rugger megalithic: heritage scrapbooking

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

heritage scrapbooking

Most of us who scrapbook are storytellers ? we want to tell the stories that matter, the stories that mean something to us. And I cannot think of a better way to tell the stories of your family than to create heritage scrapbook pages. Heritage scrapbook pages allow you to capture the stories of your family and helps to connect you to the past. I love researching my family history and then creating pages to document the past. I love learning how different their lives were from mine today as well as how the things that they experienced have affected our family traditions. It meets my own need to build meaningful connections between the past, today and our futures. I thought that we?d take a look at some basic tips for creating amazing heritage pages and then look at a bunch of heritage pages to help get you inspired to document your OWN family history!

First, let?s talk about some basics -

1. Organization of photos and stories from the past is critical when you decide you want to begin documenting your family?s history. Being organized up front will make the creation of your pages so much easier later! I would suggest that you gather your photos, stories and ephemera (the ?stuff?) and organize them in a way that makes sense to you. Personally, I?ve chosen to organize my own heritage stuff by person ? I have a folder for each of my ancestors and put all of the relevant photos, ephemera and stories into that folder. Then, when I?m ready to create a page about a particular person or event, I know right where to go to get all of the details!

2. Regardless of how you intend to scrapbook your family history ? digitally or with paper ? I strongly recommend that you have ALL of your priceless family photos scanned into digital images. Then, you can be assured that nothing you do while creating heritage pages will hurt your photos in any way. This will also allow you to share these photographs with other family members who may be interested in having a copy!

3. Don?t be afraid to scrapbook the family photos or stories! Yes, they are precious ? but don?t let that stop you! In fact, let that be the very reason for getting them documented as soon as possible! They are precious and deserve to be told!? Nothing you create will do anything but give them the attention they deserve!? Push past any reservations you might have and JUST DO IT!

And now for a few general tips for scrapbooking heritages pages -

1. Tell those stories and be sure to include any details you know about what was happening! Journaling is key for heritage pages ? even if its just a few details! Also, don?t let not having a photo keep you from telling the story ? create a photo-less page or find elements that help support the story you want to tell. Use the historical or cultural details of the time to help tell your stories as well! Let me give you an example ? we know that my grandfather was present during the bombing of Pearl Harbor but I don?t know any details beyond his being present & the impact his presence at that historical even had later on in his own family. But, I did some research and created a page all about the bombing of Pearl Harbor since we know he was there for such a major historical event! That is an important story about our family even if I don?t have photos or details!

2. Use scrapbooking papers and elements that make the most sense to you! A lot of people think they have to use tradition heritages kits and supplies (which are often muted and neutral) but you definitely do not need to limit yourself! Use color and whatever materials scream out to you! Don?t limit yourself to just neutrals ? jump outside of that box and try something unexpected!

3.? Try mixing today?s photos with your heritage photos and create comparison pages. What life was like then versus what its like today is a great way to showcase the changes over time in your family!

I hope that some of these tips will help you as you begin to think about creating pages about your family! Once you get started, I think you will LOVE each and every page! It?s so special to capture the memories of the past & honor them in your scrapbooks!

And, last but not least, let?s take a look at some AMAZING heritage pages! I?ve tried to give you a good mix of traditional and non traditional heritage pages ? to show you how there really aren?t any limits to what you can do while documenting your family?s history!

Mom SchoolPhoto Show Me: Heritage Scrapbooking by Robin