Stories by Me!

Grandma's Snicker Doodle Cookies

2012-01-17T20:21:00.006-07:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here. Our grandmother passed away Christmas morning. Some people would think that it should have been a sad day...but it wasn't. We'll miss her immensely, but we were comforted by the fact that she didn't have to suffer. (She had been diagnosed two weeks earlier with pancreatic cancer.) Right up to the very end, she was thinking of everyone else by leaving earth life when it would be most convenient for family and friends to come together to celebrate her life. Because her funeral was during the Christmas break, everyone got to attend and it really was quite a joyful occasion.

This past Sunday evening I learned that another grandparent had passed away. He wasn't a direct grandfather, but he was a Grandparent Superhero by his incredible love and amazing example.

If you ask my kids about their memories of Grandma, they'll be sure to include stories of her Snicker Doodle cookies. One time, my kids had a cookie eating contest to see who could eat the most Snicker Doodles (I happened to have been out during this grand moment of brain loss.) We got to enjoy the game for weeks as my youngest WON the contest and shared the spoils later that night by literally tossing his cookies all over the car!

As we were clearing out Grandma's things we came across a treasure... a copy of her cookie recipe. I knew immediately what needed to be done! Each of my kids got a copy in ornament form.

These cookies are GOOD! We'll share the cookie recipe here. If you want to finish the project, it's been designed for a 5x6 placard. To finish the backside of the ornament, you can use scrap book paper (pink - on right), fabric (brown dots - on left) or personalize it with a family picture (center one is going to my son in the Netherlands so he can enjoy a little bit of Grandma love!!!)

We'll be offering this project at our March class at Deseret Book for those local to the Salt Lake area.

Get recipe cards here . (BIG file, be patient while it loads!)

Still trying to think of something to keep our memories of Stan close to our heart. More to come!

All I Want For Christmas is a...

2011-12-23T18:32:00.002-07:00

Believe it or not, my ONE Christmas wish involves a ring...but not of the jewelry type. In less than 48 hours I get to talk to my missionary son via the telephone. He's been gone now for 7 months [plus 5 days and about 6 hours --but who's counting?]

I get the rules of having missionaries focus on their service efforts and not on what's happening at home. Typically, LDS missionaries get to call home three times the first year they are gone.

I got cheated out of phone call number one!

My husband feels pretty bad about it, maybe because I kind of blamed him for missing the call. My son called from the Atlanta airport as he prepared for his final flight to Belgium. Only problem is that he called the wrong number (Due to some wacky schedules, Dad got the first phone call and suggested that son call my work # even though I had been tethered to the home land-line all day waiting for the call.)

I will NOT miss phone call number two!!

I share the story of the first phone call only because it relates to phone call number two. Yesterday we got the necessary information so we could contact our missionary on Christmas morning. Hubby must be feeling a bit anxious given the events of the last contact so he wanted to make sure everything was working properly. What does he do? He calls the number. Yes, he does. He calls the number and guess who answers? A very shocked missionary son. Hubby quickly hung up so I could enjoy the surprise on Christmas day!

I did get an early Christmas present from a new friendship that has developed out of the Netherlands. T recently had a birthday. This sweet family threw a birthday party for my son and video taped it so I could enjoy the celebration.

Now I just wish I understood Dutch!

More Christmas Memories

2011-12-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, our Christmas tree was decorated with homemade ornaments, most that were the edible type. It was such a temptation. By the time Christmas arrived, you would be hard pressed to find an untouched 'ornament'. One year, I remember my little brother actually pulled the tree over trying to discretely remove a decoration.

I had BIG plans for this year's tree. I really thought I'd have time to locate all of my mother's old cookie recipes and decorate the entire tree with recipes and homemade cookies. That didn't happen, but I'm still LOVING what I DID ACCOMPLISH!

Long Live Traditions!

2011-12-20T20:19:00.005-07:00

I love traditions! Some years I'm better at keeping up with the list of traditions our family has deemed all important than others, but this year I noticed that even the simplest of traditions go a long way to creating the nostalgia that is associated with the holidays.

As my kids get older (and less wanting to help me decorate the house for Christmas) I have found myself cutting corners on the decorating aspect of our traditions. I keep thinking to myself "What goes up, must come down!" This year I almost skipped a few of the decoration boxes. Some of our decorations are now 20-plus-years old (when did THAT HAPPEN?) and are looking more ratty than festive. We have an advent calendar that I made when T was just a little tike. I can still remember those chubby little fingers anxiously moving our Mary and Joseph 'counter' closer to the town of Bethlehem to announce the special day. I honestly didn't think that anyone would notice if it didn't grace the pantry door where it has hung every year since we moved into this house. It's really isn't anything special...

Or it is?

It seems that this calendar is an important part of my kids memories. My 14-year-old was not only genuinely happy to see this treasured decoration, but has faithfully moved the marker forward every day since December 1. In four days he'll move Mary and Joseph to their positions right outside the stable. Once the Babe is placed in the manager, I'm sure his thoughts will turn to the loot stashed under the tree, but at least for a few seconds each day in December, my teenager has been reminded of the reason for the season...and famly.

What are some of my favorite family traditions?

Christmas Eve pizza
The Hughes Neighborhood Christmas Concert
Going downtown to look at the Christmas lights and store windows
Secret Santas
Having Uncle Earl over for Christmas dinner
Opening one present on Christmas Eve...and always finding new PJ's!
Putting out my Woof-n-Poof collection and remembering each gift my hubby gave me over the years

What is the one Christmas tradition that you couldn't live without?

For me, it wouldn't be Christmas without the reading of the first Christmas story taken from the pages of Luke.

A Wind Storm To Remember!

2011-12-03T11:28:00.008-07:00

Two nights ago, I was awakened at 3:30AM to the sound of howling winds. It wasn't really the sound that was disconcerting, but the rattling of the roof above and the jarring of the floorboards beneath that kept my heart racing. I have lived through a couple of earthquakes and tornadoes in my lifetime, but I was not prepared for the hour after hour of assault on the home that was protecting nearly everything precious to me.

Surely the storm would abate once the sun came up?! At 7:00AM, I drove my 17-year-old to school, mostly because school was still in session and I wanted to make sure he got there safely. The high school is next to a major freeway and it was eerie to see all of the semi trucks pulled off to the side of the road in an effort to remain upright. We pulled in to the school's parking lot. Everything was dark but kids were swarming around the campus so my son hopped out to join the confusion. Despite the howling winds, downed trees and power outages, life seemed to be moving forward so my youngest prepared for a day of school. His trip across town to the middle school was harrowing as they witnessed the strength of the wind. His school was also dark, and as many of the students attend classes in portables that were shaking to the beat of every wind blast, the school officials had already determined it best to turn the kids around and send them home. It wasn't much longer before they closed all the public schools in the area and the kids rejoiced in their first official weather related holiday (A BIG DEAL here as the kids complain that school's NEVER closed for weather!)

Suni lives closer to town and felt the effects of the storm more strongly. We turned the disaster into a holiday by having Suni's family over as it would be nearly 48 hours before their power was restored.

The word that came to mind as I drove around town looking over the extent of the destruction was 'somber.' I nearly cried as I drove through the Bountiful cemetery and witnessed all the 100-year-old trees that had been ripped out of the ground. Kevin's ancestors are buried in that cemetery and most of their resting spots were obliterated by the fallen trees.

Gratefully, trees can be replanted. Headstones can be replaced. In reality, we were really quite lucky. The Bountiful area has been known for intense winds over the centuries and we had gotten off relatively unscathed. A similar event in 1864 resulted in a much harsher outcome.

On February 10, 1864, the fifteen-month-old son of John Rigby became very ill. The nearest medicine was in Salt Lake City, fifteen miles from his home in Farmington. On his return home, he encountered a terrific east wind that had been blowing since noon in the Davis County area. The lower road had drifted full of snow, making it impossible to follow, so he attempted the mountain road. {We know it today as Orchard Drive.} When he reached the Heber C. Kimball. Mill at the mouth of Mill Creek Canyon {less than a block from where Suni lives} his team and wagon broke through the frozen crust of a snowdrift and was rendered useless. He unhitched the team, tramped a path for them, and then started for home, still 6 or 7 miles away. After leading them for nearly a mile and a half, he realized he was slowly freezing the death. He made it as far as the John Corbridge home in Bountiful and was put up for the night. With the winds still howling the next morning, he pressed on towards home. He found his team of horses frozen to death. One of them was frozen in a standing position.

Rueben Blazedell, then a small boy and neighbor of Rigby's, had been playing at the Corbridge's home when the storm hit so he was compelled to spend the night. Knowing that the boy's parents would be anxious, John Rigby took the boy with him. Reuben was freezing and John had to drag him and shake him to keep him alive. He found that if they dropped to the ground during the most violent of gusts and then ran as hard and fast as they could when the wind drew breath for its next attack, they were able to move in a forward motion.

When they arrived at the Centerville store, John learned some very sad news. His wife and baby had been blown into a fence and pinned there while trying to get to a neighbor's home after the roof had been blown off their cabin. They had frozen to death. He also lost two hundred head of sheep, six horses, ten cows and 4 pigs. All that was left was a calf, a colt and a black dog.

{Here's the part that shows the gumption of our forefathers and provides the true message of the story}

Although understandably bitter, John did not leave the area but stayed and started a new life.

The City Bountiful, by Leslie T. Foy, Carr Printing Co., Revised 2005. Page 54.

It's a Small World!

2011-11-15T09:29:00.006-07:00

Last night I spent some time on a project for a dear friend. We've been working on her parent's personal histories. It's been a work-in-progress...for a very long time. We are now pulling out the stops and pushing hard in hopes of having a book ready for Christmas. Recently my friend brought over 3 very large family albums with priceless memorabilia that needed preserving. As I was going through one of the books, I came across a picture that had a familiar looking name. The photograph snapped more than 60 years ago and lovingly kept all these years by close friends was my own husband's Uncle K and Aunt Ina.

Not only am I helping to tell my friend's story, but in the process, I found a small family story of my own!

Family History Subway Art

2011-11-04T15:03:00.009-06:00

I've been dreaming about this project for months. Back in May, I bought a large piece of canvas (24x48") and painstakingly hand-painted 4 generations of family names onto the canvas. NEVER AGAIN!

In my typical hurried fashion to get the project done, I slathered on what I thought was a clear antiquing gel. Turns out that opaque crackle paste doesn't turn transparent over time.

Lesson LEARNED!

At first, I thought the sign was ruined. But the good news is that this little faux pas simply forced me to find an easier way to do this project!

My computer is my favorite art tool. I decided to create a poster-sized print and with the aid of my second favorite art medium, Mod Podge, get this project done.

First I created two different layouts for my 24x48" canvas. I really preferred the vertical design as it's more in keeping with Subway Art, but I have the perfect spot to hang the horizontal version so I went with design #2.

Here's a nifty cost-saving trick. Print your poster using only black ink. It'll save you you a TON of money!!

Once the poster is trimmed and checked, you're ready to glue!

Here's another helpful hint... Get a BIG bottle of Mod Podge glue. I used most of a 16oz bottle. Also, go for the matte variety. I think a glossy sheen would have made the end result look too modern.

I wish that I could say that the gluing step was easy, but alas, it was a major pain in the bum...and since I have 'mod-podged' 1000's of projects over the years I'd like to think I'm not a mod podge newbie. You'll wrestle with curling paper and bubbled paper. Don't give up! I spent the better part of a day trying to tame my bubbled beast, but I think the end result was worth the effort (and my kids definitely didn't mind frozen orange chicken for dinner!)

Once the glue is dry and bubbles popped (yes, I ended up popping a few bubbles), you want to beat up your lovely masterpiece. This step might be hard for the perfectionist. I happen to love that my slap-in-on, tear-it-up approach only makes the end result that much more authentic looking.

I distressed...

And sanded...

And painted touch ups.

Once everything was to my liking, I added layer after layer of Mod Podge glue, letting each layer dry and giving it another good sanding before slathering on another layer of glue.

Anyone who has taken a craft class from me knows that my mantra is 'Less is More' when using Mod Podge. This is one of the few times you want to ignore that advice!

Loving my new piece of family artwork!

Yahoo! Memory Puzzle Kits are Back!

