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Friday, March 31, 2017
What Does My Everyday Life Have to Do with Family History?
catch up on your photos: step 9
CALENDAR your time and keep your commitments to yourself. Memory-keeping is one of the best ways to spend your time because it benefits YOU (increase in happiness & decrease in stress) as well as YOUR FAMILY (self-esteem & heirlooms). It's worth it!
(Did you miss the last Escape Plan Step? Click the "how to catch up on your photos" tab along the top.)
Monday, March 27, 2017
What if I hate scrapbooking?
You absolutely don't have to "scrapbook" in order to preserve your photos and memories!
It's true. Memory-keeping requires memories. That's it. Find a do-able, high-quality method to preserve them, and you're done. No "scrapbooking" involved.
What I call "unscrapbooking" was first referred to as "storybooking" by the fabulous people who started Heritage Makers in 2004. Whatever you call it, it's a way to preserve your photos with the stories or memories that belong to them in a meaningful, high-quality way.
And if you weren't interested in scrapbooking, you'll love the differences in UNscrapbooking (digital storybooking). Your finished product can have a creative, scrapbooked look without any work, OR it can be a basic, clean, simple look.
Either way, you've found a do-able, high-quality way to preserve photos and memories to enjoy today and in the future. #makesomethingmeaningful
To get started, go to the "how to get started" tab in red along the top and start enjoying all the benefits of memory-keeping WITHOUT the work of traditional paper scrapbooking!
Friday, March 24, 2017
Four Creative Ideas for Sharing Family Stories
UPDATE 2022: The playing cards were made with Heritage Makers. However, Heritage Makers is currently being updated to a new software platform that doesn't require Adobe Flash to run (which Adobe has discontinued). For the time being, it's easier for you to order these items from me--meaning I make them for you--than it will be for you to make them in your own Heritage Makers account. Just contact me with questions and/or to order these amazing card decks!
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catch up on your photos: step 8
Start small and easy. It really helps! Start small and KEEP GOING!
(Did you miss the last Escape Plan Step? Click the "how to catch up on your photos" tab along the top.)
Monday, March 20, 2017
DIY name tags (that rock!)
I recently decided to make name tags for my monthly Memory-Keeping Group. There are some new folks, so I decided it would be nice to have something special as people meet each other.
There's a UV coating option on scrap pages, which I got so I could use a dry-erase marker on it. HOW COOL IS THAT?!
About this same time, a friend of mine from a nationwide women's networking group* asked me if she could hire me to make name tags for their chapter so they'd really stand out! (Of course!!) Orange and pink are the group's colors, and I got permission to use a couple of logos. I LOVE how special this makes their chapter!
UPDATE 2022: All these items shown were made with Heritage Makers. However, Heritage Makers is currently being updated to a new software platform that doesn't require Adobe Flash to run (which Adobe has discontinued). For the time being, it's easier for you to order these items from me--meaning I make them for you--than it will be for you to make them in your own Heritage Makers account. Just contact me with questions and/or to order these great items!
- I first recommend buying the plastic name tag holders at an office supply store so you know what size name tags you'll be creating.
- If you don't already have a Heritage Makers account, open one (they're free) by following the steps in the red "how to get started" tab at the top of this blog.
- Once you have your Heritage Makers account, all you do is click "start a project." Select a scrapbook page size or 11x14 print. I needed to make the name tags 3x4 so they'd fit into the plastic holders. I decided to use an 11x14 print instead of a scrap page since I could fit more of this size on there. They're a tad cheaper for the size, too.
- Using the drag-n-drop system (called Studio), create the name tags in the sizes of your name tag holders. If you have questions about using Studio, ask me using the "contact me" tab or refer to the tutorials in the "how to get started' tab. Digital art is included with all Heritage Makers products!
- I made one tag and then copied and pasted to make a sheet full of nine. Being able to copy and paste will save you a lot of time when creating these. You can even copy whole projects!
- When you're ready, submit your project for publishing on Heritage Makers' giant printing press, select the UV coating option (free for Club HM members), and wait 7-10 days for it to arrive at your door.
- Cut out the name tags from the Heritage Makers print and put them in the plastic holders.
Thanks to the wonderful Elda of {Compassionate Truth} for taking pictures of these orange ones for me! (photos used with permission) I love being hired to make something fabulous for people, but the only thing I don't love about it is that I don't often get to see the finished product (since it's shipped to the person I'm making it for)--so I was happy to see how GREAT these turned out!
