Vintage Vicki

Victorian Rose's Life Book Project: Week 3: Childhood

2010-10-07T11:45:00.000-04:00

Our babies are growing up now, and we are moving on to the Childhood stage of life. This week should not be about their school days, as we will be doing that chapter next week. This page should demonstrate your subject's early childhood before school, or their life outside of school. It can include siblings, as they were a large part of your subject's childhood.

Remember, journaling is the key! If you didn't include information about what was happening in the world on your birth page, here's another chance. What kinds of things did kids do when your subject was a child? How much did they pay to go to the movies? Who starred in them? What songs did they listen to? This is a page everyone should be able to do, even with limited personal information.

If you don't know much about your subject's early childhood days, do some research into what was happening in the world during those years. If you have a photo of your subject, that's great. If you don't, concentrate on the journaling. What was life like for a typical child at that point in history? Who was their primary care giver? Did they have brothers and sisters to play with? Think outside the box! :)

When my cousin interviewed my dad's cousin, Millie, most of the stories she told him about her childhood had a lot to do with the things she did with (and to :lol:) her sister growing up, so I did this page about sisters: (click for larger view in the gallery)

The other stories she told about her childhood, I just put together on a page I called Cherished Memories. I didn't have any pictures to go with the journaling, so I found some on the internet and asked a cousin who still lives in the area to take another one for me.

If you don't have any information at all about your subject's childhood, you may wish to do something like I've done here, in this layout called Two Generations as children.

Here's a page I made of my Dad and two of his siblings as children. (This uses my Childhood Quick Page.)

And speaking of kits and quick pages...

Here are some suggestions for you of my products that go well with the Childhood theme from the Heritage Scrap Store. There are also many other products by other designers that go well with the Childhood Theme.

QUICK PAGES

This Good Old Days word art set might also work well for this page:

So that's it for this week. Please post your layouts in the Week #3 - Childhood Gallery and try to post a link back here in this thread.

Have fun! I can't wait to see your layouts!

©2010 Vicki Pasterik Victorian Rose Designs

Life Book Week 1: Getting Started

2010-09-22T16:38:00.001-04:00

Here is a posting from the blog of my bff Vicki aka Victorian Rose of the famous Victorian Rose Designs exclusively at Heritage Scrap!! She has started her third session of the very popular Life Books at Heritage Scrap. Here are the details from her blog:

And now.... the moment we've all been waiting for!

Let's get those LIFE BOOKS started! (If you're not sure what a Life Book is, please go back and read the thread, "What is a Life Book".)

By now you should have:

1.) Chosen your subject (the person whose life you will be chronicling); and

2.) Either interviewed them or made arrangements to interview them, if they are living, or started gathering all of your information if they are not.

This week we are going to focus on two things: Writing the text of the Life Book and Scrapping the Cover.

ABOUT WRITING THE LIFE BOOK:

For me, the easiest thing to do is to type out the text of the Life Book in my word processing program. Of course, I know that some of you just prefer to write it week by week as you go along. Whatever works for you...

You may choose to write it in the first person (i.e. "I was born on April 16, 1932") or the third person (i.e. "Anna was born on April 16, 1832"). Either way will work, just make sure it is consistent throughout the book.

Once you have the text written, you can go back to it and copy and paste it as you layout your scrapbook.

Once you have it typed up, go back and separate it into sections. You may want to use the Life Book Schedule which contains the list of 26 topics we will be scrapping together to help you get your information organized. You will want to start with Birth and continue chronologically through the person's life.

Here is a sample of what your text might look like:

BIRTH (1st Person)

I was born February 12, 1809, the second child to Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a one-room log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm in southeast Hardin County, Kentucky. I was named, simply, Abraham Lincoln, and was not given a middle name. (Information from Wikipedia.)

CHILDHOOD (3rd Person)

When he was nine, his 34-year-old mother died of milk sickness. Soon after, his father married Sarah Bush Johnston, with whom he became very close and whom he called "Mother". But he became increasingly distant from his father. Lincoln regretted his father's lack of education, and did not like the hard labor associated with frontier life. Still, he willingly took on all chores expected of him as a male in the household, albeit young, tall and thin. As was the custom, Lincoln also dutifully fulfilled the obligation of a son to give his father all earnings from his work for third parties until age 21. In later years, he would also occasionally lend his father money. In 1830, fearing a milk-sickness outbreak, the family settled on public land in Macon County, Illinois. (Information from Wikipedia.)

That should give you some food for thought.

ABOUT SCRAPPING YOUR LIFE BOOK:

You will want to be thinking about what supplies you will use to make your Life Book. Of course, you are free to use any kits you would like, but it's nice to have some consistency throughout the book. Take a look in the Heritage Scrap Shoppe. We have several kits that would make an awesome Life Book and many of the Designers' Kits coordinate very well together. I also have several Quick Pages which can be used to make Life Book layouts quickly. All you have to do is add your photos and text. The rest is done for you. (Don't forget – if you use 50% or more of my products (Victorian Rose Designs) on your layouts, I'll throw in a posting bonus.)

This week, while you are working on writing your book, go ahead and Scrap the Cover. You can see some sample covers in the Life Book Gallery under Week 1: Cover that were made by Life Bookers in the last round.

And while you are at it, you might want to go ahead and do a dedication page if you will be presenting the Life Book to the subject when you are finished with it. I did a simple one for my Dad's cousin, Millie that looks like this.

Once you have your cover done, please upload it to the Week 1: Cover Gallery, and post a link to it here in this thread. You have until just before the Chat next Monday (9 pm EST) to get them done. At the next chat, we will move on to the first chapter: Birth.

So, there you go! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them here in this forum, email me at vicki@pasterik.com, PM me, or Facebook me. Have fun!!

All Life Book Content Copyright 2010 Vicki Pasterik Victorian Rose Designs

2010-08-02T21:29:00.000-04:00

~ Heritage Scrap August ~

~ Designer of the Month ~
~ Rachael Hudnall ~

A Bit about Rachael:

This year I am celebrating 10 years with the most wonderful man. Every day is the best day I've ever had. Both of us work full time but our schedules allow lots of time with each other and the family. Together we have an 11 year old son and a 13 year old daughter. We were blessed with children, who each day, make me feel like the best, the coolest, the most awesome mother on Earth. As a family we extremely enjoy spending weekends away in the city or camping with our scout group.

Since kindergarten Arts & Crafts was my favorite class. Junior high and high school brought along real art classes. After moving out on my own, I wanted to continue creative endeavors. I quickly found that adult crafts came with a big mess, a loss of the kitchen table, and an empty bank account. After several years of avoiding the local Michael's (even though it called to me to just come have a look) I tried paper scrapping. 3 layouts later and I remembered why I don't do crafty things and began looking online for clip art and patterns to save a little money. Then I came across digital scrapbooking. With some experience with PSP, I thought, "I can do this." Soon after my thinking changed to, "I can make that." 4 years later and here we are.

Several years ago my mother in law gave me a copy of Family Tree Maker. Never did I know that my history was so interesting. There was so much I never knew I didn't know. The more I learn the more I wonder how much more I don't know. After finding Heritage Scrap I've been obsessed with getting it all down into a gorgeous scrapbook. I keep getting distracted with the research part but I'm currently working on my first (of many) family history album.

I absolutely love creating digital scrapbook designs and I thank all of you for allowing me to share my passion with you. --Rachael Hudnall

~ Rachael's Specials ~

Rachael has put together specials for the entire month. Each week she will offer you great savings on her gorgeous shop. Her first up is a buy one kit, get another for 50% off. You don't need to enter a coupon code - just put the kits in the cart. For every one at full price, you will get an automatic discount on another. Easy Peasy Fun!

~ Designer of the Month Challenge ~

~ at Heritage Scrap ~

So there you go, start scrapping with Rachael's products and fill up her gallery! Use her products exclusively on your layouts and submit only new layouts made in August. Make as many layouts as you want using as many kits as you can. We will follow the same rules as last month except the prizes will be:

1st Place - using the most kits from Rachael's Heritage Scrap Shoppe - A prize of your choice from the Winner's Prize Gallery!!!

2nd Place - making the most layouts using Rachael's products - A prize of your choice from the Winner's Prize Gallery!!!

3rd Place - a totally random draw from all entries (one entry per layout) - A prize of your choice from the Winner's Prize Gallery!!!

OK, let's get those new layouts in to fill Rachael's gallery!! Save your spot here in this thread and keep editing your post, adding all the new information like you did last month. Post your layouts in the gallery and link back here to be eligible for the posting bonus and random drawing prize. It is important to link back here so that I know you have entered. I couldn't possibly find everyone's layouts in the galleries without a link! You have until midnight eastern time on August 31 to complete your entries. More than one layout is allowable and will count towards more entries in the drawing; however, there is only one posting bonus per participant per challenge.

Everyone participating in the challenge this month will receive a posting bonus of your choice from our new Posting Bonus gallery (It is still pretty bare but we will be adding more throughout the month!) All prizes and posting bonuses will be awarded on September 1.

Also keep in mind that everyone participating in all eight monthly challenges will become a member of the Heritage Honors Club and will receive a prize from the Club Prizes gallery and a special item to include in your signature line to show off the prestige of being a member of the Heritage Honors Club. It will be similar to the *Certified Heritage Hunter* insignia in my signature line. The eight monthly challenges are:

Designer of the Month
Journaling Challenge
Quote Challenge
Lyrical Challenge
Font Challenge
Heritage World of Holidays
Progressive Challenge
Art of Cooking Heritage Style

If you need help posting or editing, give a shout, lots of helpers around here!

Good luck everyone!!!

Heritage Scrap Announcement

2010-07-31T14:20:00.001-04:00

In the newsletter sent out on Thursday, there were coupon ads for DigiZines by Teri and Jean Daughtery Designs. The start date for Teri's promotion was incorrect in the ad shown in the newsletter. Due to separate technical issues on the back end of Jean's cart - which didn't show up until very late last night, we will be going live with her coupon on Monday. Teri's coupon was meant to start tomorrow, August 1st as that is our birthday. We will do whatever we can to get Jean's activated tomorrow as well - but if we can't then it will be live on Monday. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have incurred.

The store is currently on sale for

50% off

Saturday and Sunday

- so there is still opportunity for great savings in both of their shops.

Please remember that all purchases for $25 or greater on both Saturday and Sunday qualify you for one of two

$25 gift certificates

Spend $50 or greater on either Saturday, Sunday or both, and you qualify for two entries into the drawing. $75 will qualify you for 3 entries. We will announce the winners of the drawing on Monday. These certificates will be available for use in the store beginning on September 1st.

Regards,

Kate McClellan, Heritage Scrap

2010-07-29T17:58:00.001-04:00

Heritage Scrap News!!!

Heritage Scrap is turning 2 years old!!

To show our appreciation for your patronage and support of our special shop, we have a big celebration planned this weekend - July 30 and Aug1.

We will have gifts with purchase, freebies, challenges, two raffles for a $25 gift certificate AND a STOREWIDE 50% sale all weekend long!

AND our new collab, Heritage Builders Vol 2 will released on Friday!!!

PLUS - the Designers have specials in their stores just for you!

The delightful deals will be going on all month - but the blowout sale is just this weekend, so be sure to stop in and SAVE big!!

Here are a few of the upcoming deals - please check back on Friday for all the scoop!!

New Designer at Heritage Scrap (and she has a freebie!!)

2010-07-27T09:38:00.002-04:00

Heritage Scrap is very pleased to announce the addition of Lisa Bowman of Rebel without a Pause Designs to our design staff!! Lisa (aka Rebel!!) comes to us with vast experience in both digital graphics design and family history research - a combination that is extremely important here at Heritage Scrap.

Read more about Rebel and get to know her a little by reading her Rebel without a Pause Designs blog and continuing to check out her store at Heritage Scrap. She is currently adding product to the store but has available for sale immediately:

While you are looking through her products, be sure a pick up her introduction FREEBIE!!!

Rebel will be joining in the August Birthday Bash activities at Heritage Scrap! She is also planning to be heavily involved with the Life Book and Heritage Hunting Projects so you will be able to meet her at those chats! So come out and have some fun with Heritage Scrap's newest design team member!

18th Century Pennsylvania German Naming Customs

2010-07-17T18:33:00.001-04:00

WOW!!! Heritage Hunters, I have just been directed to THE MOST wonderful, informative, and helpful article that I've read in a very long time, 18th Century Pennsylvania German Naming Customs!!! Stacey Jewell Stahl, a marvelous digiscrap designer (I'm sorry I don't know where she is selling her designs currently), posted it on Facebook and I am so thankful that she took the time to do so. It is an old article actually, so some of you may have already seen it or something similar, and ask *Well, where have you been Vicki?!?!?* But to me, it is new and very useful information concerning all those frustrating German names where everyone in the same family was named Johann!! Now that my Lutheran German names make more sense, I'll have to check to see if the same holds true for the Catholic French-Canadians where everyone is a Joseph or Marie!

Check out the article, 18th Century Pennsylvania German Naming Customs, and let's get some chatter going about it in the Heritage Scrap Heritage Hunters forum! In fact, let's make this the focus of the next Heritage Hunter's chat on Tuesday, July 20 at 9:00 p.m. eastern time in the Heritage Scrap chat room!!

Our NEW Designers Collab Collection - AT LAST - is now available in the Heritage Scrap Shoppe!!

2010-06-15T11:08:00.023-04:00

Our NEW Designers Collab Collection - AT LAST - is now available in the Heritage Scrap Shoppe!! The kits in this collection are regularly priced at $3.99 but will be offered for a limited time for the low price of $2.50 each! Buy one or buy the whole collection, we are sure you will love AT LAST!! Beautiful and timeless, with the elegant colors of black and ivory, accented in gold make this a versatile kit for wedding, or other special occasions with a vintage touch.

Beeker's General Store in Pemberville, Ohio

2010-05-28T10:07:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! I've found the most amazing little general store called Beeker's General Store! It's in the small town of Pemberville, Ohio where quite a few of my ancestors and relatives have lived. It is chocked full of everything that you could ever imagine! I loved it! The people there were so friendly and helpful. I was looking for the old phone company where my beloved Grandma Elsie had worked many years ago. They helped me find it and told me many old stories! I loved my visit with them! And I did get to see where she had spent so much of her time so long ago.

The phone company was in a building that is now an antique store. That lady was very helpful also and showed me where things had been even showing me the leftover markings and holes in the floors and walls where huge telephone equipment had been installed. The offices and rooms where the operators had worked were upstairs. As I stood at the bottom of those stairs looking upward, I felt some of the burden that my grandmother probably felt. She had recently lost her husband and had 5 children left with her to feed, clothe and house. How weary she must have felt at times! As I climbed the stairs, I couldn't help but feel and think the things that she must have felt and thought. At the top of the stairs, in the rooms that held the operator's equipment, I felt my grandma's presence. I felt her talking to me, whispering the words of loneliness and desperation that she felt during that time. She got through those years and went on to be the proud mother of five grown, outstanding children and many, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren!

