My Little VIP

Wow...it's been a while since I posted last!  I've been busy with projects...projects...and more projects!  Here's one of my favorites....

As I said before, one of my main goals in starting with Heritage Makers was to have a way (an EASY way) to keep a record of the goings on of our family.  I'm terrible at journals.  There never seems to be enough time (or enough creativity in my brain) to actually scrapbook.  Blogging has been great, but there was no physical record to keep.  Thus HM was my solution.  As I was reading through the HM mission statement I read that one of the goals of the company was to strengthen family, improve relationships, and build a child's self esteem.  Now, strengthen family I could see...improve relationships I could see...but I wasn't sure exactly how a book, or poster, or playing cards would improve my child's self esteem.

I had a board book credit in my account, and as I tried to think of ways to use it I came across a fun little template in the gallery, so I decided to make a book for one of my kiddo's....and his reaction when he got his book surprised me a little.  Don't get me wrong...I knew he would like it.  What kid wouldn't like to have a book about himself?  What I didn't anticipate was his excitement over it.  Quite regularly I find him like this...

He loves to look at each page and hear why HE is important to different members of our family.

I can now see how Heritage Makers can say they believe their company can help increase a child's self esteem!  Rylen loves HIS book...and all the other kids are waiting for their own book now too.  I guess I better get busy!

Check out Rylen's Book:

Valentine's Day Idea

O.k....
I can't believe I'm actually going to say this because I absolutely hate jumping the gun on holidays (admittedly, it may not seem like jumping the gun to all you organized planners out there, but unless the holiday is Christmas, I don't even bother with it until at least the week before!)...

BUT...(yep here I go)

Here's a great idea for your valentine...

10 Things I Love About You Storybook

Quick...Simple...Easy...but totally personal!  Who doesn't like to know why they are loved??

Check out this cute template for your sweetheart...



or maybe you want to do something special for your kids...



(Some of the templates are premier...but there are also some basic templates!)  HM has a great Valentine's day package...including a 7x5 book and a card...until Feb. 1st!

Would love to do something personal and fun for your kids for the big day...but you have a whole gaggle of kiddies, and a book just isn't in the budget right now???  Here are a few more budget conscious ideas:

I Love You Coupons....use a deck of cards, and make a special coupon (or several special coupons) for each person.

Reason's I Love You Mini Book...use a 12x12 scrap page, cut and fold just so (the instructions are with the template) and voila...a little tiny mini book.  Perfect for a special little gift for your kiddies!

Here's the one (before it's all folded) that I've made for Ashlynn

Now...here's one (not the V-day one) all folded up into a book:

Have fun....and Happy Heritage Making!

Project 365 - Picture A Day

I actually heard about this project last year, and thought it would be really fun to do.  Now, ask me if I did it....Nope!  Yet another project in which I had great intentions and little follow through.

I'm determined to make this year different....granted, I'm still a little slow, since we're now  into the second week of the year, BUT, on the up-side, it's only the second week of the year!  (How's that for a cup 1/2 empty-1/2 full perspective!)

Anyhoo...here, the idea:

Take a picture everyday to capture 2010 in a special way.
Don't just think about big momentous events or kids...think everyday.  Think things that make you smile...think things that don't.  People, places, things...everything.  One picture per day...that's it.  No more, no less.

Click here to check out this great template in the HM gallery that will make keeping track of your pictures even easier.  Just drag and drop...and at the end of the year, you'll have a fabulous picture book to sum up 2010.  There is even place to add a caption for each picture or write about your favorite pic of the week.  As always, you can customize you book to make it just right for you.  *Note:  Anyone can make this book with a free account, and you can share it with or without printing!!

Happy New Year

2010.

Wow!

Can you believe 2009 is already over?  I'm still trying to catch up!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous New Year's celebration!  Christmas with our family was wonderful, but (as usual) it was over too quickly.  I never get to do all of the things that I have planned to do.  I suppose it's my own fault since Christmas also tends to be a time when we stay in our jammies all day long and just be lazy!  This year we spent Christmas with my family in Canada.  I went armed with my camera and lots of memory cards, and now that we're in the New Year and I feel like I actually need to do something, I'm getting to work recapping 2009 with a Family Yearbook.

Making Family Yearbooks was actually one of the reasons that I got involved with Heritage Makers in the first place.  I wanted to have a way to put all of the pictures, stories, and dates together.  Scrapbooking just took to long for me.  I'm okay at journaling for a while and then I stop for a longer while, and I take lots of pictures, but I never actually put a date on them...or print them out for that matter.  They just sit on my computer until I've got wayyyyyyyy too many, and I transfer them to a CD.  So, Heritage Makers was a great solution for me!  I could upload my pictures, choose a template, and with absolutely no creative thought of my own, create a great family yearbook to preserve all of the special family memories we created over the year.  It's perfect!

