A tribute to Iris

Iris - 1946

 I feel I have to start this journey at the beginning. I started scrapbooking in 2006 when my mother, Iris, turned 80. She had had a debilitating stroke when she was only 60 which left her partially paralyzed and unable to speak, other than a couple of incoherent words. So reaching that wonderful age under difficult and often very challenging circumstances was an amazing milestone. By 2006 she had been in a frail care facility for a number of years. During that September one of her co-residents showed me a breath-taking scrapbook her daughter had made for her own 80^th birthday. I was blown away - I had to do something similar for my mom’s birthday. The only problem was that her birthday was on the 31^st October – by then only 6 weeks away. I enrolled for two classes just to get the hang of trimming, matting, chalking and journaling. When it took me a week to do one page - the persnickety scrapping thing - I realised that I would have to have a much more minimalistic approach! I presented her with the album with 30 completed pages at a surprise luncheon I had organised with my siblings. It was an instant hit. Mom passed away peacefully in 2009, and every now and then I open that album to remind myself why I started this rewarding, creative and addictive hobby! This is a tribute to you Mom – in life an inspiration to all!  



Iris enjoying the album