Last year, I took a lovely trip with my sister to one of her favorite places on earth. Because it's a beach, it's automatically one of my favorite places, too, even though I'd never been there before.
One day, we were on a small ferry to an island where one of the ferry employees offered to take our picture. We said, "Sure!" as we laughed a little about our very, very windblown hair.
She took the picture and then told us a very short story that has become one of my favorite stories about pictures.
The Story: This Isn't About You
She told us that her daughter recently wanted to take a photo of her, but she declined because she didn't think she look very good that day.
Her daughter said, “This isn’t about you. It’s about when you’re dead so that I have pictures of you to look at."
We laughed, mostly at the bluntness of the statement, but I really appreciated the reason behind the argument.
Eventually, photos and videos and maybe even some audio recordings will be all we have left of someone special.
When we had this photo taken on the ferry, neither of us were trying to be a part of a beauty contest or have something airbrushed to make us look ten years younger. (Why do we do that?! Age is something to be proud of because we've earned it!)
We were just enjoying time together as sisters in a beautiful place where we had a completely delightful time. Together. And, hello, there were wild horses on that island behind us!!
Just Do It
Just do it. Be in the pictures. Don't worry about if your hair is everywhere or you have wrinkles or gray hair ("sparkles") or if your eyelids are heavier than they used to be. Guess what. This is what I looked like at 52. And this is something great that I did when I was 52. So I should have some pictures of it!
It's about the moment, not about some ridiculous ideal that nobody can really live up to.
I know it can be hard to get over ourselves in this world so focused on appearances, but to the people you matter the most to, they don't see anything but YOU. The person they love.
The Two-Part Challenge
This is hard for most of us, I know. This two-part challenge is for me too (although I've nailed part 2!)
PART 1: Look beyond appearances to the MOMENT and what's MEANINGFUL in a photo! Look at the memories. Begin to see something you'll cherish 5 or 25 years from now. See something that those who love you will cherish even beyond that.
Then, get started preserving and sharing them in pages. It doesn't have to be hard or complicated. There are two different options at that link to fit your time and interest, and both of them are printed in highest quality bindings, papers, and inks to last generations.
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Listen. I'm not special. Yes, I love preserving my memories in pages, so I'm rarely more than a month or two "behind." But all it takes is finding something you love and a plan you can stick to.
Because after that, it's just fun. It's not hard. Not even a little.
We are going to focus today on digital memory-keeping--creating digitally with a printed result (and a digital copy, too). The non-negotiables below still apply to traditional paper scrapbooking and to simply sliding your photos in photo albums purchased at a craft store or a big-box store, so make sure you can check all those boxes even if you're not interested in digital memory-keeping.
The Non-Negotiables
No matter the memory-keeping system you choose, there are some non-negotiables that you should not budge on:
quality:Look for acid-free, lignin-free pages printed with high-quality inks and best-in-the-industry bindings. Do not use any company that uses glue in their bindings because over time the glue will crack, causing pages to fall out. The best binding would be either stitching (a library binding) or a PUR binding which is a chemical bonding process, not glue.
a place to write:Photos without stories are the 21st century equivalent of an old shoebox in the attic--if you don't know who is in the photo and why it was taken, it actually loses its value!
guarantees:Don't accept anything less than a 100% satisfaction guaranteeand a privacy guarantee. These days, it's very easy to find online sites that will print your books, store your digital photos, etc., but it's shocking how many of them have fine print that allows them to shut down their site without notice, sell your information, and even sell your photos. Make sure you have a guarantee on all those things. I wrote about privacy guarantees and common fine print here, if you'd like to learn more. And, really, a 100% satisfaction guarantee for something you're paying for only makes sense. You want your book to be amazing.
These non-negotiables do eliminate a fair amount of options, it's true. And that's for good reason. You really and truly don't want something that is going to fall apart. You really and truly don't want your photos to be data-mined and sold. You want a photo-memory book you can give as a gift and can pass on to the next generation.
