Come aboard!

You all know I love being an Heritage Makers Personal Publishing Consultant, and I am always available to help others that desire to start helping people tell their stories while at the same time bringing an income in their home.
This month there is the opportunity to come aboard the Heritage Makers train, and be entered in a wonderful giveaway:

-Free publishing credits 

-Free business supplies

-HM Mall merchandise    

- A Canon digital camera

-A new LAPTOP or new

      Apple IPAD


If you have been thinking about becoming an Heritage Makers publishing Consultant but were still undecided, now is the moment to jump on the train!
You get an entry for just signing up as a consultant, and more entries for each person that you will be able to sponsor during the month of February!
Contact me before the end of the month, and I will be happy to give you all the details!

In remembrance of a brave soul...

Today is a special day...
2 years ago, today,  a brave soul went back to our Father in Heaven.
He was the son of two wonderful people, the brother of a sweet little girl.

In his 2 1/2 months of life, he touched a countless number of people's hearts.
I was pregnant with my Luca, when Hayden started his mission on earth. When I heard about his brain cancer I was astonished...  I couldn't imagine the pain his family was going through, I didn't know what I would have done if that would have happened to the baby that was still in my bosom...
I wished I could have done something to help Hayden and his family, but there were already so many doctors and family and friends, and I couldn't leave my kids alone. I remember  trying to sign up to bring food for the family that was constantly being at the hospital, but so many were the people that were going to prepare meals, they didn't need my help.
That says a lot about Hayden and his parents. So much love was shared during his brief little life...
So many people held their children tighter, and thought twice before getting upset at whatever they messed up...
All of a sudden it didn't matter if my child spilled milk on the floor, or if he climbed on the hutch and threw all the books down, or if he ripped pages off books that were just bought...
All of a sudden eyes were opened, and blessing were seen everywhere...
Hayden might have lost his battle with cancer 2 years ago today, but he won the war.
He was able to do something that most of us probably won't be able to do even if we could live 100 years.
He brought families together, helped people understand what is really important, and whenever somebody will think of him, he/she won't be able to help it but realize that for as big as life problems can be, nothing is more important than showing our love to our children and our whole family.
His funeral was one of the most moving events I have ever participated in my life. I don't think there was one person that didn't have tears in their eyes, especially  when a poem was read about this brave little soul...

(The Brave little soul, by John Alessi ~ click on the image to magnify it)

Hayden, thank you so much for being so brave and fulfilling your mission on earth.

* I was grateful to be able put together a swatch book for Hayden's mom, that she could bring with her wherever she goes. As I created each page I felt like I was finally doing something for him, and his family.


You can read more about Hayden on his blog, and also be part of  “Hayden’s Wagon of Love”,  to help other children and families at the Wolfson Children’s Hospital and to always remember Hayden.

http://haydenswagonoflove.blogspot.com/

Wedding pictures at hand

Remember your wedding? That was one of the most special day of your life...
If you are like me, and love those pictures that were taken on your day so much, if you could, you would bring your wedding album with you everywhere you go...
But..let's face it... That is not something that is really practical...
Well, I have found the solution for me: a swatchbook!

A swatchbook is small enough to fit in any purse, funny pack,  even in your pockets!

I choose my favorite wedding pictures, and I had fun putting them together..

Here is a couple more pages:

Swatch books come with 10 pages, that can be printed on both side, which gives you freedom for 20 different layouts, if you choose so. If you like the layout I created for my wedding pictures, I will transfer you the template when you sign up for your free account at www.preservemyheritage.com, and contact me to purchase your swatchbook and let me know that you would like to have this specific template.

Note: This swatchbook has been created with premier art, so you will need to have a premier membership(free 1 month for new clients on their first credit purchase) to be able to access it, but you can create a beautiful wedding swatchbook even with basic membership.

Swatch books are so affordable that you can make copies to give to your spouse, your parents, grandparents, and anyone that would enjoy having your wedding pictures at hand.

