Family History Scrapbooking

Heritage Collector Storybook Module - Samples

The following beta test samples were created using the new Advanced Scrapbook module designed to work with Heritage Collector version 5.0 and higher.

Here are a few of the fun things the new module will help you achieve.
Different print templates. Drag photos directly onto templates. Make and edit your own templates. Use your camera or graphics program to create personalized backgrounds. Use the search function in Heritage Collector to quickly and easily find photos to use on scrapbook pages. Automatically resizes photos and keeps photos proportional. Inexpensive printing from the printer of you choice. Much more.
We will post additional information availability later.

Personalized Biographies

This cute little two year old toddler tragically drowned in1903 a few weeks before Christmas.

We felt her little history should be told so she would not be forgotten by the extended family.

Many children have been named after Nickalina. Some have the middle name of Nicole. Few know the history of their namesake.

These two pages and the four pages that follow in our scrapbook tell her history along with the history of the children that were named after her.

Two Facing Pages - One scrapbook page on each page to continue a topic

Interest young children in family history by sharing the history of the person they were named after.

Sharing Important Family Traditions

Our family has been traveling to Yellowstone Park for over 100 years.

These pages will unite our present trips with the past excursions of our relatives and grandparents.

We were even able to visit and take photos of some of the same places our grandparents visited.

Our new scrapbook is an excellent way to share and preserve these special events with everyone in the family.

The adjacent photo of the scrapbook will help you visualize how facing pages can help to display the magnificence and overwhelming size of a photo of Old Faithful as it errupts.

Photos placed around the sides of the center photo add interest and expands the context.

Sample of Two Facing Page Spread
Splitting a large photo to cover two page

Photo of the scrapbook opened for you to see how the facing pages look in a 12 X 12 inch scrapbook page layout. The larger page view is shown above.

Sharing and Telling Dad's Story

Take Your Time!

Reduce stress by creating one page at a time.

Remove the pressure to print a whole book or several pages before you start a history by printing each page as it is finished.

Over time the history will gradually unfold before your eyes. So relax and enjoy your travels back in time.

Work on the project as you find new photos or information.

Print one or several pages when you are ready.

Single Pages
Present the story one page at a time

Soon I'll have my grandkids on my lap introducing them to my dad and their great grandfather for the first time. I can hardly wait!

I have hundreds of old family photos. When I started to test the new scrapbook module, to my embarrassment and shock, I discovered I did not have a history of my father.

Next I stressed about how I'd tell my dad's story in a way I felt he'd be happy with and proud of if he were here to help.

I decided to start with his obituary. That should be easy. Oops. My sister and I could not find it. We will keep searching and I'm sure we will find it someday. No problem. I can add it later when we discover its hiding place.

In our search for the obituary my wife discovered the little journal dad wrote for me before he passed away in 1977. As she read aloud I knew we had found a treasure-trove of information that would infuse new life into his brief writings.

I'm in the process of adding photos to the stories my dad wanted to share with all the grandkids he loved so much. It is both fun and simple. I quote a few of his words from the journal and place them under a photo to add interest and imagery to each story.

Best of all, I can take my time and carefully create and add each page when I have the time to do it right! Sharing the pages will be simple and inexpensive. Each grandchild will be able to have their own full color copy.

I'm also excited to add my dad's voice along with an old German lullaby he used to sing to me as a child - the scrapbook on interactive CD/DVD will be perfect! I know my dad would love it if he were here to see, read and hear it. His face would glow instantly red with embarrassment but he'd be proud and happy.

The Martin Flat "Dry Farm" History

Learning about the 33 horse harvester

The Olsen family began homesteading and farming in the arid soil of southeast Idaho over 100 years ago.

Most of the current generation have no memory or idea of the hardships and experiences of their pioneer ancestors.

I will use this page to teach and help my grandkids understand the meaning of "horsepower."

How much horsepower did this old Holt Harvester have?

If you counted the horses you'd know it was a 33 horsepower harvester.

Use a Full Page to Enhance Perspective

The Olsen's were also among the first who accidentally discovered they could grow wheat and other grains without irrigation. Hence the term "dry farm" or a farm that is watered only by rain and snow (winter wheat). These early settlers had to plan and be wise in their decisions since they were completely at the mercy of the elements for their survival.

The brothers became lifelong friends, trusted in each other and helped others in times of difficulty.

This is the first page of several that will summarize those early years when the Olsen brothers worked together to clear the sagebrush from the fertile land of the Idaho wildness.

This scrapbook page is the first of many that will chronicle and preserve the early history of the Olsen family.

Entice the Kids and Grandkids to Look! Teach Family History in a fun new way!

Here's a
simple trick to get your kids and grandkids interested in family history.

Make a few scrapbook pages with seasonal pictures like the Halloween sample page at the right. We all like to see ourselves in photos.

Keep the scrapbook in a prominent place in the living room. Look through the scrapbook pages together. Share stories that go with the photos.

Your family will become curious and want to see what's new each time they come for a visit.

Soon they will be begging you tell them stories of the "Good Old Days."

Create Some Fun Seasonal Pages

This page was fun to create and I had a hard time limiting the number of photos.

I used my digital camera to take a photo of the old cornstalks in the garden. I then darkened the photo and used it for a background image..

Making and use your own background images to personalize each page.

Print and share pages by selecting different printing options.

Get three pages from one 12" x 18" print as shown to the left:

1 page 12 x 12 inches
2 pages 6 x 6 inches

The program will automatically copy the main scrapbook page creating the two extra images.