how to keep your memory from fading

Do you remember the day you got your first job?  Your first day of college?  Your engagement day?  Bringing your first baby home from the hospital?

Pick one.  Think back to that day.

What can you tell me about that day?

Chances are, if--today--you were to tell me about that day, you might say something like, "It was great."  "It was a wonderful day."  "It was exciting."  "Very special."

But if you had told me on that day, you would have a lot more to tell me!  There would be details, emotions, sights, smells, nerves, what happened on the way there, what happened on the way home, what you were thinking, how someone else reacted, and more.

So what can we do about it?

Here are some things you can do to keep those memories alive and cherished, which in turn give us increased happiness and fulfillment!  

1. Take photos.  There's absolutely nothing like seeing your beloved grandmother or an angel baby again, or your wedding day or your first day at a new job.  That's what a photo does--it brings them back.  Those events, those people, those times aren't lost when you have a photo.
2. Write.  The old adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" is mostly true, but without recorded details, your thousand words are quickly slipping away as the the actual memories literally fade a little every day.  You don't have to be a writer.  You just have to write.  What do you remember?  Who is in the photo?  When and where was the photo taken?  Why was it taken?  What made it photo-worthy, meaningful, fun, special, interesting, hard, good, worth remembering?  Write it down.  I guarantee you won't remember all those things if you wait 10 years.
3. Preserve the photos and their stories (the writing part).  A box isn't where something this powerful belongs.  Photos and memories need to be taken care of.  I call it memory-keeping.  Some people call it scrapbooking.  Whatever that looks like to you, find a high-quality way to preserve these precious mementos of your life's journey.    
4. Reflect.  Share.  Look through your memory-keeping, your photos and journals.  Take some time to get centered.  See where you've been and see how far you've come.  Share your memories and life experiences with others.  Children especially LOVE looking through scrapbooks and memory books of themselves, but be sure you do it as well.  There are even therapeutic benefits!

Preserved memories don't fade nearly as much.  And they're easy to recapture by simply looking back and reading.

There are different ways of preserving photos and memories, of course.  Any standard photo album from a big box store will do it, but be sure the products are acid-free, lignin-free, and high quality.  Otherwise, your photos end up not as "preserved" as you thought.

My favorite way of preserving photos and memories is digitally because it's so convenient.  Plus, using the company I do means that my photos are stored digitally as well--that's not only "fireproofing" both my photos and my digital book offsite (not at home) but giving me the ability to access my account and show my photos from my phone or other device/computer.  {Here's amazing information on the app, and here's amazing information on the *permanent* photo storage that Forever offers.}

I use all three of these different platforms for creating my own digital books.  Have a look and see which one fits you best.  There's an easy-button option, a quick and beautiful template option, and full-on digital scrapbooking.  Let me know in the comments which one sounds best to you.  (I love #3 but have used them all.)

You don't have to be a "scrapbooker" to be a memory-keeper.  You just need memories.  (The first and second options shown in the video are truly for EVERYONE!)

{Get started preserving your photos and memories right here.}  It makes all the difference.

Keeping memories close benefits everyone!  Share this blog post
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This post was updated in 2022.

why you should preserve your photos in print

I've talked about this before, but preserving photos in print is a REALLY BIG DEAL.  It's the only meaningful way to store them, as I talked about {here}.  But here's a stark reminder:

This graphic is from a survey from {Professional Photographers of America}, which I saw {here}.

This only mentions the 4.5 million cell phones lost in a year in the United States.  This doesn't mention the ones dropped in a toilet or swimming pool.  And this doesn't even cover hard drive crashes, unreadable files, or any of the other technology-inflicted issues.

Save your photos!  And by that I mean:  RESCUE THEM.  Get them off your camera or computer.  That's only the backup version of them anyway.  Put them in hands, on shelves, on walls, and let connections happen.  Let photos and memories be enjoyed. 

There are amazing, heirloom-quality options for preserving your photos in print right here--and they're so different that there's really something for everyone!  These options are better than anything else I've seen!

You take photos for a reason.  Print them so you remember why.

how to get your pictures off your phone

If you don't know how to get your pictures off your phone, that's the first thing to learn so that you can then preserve your photos.

It's wise to store them at least one way digitally, but {the best way to store photos is in print}.  Think of digital photo storage like old-time film negatives.  Negatives were good to save in case something happened to your printed photos.  But the printed photos were the important part because THEY were the things that got SEEN.  It's not so different today. 

But first you have to get your pictures off your phone, right?

UPDATE 2021:  With a (free) Forever account you can get the Forever mobile app and upload directly from your phone!  