2011-10-18T22:42:00.005-06:00

We are now ready for Christmas! We only say that because our puzzle kit order arrived and we can now help you get your gifts ready for the holidays!

You didn't think we meant that WE were READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS? Oh yeah, we can't even find 15 minutes to blog about our lives right now. (One of us...only trying to save face here by not mentioning names, actually mailed last year's holiday cards in April.) OK, I can't drag Suni down into my world. She is MUCH more on the ball than I am. Knowing her, she's already scheduled a photographer for this year's family picture. I think we'll just be using last year's picture again!

Life might be out of control, but I do have some fabulous memories that will be enjoyed for years and years! Here are some of the puzzles that I've made over the years. I wish that we had kept count of all the puzzles that we've made or helped to make. It is easily in the thousands by now.

As you can see, every one is a masterpiece!

Baby Ben is 1!

2011-09-07T16:24:00.005-06:00

It's hard to believe that this little one

is now this little one!

What a year we've had. We're still recovering from Swiss Days and celebrating the birthday boy! We'll be back with more stories soon!

Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

4 Days to Swiss Days!

2011-08-29T10:57:00.005-06:00

Remember these?

Grandma's Teacups

We managed to gather a variety of Grandma's teacups this summer to make more birdfeeders. And a lucky few will be able to purchase these treasures at Swiss Days this weekend! Quantities are limited and not one is the same - just like Grandma. We hope to see you Friday!

7 Days and Counting to Swiss Days, 2011

2011-08-27T11:08:00.001-06:00

If you were at Swiss Days two years ago, you might remember our Wire Tree kit. We hadn't planned on selling them, but we thought it would be fun to provide one as a give-away. The response was overwhelming. This fabulous little tree actually got us a stint on KSL's Studio Five. About 6 months ago, we received an order from a customer in Tokyo. Typically, we don't take international orders because the shipping is so outrageous, but this new friend 1/2 way around the world REALLY wanted the kit for a company team-building project. When I took the package to FedEX, I asked for the different shipping options. They came back with two prices, one that was 940 something and another in the 600 range. I was confused. Was that in yen? I asked for the conversion rate. Oh no, that was in US dollars!! CRAZY. Technology is an amazing thing. I texted the customer right then and there in the middle of the FedEx store. I could NOT feel good about charging someone 6+ times the price of the kit just to ship it to them. Thousands of miles (and several time zones) between us and I get a response within 2 minutes to go ahead and ship the kit at the $650 rate. I kid you not!

I share the story because it is one that has gone into the Stories by Me Hall of Fame. I also share the story because we were able to get our hands on another 20 trees. Even better news is that we have a second version that is quite a bit less...both in price and amount of work! Be sure to check it out if you're at Swiss Days!

Losing Count and Sleep!

2011-08-25T22:31:00.004-06:00

I'm already slipping on my resolve to share all of our new projects for Swiss Days, but here's our latest calendar design. There's a funny story that accompanies it. Suni was making up a few sets for the non-do-it-yourselfer. About an hour into the project I got a phone call. "Did you mean to leave off the #12?" What? In my haste to get the file to the printers, I somehow deleted an entire day from our perpetual calendar. Now, anyone who knows me, knows that if given the chance, I'd ADD days to my month, not take one away! Grateful, it was an easy fix. Our printer is used to my 'fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants' and has already provide the errant #12.

11 Days to Swiss Days!

2011-08-23T09:25:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had one of those Reese's Chocolate and Peanut Butter moments. Last year we started having fun with these thin wooden plates that make the most perfect backdrop for pictures! Maybe you'll remember the ornaments that I shared at Christmas time...

We also used them for a Valentine project that we did at a local store...

For Swiss Days, we decided to make up a few ornaments using the same definitions that we used on our pillow projects...

So what was the Chocolate and Peanut Butter moment? I have cherished old recipes of my hubby's grandmother. I never knew quite what to do with them. There I sat in my kitchen one day when the light went on! Why not feature these fabulous family heirlooms on these versatile wooden placards? Suni dug out a couple of her grandmother's recipes and we now have enough ornaments to do a whole cooking themed tree this holiday. I want to find the recipe that my mother used for making our gingerbread cookies. Wouldn't that be fun to have a tree filled with recipes and cookies?

We created a fun paper backing to our project. (Be sure to print it using a laser printer as ink jets can smear when they get wet.) We added a name and picture to remind us of family. You can use this free down-loadable .PDF to create your own family memory!

12 days til Swiss Days!

2011-08-22T09:17:00.000-06:00

Did the math. There really are only 12 days until the highlight of our year, Swiss Days. Thought we'd better crawl out of our holes to show you some of the things that have kept us so very quiet. Check back over the next week and a half and we'll try to unveil a new creation every day.

Of course, we hope that you'll want to check them out in person on September 2&3 in Midway, Utah! Look for us in booth B44 this year...
Suni has been busy sewing. These are her creations. She received the Family Tree pillow as a Christmas gift from her sister and of course, I had to have one! The 'Nest' definition pillows that she made for her own Christmas gifts were such a hit that we decided to expand the list and created designs for 'Family' and 'Love.' If our printer gets them done in time, we also hope to have a couple of other designs that include Sister and Friend.

Be sure to read the 'Family' definition carefully. We thought the dictionary definition didn't quite do the word justice.

Yes, we're alive!

2011-08-05T15:09:00.003-06:00

Has it really been over 2 months since we've posted here on the blog?! Yikes!! One of you faithful readers, Joanne in Florida, emailed to make sure everything was ok. How sweet of her! It makes our hearts happy to know that there is someone out there that does check in from time to time and enjoys our projects and stories!

No need to worry about us though. We are preparing for the biggest show of the year. Like 100,000+ people big! For those of you who missed us last year, we'll be back at Swiss Days! We are over-the-top excited and can't wait to show off what we have been working on!

For now we'll crawl back into our holes and continue to work. Keep checking back for a peek into what we will have in our booth!

24 hours and Counting

2011-05-17T16:57:00.005-06:00

Today is the day before we drop our oldest boy off at the MTC in Provo for a two-year mission that will take him half way around the world and only allow me brief visits via email and 2 phone calls per year. There was a LOT to get done today!

Son and hubby met me downtown for a quick lunch. Blocks from our destination my car konked out without any warning. Just a slight whimper and she was gone. Gratefully my strapping 19-year-old didn't mind pushing an over-sized SUV through downtown traffic to the one available parking spot. Did I mention that it was pouring rain?

That put a slight damper on the day, but hubby graciously waited for the tow truck and son and I dashed off to our new favorite dining spot, Bruges Waffles and Frites for a delicious 'last lunch date.' Oh my, it was good. I ate at least a pound of potatoes that I dipped in this amazing fry sauce (something mayonnaisey with a bit of kick) and more than my fair share of the most delicious caramelized waffles. T's new home away from home promises to treat him well in the food category!

We found out the fuel pump on my car needs replacing...not exactly how we wanted to spend $500, but grateful it was nothing more serious. We took just enough time to grab a second waffle for kind dad (who took pulled the short straw so we could have our lunch date) and ran to pick him up and rent a car for the big day. Somehow, cramming the family into the Honda Prelude, not to mention the two big bags that is holding all of my son's earthly possessions for the next two years, did NOT sound like fun.

We were moments from our freeway exit when traffic came to a screeching halt. The first few seconds of waiting weren't bad, but as the minutes ticked on it became painfully apparent that we were not going anywhere soon. As i sat there thinking of the things were were supposed to be getting done, I started to nimble on the waffle that I so lovingly held for my better half.

It took more than an hour, but traffic finally started moving again. We got to the school in time to rush in for an end-of-year recital. We made it the bank to take care of all the important paperwork that we left until the very last moment. We ran by several friends homes for quick last good byes.

All in all, I'd say our day was better than this poor driver's!
I was NOT driving when I took this picture. T was behind the wheel!!

Hug the one's you love and let them know how grateful you are to have them in your life!

SURPRISE!

2011-04-15T11:16:00.005-06:00

Spring has signs - forsythia in bloom, birds chirping, tulips, green grass, rain, fresh clean smells, baby colts. WHAT?!

We were surprised to learn this morning that our horse, Belle, had a baby last night. WOW! We didn't even know she was expecting. We're grateful that all went well and that both mama and baby are doing great.

Happy Spring!

Forts in April

2011-04-12T09:00:00.004-06:00

One thing about living in Utah is having the greatest snow on earth. Somehow I have a hard time enjoying the 'greatest snow on earth' in April. Honestly, it's been snowing and snowing all weekend. Some spring break! But I'll be grateful for the water when it's water skiing season! (Which, I am sure, is right around the corner!) Instead of complain about all of the white stuff, my boys made the most of their spring break. Here is the proof! Max spent hours building - pretty impressive!!

California Cousins

2011-04-11T10:00:00.002-06:00

Some things in life are inevitable. Unfortunately, death is one of those things. My brother-in-law had a death in his family this past week. Among the sadness there were a lot of smiles because my sister and her 3 girls got to come to Utah (from sunny San Diego) to see us for a quick dinner!

(Max, Luke & Lucy)

We're always happy when we get to see family - and this was the first time Ben had met his California cousins. They all loved each other!

(Lucy, Sofi, Luke, Max, Kaylee, Ben)

Glad we got to see you guys!

(Bills Family with Mom & Dad)

Thanks to my sis for the pictures!

Grandma's Teacups

2011-04-06T09:00:00.000-06:00

We're at it again...using Grandma's old teacups. If you remember, we first put grandma's teacups on display as a bird feeder. I had more cups that needed to be out there! Once I saw this beautiful lamp I knew I needed my own personalized version.

What you'll need:

A variety of teacups and saucers
Bowl for base
Diamond drill bit (I used 1/2")
Cordless drill
E6000
Lamp Kit (I found mine at WalMart for around $5)
Lamp shade

The hardest part was figuring out the configuration. Play around - use different pieces, upside down, matched or not, big and small. Once you know how you want it, take a picture! It will be helpful to reference when putting your lamp together.

Now to drill. Remember, you MUST use water with this drill bit! (or you will be very sad when your drill bit is ruined.) I eyeballed the center of each piece and went for it. I'm sure if you want it perfect you could measure! Drill each piece.

Now for assembly. I started with the bowl at the base and threaded the cord through the holes. Then the next piece. And the next. I put the cord through one piece at a time, and glued as I went. It's helpful if the cups and saucers balance on their own, but if not, hold them together until the glue sets.

Once your lamp base is done, wire the light socket, put a light bulb in and put your lamp shade on.

Enjoy your own creation featuring Grandma's teacups!

For a more detailed tutorial check out Vintage Revivals.

Family Tree Wall Art

2011-04-04T08:40:00.000-06:00

You've got to check out this amazing family tree over at No Dime Design! I was shocked at the how-to! Such a fun and simple way of displaying your family faces!

Baby Ben

2011-03-29T11:48:00.006-06:00

Where does the time go? Our sweet SbM baby is 6 months already! Enjoy his latest photo shoot!

He is ALWAYS so happy. And look at those baby blue eyes.

He has learned how to eat his toes. mmm!

Such a handsome little man - what did we ever do without you?!

Family Scrabble Names

2011-03-28T08:00:00.002-06:00

What a FUN way to display your family names. We saw this idea over at the Creative Homemaker and had to show you!

This past week has been a crazy one for me. My cute mom gave us quite a scare with a mini-stroke which has resulted in many, many tests. She is doing fine and is excited to have found a fabulous doctor to help her figure things out. This whole week I have been reminded of family and how lucky I am to have such a wonderful one! Now go give your momma a hug!

~suni

Preparing Your History for Printing

2011-03-23T14:45:00.000-06:00

About two weeks ago, we participated in the South Davis Family History Fair. We taught a class on 99 ways to share family stories. We invited our good friend and the-guy-in-the-know, Ted Tueller, to share his knowledge on printing books. Ted has been in the business for over thirty years. Not only does he have all the latest and greatest digital printing equipment, but he learned the trade back in the day when individual letters were laboriously set by hand.

Ted put together a handy synopsis of his presentation. He has given us permission to include it here for anyone looking for help printing their own family history.

Things to Consider When Preparing a Family History Book for Printing

Anyone familiar with computers can, in most cases, do all of the typesetting, setup and creation of their own family history book. These informative points can assist in helping you save time and money. You will be able to create a high quality book for publishing without having to incorporate the help of professionals in the preparation of the electronic file.

