Tag Archives: Martin’s Cove

Martin’s Cove Journal – Finished

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Here are my finished journals for our family reunion in Martin’s Cove. On my prototype I used some scraps of mat board. But to keep the project on a tight budget mat board wasn’t practical for the real thing. I thought about chipboard but when I stopped at Hobby Lobby to see what they had I didn’t find any sheets of chipboard. What I did find was a package of 80# cardstock on clearance in neutral colors. It has some texture with coordinating core designed for sanding to make it look more rustic.

I cut the 12″x12″ sheet to 6″x8.5″ – two for each journal. Then using my wire binder punched holes in the journals and the covers. I didn’t want to use the usual wire to bind it together because I was looking for a more rustic, old-fashioned look. So I dug into my yard scraps and using a darning needle put the yarn through the punched holes is a criss-cross pattern and then tied a bow. I also tore the edge of the right edge of the front cover. I will have coordinating colored pencils at the reunion so that family members can personalize the cover of their journal if they would like.

I’m happy with how this project turned out. I kept it from getting too complicated (one of my challenges) and I kept it from getting too expensive to execute (another challenge). I hope that my family enjoys their journals and that the journals help them to connect with Mary Taylor in a new and more meaningful way.

My Current Projects: goals and progress

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Is it Monday already? Where did last week go? Oh, I know the new puppy (Zodiac) took all of it.

Mother’s Day Project: Infographic inspired sheet about the mother’s in my life.

Due Date: May 13th

I got one done for my mom. I’ll post about it this week, probably tomorrow.

  • 8 x 10 frames
  • info on Bill’s mom
  • print
  • frame
  • wrap

If I don’t get the info I need for Bill’s mom before Mother’s Day I think I could show her what I’m doing and she could help me figure out what she would like on her sheet.

In the Navy – Key West Chapter: project about my dad’s 20 years in the U.S. Navy. The priority is the chapter on Key West so he can pass it on to the Under Water Swimmer School website to include in their history page.

Due Date: asap but no hurry either

  • Listen to audio tape & transcribe

No progress here. Procrastination and Zodiac are my only excuses

Mary: a small (7×7) book about Mary Taylor’s childhood and her journey to the Salt Lake Valley with the Martin Handcart Company for children under 12 to learn about their pioneer ancestor.

Due Date: flexible – would love to have at least a draft for July Reunion

  • write text
  • get illustrations from Kim

I took a thumb drive to Kim but she was sick so I haven’t gotten the first illustration yet, but I did leave her a check. I figure it is good to pay her as she completes each illustration.

Journal for Martin’s Cove Reunion: a half sheet size journal to help make the trek experience at Martin’s Cove more meaningful. Have time line of handcart company with info about Mary Taylor and her family along with space for journaling and possible adding photos or sketches.

Due Date: July 2012

  • Decide on Binding – in process
  • Logo for Reunion
  • edits – waiting for mom to proof read

Still on hold. My mom is coming down this week so I’ll check with her on proof reading.

Goals for this week:

  1. Finish Mother’s Day Project
  2. Continue transcribing “Key West”
  3. Improvements to my Blog site

The big challenge I have this week is figuring out how to get things done with a new puppy on board. How do you deal with new changes to your life and still get things done? This is an ongoing struggle for me and I have to find better ways to tackle the goals and projects of my life.

My Generations Project – Mary Taylor

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Mary Taylor

I’m in the middle of my first Generation Project. I am focusing on my great-great-grandmother, Mary Taylor.The first step of a Generation Project is to find your why. Here are the questions that the producers of The Generations Project have:

  • What do you spend a lot of time thinking about?
  • What do you hope will happen to you in the next year or two?
  • Tell us a story about a life changing experience.
  • What is the biggest challenge you’re facing in your life now?

As I’ve worked thought these question and pondered I’ve decided that the challenge I want/need the most help with now is with the Telling Family Tales web site. I really want this blog to be meaningful. I have a vision of it being a place where all or at least most of the resources that someone wanting to record and keep family stories can come to learn what they need to complete their project. This feels like an overwhelming tasks and I don’t know if I can do it. But I want to. I’ve wanted to do something to help others be more effective in telling their family stories for many years. Then a few months ago the idea of a gathering place of not just what I have done but others information too developed in my mind and that seemed to make so much sense.This idea will take a long time to really develop and I worry if I have what it takes to make it a reality. I’ve taken a few small steps, but for me starting is the easy part. I have much more trouble with staying on task and completing a project.

My great-great-grandmother survived through some really tough stuff and found ways to thrive. I want to find that same kind of strength in me. So there is my why. I’ll post about step two – populate your tree next week.

