Travel Tuesday - Toting All Those Photos!

Well, between getting back into the grind from our vacation in Wales to see family, to still being on this crazy-energy whirlwind of re-organizing and cleaning out the house, I haven’t had much time for genealogy.  I had been pretty deep into helping hubby with the boatload of photos and documents he brought back from Wales.  We are now finished with this project.  Good thing, too, as we are on a deadline since we’ll be heading back soon, and will take them back with us. 

Not expecting that my mother-in-law would let about 100 years worth and 500 photos out of her possession, we were unprepared and had no idea we’d have such a blessing (read as: ton) of photos to tote back across the pond.  So what to do? 

Not to mention that along with the photos was a big Welsh bible from his grandmother’s aunt/cousin’s family, and decades worth of family documents of all shapes and sizes.  

As for the documents, a first-grader could have devised a better "folder" than hubby did.  But since he wanted no input or assistance from me on this, so I left him to his own devices. You can see his incredibly "secure" packaging below.  And prepared thus, we hoped for the best and headed home! 

  

Stacks of British birth, death, marriage
certificates and more.
Larger than legal size!

As you can imagine, the people at airport security were quite interested in all of this when it went through the scanner!  At three airports (Cardiff, Dublin and Boston), we had to take everything out of the carry-on for them to go through it. 

I have to give them their due, they were very polite, understanding of the delicacy of the documents, and gentle with everything, even offering to put the photos back into the tin.  In return, we politely declined and did it ourselves, to have it all in the right order.  One of the agents even wore white gloves, but that was probably to protect himself rather than our aging documents.  I would have loved to photo the process of them investigating everything, but I know they frown on that kind of thing. 

As a paper crafter and scrapbooking enthusiast, I know something about acid-free storage, and have appropriate containers for scrapbooks and other things I have crafted. However, this is A LOT of photos.  And I don’t want to be toting empty storage boxes back with me.  

So when we go back in a few weeks, hubby will instead be using a sturdy cardboard box that he uses to store computer peripherals.  It’s just a bit larger than his mom’s old cookie tin.  The box snaps shut, so even though it is not acid-free, it will be much easier to work with going through airport security.  And it's easy enough to get another here, so we can just leave it there, for perhaps the second round of photos to be transported!

Enjoying All Those Old Photos

Lately it seems like my genealogy work has been more along the lines of crafting, rather than straight research. 

I thought I'd share this item I put together a few weeks ago.  My goddaughter and I sat down and crafted this in just a few minutes.  Well, actually, I crafted it, while she sat nearby and played on her DS (some kind of electronic toy, which she loves). 

I received this item as my gift in the office holiday gift game.  I think most folks were relieved they didn't get it, but I immediately fell in love with it.  This kind of thing is right up my alley...easy to do, looks interesting, and surrounds me with faces of my loved ones.  And since I already have a mobile hanging in my dining room (colorful penguins, which hubby gave me long before we married--he really gets me!), it was just a matter of moving some things around.

Instead of taking the totally easy way, and just clipping ten photos to it, first sorted photos according to portrait or landscape orientation.  For the landscape photos, I examined them for how much I could trim off the sides and matched accordingly.  Then I used my crafting tape runner to stick photos back to back, and clipped them up to the mobile.  Having trimmed some of the photos, the mobile moves more freely.  When the heat comes on in that room, it positively spins!  Delightful!  

First, lay out photos to match direction,
and match those that can be trimmed on the sides.

If you are interested in purchasing one, you can get the photo clip mobile at:
http://www.guggenheimstore.org/guphclmo.html
Currently $17.95

and also:

http://www.hangingmobilegallery.com/product/KKPHOTOCLIP-MH16/Photo-Clip-Mobile.html
This one is only $10. 

I also bought two of them last year, after Christmas, on sale at JC Penney.  They were about $7 each.  I haven't done a thing with them yet, but I will now!