1. Get an idea of what style of book you want.
Books already printed by others can help in deciding what looks and reads the best. Look closely at the books previously printed by your printer and at bookstores. Generally in the bookstores, you will see many books prepared by professionals and they have ideas that look very nice. Other books done by individuals can also look good if they have been prepared using the guidelines that follow.

2. Decide what size the finished book will be.
Most Family History books are 8.5x11, but other sizes can be done as well. If a book is printed as a landscape book (such as an 8.5x11 book that is bound on the 8.5” edge rather than the 11” edge) this usually increases your overall cost of the book.

3. Decide on your margins.
Good margins (the distance from the edges of the book to the text) will help your book look good to the eye and makes it a joy to read. Large margins are common in books sold in bookstores. It is a good rule to have a minimum of one half inch margin, and larger will only enhance the look. Keep in mind that if the text on the page is centered left to right, after it has been bound it will not look centered as the binding changes the look of the page. It is best to keep the binding side of the text with somewhat of a larger margin for easier reading.

4. Page numbers.
Most books have several pages at the beginning that preface the content of the book, such as title pages, publication and legal information pages, acknowledgments and table of contents. These pages are sometimes numbered with roman numerals or are not numbered at all. Actual page numbers of the book will begin at the first chapter or where the main idea of the book starts. Odd pages should always start on the right side and even page numbers on the left. New chapters and beginnings of new sections should generally start on a right hand side. A blank left hand page now and then is common and is to be expected for consistency.

5. Decide on what type of binding you want.
There are many ways to bind your book. One of the most common is a hard cover with the pages sewn inside. Most books you see in a bookstore are done this way. If the book has 16 to 80 pages it can be saddle stitched like a magazine, but keep in mind that if you have too many pages in your book it may not lay open because of the bulk of the pages being inserted inside of each other (a 40 page saddle stitched book is the maximum for a great looking book done with this type of binding). Spiral or Wire-O binding is another option. These types will lay very flat when opened, but they do not have great shelf appeal. Perfect binding is encasing the pages inside a wrap around cover and gluing the edges to the cover, like a phone book or a paper back book. Perfect bound books are not very durable. You can also three hole punch your book to be inserted into a ring binder.

6. Choose your software.
Create and keystroke your book in a software that allows you to export a pdf of your file. Some software does this easier and better than others. Before you go too far with the keystroking of the book, it is always a good idea to take your first 20 or so pages to the printer that will produce the book and have them take a 'printers look' at what you have done. This is also a good time to get suggestions from them for any enhancements that could perhaps be implemented. Again, any software that can create a high resolution pdf will work.

7. Fonts and typesetting.
Choose fonts that are easy to read and try not to use too many different styles. Times and Times Roman are common, and most books are set using a serif font (see illustration). It is not necessary to have 2 spaces after a period in a sentence, if that were correct, someone would have created a keystroke that did that for you automatically.

8. Using photos and scanned images.
Photos and images are effective in helping the appeal of a book. It is important to scan these items properly for the best quality and size of your electronic file. If you are undecided as to printing a photo in color or black and white, it is best to place it in your document as a color photo as it is easy to print a color photo black and white where you cannot print a black and white photo in color. Scans and photos need to be at a high resolution, but it is common for people to scan them so high that they create files that are much larger than needed and this can cause printing, transfer and archiving problems. When scanning an item, examine the size of the original first and decide if it will be used at the same size, enlarged or reduced when placed in the book. If you scan all of your files at a high resolution you can reduce the size in Photoshop easily. Keep in mind that if you scan an 8x10 photo at high res and then import it into your book and only use it as 2x2.5 you will have a file that is much larger than it needs to be to print well. If you open a scanned photo in Photoshop and go to the “Image” pull down menu and go to “Image Size” you will be able to see how large your file is and reduce its size, if needed. When you open this “Image Size” window you will see the size and resolution of your photo. A resolution of 300 is the maximum resolution needed to produce the best quality, if your photo is being used at a one to one or smaller ratio in the book. Protect your original files, both the photo being scanned and the electronic file. Keep a file of original scans and make copies of any that you manipulate or reduce in size so that you can always go back to the original. Saving any altered files with a different name is always a good idea.Your files can be transported on a CD, jump drive or a portable hard drive. Your printer may also provide an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) site to upload your files to them.

Checklist for creating your family history book
o Choose a quality printing company experienced in book printing
o Choose style of book
o Decide on the book size
o Decide what margins to use
o Decide how your page numbers will be used
o Choose the best type of binding for your end use and budget
o Choose the best software for the project
o Decide on the fonts you will use
o Know how to prepare and maintain your scanned documents and photographs

Tueller’s Press, 530 West 1500 South, Suite M, Bountiful, utah 84010 • 801-677-1111 • tuellerspress.com

One Lovely Blog Award

2011-03-18T12:07:00.004-06:00

We're figuring out this blogging world...and what do you know? We got an award. Now, what that means, not really sure. BUT, somebody out there likes our blog, and we are thankful for that! Valerie over at Family Cherished awarded us the One Lovely Blog Award. Thanks, Valerie!

As part of this award we are to list 15 blogs to share this award with. I thought I'd share my top 15. Some of these are new to me, but all are worth taking a look at! Remember, I'm a mother of 4 boys, Lauri has 3 and we are always looking for ways to recreate, preserve, enjoy and make memories with our families. A lot of these blogs help us do just that.

So, here you go: (in no particular order)

The Idea Room
Little Birdie Secrets
tatertots & jello
Becky's Blog
Ucreate
Nesting Place
The Creative Homemaker
MADE
nienie
Cool Mom Picks
Design Mom
Vintage Revivals
$5 Dinners
say YES! to hoboken
House of Smith's

Blogs are all about sharing stories which in turn in part of preserving history. Thanks for listening to our stories and sharing yours, too!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T15:53:00.006-06:00

It's late in the day, but we wanted to wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I thought I'd show you a few fun projects that I've done to spread the luck around my house. These are super easy, and fun!

Button Rainbow
I gathered buttons - everybody has a button jar, don't they?! Along with an old frame, a piece of cardboard, a scrap of fabric and my trusty hot glue gun. Cover the cardboard with fabric. Arrange your buttons on the fabric. Start gluing! I spray painted my frame black to cover the old dinged up wood. Let the buttons dry and voila - done!

Yarn Pom Poms.

You'll need:
Green Yarn, scissors and your hands.

Wrap the yarn around your fingers (all 4). Keep wrapping! When you have a bunch of yard around your fingers, pry it off and tie a small piece of yarn in the middle. Cut the loop ends and fluff. Trim your pom pom as needed. Mine are sitting in a silver bowl in my living room. Just a bit of fun texture and color.

Marble LUCK in frames
A friend actually put these together for me. She got green marbles at the craft store, found some green scrapbook paper in her stash and random frames from the local thrift store. Paint the frames black - because black goes with everything! Arrange your marbles to form the letters you want and glue them into place. For the marbles we needed something stronger than hot glue so our trusty friend E6000 was the star of this show.

Hope you've had a LUCKY day!

~suni

Remember Me Bingo

2011-03-13T21:05:00.006-06:00

Wow. Where does the time go? I can't believe it's nearly been a month since our last posting. It's not that we have nothing to talk about. We're just running too fast to share what we've been working on.

Last week we attended the South Davis Family History Fair . We enjoyed sharing our ideas for telling family stories and LOVED hearing all of your great ideas. One idea that we've just gotta try is the family calendar challenge:
Every year there's a family out there that creates a new and unique family calendar. One year they challenged extended family members to submit pictures of where (or what) they want to be 10 years from that date. Kids shared photos of career dreams. Adult shared visions of exotic trips. The family patriarch wanted to share his picture pushing daisy at the local cemetery. His wife overturned that idea! What a great way to share family pictures and preserve history and capture future dreams!

We were excited to share our newest project. It was received with lots and LOTS of positive comments.

Remember Me Bingo

We partnered with Lasting Impressions to create another Quick Mix to be used with Memory Mixer.

For six big ones...yep, that's right (Six bucks will buy you the Quick Mix to make 1 or 100 of these bingo games. (Remember, you need the Memory Mixer software in addition to this Quick Mix.)

It's as easy as dragging pictures on to the page and typing up a short story for each picture.

If you set up your pictures ahead of time you won't need to make any alterations.

The Quick Mix will even add a name (just follow the instructions that are included).

The project comes with 4 different background designs. Make 4 boards or 40 boards. It's a perfect project for an upcoming family reunion, school party or special birthday party.

You'll make one call-out card for every featured picture. Here are a few of my stories:

Remember, you won't find the software on our website. You've gotta go to Memory Mixer to check it out. Just be sure to come back and tell us what you think!

For those of you who came to the Bountiful event: If you want the same professional print job as our sample set, send your final file to Tueller's Press. You know we can't say enough good things about Tueller's Press!

Finishing Up My Pocket Book

2011-02-17T08:43:00.000-07:00

Valentine's Day has come and gone and the pocket book of LOVE was a success! Even though it ended up looking a little girly, with the ribbon and all, my valentine still loved it. Probably because it was all about how wonderful he truly is!

To finish up my pocket book I distressed the corners and edges where white was showing. Then I punched a hole in each of the insert cards that tuck inside a pocket, tied a piece of ribbon through the hole and slipped them between the pages of the book. Each page shares a memory or a story about me and my valentine...which is why he loved it so much!

Top Ten LOVE Pocket Book

2011-02-10T22:47:00.001-07:00

Just in time for Valentine's Day ~ we released two new Pocket Books with Memory Mixer.

Perhaps you remember the Top Ten Pocket Book that I made this past summer? You can find the new template for this project here.

But what you really need to check out is our Top Ten LOVE Pocket Book.

In less than an hour, Suni created this book. She'll tell you that deciding on pictures is what took the most time.

HOW AWESOME is this?!

If you haven't tried Memory Mixer, you'll be amazed at HOW EASY it is to use. All you do is drag and drop your pictures into the picture place holders. We even tell you where to add the text.

Once the album is created, the real fun begins!

First, gather a few supplies...

Cut away all the white space around each picture.

Run a score line between the pages to make folding easier.

We like to use heavy weight paper (card stock) for our pages.. When you fold thick paper, it will sometimes show some of the white paper. A quick rubdown with distress ink will make the white disappear.

Take a few minutes to share a short story or memory on the insert cards.

Punch holes in the top of each page. Seal the top and one side of each page with double stick tape. (You can also sew down the edge. This option LOOKS GREAT!)

That's it. All that's left is to 'bind' the pages together with 2 book rings and fill your pockets with special memories!

And don't forget our Top Ten Reasons I Love You project. We've created a Quick Mix for this too. And here's the best part...It's TOTALLY FREE!

Valentine Top Ten Project

2011-02-09T21:44:00.001-07:00

Getting Started:

Step 1:
You will need a wooden plaque (ours measures 5x6), Mod Podge glue, a foam brush, archival quality pen, a damp cloth, a dry cloth, background design (see FREE downloads), a razor blade or exacto knife, scissors, sandpaper, Krylon Acrylic Matte Finish spray and distressing supplies, if desired.

There are a couple of different options for finishing your project. If you want to create the photo montage, you will need a variety of family pictures printed using a laser printer. We sized our pictures to measure about 3" each. If you fill a standard 8.5x11" sheet with 10 - 14 pictures, you'll have plenty for this project.

Pick your favorite background paper. You can download our files here (BROWN, RED, PINK).
These are big files, so be patient while the files download. Be sure to print the pages using a LASER printer! You can also use scrapbook paper for a background.

For the TOP TEN Side:

Step 2:
Apply a thin layer glue to one side of your plaque. Place your paper over the glue. Make sure you get all the air bubbles out by gently rubbing the picture with a dry cloth.

Step 3:
Write down your Top Ten reasons for LOVE on the blank strips of paper. (Make sure you use a pen that won't run when it gets wet.) Cut each strip out and glue onto the paper that you just glued to the board. Let dry.

For Picture Collage Side:

Step 4:
Cut your pictures out Starting in one corner, apply a thin layer of glue to the plaque. Place your first picture on the glue and rub out any air bubbles using a dry cloth. (Be CAREFUL! Wet pictures can tear if too much pressure is applied.) Spread another thin layer of glue where your next picture will go. Be sure to overlap the first picture. Place picture on glue and gently rub out bubbles. Use your wet cloth to wipe away any excess glue. Continue applying pictures until your board is filled. Let project dry.

