How do you scrap difficult pictures?

[CristyK]

How do you guys go about scrapping difficult pictures? I'm working on a "family tree" album. I've scrapped my two Aunts and my Uncle so far. I've cried a little. I lost the last of them last year. It's hard looking at their pictures while I work on their pages. But I guess I saved the worse for last. My dad's picture is the next one in my album. All I have is the picture on the page because evrey time I try to scrap it I end up crying. I miss him so much. It will have been four years in June of this year.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Caylynn]

That's a good question. Sometimes it is just a matter of leaving certain photos until I'm ready. For example, I've just, this past week, been able to scrap the photos I have of the beautiful little Sphynx girl we lose in January 2015 to feline infectious peritonitis. She was my "heart cat" and I still miss her terribly. It was partially having the right kit come along, partly the passage of time, and partly just been ready to accept the tears.



One of our other cats has lymphoma, and while he has outlived his prognosis, I do still cry when I scrap some of his pages, as I know he won't be here forever, despite the fact that he's beaten the odds so far.

 

[Neverland Scraps]

With a lot of crying, praying and remembering what was going on--trying to capture the emotion that I wanted to portray with the photo, the moment, etc.

I have a hard time scrapping when my husband is overseas. I feel guilty scrapping the kids, our laughter, etc while I know he's doing his job, sometimes hard and missing the family. Last year, towards the end of the year, I told myself I have to scrap these moments. They happened. If I only do the good, no one is going to know the bad.

So I scrapped this photo of what probably ran through my son's mind when his daddy left. I let the photo speak for itself and added a little bit of journaling--in what I would think would be his words.

I had wanted to remember the final time that my son and I got to see my grandmother. She was supposed to make a full recovery, but just like that, she was gone. I missed her and wanted to document the last time my son and I saw her, while he sang Jesus Loves Me to her. She cried while singing--did she know she was going to die? Through a lot of tears and journaling I was able to create a photoless layout sharing my raw feelings about the loss of my grandmother.

Sometimes I use the kit, the colors and the photos speak for themselves. While we aren't out of dark area, in the midst of the darkness, I was able to use a lot of scrap therapy and prayer to get me through some of the darkest and hardest times of my life.

Mostly, my takeaway is this, I find a kit that portrays my emotions about that time, the photo or my current feelings. I use the kit to express my emotions as well as allow the photos to speak for themselves. If I don't want to use a photo, I just journal my heart out through a lot of tears. Most of my emotional layouts leave me exhausted. But looking back, I'm thankful that I scrapped them because they helped me be able to document those memories, not just for myself, for my family, but for future generations.

I hope I answered your question about how to document those hard to scrap photos. While my photos aren't about my father, I know you can scrap these hard photos and do his memory justice for future generations. Just make sure you have those tissues handy.

I had more written, but it didn't post!
If you are struggling with the photo on the page, remove the photo, but leave an area for where you want the photo. Sometimes it helps to not see the photo, especially if it's an emotional layout/photo that you are scrapping. Save the photo for the very last thing and you'll be shocked at how it all came together without that photo distracting you, making you more sad.

 

[mariewilcox]

I have always found scrapping the "difficult" pictures to be very therapeutic. Do I cry? Yes, sometimes. Do I smile at the memories - almost always. For me, it's good to get it out through my creative process.

Sometimes I scrap a photo and journal as if I'm talking to that person - as in this layout about my late DH (KIA back in 2003 when our kids were 2 and 15:


This one was in remembrance of my best friend for many years:


And this one to express my feelings about the daughter of my best friend above who passed so suddenly almost 10 months ago - this one was done in the throes of some very raw feelings but I felt so much better when I was done.

 

[rdjrneace]

I am suffering the loss of my oldest grandson this past week and I actually found scrapping his photos made me remember the good days (not just the sadness of his passing). I smiled and cried but found that I really enjoyed remembering the memories of his joining our family (adoption) and how happy my son/daughter-in-law was when they finally brought him into their family.

Everyone goes through their grief but I find that for me remembering the good times is better than dwelling on something I cannot change.

 

[amystoffel]

After my father passed away 5 years ago, I went on a scrapping bender of pages about him. I just cried and let it all out. I scrapped memories, my last days with him, everything I could. It was therapeutic in some ways. Most of my pages are with kits from another store. But I'd be happy to share them with you via PM if it helps. Choose kits that reflect your mood or the day. And journal, journal, journal.

 

[jencrook]

Just do it! You will be SO glad you did someday. I know I have had a few really hard pages to do and I think the most important thing I want my posterity to know (which is 100% the reason I do this at all) is that life is full of tears AND happiness. What benefit would it be to my grandchildren if they only saw our happy moments? Scrap it all! The good bad and ugly!

So here are a few of my pages that still stir up a lot of emotion:

This page was the day we took our daughter to the Missionary Training Center and where we would leave her before she spent the following 18 months in Hong Kong serving for our church. Seeing her say goodbye to her dog still makes me emotional and she has been home for over a year! I love a good LO that stirs up those raw emotions!

Our son was a very sad depressed teen. During the time of this page he was at his lowest and constantly talking about ending his life. There were days when I wanted to kill him myself because he was so horrible to all of us. Thankfully that was 3.5 years ago. We ended up intervening and having him committed to residential treatment for 10 months which saved his life. Now, 3.5 years later he still has a few bumps in the road but as we head out of town tonight to explore the college campus where he plans to attend this fall, I am so grateful for the trials in life that help remind me to appreciate when things are good.

While my son was in residential treatment, my beloved grandma passed away. While her passing was very sad, she was 90+ years old and we were granted special permission to take our boy out of the facility for the day to the funeral. It was bittersweet but having my kids together for the day was the most prized treasure ever. Having him be able to be an honorary pall bearer was very tender.

Obviously my son in treatment was a big part of our lives but it affected the dog too. She was SO SAD every single day without her wrestling buddy.

 

[mollyscraps]

My first instinct was to say, leave it until you're ready. If you really want to get it done, clip a paper to the photo so you won't be staring at it while you embellish the page. When your journaling etc... is done, pull the clipped paper off. My dad died 17 years ago but some years I mourn him harder than others. This year was particularly difficult so my heart goes out to you.