The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” rings particularly true when looking through family albums, or historical archives.

The black and white photo of a tiny hand grasping a callused finger, a young woman lifting a veil out of a cedar trunk, or even a soldier whose eyes are much older than his years can evoke strong emotions.

While many people enjoy looking through boxes of photos and letters stored in garages or attics, unless they are properly preserved, the impact of the photo can fade.

“Our stories are precious gifts. As memory makers we can prevent history from fading by diligently capturing it and journaling the stories of our family and ourselves,” writes Tasra Dawson, author of Real Women Scrap. “In taking the time to relive memories and capture moments on paper, you will also reap the rewards of slowing down long enough to breathe.”

Maintaining photo albums as well as personal journals have been traditions women have done for generations.

A new art form, scrapbooking, is a combination of both.

Alta resident Mary Thompson is one of 60,000 Creative Memories consultants whose motto is “dedicated to preserving the past, enriching the present and inspiring hope for the future.”

Thompsons’ first Creative Memories book was created for her husband, Glen.

“Since he was working out of town so much I wanted to make something for him to take on the road. I finished my first Creative Memories album in five hours. It was Father’s Day gift and he loved it. Now it has become a tradition and I make a Father’s Day book for him every year with the past year’s pictures.”

The most touching scrapbooking memory is not one Thompson has made for nieces, nephews or for her two sons, but the pages she made as a baby shower gift.

“It was all the e-mails that my friend Leslie sent. It was so touching the way she spoke about her granddaughter, Maisy Hope, who had been born premature,” said Thompson. “The first e-mail said ‘Sarah is having back pain; she may be in labor.’ And then another update: ‘Please pray for Sarah. She is in the hospital.’ Then ‘the baby is here...she is only 1 pound, 16 oz.’”

Thompson said the e-mail correspondence continued with the news they had found a hole in the infant’s heart, which would be corrected with surgery.

“We never saw a picture until she was healthy enough to come home,” Thompson continued. “It was on a Wednesday and a bunch of the ladies were coming over. I printed it off and just cried. She was so beautiful. Just to be able to keep those e-mails and put them on beautiful paper so they could tell the story was very special. And someday Maisy will be able to read those for herself and know how much she was loved.”

Lora Piscitelli, who has four children and runs a landscape design business, also enjoys working on albums at Thompson’s weekly Scrapshack gathering.

“I am working chronologically and am on Easter of 2006,” Piscitelli said. “It’s always hard to know where to start so I started at the very beginning. Mary has also helped me find ways to creatively display my photos. Working on scrapbooks has helped me take better pictures. I love the different textures of all the papers. I like trying different things, combining color and texture and journaling so the album becomes something that you will want to look at and read.”

These women have discovered that getting together to scrapbook is more than just putting together photo albums.

“For me spending time with other adults and having Mom time is important. Moms put themselves on the back burner. They come and have coffee and joke, but still get something of value in the end, ” added Thompson. “We may start talking about what pen or shape to use, but then the conversation will change to what should I do about my kids situation, or you should tell your husband that. It is a social outlet, but the one rule we have is that what is said at the Scrapshack stays at the Scrapshack!”

Much like the quilting bees that brought women together for a time of socializing while creating works of beauty and function, scrapbooking has become a way to preserve history for future generations.