Step 5:
Once both sides are completely dry, sand the edges to remove any excess paper. You can use a razor blade or exacto knife to trim the edges. If desired, distress the edges of the board with Distress Ink or Chalk.

Step 6:
Spray both sides with a matte finish acrylic sealer to protect your project. Punch holes in the top and string a ribbon through to hang.

Once you see how easy this project is, you'll want to make a top ten plaque for EVERYONE that you love!

Please join us at our Saturday class at Deseret Book in Fort Union. We are bringing the supplies and our know how. You'll leave with a perfect Valentine to share with someone you love!

Top Ten Reasons I Love You!

2011-02-07T01:26:00.000-07:00

Looking for a Valentine's gift from the heart? We'll be sharing this project at the Ft. Union Deseret Book store, Saturday, February 12 from 1:30 - 3:30. Be sure to sign up because space is limited. Cost is only $2.00 AND you'll go home with a complete gift!

Don't live locally? Or maybe you can't possibly squeeze one more thing into a crazy Saturday. Check back in the next day or two and we'll post instructions here!

Easy Sisterhood Gift

2011-02-06T17:24:00.006-07:00

Recently, I was given the task to come up with an easy AND inexpensive gift that we could use as a birthday shout out to the ladies in our local woman's group.

Well, it doesn't get any easier than this... (and at about $1.00 per gift, we aren't breaking any budgets!) *It helped that we found the giant candy bars on sale, 5 for $4.00.

Once the sheet was printed, all that was left was to cover the candy bar with the new wrapper. A clear cellophane bag and festive ribbon completed the look!

We're ALL about sharing. This design celebrates Relief Society birthdays, but you can easily adapt the project for your own needs,

Get printable file here.

The Start of a New Story

2011-01-22T10:52:00.008-07:00

Belgium.... our boy is going to Belgium! He will be serving in the Belgium Brussels / Netherlands Mission and learning to speak Dutch, and perhaps a bit of French. Hopefully, 4 year's of high school Spanish makes the learning curve a little easier.

T decided to come home and spend the weekend with family. This morning, my sixteen-year-old woke up at 8:00 and asked me to help him make his brother Belgium waffles for breakfast. (BTW, 8am in teenage time is REALLY early!!) How happy could this mom be? I am surrounded by my family. Having a son make a real effort to do something nice for his big brother just added to the moment. Maybe we're starting a new chapter in our family story...one where we ALL get along and act like we love each other!

Letter Update... IT's HERE!

2011-01-19T17:55:00.003-07:00

Holy moley, that was fast. Letter was in today's mail. Am I really supposed to wait until we can get the family together for our grand opening party? Look's like you will have until FRIDAY to place your guesses as to where T is going to spend the next two years!

Where Will He Go?

2011-01-18T17:56:00.010-07:00

Our son's LDS mission papers have been submitted. Now it's a waiting game to find out where he will spend the next two year's of his life. I hear that the turn around is fairly quick...quick, I guess depending on your definition of time. We could hear later this week, or next. I'd be fine waiting another year or two! I'm still in shock that we're at this point of our life. It seems like the last year has been a series of reality checks. First came high school graduation. Moments later we were saying goodbye as oldest son took off for his freshman year of college. Now, I am trying to steel myself for the realization that the next phase of our life takes my son away from the family for two whole years. As hard as it is to comprehend not having him home for holiday's and summer vacations, I really wouldn't have him anywhere else.

In an effort to lighten my feelings of impending gloom, we have decided to have a lil' contest to highlight where T will be spending the next two years. Since we're billing this as a contest, we need to have a prize. What type of prize could we possibly offer that captures the essence of this remarkable event? How about the winner gets to pay for T's mission? If that's out of the question (yes, the two year's of church service are financed independently) how about the privilege of babysitting T's cat for the next two years?

Here's the map where we will post entries:

Spots called...
Me- Mongolia (I went for the spot that seems to be the most remote with living arrangements least familiar to my boy to make the actual location seem more like a vacation!)
Kev - can't make up his mind (though, I think it's his strategy to not win one of our fabulous prizes!)
Carrie - Ukraine
Colton - San Jose, Costa Rica
Heidi - Provo, Utah
Brad - Moscow, Russia
Wendy - Chihuahua, Mexico
Derek - Barcelona, Spain
Davis - Valencia, Venezuela
Melissa - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Erica - Santiago, Chile
Mike - Austin, Texas
Suni - Chile
Maureen - Keiv, Ukraine
Gary - Australia
Brielle - Montreal, Canada
Karen - Hong Kong
Doug - Boise, Idaho
Rick - Russia

Accepting all entries until our grand 'Opening' party.

You know you want the prize. You can't win if you don't play!

A Belated Christmas Wish

2011-01-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

Our 2010 Christmas holiday was all about family.

We welcomed home our college freshman, enjoyed a fair bit of rest and relaxation, and grew closer to extended family.

A holiday photo montage... in no particular order:

The one gift that didn't cause the thirteen-year-old's nose to bend upward. He was quite the holiday 'brat' (sorry, but there's no better description). He hated the jeans, slippers, books, games and bass amp that he received. If it wasn't so funny, we might have taken offense. We're chalking it off as being 13 and look forward to him becoming 14!

For as rotten & stinky as youngest son acted, our oldest son was a complete delight. Santa forgot to spend much time finding stocking stuffers. In an effort to 'stuff' the sock, Santa's helper grabbed a few household items. Here's college boy thrilled with his bag of shredded coconut!

Our sixteen year old isn't quite sure what to make of his can of San Francisco clam chowder.

But, he can now tell his friends that he got a car for Christmas...and it's a Ferrari to boot!

Other 'stuff' that made it into the holiday stocking...

We had a few holiday guests enjoying the festivities with us...

Dorm kitty needed a place to hide during the Christmas break. Yes, I am the animal sucker... but this sweet pet is only here for a short visit. She returns to college with oldest son in the next couple of days. What I want to know is why he felt the need to house another pet when we already have three animals looking for a good home?!

My sister and her military hubby on leave for a few days. She's holding the present that our 13-year-old made them. Yep, he made it in one of his sweeter moments! It really is quite impressive. He found a photo of Derek's navy ship online and had me help him turn it into a magnet board.

And here's my favorite holiday snapshot. Some good ol' Christmas sugar... compliments of my brother and fabulously fantastic new sister-in-law!!

We know it's a little late, but our wish is that your holidays were filled with quality family time! That way you'll have LOTS of stories to tell in 2011!

Fulton Street, Palo Alto

2011-01-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

Last month, right in the thick of holiday preparations, my hubby asked if I thought I could get away for a couple of days. He had work meetings in San Francisco and thought I could join him for a little R&R.

Really?

Who takes off for a long weekend of playtime when there are gifts to purchase (and wrap), food to prepare and guests to greet? It took about ten seconds to give my answer. How soon can I come?!

When I finally touched down (there's a whole other blog on the pains of air travel during December) we made a beeline for Mountain View, CA. The Bay Area was home to our our family for several years and I couldn't wait for some 'home-cooking' at La Bomba!

My mouth still waters thinking about it!

After stuffing ourselves, we made our way over to Stanford University / future alma mater of our sixteen year. (Positive thinking...right D?) We then kicked around town, dodging rain drops and seeing what sites looked familiar after a twelve-year absence.

Imagine our joy to find Christmas Tree Lane alive and well!

We were first introduced to Christmas Tree Lane, aka Fulton Street in Palo Alto, California exactly 21 years ago. Each year, starting with the year that we we became engaged, Kevin and I visited the festive street.

Come to find out, this tradition has been going on since the 1940's. Read more about its history here.

It's hard to take pictures in a moving car, but since it was pouring rain, I wasn't about to get out and ruin my camera! You can see much better pictures here.

It rained the entire time I was in San Francisco. That's OK. I've been there plenty of times so a little water wasn't about to ruin my trip. The only problem with the rain is that I didn't take my camera out much so I don't have many photo memories. I'm carrying my memories in a different place...(picture me eating!)

Less than 72 hours after take off, my feet were back on home ground, rested and ready for the marathon race that was about to start. I had left the house in decent order; decorated and ready to receive the holiday guests that were due to arrive in 24 hours.

Here's what greeted me... What did I expect given the fact that I had left three teenage boys home alone?!
The good news is that the trip helped me put everything in perspective. I realized that Christmas was coming whether or not I was ready. I let go of everything non-critical (including updates on this blog) and enjoyed the holiday!

Ready for Christmas

2010-12-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

It's December 13, and I'm feeling pretty good about where we are on the ol' Christmas To Do list! It helps that my kids are older and the Santa list has shortened considerably as the price per item has risen. It also helps that I've lowered my holiday expectation and no longer try to do everything for everyone!

This year's focus was on the tree. Or, should I say trees? I concentrated my efforts on getting the living and family room trees decorated. The last two years, I've had to delegate the job to my kids. They did a fine job, but let's face it... it looked like a bunch of boys had thrown stuff in the general direction of the tree and called it a day because that's pretty much their method of decorating! Our trees were in some dire need of TLC.

For years, I've wanted to turn our Christmas tree into a FAMILY Tree. As always, it's a work in progress, but I LOVE the story that our trees are now telling!

Here's our family room tree: this one focuses on our immediate family. It holds every Christmas ornament that my kids have made over the year. It also has a nice collection of our block ornaments.

About a month ago, I stumbled upon some fabulously thin wood plates that I just knew would look great as ornaments. They measure about 5x6". They seriously took less than 10 minutes per ornament (and that's only because I decorated the backside of each ornament with some festive paper).

I think they add a nice splash of color!

The best part was the trip down memory lane as I searched our Christmas' Past for the perfect pictures.

My boys-nearly-men will never, NEVER get dressed up like this again...

And here is tree #2:

Our living room tree is a bit more formal, but it's every bit as committed to remembering family!

I found these beautiful mini-frames a year ago on a girlfriend's get-away in Boston. So glad I bought them. Just wish I would have bought a few dozen more!

Of course, no story is complete without my kids jumping in to help tell it. Dog came flying into this picture, complements of my sixteen-year-old. She looks as surprised as I was!

Help, My Prints have Expired!!

2010-12-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

How is this possible?

If you're getting the message, "This Printout has expired" and you've just finished processing the pictures, our bet is that you've pressed the print button in the Stories by Me Photo Wizard more than once.

You should have seen a dialog box like this one pop up:

Remember, you can only have one active print job in your account at a time. (This is how we can offer this service for FREE!) We don't store your pictures. We only let you have one active print job at a time to ENCOURAGE you to save the .PDF to YOUR COMPUTER.

Have no fear, your pictures are still in the Photo Wizard, formatted just the way you saved them. You just need to go back into your project and add them to the print list.

Next time you create a print file, OPEN the email that the Photo Wizard sent you, CLICK the link and SAVE the file to your computer. That way you have it ready to print one...or one hundred copies!

Same goes if you're sending the file to your local print shop for printing. You can't just forward the email that our Photo Wizard sends you...it's password protected so only you can view the pictures. Send them the SAVED file as an attachment.

We've posted more helpful hints to using the Photo Wizard here.

It really is easy... and worth the extra steps to format your pictures for these projects.

Think of ALL the stories you have to tell!

This one ornament print sheet contains enough pictures to make 5 ornaments!

Meet us Ft. Union!

2010-11-30T08:45:00.006-07:00

There's a party going on this Saturday and YOU are invited! We'll be at the Ft. Union Deseret Book store sharing how easy it is to make these block ornaments.

You really should stop by and check it out!

We bring the supplies and you leave with a finished ornament. All you need is about 15 minutes and $1.00 (to cover supplies!)

Not only do you go home with a beautiful ornament, but you leave with the knowledge that these little beauties are SUPER EASY to make. Before you know it, you'll be cranking them out for everyone on your 'Nice' list!

Contact the store for more details (You can also just stop by between 10:30 and noon!)

Black Friday Sale, 30% off... EVERYTHING!

2010-11-24T19:33:00.007-07:00

We're getting on the Black Friday Sale bandwagon! Starting tonight, we will offer 30% off everything in stock. The best part is that you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn or endure freezing temperatures to take advantage of the savings.