In the meantime as part of my upcoming Martin’s Cove experience I started sending out emails to those in my family who coming about important dates along Mary’s journey from England to Salt Lake City. I’m going to a series of short posts called 156 years ago today to go along with those emails. I hope you enjoy them.

What are your biggest challenges? Are you thinking about doing a Generations Project too?

My Current Projects: goals and progress

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Another Monday and time to account for my work last week.

In the Navy – Key West Chapter: project about my dad’s 20 years in the U.S. Navy. The priority is the chapter on Key West so he can pass it on to the Under Water Swimmer School website to include in their history page.

Due Date: asap

  • Listen to audio tape & transcribe

I didn’t progress like I hoped I would but at least I got something done. I put all the photos I have from Key West on my parents Kindle. Now my dad can look at the photos and record information about them. I think I’m a bit intimidated by the thought of transcribing an audio tape. I haven’t had to tackle this before. I just need to get started on it and over come my procrastination.

Journal for Martin’s Cove Reunion: a half sheet size journal to help make the trek experience at Martin’s Cove more meaningful. Have time line of handcart company with info about Mary Taylor and her family along with space for journaling and possible adding photos or sketches.

Due Date: July 2012

  • Decide on Binding – in process
  • Logo for Reunion
  • edits – waiting for mom to proof read

As I reported in another post I gave the proof copy to my mom to check over for mistakes. I’ll probably let this project rest until I hear back from her.

Mary: a small (7×7) book about Mary Taylor’s childhood and her journey to the Salt Lake Valley with the Martin Handcart Company for children under 12 to learn about their pioneer ancestor.

Due Date: flexible – would love to have at least a draft for July Reunion

  • write text
  • get illustrations from Kim

Nothing done on this last week other than giving my mom a copy of the outline. I feel like I should do some more reading about the Martin Handcart company before I try to tackle the narrative. Also until Kim gets a few of the illustrations done there is no pressing need.

Goals for this week:

So this week I’m going to dig into the Key West project and give it my focus.

  1. Start transcribing “Key West”
  2. Explore more binding options for “Martin’s Cove Journal”
  3. Check with Kim on “Mary”

Although I didn’t get to the Key West transcribing last week I did do another task that has been on my  list for a long, long time, cleaning up my hard drives. Even though it isn’t directly working on family stories it will help as I look for things and save new projects. Over the last few years I ended up with 4 different hard drives with info. My main computer was in good order but the other three drives were a mess, with stuff scattered everywhere. It could still use some more organizing with in some of the folders but at least now all the history stuff is in one place as well as all the photos. Plus I have a plan for where everything needs to go.

What tactics do you use to keep all the info in you life in order? I work hard at being organized but with varying success so I’m always open to new ideas.

How To: Martin’s Cove Journal

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After getting an idea of what I wanted to do with the Martin’s Cove Journal, I was ready to get started. One of the things that I have found that it works best when using InDesign on a project like this is to start with a master page. Since this is a simple book I only did one master page (2 page spread) but on more complex projects there will be more master pages. Since I knew that I wanted a side bar on the left for a time line I first put a guide at 2 inches. Next I put a second guide at 2.25 inches to help me with spacing for the second text box on this page. On the right hand page of the master I made a series of lines as journaling guides. These line are just .25 points think and to make them even more subtle the stroke is a tint of 30% black.

left-hand page - Martin's Cove Journal

From here I applied the master page to most of the pages of the journal. Next I decided to pick the fonts for the project. I wanted a font that would help to create the mood of old pioneer and 1856 so I did a google search and found Fontscape’s typeface directory. They have fonts by period, so I looked at Victorian (1850 to 1890) but they didn’t seem right. Then I looked at Wild West (1850-1900). I decided on Birch which I liked plus I had on my computer too. I used Birch to do the time line but felt that the text of excerpt from Mary Taylor’s history would be better in something more like handwriting. We don’t have any journals from Mary Taylor but I wanted these entries to give that more intimate impression. After searching though my script fonts I settled on Rage Italic.

right-hand page - Martin's Cove Journal

When I got text placed into the time line and the excerpt I thought that the left page needed something to separate these two text boxes. So I went back to the master pages and added a line and adjusted the guides to accommodate the change. At this point I also added lines across the top of both pages and one across the bottom of the right hand page. While I was on the master pages I put in page numbers. At this point the journal is really started to take shape but it seems too sterile.

black swirl

splotch

I wanted it to have more of an old-fashioned feel so I went to the internet to find some clip art to enhance the pages. First I found a swirl at clker.com then a splotch at openclipart.com. I created another layer on the master page for these images. It took awhile playing around with placement and transparency to get the look I wanted. For the cover I placed the only photo I have of Mary Taylor and adjusted the swirls and the splotches to make the cover work.

