Memory Puzzles Back in Stock!

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!

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

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...

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

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

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

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.