Stop by while the bird is baking. Stop by after the company has left. Just be sure to stop by our web store and place your order by Sunday, November 28th.
Use code: THANKS2010 at checkout.

Our Memory Puzzle Kits are on back order AGAIN! How is that possible? We just replenished inventory 4 weeks ago and here we are scraping the bottom of the barrel. Another order is in the works and we hope to have a delivery date early next week. If you want a puzzle kit at the discounted rate, go ahead and place your order online. We'll follow up with the expected due date. If that date doesn't work, we'll provide a full refund.

A Sweet Deal

2010-11-15T08:53:00.004-07:00

Just noticed that Overstock.com is running a big sale. We think this is quite meaningful given the fact that several of our projects are available there.

Even better, right now shipping is just $1.00.
Does it get any sweeter?

A Season of Thankfulness

2010-11-14T16:15:00.001-07:00

It's mid-November! Where has the time gone? My sweet baby is two-months-old and growing way too fast. In my spare time (ha!) I gathered a few supplies and made this banner. All I needed was some burlap, twine, paint and a sewing machine. Oh, and a sleeping baby so I could put it together!!

It hangs in my kitchen where we can all see it everyday. It's a great reminder that we have much to be thankful for. And with this new season, I am trying to help my kids say THANKS for all that they have.

I used butcher paper to create a simple stencil of each letter. A quick dab of black paint with a stencil brush added the lettering to each triangle of burlap. The fabric pieces are connected with the twine, sewn in place using a zigzag stitch. The dot garland was even easier! I cut out dozens of different colored circles using a 1" and 1.5" circle punch. All that was left was stringing them together using a straight stitch on my sewing machine.

Of course, Lauri had to have one also! She made her own dot garland, with a slight twist.

Wishing you a Thankful November!

Why Does it Do That?

2010-11-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

If you have tried to format your pictures using our Photo Wizard, you might have noticed a slight variation between what you see on your screen and the final print that our Photo Wizard sends you.

Here's the screen version. Formatting pictures for the puzzle can be tricky because you are trying to keep the 4 lines (nine sections) from dissecting important parts of the picture. I scaled the picture to 153% to fill the frame to my liking. The position of the faces look OK too. Notice how the right line falls to the left of the boy's eye and near the bottom of his chin?

The above image shows the picture as it comes back from the Photo Wizard. WHAT? The line now runs down the center of the boy's nose and near the bottom of his lip. That's no big deal, but one of the other lines (the line that you CUT!) now runs through the mom's eye. That is a much bigger deal (partially because it's MY EYE!) Seriously, we've helped more than a thousand of you create these works of art. It's no big deal to cut through an ear, forehead or cheek, but cutting through someone's eye is somewhat disturbing as it distorts the entire face.

Our programmer tells us that this is due to the fact that we are viewing the image on our screen, but the software formatting the picture actually resides on a server several states away. Because of the myriad of computer monitors, not to mention all the varieties of possible settings, our software has to make some assumptions as to what you are seeing.

Knowing that the Photo Wizard sees things slightly to the left and down from what I'm seeing, I simple pushed the picture up a little and to the right of where I wanted the final line to reside.

I now have the perfect layout for the puzzle project. This cute picture was from a family photo shoot a couple of years ago. I'm actually whispering into the ear of my son during the session, telling him to knock off whatever shenanigan he was up to. The photographer captured the moment and it's ONE of my favorite pictures!

Other projects are much easier to layout. Here's the ornament project...

Notice that a smidgen of the ear is missing. Not a big deal as I know that I'll be sanding that edge and distressing it with ink as I finish the ornament. If I wanted to, I could apply the same process of pushing the picture slightly to the right to get the entire ear in the window.

Keep in mind that you can only have ONE active print job in your account at a time. If you decide to reformat your pictures and repress the Print button, you'll get the following message:

If you think you MIGHT want to use that previous layout, save a copy of the file to YOUR COMPUTER. (Saving a copy of the email doesn't help, it only provides the link to your file!)

Now you know!

It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Chrstimas!

2010-11-11T08:54:00.005-07:00

Christmas gift #1 is finished, wrapped and delivered! That's a big deal for this small team of hopeless dreamers. (We have some BIG plans around here...just never enough time to pull it all together!)

At one of our recent classes we met a darling attendee that just went wild over the different projects. She had seen some of our kits in the local stores, but didn't understand their full potential until we displayed our finished pieces at the class. She went crazy and bought items for ALL of her family, not to mention several work friends. She happens to work for a pretty important government official in our state and together, we decided to present him with a memory of Utah's history.

Check it it... it's completely done and ready for Christmas (AND it's still early November!!) Now if I could only get my act together on the rest of my holiday plans...

Creative Halloween Treat

2010-11-01T08:53:00.003-06:00

Some people would say that Halloween was a bust this year. Just as the prime time for Trick-or-Treating rolled around, big dark rain clouds blew in and we were deluged in a downpour. I think we saw a total of 8 trick-or-treaters, and that's for the entire evening!

Our very cute, and talented neighbor was one of those brave souls willing to dodge rain drops to bring us a treat.{Does it get any sweeter? We stay warm and dry...AND we got the treat!}

Check out what she made...

Yup, they're marshmallows, covered with mint chocolate and then dipped in milk chocolate. They really are too cute to eat, but my 13-year-old couldn't resist and snuck the first one while we were still visiting with our neighbor.

I know that Halloween is now a year away, but this creative idea could easily be converted to snowmen. Knowing my neighbor Erica, she's already thought of that!

Memory Puzzles Back in Stock!

2010-10-26T07:29:00.001-06:00

Our memory puzzle kits have been a hot little item and recently, we have found ourselves scraping the bottom of the barrel. We are happy to say that we have received an order of metal trays and we are back in business!

Of course, that's not what this post is really about.

Our passion is for telling a story. Our newest order of puzzle trays have quite the story, and that's BEFORE they had a chance to get into your hands for the story telling!

I received an apology from our metal company with the shipment of the new trays. One of the trays came with a series of numbers written on the back of it, identifying a potential getaway car in a robbery. We learned that the company noticed a robbery going on across the street while they were processing our order. The worker couldn't find a piece of paper, so he grabbed the first thing he could find to write on; one of our puzzle trays.

We thought it quite the story! {Don't worry, it's not going into our inventory. We're hanging on to this tray!}

Ready or Not!

2010-10-25T08:56:00.004-06:00

If you follow our post, you will know that we are always running to keep up... {yes, we are still planning to post updates on our Family History challenge.}

Imagine my surprise to wake up to a winter wonderland. I'm not ready for winter!

I am hoping that this declaration will make the snow go away... at least for another three (or more) weeks so that I can pull out my old garden, rake up the leaves, cut back the summer growth, turn off the outside water, oh, and plant spring bulbs. There's no end to the list!

*For those of you who might be totally together and preparing for such things, Christmas is exactly TWO months away. YIKES!

October Challenge: Create a Treasured Heirloom

2010-10-12T09:23:00.000-06:00

Look at that. We're already falling behind on our own challenge. Isn't it interesting how life gets in the way of the best plans? We really have made progress... we just haven't had two minutes to share our tiny little baby steps with you.

I had planned to gain control of my kids stack of VIPs (Very Important Papers). Once again, I've let the pile get out of hand, but I'm confident that I can knock it down to size in a matter of an hour (or two)! I'll share my easy, no fuss approach in the coming week. (Yah, right! Ok, so it's a worthy goal.)

Suni and I got to catch up this past weekend as we shared our passion for preserving stories with two different groups of ladies. In between helping our class participants create their own work's of art, Suni reported that she has had success with her personal efforts of COLLECTING and PROTECTING. She plans to share her strategies in the coming days (er, or weeks... another reality check!).

While I didn't quite make Week One's focus of COLLECTING and PROTECTING, I did make a solid home run with Week Two's endeavor.

This week's focus is to CREATE some sort of treasured heirloom. I wanted to preserve Suni's beautiful memories of welcoming baby #3 into this world. Because I was lucky to be the one holding the camera, I had easy access to all sorts of fabulous memories. I just knew that these pictures needed to be turned into block ornaments!

I just couldn't share the project with you until I gave Suni (and baby) a chance to check it out.

This project took about two hours from start to finish. All I needed was six blocks, 6 metal eye screws, some decorative paper and ribbon, a jewelry stand and 24 fantastic pictures! Go here to get the complete set of instructions for making these easy Block Ornaments. A rather boring, but very detailed video is available here. The jewelry stand was picked up at a local store called Rod Works for under $10.00. If you have an old mug tree from the 70's, it'll work equally well!

The best part is that I didn't have to pick ONE favorite picture to feature. I got to share 24 fabulous memories!

Here are some additional ideas of things that you can create that are sure to become a treasured heirloom:

1. Make a pictorial Family Tree.
2. Create a family heritage recipe book.
3. Work with extended friends and family members to collect personal memories of an individual to share with that person as a gift.
4. Display a digital picture frame that includes pictures of your extended family.
5. Create a family calendar. Record family members (current and ancestors) birthdays throughout the year.
6. Start a family blog or web page featuring your family stories. Be sure to print copies of stories for a book version.
7. Collect family history questions in a jar for a grandparent to answer about their life history.
8. Start making Block Ornaments so you can turn your Christmas tree into a Family Tree this holiday season. (A personal favorite!)
9. Create a world map showing the birthplace of each ancestor using pins or tiny flags.
10. Poll family members as to their favorite family tradition and create a book documenting these memories.

Next week, we'll look for ways to DOCUMENT and RESEARCH our family history.

And the WINNER IS...

2010-10-04T07:51:00.000-06:00

Wow! Saturday night was amazing!! Jen (recent addition to the Stories by Me team) and I spent the evening with several hundred women at the Ft. Union Deseret Book Ladies Night. There was live music, local authors and artists, yummy food, discounts galore and the main draw... lots and lots of prizes!

As promised, here are the winners of the Stories by Me drawing:

Drum Roll Please.........................

Personal History Publisher by MemoryMixer: Carole Inglish

MemoryMixer Software: Lisa Tucker

Wire Tree Kit: Anna Layton

Didn't win today? You still have a chance to pickup the Personal History Publisher FOR FREE! Lane, over at MemoryMixer, has been very generous by giving us another copy of this software package that will help you write your Personal History. We will give it away in the next couple of weeks on this blog. All you have to do is take the Stories by Me October Challenge. Find ONE Family History project that you can complete in the month of October. We'll be offering inspiration on our blog. Share your success (or let us learn with you from your less successful efforts). More prizes coming!!

For those of you who won the MemoryMixer software package (either at the event or in this giveaway) be sure to check out the MemoryMixer blog. It shares all sorts of amazing things that powerful little box can do for you!

Also, for those of you who asked... Here's the link to our Generations Pocket Book.

October Challenge: Collect / Protect

2010-10-01T08:47:00.004-06:00

In honor of October's Family History Month both Suni and I are taking the Stories by Me Challenge. This first week will focus our efforts on Collecting / Protecting Memorabilia.

We hope that you'll take the challenge. We've created a list of ten different ideas to get the creative juices flowing. Pick one, or come up with your own. Let us know your successes. We can also learn from your failures...so don't be shy. Send us an email (send it to mythoughts@storiesbyme.com) or add a comment to our blog. At the end of the week (Oct 9th) we will pick one winner who can select $40.00 worth of Stories by Me products. That's right. Forty buckaroo's towards anything project calling you. (And we'll pay the shipping too!)

WEEK ONE: Collect / Protect
1. Locate your pictures.
2. Label your pictures using an archival quality pen.
3. Organize your immediate family documents and important papers.
4. Scan original documents (certificates, wills, journals, letters, etc.), label and store them in a safe place. Share files with family members.
5. Collect copies of documents for as many ancestors as possible.
6. Take pictures and record memories of family heirlooms.
7. Frame keepsakes or mementos in a shadowbox.
8. Protect any handmade items made by an ancestor.
9. Go through old Books of Remembrances or photo albums and preserve them with acid-free materials.
10. Convert an old family movie to DVD format.

Let Carrie inspire you at Or So She Says... LOVED her idea on capturing family history!

Be sure to check back during the week. Suni and I will update you on our progress. We'd also LOVE to share your stories!

