Fabulously Elegant Family Tree

Croppers often face the challenge of documenting the lives of past generations -- and they want to do it in style. Here, Anna Griffin documents family genealogy with elegance.

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Filed under: Scrapbooking, Crafts

Materials and Tools:

decorative scissors
double-sided adhesive
steel ruler
cutting mat
foam squares
page protectors
4 sheets - AG070 Cream Repousse
2 sheets - AG108 Pink and Brown Floral
1 sheet - AG036 Gold Stripe
3 sheets - AG118 Green Espalier
1 sheet Ivory Cardstock
frames
1 sheet - AG703 Journal Strips
title block
4 sheets - AG521 Pink and Brown Floral
1-1/2" yards narrow gold ribbon
wider gold ribbon

Steps:

Cut 8 rectangles measuring 3-3/4" x 4-1/2" from the green espalier paper. Trim the edges with decorative scissors.
Position rectangles on the floral background papers. These are the mats for photos and should be evenly placed on your layout.
Cut strips of solid gold paper 3/4" wide. Cut these pieces into lengths so that they will link your photos together to demonstrate family relationships. Add lengths of narrow gold ribbon to these pieces, centering them carefully and using double-sided tape; this leaves the ribbon smooth and lovely with no glue bumps. Attach these strips to the pages, tucking the ends under the green rectangles for a neat appearance.
Cut 8 rectangles of ivory cardstock into rectangles 3-3/8" x 5". Fold the papers in half, leaving a rectangle that is 3-3/8" x 2-1/2". Journal on the inside of each card.
Cut frames and titles from their sheet. Add the photos to the frames.
Cut 8 pieces of gold paper 3-1/2" x 2-5/8". Mount frames with photos onto gold paper.
Cut eight 2" pieces of narrow gold ribbon. Fold ribbon in half. Sandwich it in between the gold-mounted frame piece and the fold cardstock with journaling. This makes a ribbon tab to lift to reveal the journaling. Mount these frames onto the green rectangles already on the page. Add journaling strips to frames to identify people.
Cut 2 pieces of gold paper 1-3/8" x 6-1/4". Trim one end of each piece with decorative scissors. Mount the title onto these pieces and place on page.
Add ribbon at the center of the page, joining the central married couple.

To create Hidden Pages

Create blocks (2-1/2" x 5/8") with the name and dates of each member of the family tree using the computer or by hand.
For each block, cut a rectangle of green patterned paper about 2-3/4" x 1-1/4". For blocks at the top of the tree which contain two people, cut green patterned paper about 2-3/4" x 2". Trim all sides with decorative edge scissors. Mount name blocks onto them.
Cut 10-15 strips of gold paper, each 1/4" wide. Position the members of your family tree as needed. Use strips of gold paper to connect them appropriately.
Add layers to the die cuts and mount them to the page.
Print boxes from a word processing or genealogy program, or write them by hand. Cut around box edges and mount boxes to rectangles.