iNDSD Sale

Happy Shopping and Scrapping this weekend! You can visit my shop HERE.

NEW: Everyday Heritage - My Cook Book

Cooking and health are a growing passion of mine, which has often been fueled by memories of working with Grandma Hopkins in her kitchen and lately by reading books she left that all include little notes in her handwriting and underlining and crossing out things sometimes too!  This year I have begun to make plans for creating a family cookbook. And so the seeds were also sown to create my new kit Everyday Heritage - My Cook Book.

 

 

The kit is quite large, so that you can make a variety of pages or a whole book. If you have my Country Kitchen kit, some of the elements and papers may mix and match.  Here is the store description for the kit:

 

The foods we eat and how and who we enjoy them with, are a part of our heritage, both past and in the present.  This 2nd edition of my every day heritage series is designed to help you create a whole cookbook project or just a page or a 4x6 recipe to share.  Included are 3x4 and 4x6 cards to use with the pocket page scrapbook style in either digital or hybrid.  Bon Appetite!

24 12x12 300dpi Background papers including:

 5 Cardstock
19 Patterns

168 Elements, including:

13 3x4 Pocket Cards
 9 4x6 Pocket Cards
 3 Index Cards
 8 Recipe Cards
 7 Frames
 2 Sets Photo Corners
23 Word Labels (x2 Colors)
 4 Plain Labels
 5 Titles (x2 Colors)
28 Category Subtitles (x2 Colors)
 2 Leaves
 1 "Love" Sticker
 2 Oven Mitt Stickers
 1 Mixer Sticker
 2 Measuring Spoon Sets
 2 Paper Clips
 1 Paper Doily
 1 Potato Peeler
 1 Place Setting
 1 Ribbon
 1 Spatula
 2 Staples
 2 Stitching
 1 Turner
 1 Vine
 3 Washi Tape
 1 Whisk
 1 Apron
 6 Arrows
 2 Banner Pieces
 2 Borders
 3 Bows
 2 Sets Brackets
 1 Button
10 Chipboard Shapes
 1 Clip
 1 Cook Pot Sticker
 6 Flowers
 1 Fork
 1 Knife
 1 Heart
 1 Lace

 

Some of the elements.

 

 

I tried to include as many ways as possible for you to write down recipes, so that there would be variety if you were making a book. Also included are 3x4 and 4x6 cards for those who are doing pocket style scrapbooking.

I tried to keep the paper selection somewhat neutral with a few bolder prints for accents. This way the eye can focus on the recipes and the photos. They have a slightly vintage country feel to them.  Included are five pieces of cardstock as well.

 

 

Frames are included for creating regular scrapbook pages or for your food photos. And there are plenty of labels!  Plain versions are included in case you want to add your own.  There are titles and category titles as well.  All these come in two different colors to allow more creative freedom in your cook book! 

 

I hope you enjoy! Whether you use my kit or someone else's, I highly recommend creating a family cookbook.  Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!

Update On Ancestry DNA Testing

Hello everyone! First I apologize for long neglecting my blog.  To make up for lost time, I will write two posts today.

In the past I wrote about our experiences using DNA testing.  Then I wrote further about "spitting in a tube".  You can read about the Ancestry DNA testing HERE. Overall I am happy about what we learned.  We joined under the Beta program and were told that in the future as more people used the testing program and a larger database was developed, that our information would be fine tuned.  Last week we received notification that our ethnicity profile had been updated. This turned out to be quite fascinating information.

Initially my husband's data was:

50% Central European
45% Scandinavian
 5% Uncertain

Updated data:

97% Europe, further broken down to:

54% Great Britain
21% Ireland
 8% Europe West
 7% Iberian Peninsula
 4% Europe East
 2% Italy/Greece
 1% Scandinavian

The additional 3% is broken down to:

1% North Africa
1% Caucasus
1% Near East

WOW. That was different!  So, why the big difference? As more and more people are in the study, they can narrow it down and pinpoint more exactly. There is a huge change in the percentage of Scandinavian and I would attribute that to the % of Ireland and Great Britain overlapping with that of Scandinavia (Vikings).  Then there was that 5% Uncertain which would explain the newer additions of North Africa, Caucuses, Near East, Italy/Greece etc. My guess is that his Near East, Caucasus and North African blood, ties into the Iberian Peninsula DNA since there were connections there between the Muslims, Jews, Spaniards and Portuguese. This is just a guess based on what we know of history. We were particularly fascinated with Hubby's DNA because we have little to know information on his father's family.

When I went to look at my DNA, I didn't expect to see as great of a change, but it was interesting too. 

My initial data:

75% British Isles
16% Central European
 8% Eastern European
 1% Uncertain

Other than neglecting my nearly 300 years of documented Swedish ancestry, I felt this was fairly accurate.  Now you can see my update did change a little:

99% Europe, broken down to:

45% Europe West
26% Great Britain
16% Ireland
 5% Scandinavia
 6% Finnish/North Russia
 1% Europe East

The additional 1% was Asia South, which included India, Pakistan and surrounding smaller countries.

Geographically, my genealogy has revealed my ancestry to come from Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Poland and Slovakia. These numbers seem to more or less represent this. The only surprise was the DNA from Asia South since there is nothing in the last 2-300 years that I have uncovered that would make sense of that.  My British were in America long before the empirical reign over India. I am thinking that this could reflect my Slovakian heritage and their could be some Roma (Gypsy) blood there as they came from India originally. I will likely never know for certain. The Finnish/North Russia, which includes most of western Russia, could be part of my Swedish ancestry, but just as possibly, it could come from my Polish or Slovakian ancestry. The DNA results do explain the regions and note how they intermixed with others and what percentage the average native of these regions have in their DNA. In Scandinavia there is a mix of European, Great Britain, Finnish, Russian, Irish and other DNA types, so it is possible that my Swedes were not "pure".