Oh, if life isn't already busy enough... We'll be at Deseret Book's Ft. Union Ladies Night on Saturday, Oct 2. Can't wait to share some of our new projects and pick up a gift or two... it's a perfect time since everything is ON SALE!

And, if I haven't already mentioned... Suni had the absolute MOST beautiful baby a few weeks ago. Is it possible that his one month birthday is creeping up? There is NOTHING better in this world than holding a sweet baby (crying one's just don't have the same charm) in your arms and breathing in all of their goodness. It makes the craziest day seem almost sane. Thanks for keeping me sane Baby B!

Yes...that is Suni already fitting in her skinny jeans. That is sooooo NOT FAIR!!

A Letter to the Deer Who Ate My Potato Vines

2010-09-29T10:19:00.002-06:00

Two days ago, I had the most beautiful flowers blooming in my yard. This was no simple feat. I did not inherit my mother's green thumb. It is a struggle for me to keep living things alive (at least of the plant variety).

Summer is hanging on in our part of the world and last night, I went out to give my pots an extra dose of water. Imagine my surprise to find 1/2 of them missing. They were nowhere to be found!

I am kind to the deer in the winter when they come down from the hills and rip the bark off my trees. I know that they are hungry. I even forgive them in the spring when they decimate my yard of all the tender blooms trying to poke their heads out of the earth after a long, hard winter. But this is NOT ACCEPTABLE deer. The potato vines were NOT meant to be eaten. They are there for adornment. Next time, I will not ignore the frenzied barks of our dog as he tries to warn us of your intentions. I have your number deer!

October is Family History Month

2010-09-27T16:13:00.002-06:00

Did you know that October is officially designated as "Family History Month" in the United States? S.RES.175 passed back in July of 2003. This was a big deal to genealogists. It was also meaningful to the more than 80 million American's that are said to be actively searching for information about their ancestors. Even if you're not so interested in the distant past, someday, you'll be an ancestor to some future generation. Wouldn't it be nice to have your story told the way YOU WANT to be remembered?

If you are at all familiar with the mission of Stories by Me, you know our passion for preserving life's many stories. It didn't take us long to figure out that not all stories are preserved in book format. There are as many ways to preserve a memory as there are stories to tell.

Just like most of you, we're running hard to keep up. There is never enough time to get it all done. One thing that we've learned along life's journey, though, is that zero times any number will ALWAYS be zero. So, if I make zero effort to preserve my life stories for the next 12 months, I will have nothing to account for those 12 months. But, if I'm able to squeeze one meaningful task out a month, at the end of the year, I will have 12 beautifully preserved memories that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

The list of meaningful projects are ENDLESS!

We've decided to lump these projects into four different categories:

COLLECT / PROTECT
CREATE
DOCUMENT/ RESEARCH
CONNECT with FAMILY

For the next four weeks, Suni and I are committing to focus a personal effort in each category. At the beginning of the week, I'll share a list of possible projects and then during the week we will both report on our success (or failure) at our efforts. We will keep it real! Suni just had a baby and since my baby is nearly 14, I recently returned to the work force, so some days it's all we can do to keep our heads above water!

We would LOVE for you to take the Stories by Me challenge. Maybe all you can do is ONE Family History project during the month. Guess what? You've got ONE thing DONE! We'll even sweeten the deal by offering a giveaway each week to everyone who shares a story or comments!

We'd love to hear what you're doing. Send us your story at mythoughts@storiesbyme.com or add a comment with a link to your blog.

AnimatedAtlas.com

2010-09-22T08:51:00.002-06:00

Want a quick refresher on the story of the United States?

Today, a friend shared an amazing website: www.animatedatlas.com. I'm pretty familiar with the basic history of our nation, but in ten short minutes I was reintroduced to all sorts of interesting facts as to the growth of the United States starting with its original thirteen states in 1789.

Click on this link. http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie.html

Be sure to follow the instructions and turn your sound ON. The narration is a significant part of the presentation and you won't want to miss it!

After you finish the basic presentation, you should check out some of the other cool website features. You can click on any state for more details.

Click on any decade number in the timeline for a detailed snap shot of that time period. And when I say detailed I mean DETAILED! It's incredible how much information is crammed into such a simple format.

My hat goes off to Peter Mays, creator of this sweet website. He also offers an expanded version for $20 (US Dollars, of course). For now, I am all over this free version. I am going to have my kids become familiar with the resource, as well.

I have always loved the story of our nation. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this informative reader's digest version. I imagine that you will as well!

Story with a Happy Ending

2010-09-18T13:11:00.005-06:00

This morning started like most Saturday mornings. Things might have been a bit more quiet than usual as all the kids were out and about on various teenage activities. My to-do list was long, but I was slowly working through it.

Out of the blue I received a phone call. The caller explained that he was from some medical service...blah-blah-blah. I was already preparing a response of not being interested in whatever he was selling when some of his words broke through my dense preoccupation to inform me that they had pulled my sixteen-year-old out of the water from a near drowning and they were on the way to the hospital.

It took several moments to process what he was telling me. This son had gone with our neighbors to participate in the Kokopelli Triathlon. My neighbor had expressed concern over the swimming portion of the race, but she assured me that my son was in great shape and he'd be fine. I hadn't a moments premonition that there was something wrong. In fact, I had just sent him a text wishing him well in the race. My mind was now trying to process the facts that he was 5 hours away and utterly alone. (Our neighbors had no idea that my son was in trouble as they were all participating in the race.)

Here's today's miracle...another dear friend/neighbor happens to split her time between two homes; one here, one in southern Utah. Yesterday she was across the street. I saw her with my own eyes. We made plans to get together for lunch in the next day or two. However, late last night, she decided to return to St. George. This morning, my panicked phone call found her ready to drop everything to go to my son's aid. She met him at the ER and stayed with him until the doctors checked him out.

Angels are all around us. Today's angel bears the name of Heidi!

My sixteen-year-old is fine. They think that someone swam over him in the frenzy of the race. He remembers that he was swimming next to his buddy one minute and the next minute he's all alone and the race is off in the distance. There's a bump on the back of his head that wasn't there when he started the race (maybe a misguided foot or elbow?) The happy news is that he's fine. Actually, he's better than fine. He didn't finish the race, but he has quite the story to tell.

Welcome Baby - Save 30%

2010-09-16T20:25:00.001-06:00

We're bustin' our buttons here at Stories by Me.

In honor of our newest Stories by Me team member, we are offering a 30% discount on any web store purchases. That's right. Anything that you order online is good for the discount. Just be sure to make your purchase within the next two weeks... and use the Coupon Code: SBM Baby

We couldn't be prouder!!!

New Vintage Tins

2010-09-15T11:56:00.003-06:00

My thirteen-year-old would let you to know that the title 'New Vintage Tins' is an oxymoron. I love that he's actually awake and listening in his English class. Yes, New and Vintage do seem to contradict each other, but these tins are new...even though we designed them to look like they've been around a few years.
This summer's trip to New York inspired me to create the Ellis Island collection. My Pops (Grandpa Stanley) was at the forefront of my mind as I searched the photo collections at the Library of Congress. Oh, how I wish I would have come across a miraculous picture of nineteen-year-old Stanley, fresh off the boat and ready to conquer this new world. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything bearing even a faint resemblance of the man that married my grandmother (the earliest photograph that we have of him), but I did stumble across some amazing images. My favorite is the photograph of the mother with the three small children. Look closely at her eyes. Life is a little uncertain, but there is hope in her eyes; hope and courage to face whatever lies ahead.

Our Simple Thought collection is just that; simple thoughts that are meant to uplift and inspire. I love the sign that says: Breathe...Again. Seems so simple, but I've had a day or two when a reminder would have been nice!

Family Charts

2010-09-14T07:01:00.000-06:00

What do you think? We're pretty excited about how our new Mini Family Charts turned out. What makes these kits nice is that they are SO EASY to finish...it also helps that they are SO EASY on the wallet!
Each kit comes with a 5.5x10" hand-finished magnet board, six wood buttons, magnet tape, sandpaper and instructions.

All you have to do is finish the buttons. Our Photo Wizard will help you get your pictures the perfect size for the project. If you're doing the chore chart, download the SbM Family Chart Buttons here.
Just print this page to a favorite scrapbook paper. We came up with 33 common household chores, but if you need something that's not listed you can use your text editor to create your own printout (just make sure it'll fit inside a 1.5" circle), or hand write the chore on a scrap of decorative paper. You might also consider taking pictures of the needed task. Garbage need emptying? Take a picture of the empty garbage can. Your kids should love seeing the example and guess what? You've just preserved a little bit of history with your photo taking!

Letter Blocks for Halloween

2010-09-13T13:48:00.000-06:00

Halloween is a big holiday around here. When the kids were little, I'd start quizzing them in early September on what they wanted to dress up as. The trick was to hone in on that one thing they wanted to be more than anything and then keep that focus for 60 days!

It was a lot of work for what equates to a few hours of enjoyment... but we have some fantastic memories!

This is the year that I sewed it up BIG for my little guys. So cute! Only problem is that the costumes was super toasty and Northern California was going through a heat wave. My little skunk had beads of sweat dripping off his face until I finally yanked off the furry costume and let him hang out in his underwear.

One year that we decided to be a family of pirates. Hubby even turned the Red-Rider into a full-fledged pirate ship. The plastic weapons that accompanied the costumes didn't make it to Halloween. They were destroyed in the make-believe play as the kids 'practiced' their roles for the big day.

It didn't take me long to figure out that it was easier...and cheaper to buy the kids costumes than make them. So what if there were three other Buzz Lightyear's at the party?

As the kids got older, their costumes took on a more macabre tone. I remember one year my son didn't care what he was...as long as he was dead. It actually wasn't so bad. I seem to have a knack for making my kids look grotesque.

If you're anything like me... you took a LOT of Halloween pictures over the years. What do you do with all of your photos? Here's what I've come up for our Halloween memories.

Boo Letter Blocks

For you to Gather:
3 blocks. My blocks measure 3.25 inches each
3 coordinating scrapbook papers to match theme (more to cover top and bottoms of block)
Decoupage Glue - We like ModPodge's Matte Glue
Printer -black ink works best for printing letters
Scissors
Foam Brush
Sandpaper
Sanding Block (Not really needed, but it goes a long way to saving your hands during the sanding process!)
Distress Ink or Chalk
Finishing Spray
9 pictures formatted to fit your blocks. The Photo Wizard will help you format your pictures to fit a 3.25" block.

Step 1:
Prepare your letters. Our Letter Blocks .pdf provides letters for the following words...
L-O-V-E
F-U-N
B-O-O
J-O-Y
F-A-M-I-L-Y
Pick coordinating paper to match your word choice (i.e. fall colors for BOO). 12x12 scrapbook paper works great. Just trim the paper to 8.5 x 11 before feeding it through your printer. Save any extra scraps for covering the top and bottom of the blocks. Print the Letter Blocks .pdf on your selected papers. Cut out each square using the trim markings. (Trim depends on the block size that you're using. Project formatted to fit 3.25" blocks.)

Step 2:
Prepare your pictures. You have two options here. Either print each picture to be at least as large as your blocks. Use the edge of the block to trace around each picture and cut away the excess. Or, you can use the Photo Wizard to get your picture to the exact size that is needed for this project. Need help using the Photo Wizard. See our demo. Still need help? We're only a mouse click away. Just email us at www.mythoughts@storiesbyme.com. Cut each picture to size.

Be sure to print your pictures using a LASER printer! Ink jet colors tend to smear when they get wet!!

Step 3: The cut ends of the wood absorb more glue than the grained ends. Before beginning this step, apply a thin layer of glue of glue to the ends with the rougher (cut) surfaces. Let glue dry.

Apply a thin layer of glue to the first side of one block. Place picture over glue and press in to place. Remove any air bubbles. While the glue is drying, repeat the process for other blocks. Check for overhanging paper edges. It is important to WAIT for the glue to dry before attempting to remove any excess paper. Add picture's 2 and 3 following same procedure. Once all of the picture are in place, add one letter square to each block. Complete this step by adding a decorative top and bottom paper square to each block. Don't worry about matching sides. A random look is great!

Step 4:
Once the glue is dry, carefully sand the edges of each block. Add a distress look by rubbing ink or chalk along the sides of each square to darken the exposed wood and remove any white paper edge.

Protect your project with several light coats of decoupage glue or matte Acrylic spray.

