Family Stories Month - Memory Keeping

 

I am so fortunate to belong to a family that believes in capturing memories. My dad had a old Brownie camera and then went state of the art when he was gifted a Polaroid Land Camera for Christmas one year. My uncle was the “videographer” although we didn’t call it that back then. He simply took the home movies.

 

My cousin and I were avid photographers. Not in any sort of professional sense. But when it came to capturing glimpses of family gatherings, special events or vacations, we could certainly be counted on to be the ones behind the camera. So could one of my aunts.

My cousin and I kept our photos in photo albums. I always wrote a bit about the photos so that anyone who was looking through the albums could tell what was happening then the photos were taken. We didn’t always document who was in the photos, but fortunately, between us, we have been able to identify almost everyone.

I had shelves and shelves of albums. So did my cousin. Most of my photos have since been scanned. My cousin still has her albums, but has allowed me to scan hundreds of photos to share with other family members. 

When my children were young, I turned to traditional scrapbooking. I had dozens of large, heavy albums detailing our vacations. And I have dozens of traditional photo albums of our daughter. My husband bought me a digital camera for Christmas the year our son was born. Few of those photos made it to albums, but are safely tucked in digital albums and stored in the cloud. I am in the process of creating photobooks using those photos.

 

My husband inherited his dad’s video camera when our daughter was young so we also have at least a dozen videos of our kids. While those are also safely stored, they need to be edited so that they are easier to watch and the kids aren’t sitting through feature length films in order to enjoy the memories of their childhoods. 

About 8 years ago, I moved from the traditional scrapbook to digital photobooks and have actually started having my traditional scrapbook pages digitized so that they can be recreated as photo books.

As the family historian I have been blessed to be charged with being the family’s memory keeper. I work to preserve the memories and making them available to future generations so that they may know our stories and perhaps incorporate some of our values and traditions into their lives.

FREE WEBINAR

As a genealogist are you the keeper of the family memories? Do you have precious photos, documents and stories waiting to be put into a book so they can be shared? Feeling overwhelmed at the thought? 

Join me on Monday, July 23 at 7:30 pm Eastern for a FREE webinar. Learn how to quickly put those precious photos, documents and stories into a book that can be shared. You will have the book completed, or almost completed, by the end of the webinar. It really is that simple and the quality is top notch. You will be so proud of your family history book that you will want to share it with everyone. Get yours ready before the family reunion! 

Click to register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1681826572146918147

Ready To Turn That Family Tree Into a Family Treasure?

Are you ready to turn your family history research into a family treasure? Something that can be shared, shown off and kept safe for future generations? Dear Myrtle and I chatted about just this very thing on her Wacky Wednesday this week. Here's the link to the recording: 

Still have questions? Give me shout and I will be happy to answer them!

10% Discount at Forever.com

As a special for our followers and friends, the CanGen Summit Team managed to secure a discount to Forever.com - just in time for Valentine's Day. 

The code cangen10 will give you a 10% discount on permanent cloud storage or on any other product or service you choose.

Code valid from today until March 31, 2016

Here's the video which describes Forever.com

Creating Photo Book Backgrounds Using Flip Pal Scanner

Now that I am back in Canada, it is time to create a memory book, or a scrapbook. I use both traditional scrapbooking and digital scrapbooking. I find the digital books are so much quicker, easier and less expensive and are great when there are not a lot of photos to scrap.
One of the things I enjoy using my Flip Pal scanner for is creating my own backgrounds. Granted, most photobook programs come with pre-loaded backgrounds, but often then don't work for the themes I want to create in my digital scrapbooks.
Using Flip Pal opens up my options and makes the books far more personal as well. Here's how it's done:

This is a roll of wrapping paper I had purchased while in Scotland

I cut a small swatch to scan (I could have flipped the scanner over and scanned a larger portion, but this was left over from my traditional scrapbooking)

Ready to scan

Scan complete!

 Then once the photos were saved into the computer, it was time to crop them. I use Microsoft Office Picture Manager for ease of use, but there are dozens of photo editing programs. Use the one you are most comfortable with

I also scanned a couple of little gift tags that I had picked up along the way

This is the one I chose for my background

Then, in the photobook program, simply add the photo you have chosen for your background and click. I use PhotoInPress because of my comfort level with it and the quality of the books they produce, but you can use any photo book company that suits you.

To make the pics stand out against the back ground, and look separate from the background, I added a border to the photos. The possibilities of setting backgrounds with your Flip Pal mobile scanner are as endless as your imagination. So, start scanning!!

Enjoy the memories and keepsakes that you make with your Flip Pal. If you don't yet have a Flip Pal (they are a fantastic product - easy to use, incredibly portable, and durable), simply click the icon on the right hand side of this blog - the one that looks like this:

You can order your Flip Pal from that link. And, to make it even sweeter, Flip Pal is having a Summer Solstice Sale (until June 30th). Here are the details:

Summer Solstice Sale

Monday, June 18 – Saturday, June 30

Use Promotion Code: SSFP6A

Save $15 when you purchase a Flip-Pal mobile scanner! (Please place items in your shopping cart first before using the promotion code.)

Suite Summer Solstice Sale

Monday, June 18 – Saturday, June 30

Use Promotion Code: SSS6A

Save $25 when you purchase a Flip-Pal mobile scanner with Creative Suite Craft Edition DVD! (Please place items in your shopping cart first before using the promotion code.)

