Stacy's Pick

Every year on October 20th, my family celebrates our Gotcha Day—the day that we met little Addie Grace for the first time. I'll never forget the emotion and anticipation that I felt as we waited together for our Korean escort to bring her off the plane. As much as my daughter means to me and as much as I value her story and the miraculous journey that brought her to us, I still have not created an album to document her adoption. I'm guessing I might not be the only one who puts off big, important projects like this. Why? Well because, they seem so big and important! 

I'm thrilled to introduce you to a NEW class in our Pocket Pages classroom, called Born in my Heart: An Adoption Album  by Patricia Roebuck. 

Patricia teaching style is informal and personal. She invites us into her creative process and she starts from the very beginning, as she selects, edits, prints and organizes the pictures she will use in her adoption story. The interesting thing is that the 9 x 12 pocket-page album she shares is actually a re-make of her original album, which she never loved because it failed to fully capture the meaning and beauty of their trip to bring their daughter home. This time around Patricia is embracing and teaching the advantages of pocket-style scrapbooking, especially with a BIG, multi-faceted story like adoption. In other words, Patricia has learned a thing or two about what matters in these kinds of stories and she's eager to enlighten us!

Her lessons include ...

-a discussion about selecting and gathering supplies and products

-help with determining which photos to use and how to plan for the various sizes you'll need

-guidance on what kinds of memorabilia will be important to include

-ideas for discovering and recording information about your child before you met

-tips on including heritage and cultural insights expertise advice on how much information to include from you and your child's story

-process videos and tons of images illustrating how Patricia's project came together

There are stories that change us forever and this class is a joy to witness. I couldn't help but think about how Patricia's daughter will treasure this album someday. It is a lifeline and a love story. If you know of someone who has adopted or who is planning to adopt, please tell them about this class. 

And, as an adoptive mother, I want to personally thank Patricia for the time and effort she invested in documenting her creative process and for her willingness to open up and share. This is a rare and beautiful thing.