Day 9 - Pictures say a Thousand Words

Day 9, January 20, 2020

Being new to blogging but not, journaling...I'm still playing catch up for the month of January as part of the Ultimate Blog Challenge (UBC). During this month, the challenge set forth was to write, blog, or journal for 31 days without fail. They put forth the topic of the day or we can choose to share something on our own if desired. At first, when I joined, I wasn't sure how I was going to catch up writing 31 posts when I didn't get started until January 16th. I wrote my first 2 blogs, Day 1 and Day 2 - then the light bulb went off in my head - write the daily topic from the actual day of the month, then go back and process another blog from day 1 and beyond until the two meet. Waaalaaa, here I am - my day 20 blog has been posted and now I'm working on day 9's. This blog will be simple - photos...I can handle that! I have 7 more days, then I'll be caught up! woohoo, I like doing the happy dance...

I pride myself on being a crafter and the family genealogist. So, the photos I'm going to post today will be of these two passions. I'm in the process of utilizing both passions to make vintage scrapbooks and journals of my grandparents across the board. In other words, for several generations.

I Dig My Roots and Branches

I use many different tools, papers, embellishments, and photographs during these projects. I've been asked several times why I waste my time preserving the memories of yesterday. Well, this is my family, our family...and I want to preserve these memories and their stories for others to enjoy for generations to come. If not, their stories will be lost. That's usually my reply...I get excited when I'm doing genealogy and I break through a brick wall so to speak when I've been stuck on a great grandparent’s line. It's at that moment, I feel like I need to drop everything I'm doing and create their story by way of a journal or scrapbook. After all, I have this many sets of grandparents that I need to keep their memory alive for my children and their children and so forth and so on. Guess what, you do too!!!!

For many of us, family photos from yesterday are hard to come by. At least in our family, they have been. I am constantly posing the question to 1st and 2nd cousins as to 'where' are all the pictures from our grands!!?? I capture things in my scrapbooks and journals besides actual photographs. It could be things like war records or census reports, maybe even a newspaper article. The sky is the limit when preserving these memories. It's all in the way we want to capture it. For me, it's about being creative and utilizing my stash of crafting supplies.

I am on Ancestry, My Heritage and Family Tree DNA. A few months back, I noticed I had a 2nd cousin DNA match show up on My Heritage. When I started looking at their tree, I realized they were in the same lines as my great grandfather, J. W. C. I sent them a message and a few days later they replied. They were the youngest daughter of my great grandfather's brother. Do you know, they shared photos with me of my great grandfather that I had never seen before? When I posted them to other family members, they had not seen them either. These photographs are priceless. These precious memories have given me a little insight into my great grandfather's life before I knew him.

My great grandfather is the 3rd one from the left. The others shown are his siblings, my great Uncles. (I'm not sure who is looking out of the window, I figured it might be a wife of one of the brothers). So, scrapping this photograph, here are some of the steps I'll take. I'll use papers that depict the building they are standing in front of and I'll throw some silver in to pull out the barrel that's set to the left of my great uncles! I'll bring this photo to life with the way I embellish it in the scrapbook or journal. I'll also include a title of some kind using my Cricut and a cartridge of some kind. I'd probably look through my rubber and acrylic stamp collection to find the perfect ones to use in this layout. 

And before I know it, I will have a beautiful layout for the scrapbook album or a beautiful page in a journal created. This is just the way I bring both of my passions to life. CREATIVITY!

For me, when I'm crafting or working on genealogy - I'm creating a story. I'm either starting from scratch, or I'm picking up where history has stopped to bring the memories alive once again. 

I'll leave you with a few of my creations. 

Have a great day!

~~Heart to Heart Soul Creations