Get Up and Dance or Boogie with the Band - Your Invitation

Have you been scrapbooking your family history? Well, actually, I know the answer to that question because I've been creeping on your blogs and yes, lots of you have been! Would you like to do more? How about sharing how you do it with more readers? Interested? Here are some suggestions:

Take the Microphone

Be a guest blogger for Scrapbook Sunday, here at The Scrappy Genealogist. Share your unique vision and techniques for sharing your family's ancestry and stories through scrapbooking. You might just inspire your fellow readers to get started. 

Boogie with the Band

Join the Virtual GeneaScrappers group! We are currently working our way through the Family History Album Class 1 from JessicaSprague.com. There is nothing like group support and these women are quickly becoming good friends. 

Get Up and Dance

Everyone  dances to a different beat. Show us your rhythm. Write a blog post showcasing a project you have created that fits the theme scrapbooking family history. Then post it with 'Scrapbook Sunday' included in the title and send me a link. For Sunday, 11 December 2011, a nice holiday themed layout would be fun. Or maybe your Uncle Miles didn't like the holidays, you could always do a page about your uncle, the Grinch. 

Hold Up Your Lighter

Hop around to the blogs participating in Scrapbook Sunday and leave a comment, or two or three. You know how we bloggers like to look out and see the lighters. Comments keep us motivated, let us know who is spending time with us and give us a chance to get to know you better. 

Have I convinced you yet to join the party? I hope you do. Personally I like to get up and dance whenever I can, which isn't very often anymore. Mostly at weddings. I love weddings, just for this very opportunity. Oops, off topic. Anyway, let us know if you are up for dancing, or watching or something else entirely. See you on Sunday!

Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!

Scrapbooking Family History Album - Week 2

Welcome back friends to week two of our family history scrapbooking project. Participate or follow along as we complete the Family History Album Class 1  from JessicaSprague.com. If you have missed anything, go to the Family History Scrapbooking page to catch up. 

Week Two, Day Four

Assignment: Family Tree and Pedigree Chart

This week we are creating a family tree page and a pedigree page using the templates from the kit. You will need to use the same technique we used last week to add your photos to the visual tree. It is also possible to adjust the look of the tree in the background using a drop down menu in the Layers tab on the right.

Changing the Look of a Layer

  

• Find and select the layer you would like to adjust; here it is Layer 7 copy in the My Pedigree template.
• In the drop down menu, which is circled in red, choose something other than Soft Light. If you do not like the new effect, press Ctrl Z to undo the change. Play around until you are happy with how the tree looks in the background.
• You can also change the look using the Opacity option, which is to the right of the first drop down menu. A higher percentage means more of your image will show, a lower percentage less. Again you can use Ctrl Z to undo the change. You can also click on the Edit tab at the top to use the buttons for Undo (Ctrl Z), Redo (Ctrl Y) and Revert (Shift Ctrl A, removes all changes since the file was opened). 

Need more help using layers in Adobe Photoshop Elements? Watch this video on using layer masks in Elements from the Digital Scrapper on YouTube . 

Let's move on from technique and talk about the content of the family tree and pedigree charts. In this family history album, the tree and pedigree serve almost like a table of contents for the individuals, who will appear on subsequent pages. Jessica intends this book to be a simple family history and not an exhaustive exploration. Facts about the individuals will appear later in the book. My question for you is how do you feel about including only names on these pages and no other identifying information like birth dates and locations? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Happy Family Tree Tuesday!

Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!

My First Blogiversary - The Truth Revealed

Genealogical research is about building family trees. It felt fitting to begin this blog with the story of my favorite tree, a metaphor for my own family. Originally posted as the banner for my blog on 13 October 2010, I later changed it to a blog post on 22 October 2010. This tree and its story had been engraved in my memory from childhood...or, so I thought.

Find proof. I thought I had. My memory was proof, right? The answer is a definitive no! Thankfully no one cited me as a source on this one. When I received the slide scans from FotoBridge earlier this year, I realized my memory was invented. Invented! By me! Today, on The Scrappy Genealogist, I come clean and reveal the whole truth.

The Evidence

1. This flattering photo of two unhappy girls was taken in the fall of 1975. We were thrilled to be moving.

2. Bubba and me in the corner of our backyard in Longmeadow. He documented this day. My sister probably took this photo. You can tell because she likes to cut off feet in photos. Hi Mary! :) Take note of the handle. That is a clue.

3. This piece of evidence is the most damaging. What? What is that tree doing there, planted in the backyard in Longmeadow? I have no memory of this whatsoever. It sure made me feel better that my sister didn't remember it either. She has a memory like an elephant. She remembers things I wish she would forget, but I love her anyway.

4. My tree is obviously thriving in its final home in The Magic Backyard.

My little tree in September 2008. My how she has grown. Today she is watched over by my aunt, who took over the homestead after my grandparents passed away.

We all know that memories are to be taken with a grain of salt. Oral interviews give wonderful clues when we are researching our family trees. Frequently we are interviewing older relatives, but obviously this story teaches us to suspect even the memories of the younger members of our families. My sister has been telling me this for years and now I believe her. 

Thank you Bubba for being so present in our lives that you were able to recognize the importance of this tree for me and that you took the time to document its journey. I will love you always. 

Have a great day!

Love, 

Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!