My friend and accountability partner Alissa Williams returns to the podcast with a big development. This summer she invested significant, focused effort in managing her personal and family memorabilia. In our conversation Alissa shares her motivations, objectives, and specific details of her process. And of course, we briefly chat about how our planners are working for us in this season of life.
Links Mentioned
- Alissa on Instagram: @alissarecommends
- Ali Edwards
- Linda Jordan’s class: Plan, Prep & Play
- Scrapbook And Cards Today Halloween event
- Paige Evans Tricks and Treats at Scrapbook.com (*)
- Cathy Zielske
- Live Your Story with Stacy Julian
- Becky Higgins
- Blue Sky Planner (*)
- Erin Condren Planner | Erin Condren on Amazon (*)
- Archer & Olive B5 planner
- Stacy’s Blog Post: How to BEGIN with the BOX
*Affiliate links help to support the work we do, at no additional cost to you.
[00:00:19] Jennifer Wilson: Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way, the show that explores the breadth of ways to be a memory keeper today. I’m your host, Jennifer Wilson, owner of Simple Scrapper and author of The New Rules of Scrapbooking. This is episode 274. In this episode recurring guest Alissa Williams shares step-by-step details of a major memorabilia management project that’s now nearly complete.
[00:00:50] Jennifer Wilson: Hey, Alissa, welcome back to the podcast.
[00:00:52] Alissa Williams: Hi Jennifer, thanks for having me.
[00:00:54] Jennifer Wilson: I think this is going to be a fun conversation today as are all of our conversations. Um, let's go through, uh, what we typically do here. And can you just share a little bit about yourself if this is the first time one of our listeners, um, is hearing you on the show?
[00:01:13] Alissa Williams: Sure, um, I live in Central Illinois. I am a director of a small public library. I have two, um, almost teenage daughters. I have a 12 and 14 year old. so we're starting high school in a few weeks. And I've been scrapbooking for over 20 years, which is sort of hard to wrap my head around. And, um, so I live with my husband, my daughters, and our dog here in Central Illinois. And I'm excited to, um, talk on the podcast again about something a little, I guess, um, a little more specific related to scrapbooking and not necessarily the planner conversations we've had before.
[00:01:52] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes. Now I'm curious, how are you feeling about your older daughter going to high school?
[00:01:58] Alissa Williams: Uh, I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I'm excited. It's a whole new experience for us. Um, we've gone to private school K 8, so moving to public school is a challenging transition. Uh, and communication is interesting. So, um, It's a new experience for both of us. Uh, so you always mess up with your first child.
[00:02:21] Alissa Williams: Um, so I'm sure I'll do something wrong. But, um, fortunately it looks like she's going to make the freshman volleyball team and volleyball is a big part of her identity and passion and for her. So that I think will help make this transition. Hopefully knock on wood um, go a little smoother. She knows a lot of um, girls, uh, people from being involved in park district activities. But I'm really curious what this new adventure is going to look like.
[00:02:52] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, I can't wait to hear and I wish her the best school year as well as your younger daughter as well.
[00:02:58] Alissa Williams: Yes, thank you.
[00:02:59] Jennifer Wilson: So Alissa, what is exciting you right now inside of your scrapbooking and memory keeping hobby as well as in everyday life?
[00:03:06] Alissa Williams: So, in everyday life, um, I am very excited about my new, um, Honda Metropolitan Scooter that I got for my birthday last month. And, um, I'm learning to ride the scooter around town. To work mainly and to not be terrified every time I get on it. But it is fun and a little zippy and something I've wanted for a long time. So.
[00:03:32] Jennifer Wilson: How are you feeling that, like, other, other drivers are with you? Do you feel like they are being respectful and know what to do with you? Or, um, is there some, like, still some nerves there?
[00:03:43] Alissa Williams: I think for the most part they are respectful. I mean, I've only really, I've driven to work once. And I only drove there because then there was going to be a storm. So my husband came and picked up the scooter. Um, which I think he really just wanted to ride it because he's actually ridden it more than I have. But the weather last week was more rainy and I'm not, I don't wanna drive when the road's wet. And or if there's gonna be a thunderstorm during the day. So I'm hoping this week it looks clear and I can get more road time in. But I mean, my first, my first on the real streets, I mean, I rode around my neighborhood, which is streets and there weren't that many, um, vehicles out, but everyone's been kept a respectful distance so far. I have a, I have a friend who has one too, who zips around town and then she says. Everyone's generally fine. I can only go 38 miles per hour.
[00:04:29] Jennifer Wilson: Sure.
[00:04:31] Alissa Williams: So I'm not going very fast, so I kind of plan my routes to be on the side streets where you're not going as fast.
[00:04:37] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, that's fun. And then what about what's going on inside of scrapbooking for you right now?
[00:04:42] Alissa Williams: Well, um, this is my Summer of Ali Edwards, I guess you would call it. So, I had originally, when she released her Stash Class back in June, I signed up for that. And was able to have the time to really dive into her organizing ideas and really, I mean, she does a great job of sharing more general specifics. Like general advice than like prescriptive advice and more theoretical stuff.
[00:05:15] Alissa Williams: So that's been really energizing. And then, um, with some simple scrapper members, we did a, um, accountability group in July for her Start Here class. And that actually really, dovetailed nicely with the Stash class. A lot of similar things. And she had started kind of some organization stuff when she did Start Here, which she released last summer.
[00:05:40] Alissa Williams: And so I made some layouts and used up some of my Stash because I have a lot of Story kit leftovers and stories by the month stuff and Ali products. So I'm in my copying era of scrapbooking so I really like it when I can see similar supplies and duplicate her efforts. And then Yesterday for August I decided that I was going to start, I had bought Linda Jordan's Plan Prep Play class. Which really is good at the beginning of the year. But yeah, we're kind of midway through the year. And you know I already make crafty goals and stuff, but the, her middle content about, um, organizing your supplies and tracking your projects and then how she goes through and uses a kit is what I'm most interested in.
