August 2011 Heritage Challenge - Birth

Come join me at Faith Sisters for a heritage challenge about documenting birth - our own, our children, our ancestors...

You can find the details here.  There will be posting bonuses.  I'd love to see your art!  Please join in!

July 2011 Heritage Challenge - Summer Adventures

Every 2nd Thursday I host a heritage challenge at Faith Sisters.  You can read about this month's on the Faith Sister Blog. The information can be found in the forum too. To give you a brief summary, the challenge is so that you can scrap and document what your family or ancestor's summer activities were.  As always there will be a posting bonus!

88 Years later, we're doing pretty much the same thing.  The beat goes on...

(Layouts created with my North Coast Digital Scrapbooking Kit available at Faith Sisters and Heritage Scrap)

Heritage Challenge - The Feminine Influence

Heroine at Heritage Scrap and Heroine at Faith Sisters

Hello scrappers! The 2nd Thursday of every month I host a heritage challenge at Faith Sisters.  Each month I try to challenge you to think beyond the photo and journal also about the story.  Sometimes we become overwhelmed and think our "heritage project" has to be a big thing and it becomes scary and we never start.  But if we do it one photo/layout at a time it gets done.  If you don't like it, you can re-do it later.  But if we wait until later to start, later may never get here!  So get started! :-)

Join me in the challenge.  There is a freebie word art and I will give you a posting bonus.  You can read more about it on the Faith Sisters Blog.  I look forward to seeing your entry!

2nd Thursday Heritage Challenge At Faith Sisters

Last month I began a heritage scrapbooking challenge at Faith Sisters and today I posted my 2nd portion. You can read about the challenge here and post your layouts here to earn a posting bonus. I've also copied and shared the information in this post below. I hope you will join me. I think it will be a lot of fun. Each month we will cover a different topic and you will have some ideas to include in your heritage albums, life story or life books or your every day family album. If you have an idea of a topic you would like me to cover, please comment or send me an email.

Welcome to our first heritage challenge of 2011.  When we think of the New Year, we often think of change. Most change in our lives occurs moment by moment and we don’t even think about it.  Or we are doing busy experiencing the change to stop and write down what we fell at the time.  It may seem obvious, but documenting the change in your life, your family’s life or your ancestors, could tell a lot about you as people.

This layout is the opening page in my Grandmother’s life book. Most of her grandchildren only knew her as a white haired “little old lady”. I wanted to show more than that – the incorrigible toddler, the bright student, the young woman in love, the new mother, the widow, the teacher, the woman of God and so much more. It was really eye opening for me to see her life unfold on one layout. This layout demonstrates change that occurs on an ongoing basis for everyone.

Change is inevitable, or so “they” say and sometimes the changes are big or life changing. Some experiences in our life, define who we are as person, send us off in another direction or confirm that we are right where we should be. They challenge us, grieve us, bring joy and stretch us in negative and positive ways.

Try to think of ways you or your family member have changed or experiences that have changed you. Here is a partial list:



Salvation/Choosing to walk with God

Health/Illness Changes/Disease/Surviving Cancer

Tragedy

A National Experience (e.g. The Great Depression, 9/11)

Political changes and events

Education

Career Changes or Job loss

Losing a Child or Other Loved One

Moving to Another Country, State, Province or City

Missionary Adventures

Marriage/Divorce/Widowhood

Abuse

Adoption



I’m sure you can come up with more. This is just a basic list of things that change or can change us through the course of our lives. My Grandparents lived through The Great Depression of the 1930s and this shaped who they were as people and their attitude towards things in general. But you wouldn’t know this just looking through a photo album would you? Photos are wonderful and art is beautiful, but sometimes we are left with more questions than answers. It is our job as family historians to document some of these things. Don’t forget the “story” in His”story”!

This layout doesn’t have a lot of journaling because some things I just don’t want to share with the whole Internet Scrapbooking Community! But it talks about the changes that occurred from the starry eyed bride to the comfortable and trusty love I share with my Husband now, 12 years later. The photos, one on my wedding day and one on my 12th wedding anniversary, show that to me, but maybe others can’t see that. So, this page reflects those feelings.




