Life Book Freebies for Tonight (Monday 10/3/11)

Everyone who comes to the Life Book Chat tonight at 9 pm ET will get this Quick Page FREE. This week we will be working on our subject's School Days.

Everyone who uploaded a CHILDHOOD layout to the Life Book Users Gallery this week, will get this Hammered Brass Alphabet that coordinates with the Violet Family Quick Page and the Violet Girl Page Kit. :)

Hope to see you there!

Chats are each MONDAY . What to do until next week...

Blogspot automatically sends out emails to my followers when I post a new entry. I'm not sure how they determine when the email will be sent, but I have been notified that some of you received an email update today (as did I) saying that the Chat is tonight (which I posted yesterday, but didn't come through until today.)

So just to clarify, Life Book Chats are every MONDAY at 9 pm ET in the chat room at www.VictorianRoseDesigns.com.

If you did not get to come last night, but wish to join us in this round, I recommend that you go to the Life Book Tab on my website and read all of the getting started articles, beginning with "What is a Life Book?". Then continue reading until you get to the end of the "Cover" article.

After you have determined who your subject will be, what size book you will be scrapping, what style you will scrap in, etc. Then I encourage you to make the cover of your Life Book. (You will find some Life Book Cover Quick Pages available for FREE download in the freebie section of the site, should you choose to use them.)

You may post your cover on my site and in the Heritage Scrap Life Book Gallery, as well, if you wish. There are no limitations on what kits you may use. The only thing we ask is that you not post links to other stores in your gallery description. Do, however, give the designer credit!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at Vicki1@victorianrosedesigns.com.
Hope to see you next Monday night!!

Hugs,
Vicki

Life Book 4 begins tonight!

I know it has been awhile since I have posted. I took a leave of absence from designing over the Summer, but TONIGHT, I get back to work...

Life Book IV begins tonight at 9 pm ET in the chat room at www.VictorianRoseDesigns.com. Please come and finish up a Life Book you have been working on, or start a new one and work alongside us as we work on them together. Hope to see you there! All in attendance will receive this Heritage Mini Pack, FREE! (Click the image to see it larger.) Please try to come!! :)

Life Book Week 10: Friends

“A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.”

Welcome to Week 10 of the Life Book Challenge where we will be preserving memories of FRIENDSHIP.

This week, your assignment is to scrap about your subject's friend(s). This could be childhood friends, life long friends, sisters/brother/cousins as friends (imaginary friends if you wish ) ... A friend is something that everyone has, and hopefully you are fortunate enough to have a picture of your subject with a friend. (It doesn't even have to be a human friend. Sometimes a dog is man's best friend. )

This is probably a good time to say that you may need to shuffle your pages when you are finished to put them in chronological order. Some of us will be doing childhood friends, while others are doing a layout about a friend later in life. Obviously, you will want to put this page wherever it fits chronologically in your book.

Here is a page Helene did about her life long friend, Marilyn. In this layout, she documents their friendship from their school years through the present.



This page I made for Millie's Life Book tells some stories about her two best friends. I didn't have any pictures of them, but I did include a picture of Millie when she was little with her sisters.



When your Layouts are done, please post them in the Life Book Gallery for Week #10: Friends.

Please try to come back here and post a link to your layout when it's in the gallery so we don't miss it.
If you need directions for posting links, please see my tutorial in the forum.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything about this Section of your Life Book, please post here in this thread.

Thanks! Can't wait to see the gallery this week!

Life Book (TM) Content Copyright 2010 Vicki Pasterik Victorian Rose Designs

Life Book Week 9: Childhood Home

Good Morning, and welcome to Week 9 of our Life Book Challenge!

This week, we will be scrapping about our subject's HOMETOWN, and/or CHILDHOOD HOME(S).

It's always interesting to talk to people about where their roots are. We are so influenced by the places we've lived and each place adds an extra layer to our life experiences. Growing up in an apartment in a large city may shape us into someone different than if we had grown up on a farm in the country. Our everyday life experiences are what mold us into the people we become.

There are two ways to approach this week's topic. You may choose to scrap one or both of these variations on the theme.

