Heritage Scrapbook Pages

My dear grandmother is 92 years old and still as fiesty and active as ever. She is the first one in line since she is the eldest. My oldest sister tells me that she recalls when that photo was taken. She went to the session with them. When you visit my grandmother, she makes certain that you are comfortable and well fed. For years I have wanted to try her recipe for rolls. They turn out so light and fluffy that they melt in your mouth. There is no additional need for butter...just a dollop of her homemade jam and there is a party in your mouth.

Each time I visit I always find myself going through her photo albums. There is a story that accompanies each and I love hearing about them. My grandfather and my gram both kept albums. She is now the keeper of his albums and stories.

During one of those visits I begged her to allow me to borrow some of the photos  to create some heritage pages.

 I had black & white copies made through Shutterfly. They are an excellent online photo service that does quality work and stands behind their product. Turnaround time is incredible and the software is very user friendly.

An album was created for my gram, my mother and or course for me. I used an 8x8 format and papers from a Cosmo Cricket kit with additional embellisments from my stash. This card stock is so thick that I was able to use both sides of the double sided cards. I just had to compose the pages in such as way that brads and eyelets did not go through to the other side.

My gram went through every photo with me and gave me the history behind it that I diligently recorded.

I learned an unbelievable amount of information about my family that I never knew and no one talked about.  My eldest sister told me that it is really my gram's sister who is the keeper of the family history she is at the end of the line but is not the youngest. She knows EVERYTHING about EVERYONE. A visit with her is next on my list.

They are from a very large family as am I. My great grandparents had 14 children---7 girls and 7 boys. Five of the sisters are still living, they had their last brother's homegoing two years ago. I had the fortune of knowing and remembering eight of the siblings and of course my great grandparents.

That is one of the reasons that I scrapbook. I want future generations to know their history and the thoughts, dreams and ambitions of the people who came before them.

If you have access to old family photos, let me encourage you to get some copies made and record that valuable information.

Once your pages are created, you can scan them into a file at Shutterfly and have additional books made as gifts for your family members. I wanted to share a few pages from my album. Hopefully they have inspired you to pull out those old b&w's and jazz them up with a bit of ink. Keep  preserving your memories and inking in the name of love.

Until then.