We’re having a beautiful spring storm today, and it’s just lovely and green and fresh outdoors - but wet.  I’ve stayed dry inside getting caught up on a few projects and you can see our new Suppertime set at the store today!  It was made especially for family meals and favorite recipes.  You’ll see it in the next issue of Scrapbook Dimensions Magazine with downloadable project sheets!

I’ve also found a little bit of time to play with some vintage family photos (thanks to cousin Lynda for sharing some real treasures).  I’ve done one layout and a few cards and just love the sweet look of the old photographs.  It also gave me the inspriation to try a few new techniques - from stitching to page pebbles.

Best Rainy Day Wishes!
Barbara

Suppertime is our newest set inspired by family dinners and favorite recipes. Courses include spaghetti, salad, bread with butter and jam, and cherry pie for dessert. You’ll also find a checkered divider bar, 3×5″ blank recipe card or journaling box, and cherry tag. Two borders and five 8 x 8″ backgrounds complete this set making it perfect for your candy wrapping, scrapbooking, and paper crafting projects. 

Click HERE for more information or to purchase this set.

What a beautiful Memorial Day Weekend this has been!  The weather has been beautiful and I’ve had a chance to really enjoy the flowers in my garden.  In the hottest afternoon hours I’ve been able to finish a few projects indoors.  The most enjoyable project for me was one I did with my daughter.  I treasure these together moments because they don’t seem to happen quite often enough!

This weekend I also had a chance to try something new with the Bind-It-All.  This little magnetic message board has a clipboard, corkboard and calendar, and the binding makes a perfect little penholder.  This one was designed for a school locker but it could so easily be adapted for a refrigerator.  The hole at the top of the clipboard makes it possible to hang directly on a nail in the wall too - ideal for a teacher, secretary, etc.

I’ll be teaching a class on how to make these coming very soon - so stay tuned!  I’ll post the details here as they become available.

• Handcrafted birthday envelope book
• Art Used - April Blossoms and April Celebrations

Recently we celebrated the birthday of my little niece.  This little envelope book was made with lots of pockets and places for pictures so that she can look back on this special day and remember how treasured and loved she is.  Envelopes make perfect book pages for this kind of projects, naturally creating pockets where extra pictures, cards, menus and other fun memorabilia can be stashed.  The envelopes I used in this particular book are 6.5″ square envelopes (from www.clearbags.com).  It was bound using the Bind-It-All system.

Have you subscribed to Scrapbook Dimensions magazine yet?  I’ve recieved my first copy in the mail and It’s so beautiful.  They really went to great lengths to provide wonderful content as well as beautiful inspirational photos and project ideas.  I’m so happy to have been included!  Next month you’ll find another Bits of Ivory project that I’m really excited about.

Watch in the next few weeks for a few new art sets in the Bits of Ivory store.  I’ve had a little break and now I’m back to work!  Thanks to all of you for your supportive comments and kind words!

Barbara

Celebrate special spring days with the bright cheery colors in April Celebrations. You’ll find a daffodil, Easter egg and butterfly in addition to birthday candles, balloons, and a cupcake.

Click here for more information or to purchase this set.

Greet spring with the bright cheery colors in April Blossoms. You’ll find a daisy, crocus, tulip and bees as well as a sweet little bunny. Two borders and two 8 x 8″ backgrounds complete this set making it perfect for your candy wrapping, scrapbooking, and paper crafting projects.

Click here for more information or to purchase this set.

Cabin Fever
by Barbara Williams

In the mountains where I grew up cabin fever is a common ailment in wintertime.  Housewives usually suffer the most and long desperately for the freedom of warm weather and spring (and children playing outside).  Our homes protect us from the cold outside but also start to feel confining.  This winter I plan to step back, take a deep breath, and remember how much the homes I’ve lived in throughout my life are a part of me.  Perhaps some of these projects will inspire you as well, and maybe together we can shake off the cabin fever this year!