This is the easiest way to get all your photos into one place if they're on multiple devices, too--read how to do it here.

METHOD #1
One way to get your photos from your phone to your computer is to e-mail them to yourself.  Just be sure to select "actual size" or "full size" or "full resolution" when you're asked what size you want to send them.  You don't want to receive them in lower resolution (lower quality) than you took them. 

Once you receive the e-mail from yourself with the photos in it, open the e-mail and then download (or save) the photos to your computer.

METHOD #2
Your phone should have come with a cable so that your phone can be plugged into your computer for backing it up, etc.  It should have a USB end and a phone end. 

If you have this cable, you can actually go onto your computer and open your phone, click on the photos on your phone, and copy and paste them onto your computer.

I have PC and an iPhone, so what that looks like for me is I find "This PC" then "my iPhone."  I double-click "my iPhone" and a window opens that says "internal storage."  I click that and see a folder called "DCIM."  I have videos and pictures inside that folder.  This is definitely not the simplest way to get your photos off your phone because after you open DCIM, each photo and video is in its own folder.  That means I have to double-click each folder individually, and when I see each photo (in jpeg form), I  right-click on the photo, choose "copy," and then go to the location on my computer where I want to save it and click "paste." 

As I said, this is not the simplest way to get your photos off your phone, but it does work.  This is a good method to get the VIDEOS off your phone and saved onto your computer, though!

And there you have it.  Three ways to get your photos off your camera so you can PRESERVE THEM by printing them!

Heirloom-quality digital photo-storybooks are a convenient and fantastic way to print your photos!  {Get started here!}

Since when did "scrapbooking" become a requirement for memory-keeping?

This post was updated in 2022.

I've always been a memory-keeper, journaler, scrapbooker.  Since their inception, photos have always GONE somewhere--in a family album, or some sort of book.  So for a long while, everyone was a memory-keeper or scrapbooker.  

You took a picture, you put it in a book and documented it, the end.

These are my people.  💗

And somewhere along the line (in the 1980s and 1990s), this thing called scrapbookING came about.  A scrapbook was no longer a noun.  It was a verb--"to scrapbook."  You could be a scrapbookER and do scrapbookING.

I'll never forget the first time I learned that.  I had moved to a new city and was getting to know someone new.  I mentioned that I'd been working on my scrapbooks.  She was THRILLED!  "You're a scrapbooker??"  She asked to see what I'd done.  

I thought that was a really odd request because it was just photos organized in one of those magnetic photo albums--you know, the ones where you peel back the protective film and put your photos on the sticky surface.  It wasn't a big deal.  But I gave my three-ring album to her and watched her face fall as she gave a cursory look through my book.  

I didn't really understand what she was expecting or why she was disappointed.  And then I learned the term "scrapbooking"--and learned that it meant this:

It meant cute.

Papers.  Embellishments.  Layering.  Cutting.  Cropping.

I later learned that I needed to get my photos out of those acid-filled books and onto acid-free paper.  And I like creativity, so I jumped on the scrapbookING wagon.

But I always knew not EVERYONE wants to sit down for hours to create pages like this.  

That's why when Heritage Makers came my way in 2005, I could see the potential.  It could bring back memory-keeping to people who didn't think they could do it because they didn't like (or have time for) scrapbooking.

People who don't like the scissors and the storage space required for traditional paper scrapbooking could create photo-storybooks digitally!

And that is the truth.  It just matters that you DO.

Over the last couple of decades, we've somehow developed this *incorrect* notion that we can't do anything with our photos if we don't scrapbook.  And there are so many people who don't have time for or interest in scrapbooking!

Since when did "scrapbooking" become a requirement for memory-keeping?!

Bombshell, guys.  It's not!  It's NOT a requirement for memory-keeping.

You have photos.  You have memories.  That means you can be a memory-keeper, the way people have been for centuries.

In 2021, I was introduced to what I would call the ultimate option for not-scrapbooking and the ultimate option for digital scrapbooking.  

Funny how that works!  But it's true. 

I made you an overview of what I term "unscrapbooking" (2 options) plus the ultimate digital scrapbooking tool.  

If you don't have the space or interest for traditional paper scrapbooking, this is for you.  If you're short on time, the first 2 options are your new best friends.  If you love creativity, option 3 is your new best friend.  (I personally use all three!)

High quality and photo privacy are a big deal, and you get that here as well!  These are the best options I've seen in well over a decade of memory-keeping as a business.