The Handcart Song - Martin's Cove Journal

Another thing I wanted was a spot to put some information about what was happening in the rest of the world. So I adjusted the right hand page and added a text box on the bottom of the right page with room for a couple of events with dates. After I let the project sit for a day or two I decided to add the lyrics to “The Handcart Song” on the back. This was a favorite song of my great-great grandmother. Besides singing it as she traveled to Utah in 1856, she sang it her whole life.

pedigree chart - Martin's Cove Journal

The last thing I wanted in the journal was a pedigree chart. I made one using the pen tool to make straight lines. There is probably an easier way but I made a vertical line and a horizontal line and made copies of them to build the chart. After I got everything arranged I zoomed in to make sure the intersections of the lines was precise. Then I made text boxes for all the names. Note that I put these on another layer so that I wouldn’t accidentally mess up the pedigree chart while playing with the names. I also used Rage Italic to put relationship labels on the pedigree chart. I used the 30% black tint to make sure these didn’t compete with the names.

I showed my mom a proof copy yesterday and she is very excited. She said it would be worth going to Martin’s Cove just to get the journal. She is 89 years old so going to Martin’s Cove isn’t easy. My parents have decided to stay in a hotel. They don’t feel up to camping.

I haven’t figured out how to put the template here to download so if you would like an InDesign template for this project send an email to raelyn@tellingfamilytales.com. Did you find this post helpful? I’ve never tried to explain how I put together a book before and I’m not sure if what I wrote is the kind of information that is meaningful, so I’d love some feedback.

Do Your Own Generations Project

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Last week I talked about the BYUtv series called The Generations Project. Now I want to go into a little more depth in how to “Do your own Generations Project”. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, take time to watch it. It is worth your time.

Step One – Finding Your Why:

Think about what your biggest challenge is and what you would like to change in your life. Be willing to let this be a process. Your “why” might change as you journey through your generations project. Here are the questions that The Generations Projects asks those who want to appear on The Generations Project

  • What do you spend a lot of time thinking about?
  • What do you hope will happen to you in the next year or two?
  • Tell us a story about a life changing experience.
  • What is the biggest challenge you’re facing in your life now?

Step Two – Populate Your Tree:

Start close to home by checking with family members first to find information for your pedigree chart. The go to vital records to fill in the holes. This is the part where genealogist are experts. Think of it as a treasure hunt to find your ancestors.

Step Three – Mix It With History:

In this step you find the stories about your family member and then find out about the social history of the time. By doing this you really flesh out who that person was, they become real. One of the fun ways to mix it with history is to find a reenactment place. One that we went to several years ago was Plimoth Plantation. It is a working pilgrim village. For my generations project we are going to Martin’s Cove in Wyoming and doing a short handcart experience.

Step Four – Walk In Their Shoes:

Now you find a way to connect with your ancestor by doing something they did. It could be as extravagant as going to another country where they lived or as simple as eating the kinds of food that they ate. This step is about connecting with your family member.

Step Five – Share It & Watch It Ripple:

Last of all you want to share your experience with others. This often starts with writing down what happened to you on your generations project. Then it could be just sitting down and telling your family about what you learned and how you felt. It could be making a book, or painting a picture or writing a song. This is a very personal step and there is no wrong way to share your experience. After you share, you get to see how sharing your experience changes other people’s lives too.

My main purpose in doing this blog is to gather ways to share things like generations projects. I’m just getting started on this new focus for my blog so I’m still working through how to make this happen. If you have ways that you have shared a generations project I’d love to hear about it.

Martin’s Cove Journal – Finishing up

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I’m really excited about how this came together. I was hoping it wouldn’t take too much time and I really tried to keep it simple. But at the same time I wanted it to have some personality, to help draw people into the experience at Martin’s Cove. When I did this cover with the only photo I’ve ever seen of Mary Taylor, I noticed how much she reminds me of my Grandmother. I don’t know why I haven’t seen the resemblance before.

credit page & find your why page - Martin's Cove Journal

This first spread is a place to give credit where I got my information and to give space for family members to journal about why they came to Martin’s Cove and what they hope to learn from the experience. My hope here is to help each person take the this opportunity to do their own generation project.

Our Family Tree - Martin's Cove Journal

This next spread is for the second step of a generations project – populate your tree. I filled in the basics of the information that is common for everyone who is coming to the reunion. They will each have to fill in the left side of the tree depending on who they are. This was a little tricky to figure out how to lay it out. I hope that it is clear on how each family member connects back to Mary Taylor.

content pages - Martin's Cove Journal

The rest of the pages up to the last page look like the page above. On the left had side there is a simple timeline of events along with excerpt from “Some Must Push and Some Must Pull; Mary Taylor, handcart Pioneer And Her Descendants”  by a distant cousin Kenneth L. Rasmussen. The right hand page of each spread is for journaling. At the bottom of the journaling pages is a date from history. The purpose of these pages are to help each person to “mix it with history” and “walk in their shoes” as suggested by The Generations Project.