[00:06:26] Alissa Williams: And so I've been, um, I've devoured kind of like four lessons already and I'm very into that. Plus she also is using a lot of Ali products, so I feel like it's a really good chance to use up some of these things that have been hanging around for a while. Or to decide I'm going to let go of them. So, I'm all in on the Ali Edwards.
[00:06:46] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, that's for sure. I know I've appreciated you leading our StoryKit community collab over this year to help all of our members, uh, use more of their Ali products. Because it is something that tends to, to build up because, uh, that's what happens with subscriptions.
[00:07:06] Alissa Williams: Yes, and the Story Kit collab has been really fun too to see people using their different kits. Um, it's actually, I was thinking about that yesterday, it's been a little quiet in the community and I need to make a post and do kind of a round up of some things to remind people as we head into fall kind of we're going to wrap up that, um, collab. And what next steps they might want to take in terms of using up their supplies.
[00:07:30] Jennifer Wilson: For sure. I also wanted to mention one more thing that I know you're excited about, and that is, um, the Scrapbook And Cards Today Halloween one day event.
[00:07:41] Alissa Williams: Oh, yeah, I really am excited about that. Yeah, that's coming. That'll, that'll be here in a couple months. I am very excited. I have some Halloween stories that I have been waiting to tell and this popped up and seemed like the perfect opportunity. Um, plus Paige's collection is adorable. And not the, Like, it doesn't seem too kiddish, but it doesn't like seem like too grown like it's the perfect blend of like fun and spooky. And purples, and my daughter loves purples.
[00:08:11] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. So as of today, um, registration is closed, but you can get on a wait list. I am having a little FOMO. I don't have a lot of Halloween subject matter to scrapbook. But I do love this collection so much. Um, so I'm kind of wishing I'd signed up. Maybe I'll sign up for the wait list or I will just admire what you do and celebrate it and enjoy, um, the products or the pages and projects that you make with it.
[00:08:41] Alissa Williams: Well, it would have been more fun if you were doing it with me, but that's okay. You have done a lot of Halloween pages and compilation stuff. I have a mini album that I add to every year that I, uh, took the idea from Cathy Zielske years ago. Um, and then I've done a few pages, I, during my huge 2020 scrapbooking marathon. When we were all home and I did nothing but scrapbooking my free time. I, I did some compilation pages of some traditions and places we did when the girls were young. But I have a few more stories. Um, that I identified, um, that I want to tell. Um, and I'm excited to, to be able to, to do them.
[00:09:22] Alissa Williams: Plus I've always wanted to do kind of a mini album that combines my childhood memories of Halloween and our traditions today and how our traditions have evolved. And my mom was always really big into Halloween. Um, she would dress up every year too and she'd take me trick or treating and so I have those good memories. I want to document some more.
[00:09:44] Jennifer Wilson: That's really cool. Yeah. That's part of, I think one of the things that I still want to document is, uh, my childhood Halloween costumes. I'm actually leaving on Tuesday is this recording to go visit my parents. And I need to make a note to myself to maybe scan some of those photos. So even if I do pick up just some of that collection to be able to make a layout. Maybe even one that's kind of in parallel to the ones I've done for Emily to show my costumes over the years.
[00:10:12] Alissa Williams: Oh, that would be really cool. Side by side. I love that idea.
[00:10:15] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, and I think mine were a lot more, you know, it's, they're actually, there's a lot of similarities. Mine were very much like homemade, either my mom like sewed it or were, you know, cobbling things together. And Emily has had such unique interests in how she wanted to do her costumes. It was very rarely something we could just buy.
[00:10:35] Jennifer Wilson: It was, Oh, we have to buy these different things because she can't just be a wolf. She has to be a certain type of princess wolf or, you know, this is all these, not Cinderella, but Cinderella's dog from, you know, the palace pets or whatever. So it's been, it's been really fun for sure.
[00:10:53] Alissa Williams: That is fun.
[00:10:54] Jennifer Wilson: Anyway, let's, let's continue on.
[00:10:56] Jennifer Wilson: Um, do you have a bucket list story that you really want to capture, um, in the coming months or years that you haven't told yet?
[00:11:04] Alissa Williams: You know, I was thinking about this and I really, I'm doing a lot of stories from the past. Like I've referred to, I made this list of stories from 2013 and 2016. Because those years were underrepresented in my Library of Memories. And I've been going through and telling those stories. And I guess as my daughter enters high school, I'm more aware of the whole limited time she has left, um, in our house. And I want to make sure, um, her albums, Library of Memory albums are never, like, complete. You can't see me doing air quotes. But I have actually been thinking about, um, and this kind of gets into what we're going to talk about, creating more of a School of Life album for her. That concept that I know Becky Higgins and Stacy Julian have talked about, it's more of an overview. Um, I've been trying to fill in layouts now with the perspective of time of, you know, what stories haven't made the cut that are stories we tell.
[00:12:02] Alissa Williams: So I'm really just kind of trying to figure out how to tell her story in a comprehensive, I guess way. And I mean, I scrapbook for myself. But I think it's important for her to have, you know, like one or two albums that she's gonna, you know, that she could take with her. And maybe I keep her Library of Memories albums, but she takes a school year's album. That's more of an overview with her. I'm not, I'm not real sure. But I've been really thinking about, what stories are missing from her current albums. And maybe doing some type of School of Life album for her in Pockets in a 9x12.
[00:12:37] Jennifer Wilson: That's really cool. Yeah. I, this is a topic that I would love to delve into more. Um, and I really want to understand like all the different ways people have done that type of project, have approached it. Um, because it's, it's both, you know, you want something that's maybe a little more compact. Because you hope your child will take it with them. Uh, but you also want to be kind of comprehensive as well.
[00:13:04] Alissa Williams: Exactly.
[00:13:05] Jennifer Wilson: So before we dive into our topic today, which is going to be memorabilia, and this is something that I know so many of scrapbookers and even non scrapbookers, like this is a challenge for anyone. Um, no matter, you know, even what your life looks like. We're people, we like to save stuff. But of course we cannot have you on without
[00:13:23] Jennifer Wilson: chatting about planners just briefly. So I'm curious, how has it been going for you this year? And do you feel like there's any changes that are needed or are you ready to stay the course as we start planning for 2025 planners?
