Tag Archives: family stories

Gift Idea #41 – Gift Basket

Posted on by

idea numbers41We all know all about gift baskets but this one has a little twist. The theme is an ancestor or a family story. To start pick your focus. Then think of things to go in the basket that will help tell about your focus. Photos would be great. Maybe some object about the person or the story. Write up something about your focus. If you happen to have a book about the subject this would be a fun way to give it to your family. If you are lucky enough to have a video that would be great to include. Something to eat would be a must. If there is food involved in the story, that would be perfect. Or if the person has any favorite foods include those. You could add a few things just to make the basket look pretty too. The idea is to fill the basket with things that can create an environment that will help the story or person feel real.

 

 

Gift Idea #31 – Interview Recording

Posted on by

idea numbers31How about recording an interview with one of the members of your family (usually an older family member) and then share that interview with your family on a cd or dvd? To me the hardest part of this is coming up with a good set of questions for the interview. Well StoryCorps.org has the answer. They have a list of great questions or you can use their Question Generator to create a customized list of questions based on your circumstances.

With today’s computers it is so much easier to edit an interview and make copies than it was even 10 or 15 years ago. What a precious thing to have some of your families stories recorded in the voice of a beloved family member. It will be well worth the effort. Besides you don’t have to get their whole life history recorded in one sitting. Just a story or two would be great. Sometimes we think we have to do it all but we don’t. Getting something recorded and shared is the most important thing.

Food and Stories

Posted on by

I was watching the Food Nanny on BYUtv recently and something she said sparked a thought. One of her philosophies is to have theme nights when planning what to eat for dinner. A favorite theme of the Food Nanny’s is Tradition Day. On Tradition Day you eat recipes that are family favorites. What a perfect thing to do, cook a favorite recipe and then share the story behind the dish or the person who introduced that dish to the family. Over time you could compile those recipes and stores into a wonderful family cookbook and family history book.

Heritage Recipe Book

I found this beautiful example of a family cookbook on Blurb, with some of the stories and history behind the recipes. My mom isn’t famous for her good cooking but I think that my extended family might be a good source for project like this. When I think of my grandma’s cooking, I think of fruitcake and banana nut bread. I wonder what recipes my cousins have that trace back to my grandma. Since I’m working on a Generations Project with my great-great-grandmother Mary Taylor it would be interesting to know what kind of recipes exist from her day. I don’t know of any recipes handed down from Mary but maybe some out there. But even knowing what kinds of foods she ate during her childhood in England and then in her later life here in the west would be very interesting.

I’ll have to think about this idea and see what percolates out. Do you have a family recipe collection? Are there fun or interesting stories to go with those recipes?

Infographics

Posted on by

From Felton Annual Report 2010

I came across a different way to tell someone’s life story recently and I had to share it here. From what I can gather Nicholas Felton puts together what he calls an “annual report” each year. For 2010 he put together the life of his father all presented in charts and graphs. It is a whole new way to look at life and the stories behind it. I want to use this concept in a project in the near future. I’m not sure which one yet but I’ll keep you posted. Maybe it will be a quick project for Mother’s Day.

Can you visualize a project that you could use this concept with? I’d love to hear about it.

Related articles

Blurb – my favorite for self publishing

Posted on by

I’m a huge fan of Blurb.com! I have published more than a dozen books with them and I will continue to use them in the future. Blurb has 7 different sizes of books. My favorite is the 7×7. It makes such a nice compact book for those not huge projects. I also prefer the ImageWrap for the binding. It gives you a very durable cover plus the ability to have any kind of image or design on the cover you would like. If you haven’t used them before I highly recommend them. I’m grateful to a neighbor who told me about them a few years ago.

Remember Me

Last week I happened across “Remember Me” by Lesley Graham on Blurb. She uses a very collage style to illustrate the book that is very effective in telling this story. The book is about her grandfather who is losing his memory and his journey. I’m inspired by her work and will keep it in mind for future projects. Blurb has a cool preview feature that lets you see the entire book or just a few pages depending on how you set it up.

You can save 20% on two books with the promo code MOMRULES until May 2, 2012*.

*Offer valid through May 2, 2012 (11:59 p.m. local time). A 20% discount is applied toward your product total with a minimum order of 2 units or more. Maximum discount is USD $150, GBP £75, EUR €100, CAD $150, or AUD $150 off product total. Valid for printed books only. This offer is good for one-time use, and cannot be combined with volume discounts, other promotional codes, gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.

Mary – what we have so far

Posted on by

in process illustration by Kimberli Johnson of Mary and her mother

I’m so excited about this project! The goal of this project is to tell the story of my great-great-grandmother, Mary Taylor and her journey to Utah and do it in a way that is appealing to children of all ages. She was born in England and joined the Martin Handcart Company traveling to Utah in 1856. The fun part of this is that it will be a children’s book with about 30 illustrations. My niece, Kimberli is a talented young illustrator and she has agreed to take on this project.

The scary part of this project is that it looks like I might have to do the writing. I don’t consider myself a writer so this is a stretch for me. I’m hoping that someone will come along who is excited about the book and want to take on the author role. In the mean time it is up to me to move things forward.