The Handcart Song - Martin's Cove Journal

The last page of the book is the words to a favorite song of my great-great-grandmother, “The Handcart Song”. She sang this song not just while she was crossing the plans but all her life. I want to learn all the verses and help my family to learn it too.

I’ll do another post later in the week on the “how to” of putting this journal together and if I figure out how, I’ll have an InDesign template that you can download and adapt to your needs.

My Current Projects: goals and progress

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So it is Monday, the day to report my progress last week and my goals for the coming week.

In the Navy – Key West Chapter: project about my dad’s 20 years in the U.S. Navy. The priority is the chapter on Key West so he can pass it on to the Under Water Swimmer School website to include in their history page.

Due Date: asap

  • Listen to audio tape & transcribe
  • Gather photos and documents

I still didn’t get anything done on this last week, but I did think about getting to it, if that counts for anything.

Journal for Martin’s Cove Reunion: a half sheet size journal to help make the trek experience at Martin’s Cove more meaningful. Have time line of handcart company with info about Mary Taylor and her family along with space for journaling and possible adding photos or sketches.

Due Date: July 2012

  • Template and master pages – done
  • Time Line – done
  • Quotes from Journals etc. – done
  • Decide on Binding – in process
  • Logo for Reunion

I made great progress on this last week. It needs checking over for mistakes and I’m still contemplating the binding. I’m really happy with how it came together. I’ll post on the details tomorrow. I haven’t done a logo for the Reunion and now I’m not sure if it is necessary. Maybe I’ll put that to the back burner and revisit it in a month or two.

Mary: a small (7×7) book about Mary Taylor’s childhood and her journey to the Salt Lake Valley with the Martin Handcart Company for children under 12 to learn about their pioneer ancestor.

Due Date: flexible – would love to have at least a draft for July Reunion

  • Decide on number of pages – done
  • Flesh out outline – done

I’m really happy with what I got done on this too. After doing the timeline for the Martin’s Cove Journal I had a clearer idea of what should happen in this book. I took the outline that Eric did and consolidated a few things to one illustration and added a few thing. I sent a list to Kim of the illustrations we need and the basics of what the text will cover for each illustration. It a 40 page book, which is a very cost-effective number for Blurb where we plan to have it printed.

Goals for this week:

So this week I’m going to dig into the Key West project and give it my focus.

  1. Start transcribing “Key West”
  2. Give “Martin’s Cove Journal” to my mom to proof read
  3. Explore more binding options for “Martin’s Cove Journal”
  4. Check with Kim on “Mary”

I really liked having this post to check back on during the week to help me be more focused in what I’m doing. I have a tendency to get sidetracked on projects other than what I should work on. How do you keep yourself focused on a particular task? Or do you just go with the flow? What works for you?

Martin’s Cove Journal – getting started

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One of the things I’m working to improve in my projects is my workflow. So I’m experimenting on new ways to approach the process. To start with I am going to try to follow Nancy Barnes’ method of

  1. imagine
  2. plan
  3. create
  4. edit
  5. design
  6. publish

and see how that works for me. In the past I have jumped to the design stage too fast and it ends up taking more time than necessary. Part of the journey of this blog is for me to learn and improve as I share what I find with others. So I took some time this week to imagine what I want the end product.

  • compact
  • rustic
  • durable
  • timeline of events
  • excerpts from journals & stories
  • space to journal, draw, add photos
  • historical info
  • pedigree chart

I’ve decided to make it simple to self publish with my printer and a copier, I’ll make it 8.5″ x 5.5″ (half sheet of letter size paper). Don’t know how I’m going to bind it yet. If I can’t figure anything else out I’ll use wire binding because I can do that myself. I think I’ll have a bit of rustic/grunge on the pages that will help add an old feel to the journal.

I started working on the timeline of events and journal excerpts from sources on the internet and a book recently published by a distant cousin, Kenneth L. Rasmussen “Some Must Push and Some Must Pull: Mary Taylor, handcart pioneer And Her Descendants.” I found a great timeline for the Willie company but I found out that much of the documentation for the Martin handcart company was lost. There is some conflicting information that I’m going to have to decide how to resolve. Plus I need to decide how much is enough. I don’t want a big long comprehensive journal, just enough to give my family some background and a sense of what happened to Mary.

The general plan of the layout of the journal is to have the timeline in a side bar down the left side, with excerpts from journals on the rest of the left hand page. Then I’ll keep the right hand page on each spread open for thoughts, sketches etc.

What kind of approach do you use when you start a new project and as you progress through? I’d love to hear and learn from your experiences.