First, you may choose to scrap about the hometown your subject lived in. This will require some research on your part. What was the geographical location? What part of the state was it in? See what you can find out about the area. What trades were there? Where did people work? What was life like there? What were the hang outs? Try to find details that would apply to your subject. Simply do a search for the name of the town or county. Many historical societies even have old vintage photos of the town from the era your subject may have lived there!

This layout from my great, great grandfather's Life Book demonstrates how to use information found on line on a scrapbook page. I combined the facts I learned about the area with the family information I had about the time he lived there.



If you would rather not include information about your subject's hometown, you might consider doing a layout about their childhood homes, especially if you are fortunate enough to have photos of them. Some of the census records include the street and house number for each family. If you can find that information or if you know the physical address, you could find an aerial photograph of the area from Google Earth or Mapquest. Newer versions of Google Earth even enable you to view old maps and satellite imagery of the area, allowing you to virtually go back in time! You might be surprised at what an internet search will bring up on your subject's childhood home. Give it a try and see.

My grandparents were living with my Grandmother's Mom when my Dad was born. She ran a boarding house, and my grandfather moved in when they were married. My Dad and his older brother were both born in that house. Then when my grandmother was expecting their third child, my grandfather built their first “real” home. Those are the two houses my Dad lived in growing up. Even though they moved into their own home, it was near the boarding house, and he spent a lot of time at his Grandma's.

This two page spread documents those two homes, as well as the last home my Grandpa built after all their children had moved out...




This page was done as a sample for my Photo Album Quick Page (which you can grab free in the HS Store!)




Remember, this is your life book, so please do as many pages as you need to do to get your story told. You may be able to make a layout for both the hometown and childhood homes, or you may not know much about one or either. Just try to preserve as much information about this topic as you possibly can. And don't forget that if you don't have many pictures, you may be able to find old photos of the hometown online that you can use.

You can find my Home Sweet Home Word Art Set, also in the store:


Here is a Quick Page that you might find helpful for this theme as well.



It is also available in 8"X10".

As always, if there is any specific word art you need for your pages, please let me know.

When your Layouts are done, please post them in the Life Book Gallery for Week #9: Hometown.

Please try to come back here and post a link to your layout when it's in the gallery so we don't miss it.
If you need directions for posting links, please see my tutorial here.

One winner will be randomly chosen from the gallery next Monday, just before the chat. Please try to have your layouts posted by about 8:45 pm (ET). Layouts using at least 50% Heritage Scrap products will be eligible for the drawing. Layouts using at least 50% of my products will be eligible for a posting bonus.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything about this Section of your Life Book, please post here in this thread.

Thanks! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Life Book (TM) Content Copyright Vicki Pasterik - Victorian Rose Designs 2010

Check out my blog:Victorian Rose Designs

Life Book: Week 8: Family Memories

Good Morning, and welcome to Week 8 of our Life Book Challenge! By the end of this week, you should have at least 8 pages of your book finished!

This week, we will be preserving FAMILY MEMORIES.

This is a rather broad topic and will be specific to whatever Family Memories you happen to have for your subject. This could include Family Trips, Family Pets, Family Events, Family Holiday, Family Quilts or objects passed down, Celebrations, Birthdays, or Family Cars, just to name a few. (We will be doing our Homes later, and Hometowns next week, so try to find something not related to home for this chapter.)

Remember, this is your life book, so please do as many pages as you need to do to get your stories told. You may be able to make a layout for each of these topics and more, or you may be struggling to come up with one. I'm sure you can think of something that your descendants will find interesting.

Some of our Life Book Veterans offered these suggestions: If you don't have a specific memory, why not scrap your memories of your subject? Or do a page about something that happened in history or other traditions that were common during your subject's lifetime.

Here is a page I did about a Family Trip my Dad made with his family when he was a boy. He told me about the trip, but his sister (the little one struggling to “hold it” until after the picture was taken ) also told me her memories of their trips to visit their cousins. I included both of their memories in the journaling. (Click image to view larger in the gallery.)



I found a photo of the Model T Ford that was like the one they took on their trip and blended it into the bottom of the page to add a little historical interest. (The Studebaker that his grandfather owned was used in the Word Art at the top. This word art can be found in my Antique Car Page Kit which would work well if you are scrapping memories of a family car or trip.)