I never imagined that I would ever have that experience! But thanks to the good folks at Beeker's General Store, I had one of the closest moments with my wonderful grandmother! I can't wait to go back for another visit to this marvelous little town!

I found them on Facebook - Beeker's General Store! And they have a cool give-away on their blog!! Be sure and check it out! But don't enter the drawing because I want to win!!! LOL

National Scrapbook Day Is Here!!!!

2010-04-30T14:08:00.001-04:00

It's here!!! NATIONAL SCRAPBOOK DAY!!! I have waited so long for this day!!!!! Just look what is happening at Heritage Scrap!! And ........... I heard they were giving away all kinds of freebies - some for going to the chats, doing the forum challenges, random drawings, hidden freebies in the forums and galleries and a grand prize drawing for a $20.00 gift certificate to the Heritage Scrap Shoppe!! How can you lose! Everyone is a winner at Heritage Scrap!!

Want to have an exciting get together in Ohio in the fall?!?

2010-03-25T15:19:00.003-04:00

Hi Heritage Hunters and Scrappers!!! Family historians and adventurers too!!

In the Heritage Hunters chat we've been tossing around a few ideas of having a crop/get-together sometime in the fall here in Vacationland, Ohio! This would cover just about everybody with every kind of interest!

First let me also say that Frannie, a full-time RVer and avid genealogist that some of you have met in a few chats, has told us of a big gathering of her genealogist friends at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They will be camping at the Allen County Fairgrounds from Sunday, September 19 to Sunday, September 26. I have to get more details from her, but as it sounds now they must have some sort of presentations and meetings planned. As soon as I get those details, I will pass them along to everyone so you can make your plans. My sister Terri aka chaseweather and her friend Brenda aka beewells both live fairly near to Fort Wayne so they will be attending many of the programs I'm sure. I plan to take vacation that week and stay with Terri (can I, please??) so that I can attend most events and do lots of research on my family history. We can spend lots of chats preparing for this major adventure in the weeks leading up to it so that we are all ready when we hit the big time! Many people are totally overwhelmed when they first visit Allen County Public Library and therefore, miss out on many resources available. I know I sure was! So, while you keep all of that in mind, consider this ......

We were thinking of getting together here in Ohio where it's kind of central to a lot of members and friends. It's right on the lake about half way between Toledo and Cleveland, a little closer to Toledo. My friend, Lorrae - my little Jake's Mom, manages a very nice family resort here in Port Clinton where we will be gathering. There are timeshare cottages, a hotel, and a campground at the resort, along with the rec center with meeting rooms, snack bar and indoor swimming pool with jacuzzi!! I'm sure she would give us a special deal on our weekend!

My son's graduation party in the Poolside Room

Erie Islands Resort and Marina

We could meet to meet each other (! LOL !) and to scrap, research, or whatever else sounds interesting! There are many historical places of interest nearby including another excellent genealogy intense library at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. I used to be a part-time curator at our little town historical museum so I have many contacts in the area. One lady does fireside cooking demonstrations and there are a few speakers I could round up for various presentations and such.

And, not to forget the hubbys and kids, there are many, many family activities available at the resort and in the area. We are right on the lake for the fishermen - many walk on fishing boats. Wineries are everywhere! Restaurants, museums, history, shopping, attractions, and fun every where you look! The Lake Erie Islands have lots to offer and so on and so on! So you could pack up the whole family (Vicki!!) and have a mini-vacation!

Now we just need to find a weekend!! I was thinking October or November if we can dodge all the holidays and vacations! Victorian Rose Vicki will be on vacation over the weekend of Columbus Day (October 9-11) and we can't do Halloween weekend (October 30-31) or Thanksgiving (November 25-28). That leaves about 2 weekends in October and a couple in November. I was actually looking at the long Veteran's Day weekend, November 11-14. Many of you may be off work or school for some of that time and some of us will be able to do the whole four days. Our local American Legion and VFW will have Veteran ceremonies that we can attend to pay tribute to our veterans and troops, and then we can take it from there!

So, let's use this thread to toss around dates and ideas for places to visit or presentations/meetings/whatever that you want to get set-up. Just throw in any ideas that you have and especially if you can attend or not so I can start getting some numbers and things around.

Hope everyone can attend and bring hubbys, families and friends!!! This could be really cool!!

2010-03-19T13:46:00.002-04:00

Heritage Hunting

Hi Heritage Hunters!! Look at this little helper that I cooked up just for you when you post your Heritage Hunting layouts in the Heritage Hunters gallery at Heritage Scrap!

At the March 23 chat, we'll discuss how to use the leading questions of who, what, when, where, how, and why. Then we will put our templates to use!!

You can use a template like this to create an interviewing helper like this journal prompt card:

Then you can mail the card to a relative to answer the question or you can use it to create a gorgeous layout showing the answer to the question!

The journaling on this is:
(On the journal prompt card) "Who has been the biggest influence in your life?"
(Near the journal prompt card) "Thank you dear sweet Lord for these loving people!"
(On the layout as the answer) "My grandmother, Grama Elsie, has had the most influence on me both as a child and as an adult. She taught me all the important stuff of life - how to be loving, caring, giving, sharing, fun, comforting, and overall just plain - WONDERFUL like she was. These are the things I am now trying to teach my two amazing children! Now they have taken her place as the most influential people in my life!"

Credits: Layout and sample journal prompt card used Faith Page Kit and Faith Companion Page Kit by Victorian Rose Designs, available at The HeritageScrap Shoppe ©2009 by Vicki Pasterik, all rights reserved.

Sooooooooo.......since we were talking at the last chat about searching for old family photos and documents on eBay, we decided to give it a try and create a layout using our findings! Or our frustrations! Either way, let's create a layout journaling about our efforts and possible hits! Post your layout in the Heritage Hunters gallery at Heritage Scrap with a link to the chat forum by the start of the next chat on Tuesday, March 23 and you will receive this posting bonus!! No random drawing here - everyone wins in Heritage Hunters!!

Happy Hunting and Happy Scrappin'!!

Ramblings on the 1940s

2010-03-14T16:15:00.001-04:00

Hello fellow Heritage Scrappers and Family Historians!

While checking the gorgeous new products at Heritage Scrap the other day, I say Jean Daugherty's new 1940s kit. What a marvelous collection!

It got me thinking about the 1940s and how tough times were for families; and then the war came along and things got even tougher. Jean's kit shows some of the things going on, the posters, the fund raisers, and how people were generally really behind the troops! Patriotism was at a very high level. Then I saw this layout:

James

by Linda aka lyndabook

Again, I'm struck by the patriotism of the era despite the hard times. It was like the whole country was in it together! What a wonderful sense of community!

Later that evening, I was working on some of my family history as I had just gotten some new obituaries from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library. When they print a scan of the obituary from the paper, they leave the surrounding articles, ads, and such in tact. The obit was from 1944 and had an article about the war included AND this little gem:

A-13 Coupon's Expiration Near -- Office of Price Administration Tuesday reminded motorists that "A-13" gasoline ration coupons will expire Thursday. Six "A-14" coupons in each basic "A" book will become valid Friday, December 22, OPA said. Each coupon will be worth four ....

And there it is cut off. That little article reminded me of an incident at my town's local historical museum where I used to work part-time. We would forever get boxes of "junk" that people would drop off saying it was from Grandmother's attic or some such thing. Sometimes it really did contain all junk that we threw away and other times it would hold wonderful things! One time while going through such a box, I came across an old coin purse that was ratty and falling apart. I was about to toss it in the trash when something told me to check the inside. To my amazement, I found several small cardboard coins with much writing on them. Checking them closer, they turned out to be ration coins to be used when buying sugar, coffee, and other grocery items during the 1940s! So that day we were lucky with our box of "junk" that really was a box of treasures! We put them aside for an exhibit later after more research was done. I quit working there before the research and exhibit were done and the new curator didn't seem inclined to do anything with them. So they are again sitting in a box, although they are properly preserved now, just waiting for the chance to show their former use.

What stories have you heard from your grandparents or great-grands about those times? Do you have any treasures from the period? Leave us a comment telling us your story, or better yet, make a layout and post it in the Heritage Hunters forum and gallery at Heritage Scrap. We'd love to hear more about this period of time. Many people are equating the hard economic times we are experiencing right now with those of our elders during the 40s. It will be interesting to see some of the similarities but also the differences. Then stop in to our Heritage Hunters chat on Tuesday evening at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time while we talk about the 40s and what our ancestors did back then. The chat is in the Heritage Scrap chat room and all are welcome. We usually have a small group so chatting is easy and fun! We also have fun things like chat freebies and posting bonuses. Hope to see you Tuesday evening!

Photographic Records

2010-03-12T13:38:00.002-05:00

Check out the Heritage Hunters forum at Heritage Scrap for some very helpful information regarding family history research! Post your questions or brick walls that you have and we will be happy to try to answer them or at least help point you in a helpful direction. If you find any helpful sites during your research that you would like to share with fellow hunters, please post them in the forum.

At the last Heritage Hunters chat, some members were asking a lot of questions about photographs and what they might expect to find in relation to their family research. Member Mary Sue found a very helpful site about dating old photographs and I am reprinting some of that information here. You should be able to compare dates from your family history and find if there are photographs available for that time period and what kind you can expect to find. This information was copied from the site Timeline of Photographic History:

Timeline of Photographic History

1725 -1727
Johann Heinrich Schulze was the first known person to record experiments on the actions of the sun darkening chemicals. He was successful in determining it was the light not the heat that produced the results.
1802 -
Thomas Wedgwood produced silhouettes by using silver nitrate. These were very light sensitive and faded in a very short time.
1806 -
Dr. William Wollaston invented a device for artists which he called the Camera Lucida. This reflected the image onto a paper right side up so an artist could trace it.
1816 -
Joseph Nicephore Niépce first attempted to create a photograph using sensitized paper but it would be over ten years before he would succeed at keeping an image from fading quickly.
1819 -
Sir John Frederick William Herschel discovered that hyposulphite of soda could dissolve silver salts. 20 years later his discovery would be used as a photographic fixative.
1826 - 1827
Joseph Nicephore Niépce took a photograph of roof tops outside of his attic window. This is the first universally credited permanent photograph still in existence.
1829 -
Joseph Nicephore Niépce formed a partnership with Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre. Joseph Nicephore Niépce died in 1833.
1834 -
The earliest known paper negative was produced by Henry Fox Talbot. He announced his process of using paper for photographs.
1837 -
Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre created the first Daguerreotype photograph.
1839 -
Daguerreotype photographic process was patented by Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre. These images were produced on a silver coated copper plate. --- Henry Fox Talbot announced his new photographic process called the Photogenic Drawing, which was different from Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre's. --- Hippolyte Bayard held the first exhibit of photographs although he did not publish his process of using sensitized paper until 1841. --- Sir John Frederick William Herschel was the first to make the term photograph popular.
1841 -
Henry Fox Talbot patented his new photographic process the Calotype, where the photograph was developed onto paper. The results were not as detailed as a Daguerreotype but an unlimited number of copies could be made.
1843 -
The first photographically illustrated book titled "British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions" was published. The author was a woman named Anna Atkins. She used photograms for her illustrations.
1844 -
Henry Fox Talbot produced a book titled "The Pencil of Nature". This was the first book to use real photographs.
1848 -
Abel Niépce discovered a way to make negatives on glass by using egg whites, salt, potassium iodide, and gallic acid.
1849 -
Sir David Brewster invented a Stereoscope which was used to view stereoscopic photographs. Two photographs were taken at the same time, side by side each representing what each human eye would see. This created a 3D effect.
1950 -
Louis Désiré Blanquard-Evard announced an improved process using albumen printing paper.
1851 -
Frederick Scott Archer discovered the Collodion process (wet plate) which only took seconds for exposure. These used glass plates for the negatives but were developed onto paper. They were as detailed as the glass Daguerreotype and could be reproduced like the Calotype. This process was not patented so it was used by many photographers.
1854 -
The Ambrotype process was patented by Frederick Scott Archer and his partner Peter Fry. --- Carte-de-visite photographs were patented by Andre Adolphe Eugene Disdéri. These small 4 1/2 inch x 2 1/2 photographs became well known after Napoleon III had his photograph taken using this process five years later.
1855 -
The tintype photograph was patented by Hamilton Smith. These photographs were less expensive to create then any proceeding photography method. Making tintype photographs was our first look at casual photographs.
1861 -
Sir James Clerk Maxwell demonstrated a method of mixing three primary colors to create the first steps to color photographs.
1864 -
Joseph Wilson Swan is known for creating the carbon process, a way to make prints permanent. Carbon prints included the use of a color so they could be made almost any tone.
1866 -
Walter Woodbury patented the Woodburytype process of photograph printing.
1871-
Richard Leach Maddox announced the dry plate process of using gelatin. This process greatly reduced the needed exposure time and the dry plate process became a standard.
1873 -
Herman Wilhelm Vogel discovers a method of making plates sensitive to dyes. A step closer to color photographs.
1878 -
The photographer Eadweard Muybridge was hired to settle a bet. Do all four feet of a horse leave the ground simultaneously when it is in a gallop? With the use of multiple cameras along a race track he proved that it was true. This also was the first step into motion photography.
1884 -
The Stebbing Automatic Camera was the first to use a roll of flexible film.
1888-
The KODAK camera was made available to the public. It was a small box camera which held a roll of film. 100 snap shots could be taken then the camera was sent to Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co. so the film could be removed and developed. The first two models of Kodak cameras took round photographs. One year later the Kodak No.2 was introduced. This improved model was the first to use transparent celluloid film.
1891 -
Eastman Kodak develops a roll of film which can be loaded or unloaded from a camera without having to be in a darkroom.
1892 -
A full color photograph system was developed by Ives Kromskop. This system never became a popular success.
1900 -
The Eastman Kodak Brownie pocket camera was made available. Now everyday people could take their own photographs. The Brownie sold for $1.00.
1907 -
The Autochrome plate was the first color photograph process to become successful. It was introduced by the Lumière brothers. --- E.J. Wall announces the Bromoil print process. The earlier gum bichromate process was eventually replaced by this.
1908 -
Kinemacolor is announced by George Albert Smith and Charles Urban. This is the first color photographic process to become commercially successful on a large scale.
1914 -
The 35 mm camera and film standard was introduced. --- Kodak introduces the No. 1 Autographic Kodak Jr. camera.
1920 -
"The Cottingley Fairies". Two girls in England staged photographs with cutout images of fairies in the flora. They claimed they had been visited by fairies. Their photographs fooled many people. It was just not believed children could be so artful with photography.
1921 -
Telephoto transmission is made between Annapolis, Md., and Belin's laboratories at La Malmaison, Fr. This was the first transatlantic transmission of photographs.
1922 -
The camera flashbulb was introduced by General Electric.
1935 -
Kodak markets Kodachrome film, a low-cost color film.
1941 -
Kodak markets KODACOLOR, the first commercial film to have color negatives.
1946 -
Kodak markets Ektachrome. This is the first color film photographers can develop at home.
1948 -
Nikon introduces their first 35mm camera. --- The first instant camera is marketed by Polaroid. The Polaroid Camera used a one step developing process that took less than a minute.
1950 -
Kodak markets Eastmancolor film, a new process that improved color photographs.
1963 -
Polaroid markets their full color instant camera. --- The Kodak Instamatic is made available. This used the 126 cartridge film for easy film loading. Over 70 million were sold during the next decade.
1984 -
The first electronic camera was made by Canon.
1986 -
The first professional auto focus camera is introduced by Minolta.
1987 -
Disposable cameras were introduced. The film comes already in the camera. When all the pictures are taken the camera is taken in to be developed. The film is developed and the camera is discarded.
1988 -
Digital cameras are made available.
1991 -
Photo CDs are made available by Kodak.
1993 -
PhotoShop is released by Adobe. A high standard in photo imaging software.
1996 -
Advantix, a new type of still camera and film, was introduced.
1998 -
Polaroid introduces their "Polaroid instant PopShots one -time use camera". Like the disposable, the camera comes with film installed. After taking the 10 instant photos the camera can be mailed back to Polaroid for a rebate.

