A Look At Yesterday: Childhood Memories

As you may know, I am taking the Yesterday & Today class with Ali Edwards at Big Picture Scrapbooking. So far, it's been pretty good. This week we are working on a layout about random childhood memories. Short memories that maybe wouldn't fill up a whole page, or maybe they would, depending on your scrapbook style.


For the class, Ali is providing templates and digi elements (pretty darn cool) and I have decided that I am going to just use what she is providing without much tweaking so I can focus on the words, photos and the stories. I wasn't sure I was going to be okay with this approach, but it turns out using the templates is a life saver when you are digging through boxes full of old photographs and memories. It can be QUITE time consuming.



This is the first half of my childhood memories two page layout. Okay, you caught me, it's actually the second half (if you look at the numbers, it gives that away). Not sure why I started with the second page, since they are basically the same design, but I did. And let me tell you, I LOVED scrapbooking these photos and memories! It may have taken three hours to choose photos, scan them in and tell the stories, but I LOVE the final result! And while we all scrapbook for different reasons, I primarily do for 2 reasons: creative outlet and I want to leave a legacy. I want my great grand children to have possession of this particular album (if all others get lost) so they can know something about how their great grandma lived as a child in the 1980s.


If you are interested, the journaling reads:



Art Classes: I love this picture of Erik & I. We grew up taking children’s art classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art while my mother would paint and sketch in the galleries. I believe I’m holding a self portrait, but I wasn’t blonde and I hate clowns. I’m not sure what the hair on the bridge of the nose is about – bangs, maybe? The mask I am wearing is another interesting piece. I actually have a vague memory of my class going into the African gallery at looking at the masks for inspiration. I believe that is why there are teeth missing from my mask. I also remember some of those masks being creepy and looking down on me. I like to think you can see my brothers emerging art talent being nurtured here. Not only is he younger then me, but even as a kid his work just looks more composed. Today, he is a talented designer and I am quite proud of him.



Front Yard Snow Surfing: I remember the little slope in the front yard being a big hill. Erik and I thought we would try “surfing” down that hill on our favorite trusty yellow sleds we had received one Christmas. I remember being a bit scared to try standing on my sled and judging by my grip, I think I was afraid of falling over (after all, the same thing happened on a skate board in the summer & after that I rode the skateboard sitting down). Today that slope is just mere steps but when we were kids it seemed like Everest.



The “Gee Gee” Club (rhymes with Me Me): The Gee Gee Club consisted of my cousins Mike and Elaine, my brother Erik and me, Lauren. The club had “positions” and Gee Gee 1 was the unnamed president. That honor fell to Mike, as he was the eldest cousin. I was Gee Gee 2 as I was the next oldest, only a year behind Mike. Technically, Gee Gee 3 went to Erik, since he was two years younger then I and Gee Gee 4 to Elaine at one year less than Erik. Elaine didn’t like being last and would try to battle the Gee Gee 3 position away from Erik.

What else can I remember about this club? Not much, really. I remember that we had “private” meetings away from all the other relatives at the holidays. I can remember meeting at the table on Grandma and Papa Kozak’s screened in back porch, overlooking the golden delicious apple tree. Why were these meetings private? Why do kids do anything? I don’t know. What were these meetings about? I have no idea, though I think it was pretty much a way to figure out what game we wanted to play with Mike’s idea usually winning as he was the head Gee Gee.


If you made it this far, thanks for reading about my childhood memories. I would LOVE to read about yours. Do you have any links to any pages/posts about your memories or heritage?