Start enjoying your memories now!  {Get started preserving your photos, memories, and stories digitally with one of these fantastic, high-quality options!}  It's pretty amazing that something so simple is so fulfilling while its impact lasts for generations.

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Want easier scrapbooking or memory-keeping? Find something addictive!

I talk with a lot of people about their photos and memories in my line of work.  

A lot of people struggle with regular memory-keeping.  I periodically come across people who have something that works for them, but it's rare.  Most people I talk to don't yet have a memory-keeping method they love and like using often.  

(Lucky for them, though, they're talking to ME, so that's about to be resolved!) 

But you know what makes the BEST memory-keeping or scrapbooking??   

It's addicting! 

Not sure how that helps?  Here's an example:

I do my everyday memory-keeping using Heritage Makers digital scrap pages (individual scrap pages as opposed to the hardbound books) just because I like the freedom of a loose-leaf system so I can add my kids' artwork or class pictures or whatever.  

WELL!  A couple of months ago there was a big Heritage Makers sale on scrap pages.  It was a surprise sale, and a bigger savings than the usual monthly discounts.  

We had just gotten back from a big trip and I'd taken tons of pictures.  So putting them into scrap pages was a project already in progress.  When I saw this sale announced, though, I knew I could save a lot of money if I took advantage of it, so I decided to get all those pages done in 2 weeks.  I worried about having time to do it because I had a lot of other things going on, but I sat down every day to "just do a little." 

And guess what.  Pretty much every time I would end up telling myself, "Okay, JUST ONE MORE PAGE."  

 

It was so addicting that getting a lot done was really easy.  I kept wanting to come back to it!

A vital part of memory-keeping is loving it.  

So my tip to you today is this:  if you want memory-keeping or scrapbooking to be easier, find an addicting way to do it!

Thanks for stopping by.  We have a 2023 UPDATE:  Heritage Makers and Snap2Finish became YPhoto under Youngevity (which purchased Heritage Makers in 2013).  YPhoto uses only templates, so the creativity showcased here is no longer available there, and they also no longer have capability to print previously-created projects like these from the old system. YPhoto is not a photo storage site like Heritage Makers was. 

Best-in-the-industry quality and permanent cloud photo storage with guaranteed privacy are required for anything recommended here by Photo & Story Treasures, so we highly recommend Forever for:  

·        creative digital scrapbooking applicable in a variety of photo products using Artisan software

·        easy photo-memory books using free AutoPrint and Design & Print software programs

·        private, permanent, secure, and guaranteed photo and video cloud storage (triple-backed-up and bank encrypted)

·        white glove digitizing services for old memories like VHS tapes, slides, old scrapbooks (scanning), 8mm film, audio tapes, and much more

Learn more here to  find similar products at top-quality with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

preserving memories and stories of those who have gone before us

There are many beautiful ways to honor and pay tribute to those who have gone before us.  It not only respects our loved ones, but it therapeutically helps us grieve, cope, and celebrate their lives.

Even something as simple as a keepsake ornament is a beautiful memory:

 

Books with multiple pictures and room for memories and stories are especially wonderful.  This would be fitting for any grandparent:

 

Recording even brief moments leave us something to cherish:

 

Tributes and life stories can be preserved any number of ways.

 

{Get started here with a beautiful variety of options from Photo & Story Treasures.}

how photos help through loss and grief

If there's one thing ALL of us have in common, it's loss.  Loss is so personal and so deep that it's hard to really put into words sometimes.  

I recently read this beautiful article by Julie over at www.picturethisorganized.com about how photos can help us through loss and grief that I really wanted to share with you:

http://www.picturethisorganized.com/743/how-photos-can-help-us-in-times-of-grief-and-loss/

Wasn't that beautiful and inspiring?

One of the best ways I know of (from seeing the experience of others and from my own personal experience) of coping with loss is a creating a tribute book.

You can find a variety of beautiful, heirloom-quality books right here.  

And I have made books for others as well, so if you need that service, let me know!  (You can read about it at that link.)  

You're always welcome to contact me with questions, too.

Please share this post with anyone you know going through grief and loss.  It's a shared experience, so let's help each other through it!

digital photo storage is a back up, not a goal

If you learn nothing else from this blog, let it be this.

There's kind of a trend right now, a focus on how many ways we can back up our digital photos, how to safely store them, how to make sure they are secure.  But I'm afraid we're missing the point.

The point of taking photos is not to store them somewhere.  The point of taking photos is to be able to look at them, read their stories, and recall happy memories while doing it.  

The gift of photos is that they can allow you to re-live a moment, to enjoy something all over again, to fall in love again, even to grieve and heal.   That happens when we interact with the photos, hold them, see them, and love them with their stories.  