• All the Homes I’ve Loved Before.  Many of my special childhood memories are tied to the places we called home.  I remember when I was very young living in a house on a cul-de-sac, and riding my tricycle around the sidewalk, back and forth.  I remember the house we lived in when I was only six years old.  It had a bench around two walls of the kitchen where we could sit around the table.  I loved that house!  In the wintertime the snow would weigh down the boughs of the weeping willow in the back yard.  Before Dad freed the branches with a rake, we would crawl underneath and play in the little tunnel that it created near the trunk of the tree.  More recently, I remember the home that we returned to with our first little baby.  My husband had cleaned and disinfected the whole house to make sure she would be safe and healthy.  What a sweet memory!  Take the time to remember the places that you have called home, and the homes of loved ones that hold special memories for you.  You’ll be amazed at the beautiful memories that come flooding back!
• History of Our House.  When I was young we moved into an older home.  It was big and roomy and mysterious to an eight-year-old.  I often wished that I had known the history of that house.  We were fortunate to find out some interesting things from an elderly neighbor who had lived there at one time (like what the bidet was doing in a house in Wyoming), but much of the history of our home remained illusive.  What is the history of the home that you live in?  Have you researched it at all?  If you live in a new home, this is a wonderful opportunity to document from the beginning; if not, you can start now.  From the mundane record of repairs to joys and sorrows that are experienced within it’s walls, the history of a house helps make it a home.
• Decorator’s Notes.  I remember hearing that Brigham Young’s home had been restored accurately thanks to a journal kept by his daughter.  She described the home in detail and even included fabric swatches.  It was a treasure to those who wanted to recreate the beauty of that home long after it had faded.  This year I plan to do the same.  I want to take pictures of our home, making notes of how the rooms are used and the meaning of the things that we choose to keep around us.  I want to record the various flowers and trees that grow in the spring and summer, and the birds that keep the birdfeeder half empty, even in wintertime.  Decorators will likely never have the dilemma of trying to restore our 1980’s rambler, but our posterity will know so much more about us, and maybe they will recognize some of the heirlooms that make their own homes special!

Any of these projects would be perfect for scrapbooking or journaling.  We’d love to hear how you are able to adapt and use them for your own history!

Family Politics
by Chris Kennard 

The year: 1980. The classroom was divided along party lines (actually, we were assigned parties…heck, we were only 6!). Two well informed students went up to the front of the classroom and campaigned vigorously for their presidential candidate. After much deliberation, we went to our secret voting booths, covered the ballots with our hands so our sneaky neighbors couldn’t cheat, and voted. It was close, but Ronald Regan won the Presidency over Jimmy Carter. I can still feel the tension. I can visualize exactly what the ballots looked like and the little stick figures that represented the candidates.

I can also remember walking home that day, thinking about the election, and realized that mom had let someone put a Regan campaign sign up in our yard! Mom must be a really smart lady to choose the same guy as me. From then on, I watched the news and paid attention to the race, and thought it was no coincidence that Regan was elected. He had won the ‘Ms. Burt’s 1^st Grade Class Primary,’ remember. From then on he was my president. I was responsible for getting him elected and I felt that I had made the difference.

I’m a little more cynical now but that’s a very real memory for me, and frankly, I don’t have very many.

President’s Day was originally Lincoln’s Birthday on February 12^th and Washington’s Birthday on February 22^nd. The two days were consolidated and celebrated on the 12^th, with all of the presidents included. On the 12^th tell your family about your first presidential memory - when you became aware of the office and power of the president. Or maybe you could tell them about the first time you voted. Maybe about your parent’s politics and going to vote with them, if they took you.  Remember to record these memories for your history as well!

For the serious genealogist, see how many steps there are between you and the president…who are you related to that is also related to any of the presidents?  I’m still working on that for our family, I’ll see what I can do and report in next quarter’s newsletter.

10 Reasons I Love You
by Barbara Williams 

Take the time this Valentine’s Day to write down or record your feelings about those who are close to you.  Our relationships with others are a very important part of who we are, and our histories would be woefully incomplete without some record of our feelings toward loved ones.

A Special Valentine

Write a list of ten things that you love about each of the people who are close to you.  Make a copy for your own journal, and then share the list with each person. 

Family Home Evening Ideas

Write each family member’s name on a piece of paper, a paper heart, etc.  Pass the papers around until everyone has had a chance to write down or draw something that they love about each family member.  Share the results, and encourage everyone to keep them in their journals (or keep them in the family scrapbook).

Write each person’s name on the bottom of a Hershey’s Kiss or other candy.  Each member of the family draws a name (and gets a kiss), shares what they most love about the person who’s name was drawn, and then calls upon everyone else in turn to share their feelings.  Keep the tape recorder on for this activity!

Celebrating Your Heritage
by Chris Kennard 

Happy St. Chris’ Day!

Nope, not declaring my impending sainthood. I’ve just always wanted to say that! I have a brother named Patrick, and every year it was like he had two birthdays; the real one, right near the end of December, and then St. Patrick’s Day, which he claimed as his own and the whole world celebrated. I was always a little envious of Pat, and even now I feel like St. Patrick’s day is a special family holiday for us.

Maybe that’s why I created my own little St. Chris’ day, or more specifically, Christina Lovina Amelia Jacobsen day, the wonderful great-great-grandma that I was named after. Even more special, her birthday was November 9^th, exactly six months after mine (okay okay, technically six months and one hundred and eleven years before mine). Everything I learn about Amelia (she went by Amelia, not Christina) is special to me and I feel like she’s more of a grandma instead of a distant relation. Not only that, I feel like she’s MY grandma, or that we share a little secret that the rest of my family isn’t in on.

