SYS Blog

How To Not Forget Family History Stories – 3 Easy Steps To Start

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  By Jasmine Brand, historian, researcher, writer, guest blogger   Having a hard time remembering past stories from people in your family? Are you worried about the next generation remembering their heritage? While some people love their family photos and get warm fuzzies, some people struggle reconciling their past relationships and events. Yet, we are […]

Prevent and Remove Mold From Old Leather Belongings – 7 Useful Tips from a Preservation Expert

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By Natalie Miller, Guest Blogger Mold can be found everywhere. Those microscopic furry organisms come in different forms and colours, and they can and do colonize anything – including your home, the contents and tragically, your treasured heirlooms. Mold can cause serious damage and it is particularly dangerous to old leather book bindings and other […]

Family History Heirlooms, Fragility and a FREE Book

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By Emma Spellman, contributing blogger Preserving Paper: The Fragility of Family History Memories can be very important. They are reminders of people, places and experiences that have meant a lot to us. We reminisce with old friends, tell stories about our past adventures, and treasure the photos, letters and other and documents that remind us or […]

Memorabilia Collection Care 5 important tips

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By Katherine Golovinova People collect memorabilia to treasure memories. Sports fans and movie lovers alike treasure such acquisitions and strive to keep the items in pristine condition. No one in their right mind would want to spend thousands of dollars on a ‘Honus Wagner’ baseball card and then let it decay due to lack of […]

Consultation Services for Your Fine Arts

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A consultation service by a fine art conservator may include, art registry, Insurance evaluations emergency damage claims and restoration and conservation. You may need of an appraisal for an insurance claim, insurance policy needs, estate planning, probate settlement or a collection of documentations. A fine art conservator can work with your insurance company. When a […]

Ripped Oil Painting Didn’t Need An Earthquake To Fall Off The Wall.

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Last week, at the Laguna Arts Festival Lecture series (http://bit.ly/pVVE6C), I spoke as the visiting expert about how to protect and save collectibles, artwork etc. Some of the things we talked about included protecting and saving items from storage problems, http://saveyourstuffblog.com/damaged-art/poor-storaged-causes-damaged-paintings/ taking precautions when shipping, http://www.saveyourstuff.com/blog/save-your-stuff/do-you-pack-and-ship-art-work-and-fragile-items/ aging and falling apart, http://saveyourstuffblog.com/water-damage/liquid-stain-on-lithograph-of-a-woman-by-henri-matisse/ floods and landslides, http://saveyourstuffblog.com/water-damage/plains-indians-encampment-water-damage-in-garage/ fires, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lCx-xg4BMYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lCx-xg4BMY … and […]

Dents, Cracks and Rips of Gorgeous Oil Painting by Robert Wood A Result of Poor Handling

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The following painting was brought into the lab because it had couple complications: It  contained several dents and tears towards the middle and in the lower right hand corner and it was also it was cracking badly. These dents and rips should have been avoided if it was taken care of properly! This kind of damage was more likely caused  by storing it carelessly and obviously leaning […]

Trashed Russian Old Masterpiece Saved

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This painting has a great story I’m sure you’ll find interesting, even in its abbreviated form: Painted in 1903, a Russian artist from St. Petersburg sent this painting to America to be exhibited in 1904 at the St. Louis International Exhibition to celebrate the Louisiana Purchase. An art dealer gathered paintings from his country’s best […]

Art Treasure Found In The Trash

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Consult Professional Conservation Services Before Getting Rid of Art Amazingly, this vintage piece was found flaking and filthy in the garbage! Then the dumpster diver who found the item, who obviously thought it wasn’t worth much, gave it to a restorer who made a inept attempt to do a “restoration.”  This consisted of an abundant application of wax to […]