Swatchbooks are also a great wedding gift! Your friend/family members will thank you for giving them such a thoughtful gift, and you will be sure to give them something unique, and that they will cherish for years to come.

Use Canvas to decorate your child's room

You want your child room to be as special as he/she is...
You can choose to go to a store and buy some generic room decor, or you can spend hours and create your own personalized room decor, or you can save yourself time and money and go for the wonderful 8x8 and 20x8 canvases you can easily create with the HM Studio editor.
This is what I just found in the template gallery:

Aren't they adorable? You can swap any of the animals with the one you like, change the background colors to match your child's bedroom colors, you get the idea!

I also like using a 20x8 canvas to display the child name, like in this template:

and if you like you can personalize these canvases with tour child's picture:

Your child's room will be like no other and you will be sure you will have made him/her feel oh so special!
So, have I tickled your imagination?
You can create canvases like this for your child and also save money by contacting me and taking advantage of this month offer on 8x8 and 20x8 canvases, so don't wait! You can get the canvas(es) credit now, and then create it whenever you feel like it, since credits last at least 1 year!

San Valentino

This what Valentine's day is called in Italy.

Did you know that in Italy you only give a valentine to your special someone? I must say I was pretty surprised when I learned that here in America children (or should I say parents?) give valentines to all the friends in their class and anybody else they can think of! That's a lot of work! I am so grateful for digital scrapbooking! I can create one valentine and just make copies!

So, today I want to give my special valentine to all of you that enjoy my blog and my ideas, and that have a passion or simply like everything Italian.

These 2 phrases both mean I love you, but the first one is more as a friend or as a relative, the second one is for your one and only:

Here are some more Italian Valentine word art:

I will love you forever

Heart and heartbit

You are my life

You can find more Italian word Art here.

I hope you enjoy them!

Let me know if you would like a customized Italian valentine, I can create practically anything!

Happy Valentine's day everybody!

How do you want your grandchildren to remember you?

I have been thinking to all the grandparents out there, and at the same time, to my future self, as I look forward to the day I will be a grandma too.
Grandchildren are the next generation, the ones that hopefully will keep our memory alive, at least this is what we all can hope...
If you don't want to leave the preservation of you memory to the fate though, there is something you can do now.
Whether you have 1 grandchild or 10, whether they are newborns, toddlers or grown ups, I am pretty sure  they will all love to know how you were as a child, as a teenager, as a spouse, a parent, and how you feel as their grandparent.
You can make sure that each and everyone of them knows your story, by putting together your pictures and your memories in a book.
When you create this book digitally, you can make as many copies as you need.
I love the online Studio software since it allows me to create my books and also to have my project preserved for years to come, so, should you be blessed with more granchildren in the future, you will always be able to print more books, and what's even better, you can modify any  page to add that new grandchild in your list of grandchildren.
You can take your time and create your book from scratch, or you can take advantage of a template.
All you will need is a computer, your pictures, a scanner for the pictures that have not been digitized yet, your story, and naturally, your love.

I just discovered these gorgeous templates that are just perfect for telling your story to your granchild!
How I became your grandma
How I became your grandpa
I am just in love with them!  These templates are not only easy to personalize with your pictures and story, but also guide you step by step in your story writing. And don't forget that they are completely modifiable, so you can change backgrounds, duplicate or remove pages, add or delete pictures, make them bigger or smaller, anything!
So, you have no excuses! Start writing your story today, and give your granchildren a gift that will last a lifetime, and more...

WDYTYA = Who do you think you are? The show!

Have you heard? The American version of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ is coming on March 5th!
In case you haven't heard about "Who Do You Think You Are?", here is a brief summary:


The family history-focused series will lead seven celebrities on a journey back in time as they discover more about the ancestors who came before them. Lisa Kudrow, who executive produced the show, will be featured in the episodes, along with Sarah Jessica Parker, Spike Lee, Matthew Broderick, Susan Sarandon, Emmitt Smith, and Brooke Shields. Ancestry.com is a partner with NBC on the show. Tune into NBC Fridays 8/7c beginning March 5.

