Last year when my Mom first became sick I decided to start learning more about our family history. It started as a project we could do together even when she wasn’t well. She didn’t know a whole lot about her family history and she had questions about some of the things she was aware of- that tidbit I may share with you later.

So, what began as a bonding project quickly became something that I have dived into deeply. Partly, to honour my mother’s memory- to make those connections she would have loved and to live our any of her dreams related to them. I have also found that I LOVE to see and hear the stories of my family and I have discovered some really great stuff. Of course, as a scrapbooker there is only one way to share these stories is through a layout.

This is my 3x Great-Grandfather, George Boulton. He was one of the settling pioneers in the Mara township- this is fascinating to me because it is where I currently live so I feel a much deeper connection knowing that my family has lived there. In fact, in visiting the local cemeteries we have found many of them buried close by (my kids have really enjoyed these cemetery visits and hunting for relatives).

I used the CTMH mix-in paper to help document George’s story (which includes some newspaper articles from when he passed away- he was a highly respected farmer in the area so there was quite a bit written about him.) The Hillside Cottage stickers (and some older accessories from retired product) was used to accent the page.

This page means so much to me! There are no photos of the relative in this story- Louis Labatte. The story though is one that I find really amazing. He was a Metis man who settled in the Thunder Beach area of Lafontaine. The house he built still stands today which says a lot considering how that area is a huge draw for cottagers and many original homes have been taken down to make way for newer buildings. I was able to find some pictures of his house- his story in history is fairly well documented as he played a role in the War of 1812. The small photo on the bottom right is his Oath of Allegiance from 1830!

I documented this page using a mix of the Hillside Cottage cardstock and the Wood Grain paper- it was the perfect accent to my journaling.

My last layout to share (for now), is my 3x Great-Grandmother Elizabeth Dissette Boulton (George was her husband). I studied History in school so it is no surprise that it is much harder to find out much information about the women in my family. I was happy to find these photos- one that shows four generations of her descendants. The document was a baptism record for one of her children (the one that is my 2x Great Grandmother).

For this page, I used Hillside Cottage paper (the smaller print was a good one for a heritage page) and added some accessories from retired products.

As I continue this project I hope to find out more about this relatives- and if I do I will add those additional elements through our Memory Protector Plus system- fingers are crossed!

So, do you scrapbook your family history? I would love to see what you do- drop a photo or a link in the comments below and I promise to check it out.

Until we craft again, The Brae-er