Introducing: Monthly Heritage Challenge - Documenting Family Traditions

Welcome to Faith Sister's new monthly heritage scrapbooking challenge.

My name is Theresa and I design under the name of Forget-Me-Nots.  I’m one of the new designers here and I’m very excited to “visit” with you today in my first monthly heritage challenge.  Heritage scrapbooking is near and dear to my heart.  Each month I hope to work with you on getting some of your family story scrapped.  On the 2^nd Thursday, I will post a new topic in the forum that we can work on.  You can expect the next one to arrive on January 13, 2011.

Some people panic when they think of heritage scrapbooking, but if we break it down into bite sized chunks, it will be fun.  You don’t have to have a lot of photos to be able to scrap your heritage.  And by the way – it doesn’t have to be 100 years old to be heritage!  We will explore all kinds of ideas for getting it done. Your story, and more importantly God’s story woven in your life is important. Let’s work on it together and have some fun along the way!  I’m looking forward to getting to know you.

When I decided to do a December Heritage challenge, I first thought of “traditions”, not realizing that the topic of the wonderful  My Lifetime Story Challenge  this week is also traditions!  That’s all right, the more the merrier! (If you are participating in that challenge your layout could serve for both challenges.)

Whenever I hear the word “tradition” I automatically think of the song from Fiddler on the Roof and Tevya begins singing in my brain.  What do you think about when you think of traditions?

Traditions can be habits of daily life, they can be a part of celebration, they can be the things you remember when you think of home or they could be ways of doing things that your family has passed on to you.  This month a lot of us are focused on the holidays, so it is a good time to think about this topic.  Be mindful as you go through your busy days this month and take photographs of the small things that might be forgotten if you don’t document them.

What if you don’t have photographs to go with your memories?  Maybe you have some memorabilia.  In this layout I used a scanned recipe card to illustrate my memories of baking sugar cookies as a child with my Mom and Grandma.  For me it’s special because the writing is my Mom’s, the recipe is Grandma’s and the smudges may be mine!  Look for ideas of creative things you can scan or photograph now to share your memories of the past.  You might also find photographs on the Internet, but please be respectful of copyright.  (Layout uses Forget-Me-Nots by Theresa Lindamood's  Holiday Baking Kit and Family, Home and Tradition Word Art )

  

Another way to document your traditions is to write about their history and significance.  Research online or in books or write from your own family knowledge.  Most of us have faith based traditions that would fit in this category.  You may have this knowledge in your head, but your children won’t know unless you tell them and write it down.  It’s possible to create a lovely page full of journaling.  Others will enjoy reading  the background story. (Layout uses Toucan Scraps' Chanukkah Miracle kit  and the lovely photograph is from my friend Christina Hskubes).

Lastly, when you are scrapbooking your traditions, don’t just show what they are, but explain the why.  Share with your reader why you like it, hate it, enjoy it, fear it, anticipate it, find it sad, disagree with it, pray for it and so on.  If you merely describe a tradition your children may later wonder if you participated because you had to or if you loved it.  This layout is a simplified version, but it talks about the fun family aspects of celebrating Chanukkah.  The first layout told much of the “what” and this layout explains some of the “why”.  (Layout uses pictures from my friend Christina Hskubes and Toucan Scraps' Chanukkah Miracle Kit ).

As you go through the next year, be thinking about your traditions.  Make a list of things you want to be sure and document and/or photograph.  Are there any traditions you want to get rid of or change?  Or maybe you have always wanted to try something.  Will you add a new tradition this year?  Remember to journal about how and why that change took place.  How do you see your faith in your traditions?

Please don’t let me scare you off with all this talk of journaling!  Most of this can be done simply.  Look at your photographs and memorabilia and pretend you are sitting down on your couch with a new friend, showing her your scrapbook.  What kind of questions do you think she will have?  Look at your page and think about that and the journaling ideas will begin to flow.  Have fun with this.  Our scrapbooks shouldn’t be a chore!

Since you have made it this far in my post, you really deserve a reward.  I’d like to offer you this freebie of glittery  titles to help you scrap your traditions.  You can download by clicking layout for the next 2 weeks: 

Please post your layout in the Monthly Heritage Challenge Gallery. 

And let us know in the Monthly Heritage Challenge Forum.

Remember next month to look for the next challenge.  I’ll be working on some posting bonuses  and goodies  for the upcoming challenges as well.  Thank you for joining me today!  Happy Scrapping!