[00:13:40] Alissa Williams: Well, I am going to have to change course because, um, I, uh, I had been using for many years at home, I used the Get to Work book that Elise Blaha Cripe, produced for 8 years. And I had been using that on an academic calendar. But then when she announced that she was closing down Get to Workbook, I switched to the 12 month January start. So that I could have one full year with my beloved Get to Workbook.
[00:14:11] Alissa Williams: And so I will need to do something different for 2025. And it's probably going to end up being a Blue Sky planner, um, because there's similar features that I enjoy. I mean, the biggest thing I'm going to miss with her, her planner is, um, the goal setting reflection prompts at the end of each month. Um, and the extra space to kind of make those lists.
[00:14:34] Alissa Williams: So, I say Blue Sky, but then I also looked at Erin Condren. I, you know, I'm not, I've also considered going back to like a bullet journal. I don't quite know what I need for this season yet. Um, because I keep all my calendar stuff on my phone. So it's not so much that I need it for a calendar, but I like being able to look at my, um, week on paper. And I like being able to write different things down. But I don't know, um, you know, there are some seasons where I really rely heavily on doing that weekly planning and list making. And there are other seasons, like, I realized I I'd start, I didn't really fill out last week's, uh, planner. And I didn't really, we were so busy every evening and I just didn't really even need it.
[00:15:22] Alissa Williams: So, I don't quite know what I need in this season. And it'll be helpful kind of having a couple months of the, of the new adjustment to high school under my belt to kind of be able to figure out. Do I just need a bullet journal type thing where I could make lists as I need and don't have to be confined to a weekly spread?
[00:15:40] Alissa Williams: Do I want an undated planner where I could use it as I need it? I'm not, I'm not sure. At work, I actually stopped using my Blue Sky planner because I felt like it wasn't actually working for me. Because again, I use my calendar for all my appointments. And I less and less needed the, the daily, the weekly spread. Um, so I went to kind of more of a bullet journal that allows me to kind of take notes on the days, and if I have meetings, or make lists of different things. And so I've been using, I've been experimenting with this bullet journal at work. Um, as kind of a planning device, and so I might use something similar at home.
[00:16:19] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I, this sounds almost bad to say, but I'm excited for our conversations ahead to help you find the right planner for, for next year.
[00:16:28] Alissa Williams: Well, thanks. I mean, you know, I just, I, the other thing I've been thinking a lot as we enter this high school season, is just the whole seasons of your life. And like the Get To Workbook serve me well for a particular season. Um, I, I have them all and I, I have referred back to them for certain things and planning that I did in them.
[00:16:50] Alissa Williams: Um, and I really did mourn when she, um, announced her closing. And I, I bought, you know, different things. Um, but I just, leaning into this whole idea of what, what is going to work for me now. And how do I do things now. Um, I think is important to consider and not just try to replicate what works in the past.
[00:17:11] Alissa Williams: I mean, I've also thought about having, I've never really had a plan or stack per se. But I thought about, you know, getting something I could use more as a goals notebook for like yearly and quarterly planning and tracking goals. And then having something maybe smaller that I can use to make lists and, you know, draw my own calendar.
[00:17:31] Alissa Williams: And if I need to look at a week or something like that.
[00:17:33] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes. I mean, there's so many options for sure. I would say the, the seasons of life thing is definitely impacting me. The more that I am kind of on the go. Usually, uh, transporting my daughter to or from volleyball as well. And, um, yeah, or waiting for her during a camp or practice. And I, I'm feeling like, my planner is larger.
[00:18:00] Jennifer Wilson: It's a B5 Archer and Olive. I love it. It's beautiful. Uh, it's been a joy to work in. but it's so large. I often don't want to bring it with me. Um, and so I'm definitely thinking, should I combine more of my digital tools with a smaller planner, more like an A6? So I'm going to be experimenting with that. And the next time we chat, we'll be able to maybe catch up and figure out a real plan for, for next year.
[00:18:28] Alissa Williams: Yes. I mean, the other thing I have thought of is you have listened to me talk probably for three months about how I want to just buy an iPad To use with more photo editing and for kind of on the go work stuff. And watching videos on a bigger screen. And then I was like, well, if I, if I really bite the bullet on this iPad, maybe I'll do, you know, the whole digital planner thing and wade into that water.
[00:18:53] Alissa Williams: I don't know. Stay tuned. It's going to be interesting in like November when I have to commit to something.
[00:18:58] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, that's a whole conversation. I will save that for the future. but I don't see you doing it. Not that I don't think you would try, but I don't, I don't necessarily think that digital planning is for everyone. And I think there's enough of the tactile that you might need.
[00:19:18] Alissa Williams: I think you could be right. So we'll, we'll have to see.
[00:19:22] Alissa Williams: That'll we'll put that on the back burner.
[00:19:25] Jennifer Wilson: All right. So let's chat about memorabilia. You have spent a good chunk of this summer really focusing on it. You encouraged me to join you. I thought about it and then things have been just kind of busy, um, and I haven't been able to. But I've been so excited to see how much progress you have made with this focus. So maybe let's start with why did you decide to tackle this project right now?
[00:19:49] Alissa Williams: Uh, it just felt like it was time. Um, we moved in January of 2022. And when we moved, I had like five different sized plastic bins that I just threw memorabilia into. And was like I'll deal with that later. And now that we're two years in, two and a half years into living here. And more settled and more stuff was kind of piling up, I decided when I set my goals for 2024 that this was something I really wanted to tackle.
[00:20:22] Alissa Williams: Um, I'm in, I am also Stacy Julian's Live Your Story community and she talks about memorabilia fairly regularly. Um, as we go through her content, um, for her Library of Memories system. And it just, it just felt like time. Was, it was ready. Also, I think, too, with this transition to high school, it's kind of like, Okay, what do I have from K through 8 for Lucy leaving a school and whatnot?