The Gift that Keeps Giving

As I’ve mentioned here many times, genealogy research is a new journey for me, not quite one year.

This time last year when I first signed on the Ancestry.com, little dancing leaves were popping up all over the place with details on people previously unknown to me.  While my mom was excited to be filled in on her own great-grandparents and other ancestors, I think she was not so thrilled that I was calling ten times a day to confirm these facts and prompt any memories she may have.

My research did prompt Mom to dig out albums of old photos, which I am in the process of scanning and sharing here and on Facebook. 

But since some family members aren’t on Facebook and don’t follow here, I decided to share the old-fashioned way:  photo albums.  

For Christmas, I bought albums from Michaels, a national chain of craft stores.  They were nothing fancy and not expensive, for my two nieces, two nephews, two sisters and two brothers. 

I'm behind the times in getting an album to my brother in Texas.  Back in October I sent him some photos without thinking to, DUH, put them in an album.  So I picked up one for him, too.  Ed, I am very happy to say I mailed your album earlier today!  Finally!    

I filled the albums with prints of many of these old photos from Mom, captioned with as many names as I knew.  And guess what happened?  They loved it!  Not only that, new conversations have started.  My nephew has loaned me great-Uncle Benny’s Purple Heart and military mementos from other relatives (more about this in a later post).  My sisters are starting to share their old photos. 

Another good thing: there is not so much of that nasty "eyes-glazed-over" look that family genealogists often get. 

One of the best results:  my oldest sister Diane now emails me several times a week with fantastic memories of our parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents!  Diane is the oldest child; I am the youngest, with 13 years (and three additional children) between us.  When Diane was growing up, our immediate family, and indeed the entire extended family was much smaller; life was so very different for my sister than for me. 

What I can’t believe is I never thought to talk to her about these things!  So, besides all this wonderful sharing of photos and mementos, I have learned a very valuable lesson:  everyone has a story to tell.  And, oh, what beautiful stories they are!

Motivation Monday: On a Scale of One to Ten...

...I am an ELEVEN!  I cannot believe myself. 

There is someone inhabiting my body that I have never met before, I honestly think in my entire lifetime!  In my last Motivation post, I mentioned my new diet.  That’s responsible for all this crazy energy.  As a friend said to me, “Welcome to your new life, Jenny.”

Now, I digress.  This is a family history and genealogy blog, not my general musings.  But I had to give some back story, and that is it. 

Yes, I am an ELEVEN!! (Which probably means a twelve, but “eleven” in all capital letters with exclamation points is even better, to me, than a lower-case “twelve,” wouldn't you agree?)

The trouble is, if it can rightly be called “trouble,” is that my motivation, overflowing as it is, is not AT ALL directed toward my genealogy research. 

That’s OK, I’m not concerned, it will redirect itself eventually, once I finish completely reorganizing my entire house, office, life… 

Truly, today I sat down and wrote a list of all the nooks and crannies in my home that need re-organizing.  Honestly, I think hubby is getting a little fed up, I never sit down anymore just to relax and talk.  He sets something on the counter, and I immediately pick it up and start walking around with it, looking for a place to house it.  You know, "A place for everything and everything in its place!" 

I think he may also be a little weirded out by all this; we’ve been married almost 17 years and he probably has never seen me with this much energy. 

Just Friday at work, I spent the entire day on one project…I tore my office apart and re-organized EVERYTHING!  Threw out all the outdated stuff I had been holding on to, sorted about 20 pounds of brochures, cleaned out and re-organized two filing cabinets of stuff, pulled everything out of the information center and reorganized that, and walked four blocks up the street to visit friends, and then walked down seven flights of steps, all in three-inch heels!!! I never do that kind of stuff, what has happened to me? I LOVE THIS!!!

To some of you, that kind of thing is all in a days' work, but I can assure you that is not the case for me.  But, enough about me.  I just had to get all that out there.  I am getting lots of things done, things I have been meaning to do for months, and sadly, possibly, years.  Most of them just aren’t very genealogy-related. 

