A retirement party is just one of many occasions when it is appropriate to gift an occupation scrapbook to a friend or co-worker. My neighbor Helen is a newly retired nurse who spent more than 35 years taking care of oncology patients at our local hospital. During her retirement party she was presented with a stunning scrapbook filled with photos and memorabilia from her time on the job.
Of course, for Helen, being a nurse was more than just a job, it was her life. The memory book is a testament to this. It is crammed with hundreds of photos of her joking around with colleagues and hugging patients who she journeyed with during their battle with cancer. In addition, there are dozens of journaling blocks and letters from doctors, fellow nurses and other members of the hospital staff detailing what they will miss most about Helen. Layouts also included stickers and die cuts of stethoscopes and thermometers as well as old-fashioned nurses’ hats and masks.
You don’t have to wait until someone retires to create a scrapbook documenting a career. Rather, you could create one to mark a milestone anniversary or gather the kids and have them help you make one for their parent. This is especially easy if your spouse is a teacher, firefighter, police officer or in the military. Scrapbook supply shops are teeming with stamps, stickers and other embellishments that feature career-themed designs.
For a firefighter layout, consider using elongated cursive lettering in the title that drags across the page like a fire hose. For a police officer you could create the title of the page in the shape of a badge. Layouts for teachers could include paper, pencils and rulers on a chalkboard background made from black paper and a specialty white marker. You can even create page designs for auto mechanics by using car-shaped stickers or craft a layout for a fisherman with boats, bait and poles.
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