Ethnic Scrapbooking

Tragedy Strikes but God is Good!

I woke up this past Sunday morning to tragic news that my Grandmother's house was on fire in Southwestern Pennsylvania.  Thankfully, she and my mother escaped with minor injuries.  Although her possessions may have been lost, my 89 year old Grandmother who recently survived a close encounter with a bear in her driveway, a fire bomb, and robbery  is still with us and quite well. PRAISE GOD!

See Local Newstory CLICK HERE

Below the photos see how you can help

My grandmother loves greeting cards, she loves receiving them and giving them.  Her collection of handmade cards were lost in the fire.  For all you crafters, feel free to send her thank you cards, Birthday Cards (she's in a club) and Christmas Cards for her to use.  Packages can be sent to:

GRANDMOTHER
c/o Joseph Mickens
152 N. Morgantown St.
Fairchance, PA  15436

I'll post updates on her rescued scrapbooks later.

Feel free to leave her well wishes in the comment section, we'll read them aloud to her on Thanksgiving day.

44th U.S President Scrapbook - Part 2

Here's another page I created from images people forwarded to me through e-mail.  I printed these images using my home computer printer, maybe not the most archival materials, but will have to do.  After I complete this album I plan on preparing a cd of all the pages and original images so that it can be handed down from generation to generation.

 

I used pre-printed quotes that related to the images...particularly like the "One Step At A Time" because of Jordin Sparks song and I hear Obama say he was reading the works of Abraham Lincoln again.  Once again I included a bit of red to stick with my black & white theme with a bit of red.  Background paper is related to my work...accounting.  Clock is straight up at 12...about the time he made his acceptance speech, probably close to the time when this photo was taken (at least that's what I'd like to think), 12 midnight...the dawn of a new day!

 

44th U.S. President Scrapbook - Part 1

This is the first in a series of posts where I will share with you my latest scrapbook project to preserve my family memories about an historical United States Presidential election.

Here's the first page that I made.

 

I decided to go with a black and white paper theme with a splash of red for a number of reasons:

Barack Obama is both African and Caucasian, red was the first family's color scheme on election night, red is a strong color throughout many cultures and lastly, because I am praying the blood of Jesus over him, his presidency and family.

Supplies:  Patterned Paper: Cherry Arte; Journaling paper: Making Memories; Blue letters cut using Quickutz; Red Cardstock: Bazzill, Sticker, Ribbon, Clip & Buttons: Unknown.

My goal is to do at least one page featuring each child and their response to the election.

Check back often for updates to this series.

Q&A-preserving pop culture

Preservation question from reader "GINA"

I literally started scrapping as a 14 year old when  I would collect photos of popular groups and articles and save them in pages of albums labeled " scrap book".  The pages have aged and so have the photos, but they still mean so much to me in the condition that they are in...Should I remove the scotch tape and or transfer the items to new " af/lf" (acid-free/lingin free) albums, or let them be...I don't think my grand children will be interested in my shots of The Jackson 5ive or Chris Cross and The Fresh Prince, lol!
Gina

Answer:  I do have at least two older scrapbooks that I have chosen to leave "as is".  CLICK HERE to view some pages of an album I made in fourth grade. I don't have a hard fast rule about how to handle such scrapbooks, but I left my handmade albums in tact and didn't remove the items to convert them to a better preservation method because, just like you, I thought they would lose their charm.  However, I have quickly torn apart incorrectly preserved albums of my great-great grandmother as well as the baby album I started for my daughter in 1987.  Why?  Because those are items that I place a higher value on.  Maybe one day my kids will tear my childhood album apart and preserve it in an archival manner, that's their choice, but for right now I like my old albums just the way they are, but I have scanned all the pages into a digital format.

History is Made!

 

 

A future President and Vice President of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

Prayers have been answered, but more prayer is still necessary.  I tried to make this a day my kids will never forget by documenting it as much as possible, I hope you did too (no matter what corner of the earth you are from).

Another Dynamic Presidential Choice

Although I didn't vote in the election for John F. Kennedy, I'm glad my husband picked up these autographed photogrpahs of John F. and Jackie Kennedy at an estate auction over 10 years ago.  I can interview both of our parents and my Grandmother to tell me their feelings around the Kennedy's and how they felt about his Presidency and tragic death.

