When I was making this album, "The Closets of My Life", there was nothing on the market thick enough to put it all in. Remember, each page is made from foam core board. So although the whole album is just 14 pages...it is about 4" thick. My only option was to make an album from scratch. I covered pressboard with linen. Cut out a hole and inserted a doll house door that really opens. Across the top I used mica, copper, a ticket stub, a button, and a dictionary clipping to spell out the words "The Closets of my Life". And of course, a key and a lock. And I used coated wire to "hinge" the album together along the edge.
When you open the doors, you see mini photos from 26 years of my life (1 every other year) and 2 blank spots for photos from 2005 and 2008. Another true testament to the bad hair days of my life!!!
Simply open up the door to see the full LO and this poem that I wrote for this album:
Where I keep my secrets
And hide my scrapbooks too
A place for all my journals
Where no one ever looks
Momentos in boxes
My locked up diary too
My favorite dolls and toys
Some are old, some are new
When I was young I′d hide
Things from my 3 sisters
We'd always seem to fight
Over what was mine or theirs
And as a teenager
I’d lock my things up tight
And take them out to read
when it was late at night.
I married my sweetheart
And didn’t want to share
Any of my old loves
I hoped he wouldn't care.
And when my son was born
I wrote down all my thought
So maybe one day soon
He'll read what I forgot.
Now the years have passed
My closets are bulging
I don't know what to do
No more room for my things.
They're always a mess
There's never enough room
I can't find anything
It's time to get the broom.
What can I get rid of?
Nothing that I can see!
It's all so important
It is all about me!!
Now here's a chance for you
To come and take a peek
And you will gladly see
The things my closets keep.
As I have already shared these closets in my blog, you can find them here:
2008
1998
1988
1978
1968
1958
The title from each of those layouts then comes together to form a new poem:
The season of my life keep spinning on the wheel of time
Unfolding our teenage years with these memories of mine.
Revealing unimagined life with a baby this fine
All my bags are packed & I'm sliding on without a dime.
Recessed deep in my heart was the love you have made divine
Opening dreams & Making them real, now that's my design!!!
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Saviour, all the day long, this is my story, hope you will say she′s had a great life, she′s loved every day!!! (If you grew up in a rural country Sunday School....you will be singing by now!)
That really is what my story is all about, that no matter what has happened in my life, through the good and the sad, I have loved and been loved by my family, my friends, and my Lord. What more could I have ever asked for? My life has changed and evolved over time, as have the shapes of my closets, the things I have kept, and the memories I have cherished. My prayer today is that my closets will continue to grow, to change, and to expand. And that no matter what the size or shape that my closet may be, that I will have grace to accept it, love to put in it, and memories to share with others for all time.
May all your closets be filled with changing seasons, teenage memories, unimagined life, some good and some sad, a lot of love, and dreams that you design!!!
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