I can’t wait to share these next books with you. They won’t be ready for a few weeks, so today is just a sneak peek.

Volumes 2 and 3 of Janda’s family history (this is Volume 1) will contain pockets. Many many pockets.

Here’s why. Janda discovers new branches of her family at an astonishing rate (is there a cure for ancestry.com addiction?) So there will naturally be new family charts, documents, photos, etc. And that’s where the pockets come in. She’ll just insert them as she finds them, and the books will be her ongoing family archives.

So this week was Pocket Making Week. Armed with straight edges, exactos, and plenty of adhesive, Maggie and I whipped up 54 (dare I say) stunning pockets.

Here’s a before/after of one of the map pockets (apologies for terrible lighting – the paper is not really yellow).

It’s a diagonal pocket all the way across the page, one of several pocket styles we used. I’ll post lots more photos when the books are all finished!

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 I have been meaning to share this book for a while, and St Patrick’s Day is the perfect excuse. At least if you’re color-oriented like me. (And Irish!)

This book contains the memoirs of Jaime’s grandfather, Paul, whom she hardly remembers and wouldn’t really know were it not for this memoir.

In 1971, inspired by reading his uncle’s memoirs, Paul typed his own story. In his own words, “I began to realize that many of these tales of over 100 years ago might be of interest to coming generations.” Indeed.

Jaime collected photographs, family tree information, and a timeline of her grandfather’s life to accompany his writings, and gave a copy of the book to each family member for Christmas. What a treasure.

(images top to bottom, l to r: book dedication as written by jaime’s grandfather in 1971, alongside his photo; book spine; mother’s family chapter page; fold-out family tree; closeup of family tree chapter page; closeup of timeline showing key events of paul’s life, like his son’s graduation in 1964)

Thank you, Jaime. This was a beautiful project!

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