[00:20:47] Alissa Williams: So, um, it just felt like it was time. And summer, um, is actually, I think, opposite of you. Where you always talk about you guys are out and you're busy. I'm home a lot in the summer. I have more time, it seems like, to focus on my creative hobbies. Our weekends aren't as full. And it's this lull, you know, between, um, Spring Club Volleyball and Fall School Volleyball.
[00:21:16] Alissa Williams: So, um, we're not going to tournaments and stuff on the weekends. So, I have a lot more time to dedicate to my hobby. And so, I thought this was a good time to tackle the project.
[00:21:27] Jennifer Wilson: You know, I have said that in the past, but I would say this summer, like, It's definitely been different. I've been busy with some of my own things. Um, but Emily doesn't, is just off doing her own thing a lot of the time. Um, so I've definitely like realizing I have time for myself. And I'm just, you know, currently not choosing to use it for memorabilia.
[00:21:53] Alissa Williams: Well, that's.
[00:21:53] Jennifer Wilson: Uh, There's, there's, yeah, the, the, these shifts in life are so interesting and I know that will continue to the day I die. Um, but I think that's what will help us always have these conversations of how we can, um, align what's going on in our lives, what we have space and energy for with the types of projects that we tackle.
[00:22:15] Alissa Williams: Yes. I mean, just even taking this, um, class that, through the first couple of lessons, it's like, this Plan, Prep, Play class. You know, seasonality, like I know now, after many years of making goals and watching my progress, like, I know January and February, part of March, are really good, productive, I can get a lot done in those months. I know, like, July and August are really productive months for me. Like, you know, I know what my rhythms are for my hobby. So, that helps too. Knowing when I could tackle this, and I decided summer was the best time.
[00:22:48] Jennifer Wilson: So what is your end goal for this? Now, when you started this summer, did you still have those five bins kind of untouched or had you touched them already in the past two years?
[00:22:57] Alissa Williams: No, they were totally untouched. I, in fact, I had found many things. I was like, Oh, that's where I put that. Um, in fact, I was quite delighted because I had a five year, one line a day journal that I had done from, well, I guess it was 2014 to 2019 or 2020, 2015 to 2020. And I could not find it anywhere. And as I've been doing some of these older stories, I wanted to have that. And it was in one of the boxes.
[00:23:24] Jennifer Wilson: At least it was with like items. I mean.
[00:23:28] Alissa Williams: Oh, totally. Yes. Yes. And so I was, um, so I had not touched anything I brought. So I will say what I had was I had these kind of, I had these, probably I had three unsorted bins. Then I had a bin for each of my daughters that was like their baby memorabilia. And then, so that was what was in the basement. And then I have kept up with when the girls started school or for my younger one, before she started school, I had set up a file box with folders for 3 year old preschool, 4 year old preschool, and K 12 grades. And every year, as stuff has come home, I've just dropped things into those bins. As has been appropriate. Um, and even there's some memorabilia from this summer like swim levels and swimming awards when my girls had participated on the summer swim team. So, there was stuff in those, that was very organized and that was a system that I had been using for school stuff, and for some other memorabilia and ephemera through the last couple of years. But it was really these bins that I needed to tackle. And I had intended probably again, it was 2020 when we were all home. Um, and Stacy Julian had talked about how she was tackling her Mom's box. And she actually has a blog post that's called How to Begin with the Box. And it has a, some great handouts and some really good information
[00:25:05] Alissa Williams: I really relied on that to help me figure out how to tackle this. But back in 2020 or 21, I had bought myself my own file box with the intention of setting up a box for myself. Similar in, not by grade level like I did for my daughters, but more like, you know, grade school, high school, college. And then kind of every five years or every decade, depending on how much stuff I had for the time period. So I had my materials. I had that empty file box and a box of untouched file folders and labels ready to go to.
[00:25:39] Jennifer Wilson: When you sat down a month ago, what, what were you, what was your end goal?
[00:25:44] Alissa Williams: So when I started with these boxes, I knew I wanted to create my own file box to be able to store my own memorabilia in by decade and by some specific time periods in my life. And I wanted to kind of see what else I had. And figure out either was I going to scrapbook this stuff. Was I getting rid of it? What else did I have? What was I going to do with the baby stuff for the girls? Was I going to incorporate it into, the existing system I had for them would it fit? You know that kind of stuff. So I really, I needed to go through it and just really figure out what I had, and then I wanted to create my own box of memories as well.
[00:26:22] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. Okay. Yeah. No, I appreciate you kind of summing that up. I think that it sounds like it was a combination of you had some like, you know, clear destinations. But also you knew part of this was going to be a journey to figure out what other destinations might be possible or desired. Um, depending on what you actually had and that's, that's often so much part of it is that you think you have X, but you might actually have Y and B and Q and, um, our memories are not always perfect when it comes to the stuff that we save. Um, so how did you tackle, uh, going through all of this? I know that, you know, when you have, you know, for example, the file boxes for the girls, if you found an item that belongs there, it's great to have a home for those items. Um, but how did you tackle going through the, those bins?
[00:27:11] Alissa Williams: So, the way I tackled it was I basically just opened a bin and sorted it out. And I did my initial high level sort was by person. So, , I would open an undefined bin and just sort of be like, who does this belong to? Is this an Alissa thing? Is this a Mike thing? Is this belonging to one of the girls? Um, I knew I had some stuff from my grandparents who had passed away. So I made, you know, piles for each set of grandparents. I actually had stuff from my father. So I just did this initial sort by person in my family. And that really helped kind of assess what I had. And of course my pile was the biggest because You know, most of this is related to me. And and then it kind of became like okay Well here are letters I wrote to my grandma when I was in college. Does that go with you know, where does that go? So and, it and spoiler alert. I ended up putting them in my bin in my college file folder. So but I did that initially and then the and then and then I started with the girl's stuff. Because that was actually the smallest amount I had. Um because, like I said, I'd already dealt with the majority of their school art projects and paperwork and that kind of stuff.
