Congratulations to Helene aka Victoria32!!!!

A super huge woot woot goes to Heritage Scrap's own very talented, very creative Helene aka Victoria32 for receiving LOTD (Layout of the Day) at Digitals today!!

Helene used Hope, a beautiful kit by Forget Me Nots aka Theresa Lindamood, and the font is Twelfth Night.

Helene is a part of our Creative Challenge Team and is currently hostessing a huge project at Heritage Scrap called The Art of Cooking - Heritage Style.  She will be using her talents to help the rest of us finish a family cookbook, slowly, one step at a time, over the course of a year.  Many of us have attempted such projects in the past and have failed miserably!  At least I have!  But I am confident that Helene will keep us on track with her encouragement and the expert way she has broken down this arduous task into very achievable parts.

For the month of December, we are working on some of our traditional Christmas baking and holiday recipes.  We will also be scrapping our family traditions and stories from the kitchen using our salad, breads, desserts and many other sorts of recipes.  Many of us are also using our vintage recipes and layouts for other projects such as kitchen calendars, recipe cards and boxes, recipe card holders, and various other projects, both for ourselves or for personalized gifts.

My sister, Terri aka chaseweather, and I (Vintage Vicki aka LisasMom) are both doing Helene's challenge but are trying to make a layout each week instead of one each month.  Then we will also give each other our layouts to create an even larger cookbook album!  We are trying to make the 6x4 recipe cards to match our layouts so that by the end of the year-long project, we should each have a set of 100 or more recipe cards and a beautiful cookbook full of our family's favorite dishes!  Won't that be fun?!?!?

So, hop on over to Heritage Scrap and join in the fun!!!   With award winning talent like Helene's, you're sure to find inspiration galore and friends a-plenty!!

One giant pitfall!

Hi Heritage Hunters! I wanted to share the latest on my own Heritage Hunting and let you in on a big no-no!!

In my Grover line, we have a whole group of us working on it together on yahoo groups. It's wonderful to be able to share info and photos and what not, and not feel so alone when you hit that big brick wall! Our biggest and oldest brick wall has been around for about 10 years now, dating back to the original two researchers - my third cousin's wife, Alice, and me. We are looking for Elder Aaron C. Grover's parents and life before 1829.

Now, all this time we have believed that he was born in 1801 in Cayuga County, New York. Thinking back, I never remember having anything else but this bit of info on his birth, but I can't remember WHY we believe that!! We have no solid source. An elderly descendant told us that he thought all the old time Grovers came from Cayuga County. Not good enough by any means but we've held to it all these years.

By assuming this to be true, we have limited our search to that area or at least to New York. What a huge mistake! We still haven't found his birth info, in New York or anywhere, but we have just this past week realized the enormity of our mistake. A new cousin contacted us; he has just recently started his heritage hunting and has done quite nicely. He has followed a lot of the research that we have already done but he has branched out in ways we never considered. He is actually looking for Aaron's parents and birth info in other states!!! He has a few hot leads and even has a pretty convoluted theory that he threw out to the group. Many, many coincidental happenings and relationships to check out!

So, who knows what we will come up with - maybe nothing, but maybe the mother lode too! We will just have to keep digging but for now at least, we are digging in another state. We could be wrong or right but at least we have broken out of our tunnel vision and stepped out of the box!

Tons of New Gorgeous Products at the Heritage Scrap Shoppe!!

There is still time to spice up all your holiday projects at Heritage Scrap with our new and beautiful holiday kits!!  Many are on sale and one is free!!  How much better can it get?!?!?  So....... When the weather outside is frightful, stop in our shoppe, its so delightful!!  And since we've no place to go, Let us shop, let us shop, let us shop!!!     hehehehe  Oh darn, there I go with that singing again!!

Well, anyway, here are some previews to enjoy while you relish my wonderful singing!!  Stop in at the Heritage Scrap Shoppe for a hot, delicious spot of mulled cider or deliciously nutty eggnog while you shop our huge selection.  Enjoy the old fashioned Christmas carols playing in the background, feel the warmth from the yule log as huge, lacy snowflakes fall lazily outside of the big bay window ..........

Twelve Days of Christmas Progressive Layout Challenge - Christmas Palooza at Heritage Scrap

Oh you just have to hop on over to the Heritage Scrap gallery!!!  Things are looking pretty fun with the Twelve Days of Christmas Progressive Challenge!!  Everyone is adding and adding to their layouts and it's starting to get a little hairy!  Today we added 5 ball ornaments.  Ok, still fairly easy but what about tomorrow?  And the next day??  Yikes!

Its not too late to join in the fun either!  We've only done the first five days. 

Our gracious hostess, Helene aka Victoria32, has posted these instructions:

Please join me in "The 12 Days Of Christmas Progressive Challenge". We will build a layout over the next 12 days using items listed in this forum thread each day.  We have the Wonderful Christmas Collab kits in the store and would like you use these to create your layouts.  At the end you will have a beautiful Christmas LO for your album, and you will be entered into a draw to win a kit of your choice from The Believe Collab Collection of Kits.