I hope you’ll join me in this challenge. It’s such a broad topic, you will be sure to find something to scrap and journal about. Everyone who posts in the gallery challenge section  here and then lets me know here in the forum before the next challenge on Thursday, February 10, 2011, will receive the following word art as a posting bonus:

Thank you for participating.  I look forward to seeing your layouts!

Book Review and My Lifetime Story and Life Book Challenges

Anyone who sets foot in our home knows that we are a family of bibliophiles, so it only seems fitting that I should begin a series of reviews about books that may be helpful in scrapbooking, photography, digital graphics, genealogy, heritage studies and so on.

As a disclaimer, I must say that I have not actually completely read this book word for word,because it had to be returned to the library without renewing because there was a hold.  I read enough to put it on my Amazon list for future reference. Also it's not necessarily a book you read word for word, but pick up and thumb through and read sections that apply. It is a reference type book.

The Power of Memoir: How to Write Your Healing Story by Linda Joy Myers, PhD a therapist and president of the National Association of Memoir Writers, presents guidelines for sharing your own story with tips on both the technical and emotional aspects of the journey.

It will probably come as no surprise to you that I highly recommend everyone sharing their own story.  People tend to think they are boring or that no one would be interested in their lives.  But, wouldn't you want to know even a little of the daily life of your great grandparents?  I know I would treasure every bit.  Many families are blessed to have letters and even some journals, but mine was not and it has left me with many questions unanswered.  I wonder what questions my grandchildren will one day have about me?  Perhaps they or others can learn from my own mistakes and avoid them.

Furthermore, there is value in telling your story whether someone else reads it or not.  As a therapist, Ms. Myers' book touches greatly on the healing aspect of telling your story.  I often think of it like this - when I share my story with someone I trust, or write it down - I am removing a part of that pain from my body.  It's almost like a surgical extraction though truly our experiences never totally leave us, but sharing can diminish the blow. She covers extensively dealing with controversial topics and writing the truth about loved ones.

In addition to the healing aspect, which some may not agree with or feel the need to address, there are many writing prompts in the form of both topics to cover and questions.  There is advice on technique, structure and even publishing!  You can read excerpts from the book here at the author's website.

So, how does this translate into scrapbooking?  Well a lot of scrapbooking is telling a story in pictures and art, though we often fall short in the words department.  About ten years or so ago, when I was still paper scrapbooking, I was on an email list with Angie Pedersen and she challenged us not to forget ourselves in our scrapbooks.  Inevitably one person is repeatedly behind the camera telling the stories of others, but everyone is left to wonder who the mysterious camera man or woman is!  Then she wrote The Book of Me and others in the series.  These are excellent guidelines.  Perhaps I will review that book next!  You can read more from Angie on her blog.

Are you already looking to scrap your story?  Faith Sisters has an excellent serial challenge called My Lifetime Story, running in 2010.  You can find some great ideas and the challenges are left up in the forum so you can start up at anytime.  If you would like to see what others are doing, you can look here in the My Lifetime Story Challenge Gallery for great ideas.

In heritage scrapbooking we are often telling the story of someone else and piecing together from photos, documents and interviews.  The person may no longer be living and this presents more challenges.  Heritage Scrap has a serial challenge called Life Book, which is currently in its 3rd round.  This is put together and run by the lovely Victorian Rose Designs!  There is a chat at 9PM Eastern each Monday where ideas are discussed and Vicki passes out wonderful digital goodies.  You can peek in the Life Book Gallery too for some awesome ideas. I should state that the Life Book format is not only for telling the story of your ancestors but works for telling your own story as well.

Sometimes it is scary to put yourself out there or to even think about these things, but they can be blessings too.  If you read this post and feel inspired, leave me a note in the comments - and better yet a link to a gallery where you have posted your work! I look forward to hearing from you!