All in all this has been a fun adventure and we are thankful to Ancestry for making this possible.  We are now hoping to do further DNA studies through 23 and Me for genetic testing of health conditions and for hubby in particular, we would like to join a surname study at Family Tree DNA. The testing from Family Tree DNA gives the haplotypes and you can join surname studies to determine which line you fit into, which would be beneficial in my Husband's case.  So we are saving pennies now for this. My hope was that we would make some connections on Ancestry.  I have made a few connections with distant cousins, but no brick walls have come down yet. New matches are added all the time.

Happy 5th Birthday Heritage Scrap

It's hard to believe that Heritage Scrap is now 5 years old! Congratulations! I am so proud of Kate McClellan and all she has accomplished and I'm looking forward to seeing where she takes Heritage Scrap in the future.  This month the new store design is debuted and we are so happy to have a new and functional gallery! Please check them out.

5 years ago today when the store opened, I had not even begun digital scrapbooking though it was on my long list of things "to do".  Since the age of 7 I've been taking photographs. At 11 I began scrapbooking. Since the age of 14 I have been researching genealogy. Writing has long been a pleasure. I taught heritage scrapbooking classes in Bellingham, Washington and Folsom, California at two lovely stores that are sadly, no longer in existence.  It was inevitable that I would eventually scrap digitally and maybe less obvious, but also inevitable that I would want to learn how to design.

During the autumn of 2008 I started looking at digital scrapbook sites.  Naturally I did a search for heritage designs and a link for Jean Daugherty, Digizines by Teri and Lynn Griffin led me to Heritage Scrap. I was in heaven!  All those lovely designs were just what I was looking for!  Then in December 2008 I joined the Creative Team at Heritage Scrap and began working as the CT leader.  That was hard work and a lot of fun!

During long calls regarding store planning, trials and triumphs, I was delighted to become friends with Kate and she mentored me as I dipped my toes into the water of designing!  I will forever be grateful for Kate willingness to share her expertise and knowledge and take a chance with putting my first kits in the store.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Along the way, Kate moved completely across country, my family and I bought our first home, our children and grandchildren began school and we've lost a couple good friends.  We'll never forget Jean Daugherty and Anne of Annie's Digital Things.  They both lost their battles to breast cancer, but I remember them more for their amazing art, their genuine willingness to mentor me as a young designer and their great influence on our design team and on digital heritage art.

Here we are at 5.  I say "we", even though I do not own it, nor am I the brains that made it possible, but because Heritage Scrap has become a part of me.  We've gone through rough spots. We almost closed once. We've changed. We're moving forward with tenacity and hope. I look forward to seeing what the future holds at Heritage Scrap as we continue to focus on sharing the stories as well as the photos that make up our heritage and who we are.

Thank you for reading.  If you would like to visit my store for the sale, you can find it HERE.

Catching Up and a New Kit

Part of the reason that I have not been blogging or designing for quite some time, is that I have been gardening.  This is a little view of our sunflower forest.  Sadly, sunflower harvest has come and gone and so have the lovely sunshine blooms.  With the garden comes a lot of work and a lot of fun.

The last few weeks have been all about making tomato sauce.  I love picking produce from the garden and using Grandma Hopkins' vintage enamel bowl.  But in between the picking, canning and painting/decorating the kitchen, I have been watching movies, reading books and designing.  And this produced Anne:

 

Anne was inspired by my favorite Canadian red headed heroine as she entered adulthood, married life and motherhood.

 

 

Some of the elements.

 

 

Papers in muted, soft tones.

 

 

Plenty of journaling elements, frames and 2 pieces of word art quotes.

 

 

 

Card Stock, Quick Page and Mats

 

 

Hope you'll enjoy scrapbooking with Anne.  Thank you for stopping by!

interNational Scrapbook Day Weekend

For many years during my paper scrapbooking days, I had so much fun at NSD crops!  I loved chatting with my special scrapping friends, trying nummy treats, joining in contests etc!  Hmmm... I miss that.  Well, I guess I will have to celebrate by doing some digital layouts this weekend.  To help you celebrate, I have put my store on sale at 50% OFF this week, May 1-7.

 

 

You can find my store HERE.

 

 

The designs all worked hard on the lovely May 2013 Designer's Collab in lovely, soft colors.  Devoted is in honor of mothers and women everywhere who have devoted themselves to others.  It will be perfect for your Mother's Day gathering photos, weddings and other elegant occasions or heritage photos.

 

Collabs and Add Ons HERE.



 

My Portion HERE.

 

 

Devoted Papers

 

 

Layout using Devoted.

 

 

My Add On Kit HERE.

 

 

Elements of Devoted Add On

 

Papers for Devoted Add On

 

 

Thank you for taking a look.  I hope you will drop in the store.  Everyone is having great sales and some beautiful new product has been added.  Enjoy your scrapbooking weekend!

 

 

Family History Sale

For the month of March 2013, I will have all my kits with a family history theme on sale for 15-50% Off!  Check them out in my store!

I'm sorry I've been away for such a long time. It has been a long winter.  I hope to be designing again soon and posting more often.  Thank you for stopping by.