Here are the ones that are:

I made copies of this great family photo, which I talk about in Home on Leave, But Not For Long.  I've 

mailed it to several of my relatives, who I know will be happy to receive it. 

Last night, while watching our goddaughter, we made a photo mobile (more in a later post).

I'm preparing a photo album to send to my brother Ed in Dallas.

Gotten a few things listed on Find a Grave.

I’m working with hubby a little bit on his dad’s side of the family.  We’ll be visiting in a few weeks and want to have all of our research ready to go.  Hopefully, we’ll get to a few cemeteries and hometowns. 

I’m also keeping up with my blogging.  I committed to at least three times a week, and I am doing at least that.   I’m doing my best to keep up with the 100 or so geneablogs that I follow, too. 

So this is where I am right now, very happy but focused on other things.  Just today I pulled everything out of the pantry (five shelves worth of food) and re-organized it.  I’m actually starting to re-think my career…a professional organizer sounds right up my alley!  Once I get my genealogy research in order, that is!

Shedding Light on Your Passions

Lately I am finding that my genealogy interests are running to the creative type of thing.  Besides genealogy, I really enjoy crafting and miss it when I can't find the time. 

I thought I'd share these beautiful switchplates with you.  I did not create these, but have done others that are in my home.  These were created by my friend Ann, of the Harford County Public Library Genealogy Discussion Group.  Ann is quite a multi-talented crafter: paper crafts like these, jewelry, cards, scrapbooking, she does it all, and very well. 

At our group's Christmas party, she offered as door prizes very plain wall switchplates that she had decorated beautifully with genealogy-themed scrapbooking paper.  Can I tell you, I was thrilled to be the very lucky recipient of these items.  Here they are before I hung them in the hallway.  Let me tell you, they dress up the place!

A project like this is easy enough to do.  You could even make copies of photos and use those.  Just make sure that the light toggle comes through in an acceptable place in the photo. 

You've just got to love YouTube, it's got just about everything! 
Here's an easy demo: How to decoupage a light switchplate. 

Have fun, and please send me photos of your results!

 

Motivation Monday - January Goals Wrap-Up

Lucky for me, at the beginning of January, Stephanie at Corn and Cotton: My Family’s Story was already organized.  She had the forethought to write a great post about her desire to get willing geneabloggers to set 2012 goals, and report on a monthly basis.  I happened upon that post on a day when I was really feeling overwhelmed not just by genealogy research that was falling by the wayside, but by all the other things on my plate.  So I joined in.

My 2012 goals may seem comically light for some, but they work for me.  January goals were: decorations down, clean the house, begin to create a workspace.  So, on to what I’ve accomplished:

Continue to blog at least three times a week. 

Decorations are down and stowed in the attic until next year.

My house is clean!  From top to bottom.  Except for power-washing the outside of the house (which I never do anyway).  I've tossed a lot of stuff, and I've thrown stuff into a box labeled "Yard Sale," to be held in the spring. 

And I am still on a bit of roll.  Today I even organized a junk drawer while waiting for cookies to bake!  Can you believe it?  You have no idea what a big deal that is for me.  I struggle with that damn junk drawer every day of my life.  But would I take the time to clean it out, NOOOO!  But I did today, and isn’t it beautiful? 

You see, last week, at the library, I got hold a sweet little book called “Clutter Rehab” by Laura Wittman.    Oh my, it has changed my life.  I already knew most of the tips in the book, but it refreshed those thoughts in such a great way!  Plus, I am on a new diet that gives me mega-tons of energy, so I am organizing things all over the place.  My hubby is wondering where his wife went! 

But I digress.  As for the workspace, no advances there yet.  But hubby is working on it, should be in place by end of February. 

There are also things not on the goals list that I managed to accomplish, so I’ll give myself small credit for them:

Scanned lots of photos.  I love posting these oldies on Facebook and hearing from family and friends.

