Hurray for Story Maps!

Ok, so you are so excited and want to start writing a book about your mom, your grandpa, your child or even yourself, but all of a sudden you stop because you don't know where to start and what you should put in the book!
All I have to say is: Thank goodness for Story maps! All you have to do is get up and go interview the person you want to write about using the simple questions and storyline that you will find in each specific story map.
If your loved one is too far away, grab the phone, and call them, with the added bonus of making that person's day because you thought of him/her.
 Our story maps help you plan your storybook from cover to cover. Use our maps as a template and have your "hero" answer the questions provided or create your own questions. You'll find interview questions, photo suggestions, and even writing tips!

Life event stories
Life Story

Love stories
Love Story

Baby stories
Baby Story

Cornerstone
Child
Parent
Grandparent
Family Values
Aren't they awesome? What a great tool to help you in your storybooking endeavors!  
And don't forget that you can always find great ideas on my blog, and I am here to help you preserve your heritage, every step of the way!

9/11/2001

Where were you that day?
9/11/ signed the life not just of the people that were directly impacted by the loss of their dear ones or were were simply "bothered" by some flight delay, it touched each and everyone of us.
I was still living in Italy that year, but I was shocked at the news even because a long lost cousin that I had finally found after long research, was living in New York, and I feared that he might have been at the Twin Towers that day.
Thankfully he and his family members were all safe, but I was still heartbroken at the thought of all those people that died and all the ones that were left to mourn their loss.I found the preview of this Storybook about 9/11 created with HM and I thought I would share. It is a beautiful way to help us remember. Click on the image above if you desire to read it.

Life is full of many unforgettable events, either good of bad, it is important that they are remembered, not just by us, but by those who will come after us. 9/11 is not the only event that has signed our life, each of them teaches us something, and it is our duty to pass onto our children the lessons that we learn.

I encourage you to take the time today to write even a few lines to share your thoughts with your loved ones, to send a card to a distant relative, to make that call to that friend of yours that moved long time ago.

If you don't do it already, start journaling, write about your feelings, your ideas, your thoughts, the events that have changed you, the lessons you have learned, every possible counsel you would like your family, your children, your friends to have.

Life is indeed short, and we don't know when our time on earth will come to an end. Most of the times, there is no evident warning.

Remember, and be remembered.

Heritage Makers is #132 on the Inc. 500 List! Let's celebrate with a sale!

It’s an exciting time at Heritage Makers! In the September issue of Inc. 500, Heritage Makers is listed as #132 of fastest growing companies in America!
Wow! It’s awesome to see others take notice of this great company that we have in Heritage Makers. Curios to see the list? Click here.

And, the excitement doesn’t end there…Heritage Makers is also listed as #9 in the Consumer Product and Services category! You can see that list here.

This is why we are celebrating with this incredible sale!!!
Just sign up for a free account at http://www.preservemyheritage.com/ and contact me to get in this incredible offer that will allow you to try a great variety of our products and use them for your own family memories preserving or as a gift for friends and family.

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Want more? Host your own workshop to get in this month's fabulous host rewards! And don't forget to check out how you can get a FREE family fold credit this month!!

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This is the month!

What a wonderful August is this for Storybooking with all our new creative possibilities!

So many exciting things happening this month, like our improved Host Rewards and our Free Basic Art! It's like a free upgrade for all of our Heritage Makers clients! So check out the links below to read how you can get in on all of the August Storybooking Boosters!

Upgraded Host Rewards and Free Gifts for ALL Guests! - Now this is a deal maker! - more rewards and guests get gifts just for coming to learn more about Heritage Makers - Now is the best time to host a party, a workshop or a virtual event - Click here to read more about it!

New Free Art for Basic Accounts - You already knew that Heritage Makers' Basic Accounts are Free - well, now we've added some beautiful art collections to all Basic Accounts! They are sure to get your creative juices flowing- click here to discover the possibilities.

August Pick of the Month - A great deal on our 11.5 x 8.5 Storybook and/or 3 months of Premier Membership - Click here to check it out!

August In Person and online classes- Come to a digi-crop at my house, watch a recorded class, or attend a live online class. Click here to see the August Schedule.

Enjoy these last days of summer & don't forget to book an August or September party or workshop, or virtual event so you can get your friends their free gift! Everybody can create beutiful projects and have the chance to also print them for FREE!!!

