Congrats to the Detroit Red Wings, 2008 Stanley Cup Champs!

The fireworks are going off and Mother Nature hasn't moved in with her version yet. Detroit is a happy town tonight! Congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings on being the 2008 Stanley Cup Champions!


I'm not a hockey fan but I am a hometown fan. I couldn't be more pleased that Detroit has something to celebrate. We've had our share of embarrassment and shame lately with our immoral hip hop mayor and his text message scandal. So it's nice to be able to pick our heads up and smile for one night anyway. YEAH RED WINGS!

I didn't use a kit to create this scrapbook page but I did use a template created by the very talented and generous Deltapdawn.

Review: Photoshop Express

Last week I wrote up a review of the new online photo editing and storage offering from Adobe.com, Photoshop Express. You can read my review here. Be sure to read the comments section for information you need to know. Apparently Adobe is claiming the right to use any images you upload to their site. The information from their "terms of use" page is included in the comment section.

Charting Your Family's History

I've certainly been remiss about posting to this blog, haven't I? I do apologize. I got distracted with other things, namely my mtDNA test. I got my results back a couple weeks ago and I'm a member of haplogroup H. Ever since then I've been spending a lot of time creating a new blog and reading up on what's known about haplogroup H. I'll make up for my lapse by posting 3 times this week, how's that?

It's been a while since I've written about anything other than digital scrapbooking. But there are other ways to get creative with your genealogy. A new piece of software is available for creating wall charts from your genealogy data. The software is called Legacy Charting and it's available for free from the folks at Legacy Family Tree software until June 15, 2008.

This is one fun and easy to use piece of software. You do need a data file of your genealogy but just about any will do. It doesn't have to be a Legacy file (although the standard edition of Legacy is a free download if you don't already have genealogy software ;-) . Legacy Charting will accept files from most of the major database players including Family Tree Maker as well as the industry standard GEDCOM file format.

Once you download and install the program it will go out and find your genealogy database files and compile a list for you to choose from. Then you select a file and a chart type and you're on your way! There are lots of options to play with from changing chart types to changing fonts, colors, and which information to show. My favorite feature is the mtDNA chart which will display your maternal line (your mother's mother's mother's line) showing just who is carrying the same mtDNA. Something to reflect on during March, National Women's History Month. Just who are those women whose DNA we carry inside us and pass on to our children?

Legacy charts can be saved in a number of file formats including PSD, JPG, and TIFF. The charts can be printed in one piece or separate pages that can be tiled together. Just think of what a great conversation piece this would be to display at your next family reunion!

So what are you waiting for? Go get creative with your genealogy!

An Honor for Creative Genealogy

Kimberly Powell, author of About.com:Genealogy, has come up with "10 Genealogy Blogs Worth Reading". It's a great list and I have to agree with her that choosing 10 blogs from among the wonderful and talented group of genealogy bloggers online is no easy feat. But she's come up with a wonderful sampling of that talent! Check it out and see if you don't agree.

The Creative Genealogy blog was one of those that made her list... {grin} She was also kind enough to mention and link to my Creative Gene blog as well. THANK YOU FOR THE RECOGNITION KIMBERLY!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Creative Genealogy blog! If you're interested in taking your genealogy to the next level, come join me in exploring creative ways to share your family's history.

Genealogy research is entertaining, educational and rewarding. But if you've done it for any length of time you know it's also the result of a lot of hard work, frustration, and perseverance. Most researchers find a great deal of satisfaction from adding names to their family tree but many don't think much beyond basic document discovery when it comes to their genealogy research. But genealogy shouldn't end there, with just names and dates. There is even more satisfaction to be gained in sharing it with others!

Writing up one's family history in a fact-filled book with vintage photographs is the standard way to compile genealogy research. And that's a fine, traditional approach to telling one's family history. But let's face it, if you haven't been bitten by the genealogy bug you'll likely find the standard family history text a bit (or quite a bit ;-) dry and boring. But it doesn't have to be that way!

This blog will look at a myriad of creative ways you can share the fruits of your genealogy research with your friends and family. And I assure you these ways will be anything but dry and boring! I hope you'll become a regular visitor here at the Creative Genealogy Blog :-D For your convenience the RSS feed and mailing list sign up are available in the side column.

Come back soon!