Vision and the Presidential Election

My daughter Leah is having Vision problems, she has near perfect eyesight, but a vision problem.  Dealing with this situation over the last couple of weeks has been an eye opening experience for me.  I can relate what we are going through in this personal situation to the most historical Presidential election this country has seen thus far.  I have stayed away from the television and radio because I know that what I see and hear can cloud my vision.

I am taking this election VERY seriously and have lost sleep over whether or not I've educated myself enough on the facts and values that I hold dear and to which candidate I can align myself with.  Do you understand what I mean?  Here's what I've done.  I have 3-4 legislations that I've been following over the years and researched (reviewed voting records & footage of debates,forums & interviews) what direction the next President will steer them.  I've taken a few hot topic values and created a chart and tallied up the positions of each candidate to see who is most like me and my perspective of not just the Headlining News topics of the day, but the issues that will have a long lasting impact on future generations. (you see this is the accountant in me)

Read the following statements from the perspective of voting for elected officials:

Behavioral optometrists differentiate between the terms “sight” and “vision”. “Sight” is the ability to see and the eye’s response to light shining into it. “Vision” is the ability to interpret and understand information that comes through the eyes.  

The visual system is a significant part of how we process information and a key factor in how we learn. 80% of what you perceive, comprehend and remember depends on the efficiency of the visual system.

 

Vision is a learned skilled, just like walking and talking. If vision does not develop efficiently, even a bright child can have difficulties with reading, writing, spelling and math. 

SOURCE:  http://www.pavevision.org/DoIReallyHave/2020isNOTEnough/tabid/1289/Default.aspx

 

If you ask my two year old grand son and four year old son who they would vote for President, they both would spout off a candidate's name, because they are responding to a cue, they have not yet developed the ability to interpret and understand the information from each candidate.  That's just my two cents.

 

I encourage, I implore you to be a sophisticated voter tomorrow, future generations are depending on it!

 

Don't forget to document this election and scrapbook your personal feelings about it.  Here are a few things I plan to do:

 

Take photos inside the photo booth (if I'm allowed)

Take photos of the long lines at the polls

Take photos of campaign signs

Save buttons and campaign literature

Write out commentary about my research on both candidates

Save Wednesday morning's newspaper headline

 

El Dia de Los Muertos - The Day of the Dead

 

I’d like to use this particular cultural tradition to answer a question that I’m frequently asked,

“How can you reconcile your Christian beliefs with some of the rituals and traditions of other cultures?”

My response:

Just because I educate myself (or my children) about other cultural practices doesn’t mean I compromise my religious beliefs.  I enjoy sharing the anthropologic nature of my studies, but that in no way means I believe in, practice or accept every tradition/rituals of cultures from around the world.

I believe that by educating ourselves about those different from us will either inspire you to investigate further or even solidify your own beliefs.  I try to focus on the common elements of the traditions I study.  I’m intrigued by the similarities of the human spirit no matter what corner of the earth one is from.  I’m learning that we, human beings, are in so many ways more similar than we are different, if you only open your heart and mind to let go of those internal prejudices.

 

El Dia Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is an ancient celebration of the memory of deceased ancestors that is celebrated on November 1 (All Saint’s Day) and November 2 (All Souls Day).   It is a time to reflect on their lives, heritage, ancestors and meaning of their own existence ( a practice in many cultures). 

A couple of questionable beliefs around this celebration are that the dead are in a “place” that’s neither heaven nor hell and that the dead come back to visit living relatives. While learning about and teaching this Mexican celebration to my children, I don’t focus on debating these beliefs but focus on (or scrapbook) the practices that are very much like our own, such as:

 Ways of Celebrating the Life of the Deceased

·         Memorial services are conducted to honor the dead

·         Flowers are placed on graves

·         Funeral wreaths are a form of floral presentations

·         Favorite foods offered to the dead are later eaten at the end of the celebration by the living – similar to the repass my culture has after a funeral.

·         Lighting a candle to remember deceased family members

 

It’s these types of connections that intrigue me and lead me to continue to find the common threads that weave the fabric of our lives.

  

El Dia Los Muertos is NOT the Mexican version of HALLOWEEN!

Research the meaning of the skulls at sites such as:  http://www.dayofthedeadblog.com/

A special thanks to Michaele Angulo, Multi-Cultural Arts Instructor for research used in this post.