This month's kit is a celebration of writing. I haven't had a chance until now to update the blog with the october kit and pics. At this point we are sold out but we are taking names on the waitlist in case we end up having extras. Below are the newsletter, kit photos and kit supplement photos.
I remember my grandfather – an engineer, an
avid reader, a worthy foe for an evening of scrabble
or rummy, a man who was loving, yet stern, and
who made us spend a good part of a summer vacation
reading and writing book reports, on all manners of
things and people. But most of all, what I remember
is that he was a writer. He sat down faithfully at his
writing desk each morning and again each evening,
recording his thoughts carefully in his leather bound
diary. On my 10th birthday, he gave me a brand new
copy of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. How I loved
and cherished that book – and devoured it in a matter
of days! I admired Jo and her struggle to write well. I
cheered when Professor Bhaer told her that her best
writing would come from that which she knew, the
everyday, ordinary things that were in her heart.
Thus began a love affair with books. I read
everything I could get my hands on, from
Shakespeare to Dickens, as well as many
cherished childhood favorites – Anne of Green
Gables, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,
Alice in Wonderland and many other titles. Many
a wonderful afternoon was spent buried in books.
Now, years later, with a degree in journalism
and a lifelong love for the written word, I still
identify with young Jo March and her passion
to write for a living.
One thing I love about scrapbooking is that it
brings back real writing, which has been out of
vogue for so long. In this age of e-mails, instant
messages and the telephone, we’ve all but lost
the beautiful art of correspondence and writing.
I would love to see the art of correspondence
revived. I have stacks of letters postmarked
from India – filled with my grandfather’s hopes
and dreams and blessings for me, his grandchild,
and I recall the excitement I felt when his letters
would arrive. Those letters arrived addressed to
me as a young child, as a teenager, as a college
student, and continued to arrive in the mailbox
of the home where I was a young bride. The
happiness his letters brought me was exceeded
only by the happiness he felt when his grandchildren
wrote to him. We knew we were loved because
he considered us important enough to write to –
to fill an aerogramme with loving words and
kind inquiries, and most importantly, to address
the letters to us, not to our parents or any other
adult, but directly to us! I still have every one of
those letters, now bound into a book.
There would be a day when I would receive
a final letter from him. It was shortly after
my grandmother passed away. She had been
his partner in scrabble, in rummy, in marriage,
and most significantly, in life. He was past
eighty, and quite immobile, and I felt compelled
to write to him immediately and tell him of the
impact he had had on my life. All my excuses
for not writing became unimportant. I immediately
received a touching letter from him filled with his
final blessings and words of love. It was a final
gesture of love, scrawled in a shaky hand. He
died three weeks later.
As scrapbookers, we are all writers and storytellers.
We weave and chronicle our stories on every
layout and page that we complete. And one
thing we often overlook is that there is as much
artistry and necessity in the telling of the story
as there is in the layout itself. It is so important
to tell your story, and to tell it from your heart,
which means using your words and artwork, not
anyone else’s – to convey what is important. It is
to bring to life the moments and memories that
punctuate your days. Not just by chronicling them
with photographs, but by recording your feelings
and thoughts and ideas, by placing on paper your
dreams and wishes and by giving to those who
love you and who you love in return, the gift of
your words, which is more powerful than anything,
because your words contain a part of you, they
are a reflection of your soul and a mirror into
your being. They resonate with love. So make
the time each day to keep a journal about what
matters to you. Make the time to choose the
words on your scrapbook pages with great
thought and even greater love.
It’s so important for us to have a quiet place
to write and reflect. My ideal place is a dark
walnut stained desk, filled with old books
and cherished old relics. I like to have a
stack of lovely Crane paper envelopes in
a gorgeous French Blue color to send. It
makes the recipient feel special, to receive
a beautiful blue linen-finish envelope in the
mail. It’s an injection of color and love in
someone’s mailbox. Do you remember
what it was like as a child, to receive a
letter or a card in the mail, or even a
note scrawled by your loving mom and
tucked into a lunchbox? They were small
paper gifts in themselves and made you
feel special. I love to have on hand, plenty
of lovely ribbons which I use to tie up old
letters and postcards, lots of stamps and a
beautiful fountain pen with bottles of ink
in a rainbow of colors. I love using wax
seals to seal the envelope. It’s a beautiful
touch from an elegant era long gone, from
a time when the pace of life was slower,
and writing and penmanship were an art.
The act of writing should be a beautiful
ritual. It should be a time for quiet
reflection and introspection, and we
should choose our words as carefully
and with as much love and thought as
we choose our scrapbook papers for
each page we complete.
It’s true that we are rich in nothing but
our memories, and to that extent, it’s so
important, that we take on the role of the
scribe. It is up to us to tell our stories, to
tell them beautifully and to tell them with
love, and by doing so, to leave our signet,
our mark, upon the world for future generations
to remember and see. It is a powerful connection
to our ancestry, our heritage, our present and
our future. And that is the essence of Signet and
Scribe.
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