Every family historian yearns for and searches for photographs of their ancestors but the photographic record of our history is only available for a relatively recent time period. We will never have a photograph of our Revolutionary War patriot. The best we can hope for in some cases are sketches made by someone during that time period. Next best to that would be a modern drawing of the past times. And, in some cases, there will be nothing available. Sometimes we can resort to a 'representative' photo or drawing. You will find some rendition that you can label that your ancestor 'may have looked similar to this' or 'people of this time period usually appeared like this'. Even something like that is better than nothing at all!

Another avenue to pursue would be to visit a 'living history' event where re-enactors portray various people from past times. A good example of this is the Colonial American event that one of my internet cousins visited and took photos of another one of our distant cousins re-enacting our ancestor who was a British soldier in the area around Detroit, Michigan which was called Fort Ponchartrain at that time. We found out that some of our ancestors were very instrumental in the founding and settling of Detroit by studying the history of the area. In narratives of the histories, it was mentioned that a certain man returned to Montreal from Detroit to get the wives of founder Antoine de Cadillac and various other officers and bring them safely back to the new fort. It turned out that the man they named was our ancestor and later was awarded certain land tracts that we were able to find in the land records of the area. So, that is just one case in many where the study of the area will turn up clues to pursue whereas a general Google search may not show that reference. Here is the layout I made with the photos from that modern event of people portraying historical figures.

Another thing that you can do to get photos of a time period where none are available is to visit the area where your ancestor lived. After finding where my ggreatfather owned land, I visited that physical location and found a barn there with a date of 1881 painted on it!! That was during the time that my ancestor owned the property thus leading me to believe that HE built the barn for his farming and blacksmith needs. That one fact led me to another two layouts about him.

The journaling on this layout is "We think this is George Grover's barn and homestead on Hilt Road in Center Township in Wood County, Ohio. This is the land that is shown in the 1886 atlas as being his and the date on this barn is during the time he owned this land. Cyrus and Hezediah Grover owned the land around his. All of the houses and other structures on this land appear newer than 1880s." I visited this site on Hilt Road in 2004 and took those photos.

The journaling on this layout says, "George Montreville Grover was a blacksmith in Wood County, Ohio. Although this is not a picture of his shop, I imagine that it would be similar to this one and that he would dress for work like the man in the inset." Again I took these photos at a living history event in 2004 except for the family portrait on this layout. That photo is a Xerox copy of another Xerox copy of something else, whether it be another copy or the original, I don't know. It is the only known photo of this set of grandparents belonging to anyone in my Grover group of researching descendants. None of us have the original; we only have this copy of a copy so it is of very poor quality but priceless to us nonetheless!

In conclusion, photographs play a very important and precious part in our family history. The lack of a photographic record should not deter us from depicting our ancestors or their times in a graphical way. We are an inventive and creative bunch of people so in the end ---

We make do anyway we can!

New and Exciting HERITAGE HUNTERS Tonight at Heritage Scrap!

2010-03-09T10:16:00.000-05:00

Join us tonight in the Heritage Scrap Chat Room at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time for another fun filled evening of chatting! Tonight we even have a chat bonus which you will receive just for attending!! That includes designers and members of the Heritage Scrap Creative Team also! Here is what you will receive absolutely FREE for gracing us with your presence:

As you can tell from the Chat Freebie, tonight we will be talking about our ancestor's faith (or lack of!) since Faith is the topic of the week at Victorian Rose's Life Book Challenge. We will have some links to share and some historical background on the various new denominations springing up in the New World. If you have specific questions or if you need a chat freebie from a religion other than the Christian faith shown here, please email me, Vintage Vicki aka LisasMom, so I can be ready with your request by chat time tonight.

Also, as promised, I will be awarding posting bonuses to all those, including Heritage Scrap designers and CT members, who completed a layout and posted it in the Heritage Hunters Gallery at Heritage Scrap depicting some aspect of their family history research. The posting bonus for this week is a word art set about a person's character that you may find useful on some of your heritage or everyday layouts. Here is the preview:

Well, as you see, we have lots to do tonight!!! So stop by the Heritage Scrap Chat Room for fun, food, and prizes!! Virtual finger food only please; Kate gets so upset when we leave a big mess in the chat room!!

Erin go Bragh!

2010-03-05T14:12:00.002-05:00

Erin go Bragh ~

which in Irish (Gaelic) means

"Ireland Forever".

If it's a bit of the Irish you seek this month of March, Heritage Scrap is the place to go! All month long they are celebrating our Celtic and Irish Heritage - whether they be wee or grand - with generous sales and specials, fabulously fun challenges with great prizes and they are even throwing in a treasure hunt to boot!!

The fun begins Tuesday, March 2nd with many new and exciting monthly challenges! Please visit the Heritage Scrap forum for details on all the challenges going on this month!

We are all going green with excitement and look forwarding to sharing the fun with you!

A TREASURE HUNT STARTS SATURDAY, MARCH 6th!!

Details available at the Heritage Scrap

Shoppe on Friday!

The March Designers Collab kits, Irish Linen, are great kits to scrap those pages about Celtic and Irish history. Irish Linen contains rich textures and earth tones with a vintage touch. Although they were designed with the Celtic theme in mind, these kits are versatile enough to be used for all your scrapping layouts, from heritage to romantic to everyday layouts! Check out the seven parts of this incredible collection at the Heritage Scrap Shoppe while they are on sale for the month of March.

While you are visiting the Heritage Scrap site, check out some of the magnificent talent on display in our galleries!! The Irish Linen gallery will show you the charming beauty of our new Irish Linen collection of kits and then move on to some of the challenge galleries to see all the fun things that are going on this month at Heritage Scrap! Join in some of our exciting monthly challenges or check out the ongoing Life Book and the Art of Cooking - Heritage Style projects. The Heritage Hunting gallery and forum may have hints and tips to get you over that *brick wall* in your own family tree. As you can see, you should plan to spend the day with us! A lot is going on at Heritage Scrap and we don't want you to miss a thing! New members to our ever-growing family are always welcome! Come join us at Heritage Scrap!!

All images in this blog posting courtesy of Victorian Rose Designs from her Irish Linen Page Kit except the treasure map courtesy of Kate McClennan.

Congratulations to Helene aka Victoria32!!!!

2009-12-15T01:21:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-12-10T10:09:00.001-05:00

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!!

2009-12-07T12:31:00.005-05:00

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

2009-12-05T16:16:00.003-05:00

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

2009-12-04T08:36:00.003-05:00

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

2009-12-01T13:19:00.001-05:00

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!!

Life Book and Heritage Hunting Update

2009-11-30T07:48:00.002-05:00

Hello fellow Heritage Scrap scrappers!!

Join us tonight at at 9 pm eastern time, 6 pm pacific time for the Life Book II chat at Heritage Scrap in the Life Book chat room. We will be discussing our *maternity leave* options!! Our leader, Vicki from Victorian Rose Designs, will soon be delivering her little bundle of Arabella joy and we all get to celebrate with her! Vicki will be sharing little Bella with all of her cyber aunties and grannies via photos and stories of her cute little antics! So in the meantime, we will be suspending the Life Book II chats until January 4. There are still layouts and chapters available to work on while we are on leave if you so choose. Or you can sit back and wait for the next batch of Bella photos!! hehehe

But alas, the Other Vicki - Vintage Vicki aka LisasMom - is not so blessed! No more babies here!! So Heritage Hunting will continue as normal during our Life Book leave. We will be touching on some interesting topics this month - Special Societies, scraping the present for the future, and many more. So please continue joining me, Vintage Vicki aka LisasMom, and all the other Heritage Hunting ladies in the Heritage Scrap chat room each Tuesday evening at 9 pm eastern, 6 pm pacific time for a pleasant hour of chatting and sharing genealogy and family history information!

Happy Hunting!!
Vintage Vicki aka LisasMom
Creative Challenge Team at Heritage Scrap

Black Friday Holiday Sale - Save 40% at Heritage Scrap

2009-11-27T00:32:00.005-05:00

Important Message From Kate, Owner of Heritage Scrap:

We are pleased to offer you a Black Friday MEGA sale - Save 40% through Friday at midnight ET.

The savings continue on Saturday and Sunday with 30% off storewide!!

Be sure to check out our newest products, join the fun challenges and pick up a gorgeous freebie!

We are also excited to introduce our December Designer Collabs, BELIEVE! Catch the magic today!

Enjoy!

12 Day Progressive Challenge

2009-11-23T11:31:00.003-05:00

WoooooHoooooo!!! It's almost time for Christmas Palooza at Heritage Scrap!! I just can't stop thinking about all the fun, the challenges, the prizes, the food .... Wait, someone is bringing food?? I want some!!! Hey .... if you have chocolate, I have a sneak peek at something really special and fun .... come on, bring me some chocolate .... its in the mail??? ..... Oh, ok, then let me show you .... THIS!!!

From Helene, Creative Challenge Team Member (aka Victoria32):

We are planning some fun and festivities here are Heritage Scrap to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas. I am hosting a "Progressive Challenge" where we will build a layout over the course of 12 days. We have chosen Dec 1 to 12th. Each day, I will post an item in the forum thread for you to add to your layout, along with instructions. The designers have put together a wonderful set of Christmas kits which will be perfect for creating your layout. You can post your work in progress in the gallery.

There will be a random drawing for a prize from among those who complete the challenge using Heritage Scrap products.

Helene

The 12 Days of Christmas

2009-11-22T10:08:00.005-05:00

Hello!! I pray that all is well with my readers and their families as we approach a wonderful but oftentimes, hectic Thanksgiving and Christmas season!

My fellow Heritage Scrap Creative Team member and wonderful friend, Helene aka Victoria32, has found some fascinating history on the web and has agreed to share it with us here on the Vintage Vicki blog.

Helene is researching this topic because she will soon be hostessing a fun and oftentimes, rowdy (!!) challenge at Heritage Scrap called The 12 Days of Christmas Challenge. It is a progressive challenge and for those of you who have done these challenges in the past, you know that they are full of surprises and can get pretty funny at times! Its easy to *scrap yourself into a corner* and some ways scrappers use to get out of these situations can be quite hilarious! Now, Helene is a fairly serious and conservative scrapper so I'm pretty sure she will not allow any food fights in her challenge. But, you know me and my temper tantrums, if I get too frustrated with trying to add 10 buttons or 5 ribbons or whatever to my layout and just can't find a nice way to do it, I've been known to throw my nachos or ice cream or whatever I'm eating at my friendly neighborhood scrapper - on occasion only, not very often, but I have ... done it ... a few times - hey, nobody is perfect ya know, don't throw stones and all that stuff!!

Anyway! Look for Helene's challenge coming up soon in the Heritage Scrap forum!! You will have a blast with this one! And of course .... there are prizes!! Shhhhh!!! I didn't say that!!!

Now for Helene's fascinating history lesson....

Twelve Days of Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas, and the associated evenings of those twelve days (Twelve-tide), are the festive days beginning on Christmas Day (December 25) and ending on the evening of the Twelfth Day of Christmas (January 5). Thus, the first night of Christmas is December 25–26 and Twelfth Night is January 5-6. This period is also known as Christmastide. The day after Twelfth Night is Epiphany on January 6.

Over the centuries, differing churches and sects of Christianity have changed the actual traditions, time frame and their interpretations. Originally this was a secular love song. It sounds to be by a single woman, whose "True Love", a man, sent her gifts. It was probably originally sung in the French language.

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

The second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves
And a parteridge in a pear tree.

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

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")

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.)

The sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Six geese a-laying . . .

The seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Seven swans swimming . . .
(Now "a-swimming")

The eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Eight maids a-milking . . .

The ninth day of Christmas my true Love sent to me
Nine drummers drumming . . .

The tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Ten pipers piping . . .

The eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Eleven ladies dancing . . .

The twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Twelve lords a-leaping,
Eleven ladies dancing,
Ten pipers piping,
Nine drummers drumming,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings,
Four Colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a parteridge in a pear tree.

In modern versions, the "lords, ladies, pipers, drummers" are often switched around.

According to some Roman Catholics, this carol might also have been used as a memory aid for teaching the Christian faith, but this is contradicted at Snopes. In particular, from 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not allowed to practice their Faith openly. At that time (according to those Roman Catholics), this traditional English carol was adopted as a catechism song for young Catholics. For them, it had two levels of meaning: the original surface meaning as a love song, plus later hidden religious meanings.

The hidden meanings parallel the verses of the Anglican catechism song "A New Dial" about the numbers on a sun-dial, and, in modern times, the religious connotations in the popular song "Deck of Cards".

One partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

Four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

Six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: prophesy, serving, teaching, exortation, contribution, leadership, and mercy.

Eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

From here on, the order is different from the original song!

Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

Eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

Twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

International Digital Scrapbooking Day at Heritage Scrap

2009-11-04T20:41:00.004-05:00

Do you have exciting plans for November 6, 7 and 8? We sure do! I think it's going to be a lot of fun, just like a virtual scrapbooking retreat!

Join us at Heritage Scrap Saturday morning, November 7 at 11 AM Eastern Time for a Scrap and Chat with Helene (Victoria32). She will have us going all over to find the scavenger clues which we need to complete our layout for the challenge. Everyone who attends will receive a gift from Helene and there will be a posting gift as well!

Are you up for more challenges? We've got some fun ones! Jan has put a lot of work into her Christmas card challenge, providing gifts of templates and elements to use and the winner will receive a coupon good for a holiday kit of their choice. You can read more about it in the forum.

Linda has a Songs of Yesteryear musical challenge for us, to scrap lyrics and memories. Turn up the radio and scrap away because the winner of this challenge will receive Annie's Digital Things' gorgeous Parlor Music kit.

Theresa Lindamood (aka ForgetMeNots) has a passion for journaling. She wants to hear your stories in the Stories To Tell challenge. Create a layout that includes journaling to tell your family's or photo's story and you could win one of her kits, sold exclusively at Heritage Scrap.

