Gift Travel Mugs

This was a very last minute project for my kids and a few nephews and nieces. I used a template from the Template Gallery and found the travel mugs at the local Dollar Tree for $1 each. Sweet! These would make darling gifts for those attending a birthday party or for any other holiday. I can just see them with all the cute embellishments for Valentine's Day. Super fun! (There is also a template in the gallery for the much larger Starbuck's Travel Mug; however, that mug is much more expensive.)

Click here to see the preview for 10 mugs.

The Annual Gift Calendar for Mom

I'm not even sure how many years I've been making my mom a calendar for Christmas, but it's probably about 10. It's been fun to see how my style has changed, too. Those first few calendars were back in my full scrapbooking days. Then I switched to digital and designed the individual pages in Photoshop and printed them out on my home printer. I had to take all of these versions to a copy store to have them bound. The last two years have actually been my favorite plus they've been the easiest to create. The quality is fabulous also. Mom loves them each year. She'd probably say that each new year is her favorite. One idea that I've used for several years is to put the photo of the birthday person on their date spot instead of typing their name.

This is the new for fall 2009 11x16 calendar. It's spiral bound at the top and has a built in spot where the nail or hook fits. (We still have the 8.5x 11-inch calendar, too.) See preview here.

2009 Christmas Cards

This year I made three different versions. I am impressed with the great quality of Heritage Makers paper and their printing process. One great option is that we offer double-sided invitations. Plus our 4-sided greeting cards are designable on all four sides. Cool!

This is the flat invitation version--it's 5x7.

Here's the Family Fold version which I displayed with the Christmas decor. (Note: details blurred on purpose. *Ü*)

Finally, this was one we sent to most of our friends & family.
See full preview here. (Note: I blurred the bulk of the text on purpose.)

My Three-Pendant Necklace

I'm not a huge jewelry person and I wasn't really sure I liked the idea of this new Heritage Makers product. However, when it came back with my family photos on it, I was thrilled. I also enjoy wearing it. The only draw back is that I really can't wear it to school since I'm already wearing my name tag on a lanyard and the speaker system (which also hangs from my neck) so there really isn't space for a necklace.

I often wear the 3-pendants and other times I just wear one. I really like the look and always get several compliments each time I wear it. Want one? I can help you get started. By the way, the chain is 20-inches long and each pendant also has a photo on the backside. *Ü*

50 Golden Years--8.5x11.5 Book

I designed this book for Heritage Makers this summer. It is part of the new catalog release this fall. I think the design lends itself to so much more than just an anniversary book. What do you think?

Click here to see entire book preview.

Introduction to Heritage Makers

Family Poster--12x18

My friend Mary Jo suggested that we needed a more generic version of a family poster. So I took the general design of my YW Poster and turned it into this lovely variation. I really like it...especially as it's framed in this wonderful frame from Mary Jo's store, Grandma's Closet in Pleasant View. (If you'd like more info on the frame, I can get that for you, too.) You only need 14 photos to complete this project. Plus you can easily swap out the decorative papers in the background if you'd like.

Custom Clock Faces

I've seen a few of these created by others and finally decided to try one of my own. This is made with an 8x8 scrapbook page. The clock face has a 7-inch diameter and fits great on a $3.97 WalMart clock available in black or white. If you'd like to make one of these, let me know and I can transfer the template to your account. There are also some great boy/girl variations in the Template Gallery.

My New 6-month Planner

I've wanted one of these since the new cookbooks became available; however, I just hadn't taken the time to make one. I found a template that I liked that someone else had designed and substituted in some of my favorite papers/photos, etc. Fun & easy! Check it out:

Click here to preview the entire planner.

Christmas in JULY! Woohoo!

Back by popular demand...it's Christmas in July! When you buy 3, you get the 4th free! Avoid long lines, grumpy shoppers, and all the holiday stress! Get your Christmas shopping done early this year...in July!

Get your cards created, addressed, and ready to mail. Have all of your presents wrapped. And save lots of money! Plus, you'll be able to actually enjoy the holiday season because you won't be running from store to store trying to find the perfect gift. The best gifts, the ones that really matter, will be waiting under your tree.

Enjoy giving your family the priceless gift of heritage with these amazing specials from Heritage Makers.

Father's Day Book

My daughter made her first book. At first she was planning to use a great Father's Day themed kit and design her own from scratch, but then she came across this great template...just a little tweaking and a few hours of work and she had this amazing final product. I love that she did it and Kris was surprised and thrilled.

Click here to see book preview.

YW Theme--New Version--12x18 Poster PLUS Baby Boy version

I love the addition of Virtue as a Value for the Young Women. After making the Family Proclamation poster, I decided I wanted to design a YW Theme poster. I used photos of Michela from ages 12-18 when she participated in the Young Women program. Another fun idea would be to use photos of all the girls in the Young Women program or do one for each class. Any leader would enjoy receiving this as a gift for the time and effort they put into working with the girls. This smaller size poster is only $9.95 if purchased through me or ask me about the Buy More & Save Deals. (Remember that with all buy more and save deals, you are just purchasing the size or type of project. They do not have to be the same design.)

