The Book of US: A Guide to Scrapbooking about Relationships by Angie Pedersen encourages scrapbookers to explore and save what is unique and special about their most meaningful relationships.  It is designed to help with scrapbooking about friendships, family, love relationships, groups, work teams and communities.

This book follows the proven format that won the hearts of readers of The Book of ME and Growing Up ME, Angie Pedersen’s first two books that have sold over 150,000 copies to date.

The Book of US is divided into components that make relationships tick, such as their history, special jokes or language, celebrations, gifts or family ties.

Each chapter:

• defines the chapter theme
• explains how it is part of relationship dynamics
• provides layout and altered project examples
• includes loads of journaling prompts so you don't ever have to worry about what to write about
• lists ideas for photos, memorabilia and quotations so you'll know just what to include to give just the right tone.
• provides additional scrapbooking resources.

The chapters are illustrated with scrapbook pages from Angie, the creative team members of her web site, as well as 90+ other scrapbookers who together submitted the 140+ project examples.

Excerpt from the Introduction:

"Relationships figure prominently in most scrapbooks – rather than scrap random people off the street, people scrapbook about the people in their lives.  We see relationships of all kinds on scrapbook layouts – siblings, spouses, friends, co-workers.  But what’s missing is definitive journaling about the meaning behind those relationships.  A mother may create page after page about her children, but what’s missing is her feelings about why it’s important to her to be their mother, what she values about the time she spends with them, and why they love having her for a mom.  That same mother might create layouts about her children and the funny things they do with their friends, but what’s missing is specific examples of their interactions, and what they add to each others’ lives.

Relationships are about intimacy, about making connections, about allying yourself with another person.  Relationships are two-way, cause and effect, providing support and balance.  By noticing the relationships in your life, by taking the time to document them in a scrapbook, you are honoring how each relationship has enhanced and blessed your life.  Scrapbooking your relationships is a form of thanks to that person, recognizing the fact that they have shared themselves with you, and you have shared yourself with them.  Not only that, but scrapbooks about your relationships also preserve key  information that helps paint a picture of the lives of everyone involved, information that future genealogists will find priceless.  Unless you’re a hermit, most of your time is spent relating to other people – a chronicle of the bond between you, a definition of your “us”, is invaluable."

Scrappers' Testimonials

This book is an awesome tool to get all those photos we have of our ancestors and put them together with the stories we have been told. Being the oldest member of my family line, I feel a great pressure to not only get down the names of all those faces, but also the stories that have been passed down regarding those faces. This book is so full of ideas, examples, great journaling ideas and quotes, that I am excited to work on my very own "Book of Us." I now own all of Angie Pedersen's "Book of..." series, and although I love the others (and have a "Book of Me" going) this is by far my favorite scrapbooking inspiration.

- Kathie

The BOOK OF US is chocked full of ideas and gorgeous keepsakes! This is an idea book that will never be outdated due to the content of the reading and ideas to promote your own creativity! It goes beyond the "US" of hubby and wife and family which is what I had in mind when I picked it up. This is my FAVORITEST idea book I have!

- Wanda T.

This book is chock FULL of inspiration! The variety of layouts, mini books, and other items, along with the varying complexity of the projects makes this a book for EVERY paper crafter and scrapbooker, whether you've been crafting for a day, or many years. The photography is beautiful, colors are accurately represented...total "eye-candy!"

- Kathy M.

So, what's different between the Book of Me, and the Book of Us? Angie explains it well in her first chapter - The Book of Us celebrates our relationships.  Relationships are about intimacy and connections between people. It's a two-way, cause and effect process. Whereas a Book of Me may deal with your feelings on being a mother, a Book of Us will look at it from both directions - how you feel about being a mother, and how your child feels about being your child. The Book of Us gives the scrapbooker 150 plus pages of ideas on how to document and capture those relationships in all our lives.  This book really should be in every scrapbooker's library. You can use it to break a scrapper's block cycle - by ducking into the book at any point to apply the ideas. Or you can create an entire Book of Us themed album using the ideas within.

- Michelle Thompson, Scrapability