Today has been all about getting things done. I’ve been finishing projects that I started as long as three years ago and it’s a relief to finally have some of them out of the way.
One of the more recent things I’ve been meaning to do is scan in this feature from The World of Interiors magazine. I don’t usually buy it because it’s quite expensive but as I was flicking through it at a service station on the way home from Wales, I came across these albums and decided they were far too beautiful not to share. [Okay, so I actually bought it on eBay when I got home because a) it was cheaper and b) I’d already spent the last of my pennies on trashy real-life magazines, but that’s beside the point.]
They were made by a lady called Sylvia Drew, who documented her family’s events and outings between 1909 and the early 1930s. I adore the art deco aesthetic she’s applied to her layouts and the style of her illustrations, which almost look as though they’ve come from a children’s book of that era. Unfortunately, these were the only pages photographed for the magazine. I found some more information on the albums here, but no more pictures.
I was inspired to try and make something similar myself, but then I remembered my last attempt at a scrapbook a few years ago and thought better of it. Do any of you keep a scrapbook?
All scans from The World of Interiors magazine, September 2011 issue.
These are beautiful! I’ve tried my hand at scrapbooking a few times and it has always ended up horribly. But what I like best about this kind of scrapbooking is that it is a travel journal, she incorporated more than just the pictures. Her artwork in the background makes it so personal and so lovely. Maybe approaching scrapbooking from this point of view would keep me inspired and motivated to continue.
Thank you for sharing!
-Kaitlyn
oh my gosh these are so wonderful… wish i had sylvia’s eyes for scrapbooking!
These are absolutely stunning. I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a while, but I fear I lack the patience. And the talent. Oh, how I would love to curl up on a couch and browse through these scrapbooks !
Oh these are lovely!! Thank you so much for sharing them!!! <3
These are so beautiful! I am so glad you shared them with us :) I feel inspired to make a scrapbook now but I am so bad with my hands!
uhh, these are gorgeous. thank you for sharing them! I always plan on making scrap books but just don’t have the patience. ah well.
what a lovely scrapbook, i try to keep up doing one my self, just for the sake that i will thank my self when i´m older and can give it to my kids one day, but sometimes it lays forgotten in a shelf somewhere for a longer time…
i like your blog =)
/ petra
Oooh these are truly beautiful. She obviously took a lot of care and time over them. I love the idea of scrapbooking but with time constraints due to my working life, tear sheets are as close as I will ever come to something like this. Such a fabulous, interesting heirloom to pass through families for those that do though. x
These are so beautiful! I’m always tempted to keep scrapbooks, but I think I don’t have the patience for it… However, when I see this I’m starting to think I might give it another try :)
They sound and look fascinating. Scrapbooking these days just brings to mind saccharine cutesy mumsy women sticking cherubs to pearly paper. I think we all keep scrapbooks in the form of our blogs, tumblrs, pinterests etc. So long as the internet and the hosts think ahead, these will be as valuable historically one day as that is to us, now.
I think so, anyway!
I’ve dropped off the bloggesphere recently but it’s so nice to return and see that your blog is just as good as ever. Beautiful post. I love to read World of Interiors, I find it so inspiring! http://petitesfolies.blogspot.com/
Thank you for sharing these. So gorgeous and motivating. Somebody needs to turn Ms. Drew’s journals into a “Journey is the Destination” style book. I really need to see more of this stuff!
Dan Eldon’s journals inspired me to scrapbook several years ago. I churned out a few big messy volumes that I’m still quite proud of but I haven’t produced much lately. Seeing these images makes me want to revisit that approach, though.
Thanks so much for sharing these! They are stunning, I think I will have to track down a copy of the mag too! I haven’t come across anything written on these albums but there are a number of texts which look at (particularly women’s) albums and scrapbooks in the 19th Century.
http://yalepress.yale.edu/book.asp?isbn=9780300141146
http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=1777&calctitle=1&pageSubject=344&title_id=8992&edition_id=9915&lang=cy-GB
These are beautiful, I’m always wanting to start a scrapbook but I don’t have the time and the attention span to keep it up!
I try keep a little book of inspiration for myself but I really am not very good at keeping it updated.
I really, really love these. Thank you so much for posting them! They’re inspirational. I think Leah’s comment is right, in that nowadays most of us are all about electronic scrapbooking … but there is definitely something magical about the paper version. I’ve been wanting to start a scrapbook for ages but I’m kind of particular about the ‘book’ itself – all I can find in stationery shops are flimsy branded scrapbooks with really thin paper inside. Does anyone know where I can buy a nice quality heavyweight scrapbook to start off a project of my own?
this is so beautiful, i keep my life in a scrapbook.
Thanks for posting these, I never would have found them otherwise. Totally incredible. I have a soft spot for anything that involves old maps/collage/postcards/photos – that last page is therefore my favourite. Along with arrows. I bought an old album of postcards in an auction when I was 16 that all belonged to one lady and they are a fascinating insight. However I think I’d be happy to trade for this beauty.
wow, how very cool! really inspiring.
I’ve always wanted to make a scrapbook but I guess I’m just not that well motivated, out of a lack of talent.
jo from slowcatharsis.blogspot.com
Wow! these are really beautiful, I keep scrapbooks of things I love.
Hannah I find these images so inspiring. At first I thought you’d discovered this scrapbook at some random antique fair & I would have been oh so jealous! I may try my hand at this…thanks for posting. As always your posts ignite my imagination. Kudos for that! x
I scrapbook and I LOVE it!!! If you’d like, you can see some of my work here: http://afafuny.blogspot.com/search/label/scrapbooking and on my older blog here: http://efratkashat.wordpress.com/category/scrapbook-pages/
Thanks SO much for sharing these! You have no idea how inspiring they are to me!! Thanks a lot! :)
Love these!!! They really make me want to scrapbook. I hafta say, I do love scrapbooking, I just find it hard to find the time.
Ps, I really wanted to tell you that I adore your style SO much I talked about it on my blog. Hope you check it out!
http://getthewordsout.blogspot.com/2011/09/fashion-friday-week-5.html
I just love all the vintage and antique memorabilia! =)
http://pinkchampagnefashion.blogspot.com/
I ADORE these images. Thank you for sharing!
Yes, I’ve tried my hand at scrapbooking but, unfortunately it’s never really stuck as a habit.
These are simply stunning. Very inspirational. I like the watercolor in the background.
These are truly works of art, beautiful. I kept a scrapbook from the age of 12 ( I had a long stay in hospital) and used it to fill with get well cards and letters. I then filled them with birthday cards, holiday snaps, napkins and sugar packets from days out, concert tickets and all manner of things until I reached 21and stopped. These are simple scrap books that document my teens and will always have them to look back on!
Wow, these are beautiful.
Wow… These are so wonderful. The effort and the beauty. I need to start keeping proper proper scrapbooks! I want a copy of the mag just so I can admire the feature.
Thank you so much for sharing, these are amazing!
Always good intentions for scrapbooks but I haven’t actually put them in a book in a year. I just store all sorts of keepsakes (from tickets over chocolate wrappers to old ID cards) in a big box for ehem “later”.