Click here for a bigger preview.

I used the YW poster and modified it for a baby boy. (I just put in filler photos to get the project completed...since my baby is 12.) I also did an Eagle Scout version which I'll post soon. Let me know if you want any of these as they're not in the public template gallery.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World--8x8 Book

I saw this book last week at a Business Opportunity meeting and just loved its simple, classic design. I can now share the template (designed by Jill Means) with you if you'd like it. The individual pages were uploaded Photoshop files and appear blurry in the preview/edit mode; however, when the full resolution files are sent to publishing they turn out amazingly clear. This book will become a family treasure. You could easily use it as a Father's Day gift, for grandparents siblings and friends. Just add your photos and you're done...except the for the waiting for delivery.

Click here to view book preview.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

I decided to make my own Family Proclamation poster to frame and hang on my wall. When I worked the Heritage Makers booth at the What a Woman Wants Expo on Saturday, I was reminded how gorgeous this poster is. I tweaked the original template to make everything line up perfectly plus I worked on the text a bit. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist on these things. So, if any of you want my tweaked template, just let me know and I can transfer it to your account.

If you don't yet have a Heritage Makers account, I can certainly help you out with that. *Ü* Or you can choose to create one yourself by clicking the link to my website at the upper right. Then just choose Sign up for Free. As always, I'm here to help as your personal publishing consultant.

Click here for larger preview.

We Love You Because...Mother's Day gift for Kris's Mom

Well, we hit a major bulls-eye with this Mother's Day gift. Kris's sister Danette started this project two years ago when we still lived in Texas. We contributed photos and a couple paragraphs from the family with the theme: We Love You Because...

With eleven children in the family, there's a LOT of gathering, prodding and encouraging to be done. This past summer as a new Heritage Makers consultant, I asked Danette whatever happened with the book that she made for JoAnn. She wasn't able to gather all the information and the book didn't get made. Danette thought it would be great if I made the book. *Ü* Now, advance to April 20 (my birthday and the HM deadline for Mother's Day shipping guarantees) and I start receiving the letters and photos from Danette. I panic a bit (a lot really) when the following day JoAnn becomes very ill and is hospitalized. This book really needs to be read and enjoyed by her. Danette and I both got really serious about hounding the family to get in their info. I put it together in about a week (thank goodness for a template this time) and it arrived in time before Mother's Day. Whew! The best part was gathering with some of the family to present it to her yesterday. She just beamed, ooh-ed and ah-ed and gave lots of hugs and thanks. Kris's dad cried. *Ü* They didn't have time to read it while the family was around, but will be getting around to that over the next few days. We love you, JoAnn!

Click here to see book preview.

Formal Wedding Albums and Storybook

Can you tell we're quickly approaching the busy wedding time of year? Heritage Makers has come out with a beautiful set of templates to complement any style. These are simple and clean in design and can be easily adapted for any color scheme.

We've got an amazing price on the Wedding & Bridal Package which includes: 12x12 Wedding Album, (2) 8x8 Wedding Albums, 8x8 Wedding Scrapbook, 11.5x8.5 Reception Sign-In Book, (2) Change of Address Playing Cards, 18x24 Wedding Poster, (2) Matching Souvenir Family Folds plus 2 Months Premier Membership. All of this for only $299.95. (Items sold separately total $425--save 25% with this bundle.) Templates make it easy. Simply upload your photos and write your own story. Ask me for details.

The first book is 12x12 and would be perfect for the wedding couple. It is filled with wonderful photos featuring the memories from the wedding day. (Don't think only of weddings--what about a special birthday or anniversary, trip or vacation?)

Click here to preview 12x12 album.

The second album option features the very popular 8x8 book size. The photos will be smaller than in the first example, but so will the price. *Ü* The designer's idea on this version is that it would be perfect for parents of the bride and groom.

Click here to preview 8x8 album.

The final example has room allotted for the story of how the couple met, their engagement on through the wedding day. Another amazing keepsake! Swap out papers and embellishments easily to match your style and colors.

Click here to view storybook preview.

Wedding Sign-in Book--11.5x8.5 Book

I love this new idea for a sign-in book. I so wish that I had one of these from our wedding reception. I'm sure that I'd pull it out fairly often. *Ü* Again the colors can be easily matched to the wedding colors. A lot of room has been allotted for signatures and special notes.

Another great option for this book would be to use either the engagement photos or photos from the growing up years of both the bride and groom. What about filling the book with photos of the bride and then have attendees at a bridal shower share tips and advice. This would make an amazing sign in book for an anniversary celebration, birthday or other occasion.

Click here to see preview.

Formal Wedding Family Fold--3 Panel

Another great wedding project. This family fold features favorite photos of the couple plus their announcement/invitation information. A great gift idea for grandparents or special friends and relatives. Be sure to view the preview as the below image only shows one of six sides of the design.

Click here to view preview. (Be sure to zoom and rotate.)

Formal Wedding Poster

A fabulous way to display a favorite wedding photo. This is the 18x24 poster. Easily customize the colors to match your wedding colors. Quick and clean design would make a great gift, too.

Click here to see a larger preview.