The designer collaboration for November is called "Vintage Kitchen" and it is fantastic for making layouts of all your kitchen and cooking photos and recipes. We will host a challenge using the Vintage Kitchen kits and you just may win 2 of the collaboration kits for yourself.

Various Prizes and freebies are being awarded for all challenges. Hope to see you there!

Heritage Hunting for September 22, 2009

2009-09-22T19:38:00.007-04:00

Hi all and welcome to Heritage Hunting! We will be holding our chat in the chat room at Heritage Scrap at 9:00 pm eastern time this evening. Remember that this time around, we will be working closely with Vicki of Victorian Rose Designs and her Life Book project. We will try to work about a week ahead of her so that when you get to her week, you will have a strong historical and genealogical background regarding her topic. You'll be all ready to scrap an interesting and complete page for your subject's book!

This week we will work on Childhood information. I've done lessons on Family Group Sheets and the United States Census for the genealogical side of researching your subject's childhood. So now I will give you some information on the researching the historical side.

If you ever have any specific questions about your subject or anyone in your family tree, please bring them to chat and we'll try to find some answers for you!

************************************

Genealogy: Researching and recording a person's childhood

Family Group Sheets

The United States Census

There are other sites and ways to do this part of your research. Please bring your ideas to chat!!

Historical: Researching earlier times

Whenever you want to research a particular topic but want to go back in time instead of current information, just add the year at the end of your search string. You can also add regions or states to your search string with varying degrees of success - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - depends on what search engine you use. The example *farming life 1830 Black Swamp* gives lots of good links. That is the area of Ohio where I live and also where my ancestors, who were farmers, lived also. This works well for historical research but not for genealogical research of names, etc. Examples would be:

toys 1840 or toys 1840 France
sports 1910 or sports 1910 United States
farming life 1830 or farming life 1830 Black Swamp

You may also want to search for state, county, or city Historical Societies or Museums for links to local history in your ancestor's area. Oftentimes, these types of resources may even have valuable information on your family line if they were prominent in the area or if their descendants left documents or artifacts to the museum or society. They may have local photographs that you can scan and add to your layouts to *flesh* them out and show more than the usual name, date, place type information. Sometimes these organizations have web pages and sometimes they don't have internet data available. You may have to actually resort to *snail mail* when making your request!

With today's internet, there are virtually unlimited resources available to you regarding any sort of information you could possibly want! If you need help using a search engine or need tips with your particular topic, please pm me and I'll do my best to help you. If you have any tips or special resources that you use, please bring them to chat with you!!!

(Wordart is courtesy of Victorian Rose Designs)

Honey and Cinnamon: Health Remedies

2009-09-15T20:37:00.001-04:00

Facts on Honey and Cinnamon: It is found that a mixture of honey and cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a 'Ram Ban' (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases.

Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of diseases.

Today's science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients. Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada, in its issue dated 17 January 1995, has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon as researched by western scientists:

HEART DISEASES:
Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread, instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also those who have already had an attack, if they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heartbeat. In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that, as you ag e, the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.

IMMUNE SYSTEM:
Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and Protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks... Scientists have found That honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.

ARTHRITIS:
Arthritis patients may take daily, morning, and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon honey and half teaspoon cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week, out of the 200 people so treated, practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.

BLADDER I NFECTIONS:
Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

CHOLESTEROL:
Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of cinnamon powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient, were found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

COLDS:
Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and clear the sinuses.

UPSET STOMACH:
Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomachache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root.

GAS:
According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

INDIGESTION:
Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.

INFLUENZA:
A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural 'Ingredient' which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITY:
Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder and three cups of water, and boil to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four time s a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age.

PIMPLES:
Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root.

SKIN INFECTIONS:
Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.

WEIGHT LOSS:
Daily in the morning one half hour before breakfast on an empty stoma ch and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. If taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

CANCER:
Recent research in Japan and Australia revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month three time s a day.

FATIGUE:
Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful, rather than being detrimental, to the strength of the body. Senior citizens who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week.

BAD BREATH:
People of South America, first thing in the morning, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water, so their breath stays fresh throughout the day.

HEARING LOSS:
Daily, morning and night, honey and cinnamon powder taken in equal parts restores hearing.

Remember when we were kids? We had toast with real butter and cinnamon sprinkled on it!

Heritage Hunting II Starts September 15!!

2009-09-13T19:30:00.002-04:00

Hi Heritage Hunters!!

I so apologize for all of the *drama* from my health issues during Heritage Hunting thus far! But I am fine and ready to give it a go again!! That's why I'm calling it Heritage Hunting II - a fresh start but also because we will be closely following the other Vicki's (from Victorian Rose Designs) format from her Life Book II project and challenge. She has done such a superb job in guiding scrappers through a difficult project what I want to be her when I grow up ... er, I mean, I will follow her example!!

So, we will be starting with our first chat on Tuesday evening at 9:00 Eastern time as we have done in the past. Remember to adjust for a different time zone, I'm in Eastern so I'm using that as the reference point. Each Tuesday before the chat, I will make a posting about the topic we will be studying for the week which will coincidentally be the same sort of topic that we will be scrapping the following week in Vicki's Life Book challenge! See how cool that will work out - she will start her topic and we can all say that we are totally prepared to start our layouts with all kinds of background information!! We will be right on top of things!!

What I am going to be posting is mostly links to or excerpts from various websites. I will post for both genealogical type information and historical type information. Maybe you already know all the pertinent facts about your Life Book person so you can skip that part and go right into the historical portion to find little tidbits and interesting facts to add to your story. If you don't know the family facts about your subject, you will have links to sites that may help you find those facts. If you have totally hit a brick wall with the personal facts, maybe you can supplement your Life Book with some historical information regarding the subject for that week.

During the chat time, we will discuss any questions you have or even any particular details about your Life Book person that you may find puzzling. I also will try to have a weekly freebie for attendants to the chat and a prize for a random winner from those posting a layout or story about their findings for the week!

All and all, we should have a fun-filled two nights each week!! And your Life Book should be filled with interesting layouts documenting not only names, dates, and places, but also historical background to round out your subject's life and times making your Life Book a family heirloom to treasure for many generations to come!!!

Life Book II Starts at Heritage Scrap!!!

2009-09-13T16:24:00.002-04:00

Important message from Vicki at Victorian Rose Designs!

Hello Life Bookers!

We had planned to begin Life Book II on August 31st, but due to the death of my brother in law on Aug. 28th, followed by my Dad having a serious stroke for which he was life flighted to Cleveland Clinic on Aug. 31st, we postponed the start. Last Monday was Labor Day, so now that Summer is "unofficially" over in the US, we are ready to settle into a Fall routine, and we hope you will make Life Book a part of your weekly routine!

So, let's get started...

The Life Book II schedule will be slightly altered this time around. I will be explaining this in more detail in the first chat on Monday, Sept. 14th at 9 pm EST. You can join the chat by going to the Heritage Scrap Chat Room.

When the site opens, you will be asked to log in. Please use your Heritage Scrap Username. The chat room requires Java, so please make sure your computer is Java enabled and you have the latest version of Java on your system.

Once you are logged in, the chat box will open. Please click on the "Rooms" tab in the right column, and choose Weekly Life Book Challenge by double clicking it. Now, you will be ready to start chatting with the other "Life Bookers" who attend the chat. You can see a list of those in the chat room under the "Users" tab.

To chat with the other Life Bookers in the chat room, simply place your cursor in the bottom window, type what you want to say, then click "Send". There are lots of fun sounds and smilies included in the chat room, as well as the ability to change the color of your text, etc. You might want to spend some time checking out all of the features the Chat Room has to offer!

WHAT'S NEW in LIFE BOOK II?

In this round, the format will be changed slightly. The new week will begin in the weekly chat on Monday Evenings. In that chat, we will discuss what the topic will be for the week, and some ideas for scrapping it. Immediately following the chat, I will post the topic information in the forum, and I will also include some sample layouts and kits that might fit well with the topic. (These are just suggestions, not requirements.)

You will have from Monday following the chat to Chat time the following Monday to get your layout finished and uploaded to the gallery. Just before the chat begins each week, I will choose a random winner from the new layouts in the gallery for the week. I will announce the winner at the beginning of the chat so we can all congratulate them! :D

As often as possible, I will try to have a Freebie for all of the chat attendants. As you can see, the chat is a big part of the Life Book Challenge. It's sort of like the weekly meetings at Weight Watchers - you could do it on your own, but it's so much easier hanging out with other people facing the same challenges each week! :D

The Chat Schedule will look something like this...

9:00 - 9:10 pm (EST): Meet and greet (welcome new members and chat until everyone gets there)
9:10 pm: Weekly Winner Announcement!
9:10 - 9:30 pm: Discussion of weekly topic along with suggestions and ideas for layouts
9:30 pm: FREEBIE!!
9:30 - 10:00 pm: Random chatting about whatever...

REQUIREMENTS for the WEEKLY DRAWING

Each week a winner will be chosen randomly from the submissions in the weekly gallery. I use random.org to choose a number and I will count from the top down to that number to find the winner. The more layouts you submit each week, the greater your chances of winning.

To be eligible for the drawing, you must:

1) Not be a member of the Heritage Scrap Creative Team or Design Team; and
2) Use Heritage Scrap Products for at least 50% of your layout; and
3) Include which Heritage Scrap Products were used in your description on your layout.

We look forward to seeing you all there, and hope you will make Life Book part of your routine! Please tell other digiscrappers and/or genealogists about this challenge! It is a great way to get an album done for an ancestor or loved one in your life!!

Please check the Life Book II forum for details of "What is a Life Book", and the "Life Book II Schedule" for more information!!

New Message from Theresa aka ForgetMeNots

2009-09-06T17:05:00.003-04:00

Hello Everyone,

As you probably already know, Vicki of Victorian Rose Designs, does a wonderful job with the Life Books Challenges. If you don't, you'll need to check it out. By the time you have completed the challenge (about 6 months) you will have made some new friends, received some cool designer freebies AND completed a heritage album about one person's life!

We all had so much fun doing it the first time, we're going to do it again! The only problem is that there have been some bumps along the way. Vicki's family has experienced more loss and suffering this week and there is only so much that one pregnant Mama of 7 can do! Since, this Monday also is a U.S. National Holiday, we have decided to postpone the beginning for one more week. We hope you will understand under the circumstances.

The plan is to have chat on Monday, September 14, 2009, 6 P.M. Pacific Time in the Heritage Scrap Chat Room.

During the first chat, Vicki will be introducing the Life Book Challenge and discussing some of the changes and improvements she has made. It would be a good time to meet her and other participants and "try it on for size".

Life Books make great gifts, especially for milestone birthdays and anniversaries and can be a real blessing at memorial services. Don't put off what you've been thinking about doing for quite some time. Working together is more fun and gives us incentive to keep going. We would love to see you there!

Thanks for your time today. Remember to check out the new kits at the Heritage Scrap store too.

Theresa, aka ForgetMeNots

Another Meaning of Heritage Hunting

2009-08-08T02:05:00.005-04:00

Hello Heritage Hunters!!

When we first started Heritage Hunting at Heritage Scrap, we talked about different meanings of *Heritage*. Of course there were at least as many different meanings as there were Hunters in the discussion! It means something different to each person. But as I was looking at photos posted by my Friends on Facebook, I found another meaning of *Heritage* as seen through the eyes of my good friend Bonna Kelley, aka Wuvie at DSP.

Wuvie has an incredible imagination! Some of her layouts at DSP have left me awe-stricken that anyone could even conceive of such wonderful and beautiful things. She has always been an inspiration to me. This layout that she posted on Facebook just grabbed me and said *Look here! This is what is happening in our society NOW! This is tomorrow's heritage!* What do you think??

When I read her journaling, I felt like I was reading about my own life! I love to read and I think it started with my mother reading to us each late afternoon while we were waiting for Dad to get home from work. Supper was usually simmering on the stove so the house was filled with scrumptious smells; we were all sitting close together on the couch by Mom being very quiet and listening to her beautiful voice inflections telling us some amazing story. It was heaven on earth to me as a young child. The Bobsey Twins, Black Beauty, The Night Before Christmas, and so many of my life-long favorites were shared back then.

Both of my parents have always been voracious readers also. I've read since then that reading as your own hobby in front of your children is one of the best ways to help them acquire their own love for reading. When I saw my parents reading every evening or saw books laying near their bed or their chairs, I always wondered what adventures I was missing! As I got older, I read ALL the time! I couldn't get enough of it! By the time I was an adult, I was reading for pleasure at least an hour or two each day. I had lists of books I wanted to read and kept it handy for when I went to the library. Later, when I had a ceramic shop with my folks and we would work all day, every day making products to keep the shop full, we would listen to books on tape instead of the radio while we worked. That continued for me after I was married and had an hour commute each way every day. Why waste time listening to commercials on the radio when you could listen to a good book!

Now it has all changed again! I read so much each day on the internet that I barely have time to hold a book in my hands and read for pleasure! If I'm not reading emails, blogs, or forums, I'm scanning over something it seems. When I finally get down to scrapping, I again turn to audio books or books on CDs. I am never very far from a good tale!

This next layout Wuvie has so generously agreed to share with us, is what I call *Future Heritage*. One day her son's children and grandchildren will be so thrilled to see this! My own kids just love to hear stories of when my husband and I were their age - the things we did, the things we learned in school, all about our aunts and uncles, and so forth. We should all keep heritage for future generations in mind while we plan our layouts. Isn't this layout so sweet?!?

Take a look at Wuvie's gallery at DSP - it is full of truly inspirational layouts. I'm sure you will love it! And thanks so much Bonna, for sharing your amazing talent with us!!

The United States Census

2009-08-04T12:48:00.004-04:00

The United States Census

There are a lot of people in the United States, and it's not easy keeping track of them all. But one agency tries to do just that: the U.S. Census Bureau. Every 10 years, as required by the U.S. Constitution, the Census Bureau conducts a head count of all the people in the U.S. and asks them questions to help learn more about the country as a whole: who we are, where we live, what we earn, how many of us are married or single, and how many of us have children, among other topics. The data collected isn't trivial, either. It is used to apportion seats in Congress, distribute federal aid, define legislative districts and help federal, state and local governments plan for growth.

The United States Census is an extremely valuable tool in genealogy research. Several censuses give not only names, ages and birthplaces, but also state the relationship of people within a household. Depending on the questions asked in that particular census, you may also learn when your ancestors came to the U.S., if and when they were naturalized, how many children a woman gave birth to and other vital pieces of information.

Background Information

In the U.S., a census has been taken every 10 years from 1790 through 2000. All censuses taken after 1930 are still confidential and the information they contain is not open to the public. The census from 1790 through 1840 only named the head of the household and the numbers of people in categories — 3 males over 16, 2 males under 16, etc. The census from 1850 through 1930 lists each member of the household and usually gives the relationship to the head of the house. It also gives age (later years give birth month and year) and place of birth (usually just the state or foreign country). The 1890 census was almost totally destroyed by fire so there is a 20 year gap between 1880 and 1900.