Here is a page Vintage Vicki made highlighting a Family Reunion. Reunions always create family memories! You can see she included a lot of journaling on this page, but the pictures also tell the story.



This is such an interesting topic and I can't wait to see what you all come up with!!

THIS WEEK IN THE STORE:

I've included several kit suggestions throughout this post. You'll find some Family Memories Word Art in my Family Word Art Set that would work well for this week. And if you came to the chat this week, you got a nice Family Word Art Set free!

When your Layouts are done, please post them in the Life Book Gallery for Week #8: Family Memories.

(And be thinking about your subject's Hometown for next week – that may take a little advanced planning.)

Please try to go to the Week 8 thread in the forums and post a link to your layout when it's in the gallery so we don't miss it. If you need directions for posting links, please see my tutorial here.

One winner will be randomly chosen from the gallery next week. Please try to have your layouts posted by about 8:45 pm (ET) or so. Layouts using at least 50% Heritage Scrap products will be eligible for the drawing, and those using 50% or more of my products, get a posting bonus.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything about this topic of your Life Book, please post here in this thread.

Thanks! Can't wait to read your family memories!

Life Book Week 7: Siblings

by Victorian Rose on 02 Nov 2010 07:45

Good morning, Girls! Welcome to Week 7 of our Life Book Challenge!

This week we will be focusing on our subjects' SIBLINGS.

Please note: If your subject does not have siblings, feel free to do another page in your life book for the challenge. Just be sure to post the link here in this thread. You may wish to do cousins, friends or even another page about something we've already covered. It's your book, so it's up to you.

Brothers and Sisters are flowers from the same garden.

Who knows us better than our own flesh and blood? They've been there from the very beginning. They know everything about us, and they usually aren't afraid to tell it – especially the not so nice parts.

This week in our Life Books, we are paying homage to our subject's brothers and sisters. We are going to document for future generations, the details and relationship between our subject and his/her siblings. You may wish to include just the facts; i.e. names, dates, etc. or you may wish to include stories and memories your subject or other family members have told you about their siblings.

Depending on how many siblings your subject has, and how much information you have about them, you may wish to do one layout, or a two page spread that includes all of the brothers and sisters, OR you may need to do a separate page for each sibling. It's up to you how much room you'll need to get your stories told.

Monday night in the chat, we talked about how to find information about your subject's siblings. Here are a few of the sources that were suggested:

Census records: All members of the household are listed as well as their relationship to the head of the house;
Will of the parents: Often lists living children and their heirs;
Marriage License: Often a brother or sister acts as a witness;
Land Records: Especially if the father leaves land to his children;
Obituaries: Lists family members, both surviving and deceased.
Living Family Members: ask them who the siblings were
also check Grave registration of veterans, cemetery records, family bibles, county biographies, and baptismal records

Some samples for inspiration:

Helene has done a beautiful page that includes all of the siblings on a single layout. She did the journaling on a mat and included the photos in a very creative way. This is a great example of a siblings page.



This two page spread I have done for my Dad's Life Book is a Dragnet Page - (“Just the facts, ma'am”.)
It documents how his family grew from one child to six. (Click on images to see the larger version in the Gallery.)



You will notice that these pages don't have any journaling, other than the names and dates of the children.

However, these pages out of my Dad's cousin, Millie's Life Book have funny stories she told us about her sister and include several photos of her sisters and brothers.



Remember, this may be all the information your grandchildren have about your subject, so make sure to include as much information as you can. This may take several pages, so feel free to make as many as you deem necessary to get your stories told!

I have a Sisters Word Art Set and a Brothers Word Art Set to help adorn you layouts.





So, the directions are the same as always. Please put your layouts in the Week #7 Siblings Gallery. To be eligible for the drawing, use at least 50% Heritage Scrap products, and have your layout(s) in the gallery by 9 pm Monday – just before the chat.

Can't wait to see this week's gallery!!

Life Book (TM) content copyright 2010 Vicki Pasterik Victorian Rose Designs

Week 4: School Days

** I was on vacation last week and didn't get Week 4 posted on my blog, so here it is. **

Week 4: School Days

by Victorian Rose on 11 Oct 2010 06:10

Welcome to Week #4 of the Life Book Challenge!