Wedding--Change of Address Cards--Playing Cards

What a clever idea. Just drop in your photos and info and have a set or two of these published and you'll have an amazing way to let all your friends and family know your new address. You could have them displayed near the sign in book so guests could pick one up easily. How cool is that?! Great idea even if you're not getting married, but have recently moved or if you want a unique business card to give.

Click here to see card preview including the back side.

Favorite New Gift Idea

I just finished making my first set of Heritage Blocks. Love them! The original template used wedding photos; however, it's been nearly 22 years since we were married so I felt it would be better to make them using a smattering of photos from over those years. I love the result! And, I felt so crafty sanding wood blocks and painting with Mod Podge. *Ü* Ask me how you can make some too. I also have templates for baby boy and baby girl. Too fun! The blocks, directions and a gift certificate for the 12x12 pages makes a great bridal or baby shower gift.

Here are the finished blocks...all ready to display.

These two pages show how they look on the printed 12x12 scrapbook pages. The paper these are printed on is lovely heavy cardstock...no worries about any ink smearing here!

Wedding Sign-in Book

My friend Brenda made this. Isn't it a fabulous way to preserve the signatures of those who come to your wedding reception?! I have to admit that I've pulled out my book a couple times, but I've never read through the lists. However, if the pages were adorned with photos and there was a little space in case someone wanted to wrote a little note, I'd likely keep it out instead of buried in a box somewhere. I'd be happy to help you make one. This is a super speedy project!

Click here to view project.

Busy with BIG projects...

Wow, I realized that I haven't posted anything new for a while. We've had a crazy two months...emergency gall bladder surgery for me, a move and then a couple weeks of everyone being sick. Now we're ready for spring and moving onward and upward. One of my favorite quotes is "Find joy in the Journey." Love that!

Recently, I was hired to do a couple of custom projects for clients. They were both 12x12 book projects and ended up being quite substantial books (one was 67 pages and the other 99). I was delighted with how well they turned out. My clients were thrilled with their books.

The first book is a compilation of years of athletic accomplishments, coaching, etc. Many old scrapbook pages were scanned and then uploaded to the book. I added in sports quotes and letters from the children to their dad. What a great tribute to a "life coach."

Click here to see book preview.

The second book was much more intense and involved more than twice the design time of the first. This client had 70 letters written to her siblings over a 20 year period. She wanted these combined with photos from the same years. The final result is much more story intense than any prior project I've completed. I must say this is a favorite book because it will be so meaningful to generations of family. It has inspired me to get out all those Christmas letters that I've written each year and use those as basis for a book...combined with photos, of course. *Ü*

Click here to see book preview.

As a little bonus I made a custom card to go along with this book to each of their children. This was fun to design a card which matched the book. You should try it!

See card preview by clicking here.

Our Family Tree--18x24 poster

This was fun to complete. Instead of having one of our children at the bottom, I included all three. Kris and I had a fun time going through old photos to find the ones missing from my digital files. I can't wait for it to show up on my front porch. That's always the fun part...when the mailman rings the doorbell because he has a big delivery for me.

Click here to see a bigger version.

My Eternal Family--8x8 Book

This was the quickest project that I've completed as I used a template designed by Mindy Evans. I did a bit of my own tweaking and editing to get it the way I wanted. It was so easy to just go through my photos and pick 24 that fit the pages, change out a song (replace one I didn't know with a favorite) and send it off to be published. Hoping to have a new book for my collection this week! Woohoo!

If you haven't made a book yet, this is a great beginner design.

Click here to see entire book preview.

He Said She Said--A Love Story--an 8x8 storybook

I'm so excited about this project because the details are now written down and preserved for our posterity. According to Michela, our oldest, we are "so adorable." Gotta love that! Don't pester Kris about the fact that he willingly wore twin outfits that I made for us. It causes him a bit of grief just looking at some of those photos. He tries to claim that he was just so in love that he'd do most anything for me. Truth is...he wore those jam shorts for years. Yes, I made several versions for him...only a couple of which were exact matches with mine. Fun times!

Click here to see full project.

Actually, I wanted to do something with our story years ago, but with an assignment from Heritage Makers for a love-type book, it was the perfect moment. I had a list of topics and asked Kris to write up his version and I wrote mine. Michela edited for both of us. I knew we'd get more interesting stuff if we didn't see what the other one wrote until later. I'm so happy with how it turned out. You can make one, too! It's available in the Heritage Makers' template gallery.

Honoring My Brother, Alan--8x8 Book

A couple of months after my brother died I determined that I wanted to make a book for his children so that they would always remember him. Since Alan's initials are ABC, it was a perfect lead in for me. Hence the title, ABCs of Alan Benson Curless.

This is the reason I am such a huge fan of Heritage Makers. I don't think I would have ever attempted a project of this magnitude in digital scrapbooking and the making of individual pages and certainly not in the traditional world of scrapbooking. Each of the children received their own copy of the book with a picture of them with their dad instead of the picture of Alan and me. I'm so pleased with how it turned out! (The design elements in this book are all from my friend Gina Cabrera's fabulous Parker kit at www.ddecd.com)

Click here to see the book preview.