Utilizing the Information

Before searching an index or searching for a particular census image, it may be a good idea to print blank census forms for each of the census years. These forms will allow you to review and see what information is actually available for each of the census years. There are also free spreadsheet type charts that allow you to track several census years for a particular person or family.

The census gives a lot of information and you should try to find your ancestors in as many censuses as possible. Take note of the names near your ancestor's. Sometimes people would adopt a nickname or middle name at an early age and use that exclusively throughout life. If you were not able to find a birth record for Hank Smith, you may find that as a 2 or 3 year old child he was listed as Charles Henry Smith. This indicates that the birth was probably registered as Charles and you won't ever find a record for Hank. Looking at as many returns as possible may also give you a pattern of migration. The oldest children might be born in Pennsylvania, the second 2 in Ohio and the younger ones in Indiana.

Dealing With Errors

Keep in mind how the census was taken and how the indexes were created. It was a very inexact science! The census enumerator took the information orally. He was probably in a hurry, many of the foreign immigrants had heavy accents and most families were large. He didn't always ask how to spell a name — and many people were illiterate.

The census taker usually interviewed at least one person in the household, but if no one was home and the farm was a long way from his home, the enumerator may have obtained the information from a neighbor. In any case, the person supplying the data may not have known the facts. The neighbor may not have known the children's ages or birthplaces or a husband may not have known his mother-in-law's place of birth. Many, many people are recorded as being born in the wrong state. Anyone may assume a person was born in the U.S. because he or she has no accent when actually the individual may have been born in a foreign country and come to the U.S. as an infant or young child. When an individual was asked when he came to the U.S., he probably searched his memory and said "oh, about 1883". He didn't consult records and the actual year may have been 1887. They probably recited their children's names rather quickly and son Georgie may have turned into daughter Georgia. Many people could be recorded as the wrong sex if they didn't have traditional names. A child who had gone to stay with a relative for a month, perhaps to help out with a new baby might be counted twice — or not at all. Because of all these potential human errors, it is important to check as many censuses as possible.

Unable to Find?

If you cannot find your person in an index and you feel reasonably confident that he should be there, or if you have no other leads, do not hesitate to check the whole county if it is a rural area. If you are looking in a large city, it is very difficult to check the entire city. You should use city directories and street indexes to try to narrow the area. If the people belonged to one ethnic group, a history of the city will tell you what areas which nationalities settled in.

Once you have checked all census returns back through 1850, the census becomes less valuable but still can provide evidence. Slaves were recorded by numbers, usually without names, and Native American (Indian) censuses are a separate set of records.

Other Censuses

Many states also had their own census, sometimes at more frequent intervals. There are census returns in other countries also. Canada and Great Britain have census for every 10 years since 1841. Because of their 100 year confidentiality rule, only 1841–1891 are open to the public. No matter what area you are researching, one of the first resources you should look for is a census.

Links

United States Census Bureau

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

Census Record Abstracts (free for printing)

Census Tools - Free Genealogy Spreadsheets

Genealogy Guide to the US Census

Which Census Year Should I Check First?

What Do All of the Census Abbreviations Mean?

Clues in Census Records, 1850-1930

Clues in Census Records, 1790-1840

Nonpopulation Census Records

Native Americans in the Census

New Post from Vintage Vicki, Forget-Me-Nots, and Kate!!

2009-07-31T21:50:00.003-04:00

Sorry for no updates in a while! I was without internet service for a week and then I went on vacation for a week. I'm still trying to catch up! LOL It's so easy to get behind but so hard to get ahead!

Anyway, I will be posting a lesson for Heritage Hunting later on Sunday or Monday. It will be about the census, so if you have any census success stories or questions or anything, get ready!! And we'll see you next Tuesday evening at the Heritage Hunting chat in the Heritage Scrap chat room!!

Now, here are a couple of messages from the Heritage Scrap ladies!

Hi Everyone, Founder's Day is here! One year ago on August 1, 2008, Kate opened Heritage Scrap for business. We will be celebrating all month. Stop in the store and check out the incredible designer's collaboration of Heritage Builders - tools to use to document your pedigree and family history. I will be starting a challenge this weekend using the new collaboration kits. Look for details in the forum and for layouts in the gallery. Keep watching for updated information, we'll have more happening. Below, I will paste what Kate posted at the store - don't forget to stop in for some great sales! And please drop in throughout the month to visit and participate in the events. We all look forward to getting to know you! Theresa aka ForgetMeNots

It's our one year anniversary this Saturday and to celebrate we are putting the ENTIRE store on sale for 50% off! Also, beginning next week on Monday, we will have special challenges, a weekly product raffle and great savings on both new and current product catalogs.

Our new Designer Collab, Heritage Builders, is one of our finest collections to date. With these mini kits you can put together a gorgeous family tree. There are charts, ala carte elements, borders and some of the most beautiful backgrounds I have ever seen. Each kit is $2.00 during the month of August! You can find them HERE!!

Beginning Sunday, August 2nd - Friday, August 7th - spend $25 or more in the store and be entered in a drawing to win one a $25 gift certificate, good for all products in the shop. Winner will be announced Saturday, August 8th at 12pmET.

Sales starts Friday, July 31st - with a special one day storewide 50% off sale on Saturday, August 1st. Each week we will have something new for you - could be product giveaways, challenges, chats or games - stay tuned for the details.

Above all, we want to thank you for your patronage and support over the past year. We have grown a lot, learned a lot and remain focused on providing you with some of this industry's highest quality products. We appreciate your business and look forward to many more years, providing you with inspirational, unique and upscale art for your family research & heritage scrapbooking projects.

Wonderful Genealogical Site Found on the Internet

2009-07-08T09:28:00.003-04:00

Wow! I have just found a website that is new to me - maybe not to you - that is awesome! It is About.com's genealogy section! They have articles on everything! There are articles for newbies right through to very detailed articles for experts. And the structure of the site is very user friendly - headings and subheadings allow you to drill down quickly onto any topic.

And they have links to a few great blogs and newsletters with RSS feeds so that you can get new material sent right to your yahoo or google home page or other feed reader.

The only bad thing that I have found so far is that I have a ton of tabs open, keep finding more and more articles to read, and just cannot read everything fast enough! I have been on the site for hours and can't get enough of it! Each time I read one article, a few more related articles are shown, then a few more, and a few more until I am lost in reading!

Check it out for yourself! Warning: Allow yourself plenty of allotted time - beginning in the evening may lead to pulling an all-nighter!

Heritage Hunting Chat and Assignment for July 7, 2009

2009-07-07T18:22:00.001-04:00

Hi to all of you Heritage Hunters!!

Tonight at our chat we will talking about Birth Records and Documents and how to use them in your research. Chat is at 9:00 pm Eastern Time or 6:00 pm Pacific Time in the Heritage Scrap chat room. Come join in the fun! Tonight we have a Special Surprise!!

Your assignment this week will be to find a birth record or document for at least one member of your Pedigree Chart. You may then scrap it (digitally or with paper) or otherwise decorate it, or you may photograph your document, and upload it to the Heritage Hunting gallery. Anyone using at least 50% of their materials from the Heritage Scrap Shoppe will be entered into the random drawing for a prize from our shoppe to be announced later in the week. You may upload as many entries as you wish to share with us. Each eligible layout will be entered into the random drawing.

Heritage Hunting - Birth Records and Sources

2009-07-07T13:41:00.005-04:00

Hello again all of you happy Heritage Hunters!

Ok, so you have a good handle on your pedigree chart and you have some family group sheets going on some of your ancestors and their families. Good beginning, firm foundation! Now lets start getting more detailed information about each person - documented and verified details!

Let's start with a person's birth - easy, right? Not!!! Just look at their birth certificate, right? Not!!! Not?? Yep, not!! Most municipalities and even states did not record births or require their recordings until late in the 1800s and even then, the practice was not common or enforced until well into the early 1900s. If your ancestor of that *transition* time period did in fact record the births of their children, you may have a problem finding exactly where they recorded those facts. It may be at their church or parish, at the county courthouse, or at early governmental offices such as a health department. You may find documents or letters confirming a birth within a veteran's military discharges or pension files. All of these places would probably have an *official* record of the birth so would be considered primary documents. They were probably filed by a close relative and close in time to the actual event.

Sometimes, the recording was done later - even as late as when the birth child was an adult! These are called *delayed birth certificates* and are usually filed by a secondary source person at a time far from the actual event. Obviously, these type records may be much less reliable. How does an adult know for sure exactly where or when they were born?? It is all hearsay or oral history (or legend) by the time the certificate was made.

Therefore, you may have to resort to other means of obtaining detailed and accurate birth information. Family Bibles are fantastic for these types of undocumented events as are family correspondence and newspaper announcements. Baptism or christening records from a church are great sources and even considered primary sources in many cases. Lastly and least reliable of all are census records. When comparing census records over a long period of time, you will notice that the census interval of time passed is always 10 years, the age of the ancestor may be greater than or less than the same 10 years! The difference is usually only by a few years but also can be by many years! Ages on census records usually tend to be older for the younger folks and younger for the older respondents, with the female inaccuracies almost always greater than their male counterparts.

The farther back in time that you go with your ancestors, the less accurate the birth date and place will be usually. This is especially true for ancestors who are migrating, emigrating or are further into some sort of transition. Again, if church records are not available, the next best thing would be family correspondence. Lacking that, I don't know any more to tell you! Time to hit the big guys for more advice!

Birth certificates and other sources did not always contain a lot of helpful information. Most will mention date and place, and usually parents, but that may be all you get! Of course with birth certificates of long ago as with those of today, there may be *fudging*. Even though there may not have been as many *unknown* or wrongly reported fathers then as now, further searching and verifying may be needed.

Sometimes you may come across more than one date, place, parents, or other detail - even from some normally reliable source. Save them all!! It may come to a decision on your part as to which piece of information seems most logical that you use or publish based on your overall, general knowledge of the person.

Obtaining copies of birth certificates can range from a few cents for a copy up to $20 - $25 or more for each one! Rates seem to be raising as more and more people join our hobby and give states an opportunity to profit from our curiosity!

Websites relating to finding and documenting birth documents:

United States Vital Records
Cyndi's List
Ancestry.com Learning Center
Family History Lesson Series

Websites to look for specific birth certificates or church records would probably be easiest to find using a search engine and name a particular place. The Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) has sent researchers all over the world scanning church records and other documents so you may be able to find scans of some birth certificates or documents by visiting their website, searching and then ordering microfilm through their regional family libraries.

This Day in History, July 6

2009-07-06T13:56:00.003-04:00

On July 6th, 1785, the dollar was unanimously chosen as the official currency of the United States.

Other Notable Events, July 6

In 1699, pirate Capt. William Kidd was seized in Boston and deported to England where he was hanged.

In 1854, the Republican Party was formally established at a meeting in New York City.

In 1885, French bacteriologist Louis Pasteur inoculated the first human being, a boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog. The youngster didn't develop rabies.

In 1919, a British dirigible landed at New York's Roosevelt Field to complete the first airship crossing of the Atlantic.

In 1923, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed.

In 1933, the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The American League beat the National League, 4-2.

In 1942, diarist Anne Frank and her family took refuge in a secret section of an Amsterdam warehouse where they hid from the Nazis for two years. Finally discovered, they were shipped to concentration camps where Anne died.

In 1944, fire in the big top of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Conn., killed 167 people, two-thirds of them children, and injured 682 others.

In 1957, while attending a church picnic near Liverpool, 15-year-old Paul McCartney met 16-year-old John Lennon. Lennon's band was playing at the picnic and by the end of the day McCartney had joined the group.

In 1958, Alaska became the 49th U.S. state.

In 1971, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, one of the 20th century's most influential American musicians, died at age 69.

In 1976, women were first admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy. The other military academies soon followed suit.

In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in a TV interview, said it was a "probability" that many young people now paying into Social Security "will never be able to receive as much as they're paying."

In 1992, a bomb exploded near the car carrying French President Mitterrand's wife during a visit to Kurdish settlements in northern Iraq. She was unhurt but at least two other people were killed.

In 1994, a firestorm killed 14 forest fire fighters near Glenwood Springs, Colo.

Also in 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton visited Latvia, becoming the first U.S. president to travel to the Baltic region.

In 1997, the Mars Pathfinder deployed the remote-controlled Sojourner to explore the surface of Mars.

In 1999, U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton announced she was forming an committee to look into running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y. No first lady had before sought public office.

In 2004, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, chose Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., as his running mate.

In 2005, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was sent to jail for refusing to name her source in connection with the leaking of a CIA agent's identity to the media.

Also in 2005, London was chosen for the site of the 2012 Olympic Games in a close decision over Paris.

In 2006, a record $145 billion class action award against five tobacco companies was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court.

In 2007, a three-judge U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati dismissed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program.

Holiday Weekend!!! Hurray!!

2009-07-02T18:33:00.003-04:00

Its the start of the holiday weekend!! Hip, hip, hurray!!! Get out and have some good, old-fashioned fun in the sun! Picnics, parades, festivals, swimming, barbecues, you name it and you'll find it to do this weekend. Take lots and lots of photos and get ready to have a scrappin' good time! And for all of you scrappers who like to be prepared and have plenty of photos to match your digi-kits, er, wait, I mean, have kits to match your photos, check out all the new products in the Heritage Scrap Shoppe! Two new designers, new designer collabs (half price too!!), and lots more will sure keep you busy with all your weekend pictures!

Check out the Heritage Scrap Gazette for a fantastic new digital *fashion show* of inspirational layouts! Victorian Rose has also updated her blog with all her new designs. Roberta T Designs has a new Canada Day Kit for all our neighbors to the north celebrating their own national holiday!

So, take a break from packing and planning your weekend to check out all the new kits and ideas available from Heritage Scrap. Then go out and load up those camera cards with hundreds of new photos to scrap, scrap, scrap!

Heritage Hunting Chat and Assignment for June 30, 2009

2009-06-30T17:27:00.006-04:00

Hi to all of you Heritage Hunters!!

Tonight at our chat we will talking about Family Group Sheet and how to use them in you research. Chat is at 9:00 pm Eastern Time or 6:00 pm Pacific Time in the Heritage Scrap Chat Room. Come join in the fun!

Your assignment this week will be to complete a Family Group Sheet for at least one member of your Pedigree Chart. You may then scrap it (digitally or with paper) or otherwise decorate it, or you may photograph your completed chart, and upload it to the Heritage Hunting Gallery. Anyone using at least 50% of their materials from the Heritage Scrap Shoppe will be entered into the random drawing for a prize from our shoppe to be announced later in the week. You may upload as many FGS as you wish to share with us. Each eligible layout will be entered into the random drawing.

There are already a few examples in the gallery to get you started:

Family Group Pages

FGS-George Grover Family Pictures

FGS-George Grover Family Data

FGS-Will Egner Family

Photos and personal data omitted
because family members are still living.

FGS-Dick Reyome Family

Photos and personal data omitted
because family members are still living.