Or wasn’t in on, anyway. Seven years ago, my sister named her daughter after the same great lady! At first I felt a little cheated, but instead of Milly destroying my ‘relationship’ with Grandma Amelia, I feel like she’s my special niece. We share the same namesake, the same secret relationship, and unfortunately the same semi-wavy hair that won’t stay smooth and pretty no matter what we do (I wonder if Grandma Amelia had the same unfortunate ‘pillow-head’ genes?).

Were you named after someone? What do you know about them and how they got their name? Do your kids have patron ancestors? Wouldn’t it be fun for them to have a small celebration on their birthday? Even if they weren’t named after ancestors, like my poor ancestor-orphan sister Barbara, the name came from *somewhere*, find out where and celebrate!

*Are you interested in learning the origins of your name?  Here are a few dictionaries of names!

http://www.last-names.net/
http://www.parenthood.com/parent_cfmfiles/babynames.cfm

This holiday season include a special family tradition in your holiday scrapbook.  Plan ahead, and then take the pictures that you need to capture your special celebrations.  We’ve collected a few ideas that we hope will inspire you.

·         Favorite family recipes:  Include your favorite family recipe in a scrapbook layout along with pictures of the family making or eating this fun favorite.  Your favorite gingerbread men will still be a big hit generations from now if you take the time to preserve them in your memory book this year!

·         Special family traditions:  From sleigh rides to caroling, Christmas tree shopping to decking the halls, special family traditions are worth capturing for future generations.  Be sure to ask yourself the magic questions as you journal these pages - who, what, when, where, why and how!

·         The meaning of the season:  For most of us, the holiday season is full of spiritual meaning and symbolism.  Take the time to record the special feelings that each of your family members has this time of year.  What special ways do you celebrate the religious aspects of the holidays?  Include photos of your favorite nativity or creche, meaningful religious symbols in your home, and special pageants or programs.  Help each family member record the special meaning that these things have for them and include these thoughts in your scrapbook.

This issue’s project is a Memory Jar with a sweet twist!

YOUR MEMORIES ARE A TREASURE!

• Cut memory prompts into strips.  You can find memory prompts on many internet sites, or use our 52 ways to write a memory.
• Fold paper strips, then tuck under the bottom fold of miniature chocolate bars (we used assorted Nestle Treasures).
• 52 treasures fit neatly into a quart jar.  Decorate the jar as desired.

Memorial day has been celebrated since shortly after the Civil War.  It began as a day set aside to decorate the graves of soldiers who had lost their lives during that war.  It was celebrated at the end of May so that flowers would be plentiful.  After World War I all who had lost their lives in any American war were honored on that day.  In our family the day of remembrance and honor extends to all who have gone before us.

As a child, I remember walking with my grandparents through the cemeteries where my ancestors were buried.  It was so beautiful with all of the flowers, and the small flags that marked the graves of those who had died in the service of our country.  I remember listening as Grandma talked about the people whose graves we were decorating with fresh flowers.  I believe that this was one of my earliest introductions to family history.

A few years ago we visited my husband’s mother on Memorial Day weekend, and had the opportunity to visit the graves of his ancestors.  We cleaned the graves, trimmed back the encroaching grass, and were filled with love for all of the sacrifices that were made on our behalf.  Names and dates carved in stone meant so much more to us that day as we did something tangible to show our respect.

The next year we went camping as a family, but took the time to drive a short distance to a little Wyoming valley where many of my mother’s ancestors are laid to rest.  We were fortunate to arrive just as my Grandparents did, and they took my children around and showed them each of the family graves.  Grandpa showed us where his parents were buried, and then took us to a space where he would one day be buried.  He talked about how happy he would be to see all of his loved ones again someday, and be buried here among them.  How comforting his words were when only three months later we stood on that very ground to lay him to rest.  The impact on my children was touching.  They remembered his words, and walked around to some of the graves talking about how happy Grandpa was to see his mom again, and this special grandma that he had told them about, and that dear uncle over there, and especially his daddy who had died when he was only three.  Thanks to my grandfather these people were very real to my children, and they had a beautiful sense of peace about being with people who love us when we pass from this life.

Memorial day is a perfect time to teach our children about their family history.  It’s a wonderful time to teach them respect for those who have sacrificed for our freedom.  When my daughter kneels by the grave of my great-great grandmother, for whom she was named, I know that it is one way she’s able to tie the stories she’s heard to something real and physical.  She knows it’s not just a fairy-tale, and she has the opportunity to show her love in a special way.  I hope that one day my children will look back on this holiday and say to themselves as I do that this was when family history became part of them.