The Magic Solution: a hack
We will definitely get you to a solution here, but I first want to tell you the biggest secret in finding a memory-keeping system that works for you.
There's not a "latest and greatest" you should be looking for. There's not some magic solution.
There's just a hack.
And the hack is this: The right memory-keeping system, the best memory-keeping system, is your favorite one. It's the one you will do and love.
That's the honest truth. Make sure your chosen system meets the non-negotiables listed above, and if it does, you're in the right place.
If you're still looking for the right thing for you, we'll talk next about how to choose the right memory-keeping system FOR YOU. Something you'll do and love.
How to Choose the Right Memory-Keeping System for YOU
There are a few good questions to ask yourself in order to help you choose the right system FOR YOU. Is your goal to spend time or save time? Would a creative option or a pre-designed option be your choice?
NOTE: I am a Forever affiliate called an Ambassador (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post. I earn a commission from anything purchased at my website, and being your Ambassador means I'm here to help you with questions, too.
Two Recommendations
In 19+ years as a memory-keeping consultant, the best options I've seen for preserving photos and memories in printed pages that will last for years and years to come are:
OPTION A: Create & Print
I've seen so many people use this simple method with beautiful results.
And more than the "beautiful" part... They have RESULTS! For anyone stuck (not moving forward) with memory-keeping, this might be the most important thing of all. Something doable can make all the difference.
Create & Print templates are professionally-designed and free to use. Choose the size, number of pages up to 99 (the price of the book is for 21 pages, then you can add pages at a per-page price), and the cover type (hardbound or softbound). There's just one design for the cover, but you can choose each page of the book individually based on your needs (a page with 3 photos, a page with 4 photos plus text, etc.). And there are hundreds of templates available for you to choose from, in many themes from vacation to wedding to everyday memories.
Another big win with Create & Print is that it uses very intuitive software that really only takes about 4 minutes to learn. You can see exactly how easy it is to use Create & Print here (or at this playlist)
With Create & Print, you can even make a book right from your phone.
Some people love designing their own pages for full creativity and flexibility when making digital photo-memory books. That's Option B, but I always suggest that if you're stuck or behind on your memory-keeping, you can get books done rather quickly using Create & Print, and you may like getting last year's photos into a book with Create & Print and then move on to this year's using Artisan, an amazing and fun digital scrapbooking software program I'll tell you about next.
I've seen this in action, by the way. If time is of the essence or if you've been sitting on a photo-memory book goal for too long, Create & Print may just be your best friend.
I have a friend who waited on putting together her daughter's wedding book for about 4 years because her go-to memory-keeping company was going through some changes and had some problems. I suggested Create & Print and she put the entire book together--and ordered it for printing--in 4 days.
OPTION B: Artisan digital scrapbooking software
I have used Create & Print several times for projects I needed done quickly, which is fantastic, but I absolutely love Artisan for full creativity, flexibility, and freedom of design. Artisan is definitely my go-to. With Artisan, I use fonts from my own computer (and 1001 Free Fonts is my favorite tool for always adding new, fun fonts), and I love creating!
Artisan is a program you purchase and install on your computer (like you do with Word or any other computer program). There's a free 30-day trial, too. Then, you can purchase digital art to use with Artisan so, again, you're getting exactly what you want.
While some people like--or some circumstances necessitate--quick and easy photo-memory book completion, if you enjoy the creative process like I do (it's, quite honestly, needed Me Time), you may love Artisan as much as I do.
Because there's SO MUCH you can do with Artisan, and it does take a little time to learn the program--just like with any computer program--I have created a whole Artisan Quick Tips with Jennifer series of tutorial videos that show you one thing at a time, such as how to add a drop shadow, how to create a wrap-around cover, how to crop photos, etc. You can see them all at that link, and this video will show you how to make a basic page:
What Now?