That doesn't happen by saving them to an external hard drive or some paid online photo storage place.

Think about it like this:  Back in the "olden days" we would take pictures with film.  Then we'd go get the film developed, and we'd get back 2 things--#1 physical photos and #2 negatives.  The physical photos are what we wanted.  They would allow us to see our memories right in our hands.  They show who the new baby looks like.  They captured the wedding day.  The physical photos are what we took the pictures for in the first place.

Now, the negatives were also valuable because they were the backup in case anything happened to those precious photos.  So we made sure we stashed those away somewhere safe.  Think about photos in digital form that way:

When you take photos, focus more on how you're going to preserve them IN PRINT rather than focusing so much on how you're going to preserve them digitally.  And, yes, certainly preserve them digitally (external hard drive, flash drive, CD, online, on your computer, etc.)--and it's safest to preserve them digitally in TWO ways because technology is so fickle and always changing.  Just never lose sight of the fact that the digital storage is a backup.

The most meaningful way to preserve photos is in print.  That's because print is where you can preserve the memories that make the photo mean something in the first place.  Print is how they get seen and loved, how they make a difference, how they are enjoyed.  

So you definitely want to print your photos in a high-quality way.  Be sure you are including the stories of the photos when you print them, though--otherwise, half their value is gone!  The details of the photo need to be preserved just as much as the photo itself.  Who is in the photo?  Where was it taken?  Why was it taken?  What are the memories that are associated with it?

These days we spend so much time looking for the best way to preserve our digital photos digitally.  

I hope you're now looking for the best way to preserve your photos in PRINT!  Check out my favorite heirloom-quality options and see which one is your favorite.

Who are you trusting your photos to?

Photos and memories.  They're irreplaceable.  Wouldn't you agree?

These days there are other options for putting your photos in a book, and I know some online photobook companies offer big discounts, even free books.  I know everyone loves a bargain--including me--but this always makes me wonder: 

Do you really WANT a free book??

The old adage, "You get what you pay for" is true.  How long will a free book last?  Can you reorder another one 3 years from now after it's fallen apart?  If you do, will that book be saved in your account, or will you have to re-create it? 

I definitely want to get a good price on a photo storybook, but I also want it to last.  I want some guarantees that my precious photos and memories are safe and preserved.  I DO NOT want to go to all the effort of preserving my photos and memories if the product isn't going to hold up--no matter how cheaply I got it.

So although I hear what people say when they're looking for cheap memory-keeping, I'm pretty sure if they thought about it, they don't REALLY want a cheap book!

When you #makesomethingmeaningful make sure you know who you're trusting your photos to.  Check the fine print!

Thanks for stopping by.  We have a 2023 UPDATE:  Heritage Makers and Snap2Finish became YPhoto under Youngevity (which purchased Heritage Makers in 2013).  YPhoto uses only templates, so the creativity showcased here is no longer available there, and they also no longer have capability to print previously-created projects like these from the old system. YPhoto is not a photo storage site like Heritage Makers was. 

Best-in-the-industry quality and permanent cloud photo storage with guaranteed privacy are required for anything recommended here by Photo & Story Treasures, so we highly recommend Forever for:  

·        creative digital scrapbooking applicable in a variety of photo products using Artisan software

·        easy photo-memory books using free AutoPrint and Design & Print software programs

·        private, permanent, secure, and guaranteed photo and video cloud storage (triple-backed-up and bank encrypted)

·        white glove digitizing services for old memories like VHS tapes, slides, old scrapbooks (scanning), 8mm film, audio tapes, and much more

Learn more here to  find similar products at top-quality with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Creating a Life Storybook video tutorial

Have you recorded your life story?  Is it time to record the life story of your parents or grandparents?  This video tutorial about creating a life storybook from a beautiful may give you some helpful tips and ideas.  Just be sure you make the effort to turn your good ideas into something priceless.

Here's another great option:

Alternatively, you can design your own book using Artisan software.  Learn more here.

Need help with the writing?  

Here are some great resources (prompts and ideas) for writing your life story:

• #52stories  https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/52stories-printables 

• Know Who You Are in 25 Questions https://www.mistysansom.com/blog/know-who-you-are-with-these-25-questions

• Great Questions from StoryCorps https://storycorps.org/participate/great-questions/ 

• Life Story Map by Heritage Makers https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JnKWQDgMgtAfuTLj3l0V4KLSf0a7sfrn/view?usp=sharing

{Get started here!}  Or follow the steps at {this link}.