*By the way, if you're a woman business owner and you're looking for a positive, fun, supportive way to network with other women and make friends, definitely check out {Polka Dot Powerhouse}. There are chapters all over the country, and even online connects for those who don't have a chapter nearby. You can visit a Polka Dot Powerhouse meeting as a guest once without being a member, so click the "find meetings" link there at the website to see what's near you. If you visit, you'll need to have been invited by someone, so just put "Jennifer Wise" as the person who invited you, and go enjoy meeting some wonderful women!
Friday, March 17, 2017
Creating Family Stories
- First, start with what you know, as far back as you
know it. Write down whatever family history you know. Where
did your family come from? What makes your family tick? What
makes your family interesting or unique? What family stories do you
already know?
- If you have living grandparents (or living
great-grandparents, if you're lucky!), talk to them. A recording
that you can later transcribe (or even just refer to) is a good way to
make a record of your talk with them, so think about setting up a video
camera or just doing a voice recording. Once they start
talking, they'll probably think of stories they want to tell that you
haven't thought to ask about. And don't forget to ask them to tell you
about THEIR parents, too.
- If you have living parents, talk to them. My
advice here is to LISTEN. You might think you know your parents, but
you'll most likely be surprised. Seeing them as people, individuals,
is pretty enlightening.
- Write your own story. Don't worry if you're
"not a writer." Pish-posh. You have a story to
tell. However it comes out of your pen or keyboard is YOUR STORY,
your way. It's you. Being natural and real will help family
members get to know you.
- about their favorite memories as a kid
- their favorite and least favorite subjects in school
- why they chose their career
- a hard thing they overcame
- the funniest thing they can remember happening to them
- how they met their spouse
- what memories they have of their wedding
- what college or military service or trade school was
like
- about being a young parent
- about church or civic responsibilities or volunteer
opportunities
- what they believe in
- what their greatest goals in life have been
- what makes them laugh and what makes them happy
- what defining moments they had in life
- what they always want people to remember about them.
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catch up on your photos: step 7
Do what works for YOU! It's so important. Don't worry about what anyone (or everyone) else is doing. Do YOUR thing!
(Did you miss the last Escape Plan Step? Click the "how to catch up on your photos" tab in red along the top.)
Monday, March 13, 2017
the best way to store your digital photos
The current expertise is to store your digital photos twice digitally (two different ways) and once in print.
In fact, did you know if you Google "how to store photos," the one commonality in any article you read is this: be sure you have a hard copy.
DIGITAL
As great as storing your photos digitally is, you don't take photos in order to store them. You take photos in order to SEE them.
Although you can choose any top-quality method that works for you, I personally prefer and recommend preserving your photos with their memories using digital photo-storybooks using one of these options. All the options listed there are beautiful, heirloom-quality, and a hundred other things, but one of the best things about it is that a digital copy of your completed project is stored in your account indefinitely.
What that really means is this.
That's a huge deal to me. That's an enormous deal to me.
Keeping your photos safe and protected both digitally and in print is so easily accomplished at just one website!
Friday, March 10, 2017
Preserving and Sharing Family Stories through Storybooks
You could focus on one person's life, a couple's life, a family's life, or even the love stories of several generations. Including photos and stories which really make a person you never knew into someone real whose life can make a difference in yours.
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This post first appeared on March 10, 2017, at www.livegrowgive.org by Jennifer Wise.
catch up on your photos: step 6
Working with other people is helpful to some people and even crucial to others. Check out the upcoming events in our online memory-keeping community at the "our community and events" tab.
(Did you miss the last Escape Plan Step? Click the "how to catch up on your photos" tab along the top.)
Friday, March 3, 2017
Welcome to Family History Friday!
What do you know about family history? What does that even mean? What does it entail? And what difference does it make?
Well, you might be surprised.
One aspect of family history, of course, is in the past. Not surprising due to the word "history," right? But did you know that another aspect of family history is the present? We are living history right now. Events that make up our life story are our history. Life changes are our history, and those happen all the time. Right now. So family history involves looking to both the past and the present to capture and preserve what will be meaningful in the future. Family history is essentially the story of your family.
Each Friday we'll be looking at one aspect of family history, and we'll do that through inspiration, ideas, motivation, solutions, and some really fun stuff, too.
There are lots of ways to make connections within your family, and I really love thinking outside the box and finding special and unique ways to bring people together and help them make connections. And there are some awesome benefits of knowing family history, too. In fact, many of them have been proven in scientific studies!
- Children who are familiar with family stories have more robust identities and a sense of belonging.
- Teenagers have higher self-esteem and lower incidents of depression and anxiety.
- Connecting to your family story and legacy, both from the past and in the present, increases gratitude and gives a sense of perspective and purpose.
- Knowing what other members of our family have experienced and overcome gives us hope and strength.