[00:28:28] Alissa Williams: It was already pre sorted. So figuring out what was left of that kind of stuff, it was easy. And since I already had a system for them, um, that was, it, that just, that was the first. Once I did the sort, I started with their stuff. Cause I, it kind of could get an easy win.
[00:28:44] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, yeah, for sure.
[00:28:45] Alissa Williams: Each kid.
[00:28:47] Jennifer Wilson: I'm curious if you struggled with any like overlap of like, okay, so if it's, let's just say your family, it was a memorabilia from a family adventure. Maybe not a vacation that deserves its own project, but it's like, we did this together. Does that go in yours? Is there a separate like family pile or a couple pile? Um, how did you approach that?
[00:29:09] Alissa Williams: I really didn't have a lot of that stuff. I was actually surprised by the amount of travel stuff I had that I totally, like, forgotten about. Um, and that is actually the stuff I need to finish. I'm not a hundred percent done with this project. I'm very close to the end though. Um, but no, I really did not have anything that would fall in that category.
[00:29:33] Alissa Williams: The thing that would fall in that category were pictures. Like I, when we went to, um, I totally forgotten that I paid for pictures when we went to see the, the Hoover Dam. Um, and I paid for photos there. And I was like, Oh, these are like, and they were in with my travel memorabilia from our trip to when we went to Las Vegas.
[00:29:53] Alissa Williams: And so I was like. So I actually found a lot of photos and that's actually something I still sort of need to deal with. Because they're oversized and like they're printed. And I, I need to make some decisions about those, about where I'm going to store them, am I going to try and scrapbook them, etc.
[00:30:10] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, I've noticed that as well, is that I do have a lot of photos in my bins. But they, they're, they're photos that I didn't take. They're photos that other people had given me. They're from some sort of service like, like the one you mentioned. Um, they're kind of an external input to photos, so they don't really fit in the normal system.
[00:30:27] Alissa Williams: Yes. And I do have like a drawer in my system that's just oversized photos. Because, again, I follow Stacy Julian's Library of Memories. So I have category drawers and I'm like, well, do I put these in category drawers? I've, some things are just prints of things that I printed that I didn't use on a project. That ended up in the bin. I don't know. It's just there's some pictures that I need to sort out too.
[00:30:49] Jennifer Wilson: So you mentioned you're not quite done and I have an assumption here that the, the longer you work on this, the kind of harder it gets. So where are you at in the process?
[00:31:00] Alissa Williams: Yes. So like I said, I I went through my daughter's stuff and I had saved like a lot of 3d objects in the separate baby bins I had for them. And so I created one bin of 3d family keepsakes. That I called I labeled it family keepsakes. And so it's got like a you know, the, um, the sock kitty that I laid next to them when I took their picture on the, on their birthday each month, you know, for the first year to compare sizes. It's, you know, it's got their, the little shoes they wore for their baptism.
[00:31:35] Alissa Williams: It's, you know, I saved their spoons and forks. So, um, I have a bin that is like 3D memory keepsakes. Um, I had a, one thing I found when I was going through my stuff is my, um, My Nana had a fabric bin that she kept her curlers in, I think. I don't know. I remembered this. My mom gave it to me because I remembered this.
[00:32:01] Alissa Williams: It's a red square fabric bin thing. And so I have that, but I put it in that box. Um, so I had, so I, so that was all the 3D stuff went into a keepsakes box. Um, the girl's stuff, I ended up filing into there. Um, I created some folders at the beginning that don't start with preschool. And so their stuff all went into their one bin. So they each have a bin. Um, and it was, when I was going through these bins, it was like, oh, see, this is what a School of Life album would help me with, is culling some of this, these papers from the school years. Like, okay, maybe, why have I saved all these if I'm not doing anything with them?
[00:32:42] Jennifer Wilson: Can I pause you for a second? I have a couple follow up questions. Um, uh, so you said, you said bin there. Do you mean your file boxes or do you have a bin in addition to the file boxes?
[00:32:51] Alissa Williams: I mean the, their file boxes. Yeah. I've created additional files in their file boxes for like all their cards from their first birthdays. And all their baptism documents and stuff. So they kind of have like a couple of 0 to 5 folders that go in. So everything's in their file boxes. Except for 3D memorabilia that's in the keepsake box.
[00:33:13] Jennifer Wilson: Are you finding any like, um, size stress in terms of like this box is getting full or are you, is it okay? It's doing okay. Awesome. Um, and then in terms of your keepsakes bin, which is, you said it was like a special, you know, hand me down, um, box from your grandma. Uh, I think you told me before that you actually combine, this is for both girls together because there were items that they both used as babies, so you didn't have, you don't have separate ones.
[00:33:44] Alissa Williams: No, I have one, I have one, uh, keepsakes bin for all of us. Um. That it well, I mean, it's just me and the girls my husband doesn't have really any physical he had yearbooks. Um, but I, well, and he had, he did allow me, cause I had a small pile of my husband's stuff. Um, and he did allow me to throw away his graduation cap.
[00:34:07] Alissa Williams: I kept the program from his high school graduation. But he had his high school graduation cap. And I was like, Do you really want to save this? He's like, no, you can throw it away. I was like, yes. Because he saves a lot of stuff. And I was like, I don't know what we would ever do with this.
[00:34:22] Alissa Williams: Like, I liked having the program, but I didn't need the cap. But if I had kept the cap, I would have put it in that bin. And I have labeled, I put tat, I put like safety pins with like, this was, you know, this was Lucy's, this was Abby's, and some of it was both girls, and so I didn't label those things.
[00:34:40] Jennifer Wilson: Nice, nice. Yeah, I just, I think, um, I would imagine that parents of multiple children might have similar questions related to that.
[00:34:48] Alissa Williams: Yeah, and like, I put, um, I have each of the girls coming home from the hospital outfits that I saved. And so I put those in like a small, uh, like a quart sized Ziploc bag and just wrote on it, you know, Abby's home from the hospital outfit.
