My February edition of “Creating Keepsakes” magazine came in the mail the other day. As I was enjoying flipping through the pages and daydreaming about all the beautiful scrapbook pages I would suddenly have the time to create, I came across an entire section dedicated to scrapbooking about adoption! The writer of the piece, Heather Jones has a cousin who was adopted domestically and she remembers meeting her for the first time. Being touched by adoption, I assume she was inspired to explore how to best scrapbook about ones own adoption experience.
Who knew that so many scrappers submitted their adoption related layouts to the magazine?! The section, titled “A Gift of Love” is beautiful. I loved that there is a layout done by an an adult adoptee and the rest were by adoptive parents, at least one was a transracial adoption. There are extremely helpful ideas about what to scrap about: the ups and downs of the adoption process, your child’s story, feelings and experiences related to birth parents. It was extremely touching to read and enjoy the layouts that were included in this special section of the magazine.
Encouraging adoptive parents to explore their emotions, even if they’re conflicting concerning adoption related issues, is a great idea. Having a creative outlet, such as scrapbooking, to work through your own feelings can be extremely cathartic. Scrapbooking with your child in mind is also a wonderful idea. Documenting their story, their past, their arrival into your family, can help them understand their past a little bit better because it will be so familiar.
One of the examples shown in “A Gift of Love” is a full album done to document an adoptive mom’s experiences throughout the entire adoption process. The photos of the album and the other layouts are inspiring and make me want to get right on top of scrapbooking about Ella’s adoption.
So, if you’re a scrapper or a wanna be scrapper, check your local scrapbook store, art store or book store for the February 2008 issue of “Creating Keepsakes.” There are wonderful ideas in it to inspire you to scrap about adoption.
More Reading:
How to Preserve Your Adoption Trip
Adoption Scrapbooking
Scrapbooking for Your Kids