There are many excellent kits in the Heritage Scrap Shoppe to help you present your FGSs including:

Heritage Chest, Vol 4 - Family Ties by Jean Daugherty Designs

Schmitt Family Genealogy - Kit by Cari Lopez

Family Word Art by Victorian Rose Designs

Good luck with your research this week. Be sure to share any big breakthroughs with us in this thread and post links to all of your FGSs!

Family Group Sheets

2009-06-30T16:56:00.004-04:00

Ok, now you have your pedigree chart started with yourself, your folks, maybe some grandparents or even great-grandparents. Sometimes you may want to know more about the families to which these ancestors belonged. Did they have siblings? Who were their children and spouses? It may even become a necessary part of your research to know this type of information. You might be able to find lots of info about 3 or 4 members of a family but not your exact ancestor. Finding more information on your ancestor’s childhood family or their own family may lead you indirectly to more info about your ancestor.

There are many, many forms used to track this information and many places on the internet to find printable copies of these forms for free. The following sites offer free forms:

Family Search dot org

Ancestry dot com

ABC Genealogy dot com

Notable Kin dot org

If you use some kind of genealogy software like Roots Magic, Family Tree Maker, or Legacy, etc., you can print Family Group Sheets (FGS) from your program. Either select a family to print with the details that you have already found and documented, or select to print a blank form to use with a new family group.

Use the Family Group Sheet to record details about each member of a family. Use one sheet per husband/wife pairing. If a person has remarried, use another sheet for their ‘second’ family. There is a place to record other spouses so that you have a built in cross-reference. Whenever using the FGS, be sure that you make note of the source of each and every detail that you have found so that you can find the source again in the future if you need to verify it or recheck other facts concerning your discovery.

Before starting your search on the internet, be sure that you have exhausted every source available to you within your own family. This is taken from a genealogy tutorial written by ForgetMeNots (Theresa) from Heritage Scrap dot com:

Before you spend hours on the Internet or pack a bag for Salt Lake City to spend time in the genealogy library, look around your home and ask family members. We all use vital records and other legal forms in our daily lives. Birth Certificates are necessary for everything from participating in Little League championships to getting driver’s licenses. Perhaps you have a box in the attic or a stash of papers in the bottom desk drawer. Look at the back of photographs to see what is written. Leaf through a family Bible to look for handwritten information as well as memorial cards, newspaper clippings, obituaries and notes. Perhaps there are military discharge papers, old tax records or if you are really blessed, family diaries and scrapbooks!
All of these items can give you clues to solve the mysteries in your family tree. While it might not tell you what village Grandpa came from in the old country, it might tell you that he lived in Chicago in 1925, so you will need to look for immigration prior to that time. I found a wonderful checklist provided by Brigham Young University here:
http://www.byub.org/ancestors/charts/oldpdf/checklist1.pdf

Many times you will need to go back to your family or a source document that you have already obtained to verify something else that you have found or to resolve conflicting information. Having your family group sheet as complete as possible before you begin searching on the internet, at a courthouse or library, or with another family member will make your search much easier and more organized. You will easily see what information you are missing and what areas of research you should concentrate your efforts.

While you are researching from the internet or other repository with many sources available, it might be easier to ‘color code’ your research. No matter how hard you try, you will oftentimes stray from your original quest! You will find your way back eventually but remember to still document anything found during your wanderings. If you use a different colored pen or pencil per source, your FGS will remain much neater and more organized until you can enter the information into your official database or filing system. Use a key on the back of your sheet to show each and every source you have searched. Use the same color pen or pencil when writing facts onto your FGS from that source. Be sure to include all information necessary to completely describe your source. If it is a book or magazine, you may want to photocopy the title page or cover to get a full description.

Wherever or however you do your research, you will most likely have to revisit your sources several times. Invariably, the source that is most necessary will be the one you have slighted in its description! Again, let’s turn to Theresa’s wonderful tutorial to see what she has to say about what we’ve gone over so far:

* Document, Document, Document! Make sure you write down where you find every piece of information. Also remember to document where you have looked without success, so that you won’t have to look there again.
* Don’t wait to get a computer program for your genealogy. Using one from the start helps you stay organized.
* Get your family members talking. What they say may not fit in now, but it may provide a key for the future.
* Ask family members to tell you about the oldest person of the family they knew in their life time. (e.g. Did they know their great grandparent? If so what can they tell you about them. First hand knowledge is wonderful!)
* Keep some samples of personal handwriting. Even just a signature is a nice personal touch for our collections. It is wonderful to add to a scrapbook page.
* You can’t find everything about your family on the Internet. Get out there and talk to real live people and if you can travel to see gravesites and communities and look in books that have not been made electronically available.
* Keep a running record of your activities so that you don’t backtrack and waste time.
This tutorial is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list. Genealogy is a HUGE subject. The further you get in the more there is to know. But don’t worry, it’s not painful, but rather quite fun. I hope you have found this helpful. Enjoy climbing your family tree!

Thanks so much to ForgetMeNots (Theresa) of Heritage Scrap dot com for your valuable input through your tutorial!

Fishing at Uncle Pat's Pond

2009-06-28T18:22:00.006-04:00

Oh those were the days!! The kids were little and actually listened to us! Mike and I loved to have family days with them and they still enjoyed spending time with us! LOL A lot of times we would go to the zoo or a festival or somewhere, but a lot of times we just hung out together, maybe going to the park or yard-saling or taking a ride. One of our favorite things to do was to go to Uncle Pat's Pond.

Mike's brother, Pat, lived out in Danbury. A ways behind his house was this wonderful pond and we would go back there quite often to fish and have picnics. It didn't actually *belong* to Pat but we always called it Uncle Pat's Pond. That's where Phillip learned to fish from his dad. Lisa and I were little nature girls so we would hike around looking for things to put in Lisa's *nature museum* she had at home on the bookcase. We would take food and pop, and just have fun the whole day long! The boys always caught lots of fish - I don't know if someone stocked that pond or if they just always had good luck! Sometimes Grampa Jim would stop by while we were there or maybe one of the uncles - it was a popular place with the Ashton family!

Those were also the days that Lisa insisted on wearing dresses always! She just plain refused to wear shorts or jeans or pants! She would get all dressed up nice and girly in her dress with cute flowers or bows in her hair, maybe a touch of blush on her cheeks for her make-up, and happily skip off outside to find some bugs! She was such a tomboy. She just HAD to keep up with her big brother. If he played baseball, she wanted to play; if he rode his bike, she rode hers; if he looked for frogs, she wanted to go with him! She was his shadow. At least until her Daddy got home from work. Then she was all up in his face and following him around. He would go outside to sand something or stain or some other woodworking project, there she was too. The only thing she wouldn't do was to lay on the couch and watch TV like he would sometimes. Then it was back to following Phillip!

Of course, we had our *girl days* too - days that we would get Grama and go shopping or get our hair done or do some crafts. She liked to do all that too. She was just such a well-rounded little girl! She could do about anything and enjoy it, along with enjoying who she was with doing it!

She still is the same sweet girl! But now she does wear jeans, ALL the time now, rarely wearing a dress or even dress pants. She still likes to ride bikes and do things outside but she has stopped catching bugs pretty much. Although, she did catch a turtle for Jake a few weeks ago. The girly-ness is still there too. She is forever doing something with her hair - I'm surprised its not fried and looking like straw, but its not. She has it blonde with a few patches of light pink now. It looks nice. I think I liked it best when she had it dark blonde/light brown with a little bit of the burgandy on the underside. She had a few blonder streaks in it then too and it was quite long.

Well, anyway, I really started to make this layout to use Victorian Rose's wonderful fishing kit again but it just got me into a *remembering* mood and y'all are the ones who have to hear about it now! LOL Hope you enjoy it!

Another Internet Research Tip

2009-06-26T18:45:00.002-04:00

I forgot to mention a really handy internet tool - the list of links GROUPS!

I am in a few groups and on mailing lists that do nothing but collect hot, new links in the fields of history, genealogy, and heritage! These come right to my inbox each day. Maybe a lot of people don't like them because they contain a lot of stuff not pertinent to everyone, but every once in a while you find something ginormous!!

That's how I found out about the new pilot site at LDS where you can get FREE Ohio death certificate images. That was a HUGE one for me! Also found this today - I don't have any West Virginia Civil War ancestors that I know about right now - but this could be a gold mine for some people:

Today at FreeSurnameSearch.com

* Featured Database :

- Unclaimed Civil War Medals.
In 1866, the state of West Virginia authorized the
minting of over 26,000 medals to honor its Union Civil
War soldiers. Today, over 4,000 medals remain unclaimed.
In order to claim an ancestor's medal, a claimant must
submit his or her line of descent from the veteran along
with documentation to support this line of descent.

Go to:
FreeSurnameSearch
or
West Virginia Civil War Medals

Some of the groups/mailing lists I'm on - although there are tons more! - are:
Candyman Genealogy List
Surname Search Daily

There are plenty of others too! Just go to your favorite *group* site, Yahoo, Google, MSN, etc., and search for genealogy, history, ancestors, or some such term. Most are free and fun!

This Day in History, June 26

2009-06-26T05:26:00.001-04:00

Just some fun little tidbits!!

On June 26th, 1819, the bicycle was patented.

In 1900, Dr. Walter Reed and his medical team began a successful campaign to wipe out yellow fever in the Panama Canal Zone.

In 1939, film censors approved "Gone With The Wind" but fined Producer David O. Selznick $5,000 for objectionable language in Rhett Butler's famous closing line to Scarlett O'Hara: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

In 1945, the U.N. Charter was signed by representatives of 50 nations.

Also in 1945, the FCC began development of commercial television by allocating airwaves for 13 TV stations.

In 1959, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II formally opened the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada.

In 1974, the bar code, allowing for the electronic scanning of prices, was used for the first time on a pack of gum at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

In 2000, two rival groups of scientists announced they had deciphered the genetic code, the human genome.

Designer Call at Heritage Scrap

2009-06-25T15:17:00.002-04:00

For more information, please click the ad above
to go to the Designer Guidelines at Heritage Scrap.

The History of a Decoy Fish

2009-06-24T18:02:00.005-04:00

From Forest & Stream, March 24, 1892:

Did you ever fish through the ice with a decoy Fish? I do not mean as the Indians do, down on your knees on the edge of a hold in the ice with your nose within a few inches of the water and three or four thicknesses of an old mackinaw blanket over you to shut out the light, and then in that position play the fish with one hand and hold the gaff in the other until you get so stiff and cold that when you want to gaff a fish you can hardly use a muscle; but rather with a well constructed fish box and a spring spear such as were often used thirty or forty year ago before their use was generally prohibited? If not, you have missed an experience not only charming in itself, but intensely instructive as to the habits of fish. Let me give you a little experience of my own in the days "long gone by."

During the fall of 1856 and early winter following, I happened to be in Fon-du-Lac, Wis., and at that time there were many Indians still living in the neighborhood. The lakes and ponds abounded in pike and perch, and during every winter the Indians were constantly fishing through the ice with their decoy fishes and gaffs in the manner described above. These decoys were whittled out of a pine stick, so as to resemble in shape a fish about six or seven inches in length; the wood was then stained a dark color, a few places were then scraped or chipped so as to give the fish a mottled appearance, a couple of pieces of tin stuck in each side answered for fins, and a grove was made in the fore part of the belly and filled with lead, which was kept bright. With a string in the head the fish could be jerked to the surface of the water and the lead would carry it down head first when the string was slackened, and so a very natural motion could be given to it. What was most remarkable was the fact that the less the decoy fish resembled a real one within reasonable bounds of course, the more successful it seemed to be.

Some two or three years previously an old Indian had whittled out a fish which soon had the reputation of being the most killing and successful decoy ever made in that vicinity, so successful, in fact, that for a long time he refused to sell it on any terms, but at last a friends of mine through the offer of a considerable sum, tempted its owner to part with it and became its possessor. When the Legislature of Wisconsin soon after prohibited the use of such fish, it was sent to me as a souvenir of my trip. The record of one day’s sport will show the killing qualities of this fish. On one morning in December 1856, I visited with a companion, Lake Horicon, a lake some fifteen miles long situated a few miles distant, for a day’s sport at catching pike. We cut a hole in the ice nearly four feet in diameter, and over it placed our fishing box with the open side downs. This box was 4 ft. square, lined with heavy paper to exclude the light; we entered through a door in the side which was fastened with an inside button and sat opposite each other, each resting his feet on the ends of the narrow boat occupied by the other; our spring spear had a handle some 15 ft, in length which passed through a hold in the center of the top of the box. The decoy fish was played with the left hand and the spear held in the right. The water was about 10 ft. deep, and the light shone so clearly through the ice that everything in the water, even to the smallest fish, could be seen with perfect distinctness.

In four hours we took twenty-one pike, which weighed a little over 70 lbs., and we took every pike that came within sight except one small one. As I sat looking under the ice I saw a large pike chasing a small one, which darted across the hold, but as soon as his pursuer saw the decoy fish it ceased the chase and turned around and seized it with such force that he came partly out of the water right between our feet, and I speared him in the head above the water with the decoy fish in his mouth. His weight was over 5 lbs.

During all this time two Indians were fishing for pike only a few feet distant and on equally good grounds, and together they took just two fish, their decoys failing to attract the fish.

The box, which to the fish appeared like a dark spot on the ice, afforded an elegant opportunity to observe the habits of the pike in taking its food. Once on this day a large pike missed the decoy and he came with such force that he went perhaps 20 ft. beyond us, but he turned and came back slowly near the bottom and stopped right under the decoy fish and then began to rise very slowly toward it, but he was speared in deep water before he had a chance to make a second rush. Usually, however, the fish would approach cautiously until near the decoy and then make a sudden dash for it.

On Lake Winnebago, where we usually had good success, my companion and I both took yellow perch quite freely and they manifested none of the caution of the pike, but the black bass which abounded in that lake never came near enough to be taken; curiosity sometimes led very large ones to approach within sight, but they always kept close to the bottom and soon slowly swam away.

I have never been able to reconcile the results of my fishing with this decoy fish with the theory of may anglers for trout, that the more closely we can imitate the flies which then abound upon a stream or lake, the more sure we will be of sport, as in my experience the reverse is very often the case.

I have often observed that when I have been using a certain fly with success, the same fly has suddenly made its appearance in large numbers on the water, and that immediately my sport almost wholly cased for the simple reason that my fly then constituted but one of say 10,000 of the same kind; and I, therefore, had but one chance in 10,000 that mine would be taken, which was, of course, relatively diminished by the artificial character of the fly. May it not be so with a decoy fish or artificial minnow? The closer the imitation the more we put it in competition with the natural fish, which if we use one which will attract although it is different from the fish inhabiting the same waters, may it not prove to be very successful?

With this article I send to you for your inspection this old relic of past sport, although I fear it will sorely test your faith in the veracity of your correspondent.