[00:35:04] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, I think I have, I have Emily's in the back of her album in one of those Becky Higgins, um, plastic pockets. Um, and you know, it just, it's, it, it takes up a lot of space, but it sits nicely back there.
[00:35:18] Alissa Williams: Well, and I guess I should, I should also mention, so there were some things too. So each girl has a baby book, a first year of life book. And there were a few things that I added into those books as well. Like some, um, papers and, um, some, I added a whole page of ultrasound photos. So I either, so either things went in their file box or they went in their baby album.
[00:35:39] Alissa Williams: Um, and there are a few random, not random things, there are a few things that I want to create with. Like, my mother in law, would come over almost every day, but like three times a week. I think when Lucy was, um, a baby her first year. Um, cause my husband was home with her, but he was, sometimes he, he mowed once a week.
[00:35:59] Alissa Williams: I don't know. Anyway. So she would leave. I have, I don't have dates on them, which drives me nuts. But she would say Tuesday, 840 took a bath, 910 went for a walk. And so I had this whole record and I have decided what I'm going to do is, um, they'll either fit in 3x4 or 4x6 pockets. And so I'm going to cut them all up and just put them in a pocket page with some embellishments, and some pictures of Lucy from that time.
[00:36:26] Jennifer Wilson: Nice. Nice. Yeah. I, uh, I would imagine that this process kind of spurs different ideas of what you could do, uh, what you should do or want to do. Um, and you kind of have to stay focused on the sorting and then, but keep note of how you want to maybe, um, do documenting in the future with some of these items.
[00:36:47] Alissa Williams: Yeah, well, and then where we were started this question was kind of like, as I go along it gets harder, and I'm, like I said, I'm not quite done. So, I, so the girl stuff has all been put into their system. And then I have like two, three things I need to create from what I found of their ephemera. Um, my box has been created and is mostly full. I ended up creating, a small file box with my grandparents stuff. So I have one file folder for my dad's side of the family because I don't have as much. But for my mom's parents, I am kind of the family historian for that side of the family because it's a much smaller side of the family. And so I use Stacy's system and she recommends having five different categories that you sort things into.
[00:37:36] Alissa Williams: And so I did that, and so I have a small file box, um, that is for my grandparents that has that ephemera, and family memorabilia in it as well. So like, my grandfather was, um, in the Air Force. He was a career Air Force officer. And so I have his ribbons that he wore, you know, on his uniform. And so last weekend I went down this rabbit hole of, and I found those when I was sorting it out.
[00:38:05] Alissa Williams: I knew I had them, but you know, I hadn't remembered where I put them and they were in a box. And I was like, okay, well, what do these even mean? And so I went on, you know, the government has what they mean. So I found what, but you had to like, look at the picture. And anyway, it took me, it took me like two hours. But I wrote, I typed up a document.
[00:38:25] Alissa Williams: So I have a document of what they all mean. And then I'm planning to make, my mom is coming this fall and she's going to bring me a picture of him in his uniform. And I'm going to make a shadow box with his, with the ribbons and his picture. And then I have, I'll probably put behind it, you know, what they mean, or maybe I'll make some identifying thing for him. I don't know.
[00:38:47] Jennifer Wilson: That sounds really fun. Yeah, that's really cool. I want to underscore how much you've done to, um, to add metadata. Um, particularly the older the item, the more, if you have information, the more important it is to maybe connect that with the piece. Because future generations are not going to have the same kind of context or understanding or resources to ask family members, um, as we do. Um, so. whatever we can add to, to provide that, uh, our future selves and future generations will also be grateful for that.
[00:39:18] Alissa Williams: Exactly. Cause it started with me just being like, well, I wonder what these are. And then I was doing some Googling and then I found the official Air Force site that had the list of each one. And then it said like, when this was created, when this ribbon was created, and who it was given to, and why, and what does it mean. And I was like, oh, and so I was writing that down like a kind of a chart for myself, and I was like, I should save, like, all this information. Because, you know, my grandfather served in World War II In the actually in the army, but then he well, the Air Force wasn't created.
[00:39:52] Alissa Williams: Um, but until after World War II. It's a whole, like, that's also, I love history and the whole thing was super I went down this big rabbit hole. But anyway, I was like, I should really just document all of this. And like what the ribbon is, what the award is, and there are actually some medals that go with the ribbons.
[00:40:10] Alissa Williams: So I'm like, I don't know what happened to those. Um, so anyway, it was just, like you said, I, I put all that with it. So that if I don't get around to creating the shadow box, which you know me, I finish projects, so I will. At least for now, it's in an envelope with the ribbons and, you know, if someone hits me on my scooter tomorrow. My family would know what these ribbons mean.
[00:40:33] Alissa Williams: So, um, I couldn't resist throwing that in there. Um, so yeah, so I've done, so I, I did, um, I did the girl's stuff, I created my box. I dealt with my grandparents stuff and have that in its own separate file box, a small file box. And then what I have left is my travel memorabilia and like some cards, , and just some more current memorabilia, ephemera stuff I've collected. I have, like I said, these, these photos that I need to figure out a system for. Um, the cards are what are really hard. And, like, I found in my oldest daughter's baby box, like all the cards I got at baby showers and all the cards I got when she was born. And I’m like are these cards for her or are they cards for me? Cause I think really they’re for me. So then I put them with my stuff. But then I got to them I was like I don’t want to put these in my box. Then I thought about like punching out all the names and like making a page that says like, you know, everyone was so excited to meet you. Or I don't know and I was like, no, that's dumb. I don't like that idea. So.
[00:41:42] Jennifer Wilson: I like that idea. I think anything you can do to reduce the size of it. Especially if you can get it into an album.
[00:41:49] Alissa Williams: Yeah, I could still, I have them all still. It was interesting though how many, so my daughter is 14. And it was interesting how many people I was like, I have no idea who this person is. And especially like people who wrote like really nice notes. I'm like, who are you again? So that was interesting. Um, so I still need to figure out the cards. And the travel stuff I started going through last night.