Creating Family Keepsakes With My Flip Pal

Last night, I loaded the Creative Suite software that I purchased with my Flip Pal. It was remarkably simple to load, but what I wasn't prepared for, but pleasantly surprised by, was what all was included. There is the Scrapbook Artist2 software, PagePlus which is an editing/publishing program similar to Publisher or PrintMaster,  PhotoPlus which is a photo editing program, a Slideshow creator (which I did not install, but plan to) and Family Tree Heritage genealogy software. All for only $50.

I decided to get to work with the Scrapbook Artist software. I recently purchased MyMemories and was thrilled with the ease of use of that software. Scrapbook Artist is really quite simple as well. And less complicated in that nothing needs to get downloaded within the program. It comes pre-loaded with a number of digital back grounds, embellishments, letters and frames. The add-ons are easy to load, easy to use and it is easy to change the colour using the colour wheel.

I wasn't as thrilled with the journaling in this program and journaling is a very integral part of preserving memories for me. And many of the add-ons need to be purchased, whereas MyMemories offers TONS of freebies with new things being added weekly.

However, if I hadn't already had MyMemories, I would be quite content with all that Scrapbook Artist has to offer. Here's the final product:

The pages can all be saved as Png files (picture files) which can then be "dropped" into a photobook program and then printed/bound for gift giving. This particular page is of my mum and will be included in a book about her for my children.

Here's to preserving family keepsakes!

Technology Tuesday Preserving Family Photos with Digital Scrapbooking

Almost simultaneous to beginning my venture into genealogy and family history, I began scrapbooking. I love the idea of preserving memories and, for me, scrapbooking provides the perfect way to preserve old photos for future generations. As well, the books themselves become treasures and heirlooms. It is so much nicer to look through a scrapbook than it is to wade your way through shoeboxes or drawers of family memories. 
In this digital world, I ventured into digital scrapbooking. The costs of the product I wanted to produce were astronomical, so I turned to digital photobooks. While these are relatively simple to do, they lack the lustre and "wow" factor of scrapbooks. I have recently found myself wishing I could find a program that was affordable, and allowed me not just to drop photos into a digital book, but that would allow me to embellish MY way, and to journal the story as I go. 
Then, Divine Intervention. MyMemories was running a promotion. They offered me a discount if I tried their product and agreed to review it. I must admit I thought it was a spam e-mail, but something nagged at me to find out more. I am so glad that I did! The promotion was not spam, but was a genuine offer for me to review their latest product. How could I resist?
For some time now, I have wanted to do something with the old photos from the Fowler branch. Jean & Henry are how all of us with Fowler connections descend. They are my great great grandparents. I have a huge affinity with Jean, having never known her of course, but I bonded with her the moment I discovered the story of the tragic death of her father and brother who died together in a mine. Her brother was 18 at the time.
I have been fortunate to receive photos of Henry, Jean and six of their 12 children. Now to use my newly found digital scrapbooking software and see what I could produce. I have been astounded by the results.

The wonderful thing about MyMemories is that I can use their pre-designed templates or I can make my own pages. I often find pre-designed doesn't fit  with what I had in mind, so I love the flexibility of being able to create my own pages.

MyMemories also allows me to journal as much or as little as I want

The embellishments are definitely the thing that gave me that WOW factor. The brads, ribbons and bows come pre-loaded in Suite2 and the frames and florals were included in a kit that I purchased.

The kits are less than $5.00 us. The kit I purchased was $4 and included 11 pages of vintage  background "paper".

 I then purchased add-on packs of embellishments for the words, flowers and other finishing  touches. Some are FREE, but most run about $2.

I made this entire 11 page digital scrapbook for $55. This includes the software which is $39.95. The good news is that I now have all of this downloaded to my computer and can make 100 more books using the same paper and embellishments without spending another cent! How cool is that?

I read an article today that said that the past decade is the most digitally documented in history but because no one is printing photos anymore, it stands to be the least documented period of history for future generations looking back. Knowing how much we treasure old photos and the memories they evoke, that thought is alarming to me. So, the final product of my digital scrapbooking has to be something tangible. 

  MyMemories allows you to save your album as JPEG pages on your computer (this way you can post separate pages to Facebook, blog about them or e-mail them), print calendars, create a dvd or download them to your iPod. To make the dvd or iPod download, I can add music and narration, making MyMemories a two-in-one software program. That still doesn't resolve the tangible thing for me, but I do think they are great options that I haven't seen with other digital scrapbooking programs. And YES, I can create a photo book from MyMemories. The photo books start at $19.99 for 20 pages. The one I would use (a larger size) is $39.99. Still comparable to other photo book makers.

Now here's the fun part. I have been soooo thrilled with this product (really) that I want to be able to share it with you. MyMemories has given me a "promo" code that friends, family and even strangers can use to get $10 off the Suite2 software. That makes the software just $29.95 and you download it so you can start playing with it right away.
Here's the promo code:
STMMMS29295 (copy & paste into the promo code box at check out)
Once you register, you will get a welcome e-mail that will offer you $10 in free paper, embellishments or whatever else you want to use. One tip though, use it all at once. It is a coupon, not a credit, so what you don't use, you lose.

BUT before you do that, I have one free software to GIVE AWAY. You need to visit the site and then add a comment to this blog, letting me know why YOU deserve to be the winner of the freebie. That's it! That simple.
Ready?.....Set?.....GO!! Let's start preserving those memories!!!

I want to see what you make (it really is incredibly simple to use. I did this book in half a day), so send me a link to your photos if you upload them anywhere.