Work It Wednesday - Leaving your mark

Is it Wednesday already - Wow! This past week went really fast. Work it Wednesday started as a way to "work" our craft. Sometimes it's something fun, like using gum packaging to make a mini album and sometimes it's just a thought or idea. Today, it's the latter. I recently experienced something that made me think a little more about what I do and I've found a way to make it just a little better and I want to share. If nothing else, today's Work It Wednesday is something to think about. It's about leaving a mark on what you make.

My brother recent shared some old letters that he found. Letters written to him from me, my sister, and several letters from my mom. To understand where I'm going with this you need to know that my brother is quite a bit older than I am and he was pretty much out of the house by the time I was in Kindergarten. He left at the age of 19 to serve on a religious mission and then when he returned, 2 years later, he joined the National Guard. I really have no memory of this, I don't even remember what life was like at that time. Because of this these letters have became really valuable to me. The letters he shared were totally ordinary letters about everyday life at home.

As I read them, especially those written from my mom, I found myself trying to place when each letter was written on a mental time line. I kept thinking was this written before this or after this... I noticed in several of the letters a shift in perspective, mood, and message and I wondered why. Once I was able to locate the dates the letters were written it all made much more sense.

The thing is, we change over time. Not just in appearance or age but in the way we think and even in the way we create. I realize that not all my paper creations, mini albums and scrapbook layouts are going to last forever. But after reading these letters and questioning so many things about them, especially their date, I realized that the items that do last, need to be as complete as possible. Which means I need to leave my mark on them. I need to date them. This is something I haven't been very good at. Are you?

I am usually pretty good about recording the date that the photos were taken. However, I don't scrapbook chronologically so I might scrapbook something today that happened three or four years ago. My perspective, thought process, mood, etc... has since changed. Because of this, and after reading these letters, I am making more of an effort to record the date of the event and also the date the layout or mini album was completed. I'm leaving my mark and hopefully, years from now, my own daughters will look at what I've done and have all the pieces they need to understand the time line in which things were created.


The photo at the top of the post shows how I've decided to leave my mark. I've picked a stamp I love (shown immediately above). This stamp will go on the back of all my creations along with the date. It's simple, it looks cool, and I've made my mark!

Think about it - how will you leave your mark on your own creations?
Enjoy!
Amy

P.S. The stamp set shown is available at Judy's. I had her special order it for me. As you can see it comes with several different styles that say different things like: Designed by, Created for, Artistic Creation #, and Made for. Not only is great for leaving your own make on layouts and mini albums but it works great for the back of cards too.