Get books in your hands! Choose the system that works best for you, and just get started. Don't wait. All the benefits of memory-keeping that I listed above are waiting for you!
Remember, too, that books make great gifts--for yourself, for your family, for grandparents, for kids. Emailing pictures really isn't the same thing. Something you can hold in your hands is precious.
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Sometimes things change. And sometimes it affects your memory-keeping.
Memory-keeping is essentially preserving photos and memories. You make a record of life's events that you and your loved ones can look back on. And when you do, these kinds of things happen:
Memory-keeping is literally a feel-good activity. It's truly self-care. So getting back into it (or into it in the first place) really matters.
FALLING OUT OF THE MEMORY-KEEPING HABIT
There are so many reasons you might fall out of the memory-keeping habit.
Maybe your schedule changed. Maybe you had a life-changing event.
Maybe the system you used to use and love isn't so loveable for one reason or another. Maybe you're looking for something better.
Maybe you feel overwhelmed. Maybe you just need to get excited about it again.
I've been a memory-keeper for as long as I can remember, and I absolutely love it, but this happened to me! A big change that was out of my control required that I go looking for another digital scrapbooking option. I didn't fall out of the habit as much as the fun was just sucked out of it and my go-to method went away. I needed something amazing and reliable and fun.
GETTING BACK INTO IT
I think the most important thing you need in order to get back into memory-keeping (or get into it) is options. Everyone wants a high-quality book that's *guaranteed, but not everyone enjoys or wants the same process to get there.
*Yes, a 100% satisfaction guarantee for the printed product goes without saying, but I'm also talking about the longevity of the digital version. Some companies delete your projects after a certain amount of time, some companies charge you for a PDF version, etc. We all definitely want some guarantees for our books. Beyond that, we often have different needs, interests, available time, etc., for actually getting a book done.
If you haven't done scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking, or photo books for a while, this 30-minute class will get you back into it! You'll come away with both solutions and tools, and you'll have options.
Here's the Get Back Into It checklist, too! It includes all the live links and details for how to DO everything you learned in the class.
GETTING ON TOP OF IT
Getting back into it can get you on top of it! Once you get back into a memory-keeping habit, you'll be having fun with it, and that makes it easy to do. You ditch the overwhelm that way.
What's made you fall out of the memory-keeping habit? Which of the tips or tools I shared here do you think will help you the most? Tell me in the comments below.
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NOTE: I am a Forever affiliate, called an Ambassador, because I love Forever so much! This means I make a commission from any purchases at my website, and as your Ambassador I'm here to help you, too.
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If you've got photo problems, I promise you that it's way past time to solve them. So let's just do it! You're just about to feel SO much better!
The biggest photo problems I hear people talk about are organization (including knowing where photos even are) and knowing what to do with them (store them digitally? preserve them in print?)
Today I'm going to teach you how to solve your photo problems once and for all in three do-able steps.
And, as a bonus, if you prefer, you can skip steps 1 and 2 and do everything at the same time in step 3--I'll help!
Step 1: Learn a Little About Photo Organization
With so many digital photos floating around these days, it can be easy to be overwhelmed, but it can also be easy to not even know where all your photos even are. You may have some on your phone, some older ones on a flash drive, and maybe some even print photos in boxes or old photo albums.
So, in order to solve your photo problems once and for all, learn a little about photo organization. Don't DO anything yet, just learn. Choose one of these videos to watch (or you're welcome to watch both).
This is part of the photo organization & preservation class I taught a couple of years ago. The main meat of the video is a little less than 30 minutes, but there's some additional Q&A recorded at the end as well which you can choose to skip or watch.
NOTE: I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.
Step 2: Learn About Preserving Photos
Again, we're just learning here. We'll start doing in the next step.
The first thing to know here is that there's a difference between storing and preserving photos.
I think about it this way:
During the summer, you might store winter clothes somewhere that's out of the way so that you can have access to them when you want them.