Christmas in July gift giving idea: Storybooking for healing

Not all Holidays happen to be as happy as one wishes they could be. Some years a loss might have happened in the family that just makes someone feel sad, and sometimes it might be really hard to even just smile.
If this is your case, or you know someone in your family or among your friends that is going through a difficult time because they are mourning the loss of a loved one, there is something you can do to help them heal...
Collect as many significant pictures as you can of the departed, ask questions, write the answers down, have the ones that knew the family share their memories, and organize all this in a storybook.
Sometimes when you lose someone you don't want to talk about it, but other times you wish people wouldn't act like it never happened, like your child, your husband, your mom was forever forgotten. Having the story written on a book helps overcome the pain and the loneliness one can feel, and makes the loved one come back to life every time those pages are read, and the pictures recall happy memories.
When nothing else can comfort a grieving heart, a Storybook will be like a bridge between that deep sorrow and the possibility to smile again, knowing that the loved one is not going to be forgotten.
Whether it was a still born child, a few months or years old, a teenager, 100 years old, whether it was the child, sibling, parent, grandparent, spouse or dear friend, Storybooking their life and the impact they had on the lives of others will give a new light to everything, and help in the process of grieving and healing.

This is something dear to my heart as I lost my dad when I was 13 and I feel like I am still grieving...
This is why I am writing a card to him in which I tell him my feelings, and why he is an hero to me, while I wait to be able to talk to his side of the family who is still in Italy, my aunt and my cousins that are older than me and got to know him better, since I want to write a storybook about him, how he touched everyone's life, and the example that he has been to me.
I think I will be able to totally lift this burden from my heart when the book will be completed.

I hope my words might have inspired you, I wish I knew English better because I feel like I am at a loss of words when it comes to to express my feelings about this matter.
When I take the time to put together a book about my family, I grow a deeper love for each of them, and when I collect photos and stories about someone, I am blessed since I get to know him/her better. When the book is completed, this blessings are passed on to all the people that will open it and will be reminded of good memories or discover something new about that person.

Take time to touch your loved ones' heart, it will be the best gift you will ever give them.

Are you going to be remembered when this chapter of your existence comes to an end?

Many of us would like to think that we will be remembered long after we are gone.

We spend our life trying to build some kind of wealth, we collect objects that are dear to our heart, maybe some particular jewelery item that we would love to pass to our children, take pictures, record home videos, possibly leave a testament thinking that takes care of everything...

The truth is that fortunes are spent, properties are sold, jewelery can't be possibly divided among all of our descendants, records and stories are lost and memories fade.
Still, we want someone to know we existed. We want someone to know we made a difference. And that existence and difference has value. Unfortunately we often don't know what that value or worth is.

Perhaps this value is best understood to those who will follow us - our children, our grandchildren, or even strangers - those who will remember and learn about our lives of trials, of dreams, of hopes, of success and failures and can gain or learn from it.

The present is fleeting and soon to be… the past.

And although we may have thousands of photos and maybe hours of home movies the reality is that we've probably never recorded the obvious for posterity... what it is that we experienced, what we learned, why we did what we did, what we thought was important, and what words of wisdom and faith we wanted to pass on.

Taking the time to write your story and make sure that is is preserved, that the pictures you leave aren't just images from the past, but are connected to the experience and feelings you had when it was taken, will ensure that you leave a Legacy for your family and friends to appreciate and learn from for generations to come.

Your life is important and thanks to Storybooking, you can make sure that it is not forgotten.

The best gift

What is the best gift you could give?
When I was younger I thought the more expensive a gift, the better.
In the beginning I loved dolls and cars; growing up it was the time of clothes and jewelry...
Then I grew up a little more, and realized that all those things weren't really important. What was starting to really be important, was time.
Time spent with my family, my friends.
Time I wish I could enjoy again talking with my dad, whom I lost when I was 13...
Time traveling and making new discoveries.
Time making memories.
Time preserving those memories.

My husband wanted to get me a diamond ring for our engagement. You might think I am weird, but my answer was:" And what would I do with it? Wouldn't a simple much less expensive ring still be a good memento of the day you asked me to marry you?
How about we save that money for future travels? For family needs?"
It took him a lot to understand that I really didn't desire a diamond ring, but then he appreciated the fact that we went 5 different places for our honey moon: Florida, Utah, Italy, Switzerland and England and that now we have a book preserving those memories.A diamond ring could only be passed on to one of our children. I can make copies of the book I made, and all my children will be able to enjoy it and share it with their children.
If they desire, the will be able to make more copies for each of their children so they will know their grandparents' love story.
I get my children's toys at garage sales. They will get broken anyway. The real gifts from me to them are the books I make about them, the playing cards with their pictures, the family folds, the genealogy posters I created.
While right now toys might be their first desire since they are so little, I know that when they will be grown up, they will really treasure these books and other projects I have taken the time to create for them.
I do have a couple dolls, and some jewelry pieces from my mom and my grandma and I do treasure them, but they tell me very little about the persons that gave them to me.
The Storybooks I create for my children and for all my other family members and friends, tell them that they are special to me, that they mean a lot, that they are worth the time I took to make something for them, to preserve a special memory.
These projects will remind them of me, of who I am when I am too old or I am not here anymore.
One of the last books I created was my son's VPK book. It has pictures of him, his friends, his teachers, and a collection of many of his favorite things.
I have no memory of my pre-k years(we call it asilo in Italy) except for a couple of flash backs that I can't tell if they are a dream of the reality. I don't remember any of the friends I had or what I liked to do there. My son will be able to look at the book and know that his memories are not dreams and remember all of his friends and favorite things.
How much I wish my parents could have done something like this for me, but there was nothing like Heritage Makers 30 years ago!