If you have just found us, feel free to jump right in and go back as you have time and finish the other pages we have done together.

Before we begin with our School Days pages this week, I just wanted to remind you that while we are running this as a challenge, you are making YOUR book, so I want you to put whatever you want in your book. If it takes you 4 pages to tell about a certain part of your subject's life, by all means, get those stories told! We are here to offer suggestions and guidance as we do this together. Please make these pages with a picture in the back of your mind of your grandchildren and great grandchildren reading this book someday in the far off future, and tell the stories and scrap the pages you want them to have.

Now then, let's talk about School Days! Every time I see the words “School Days”, I can't stop humming, “School Days. School Days. Dear old golden rule days.” That's the feeling of nostalgia I get when I scrap school days memories. You may be feeling nostalgic, too, as you think about one room school houses and McGuffey readers, or “Dick and Jane” or maybe you are scrapping your children's school days that may have very different memories of big 80s hair or neon Crayolas. In any event, many of the memories are the same – new school supplies in the Fall, friends, text books and new shoes.

I was VERY fortunate to be able to find a picture online of the school my Dad went to! And thankfully, my grandmother kept everything, so I have in my collection school pictures of my Dad and his brothers and sisters from the 1943-44 school year which made for a really great layout for my Dad's Life Book.
(Click on images to see larger versions in the gallery.)



I wanted to include my Dad's school memories, so I did a two page spread and included the journaling from my interview with him on the second page. I added another school photo at the bottom to break up the monotony of all the journaling.



My Dad's cousin, Millie went to the same school, so I did a similar layout for her life book using the same picture.




My favorite school layout, though, is this companion page from Millie's book. My cousin took his mom to a school reunion and someone had a picture of Millie's class when she was a little girl going to a one room school house. He managed to get a copy of the picture and sent it to me to use on this page. Millie was so thrilled to see that picture as she had never seen it before.



I was able to find websites about many remaining one room school houses in the U.S. by Googling. If your subject went to a one room school (or even a more modern school) you may just find a photo on line you can use.

If you don't have any photos of the school, look for a photo of your subject when they were school aged to include on your pages. If they are alive and you interviewed them (or are interviewing them as you go as I am doing), find out what they remember about their school days. Write those memories down to preserve them. Ask them what classes they remember. Who were their teachers? What did they have for their lunch? How did they get to school (up hill both ways in a snow storm? ) Do they have any special memories? Did they win the spelling bee? Did they marry their school days sweetheart? Do any school projects stand out in their mind? Those are the details that make an interesting page.

I have run into a brick wall with my Great Great Grandfather. The earliest photo of him is when he was a teenager. I know very little about his childhood except what I have learned from census records, regarding where he lived, etc. Then I had an idea. The census records tell what district he lived in as a child. I went to the website for the county he lived in and asked in the forums on GenWeb if anyone knew anything about the schools in the area around the Civil War, and where he might have gone to school. I'm hoping that someone might have some information for me based on what I know.

If your information and photos are limited, do some research on the type of schooling your subject would have had. The internet is full of information that you can use. If you don't have many pictures, I have some school themed sets with ephemera and elements that will make your pages come alive...

I have made a jam packed word art set for you which includes a School Days overlay, a page frame, a tag, titles and much more. You can find it in the store here...


There there is the School Days Element Set...



And, I also have a School Days Life Book Quick Page that is available in both 12 x 12 and 8 x 10 for your scrapping needs...



School Days Life Book Quick Page in 8 x 10

There are other School Themed Kits in the store - just type "school" in the search box to see everything Heritage Scrap has to offer.

So that's it. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss anything, please feel free to post in this thread.

Please post your layouts to the Life Book – Week #4 School Days Gallery by about 8:45 pm PT (just before the Chat) on Monday night, October 18th. Then we'll see you at the chat at 9 pm PT. Just go to the Heritage Scrap Chat Room - http://www.heritagescrap.com/Lets_Chat/

Have a great week and I can't wait to see that gallery start filling up!

Check out my blog:Victorian Rose Designs