Not a lot to show for it yet but the pieces are in place and they will move forward as life let them. We are planning a small square book that we will have printed by blurb. Kim and I have worked up an outline, starting with some ideas that her dad took from reading a history about Mary’s life. And you can see what she has done so far on in the illustration above. Here is an outline of what the book will cover and the illustrations or each spread or page.

  • Illustration #1 cover (Mary)
  • Illustration #2-page 1- title page
  • Illustration #3-pages 2 & 3- Mary Taylor born in England and in small village of Coton-in-the-Elms, that means cottage in the Elms. (image of Mary, her mother & village)
  • Illustration #4 –pages 4 & 5 – When Mary was little her parents, Joseph and Harriet, heard the missionaries tell about Jesus and Heavenly Father’s visit to the prophet Joseph Smith. Her family read about Jesus in the Book of Mormon and all were baptized. (baptism)
  • Illustration #5 – pages 6 & 7 – Mary learns how to sew dresses and marries William Upton They all wanted to go to Zion in America to receive temple blessings, be with the saints, and hear the prophet. The prophet, Brigham Young, had a plan to help Mormons, like Mary, go to Zion for less money. They would pull handcarts, instead of needing horses or oxen to pull wagons. (wedding)
  • Illustration #6 – pages 8 & 9 – In 1856 Mary and her family sailed with other Mormons on the ship Horizon from Liverpool, England to Boston, in America. Some days the seas were rough, making all 856 people seasick, including an old woman who lost her false teeth when she heaved over the ship’s railing. (Horizon)
  • Illustration #7 – page 10 & 11 – Near America, the ship was surrounded by thick fog, because the saints prayed the fog parted just in time for the ship to avoid an iceberg and then the fog surrounded the ship again. (Fog)
  • Illustration #8 – pages 12 & 13 –  From Boston to Iowa City, Mary’s family road in train cars used for cows. When the train stopped one night a mob of angry men surrounded the sleeping Mormons and threatened them but the Lord blessed them so the mob left without hurting anyone. In Cleveland they helped put out a fire. (Train)
  • Illustration #9 – page 14 & 15 –  The weather was hot when Mary’s family loaded a wooden handcart to pull and push across the plains from Iowa to the saints in Zion. They slept in round tents with their feet toward the middle and cooked over fires. (Tents & Camp)
  • Illustration #10 – pages 16 & 17 –  Mary walked all day pushing and pulling a handcart with her mother, father, husband and cousin in the Martin Handcart Company. One day, Indians rode by the handcarts. The Indians did not hurt the pioneers. (Indians & Trail)
  • Illustration #11 – pages 18 & 19 – At Winter Quarters in Nebraska, the pioneers rested for a few days, bought more food, fixed handcarts, and the children swam in the river. (Winter Quarters)
  • Illustration #12 – pages 20 & 21 – It was a long hard journey and Mary would sing the handcart song to help her continue on the long journey, day after day. The pioneers were running out of food. Elder Willard Richards, an apostle, rode ahead to tell the prophet that the pioneers needed help and more food. All the pioneers prayed every day. (Singing & Willard Richards)
  • Illustration #13 – pages 22 & 23 –  Near fort Laramie, more Indians visited Mary and the pioneers. The Indian children shared candied fruit with the pioneer children. At the fort they hoped to buy more food and clothes, but they had sold all the food. (Fort Laramie & Indians)
  • Illustration #14 – pages 24 & 25 – One day as they crossed the Platte River it started to snow hard and it was very cold. Mary and the pioneers had to wade across the river. It was so cold there was ice floating in the river. (Platte River)
  • Illustration #15 – pages 26 & 27 –  When Elder Richards got to Salt Lake City it told the prophet, Brigham Young that Mary and the other pioneers needed food and help. The prophet told the men to gather food and wagons to go save the pioneers and he ended church early. (Brigham Young)
  • Illustration #16 – pages 28 & 29 – Burt Simmons already had a stout carriage full of food. He was ready and left to save the pioneers before the other wagons. (Burt Simmons)
  • Illustration #17 – pages 30 & 31 –  Mary Taylor was very hungry and cold. None of the pioneers had enough food. Some of them died, including Mary’s Father, Mother and her husband. (Death)
  • Illustration #18 – pages 32 & 33 – They stopped for several days to wait for the storm to end in a place now called Martin’s Cove. Burt Simmons and the rescue wagons found Mary and saved the Martin Handcart pioneers. (Martin’s Cove & Rescue)
  • Illustration #19 – pages 34 & 35 – Burt Simmons took Mary home where is wife nursed Mary back to health. (in bed)
  • Illustration #20 – pages 36 & 37 – Later Mary married in the temple and had nine children. She taught them about Jesus and Heavenly Father. (temple & children)
  • Illustration #21 – pages 38 & 39 –  (Mary & Irene sitting between Mary’s knees playing with a doll)
  • Illustration #22 – page 40 – Because Mary joined the saints in Zion, her great, great, grandchildren learn about Jesus in the Book of Mormon and follow the prophet. (posterity – single page)
  • Illustration #33 – back cover (this might actually be part of the front cover Illustration that just wraps around to the back cover)

I’ll post updates as this project moves forward. I can’t wait to see how it develops. Do you have any dream projects like this, that you have done or hope to do?