at my products in a different way. I’ve ended up getting rid of quite a lot (giving most of it to my son’s school) and this has dramatically improved my scrapping and my happiness. Thanks to PRT for helping me get there!!

  • Julia Colli

    Another fascinating subject and great discussion as usual! Shimelle’s spot-on about the “superhumans” in the Paralympics – they’re astounding athletes.

    I just wanted to comment on the idea that when scrapping vintage photos (I’m talking about early 20th century – which as someone born in the 1960s feels more vintage than the 1970s and 1980s, lol!), we often think we should use muted tones because our photos are all black & white or sepia so we tend to assume that that’s what life was like. However, if you go into historic houses and buildings – for example, the Queen Victoria Building here in Sydney – which have been restored to their original colours, they often have very strong, bright colours. In the case of the QVB, the decor is bright red, bright green, bright blue, trimmed with gold; visually stunning. Obviously ordinary houses wouldn’t have been as fancy, but nevertheless bright colour was popular, so it would be reasonable to use these colours when scrapbooking these photos – in moderation of course!

    Paintings from those times are also good for ideas of what colours were popular in particular periods.

    My point is, all the colours in the world have existed since the world began, so why feel constrained to a particular set of colours when scrapbooking our earliest photos? As long as you scan the originals, I say choose whatever colours invoke the mood of your layout, whether that’s bright, happy colours or soft neutrals.

  • Marcia Fortunato

    I have some of those 3.5×3.5 square photos – some b&w and some color – and I know that I took them in the early ’70s with a Kodak Instamatic – the kind that used a flash cube, but some of yours might date back into the late ’60s as well.

  • Marcia Fortunato

    I’m a relatively new listener to the Roundtable, so I listen to the new episodes as they come out, and then if I’m on a long trip by myself I catch up on past episodes – they keep me awake and laughing!
    I loved this episode! Last summer I spent a few days with my parents (who are in their late 70s) going through and scanning old photos of their and their parents’ and grandparents’ families. It was fun to hear them talk about the photos and who was in them. I’m surprised at how many snapshots there are, considering that photos of daily life were much more rare at the time. My favorite was one of my dad (b&w of course) when he was two yrs old standing all dressed up in front of his house – on the back his mother had written a description of his outfit and put “Ain’t I cute?” I used that one on a scrapbook page and included her words in the journaling. I never knew that grandmother, so it was extra special to have her words in her own handwriting.
    My parents also have tons of slides of my family when I was little (many of which I didn’t remember ever actually seeing!), so I got a slide scanner. The quality of many of the slides is very poor, and there are some pretty funky colors. But they brought back so many memories, particularly of travel we did as a family, so I printed them out anyhow and used them on scrapbook pages. As far as the colors I used, I just used colors and papers I liked, not necessarily worrying about using papers to fit the 1960s, just ones that went with the feel of the photos and/or colors that enhanced the photos.
    Keep the great ideas coming! I’m taking a 12-hour road trip later this week, so I’ll get lots of listening in! Can hardly wait for the next episode!

  • Welcome to the show, Marcia! Aren’t those old photos the most amazing thing? A couple years ago I went to my parents’ home and scanned their prints from their newlywed photos through my first 3 years of life. Will have to do more on another trip. They also had their slides made into digital photos for all of us, plus photos clear back to when my dad was a baby. I just LOVE all these photos!

  • m

    First, I absolutely squealed when I heard Izzy read my comment from last week in this week’s mail segment. I have no idea how I managed to just put ‘m’ as my name other than I do that on my blog and it must have been habit. Of course now, I have to continue my James Bondishness so you know who I am! lol I have listened forever and that was the first time I ever commented so it was really rewarding to hear it…thank you! Great segment as always this week. I have a lot of older photos that I tend to procrastinate on and this episode definitely made me want to get them out and scrap them.