[00:42:13] Alissa Williams: The one other thing I wanted to say too is I, I, um, When my, so I used to have cats. I had three cats, they were siblings. And they passed away in a span of about four years. And when they would pass away, the vet would take paw prints from them and write their name. And then we'd bake it in the clay, and then you'd bake it. And so those had been in scattered locations, and so I finally have all three of them together again. And so I think I'm also going to make a shadow box with a picture of the cats, and their three paw prints to hang on the wall.
[00:42:40] Jennifer Wilson: That's really cool.
[00:42:41] Alissa Williams: Um, Because I, for years I was like, I don't know what to do with these paw print things. So I'm going to do that.
[00:42:47] Alissa Williams: But the travel stuff is interesting because I've really actually documented all those trips. Um, and so now I'm like, just letting go of some things. But, timing wise, like I said, Stacy Julian, Live Your Story, she's doing a, she does a page prompt every month. And this, the August page prompt is, um, creating with your travel ephemera and some photos. And so I'm like, well this is perfect timing, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna cull it out a little bit. But I'm definitely gonna be watching that session that she has, so I can maybe duplicate, you know, maybe do a couple of them. I don't know. We'll see, um, but I am going through and sorting it. So what's interesting is, you know, how the world has changed because I used to save this travel stuff because because you know, you'd be traveling somewhere and you or someone would be like, Oh, I'm going to such and such in Savannah. And I'd be like, I've been to Savannah. Let me look at my brochures of where you should go or where I ate. And now it's like we have the internet and I, if we're traveling, I usually looked on Yelp. And I usually review the restaurant in Yelp so I can tell you where I've been.
[00:43:52] Jennifer Wilson: It's different.
[00:43:53] Alissa Williams: I also don't feel, you know, time, time helps make it easier to get rid of certain things or help you know what's most important.
[00:43:59] Jennifer Wilson: Gosh, this is reminding me that my mom actually had, I think she has a file box upstairs in the closet. Of like brochures from different travel destinations, just as you describe. Um, because of course you want to, you know, remember where you went or somebody wants a recommendation. But those just, they don't make as much sense. Especially with, uh, things opening and closing and, Um, moving locations. It's just, it's just different now.
[00:44:25] Alissa Williams: It, it really is different now. It is very interesting to think about that. Um,
[00:44:30] Jennifer Wilson: In terms of what you have left, it seems like these were things that, yes, they maybe are connected to a person, they just don't really quite fit in the systems that you've already put together. So we have to find other systems or other places, or you can choose to let them go. Because we, yeah, we have, we have to figure out how to manage things in sometimes different ways.
[00:44:50] Alissa Williams: Yes, yes we do. And so, like, for example, I have like, um, playbills from there were a couple years where I was attending a conference for work in New York City. And so I would go to a show every time I went to the city. And I have those playbills, those Broadway playbills. And I'm like, uh, I don't, I don't want to get rid of the playbill, but I don't need to save it. Do I put it, I mean, I could put them in the file according to the year in my file box. But I'm like, maybe I'll just take the cover and take a picture. I have pictures of me at the theaters, and so I'm going to maybe do some sort of collagey thing about that. So. Like I'm, yeah, so it's either, I could put that in my system and hold on to it. But it's not super meaningful if someone comes across it later. Um, I mean I found a ton of letters. So I wrote to my, my Nana and I wrote to my, my dad and my step mom. And when my step mom passed away, my dad sent me a bunch of, my step mom had kept a file that was like the Alissa file. And he sent it all to me and it's letters I wrote them from college.
[00:45:54] Alissa Williams: And, It was fast, like, it was, I have diaries, journals from those times. But just what I write to them was super interesting. So I, I put all those in my file, but I'm also like, oh, those are some stories in there. But now I know where I can find them, um, and remember I have them and go back to them when I want to. And like, I found thank you notes.
[00:46:17] Alissa Williams: I wrote thank you so much for getting me XYZ for Christmas. Well, I don't I did not keep those right like I don't need that. But it it the different letters and stuff and that's kind of the same with the cards like I haven't thrown away cards yet from my grandparents because like that handwriting I have a visceral reaction to and so.
[00:46:35] Jennifer Wilson: Yes.
[00:46:36] Alissa Williams: I I do want to save those for a little longer.
[00:46:39] Jennifer Wilson: So I would just look at the dimensions for a playbill and it's, you know, half a letter size of five and a half by eight and a half. There are albums that size to hold, you know, half letter paper. And then also some six by eights, if they're tall enough, might fit that outside of the page protector. Um, So, so maybe it's just more of like, just combining them into either a mini album project that includes the photos, of those trips, or just having a place where you keep them. Like, this is an ongoing, because I, I imagine that at some point you're going to go to another, um, another show either on Broadway or off Broadway and collect the playbill. So just a home for those.
[00:47:22] Alissa Williams: They don't do playbills anymore.
[00:47:25] Jennifer Wilson: They don't?
[00:47:26] Alissa Williams: No.
[00:47:27] Jennifer Wilson: Not even on Broadway,
[00:47:29] Alissa Williams: I don't know on Broadway, um, but but like our local theater used to do playbills and they don't do them anymore. And like when I went to St. Louis, they don't do them anymore. Like they don't, they don't do them anymore.
[00:47:41] Jennifer Wilson: Wow.
[00:47:43] Alissa Williams: I do like your six by eight idea. That's that. And I have the Watch Story kit. I wonder if there's something I could do with that. That's a good, got
[00:47:50] Jennifer Wilson: Al right.
[00:47:50] Alissa Williams: Another idea.
[00:47:50] Jennifer Wilson: Yay! Exciting. So yeah, I think connecting to that, were there any like big surprises, light bulb moments that you had from from going through all this?
[00:48:01] Alissa Williams: I think time helps you see what's more valuable. That's not a surprise. I guess I was. I was surprised by the volume of what I actually did have. And you know, you don't have to keep everything. I guess, I don't know, I'm trying to think of some real meaty takeaway and I don't feel like I have one except for I would encourage people to have a way to retrieve stuff, to have a system. So like I was mentioning those letters, if I want to do something about college, I know where to find those now. I don't have to be like, Oh, they're in a box somewhere. So I think setting up a system and having a similar system, like I like that I have a system for myself in a file box that mimics what I have set up for my daughters.