V. C. – Poughkeepsie, N. Y., March 9, 1892.

*******************************************

If you have stories like the above fishing story in your family's history, then Victorian Rose Designs has just the thing for you!! And!! It's on sale for $2.98 exclusively at Heritage Scrap!! Now, no pushing and shoving in the store, ladies - please!! There is plenty for everyone!! ;)

Gone Fishing Mini Kit by Victorian Rose Designs

Heritage Hunting Chat at Heritage Scrap Tonight!!

2009-06-23T12:27:00.007-04:00

Hello fellow scrappers and family historians!!

Please come to the Heritage Hunting Chat tonight at Heritage Scrap at 9:00 pm Eastern time and 6:00 pm Pacific time! We will be discussing Internet Research Tips and Tricks and announcing the winner from last week's challenge! Everyone is welcome! Anyone can join in at any time!

The challenge for the upcoming week is to document through a scrapbook page (digital or paper) or another form of craft project, a special 'internet cousin' or other contact that you've made through the internet, or to use something you have found through an internet contact. Please post your digital layout or photo of your project in the Heritage Hunting Project gallery at Heritage Scrap before the chat next Tuesday, June 30. If at least 50% of your project uses products from the Heritage Scrap Shoppe, you will be entered into the drawing for a special prize to be announced later in the week.

Internet Research Tips and Tricks

Last week we discussed some of the pitfalls of using the internet in our family history research. This week will look at some of the more helpful ways to use online resources.

Beginning Genealogy Sites

Even though you may be long past the ‘beginning’ stages of your research, the beginner’s sites are constantly updated with new techniques, helps, and hints. Professional genealogists and historians usually provide these sites so every piece of information available is valuable at any stage of your search. Rechecking sites like these will sometimes get you off of a ‘plateau’ or give you help overcoming a ‘brick wall’. Some examples of these sites are:

Dear Myrtle

Allen County Public Library
About.com: Genealogy
RootsWeb Guide to Tracing Family Trees

Lists of Links

Some sites don’t give you any actual ‘data’ to add to your tree but instead focus on giving you resources in which to find data. Sometimes browsing through these sites may give you a clue as to where to look for something that you can’t quite pinpoint through regular search engines. These types of sites will send you in new directions in finding basic information about your ancestors but also help you find information to enhance the basic data with additional historical, local, or general background stories. Some examples of these sites are:

Cyndi’s List
Free Genealogy Links
A Barrel of Genealogy Links
The Olden Times Genealogy & Local History

Mailing Lists and Message Boards

The basic difference between these two tools is the way you query and receive messages. When you join a mailing list, you will receive a copy of every email sent to the list thus seeing each query and response. You can also send email through the list to ask your questions or offer your input. A message board is a site on the net where you can post your query and browse through other queries and responses. Many times the two are connected so that you will receive an email each time something is posted to the corresponding message board.

Mailing lists and message boards are not only good for finding specific information about specific ancestors, but also for making valuable contact with other researchers. By posting a query about a particular family line or a certain person in your tree, you may get responses from one or more other researchers who are involved with the same person or family. Many, many ‘internet cousins’, family groups and even friendships develop from these online meetings. Information, family legends and stories, and even photos that are not available anywhere else in the world to you may become available through such contacts.

RootsWeb.com is by far the most extensive and widely used site for mailing lists and message boards. They are available per surname, per location (from international country down to the county or village level), and per specialty (religious denomination, wars, type of data, etc.). Each board and list is moderated and will not allow any attachments so they are usually very safe and secure. Most lists and corresponding boards are linked so that you can get info from both right to your email account. And, RootsWeb provides safe ways of contacting other posters ‘off-list’ for the exchange of private information.

Other sites with mailing lists and/or message boards include:

My Heritage
Genealogy.com
Ancestry.com
Genealogy Place

Next week and in the weeks to follow, we will be looking at specific types of information and sources such as birth records, census records, and death records. We will also explore new and creative ways to display such info in our scrapbooks and craft projects.

(PS - Dear Myrtle, Cyndi's List and RootsWeb logos are copyright images used here only for reference to their respective sites.)

Wonderful Genealogical/Historical Connection Found on the Internet

2009-06-20T15:24:00.004-04:00

As we've been studying internet genealogy research this week, we've been sharing some wonderful discoveries we've found because of our research on the net. The internet is such a wonderful tool for family historians, especially in helping us research ancestors from other states, provinces, or countries as well as those closer to home. It also helps tremendously in our quest to tie our ancestors into the historical aspect of our heritage as shown in this layout by Laura Lou:

Internet Discovery

The journaling reads: "Through an ancestry site I located my grandfather’s draft registration from 1917. His employer was listed as “Detroit Cornice and Slate”. He was a roofer. A check on the Internet turned up a website for that company...still in business. I lifted a couple of photos from their history page and sent an inquiry to the address listed on another page. Several months later I received an email from the present owner, a grandson of the original for whom my grandfather worked. The present owner is “into” genealogy and offered to scan some of the pages from the old ledgers in my grandfather’s own handwriting. Grandfather had hired in as a comptroller and soon was a partner.
Wednesday, October 12, 1916, Grandfather had worked 9 hours a day for 7 days that week and took home the TOP amount of money, $58.33 and paid $2.00 for insurance."

Names, dates, and places alone don't let us *know* our ancestors. Great finds like this bring them to life for us! Laura Lou can see her grandfather's precise handwriting, know where he spent countless hours of his life, and begin to get a better idea of the kind of man he was through this discovery. She can imagine him coming home after a long day and imagine what he may have been thinking or feeling. She can even take it further and look at some of the newspapers of the times to see what he would come home to read in the evenings - the challenges facing our nation and our ordinary families in those days. She can look at the advertising in those newspapers to see what his $58 per week would buy him and his family, how they may have lived, and what hurdles they needed to overcome.

Even if you cannot find a single clue to a name or date for your ancestral tree, the internet offers plenty in showing you the historical setting in which your ancestors lived. It can even offer photos, sketches or drawings to use in your telling of the stories of your earlier family members. Stretch out through the world wide web and really get to know those whose blood flows in your own veins!

Heritage Hunting Assignment and Posting Prize Announcement

2009-06-17T14:48:00.007-04:00

This week your assignment, (if you choose to participate!), is to create a layout or craft project using some sort of information that you found on the internet regarding one of your ancestors. This is a very broad field so the projects should be nice and varied! Post your layout or a picture of your craft project in the Heritage Hunting Gallery by midnight (any of the time zones will work!) next Monday, the 22nd and a link to the posting in the Heritage Hunting - Week 3 forum thread. If you have used 50% or more Heritage Scrap Shoppe products, you will be in the random drawing on Tuesday, June 23 shortly before the next chat for the beautiful

My Summer Love - Clusters by Lynn Griffin!

Issues of Internet Genealogical Research

2009-06-16T17:41:00.004-04:00

I'm a little last minute on this! Sorry! Darn real life always has its own mind! Anyway, we will be talking about internet genealogy tonight at the Heritage Hunting chat at Heritage Scrap.

Now that you have your pedigree chart started and have talked to granny and other members of your family, you are ready to start *looking* for more info. In steps the internet!!

The internet is a remarkable tool that most people feel they cannot live without anymore - I tend to agree! But it is not the only tool that genealogists have to use. In fact, you probably cannot find everything you want to know about your ancestors solely on the internet. However, you can learn a great deal.

Nowadays, you can get many *source* documents directly on the net. Many times you don't need to write to courthouses and certain offices and departments to obtain these documents - and then wait forever. You can view scans of these documents online in many cases. Some are even high enough resolution that you can save and print the documents for your files. Source documents are usually more reliable than secondary documents like census records, newspaper articles, etc. because they are *more official* and were recorded closer to the time the event actually happened. Many people were and still are much more truthful with official documents than say a census taker - a few years can be shaved from a person's age when its not quite so easy or necessary to verify.

Even when you obtain these *source* documents, you must use them as guides. They do not contain incorruptible, totally accurate information in some cases. Mistakes are made everyday by everyone. Sometimes informants are mistaken, forgetful, or even outright deceitful with the information given. Sometimes information is *lost in the translation* - especially immigration information. The recorder may not understand the immigrant, may not know how to spell the names or places, or may change things on purpose to make things easier for Americans to say and spell. Many immigrants have had their names changed at Ellis Island! Don't restrict your searches to spellings you are already familiar with in your family. This is where the soundex system comes in handy! Even among siblings, surnames were changed slightly. I have six Myerholtz siblings with six versions of spelling - some quite a bit different; Myerholtz, Mireholts, Meyerholts, and so forth, one even shortened to Meyers.

The same goes for the census records; in fact, census records are notorious for containing misinformation. You can have 5 census records for the same person, each 10 years apart, and perhaps have 5 different sets of the same information. Ages may change by more or less than the 10 years between census records. Places of birth often change. Even children's names change as they grow up, going from a pet name or middle name to a more adult version.

One really big pitfall with internet genealogy is the fraudulent or copied family genealogies. I've found different databases on places like Rootsweb's World Connect that contain nearly a half million records! These types of databases are often the product of the owner canvasing for *connecting* databases and adding another person's whole database based on one marriage or connection with their own. Doing this several times over soon results in these huge databases of families that may not all be related as portrayed. You can sometimes get a lot of information from these types of databases as long as you use them as CLUES and not info written in stone. You would still want to verify this info with other sources. There are even sites that charge you to tie your ancestors into European royalty and such. Don't fall for it!

Another huge mistake made my newbies and experienced researchers alike is the lack of complete source documentation. You need to be able to go back to the exact place where you obtained some piece of information. As you get more and more information, you may want to go back and refresh some piece of info or find related info after something else has been found. With the internet being so ever-changing, you might want to note as many web addresses and other information as you can to be able to get back to your source. Record all known sources if the web site has gotten the information from somewhere else. Many sites close, are withdrawn, or otherwise disappear from the net and you have no idea where or how to confirm your information.

These are just a few of the issues dealing with internet research. I'm sure we will discover many more in our chat tonight. Just always keep in mind that even though the internet is an extremely valuable source of much information, that information comes from people with their own issues.

I'll be back tomorrow with a chat summary and some links to help you with your internet research. In the meantime, come to the Heritage Scrap chat room this evening at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time for some fun and discussion of this topic!

Signing Your Layouts

2009-06-12T15:21:00.001-04:00

I posted this in the Oral History thread at Heritage Scrap but thought it was worth repeating here also:

One thing that we should have talked about but I forgot this week, is *signing* your layouts or journaling. I remembered when I saw Jan's lovely series of three ancestors. She put her name and date at the end of the journaling. We all know right now who made the layouts, why, what they mean, and so forth. But it won't be long until that info is not known any longer.

Also, when doing a layout for a scrapping site, I find myself addressing my journaling to the scrapping community. I'll say something like *My daughter playing with her high school band*. How will that sound in the future to people who don't know me? They won't know who the person is that is referred to by "My" and they won't know who "My daughter" is either. And what high school is it?? We need to remember that our layouts will not always be in the place that we think they will reside forever. They may get separated from an album or even get away from the family of the subject of the layout. We need to keep that all in mind while doing the layout. I often sign my journaling with my name and date.

I realize that we don't often do that when posting to a public internet site because of security reasons. However, when we finish a layout for ourselves or private viewing only, or when we get ready to print the layout, we should make sure that more specific identifying information is included.

Oral History Links

2009-06-10T13:42:00.001-04:00

The subject of oral history is so broad and there is so much information available online that you will never lack for resources and help with your own oral history project. These few articles here will probably give you more information than you’ll ever need on the subject! I chose these links also because the sites themselves are excellent resources of much more than just the oral history aspect of our research. You’ll visit them many times throughout your quest.

Oral History Tutorial
Really fantastic online text tutorial. (1) How to Conduct an Oral History (2) The Post Interview Process (3) Accuracy & Reliability Issues, including goals, prep, equipment & more.

Step by Step Guide to Oral History
Full text of guide (c) Judith Moyer 1993 & updated 1999. Four full chapters plus bibliography & oral history links. Broken down very nicely - literally a "step by step" how to guide hosted by the "DoHistory" site (A site that shows you how to piece together the past from the fragments that have survived.)

The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide
Excellent guide complete with glossary and sample questions. Entire text viewable on site. Intro - Interview - Questions - Presenting Findings - Glossary - Bibliography - Resources - Forms - Credits. Can also download PDF file of entire Guide.

Organizing Oral History Information
Free article at Genealogy.com site. Assumes interview has been done and speaks to the "now what" afterwards. Some nice tips and things to think about.

Oral Histories and Family Legends

2009-06-10T01:24:00.001-04:00

Everyone has them. Every family from Adam’s family right down through history to your own family, we all have those peculiar little stories that Granny tells or those fancy yarns full of boasting that you can pry out of Grandpa with a few “Pretty pleases”. Some are very close to the truth and some have been handed down and embellished through the repeated tellings. We always called them “stories” or “yarns” but lately, with the surge in genealogy and family history, more and more people are calling them “Oral Histories”.

The art of obtaining an oral history has really changed over the years also. Most family historians are well past the age of hopping on a beloved grandparent’s lap and asking for a story. So now we get our fancy recorders and video recorders, make lists of questions, take all kinds of photos and other memory prompts, and “interview” an older person.

I guess we get the same results but it was so much more fun the old way! But a lot of us are to the point where we wish and wish that we would ever had paid attention to all those old stories. Most of us would give anything just to spend one day with Granny or hear one more story from Gramps. Oh, dear, if only ……

Well, enough of that! We can’t go back but we can plan ahead now. There are things we will probably never get to know now that this one or that one has passed on. The thing we need to do is stop this from happening again and again in the future. Get those stories now and get as many as you can and get them down in writing SOMEWHERE!! Put them in your blog, in your journals, in your family history books; put them down in writing, in slideshows, in video format, any way available to you but get them down SOMEWHERE! Put them in several, separate places also – give them to your siblings, your cousins, your local historical museum or family history center, or your local genealogical society. These things are important and really are much more than just some old stories.

There are hundreds and thousands of articles, commentaries, websites, and so forth dedicated to the whole concept of Oral Histories. There are almost as many ways to obtain the information and preserve it as well as present it to your family and the world. Informal interviews with living family members are oral histories in themselves. When you are just beginning your quest in finding your ancestors, you need to start with your current family and work backwards. You don’t start with Adam and work this way!!! Soon your pedigree chart will be growing and growing, and your genealogy files will be multiplying like no other project you’ve attempted in the past! You will get into the habit of grabbing all sorts of notepads, old envelopes and even napkins to write down some gem from the past that someone throws your way! Your filing system will completely collapse. Your family will start to run the other way when they see you coming. And your brain will start shutting down whenever you get that gleam in your eye!!

In the Heritage Scrap chat on Tuesday, June 09, 2009, we will start discussing how to add to our beginning pedigree charts and family histories by using the techniques of interviewing and obtaining oral histories – both formal and informal. After the chat, I will be posting some links – some general and some more specific – about the art of oral histories. We will also be discussing “Family Legends – Fact or Fiction??” and ways that we can substantiate or dispel the old stories.