So, don't waste your time looking for expensive gifts that could end up in a future garage sale or that just aren't able to really say a lot about you.
Take time to tell the stories in your home.
Take time to help your child understand his/her self worth, to improve his/her self esteem, make a book about him or her , about his/her family history.
Take time to read these books with your children at night time or any other time during the day.
Time is the best gift you can give, and you will see that as time goes by, all the other material things lose importance and value while time with the memories related to it becomes the most precious thing of all!

Storybooking: what is this?

Storybooking: You might be reading about it in the newspapers, finding it on the internet, hearing about it on the radio, seeing it talked about on tv, probably heard me talking about it or found it in one of my emails, but what is it and is it something you should know about?

Storybooking is the process of creating your own hardbound or softbound book. Storybooks created through storybooking contain pictures and words. They can contain stories of those who lived before your life, of those who lived during your life, or of something you wish to be in the future, or desire to inspire your children to be. Storybooking is scrapbooking for the digital age but with more options and capabilities.

"Storybooking is the unique process of combining photographs with personalized story text into one or more professionally hardbound storybooks for ages one to 101. What scrapbooking was to the last century, storybooking is to this new century." - Heritage Makers, LLC


Should I Storybook?

Do you have stories you wish you could tell your children? Or grandchildren? Would you like to publish your own children’s book? When your father died did you wish your son could understand how great of a man his grandfather really was? Wouldn’t it be great to read your son’s birth story to him at night before he goes to sleep? Do you want to show your friend the great love the children she teaches have for her?
Would you like to improve your child self esteem presenting with a book about the things he can do, or about how much you love him/her? Does your mom know that you are so grateful for all that she does and has done for you? What do you get your wife to show her how appreciative you are of her? How do you show your husband that the last 50 years have been incredible? Do you have a ton of unprinted digital photographs that may never be seen? There are many experiences you can storybook about. Your memories are so precious, it would be a pity if they were forgotten. You can really love somebody when you know their story.

How Do I Begin Storybooking?

• Think about stories associated with your pictures
• Choose the story/memory you wish to preserve
• If the story is about somebody else, ask questions.
• If you don't know what questions to ask, I can help!
• Find all pictures associated with chosen story
• Scan the pictures wanted if they are not on your computer yet.
• Begin writing story
• Rewrite story as many times as needed
• Follow instructions to have book published


Who Should I use for my Storybooking needs?

•Heritage Makers is currently the best storybooking/publishing company to use for your needs. You can get the help of a Heritage Makers Consultant to publish your works. We walk you through the steps of preparing your book.We help you from the beginning stages to publishing. It is your book so keep it personalized but use the Heritage Makers Consultants as resources as you become an author.

What Resources Are Needed To Storybook?

•A story
•Pictures/Drawings/copies of meaningful documents
•Scanner
•*Digital Camera
•*Photo editing software
•A Heritage Makers Consultant
•Access to the internet
* (Optional tools)


Storybooking Ideas

There are so many different things you can make storybooks about. Stories, experiences, etc. What can you storybook about or for? What recent events have happened in your life?

• Engagement
• Wedding
• Child's Birth Story
• Vacation
• Graduation
• Military Service
• A very special "letter" to your future generations
• Your family's genealogy
• Accomplishments
• Stories Told by Grandma
• Overcoming an Illness
• Valentines Day
• Christmas
• Birthday
• Cookbook
• Anniversary
• Life Story of Loved One
• Friendship
• Mothers Day
• Fathers Day
• Family traditions
• Silly things your kids say
• Educational book with your kids as the "hero" (ABC, colors, numbers...
• Adoption Story
• Sport

The ideas are really endless!

What are you Storybooking about?

An inspiring video...