How about you?  How do you preserve all those great family memories?

So, here's a challenge for you:  Don't leave those pictures on your computer (or under your bed), don't let those memories fade...choose a way to keep track of all of your special memories, whether it's scrapbooking, journaling, or hmmmm....Heritage Makers! (sorry, just had to get that in there)  Maybe you're interested in doing a family yearbook, or maybe you're more ambitious, and want to do a yearbook for each of your children.  It really doesn't matter what you do...the point is, that you do it!  Complete 1 or 2 pages for each month, and by the end of the year you'll have a great memory book for the whole family to enjoy.

If you're interested in starting a family yearbook with Heritage Maker's, I'd love to help.  Shoot me an e-mail at featuringfamily@gmail with your phone number and what you're interested in doing, and I'll give you a call.  Just to give you a better idea, here are a few of my favorite templates from the template gallery:



or



or



And here's a little preview of the yearbook I'm working on for our family!

(Keep in mind...it's a work in progress)

Happy Heritage Making!

And The Winner Is...

Okay...so not too many entries for the giveaway.  (But that makes it better for everyone that did enter!)  I counted any comments both from the blog and facebook....and just for any of you who tried to guess my favorite Christmas song, it is: "The Christmas Song" by Mel Torme!

The winner of the Christmas tile is:

Kirsten Esselman

Congratulations Kir!

Giveaway

I got to spend my weekend working at a craft fair in a local city.  It was a lot of fun meeting new people and telling them about something that I absolutely love...Heritage Makers.  It also got my holiday season started off right...the hustle and bustle of people, Santa talking to the kids, yummy smells....Mmmmmm!

So, now I feel like passing my Christmas spirit on to you!  I'm having my very first giveaway...EVER!!  I've got to tell you, I've always wanted to do something like this...and it's really cool to be able to do one just in time for Christmas!

Here's what you can win:  A 6x6 Christmas Tile...made especially by me!

These tiles are perfect for your own Christmas decorating or for giving away as neighbor, friend, and teacher gifts.  They're fun.  You can personalize them however you want, and they are relatively inexpensive.  These particular tiles were made by using a 1/4 page of an HM 12x12 scrap page (so you get 4 6x6 tiles out of 1 page), a standard 6x6 tile, and a little bit of modge podge.  Click here for directions to make your own.

#1 - Let it Snow

OR

#2 - Silent Night

To enter, simply leave me a comment with your name, e-mail address (so I can contact you if you win), and tell me which tile you want.

You can also earn some extra entries by doing any of the following:

1.  Blog or post on facebook about the giveaway, then leave me a comment that it's been done!

2.  If you haven't already registered for a free account....REGISTER on my website, then leave me a comment.  OR  If you already have an account, refer someone else to my website and have them sign up for a free account.  Leave me a comment with their full name and when I receive confirmation from HM that their account has been activated, you'll get another entry.

3.  Leave me a comment and guess my favorite Christmas song.  If you get it right, I'll give you an extra entry. HINT:  it's sung by a crooner!

I'll keep the drawing open until next Monday (Dec. 7th) at noon...and who know, if it goes well, maybe I'll do another one before Christmas!

Remember the holiday deadlines if you're planning on ordering for Christmas:

United States

Storybooks

Dec. 2 (ground and priority)

Dec. 7 (two day)

Dec. 10 (next day)

Other Products

Dec. 11 (ground and priority)

Dec. 14 (direct ship cards/two day)

Dec. 16 (next day)

Here's to starting the holidays off right!  Merry Christmas and Happy Heritage Making!

A Gift For Me

Click here to preview the entire book

So last week was my birthday...and I'm gonna toot my own horn a little.

For the past few weeks I've been working on a special book for my family. The book itself hasn't been hard, but I'm a little bit OCD about pictures and making things just right, so it's taken me a while to complete the project. I'm now happy to say that my first Heritage Makers book is done, and to make things even better, my copy arrived in the mail just in time for my birthday.

Happy Birthday to me!!

Merry Christmas to me!!

{Insert any other happy holiday greeting} to me....

YAY!

Seriously, I was like a 4 year old on Christmas morning. The package came in the mail, and I was trying to rip it open as I walked into the house.  When I finally got the packaging off of my little creation, I had to sit down and savor each page.    I mean I worked on the thing everyday, but there is just something so rewarding about seeing something that you've created go from a picture on a computer screen to something tangible that you can hold in your hand!  I think I'm hooked.  I'm trying to decide what to do for my next book...and I'm working on tweaking the same book for each of my different families.

Stay tuned for the holiday special of the week.  I'll post it sometime after 12 pm MST today.

Happy Heritage Making!