To preserve something like a cell phone, you might put it in a protective case, keep it away from water, etc., so that it will last as long as possible while you're using it every day.
When you're talking about photos, you really want to do both. I think sometimes people assume that storing photos away somewhere in the cloud or on an external hard drive is preserving them. Not necessarily.
If they're shoved away in either a physical or a digital "box," they may be put away, but they're not kept alive.
Keep this in mind as you learn this advice from photo experts:
This advice is basically about not having all your proverbial eggs in one basket.
Experts recommend storing photos 2 ways digitally (one onsite [at home] and one offsite [in the cloud]). That way, if there's an emergency of any kind, from a fire to a simple water leak onto something electronic, you've got a backup.
Experts also say we should store our photos in print. I assume this is because technology changes, you don't have to have electricity or a full battery in order to look at your photos in a book, etc. But I believe that a book is the best way to preserve the memories behind the photo. Without the details of the photo, its value dramatically reduced!
Those photos, for example, mean nothing to you. They carry a lot of meaning to me and my family.
If you just have photos without details, your loved ones will look at your photos the same way you're looking at mine because they won't have any meaning behind them.
Step 3: Get a Tribe at a Forever Gathering and Do What You've Learned with Your New Photo Circle
Now that you've learned about the two biggest photo problems out there, take what you've learned in steps 1 and 2 and identify your biggest memory-keeping problem. What do you need to tackle first? What is the biggest thing in your way?
And if "not knowing where to start" is your biggest problem, that's OK, too!
Grab a scrap of paper right now and write down your biggest problem. We're going to start there as we help you move to the doing part of solving your photo problems once and for all.
Anything that seems like a big task is made easier with a friend. Going on a daily walk or painting a room feels more do-able when you've got someone there doing it with you.
In almost 20 years now of coaching people on photo preservation and memory-keeping, I have learned that if you could do it on your own, you probably would have already done it. There is a lot of power in both getting some help and getting a tribe.
Here are 2 different options for you to consider here in this last step where you'll do what you've learned. #1 is geared toward just getting help and #2 more toward getting a tribe. Click each one for more information:
Get a personalized help with your biggest memory-keeping problem, and create a group you can work with moving forward at the same time. Email me your biggest memory-keeping problem, the one you wrote down on the paper, at photoandstorytreasures@gmail.com and think about people you know who have photo problems, too. Who do you know who would love getting some photo solutions, too? We'll meet at a Forever Gathering to learn tools, tips, and strategies, and then you'll have a Photo Circle you can meet with regularly on your own so you can keep doing what you've learned!
We'll pick a date 4-6 weeks out that will give me some time to create a class personalized to your needs. I teach these at no cost when at least 4 attendees are present (including you, the host). I'll provide you with invitations to send to friends and family--and remember, since it's online, you can invite your old college roommate who lives on the other side of the country, too!
And as you may have noticed in the image above, inviting other people who begin using Forever as their memory-keeping tool (as I will introduce in the class) will give you a $20 coupon (for each person!). The key is for me to provide each of your guests with your referral link, then once they make a purchase of any amount, you'll receive your coupon, which is good for 60 days.
By the way, sometimes when I talk to people about "hosting" something, they start thinking about "parties" and "sales pitches." My Forever Gatherings are sales-pitch-free. Because: ew. (That's just not me.)
In addition to all those coupons, you even get a thank-you gift for hosting a Forever Gathering!
Choose the mug or the planner, and I'll mail them to you if you're not local to me!
Remember, hosting a Forever Gathering gives you and your friends personalized information and help to solve your photo problems once and for all. Your friends become your Photo Circle. You can get together regularly and work with friends to accomplish your goals and stay caught up!
Here's some additional information:
Once you've started your memory-keeping journey with friends, it's very easy to get together in-person or online for a monthly Girls Night or a weekly Lunch & Photos time. This is your tribe. You're all working and enjoying your photos, getting your photo problems solved once and for all!
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