New Heritage Article on Cuttlebug Blog

It has been my dream for a long time to share a lifelong passion of family history, preserving family photos, telling the most wonderful stories on earth – those of the family, and keeping priceless memorabilia and documents safe and accessible in albums. And now, thanks to my wonderful association with Cuttlebug Challenge, I get that opportunity! Starting today, I began a monthly article entitled:

Preserve and Protect Your Precious and Priceless Treasures in Heritage Albums

This series will be presented the first Saturday of each month, and will be covering such things as:

Becoming the Family Historian

Dealing with Family Documents…and getting them into albums

Family Bibles

Birth Certificates

Marriage Licenses

School Documents

Church Certificates

Work Papers

Military Documents

Newspaper Articles

Letters

Momentoes

Obituaries

Remembering Your Ancestor

How To Interview Grandpa and Uncle Joe

Tips and Tricks to Create Great Pages with Tough Photos

Journaling Today for Tomorrow

Help! My Family Tree is Nothing But Roots!

And of course, there will be much more along the way. My main goal is to help get photographs and memorabilia out of boxes, drawers, cedar chests, attics, basements, and most important of all, Grandma’s memory, and get them safely and forever placed where they will tell their stories.

Last night, as I was writing the article, I realized that I alone am the link to the generations that went before me, and those that follow. If I want my children and grandchildren to know my parents and grandparents, only I can build that wonderful bridge that will provide a way for them to cross. The work of gathering, protecting, and recording my family’s precious and priceless treasures is mine. I will embrace and share it.

This is my husband in 1936 …. These are my grandchildren today.

Isn't there a wonderful family resemblance?

John Steinbeck says “How will your children know who they are, if they don’t know where they come from?”

Please come along on this journey with me! We have exciting places to go….I have original Civil War poetry to preserve, and my family lands go back to Lord Fairfax in Northern Virginia. I recently visited some of the original homes that were built in the 1700 and 1800’s. One bride was carried over the threshold, and had the door sealed until she was carried out at the time of her death. It was resealed, and remains sealed to this day. The current owners asked me about the door, and when they learned the story of why it was sealed, and its romantic story, decided to leave it sealed! We’ll be preserving this story together.

Before next month, look around your home, and that of your family, and find those precious and priceless treasures that need to be preserved for your family. Gather them together in a safe place and we will get started. Look in old family bibles...are there treasures hidden in the pages there? Check in the file cabinets, dresser drawers, jewelry boxes....you know all of those forgotten hiding places that we stash things to deal with later.... Later is Saturday, May 1st! The address is CuttlebugChallenge.blogspot.com

You are invited to write to me and ask questions and I will do my best to find the answers for all of us. Please leave comments and suggestions, also. Let’s save a lot of memories together.

This is so exciting to me....genealogy is the number TWO use of the internet...(and none of us would use it for it's number one use ...check Law & Order:SVU) I am really looking forward to the doors this will open. I hope you will check out the other photos I posted over on Cuttlebug today!

Leaving you love and

Happy crafting ~