That's all that's to it! Remember, you CAN'T ruin this project. Fix any mistakes by simply sanding down the offending side and adding another picture.
You now have nine Halloween pictures ready to display. This same project works great for a number of holidays.

Of course, the best part is sharing the stories that accompany each picture. Enjoy!

A Brand New Story to Tell!

2010-09-07T14:13:00.004-06:00

What a day.

What a completely blow-me-away, most perfect day.

Our newest Stories by Me team member arrived and Suni gave me the gift of a lifetime by sharing their amazing day with me.

I preserved this once-in-a-lifetime moment with pictures.

Lots and lots of pictures!

The baby is beyond perfect!

Mom's not doing too bad either!

Suni, my wish for you is many, MANY happy stories!

Expecting Great Things!

2010-09-02T17:58:00.002-06:00

We' have had several requests for our Swiss Days booth location this year. Sorry to say, it doesn't look like we're going to make it. We were selected as alternates and as luck would have it...no one dropped out so there was no need for the backup plan.

It really is for the best. From the looks of the above picture, Suni isn't quite up to the exhilarating but exhausting days and Lauri can't imagine doing Swiss Days without her!

We still have several new projects that we're excited to unveil. Without the deadline of the event, we've let life get the best of us and we're a little behind schedule. If all goes as planned, Suni will wait a few more days to have her baby and we'll deliver on the goods...the SbM goods that is.

Then we're off to enjoy a new baby!

Top Ten Vacation Memories

2010-08-30T23:30:00.000-06:00

We spent nearly two weeks of our summer tasting life in the big Apple.

It had been nearly 20 years since my last visit. Back then, I was visiting on the company dime. In a previous life, I was a jewelry buyer for Macy's. Seeing New York City with my kids was an even better adventure!

We started with a plan, trying to organize our activities by interest level and location. We soon realized that we could pound through the list and see everything once...or maybe even twice. It helped that the kids are now big enough to keep up! In hindsight, it might have made more sense to visit the Empire State Building when it wasn't overcast and stormy. We thought we were pretty clever to have found the one attraction in the city that didn't have an hour wait. Come to find out that all there's to see 80 floors up is clouds and rain drops when it's raining.

Duh!

My hubby found the perfect nesting spot, smack dab in the middle of Time Square. The window to our room opened up right on to the square. The kids loved the action so much we never closed our curtains. Our trip took place during the World Cup. (We happen to have an avid ...sometimes it's borderline rabid, soccer fan in the family.) He was in seventh heaven to be surrounded by other soccer enthusiasts. The party in Time Square celebrating Spain's win is something my son will never forget!

I always have the best intentions of putting together a family memory book of our adventures. I could easily fill a 200 page book with all of our memories of two weeks on the road... but that's not going to happen! I've found that if I want any hope of finishing a project, it has to be SHORT and SIMPLE. Pocket books are the perfect format!!

We decided to document our top ten favorite memories of our time in New York.

Before we even got home, we had a book. Let me rephrase that... we had a FINISHED book! I could have printed it from home, but I wanted a larger version for each family member, so I sent the file off to our printer for a professional print job.

Because we limited our pages to the TOP ten memories, we didn't document some of the more obscure experiences...like the two brothers ditching their youngest brother on a bike ride through Central Park. I'm sure he'll need counseling to get over the fact that his mother told him to wait for his brothers on a park bench since I was just walking into the Metropolitan Museum of Art when he called (and given that the Museum was closing in less than an hour, wasn't about to leave for a rescue). I know...no mother of year award for me.

Our sixth Top Reason for LOVING NEW YORK was the FOOD! The book pays homage to a dinner spent in Little Italy. We could have easily had a page dedicated to cheesecake, or pizza, but this dinner held a special memory as we lost our youngest moments after dining on the most amazing meal of creamy cheese and garlic! What was that? Lost our son...again? Yes, it was a reoccurring theme with this child. The next twenty minutes were a blur as we vacillated back and forth between reason and panic.

The child did end up coming home with us, although there were a few other moments during the two week jaunt that his father and I seriously thought about ditching him.

Our #2 reason for LOVING New York was being able to connect with neighbors thousands of miles from home!

The best thing about the Pocket Book format is that each page makes a pocket which is the perfect place for holding extra stories or memories. I now have a place for all of the tickets, maps and brochures that I hauled from place to place. You know the stuff that you typically sit on for a year before throwing it out because you don't know what to do with it.

Last night, we took some time to write down some of our personal memories of the trip (to be stored in the pockets...of course!) It was fun to get the different family members perspectives of each memory.

While our memories might differ slightly from activity to activity, we were ALL in agreement about the NUMBER ONE reason that we LOVE New York...

A Melancholy Sort of Day

2010-08-25T18:46:00.006-06:00

At 7:30 this morning I sat at our front room window waiting with my thirteen-year-old for his carpool ride. My view of the street is now somewhat restricted by a tree that we planted ten years ago. Back then it was little more than a six foot stick. The tree now stands 30 feet tall. Was it really ten years ago that my three little boys perched on a couch delighted with their front row seat as they watched the earth movers rearrange the mounds of dirt and rock in our yet-t0-be-finished front yard? The child at my side would have been three-years-old. My oldest, eight. It was a simple flashback. I have no photographs to preserve the moment. Only the memories captured in a mother's heart. OK, maybe that sounds a bit sappy. But the last couple of days, I've been wandering from room to room trying to figure out how time had slipped away from me.

Today we dropped off our eighteen-year-old at college. We always thought he'd end up out of state, but for whatever reason, he was drawn to a local college that is only 45 minutes from our house.

And the mother rejoiced!

An almost empty closet at home...just enough clothes for a quick change on those weekends he stops by.

Somethings will never change.. Here's his 'made' bed. The pillows accompanied him to college as he said they were perfectly 'broken in'.

Not a very organized move, but given the fact that he packed in about 15 minutes so his free time could be spent with friends, I think he did ok.

T's home for the next eight months. Notice how nice everything looks. I give it about 3 days...

Littlest brother had a hard time with the thought of his big brother (and protector) leaving home. Gave his brother a picture of himself to help him remember family.

Out of ALL the halls they could have assigned to our son, they chose to have him live in the hall named after our ancestor. Quite comforting, really.

Family version of Guess Who

2010-08-23T13:09:00.000-06:00

Had to share this family friendly idea from The Madesen Times.

Do you remember the board game Guess Who by Hasbro? Maybe you're lucky enough to have a copy sitting around your house. My little guys (who aren't so little anymore) would play this game for hours. Our copy has been long gone, but you can be sure I'll be getting my hands on a replacement set in the near future!

Becki traded the game's cartoon drawings for family photos for a fun, EASY way of spending quality time with her kids while connecting with extended family members.

LOVE the idea Becki!

See exactly how she did it HERE.

Table Refinishing 101

2010-08-18T09:47:00.000-06:00

I've had a few requests for an update on our OTHER summertime home-refinishing project. If you've been following our stories, you've already heard The Almost Perfect Door story. If not, you can catch it here.

As a quick recap, three boys, two dogs and one cat make for plenty of items that could use some TLC at our house.

Finding a project around here isn't a problem. My hangup is finishing the project once I've started. I usually find that I can live with 'it' about 1/2 way through the mess and never quite 'bring it on home.' I figured the best way to guarantee finishing the project was to PAY my kids to do the work. They got paid when we got finished!

My youngest helped me refinish our front door. We stuck it out (kinda had to, considering the door was off the hinges and laying flat in the garage). I didn't have the energy needed to redo the smudge that my 'helper' produced when he decided to test the wet paint theory. Door went back on the hinges, kid got paid, and I have an almost perfect project. The best part was being FINISHED!

Around the same time (back in mid-June) I thought we should take on the kitchen table. My darling hubby bought me this farm table the year we moved into our new house. It was love at first sight the moment I saw the sale sign proclaiming that it was the perfect size and PRICE. That was 11 years ago, Over the years, the table has taken a beating. I no longer felt anything even remotely warm and fuzzy when I looked at it.

I was aware of the name that had been carved into the tabletop long ago (gee, I wonder who ?) I knew that the table was no longer the beautiful honey color that I remembered falling in love with in the store; years of trying to scrub away school projects, family dinners and split milk had taken its toll. The legs wobble a bit now. All this I knew, but I had no idea that an entire college rivalry had been bantered back and forth over the years between two brothers. The very brothers that I was paying to repair the damages!

You have to live in Utah to grasp how very deep this college rivalry goes. Children involved are very lucky that my Alma mater shows up more times than the rival school!

This project wasn't hard. It was just hard to finish. The project manager (my sixteen-year-old) lasted 2 days on the job. On day three, he went over his bike's handle bars and convinced our local orthopedic surgeon that he had fractured a very hard to pin-point bone in his thumb. It was just bad enough that he couldn't help finish the project (or play his violin). HOW CONVENIENT!

I moved a small 3 1/2-person bistro table into the spot belonging to our 8-person farm table. I figured that my oldest was moving out soon enough. We could make this work...right? It took a couple of dinner gatherings to convince me that I needed to pony up and get the job done. (We have a truly beautiful dining table, but right now it's more of a conference / craft / storage table. Sadly, finishing the farm table was easier than clearing the dining table.

That was June. Now it's August (almost September).

Table is not quite finished. Instead of the buttery cream color to match the paint of my kitchen counters, I ended up with a bright white paint that we applied to the table legs and apron. Some day I'll fix that. Don't even get me started on all of the mismatched chairs. My buddy (and shopping guru) Erica found me 4 fantastic, and might I add matching chairs. And even better, they were a screaming deal.

Only problem is that I'd have to paint them to match the new table and we all know that's not going to happen!

Stories of a Rotary Phone

2010-08-17T20:37:00.002-06:00

Today my 13-year-old was hanging out with me in my office. He is counting down the last few days of summer and boredom had set in. Absent-minded, he sat playing with an old rotary phone that I saved from the junk pile years ago. All of a sudden, his eyes lit up and he excitedly proclaimed, "I know how to use this phone."

Oh boy, did I feel old!

He tried to dial (in the real sense of the word) my cell number, which of course didn't work because the phone hasn't been hooked up since the early 80's. I don't even know if the phone works, but my son thought it would be cool to get it back in service. Yeah, until he was dialing the third 9 in a ten-digit number. Don't even think about misdialing... if you do, your only option is to start over.

This simple event got me thinking about how much has changed in the years since I've had kids. What will my grand kids world look like?

How about power windows and doors in our automobiles? I remember the day when I used to lean across the front seat to crank the passenger window for cross ventilation. Now I don't even need a key to get into my car. Still waiting for the day that the car drives itself!
Way before sleek, geek mobile phones that do everything except cook dinner, we had 'wireless' phones. Do you remember the brick (with an antennae sticking from it) that you got to carry around? Don't even think about stepping into the yard. Half the time, I'd drop the call or get static if I walked into another room.
The internet... Can't live without it, but it is really starting to rule our world. With the internet, I can go anywhere. I can run my small business from any laptop. Staying in touch with friends is as easy as posting a message on Facebook or tweeting on Twitter. There was a time (not that long ago) when you'd go to the library to research a project. Now we just hop on to the world wide web.
TIVO. Now here's a great invention! I can watch an hour of TV in 1/2 the time just by zipping through the commercials. Same thing goes for DVD's and Video on Demand. We don't even have to drive to the video store to pick out our movies. Order your favorite show online, or better yet, pull up your Red Box app and have the movie waiting when you pick it up. I will say that I miss going through the Sunday TV Guide and marking all the movies for the coming week. There would be a real dilemma if Frosty the Snowman conflicted with the school's Christmas program.
Before every family vacation, we'd load up on various maps of our destination and plan the best route. We had boxes (and boxes) of well-used maps documenting the many places that we had visited. Now we just plug an address into our GPS and listen to a serene woman's voice announce our arrival. "YOU have arrived." Makes me like I'm really going somewhere in this world.

We're not talking dinosaur-aged inventions here. All of these conveniences became mainstays in our lives in the past couple of decades.

In our household, everyone is connected to a cellphone. It makes me almost crazy if I'm trying to reach a child and he doesn't answer ...or at least text me back. I can't imagine having to manually dial each number in an effort to track someone down. Thank goodness for speed dial!

We'll hang on to our old, useless rotary phone, but only for the stories it still has to tell.