We will be interviewing or even just talking to someone on our pedigree chart or to someone about a person on our chart. Then we will journal that story and present it as a scrapbook page or as a written document. Anyone placing their work into the Heritage Scrap Gallery and using more than 50% Heritage Scrap products will be eligible for a prize drawn randomly from all entrants.

In the weeks to follow, we will be honing our interviewing skills along with exploring other ways to get the information we long so to obtain about our elusive but very intriguing ancestors!

Heritage Scrap Gazette

2009-06-02T12:07:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! Another beautiful, warm, sunny day here in Vacationland! Might be a few light showers later but hey, even God has to do a little cleaning up every now and then! Get all the dust off the trees, wash all the bird do-do off the sidewalks, clean the streets and all the other things to make our earthly home bright and sparkling clean!

So, while God is cleaning away, or whenever you take a break or two, check out the newest edition of the Heritage Scrap Gazette! It is packed full of wonderful sales and beautiful digiscrap kits to make all of your digiscrap or hybrid projects into magnificent masterpieces!!

And thanks to you, Kate, for all your hard work in making the Gazette for us! You're the best!

Heritage Hunting at Heritage Scrap - Beginning Tuesday, June 2

2009-05-31T19:21:00.002-04:00

Stop over to Heritage Scrap and check out my upcoming chat and challenge - Heritage Hunting! It is sure to be fun and you might even learn something! Beginners and experts alike - the more the merrier. We will be combining genealogy, family history, family stories and legends, photos, journaling and much more to make our heritage albums and other presentations of our family history more interesting and understandable. Stop by the Heritage Hunting thread for more info or see the flyer in the gallery. Hope to see lots of friends and meet new friends too!

Never too young to start scrapping!!

2009-05-29T15:13:00.003-04:00

Today, Jake and I got our summer issue of the Wild Ohio Magazine! We are so excited to dig into it but nap-time comes first! This magazine is absolutely incredible! And best of all, it's free!! There is also a Kids' Wild Ohio Magazine that is free but only comes out once per year. The photos are all so remarkable and are printed on high quality magazine paper. There are always plenty of animal pictures to cut out and make neat projects or gifts; things like bookmarks, postcards, greeting cards and notecards. You can even get some neat little frames at the dollar store or from a yard sale and put in a few pictures for a cute wall grouping. You can make collages or do a complete layout with the older kids. All of these make really nice, loving gifts for teachers, sitters, grandmothers, shut-ins or senior citizens.

With Father's Day coming up, a little imagination can make it really unique for all those special dads and granddads, uncles and brothers. When my Lisa was little, she made a cute pencil holder for her daddy with nothing but an old soup can, some pictures from a magazine and some construction paper. He has always treasured that and in fact, still has it after all these years! A piece of board, barn siding or driftwood with a decoupaged photo and some hooks makes a cool key holder.

Whatever the occasion, some old magazines, especially the better quality mags, and some other basic scrapping supplies combined with a child's imagination can result in a precious and unique gift for anyone! .... because it is NEVER too early to start a scrapping hobby!!

Heritage Hunting at Heritage Scrap - Preview

2009-05-26T16:20:00.006-04:00

I wanted to share a little preview of what we will be doing in the Heritage Hunting chat and challenge. We will start out talking about what heritage means to different people; ways to preserve and present our heritage; and starting to research our family trees. After establishing a family tree, whether it be 1-2 generations or multiple generations, we will be scrapping, charting, drawing, or whatever, to present it to our families and/or friends.

Here is a sample of my family - my parents and siblings. Of course, the actual layout has our pictures and personal data on it; however, for privacy reasons, those are left off the version that is posted here.

Another example that contains data since all parties are deceased is the George Grover Family in pictures and data. This is what is known as a Family Group Sheet since it contains information about a family group.

A Pedigree Chart is one other way of tracking an individual's ancestors. An example of a pedigree chart is this layout of my grandmother's ancestors.

This is just a small part of what we will be discussing and doing in this project. We will also be talking about different ways to get this information, pictures, contacts and so forth. It will span over many weeks and months so you will be able to participate in all of it or just the parts that you want or need more information. We will share research links and techniques, ways of journaling and charting, interviewing questions, and even organizing a family reunion. If it involves your heritage or family history, in the past or present, we will talk about it!

We will kick off this project next Tuesday, June 2 at 6:00 pm Pacific time or 9:00pm Eastern time with a chat in the chat room - link: Heritage Scrap Chat Room After that, I will post information about the weekly topic on Mondays, we will chat on Tuesdays, and work on our assignment/project for the remainder of the week. Please let me know if you have any questions, problems, or suggestions for this challenge!

See you next Tuesday evening!!
Vicki aka LisasMom

Layout Credits

2009-05-26T11:56:00.003-04:00

I should have added the credits for the layout of My Heroes! Yikes! I'm sorry Teri!

My Heroes was made using two of Teri Hanson's beautiful kits available at Heritage Scrap:

American Soldier Petite by DigiZines by Teri and
Army Life ScrapKit by DigiZines by Teri

There are two quick pages in there also that are just gorgeous! But then, ALL of Teri's kits are gorgeous! She has such beautiful clusters and decorated frames that it makes scrapping so quick and easy. Her kits are especially helpful for beginners for just that reason.

Here is one of the quick pages of hers that I adjusted from 12x12 to 8x10:

I added a few elements on the top right of the circle because it ended up a little distorted from my adjusting the size. But I like to add extras to quick pages a lot of times anyway - just to make it a little more *my own*.

Check out all of Teri's creations at Heritage Scrap!!

Memorial Day Remembrances

2009-05-24T01:50:00.003-04:00

Since it is Memorial Day weekend and we are remembering those who have fought and even died for so very many, I wanted to share with you a layout I did of two of the most wonderful men in the world.

First is my greatest hero of all times - my Dad. I don't suppose I always felt that way; most teenaged girls don't especially get along with their dads for a while. But the older I got, it seemed the wiser he got. I'm not sure how that happened! LOL But it did happen and I'm sure that both of my sisters will agree with me now too.

Secondly, is a man I've always admired starting when I was 7 years old as told in the journaling on this layout. There were many other reasons to admire this man as I grew older and learned more about him. He truly was a great American.

Since you really can't read the journaling on this view of the layout, let me add it here:

Top portion:
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation during the Cold War among the Government of the United States, the Government of the Soviet Union, and the Government of Cuba.

The crisis began on October 14, 1962 when U.S. reconnaissance imagery revealing installations on the island were shown to U.S. President John F. Kennedy and ended days later on October 28, 1962, when Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev announced that the installations would be dismantled. The Crisis is often regarded as the moment when the Cold War came closest to escalating into a nuclear war.

Bottom portion:
In the fall of 1962, I had just turned 7 and was in the second grade. My daddy was in Air Force National Guard and worked at the airport on airplanes. I remember seeing President Kennedy on TV one afternoon after school and things changed at our house after that. I didn't know just exactly what was going on because I was so young. But I know now that the Cuban Missile Crisis had begun and my Dad had been put on alert for active duty. His unit had been activated and was preparing to go to war with Cuba!

I was so scared to think of my Daddy going to a war. He had to pack his clothes in his "Air Force bag" and keep it with him at work and put it under the table when he was at home. We couldn't go anywhere and had to stay by the phone. We watched President Kennedy on TV and prayed that there wouldn't be a war. When Dad would go to work in the morning, we didn't know if he would come home that day! It was a terrible and scary time for a little girl!

Finally, it was over! It had only been a few days but it sure seemed longer to me! Ever after that time, President Kennedy was my hero because Dad said it was his doings that prevented a terrible war that could have been the end of the world! Now I realize how close we came at that time to a nuclear war. I still consider President Kennedy one of my biggest heroes because he saved my daddy from going to a war.

Do any of you remember this dark time in our Nation's history?? How did it effect you and your family?? Do any of you have any heroes you are remembering this weekend? I'd love to hear your stories!

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!
God Bless America!
Vicki aka LisasMom

Facebook Scrapping Contest

2009-05-21T14:24:00.005-04:00

For those of you who are on Facebook, there is a scrapping contest that ends the 26th of May. I'm going to enter some layouts I think.
If anyone else is interested, check it out - Facebook Scrapping Contest.

Festivals and Fairs

2009-05-20T21:22:00.008-04:00

So, here in Port Clinton, we are getting ready for the Walleye Festival this upcoming weekend. It’s not a huge festival but it still takes a week to set up. Jake and I have been going up there each day – sometimes more than once! – to check on their progress. We saw all the trucks arriving one by one and then we saw them start to ‘transform’. He had seen a ride truck on Mighty Machines on the internet where a semi trailer folded down its sides and popped out a ride after a few pieces were put in place. Thus he called that ‘transforming’! He is such a little smartie pants!

While watching all this activity all week, I began thinking of festivals, fairs, and entertainment in general from years past. You know me, always thinking 50-100 years ago instead of the present! So of course I was wondering what my Grama Elsie would have done for entertainment in her early adult years or even later with her small kids. I’m sure there were no festivals like this one but there were county fairs. I’m sure they were quite different than the fairs today – no big rides and tons of food stands.

I think the old time county fairs were more about sharing different farming skills and such – the kids with their animals, the 4-H girls with their sewing and cooking projects, and the ladies with their quilts, pies and canned goods. I was in 4-H when I was younger. We entered little sewing projects. It was a lot of fun. Later I had a ‘boyfriend’ when I was about 16 or so – our families were close friends – who was from a farming family. They lived in the next county over so I got to stay with them during fair week so I could go with him and his sister to the fair each day. She had some sewing projects too and Jim had a cow for his 4-H project. We sat in the cow barn most of the week! LOL So much fun! One of the days that we did go strolling around looking at all the tractors – again, fun times! – it started raining really hard so we sat in a covered combine cab waiting until it was over! What a week that was! I really should scrap it. It really was a fun week – I shouldn’t be laughing – it’s just that I can’t see myself ever being a farmer’s wife now that I’m grown and looking back. I’m way too lazy! Those people just work tooooooo hard for me! LOL

I do remember Grama talking about a few dances and things she would go to when she was young. But of course, they were kind of told in passing and I never pressed for details at the time. Oh, how I wish I ever would have! I’m sure if she were still here, I’d sit with her for hours on end listening to stories from her childhood. Anyway, I don’t know if she ever said where these dances were or if I just don’t remember. I think she may have mentioned Cedar Point once or twice but that would have been quite a ways for them to go just for a dance. Where they lived is a good 50-70 miles away from Cedar Point. I know someone had a car because I have a picture of her in a car but I don’t know whose it was or if it was available to her to take that far from home.

My mom lived in the same neighboring county when she was young and she told me once about coming to Port Clinton to get peaches at the end of the summer. Being that far away, it was pretty much a whole day trip for them. She remembers getting the baskets of peaches and then going swimming in the lake. I can’t imagine her going swimming since she hates the water so maybe she waded or something and watched the other kids swimming.

These pictures are not from when my mom came up here as a girl but much earlier. These are from around 1900. We’ve always had peaches and grapes in this county. We still have a lot of wineries but not many grapes! It is mostly all tourism now at this end of the county and the islands but we did used to be quite the farmers!

If you notice in this photo, there is a small band playing on the corner on the right hand side of the picture. I don’t know if you can see it on the scan and then the reduced size photo on here. Let me tell you about these two pictures. They are both taken at the corner of Madison and Second Streets – right smack in the center of downtown! The one with the pole was taken in 1900 and the other one in 1906. The 1900 photo has this written on it, although I think it was written on recently (1990s) by one of the museum’s curators:

“Peach Auction. Madison Street was blocked off with wagons lined up along Second Street, each taking their turn. The auctioneer stood in the wagon at the head of the line. Buyers came from many cities and towns to buy loads of peaches. Sometimes Second Street was blocked off and the wagons lined up on Madison Street. Note the band playing in the right foreground. The corner store was H. Hesselbart’s and next to it was Dr. Watt’s Jewelry Store, a barber shop, then Neidecker Furniture and Undertaking.”

Yes, you read that correctly; Neidecker’s had a furniture store and funeral parlor right in the same building! Makes you wonder exactly who has been sitting and lying on that furniture! Yikes! There aren’t any furniture stores here any more but Neidecker’s is still a funeral home. I don’t know if there are any of the original Neidecker families in the business but I would think not. I think Betty Neidecker was one of the last of the line around here and she is quite elderly.

Well, I started out with the Walleye Festival and ended with the Peach Auctions! Quite a stretch I suppose – but you know me, always rambling! There is a whole wealth of information about all of this and other fairs and festivals available online today. Even if you have no photos and no stories from your ancestors, you can still include this kind of information in your heritage albums. You know your ancestors did something to entertain themselves! This is the kind of ‘fluff’ that really brightens up your albums and family history research. Don’t you ever wonder about things like this? And if you wonder about it today, you know your kids and future generations are going to think about it too. Even if they can’t visually see one of their own ancestors in a setting like this, they can certainly visualize it if you give them something to start their imaginations working!

Heritage Hunting at Heritage Scrap

2009-05-19T01:19:00.005-04:00

Heritage Hunting Challenge and Chat at Heritage Scrap

2009-05-18T01:12:00.003-04:00

“If you don't know your family's history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree.” --Michael Crichton

It's true! If you don't know your family's history, traditions, morals ... heritage ... then you flounder in your own life, not knowing where you've been or where you are going!

So we are going to fix that!!

We have a new forum and gallery set up at Heritage Scrap just for this challenge! I feel so blessed being part of such a wonderful site! So stop on over there and check out my (very long, yikes!) posting about the new challenge! Be sure to comment on what you'd like to do or learn during the challenge!! This is the link:
http://heritagescrap.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=368

Then stop in to the gallery and see the pretty flyer I made with some of the great kits from Heritage Scrap designers:
http://heritagescrap.com/Gallery/showphoto.php?photo=4495&ppuser=288

Hugs and Prayers to all!
Vicki aka LisasMom

Welcome!

2009-05-16T21:44:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my new blog! I'm so happy that you've stopped by! Make yourself at home; take a look around! No telling what you may find, but most likely it will have something to do with digital scrapbooking, genealogy, family history, or something related.

Mainly, I made this blog to go along with my activities on Heritage Scrap digiscrap web site. I am a Creative Challenge Team member there so I try to promote the site in whatever ways I can. I will be including some of my layouts here as well as new product previews, sales info, challenges and so forth. Anything exciting happening at Heritage Scrap, I will broadcast it loud and clear here!!

One of the first things that I want to talk about is my new chat and challenge coming up in June. Its called Heritage Hunting and I am super psyched about it! We will talk about many things dealing with all aspects of genealogy, family history, general history and so on, and then make something beautiful with our new-found knowledge. So there is something for newbie genealogists, beginning scrappers, and even experts in heritage. We will have a fun time and learn all kinds of new things from all the new friends we will be meeting from around the world. Sign up to follow this blog so you will be sure to get the details as I post them. I will be back later with links to the forums and gallery that we will be using on Heritage Scrap.

See you soon!!