The Golden Nugget Library

About a month ago, I came across the Golden Nugget Library, which is a genealogical resource of California databases. I can't recall how I found the link or what I was looking for, but I noticed that there was a small post about needing volunteers to transcribe bios.

Since I've always been fascinated by bios, I figured it would be fun to volunteer and help transcribe. After all, who knows what I'd learn in the process? So, I sent off a note, and within a few days, I was transcribing my first bio. 

The bios I'm working on are for folks living along the northern California coast. It's been interesting to read about these people who started the towns I once lived in. Here's a sample of the original page from one of the bios I'm working on:

Courtesy of Golden Nugget Library

If you click on the image, it will take you to the transcription of the page. As you can see, the subject of the bio, Frank H. Moon was born in 1861. Most of the bios I'm currently helping to transcribe are about folks back in this time period. The book was published in 1904, so it's understandable that these people were history makers in California at the time. 

One interesting thing about working on the transcriptions is trying not to correct some of the mistakes I find, like sentence structure or missing commas. The language of that time is so much more formal, yet there is a familiarity in the writing, as if the writer of the bio is trying to make the person your friend. Nevertheless, it's been fun, and I'm looking forward to continuing the transcriptions in my spare time. I know it's giving me ideas of what I'd like to include if I wrote up a short bio of myself for my All About Me book. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Hello My Name Is

Courtesy of Teresa Collins Designs

Teresa Collins displayed this mini album she created recently with her line Hello My Name Is, and I LOVE it! I'm a little behind these days when it comes to traditional scrapbooking supplies since I mainly scrap digitally at the moment. But a collection like this fuels me and makes me want to drag out all my old scrapbooking supplies. Must find this collection...

Very often, scrappers tend to create pages about everyone or everything except themselves. 

I'm guilty of this. When I look through the pages I've created, both traditional and digiscrap, there are really very few about me. 

About a year ago, I created a layout for one of my creative teams that was all about how I got my first name. It ended up not ever getting posted - until now. At least I finally have a page that talks about how I ended up with my first name!

Spell Your Name by cyranoscrap

CREDITS

Today, Travelogue, Amici, Watercolor Canvas, Bloomin’ (Studio 68)

Fonts: Traveling Typewriter (journaling); Claudia Jean (title)

Template: Kickstarter {single} Handmade (Studio 68)

Now, I just need to remember to try to create a page about myself every now and again. Hey, there's a resolution! Is it too late to make a resolution for 2014? I can tell myself I have to make one page per month about myself, which will give me 12 layouts for the year, if I stick to it!

Door To My Life

Oscraps posted a photography challenge about doors. It gave me a chance to capture the story behind why the door of my house is blue.

CREDITS

Facebook Free Art - Artsy Layered Template (Anna Aspnes)

All Directions (Val C Designs)

Fonts: Vaguely Repulsive and Very Damaged (title); PW01 Script (journaling, date)

I had fun layering the opaque background with a masked color photo. I love Anna Aspnes' templates - they make a simple layout look so artistic!

High School Pictures

Gina Cabrera at Digital Design Elements offered a free template this weekend that is very old school.  :)  As a matter of fact, that's the name of her template and new kit collection! And here is what I did with it.

It was fun to take a look back at my old class photos. Embarrassing, but fun, lol! I know I have more, but I think they are still waiting to be scanned. Another project to add to my scrapping list...

CREDITS

Template: Old School (Gina Cabrera)

Papers:  Beyond Measure and Old School (Gina Cabrera)

Embellishments: BeyondMeasure, Everyday Life and Live Free (Gina Cabrera)

Fonts: Gnuolane (title); Franklin Gothic Medium (labels); Shelter Me (journaling)

Family Heritage Month at DSP

Yesterday, when I posted the family layouts I was working on, I had no idea Digital Scrapbook Place was celebrating Family History Month on their site. Most of the layouts posted in their gallery feature photos much older than the ones I have, but I'm working on trying to get a few older ones from my grandparents completed on layouts. No matter what, at least I will have some of the family photos documented in some way!

Now, are you looking for some vintage items to add authenticity to your vintage and family heritage layouts? Check out these resources...

Courtesy of F/Stop Spot

World War II Ration Stamps from F/Stop Spot
Great stamps from 1943 scanned carefully. There are a variety of stamps available at this page. Also at F/Stop, there are high-resolution envelope covers to use as background or embellishments.

Courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

The Graphics Fairy
One of my favorite sources for vintage art! You never know what you'll find when you do a search. There are photos, labels, and art for just about anything. It's even fun just to peruse the site.  :)

Courtesy of Fenderskirts Vintage

Fenderskirts Vintage
This site has more "recent" vintage clip art. 

Fuzzimo
Not everything at this site is vintage, but there are some cool freebies, like these old air mail envelope images.






Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list of vintage resources, but just a few I've found recently or peruse on a regular basis. I hope you'll find them helpful!

Family Heritage Layouts

Over the last week, I've become focused on digitally scrapbooking some "old" family pictures. Granted, these photos aren't that old, taken in the1970s and 1980s, but I had to start somewhere!

Christmas 1986 by cyranoscrap

This particular layout showcases some old photos from our family Christmas in 1986. The photos aren't very good, but they still capture a memory that is special to me.

Credits:

Papers: Vintage Christmas (Persnickety Prints)

Embellishments: Vintage Christmas (Persnickety Prints); Scenes from Real Life (One Little Bird); Everyday Life and Serendipity (Gina Cabrera, Digital Design Essentials); The Weekender (Paislee Press)

Title: Bits & Pieces (JM Designs)

Title Numbers: Techno Girl (Pixel Gypsy)

Fonts: Pea Olson

Here's another layout of a family gathering taken at a park...

80th Birthday by cyranoscrap

Credits:

Template: Press Plate No. 19 (Paislee Press)

Papers & Embellishments: Scenes from Real Life (One Little Bird)

Font: Orator

And one photo of my mom and her siblings:

The Villanuevas by cyranoscrap

Credits:

Template: Press Plate No. 2 (Paislee Press)
Paper & Embellishments: The Weekender (Paislee Press)
Fonts: Century Gothic (journaling, date); CK Maternal (title)

These layouts may seem a little plain, but I've been trying to keep them as simple as possible since I want to put them all together in a photo book for family members to purchase. Besides, I don't know of any other family members who have documented any of these events yet. I might even decide to use the photo book as a great Christmas gift for each family. It's never too early to start thinking about holiday ideas!

The Filipino Dress

DigiShopTalk is sharing "Book of Me" pages this week. Inspired, I dug through some old photos of myself from the 1970s and found some for this layout. It's odd that I don't remember much about this day. The only thing I can remember is how it felt to wear that dress. And that wasn't necessarily a positive thing, lol!

Supplies Used:

Paper: Terra Firma (Mary Ann Buchanan)
Embellishments: A Thing of Beauty (Laurie Anderson, Heaven's Gate Designs), Studio Mini No. 7 (K Studio)
Template: Press Plate No. 13 (Paislee Press)
Fonts: Calibri (title), Century Gothic (journaling, date)

Where Were You?

Upon perusing an online scrapbooking store site, I found a link to a site called WereYouThere.com.

Since I'm really interested in scrapbooking and genealogy, I clicked the link and discovered a site where anyone can share their memories. The memories can be related to a specific event, such as the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986, JFK's assassination, or 9/11. Or, some folks relay memories about their first car or first love. The main idea is that everyone has a memory to share, no matter how small.

For instance, when I read through some of the memories for the Challenger disaster, I recalled that I was a freshman in college. I was in the dining hall, eating breakfast, when I saw the launch being televised on every TV set in the dining hall. So, as I ate my cereal, I watched and listened to the live report, knowing that this particular launch included a civilian teacher. Others in the dining hall felt the same shock when we watched the shuttle launch successfully, then explode just seconds later. I remember looking around at everyone else, wondering if they had just witnessed what I did. I don't think any of us immediately comprehended what had happened. When I finally walked away from the set, knowing I had to get to my first class, I was in a fog.

Anyway, WereYouThere.com has lots of accounts of personal history. It's definitely someplace where you can get lost for hours on end, just reading memories.

Famous Nurse Dies

I've always loved this photo, taken back during World War II by photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt and published in Life Magazine.

Today, I read the sad news about how the famous nurse in this photo died on June 20 at 91.

It must have been interesting being the subject of that famous photo. Unfortunately, the sailor's identity was never discovered. Another piece of history at an end...