While to me it doesn't make any difference if it is a celebrity finding his/her roots, or the person down the street, it is indeed great that there is a show like this since I think it will bring more people to want to learn more about genealogy and family history, and this is all that I am about.
Every means is great to have more genealogy enthusiast join us!
I like that geneabloggers is suggesting a WDYTYA party. That's a great way to get your friends that have never shown interest in genealogy, to discover a new passion. It's also a wonderful reason, if you have friends that share your same passion for genealogy, to get together and maybe share your latest findings.
Geneabloggers also gives counsels on how to organize a WDYTYA party, and I am flattered to see that they suggest my magnetic family tree game for parties that include children.
Other games that could be interesting for both children and grown ups are the Family game cards, and a "guess who" game made using actual family photos( I will explain this game in a later post).

Also, if you have family in your party, a great party favor could be a nice genealogy tree with family pictures like the ones I talked about here and here or a cute family love tree swatchbook like this.
Also a Heritage calendar would be perfect to help your family remember about family history and the efforts you put in it!
For the friends coming to your party, even just a page with a nice family tree like the one used for the magnetic tree game, would be great, and would also give them a reason to go back home at the end of the party and look through their photos in order to find as many pictures as possible to fill that tree.
This could actually be a challenge, you could make it a game. The person that will have the most pictures by the following week, when you will all get together again to watch WDYTYA again, gets a prize! An idea for the prize could be a nicely framed genealogy quote, like this, or any other inspiring family quote.
Whatever you choose, just make sure that you make this opportunity as valuable as possible for you and your family and friends, and enjoy the show!

February host gifts and rewards

How would you like to have a swatch book like this? How would you like to get it for free?
Well, this month you can, by just having a workshop with me!
Workshops can be virtual or in person, you choose!
If you and your friends like to get together talk about your stories, and would love to learn how to preserve your memories, contact me and we can set up a date and time when I can come and show you everything you need to know to get started!
If finding time to get together is an issue, no worries! Virtual workshops are just what you need! Everyone can be in the comfort of their own house, and check the info I will send, watch a tutorial if they like, call me when they are ready to make their order, and I will be happy to put the order together and inform the host of the free gift and rewards earned at the end of the workshop!

This month you can receive a free swatchbook just for holding a workshop with as little as $150 in sales! You also get free product credits!

Also, this month, all your guests get a free scrapbook page credit by just being part of the workshop!

*limit one per guest

Contact me to know all the details, and stay tuned for more swatchbook ideas, as I have been creating quite a few, and they all turned out amazing!^_^

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You can get a free Publishing account by signing up at http://www.preservemyheritage.com/ and start creating unlimited projects at once!

Want more? Check out our pick of the month (new size canvases) and fantastic package deals!!
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Hurray for new Canvas sizes!

Great news!
Heritage Makers is offering  2 new Gallery wrapped Canvas sizes!!! 8x8 and 20x8!
I had been wishing they would come up with the 8x8, because I wanted to make one with just the face of each of my boys, and had just the right place in my house where to put them!

What's even better, they are on sale this month!!!

Contact me today to start creating wonderful canvases that will help you make your house a home!

Valentine matchbooks

Looking for a crafty valentine idea?

Look no more!

These valentine matchbooks are just perfect!

You can find the template in the template gallery. Drag and drop your pictures, click publish, et voila', you will receive them on your doorstep in about 10 days (or less;)), and you will just have to cut them and put them together!

Don't you just love them?

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You can get a free Publishing account by signing up at http://www.preservemyheritage.com/ and start creating unlimited projects at once!

Want more? Check out our incredible host rewards(50% more for the month of January!!!) and fantastic package deals!!
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