Another labor of love for Project Christine's Keepsakes...

Sorry this post has been a long time coming...

I had the pleasure of accompanying Ilona Baumhofer to deliver to Andy the quilts she finished for each of the children.
Christine and I had planned to make quilts for the twins when they were born. Life got in the way, and one year to the next, we never got back to this quilting project. After Christine passed, we found the pile of cut material in various Laura Ashley-type prints in her craft room. Ilona graciously offered to take the pieces and complete the project.

But, not only did she finish quilts for the twin girls, she made them all larger size for the growing children, and took additional material to make a matching one for Abby. She then took some of Christine's jeans and made one for Christian. Perhaps the most thoughtful touch was a washable label she added to the back of each quilt with a special message for each child and a photo of them with their mother.

I tell you this, because during this entire project, the selflessness I witnessed of donated time and materials has been overwhelming from so many people. These quilts, along with the scrapbooks, will be shared with family and friends as they reflect on memories of their mother. It has been a privilege to work with so many caring folks, really, around the globe.

The Post family moved on to their new home stateside last week. We still have about 3 albums to piece together and mail out to them, for which I hope to have a layout update later this week. But, for the most part, years of scrapbooking was accomplished in months' time because of YOU! Thank you to Ilona and all of the others that shared their time and talents to our project. Thank you!

Mission Accomplished!

Cheers to you all! Lisa and I were able to deliver this precious bundle of memories to Andy on the day the movers showed up to his house to pack him back to the states. Whew! We made it, well almost. We still have a few loose ends to tidy up, mainly a few travel albums, but we did it! I feel so blessed to have been a part of such a special project, not only to do this for Christine's family, but to be able to meet so many charitable and talented women along the way!


So here are our final stats give or take a few:

11,391 original photo count
2,653 edited photo count
478 layouts completed . . . some are still trickling in
2,020 photos scrapped
633 photo's left to scrap for the travel albums

Lisa and I will never be able to thank everyone who participated enough, BUT, we did toast with sparkling cider to you all the night the last page was inserted! What a great feeling! I'd like to think Christine was smiling down on all of us that night too!

Here is the package of art supplies that were presented to Christine's children, made possible by all the generous donations toward this project. Hopefully they will take after their mother and create art for years to come!

Layout update...

Ok, all...we are trying to wrap up this weekend, getting the albums finished and together. I wanted to let you know that I have collected an amazing 147 layouts since the last crop on February 21st. And they are beautiful! I'm so pleased with all of the self-less, talented ladies we've had working on this project. Check out the contributor list on the sidebar (did you notice there are over 40 of them?!?), and if you know any of them, let them know how great they are!

Crop Update....

Hey all! We had a good turnout this weekend...thanks to you all! If you notice the layout update on the sidebar...we DOUBLED the amount of pages done and pictures completed! I'm arranging to get more layouts turned in this week, so that number should go up even more by this week's end.

Thank you again to Jan and Kim for hosting the crop. And, if you were able to stop by, you got a sweet thank you from us! Plus, made a major dent in Christine's supply. (Leslie thanks you, wholeheartedly!) Kim Sutton has offered to bring a tote of paper and embellishment supply left over to the crops each month for use on this project and any other you wish, until it's all gone.

If you still have layouts to send in, please get them to me this week, if you're local, or put in the mail by March 1st, if possible. If you can't meet these deadlines, please email me and let me know, so I know when to look for them. As I mentioned in a previous post, we need to assemble the albums and get them to the family by the 3rd week of March at the latest. They will be returning stateside, and we'd like these albums shipped with their household goods.

There were so many offers of printing and donations, we have been so grateful. We appreciate all of your offers of help, even those we weren't able to use. I read a recent article in Creating Keepsakes Magazine about the kindness in the scrapbooking community and the willingness to jump in and help fellow scrapbookers in need. I have certainly witnessed this here...truly the kindness of strangers!

The abundance has left us with some extra, so we decided to create a huge basket of art and school supplies for the children to give the family, along with the albums. This will enable them to continue the legacy of creativity that Christine started for them. Again, thank you all, and look for more updates in the next few weeks!

Crop, Feb 21st!

Hi, ladies...I wanted to let you know about the upcoming crop, next Saturday, February 21st, 9am-midnight. It will again be at the Ramstein Elementary School...and it is also, as usual, FREE!

We have had so much help and support for the project (THANK YOU!) that we hope to be able to wrap it up that day. If you have layouts you are working on at home, we'd like to set a goal to either get them to us at that crop, or if you are stateside, put them in the mail that next week, if possible. I have an update that Andy Post will be sending their household goods the beginning of April, so we'd like to get him the finished albums mid-March at the latest.

I have about 300 printed pictures to get done that day, no more left to email out, or do digitally (thanks to all of you!). That's about what I handed out by afternoon, last time. So, hopefully earlier in the day, the better. Leslie and/or I will be there to check your finished layouts back in, and finish handing these last photos out. We still have lots of Christine's supply to use up, and some pictures to organize, so come help if you can.

We will also have a special thank you for all that helped with the project...and as I said, there is still plenty of supply, so, late afternoon--maybe 4pm, as soon as the last of the pictures are scrapbooked, we will have a "Come and Get it!" This will be a good opportunity to supplement your own supply, scrapbookers helping scrapbookers, which is what this project has been all about. Come share the wealth and share the love...or just stop by to see some of the finished layouts. They are amazing!

You can RSVP for the crop to Jan Vowell, jan.vowell@eu.dodea.edu . She just needs a head count for setup. Any questions about the pages or layouts, you can email me at scrap4joy@mail2world.com . See you there!

Round one layouts

About Christine...

I've had so many people offer support of this project that never knew Christine...and they all want to help, even without knowing her. So, for all of you that never had the opportunity, I thought I'd take a moment here to share a little more about her and make it more personal for you.

I just watched a new movie tonight, Bride Wars. It made me a little reflective. For those of you that have seen it, I'm a little more Liv, and Christine was a little more Emma. Not that I'm proud of that, but it just makes me lucky to have had her as a friend (and by the end I'd like to think they realized they were lucky to have each other, at least that's how I'll sleep tonight).

Christine and I met through shared interests and our love of scrapbooking. We had mutual friends, and we got to be good friends when we planned a baby shower for one of them. It was so much fun, and we shared so many ideas and tastes, that she toyed with the idea of us opening a catering business together. She did love to cook, and had always wanted to go to culinary school. Me, I just thought that sounded like a ton of work….

She loved to entertain…beautiful china, great food, centerpieces, atmosphere. She always wanted her guests to feel pampered. We had a girl’s dinner party for her birthday one year. She put it on, mostly, and enjoyed every minute of it.

Christine was fervent in trying to create beautiful memories for her children. I know she succeeded because Abby had been sharing many with me soon after she passed. She had a hard time journaling on a page, but she loved to sit down with her kids and tell them stories behind the pictures in her scrapbooks. Preserving those family memories was important to her. She had a natural instinct for photography, and was starting to do family sittings.

She was open and approachable. The number of random strangers that would stop her in the store and carry on conversations with her had to be some world record. She always got comments about the kids…all that blonde, blonde hair. Once someone stopped her and asked her which twin was her favorite. She just had that kind of open, smile on her face, I guess.

Christine taught me things about love. She loved unconditionally, her family and her friends. She loved my children as her own and overlooked my faults. It is a rare individual that will do that. I miss her, but am so grateful that I am able to do this project for her family with all of you. Together we are keeping her memory alive, and I hope now you can feel you "knew" her. Maybe you know someone like her. If so, you are lucky.