I recently had the chance to review a set of ArchivaLife products - which included an archival quality scrapbook, personal memory keeper, and lovely case for keeping them together- and was excited to find how ArchivaLife uniquely combines my love of genealogy and of writing.
With genealogy, I have become passionate about the need to preserve our legacies, but I’ve been finding and collecting data on generations that have past. With writing/blogging, I have become enthused about recording everyday thoughts and memories to share with others. But, unless I work to print out my posts or somehow present them digitally to my posterity, all these musings could be lost. Enter ArchivaLife.
I reviewed ArchivaLife’s Classic Edition, pictured below.
The set includes:
The LifeLines book can seem intimidating at first. The pages are fanned to provide space on the front and back for recording memories and keeping things like newspaper articles or other paper bits that would correspond with certain memories. The timeline itself is organized in decades and has prompts for recording information for each year, like President, Hobbies/Interests, Friends, Occupation, and much more.
I wondered how on earth I was going to fill this book with memories, until I read the helpful guidelines in the front. They suggest you just take your time and let the memories flow. Work on it for an hour, then move on to something else. Chance are, the prompts will jog some memories, and you’ll feel encouraged to sit back down soon and record them. It’s meant to be an enjoyable experience, not something that is overwhelming and laborious.
As I’ve looked through the ArchivaLife products – which are all quite lovely and very sturdy – I’ve realized that there are a few ways you can use them.
- Choose a family member to interview, and begin filling the book with memories, photos, and memorabilia they share.
- Record your own history in writing and finally organize all those old photos and bits of scrapbook material (ticket stubs, newspaper clippings, etc) you’ve been keeping all these years.
- Buy this for a new child and begin recording things from day one, presenting the book to that child when they are old enough to go out on their own (and encourage them to keep it up!).
ArchivaLife products would also be an amazing gift for Mothers Day, either as a way for you to share time with her as you fill out the book together, or a way for you to encourage her that her story matters, and leave her to the unique experience of filling out the book herself. For a limited time, ArchivaLife is offering free shipping to readers of Tree, Root, and Twig. Just enter the code ROOTSHIP at checkout. And to show further support to mothers all over the world, $10 of every purchase will be donated to Foundation for Women, a foundation dedicated to helping women globally through microcredit loans. In addition, ArchivaLife will donate $100 to Foundation for Women for every 100 new Facebook “likes” on their page, found HERE.
*Disclosure: ArchivaLife provided me with the Classic Edition in order to facilitate this review. I have expressed my honest opinions on this product. I received no other compensation for this post.
You might also enjoy these related posts from Tree, Root, and Twig:
- The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards
- Lovable Labels {Review & Discount Code}
- CLOSED: Book Review & Giveaway: Raven Stole the Moon, by Garth Stein
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