Family heritage journal

Family heritage journal

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I first began my etsy shop Little Bindy (formerly, Paperdreaming) because I was making far too many journals to ever actually use, and I was also quickly running out of friends to give them away to!

Today, my etsy shop still allows me to make as many journals as I like, without owning too many myself.

One thing I try really hard not to do is hang on to journals I make just because I love them. I love all the journals i make so I have had to become quite strict about what I will allow myself to keep!

This means the journals I do keep for myself are usually very special because they have a specific purpose. I use my journals to record memories, usually centered around my children, and I absolutely love filling them with bits and pieces of our lives. 

For a while now, I have had this idea of a journal made specifically for keeping some very special pieces of real ephemera. I would think of it as a family history/heritage journal. I finally got to creating this book recently, so I thought I would share it with you guys.

It is made up of some of my favourite papers; a variety of different weights and patterns. I have included envelopes, file folders and some vintage style ephemera from different paper lines. 

As well as my real, special ephemera I have also included a few true vintage paper pieces I have been collecting.

My own ephemera includes photographs of my parents, photographs of myself and my siblings as children, my own children, copies of birth certificates and birth announcements, baby foot and hand prints (my own and my children's) and various paper ephemera such as notes my grandpa has hand written and envelopes signed by my Nanna.

I plan to include some more ephemera from my relatives as soon as I am able to get copies, these will include old family photographs, family trees and pictures of the family home I grew up in.

I did not tea tye anything in this journal as I didn't want to risk acidity levels of the tea/coffee damaging any papers, regardless of whether they were originals or copies. I kind of wanted this book to be like a family heirloom that could be passed down for generations, so I was sure to make it so that it would last for many years.

The charms I used on the spine of this journal are a collection of old trinkets I have been saving since I was a child, along with some charms from my stash. I have added a locket with a photo of my babies inside, a broken old watch charm from a necklace my best friend gave me when we were little, my cat Soko's old name tag and some charms I made from beads my little sister gave me in the form of a fishing wire bracelet (which was too small) when she was in preschool. I plan to add to the charms and the book as our family grows and collect new memories along the way.