(Oh yeah!! Oh yeah!!  Doing the happy dance over here!  I forgot about the PRIZE!!!  Ooohh-la-la!!)

Day 1
The first day of Christmas my true love sent to me
A parteridge in a pear tree.
(Now "partridge")

So let us begin:  On the 1st day: create a LO in the size you are going to scrap and add 1 Christmas Tree.

• Q:  Are we allowed to resize elements and move them around as this challenge progresses?

• A:  I will allow you to move and resize as necessary so that you will end up with a pretty LO for your album.  No replacement of pieces will be allowed however, so once it's part of the LO, you may resize or move it, but not REMOVE it.

Progressive Scrap Day 1

by Mary Sue

(Looks a little nekkid!!  Yikes!)

Day 2
The second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
"Two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree"

So today I would like you to find and add 2 photos you would like to use. Crop them into any shape you wish and place them on the LO with the Christmas Tree. Post your day 2 LO in the gallery.

12 Days_Day 2

by Helene aka Victoria32

(Still looks a little weird Helene!!  Sorry!  Just sayin'.....)

Day 3:
"The third day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Three French Hens
Two turtle doves
And a parteridge in a pear tree."

So today we are going to add 3 papers, 1 background paper, and 2 others, either as mats or paper shapes as you desire.  Please place these under your tree or photos as mats.  Please feel free to post your work in progress.  If you are only finding the challenge now, you are welcome to join and catch up.  I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Progressive Challenge - Day 3
by Vintage Vicki aka LisasMom

(Ahhh..... Much better if I do say so myself!!  No more nekkid layouts!!  hehehe)

Day 4

The fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Four Colly birds . . .
(Now "Calling birds", but originally "Colly birds" = black birds., "Colly" means "black as coal" in old English, as in "colliery".)

Your layouts are looking great so far.  So today we are going to add 4 star elements to your layout. These can be anywhere on the layout.  Please post your work in progress for us to see.

4th day of Christmas Challenge
by Linda aka lyndabook

 (WooHoo!!  Lookin' better and better!!)

Day 5
The fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Five gold rings . . .
(Originally these were pictured as "golden ring"-necked pheasants, not jewelry. All the first five gifts were birds.)

Your layouts are looking really great so far. I hope you are enjoying the challenge. Ready for Day 5?  So the challenge for today is to add 5 ball ornaments.  Place these anywhere you like on your layout.

Progressive-Scrap
by Marnie

So what do you think??  Nothing too hard yet huh??  Well, come on Helene! (Ooohhhh, no, no, no, I will not start singing "Come on Eileen"!!  I won't, I won't, I won't)  Step it up a little!  This is a challenge, so CHALLENGE us!  I want to see some serious sweating here!!  hahaha  NOT!  I know we all want to create beautiful masterpieces to cherish for all times!  But its nice to have a little fun sometimes too.  So come over to Heritage Scrap and join in if you haven't already!  Remember, there is a PRIZE involved!!  hahaha

Take care until next time!!

Vintage Vicki aka LisasMom

Heritage Scrap Creative Challenge Team

Digital Scrapbooking Hybrid Projects - Candle Wraps

Hi everyone! I'm so excited about some of the projects that my sister, Terri, and I worked on over the long, relaxing Thanksgiving weekend!  Terri has a huge, well stocked craft room with about anything you'd ever want in it!  We didn't even have to go shopping!  Before Terri started digiscrapping, she did a lot of paper scrapping and regular crafting.  At one time, Terri and my mom made some beautiful candles that I wanted to try.  Terri took a wedding invitation, scanned it, printed on very thin paper (which was very frustrating she said!), pinned the printed invitation to the candle, then heated it with her embossing heater.  It barely melted the candle and put a thin coat of wax over the invitation making it look as though it was embedded in the candle.  She put a bit of lace and pearls on the bottom, put it on a glass plate, and presented the bride with a gorgeous gift that she just adored!  We didn't do anything quite that fancy but what we did do turned out pretty nice I thought!

I just have to share! We will soon have a hybrid project gallery at Heritage Scrap along with a forum to share instructions and so forth, but I just couldn't wait until it all got *formally* set up!! hehehe  So, it's my blog and I'll blog if I want to, blog if I want to, blog if I want to - you would blog too if it happened to you!!  dood, dood, dood, do, da, dooo!  Whoops!  Sorry, gotta knock off all that singing!  Usually I'm shy about singing in front of people but y'all just bring it out of me!!!  hahahaha

Anyway.....  Our first attempt was with all paper.  I had this idea in my head for some time so we started with that - I wanted to try our five generations of mothers and daughters that I've done other projects with.  We were just going to put their pictures on varying heights of candles but then went with some coordinating background papers.  We put it all on with brads to come up with this:

We added some bows and put them on a plate.  I want to add a small bud vase in the back by Grama Grover with a single red silk rose and some greenery.  I also want to get some of those clear smooth glass stones to put on the plate for a little something extra.  The backs look like this:

Now, I really like these with the pictures nice and large and close up.  I love the papers and think that it will be really nice when I finish up with the displaying portion.  But when we were done, Terri looked at me and said, "I thought we were going to digiscrap these!"  Oh yeah!  duh!!  We ARE digiscrappers now after all!!!  LOL

So we came up with these:

Aren't they soooo pretty!!  That's my husband and I on the largest candle with our son and his girlfriend on the left side and our daughter and her boyfriend on the right side.  I wanted to make a votive cup sized candle with little Jake on it but Terri only had a blue one handy and I wanted white or maroon.  So I can add that later.  Terri had a clear, glass decorative plate to sit them on but they just didn't fit exactly the way I wanted them to.  She put her set on a mirror tile and it was beautiful.  So that's what I'll probably end up getting for mine too when I add Jake's candle.

They are so incredibly easy to make!   First you measure around your candle remembering to add some overlap room.  If you print on cardstock or some other heavier paper, you'll need a little more overlap so that it lays nice and flat.  If you use thinner paper, your overlap area can be smaller.  Then you measure the height of your candle, leaving room at the top and bottom for the candle to show some - maybe about a half inch or so but really just whatever you want.

These are the measurements you use when creating your canvas in your digital scrapping program.  Because you will be printing these, you'll need 300 dpi or higher usually.  I used my favorite Heritage Scrap kits to create my layouts and backgrounds.  For the back, I used a background paper that would give me plenty of room for that overlap area without looking funny because it doesn't align properly.

After creating your wrap in your scrapping program, print it out, cut it out, and wrap your candle!!  Use straight pins with small heads to attach them in the back.  You can also use brads, buttons, or whatever you like to decorate the candle but the straight pins give you a good, solid hold.

The rest is up to you!  Add what ever other embellishments you'd like - ribbons, bows, buttons, lace, patches, and such to make your candle your very own creation!  Display your single candle or a group like mine on a decorative plate, tile, doily, or just by themselves on the shelf.  Any way you do it, I'm sure you'll come up with a masterpiece that you and your family will cherish for a long time to come!!

Heritage Hunting - Special Societies

Many times in genealogy, we all hit the “brick wall”!  It gets frustrating and we may also hit the end of our patience!  We will be exploring many ways to overcome this, including getting into the new book my sister gave me called the Desperate Genealogist’s Idea Book:  Creative Ways to Outsmart Your Elusive Ancestors.  Doesn’t that sound fascinating?!?  Well, I haven’t gotten to read it yet, so for this week we will stick with one of my ideas – Special Societies.

There are basically two types of societies to talk about tonight – the ones that our ancestors belonged to and the ones that can help us today.

I have seen hundreds of obituaries and one of the main things that they always mention are the churches and organizations that a person was associated with.  Of course, you would check out the church mentioned.  But you can also check the organization mentioned.  Some examples might include the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), Freemasons, Grand Army of the Republic, local Granges, and so forth.  Many of these organizations were quite large and organized, complete with published member lists and short biographies.  Always Google or otherwise check this information regarding the person’s involvement.

Some links for this type research:

Cyndi’s List
Family Tree Connection - Fraternal Organizations
Freemasonry
Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF)
Grand Army of the Republic


The other type of societies that will help us with our “brick walls” are the special societies of today.  I mentioned First Families in one of the first Heritage Hunting chats and several people were unaware of the organization.  There are First Families groups at almost every level including America’s First Families.  Most states and counties also have such groups.  There are also DAR and SAR groups throughout the country recognizing the sons and daughters of the American Revolution.  There are hundreds of specialized groups such as International Black Genealogy, German Genealogy, The Federation of East European Family History Societies, Rabbinic Genealogy Special Interest Group, and many more. 

Most times, the entry requirements for these groups are very strict and thoroughly checked and rechecked by the group’s members.  There can be no assumptions and no questionable sources.  Each and every connection and fact needs to have a verifiable source that leaves no room for doubts.  Many of the organizations then publish or otherwise make available the lineage and the research associated with it.

Some links to get further information on this type group:

Cyndi’s List
America’s First Families
Daughters of the American Revolution
National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution
German Genealogy


Besides the special interest groups, there are more generalized groups such as state and county genealogical societies, historical societies, local history groups, oral history projects, museums and libraries.  On the web, there are sites such as US Gen Web, Find a Grave, and other volunteer organizations.  You can usually contact these types organizations in the areas your ancestors lived or visited and obtain information for a small fee or donation.  Small groups sometimes have a lot of information and know how different families and clans intermarried and interacted within the community.  Oftentimes there are pictures, journals, family Bibles and artifacts that the local members of the family have donated to a museum or library collection. 

Links to generalized groups:

Allen County (Indiana) Public Library
Somerset County PAGenWeb
New Mexico Genealogical Society 
Allen County (Ohio) Museum


There are virtually an unlimited number of resources available with just a small amount of digging.  Many will turn up nothing at all; but one may just turn out to be the mother lode!!