Overstock.com

2010-08-13T13:44:00.003-06:00

We are excited to announce that two of our Stories by Me products are now being offered through Main Street Revolution, a partnership between Overstock.com and small businesses throughout the USA.

Overstock.com is known for their good deals and they made sure that their Main Street pricing is as good as you'll see anywhere. What really makes this deal sweet is that shipping only adds a couple bucks to the order. Our products are quite hefty, making them expensive to ship. Right now Overstock is having a special deal and shipping is only $1.00. PER ORDER!

We're still trying to figure out how to be 'seen' at overstock.com. We spent nearly 30 minutes before we found our products tucked away under the category Scrapbooking Kits. We tried to get them to create a new category...something like Heirloom Products or Memory Preservation, but they're still chewing on that request.

For the time being, we'll provide a direct link here:
Memory Calendars Kits
Memory Tree Kits

We'd be oh, so grateful if you'd check them out. If you've tried our products, give them a review. Share what you're doing to tell your family stories. We'll continue to try to get our products more visible and easier to purchase!

Ouch!

2010-08-09T08:56:00.006-06:00

Sometimes, stories come along in your life that you'd really like to forget. I have a dear friend who really wishes that she could erase yesterday from the calendar.

{a bigger picture would show the damage inflicted to both sides of the car. Dent x2!}

As much as we'd all like do-overs, the reality is that we only get to take forward steps as we march along life's journey.

However, we can preserve the memories for that future someday (maybe years from now) when the pain of the moment is gone and life can again be laughed at. (For my friend this day will come when the repairs are made, the bills are paid and the child is MUCH older!)

Aah, what a story. But it's not my story to tell.

Vacation Ramblings and Treasures

2010-08-03T17:18:00.008-06:00

We have Newton's laws of motion to explain gravity. So why hasn't anyone named the very real law that if you take a week's vacation, you know you're going to have a week of extra work to get ready for that holiday... and two weeks of catch up when you return!

Do you know what I'm talking about?

I have finally unburied from the mountain of laundry, remove the science projects left growing in the fridge, scrubbed the puppy presents left in the dining room (and hallway...) and recycled all of the junk mail that accumulated in our absence.

It took two solid weeks of weeding to get the yard looking less junglish and more yard like. The deer did a GREAT job of keeping the garden clear of any ripe fruit, but the weeds were starting to look like small trees. On top of this my husband returned to school to start a master's program and three kids all needed to finalize their school's registrations. (Since when did public school start costing $500 to attend?)

I'm really not complaining. Honest, I'm not. Gratefully, I have fond memories of our blissful holiday (although it now seems a distant memory). We put together a book of our favorite activities and I'll be sharing the pages in a few days. Today, I was clearing up some files on my computer and I came across some pictures that I snapped on our vacation. The photos prove what great sports my family is towards my obsession with history. As we drove through the small towns of upstate New York, I had a fleeting glimpse of a historic looking brick wall. We were already headed towards another site, but my hubby faithfully promised to return to the spot...if we could find it later. It took a bit of searching, but check out what we discovered:

There was a historic sign at the site. It said that this wall advertisement dated back to around 1896 and is one of the few treasures still standing. It had been hidden for nearly 100 years and discovered in 2007 when an overhanging add-on was demolished.

It was about 95 degrees outside with a heat humidity index that felt around 120 degrees. My poor desert rats were drowning in their sweat, but dutifully each family member posed in front of the wall so I could snap a few hundred shots.

Back to the Land of Living!

2010-07-21T09:17:00.010-06:00

Things have been a bit quiet around here as we've taken time off to enjoy family. Suni gathered with family and friends to celebrate a sister's wedding and we took off for two much needed weeks of rest and relaxation.

Two weeks? What were we thinking?!!

Lately, Kevin and I have really felt the tick, tick, tick of the proverbial clock reminding us how little time is left for our family unit. This fall we lose our oldest to college. We are trying to prepare ourselves for this fact. but the thought leaves us a bit unsettled.

We have wanted to take the kids to New York for the longest time. For years, they were too little. Then sporting activities consumed our lives. Just as we thought we might be able to pull things off, life kicked into high gear.

No more EXCUSES!

After two rather long, extremely hot and unbelievable humid weeks of hauling our brood around the island of Manhattan and western New York we are finally ready for our oldest to leave home and experience life on his own. Only now we're kinda' hoping he'll take his two brothers with him!

The best part about family vacations are ALL the stories that you have to tell!

Stay tuned...
Here's our last day as tourists. Don't we look the part? By the time this picture was snapped, we had trekked from one end of the state to the other.

Remembering the Fourth!

2010-06-30T08:43:00.001-06:00

I can NOT believe that tomorrow is July 1. It seems like just last week we were wrapping up our school year and making plans for all the things that we wanted to do this summer.

Summer is officially 1/3 over. WAAAAAH!

I wanted an easy way to keep track of the disposable cups during our big holiday shin-dig. I've embarrassed my kids in the past by running around with a marker writing everyone's name on their cup. Now it'll be easy to remember which cup is mine. Whipping the plain Jane cups into a Martha creation was just an added bonus!

Of course, I had to share!

There are six sheets (that's 30 different labels). I hope to crank out another 30...I have no idea how many friends my kids have invited. Reality will sink in in another day or two and I'll probably just print duplicate labels and hope that the George Washington's don't put their drinks down next to each other!

All you need to do is download the .jpg file to your computer. Print the file to a sticker sheet. I used a standard shipping label (2 across, 3 down). I left a bit of white space around each design to make sure it would fit a variety of sticker sizes.

Print and stick. It's THAT EASY!

File #1:

File 2:

File 3:

File 4:

And finally, File 5:

There you have it. 30 faces that are worth remembering!

Telling Family Stories

2010-06-28T18:47:00.005-06:00

Attended a class on preserving family history. The teacher shared an article entitled Forging Family Bonds through Storytelling.

Oooh, my ears perked up!

The author, a David Dollahite, was speakin' my language!

Here's part of his message:
"Storytelling is a very important and a very neglected part of family life. Storytelling is a vital part of family life that we should be more actively involved with, but we tend to be overwhelmed with other, more passive, forms of entertainment, such as television, the Internet, video games, and radio. There are many ways to weave storytelling in your own family..

...The stories our children crave are about life as it is lived. They have surprise twists, heroes, and action. Stories capture the essence of life. They often involve a change of heart. They give the best examples we have of how to change and why to change.

If you are at all reluctant about sharing your stories with your children, think about the greatest teachers you know or speakers you have heard. Your joy in their words probably comes, in large part, from their excellent storytelling. You, as a listener, remember stories more than you remember abstract ideas. "

He gave several excellent examples of meaningful ways to tell stories that guarantee a captured audience. I know that I paid attention!

"One story I often tell is about my father. He was a police officer for 17 years in our hometown during a time when there were a lot of problems with drugs, riots, and violence. And, somehow, our town was a kind of Mecca for these problems. I knew, as a boy, that he was out dealing with the “bad guys” and putting his life in danger, but one night that reality came home in a very powerful way. I was 12, and my best friend was over, having dinner with my family. Our house was on a busy street, and it was not uncommon to hear a car backfire. And, sure enough, while we were eating we heard what sounded like a car backfiring. But then we heard someone scream, “Help, I’ve been hit! I’ve been hit! Please help me!” Before my friend and I even realized someone had been shot, my father, who wasn’t on duty, ran into his bedroom, grabbed his gun, and ran out the door.

Of course, my friend and I thought this was really cool, so we ran to the front window to watch my dad go after the bad guys. My mom, however, had a different reaction, and she pulled us away from the window, pulled down the shade, locked the front door, and made us go into the back of the house. And then she just sat there and literally shook and shivered until my dad came home. That’s the first time I really realized that my dad was a hero. But I also realized, for the first time, what my mom had to live with every day, as her husband went off each day and put his life in danger.

My father now lives with us, and my telling this story helps my children appreciate the old guy who sits by them at the dinner table and gives them candy in a very different way than they would without that story. Now they think, “Wow, Papa was a real hero.” It is one way I turn the hearts of my children to my father."

Here's another story. Short and sweet, but NEVER to be forgotten!

"I often tell my children about their great grandfather Iver from Norway, who had a very exciting life. He escaped death numerous times; in fact, he came into the port of Birmingham about two weeks after the Titanic set sail, and was hired as a merchant marine on the next major ship to set sail from that port.

After he immigrated to the United States, he worked as a logger in Minnesota and lived in a small cabin in the woods. Each day, he would go home for lunch, and one of his coworkers started coming over everyday as well, which disturbed Grandpa Iver because he was, by nature, a private person. He wanted his coworker to stop coming, but he was uncomfortable with confronting the man directly, so he had to use his wits. So the next time this man came over, Grandpa Iver took the plates off the table after they had finished lunch, put them on the floor, and allowed his dog to lick them clean. Grandpa Iver then put the plates back into the cupboard, and the man never came back for lunch."

When's the best time for storytelling? All of the time, or any time you can! Try to tell share a story at your next family meal. Not only will this potentially prolong your time together around the table, but you might hear all sorts of 'never-before-heard' stories in this relaxed setting. Bedtime is another perfect opportunity for some undivided one-on-one time. Planning a summer vacation that includes long stretches of time in the car? Turn off the electronic distractions and add storytelling to your list of travel activities. You might be surprised how fast the time goes as you swap stories back and forth!

One piece of advice that the author gave that is quite prudent... Don't tell stories at the expense of other family members. If it's unkind, hurtful or embarrassing, skip it for another story. When you think about it, the list of potential stories is endless and there is no reason to squander the time on stories that are heartless. The goal is to turn hearts TOWARDS family members!

Want to read the entire article? Click here.

The Almost Perfect Door

2010-06-19T23:49:00.001-06:00

A few months ago, I was inspired by a fellow crafter who refinished her kitchen table. It was GORGEOUS! I commented about how nice it turned out. She promised me that it was really, REALLY easy. That's all the encouragement that I needed. I have three boys. That should explain the reason why my house is FILLED with things that need to be refinished. The good news is that a couple of these same boys are desperate for some summer-time spending money. I offered each boy a 'job' of refinishing one of these TLC projects

Today's project (story) will focus on our front door.

My thirteen-year-old drew the short straw (er, I mean, was lucky enough to win the honor of refinishing the front door). His job entailed sanding away 5-6 years of brutal sun, rain and wind damage. It used to be a VERY pretty front door.

He's a slow worker. He's also easily sidetracked. Of course, sanding through the power cord cost us a day, too. He started on Tuesday. Finally, on Friday the door was ready for me to finish. Lovingly I rubbed not one, but two coats of Antique Walnut stain into the screamin clean wood grains. Keep in mind that all of this work is being done with the door laying flat, and the front of my house opened to the world.

First thing on my agenda today was to get the door finished and rehung. Coat one of the varnish was applied. Ooooh, it looked good. But since this door stares into the setting sun day after day, one coat wasn't good enough. I was going to do the job right...even if it took me the entire day to do it!

The winds started to pick up. I had been working in our garage but I didn't want to risk any dust or dirt blowing onto my pristine door. I took the extra time to clear out a spot in the kitchen where I could apply the second coat of varnish and the door could dry out of harms way.

What was I thinking?????

The second coat of varnish was applied. I stood back to admire my work. I made my husband come in and admire my work. We both agreed that the door was perfect.

Exactly ten minutes later, my hubby came out to find me relaxed in my garden. "I think the cat jumped onto your door."

"What?" OK, it was more like...."WHAT?!!!!!!!!!" I went to examine the damages. Funny thing. It didn't look like a cat print. It looked suspiciously like finger prints.

I called the boys in one at a time. The first two were clean. Third one... not so much. I will say that I was quite proud of him for telling the truth. He might have gotten away with letting the cat take the fall.

Did he think that I was just kidding when I said not to touch the door for four hours? Could he really have forgotten 10 minutes after I told him? He's 13. I'll never know what was going through his head. The real kicker is that this is the same kid who had just spent two days of his summer sanding that door!

My husband thinks he can fix the smudge. I don't know if I want him to. I'm content to have an ALMOST perfect front door. If he gets rid of the evidence, no one will believe my story.

Stay tuned. My other child is 1/2 way through his table refinishing project. Wonder what story we'll have to tell when he's done!