When You Miss The Photo…you can still scrapbook the memory
By Sara Naumann

“I can’t believe I took an entire “roll” of film at my niece’s play without realizing the camera was empty!” says Andrea. “And I really wanted the photos to be a part of the album I’m making for her!”

If you missed the photo—whether you forgot the camera, or forgot to load the camera—there are still lots of ways to scrapbook the memory.

Scrapbook Memorabilia
Tickets, programs, letters, certificates, diplomas, awards…sometimes we just don’t manage to take a photo of the event; other times the memorabilia might be heritage material, tucked away in a box. Whatever the case, these pieces deserve to be preserved.

Andrea can create a wonderful page for her niece’s play by scrapping the ticket stubs and the program from the event, then adding her own journaling. Pocket pages are wonderful for tucking larger pieces of memorabilia, like a program, onto a page. Smaller envelopes attached to a page can hold ticket stubs, flower petals, notes, and other small treasures.

Newspaper clippings also tell the story you might have missed with your camera. Make photocopies of clippings to keep your album acid-free. If the clipping is very small, you can enlarge it on the copier so it’s the perfect size.

Too Busy to Shoot?
LeNae was so busy consoling toddler Lauren the day she bumped her head to worry about taking photos of Lauren’s first spill. But she did want to record Lauren’s first crawling-related incident, so she took a photo of Lauren crawling after the incident and added journaling and a few embellishments.

Postcards
Museums, theaters and other tourist destinations might not allow you to take photographs inside the building. In this case, take a photo of the outside of the building, then scrapbook it along with brochures, souvenirs, tickets and other memorabilia. When visiting museums, I always stop by the gift shop and buy postcard-sized prints of favorite paintings. Similarly, I often buy postcards of famous sites just in case my photos don’t turn out—and figuring the professional’s photo of the Eiffel Tower will probably be better than mine anyway!

Photos For Remembrance
In the anguish and stress of a loved one’s illness, we might not have the time or inclination to take photos. Or even if we do, they might not represent positive memories we want to linger over. In this case, why not scrapbook a special photo of the person? It doesn’t have to be a recent picture; instead, it can be a photo of your mother as a small child or one taken of your father years ago—pick one that best expresses the person’s spirit and personality. Your journaling can talk about the special memories you have of this person while the photo captures him or her as you best like to remember.

Write it Down!
A page created with detailed journaling is a lovely way to scrapbook an event for which you don’t have photos. When Shauna wanted to preserve the memory of her family’s Thanksgiving, she included a list of the family members who attended, the family’s traditional Thanksgiving menu and a lovely written tribute to her grandmother, who always organized and hosted the family’s Thanksgiving celebration. “At first I was upset that I didn’t get a chance to take any photos,” says Shauna. “But now I think this layout better expresses my memories!”

What memories do you still have tucked away in shoeboxes? Your scrapbook is filled with lots of memories that were captured on film—don’t forget to include those memories that the camera missed!