Love Letters

The other day a friend of mine was over giving me gardening advice . . . and she brought with her some letters & cards she had written to her husband over the years - included was also a telegram . . . remember those? Anyway - she asked if I had any idea what to do with them. Well . . . I love making albums and scrapbooks, but these hand-written letters and cards - you don't just want to cut them, glue them or type them up . . . I didn't quite know what to do with them. I wrestled over it for a day or so {after promising I'd come up with something} and one night cut some envelopes at the scrapbook store - knowing I'd use them but not knowing quite how - the next morning, I woke up with plenty of inspiration. 

See, there's this new product in the scrapworld called "Grungeboard" by Tim Holtz - LOVE IT! It's a lot like chipboard  (that's the back you find after you're done with a pad of paper) but it's bendable - almost leathery. It comes in sheets of cut letters, numbers etc . . . and then it comes in plain sheets about 8" x 5"
I cut a strip for the binding and sewed the envelopes on before folding and adhering the envelopes into shape - incidentally, the last envelope will hold a CD of their songs. Then I sewed the strip to two full sheets, making sure to sew the elastic into place - 
I painted, inked, and distressed it, added a rub-on to the cover - as well as personalized letters also made of grungeboard and rub-ons. I REALLY like how it turned out - but then I got to second-guessing. What if she didn't like it? What if it was too grungy?  What if it just wasn't at all what she wanted? 
Fortunately she fell in love instantly. She said it was perfect and looked like she'd been storing away those letters in it all these years - I'd achieved what I wanted. And we both got misty-eyed.

So she and her husband are on their way to Europe for their 30th anniversary - where she plans on giving him the letters & CD tucked away in the portfolio. I was so honored that she asked me to help. I want to make one for myself, but I'm not sure what to store away in it - maybe I'll go find those e-mails my husband and I exchanged when dating.