Posted some photos and other info on FindAGrave.com.  I’ve decided on a good way to deal with these photos: when I finish writing a Tombstone Tuesday post, I will go straight to Find a Grave and post it there as well. 

Deb Ruth has kindly volunteered to be my tech buddy.  I have not yet followed through. 

Oh, and I spent half the morning cleaning up the labels on my blog.  Consistency, consistency. 

Going online to cancel all those catalogs!

Now I've got to start thinking about February!

Heart-Shaped Photo Collage: My Genea-Creation

Yesterday I completed part of my January goals, but more about that in another post.

So, to reward myself for all the hard work, I have been catching up on three days of Google Reader posts.  And I came across Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genea-Fun.  Randy suggests and directs folks to http://www.imagechef.com/ as a great place for fun creations.  Reading his post reminded me of a gift that hubby created for me "from the cat" (yes, we are those type of people) using Shape Collage software. 

Click to enlarge image.
That's my mom on the left, next to the red Polish coat of arms.
Below the coat of arms she's wearing pink, with her arm around my niece.

Shape Collage software offers a free download to automatically create a collage of selected pictures in a variety of shapes.  I used a heart shape, and pictures from my childhood and all of my relatives.  

Thinking I'd do a blog post on this, I completed my photo collage, then clicked on the "About" page and let out a chuckle.  Vincent Cheung, who designed the software, did so in an effort to corral his thousands of photos.  Must have a drop of the genealogist in him!

I'm really behind the tech-times, so some of this language is lost on me, but the website says that:
Shape Collage is the only collage maker that:
optimally arranges photos
creates collages in different shapes
can handle thousands of photos
generates super high-resolution images (up to 200 megapixels)
makes collages in just seconds
exports to Photoshop PSD file format

I've used this software to create little collages like the one above and have been able to print them with a small watermark, for my own use.  For something really nice to include in a photo book or other gift, you can purchase the Shape Collage software for $40. This will allow you to print or download endless collages yourself, without the watermark. 

Give Shape Collage a try.  It's lots of fun and makes a great gift.  

It's Right Before My Eyes -- Maybe!

Today was no sunny day.  I awoke to a morning of thick fog, which eventually burned off into a cloudy, dull day.  Like many of you, I spent time running errands…grocery store, library, mall, and on and on.  And as these things often go, I traveled in a loop, probably never further than five miles from my home.

As I drove the familiar roads of my neighborhood,

I was stunned to notice such amazing autumn color, despite the dull skies!  My immediate thought was how sad that many days I go along these roads, unaware of the surrounding beauty.  Something so worthwhile had been right in front of me, and I took no notice. 

Immediately I thought of my genealogy research.  So often I am searching for a date, place, or other connection, when the clue I need is right before me.  Saying that, I have vowed to re-examine my files and have a good look around the house.  Here’s what I’ll be doing over the next weeks:

Re-reading my collection of family obituaries, death notices, newspaper articles and other records.  Take note of any names I may have overlooked, simply because they were not the known "family" names.      

Many of my old photos have one or two unidentified people.  I’ll schedule time to sit down with Mom and figure out just who these folks are!

Thumb through shelved books that have sat undisturbed for years.  I’m sure to turn up at least a good bookmark, if not a holy card, photo or old newspaper article. 

Re-examine my father’s application for a high-security military clearance.  I’m sure knowing more about the people who were named as his references will be helpful.  

Do the same for my 2x great-grandfather’s Civil War pension record.  The folks who signed as witnesses on the record’s many government forms knew him for much of his life.  Whether family or not, this could provide clues. 

Review death certificates to determine if there was an autopsy (another report!)  

In general, I'll update my research with the clues I already have.  I might find a bit of helpful information along the way, and at the very least, all the piles of paper on the dining room table will be straight!





All photos by the author, 11/10/2011.