His & Hers Albums

A "His & Hers" album accomplishes two main goals. The first is to explore and celebrate the individual traits, characteristics, opinions and experiences that you and your partner each contribute to your uniquely-yours relationship and joint life adventures.

The second is to inspire your marvelous male counterpart to contribute his perspective to your scrapbook pages. Last time I checked, the statistics (and my own household) indicate that most scrapbooking is being done by women. As with shopping, I usually don't mind my husband's disinclination to my favorite sport. It gives me the opportunity to have bonding time with my mom or girlfriends, and sometimes peaceful time alone. But periodically, when my husband does join in the fun, I love the opportunity to share the experience and get his perspective. The resulting material is not only more colorful and contextually rich, but also more accurate and reflective of our joint lives.

What to Include:
One fun approach is a "Meet in the Middle" retrospective review of each of your separate lives leading up to the day you met. Start by choosing a blank scrapbook album and decorating its front cover with the title "His &" or some variation thereof. (I titled my husband's half "His dreams &.") Allocate the first half of the book to his story. Flip the album over and turn it 180 degrees so that the back cover now looks like it's the front cover. Add the title "Hers" or some variation thereof. This will be your half of the book. (I titled my half "Her journey.") Now you can fill each half with your individual stories. Themes could include:

• The day you were born
• Milestones growing up (first tooth, first bike, etc.)
• Birthdays
• Schools attended
• Moves
• Travels
• Friends
• Favorites (movies, books, activities, etc.)
• Graduations
• Anything else defining or interesting that occurred up until you first met

Use the spread at the very center of the book to tell the story of the day when two became one.

Another great "His & Hers" album approach is to compare your interests, tastes and choices. Include a mix of minor and major details. Sometimes the everyday seemingly trivial details are the most poignant and telling. Topics could include:

• His & Hers breakfast
• His & Hers favorite activity
• His & Hers chairs at the dinner table
• His & Hers toothbrushes
• His & Hers ultimate dream
• His & Hers greatest fear
• His & Hers first friend

Create the album at one point in time, or leave room to come back through the decades. It is interesting to see how much your interests and habits converge over the years.

Alternatively, you can turn any theme album (a vacation album, your pregnancy album, or a holiday traditions album) into a "His & Hers" scrapbook where each of you gives your vantage point on the topics. Read on for suggestions on how to orchestrate this two-some project.

How to Turn "Joe Jock" into "Joe Journaling":
So how you do you convince a guy to drop his golfing or grilling for designing and distressing?

• One way is to include topics he likes, be it golf, grilling, gadgets or go-carts.
• Another is to ask him to take some of the pictures. What he chooses to snap will also add his vantage point to the album.
• Compliment and encourage his work. Positive reinforcement goes a long way.
• If all else fails, agree to try one of his favorite hobbies afterwards.
• Finally, don't overdo it. Keep your expectations realistic. When it comes to laying out the page and adding the journaling, determine how much involvement your guy will really enjoy.

Three Levels of Involvement:
If he's scrapbook savvy you might make an album where you each create your own lovely layout for each topic, and then place the resulting "He Said, She Said" story either side by side, or as in the case of the "Meet in the Middle" album, in your respective halves of the book.

However, for the newbie husbands and boyfriends, I would recommend that you lay down some of the groundwork first, and leave one section of each layout (or for the really scrapbook shy, one small box) for him to complete. This will ease him into the process, while accomplishing your goal of capturing his thoughts and sentiments. (For those of us who are particular, you will also assure a more cohesive and consistent look.)

See how I applied this concept in my "Me & My Honey" album (a wedding, honeymoon and anniversary keepsake by Let-Me-Tell-You for EK Success). I wanted to create an album that invited husband participation, in a low-stress high-fun format. The fill-in-the-blanks guidance makes it easy for brides, grooms and newlyweds to chronicle their wedding, honeymoon and marriage stories. I didn't include too many pages that ask for the guy's involvement, just a few key sections.

For example, the "Promises" layout invites the bride to fill out the page on the left, while the groom fills out the page on the right, reflecting on the types of commitments they each want to make to the other.

The "What I Love About You" topic invites the husband and wife to fill out the page together, with side-by-side journaling.

At the lowest participation level of the spectrum is the two-page "Our Anniversary" layout, with only one line that needs to be filled out by the Husband, expressing "I now think my wife is..." Now that's not a lot to ask for!

The old adage goes, "two heads are better than one." With a scrapbook, two heads can also be more fun. All he needs is a helping hand to get him started...

Karin Sella Sloan is the creator of Let-Me-Tell-You, and the author of several products, including "Me & My Honey" and the gift scrapbook set "Bride-to-Be". For more information, bridal shower ideas and bridal resources, visit her website www.let-me-tell-you.com.