More Heritage

I've worked on our family heritage for several years but the last 4-5 years, I've dedicated specific time to my research and documentation in the summer.  I started my research where I left off last summer and have traced/verified my maternal grandmother's side of the family to the Revolutionary War.  It was interesting to find a story in a small Virginia village archive about one of her great grandfather's move from Ireland to Virginia, being forced into military service for England, and switching sides to become a close aide to James Monroe.  After the war, Monroe granted his friend a substantial tract of land and a couple of slaves to raise and support his family of 12 children.  Isn't history interesting?

Along with all the research, I am also continuing my organization and documenting of the many, many boxes or photos, stories, and official documents that have been passed down to me from both several sides of our family.  It's quite a job.  Many photos and documents are fragile.  Handwriting is difficult to read.  Lots of information is fading so I feel like my work has some urgency.  Lots of things are so precious that I hope I can do justice as I assembly and creatively frame our family's legacy.  If anyone has any idea on how to preserve the Civil War personal journal and letters I found from my Great-Great-Great Grandfather, chime in!  I have a small leather bound, handwritten journal that this amazing man wrote in while serving time in Texas where he mentions Yellow Fever, people who were with him, his feelings about his command and responsibilities, how much he missed his family, and the running of the Underground Railroad through his house to help his friend the famous Sojourner Truth.  

Studio J is perfect for showing off the pictures I have once I find the stories behind them and get them scanned!  Here are heritage layouts I finished this week.  I decided not to use the same paper and themes for each layout.  It's a way of satisfying my creativity and having fun.  It IS fun to use different colors and patterns and play with all the little tools Studio J has!  

Close to My Heart has made Studio J so easy and affordable to use!  I used one of the digital layouts with directions CTMH posted on their website to learn some new techniques.  Then I created two of my own layouts using the techniques on my own.  What an easy way to learn and what amazing layouts I have!  

Paper Trail Blog Hop is Footloose

The Paper Trail blog hop time is here, again, with the hopes of a warm, careful summer.  To spur that hope, I scrapped some wonderful pool side photos with my favorite subject: family vacation!  This month we are featuring the Close to my Heart paper Footloose.  If you riding the "Trail" and come here from Vicki's wonderful blog, this is the next stop.  :)

Footloose is a great paper of cool blues and greens mixed with sandy browns and warm yellows.  I added a hint of peachy pink and featured the coordinating chipboard Footloose Compliments Dimensional Elements.  I wanted my pictures to really pop with vibrant colors to feel the sunshine and I wanted my pages to flow together, which is shown better in the photos of separate pages. 

I hope you like this month's featured papers and continue your walk along the Trail to Lynne's blog.

Playing Digital, Again!

One of the great things about scrapping digitally, is being able to record memories and be creative just about anytime, anywhere.  Like most of my friends, I have a huge picture backload, and like most of my friends, there just never seems enough time in the day to get into my studio.  Even when I do get in the studio, I've been so busy with my job, I have trouble getting my "mojo" moving in the direction of creativity that is pleasing to my eye.  Studio J has really helped that way.  Where there are lots of programs out there, I love Studio J's patterns and scrapbook sketches.  I love the ease and versatility of Stickease that I can resize and move around anywhere.  I love that I can make a paper pattern any color to suite the mood I want.  I love the fonts.  And I love that it's easy.  I also love that it's affordable between having a membership and the discount for being a consultant, layouts are each less than $6 are wonderfully full color 12X12 pages that include a protector to just slip in my book.  The quality can't be beat.  When I show friends, they think I've created a traditional layout because the pages and embellishments look so real, the colors so beautiful, they look 3D!  I love that I also get a jpg file copy and can get any extra copies I want later at Costco.  It's almost a steal!!!!

I created three layout this week!  That has to be a record for me.  All of them are Studio J and all of them are different.  I still have my studio, I still scrap and make cards and paper projects, but making these three layouts was fun and efficient.  Six pages, three layouts, done:

Our Little Katie Turned 5!

I can't believe our little Katie turned 5!  It just doesn't seem that long ago that I got up at 4:00 AM to drive down to Puyallup and to support Loren as he welcomed his precious little bundle.  I also can't believe how easy it is to put together a Studio J layout!!!  This is my first try at digital scrapping and I was just amazed how easy and fun it is!  Now I'm busy loading tons of photos on my new computer so I can scrap anywhere anytime.  I'm going to be a bigger fan of Studio J than I ever imagined! 

Paper Trail is a Superhero

I missed posting with the Paper Trail gang!!!  If you are here from Linda's blog , you're on "the Trail".  This month the features the Close to My Heart Superhero theme.  I did a traditional two page layout of photos of my boys as they have changed over the years.  Love these guys!  It's hard to beleive I've been with CTMH for over half their lives, too!

So, here is my layout.  Along with the paper, I used and the colors specified, I used Designer Wooden Buttons, Dimensional Elements Stars, Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, Eclectice Alphabet Irrestistibles, touches of Bambo ink, and April's Stamp of the Month: You Are....Stamp Set.  I love these two photos of my boys but I have to tell you, using two large photos with accent photos in a traditional two page layout is a challenge!  On the other hand, having the two photos close to each other to compare is really fun!

Want to see more fabulous ideas using bright, cheerful Superhero then hop over to Betsy's blog!