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Family History Inspiration - A Walk Down Memory Lane

I was rummaging through the cupboards last weekend when I came across an antique box filled with 'life snippets' from my Grandmother. There were plenty of photos, recipes, magazine clippings, war time paraphernalia, tickets, letters and recipes - snapshots into her former years all waiting to be discovered. I decided then and there that this stuff needed to be archived and what better way to do so than in a Family History photo album?

August is Family History month and I think that this is a perfect time to get enthusiastic about our beginnings. Across Australia and online there are special Family History events happening all month to help you track down your ancestors. My plan is to combine the contents of Grandma's box along with other family memorabilia and online investigations to create a wonderful archive in the form of a beautiful Momento photo book that I can share with my family and friends.

Before embarking on this new project in the Momento Software I felt it necessary to do a little background research into what a Family History album looks like. The Momento inspiration pages hold a plethora of wonderful history photo books, so here are a few sneak peaks to be inspired by! The following photo books have been created by Momento customers and are brilliant examples of how to design a Family History photo album and be inspired by your ancestors' stories.

 

My Family History by Margaret A Giacomelli 2013

At Momento our most popular photo book format is landscape, however this stunning Family History book uses portrait format very fittingly for its text heavy pages. The author has created beautiful collage pages of scanned literature to accompany written information and used scans of maps and photos complimented by Momento embellishments to add further meaning to the narrative.

Take a look inside My Family History here.

 

In Nanny Love's Kitchen by Mel Bishop

This touching recipe book is in its own way a Family History photo book because it's a collection of memories, people, events and sayings all centered around the dinner table where traditionally a family meets. It incorporates a letter at the front of the recipe book as an introduction and then a contents page for reference. Each recipe uses a double page spread for the instructions and food memorabilia. The design uses 'In The Kitchen' , 'Family' and 'Elegance' embellishments and backgrounds combined with old and new photos and scans of recipes and clippings. Personally I love it's square format because it's easy to hold and the design fits both landscape and portrait photos.

Take a look inside In Nanny Love's Kitchen here.

 

Following in my Family's Footsteps by Nicola Heuse

This book is a detailed yet entertaining account of the trip of a lifetime -  tracing a family line across the world starting in the 1800's and finishing in contemporary times. It uses the 'Family' and 'Anniversary' embellishment packs to add depth and context to the photos and information within the landscape formatted book. Sections have been created per family line using full double page portraits of paternal  relatives and their homes,  whilst sprawling family trees have been created using Momento embellishment packs and frames.

Take a look inside Following in my Family's Footsteps here.

 

The Journey through WWII with Ross Tully and Peg Tully by Maurice Tully

This book takes a different approach to the Family History photo book by focusing on two main characters, Ross and Peg using a scrap book aesthetic. The book is split into three sections, one each for Ross and Peg and then one for their lives together post war. The sections start with a little bit about where each character grew up and then follows through with their individual versions of WWII. The book uses detailed collections of scanned war time paraphernalia, photos, clippings and memories complimented with Momento embellishments and backgrounds,  to tell a beautiful love story and  two fascinating accounts of WWII.

Take a look inside The Journey through WWII  here.

 

Our Family History by Petra Plukavec

Starting from as far back as she could go and ending with her 50th wedding anniversary, Petra has created a detailed Family History photo book that focuses on her extraordinary collection of family photos. The scanned photos and letters are accompanied by embellishment packs and headings using 'Olde English' typefaces. She has incorporated photos of big family events, such as weddings and created family trees using the embellishments packs.

Take a look inside Our Family History here.

 

Maria by Chrissy Papadopoulos

This book is a gorgeous tale of two cousins, born around the same time but separated by seas, one in Greece and one in Australia. The photo book was a gift from Chrissy to her Greek cousin Maria,  and is based around the parallel lives these cousins have lead unknowingly until meeting on a recent holiday. The design uses big imagery and colourful embellishments and backgrounds to compliment the common  events in their lives and to tell their family story.

So it seems that the format and designs for Family History photo albums are varied. The examples shown above all use the 'Family' embellishment packs from the Momento software and family trees created in the software using embellishments and frames. Coming from a rural family with only daughters  I love the idea of a Family History recipe photo book. I will incorporate all my Grandmother's recipes and scan some of the trinkets found in the box to create a maternal lineage Family History recipe book.

Take a look inside Maria here.

 

 

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