[00:48:40] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, for sure. I mean, it helps everyone be able to, to find the items and know where they go and not have to, sometimes we create systems for ourselves that we can't remember what they are. Um, so then we can't use them. So any kind of consistency there helps as well. Do you think that this showed you, um, that you are more sentimental or, or less sentimental than you thought you were? Like, I'm curious how you felt about going through this.
[00:49:08] Alissa Williams: Oh, I don't want to talk about my feelings. Um, I think I, I am, I guess, less sentimental about my own stuff and more sentimental about other people's stuff, I think.
[00:49:20] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. That's a really useful observation, I think.
[00:49:23] Alissa Williams: And I guess the other thing that would sort of surprise me is that it doesn't all need to be organized chronologically, I guess, is what I was going to say. Um, In Stacy's, you know, How to Begin with Your Box thing. She says you don't do chronological, do it by written things, documents, cool ephemera, and 3D items and photos. Like, she has five categories. And, I think, you know, taking, the chronology out of it helped. That helped me when it came to like my grandparents stuff. Because it wouldn't have made sense to put it in a chronology because there were so many missing years. But, um, but having it sort of that way helps me kind of know where things are and where to find stuff. And I, you know, and it gives me an excuse to kind of keep some of that cool ephemera. Like, I think I texted you a picture of you know, remembering John F. Kennedy and it was the church news bulletin. It wasn't from my grandparent's church in Washington DC, from the weekend after Kennedy was assassinated. Um, so like just thinking about how that impacted daily life. And how different people chose to commemorate it I thought was interesting. So I kept that, you know, church bulletin from that time period,
[00:50:36] Jennifer Wilson: That's really cool. Any, any final, um, takeaways or advice you want to share with others who are ready to tackle this? You know, myself included. So I'm definitely, watching you has given me more inspiration that this, this needs to be handled before it gets even more out of hand.
[00:50:52] Alissa Williams: I think in terms of, I would just encourage everyone to start. Um, I do think though, if you're going to start, it is helpful, to at first have a large chunk of time. Have half a half a Saturday that you can at least just get yourself started. And figure out how you're going to start. You know, like I started with people.
[00:51:14] Alissa Williams: Maybe that's not the type of work memorabilia you have. Maybe you want to start with, Here's a pile of letters. Here's the photos. Here's the miscellaneous stuff I don't know what to do with. You know, um, Here's the ephemera, here's the 3D objects. But give yourself, give yourself at least a couple hours to just start the sort, and then you can tackle it in 15 minute chunks. You know, I would do a piece here, I'd do a piece here. Like I mentioned last night. Earlier in the week, I laid out my travel, what was left that I had to sort through. And kind of made some different piles. And then every night for 20 minutes or so, I've just been kind of going through stuff and like, okay, I can get rid of this.
[00:51:50] Alissa Williams: Or, oh, here's an easy thing here, or this needs to go over here. And you can do it in smaller chunks once you kind of set out everything and figure out how you want to proceed. And give yourself a long time to do it. I mean I gave myself several weekends. And time to think through, okay, I have this and how do other people tackle this or what's the best advice out there?
[00:52:12] Jennifer Wilson: Now you did most of this on your dining room table. So would you say that it was advantageous to have a place to spread out and be able to keep it there in the meantime while you're doing the project.
[00:52:23] Alissa Williams: Yeah, absolutely, yeah. You need a space, you need a table that you can spread stuff out on. I mean, that's the easiest way. You know, and sticky notes, if you need to label your piles. If they're not automatically obvious. But yeah, it definitely is helpful to have a spot where you can lay it all out. And then, like I said, you can work in pieces during the week or as you have time. But starting with a couple hours that you can devote to it so you can at least figure out what you might need to do is helpful.
[00:52:47] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes I have a couple things that I've used I have our guest bed that I often use for for sorting things. I can also set up a card table in there. Sometimes we set up card tables in the living room. I mean, this could be for a puzzle for addressing Christmas cards. But also it's been used for, for sorting things.
[00:53:05] Jennifer Wilson: And then we also have a ping pong table in the basement. So if I know, you know, I'm not expecting, you know, a bunch of family to come over and play ping pong, that's a, another great surface to spread things out on.
[00:53:16] Alissa Williams: Oh yeah. Ping pong table would be great.
[00:53:17] Jennifer Wilson: Well, this has been so enlightening. I really appreciate you sharing. Um, Uh, especially just all the details of everything that you have done so far. And I wish you continued, uh, productivity with your memorabilia.
[00:53:31] Alissa Williams: Thanks. I really hope that this inspires, um, someone else to maybe tackle their memorabilia. Or at least tell them, like I was daunted. I think for a long time, you know, you asked the beginning, why now? I think part of it was, I just was intimidated by how much I had. And so now, you know, I, I've done it. So it's, I'm down to the stuff that's the harder decisions, but, uh, I know that I'm going to get there.
[00:53:55] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Oh, I love your attitude. Alissa can you share where our listeners can find you online? Anything you might have coming up towards the end of this year?
[00:54:05] Alissa Williams: So, I am on Instagram, as Alissa Recommends. I generally share book recommendations. I don't share a ton of scrapbooking related stuff these days. Sometimes I do in my stories. Um, but yeah, you can find me on there. Um, my account is set to private, but I generally, um, accept new followers as requested. So yeah, I do sometimes in my stories share about scrapbooking. But not so often on the grid, but that's where people can find me. And they can find me inside this Simple Scrapper membership too, if they want to ask questions about this process or any other things that they might have thought of while we were chatting.
[00:54:45] Jennifer Wilson: Wonderful. And to all of our listeners, please remember you have permission to scrapbook your way.
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This was an extremely helpful episode! I can’t wait to explore more of her process & check out the links.