i was asked to facilitate a scrapbooking workshop for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s national conference here in san antonio this week…
it was a privilege to be able to work with this worthy organization. many of the attendees had never scrapbooked before, so it was a challenge to provide a project that would be easy to complete, yet have enough substence for a 3 hour workshop.
i designed a 20 page 8 x 8 album using Reminisce’s Unwritten line, which was simply PERFECT for this project. there are numberous embellishments that feature words about life, family and friends. so the album could be tailored to each person’s preference – they could fill the album with photos of their lost hero, family photos, or just photos from the conference showing the friendship and comaraderie of the group.
there were a few tears shed in the classes, mine included, having just lost Dad this past fall. and like most of the attendees, the wail of a fire engine’s siren makes my heart catch a little. but they were healing tears, and everyone seemed to really enjoy creating their scrapbook.
the project was designed so that even someone who had never scrapbooked before could put together their book and have something they could be proud of, and i think they were also all pleased with what they had accomplished by the end of the workshop.
at the end of the day, as i was teaching on the last day of the conference, they had a balloon release where they had all written messages to their loved ones on cards attached. there were hook and ladder trucks from a local fire department, as well as dozens of local firemen in attendance. the group was led out in a procession by a single bagpiper.
here are some photos from the conference…
