Memories To Cherish

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Vanessa calleja — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:06:14 GMT

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A Gift For Kids That Lasts A Lifetime!

Vanessa calleja — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:56:15 GMT

A few years ago I decided to give my kids other gifts besides toys. My son was twelve years old and didn't play with toys anymore. My daughter was eight but always asked for clothes and between her grandparents, Aunts and Uncles she received nothing but toys! I was sure neither one of the kids would even notice.

Holiday shopping season began and I headed out to a new store. It was rumored to have just the latest styles for teenagers. Surely I could find plenty of clothes for my son. I walked slowly as I entered the store. The Neon lights against the black carpet didn't give off much light. Definitely for teenagers, I thought to myself. As a price tag saying $120.00 beamed up at me I stopped. Unless my eyes were playing tricks on me, they expected someone to pay that much money for a multicolored shirt with no sleeves? I kept walking and found some clearance items that were more affordable. I got a few outfits but spent over half of the budget. That was enough for me. I was out of there.

I decided to switch gears and focus on my daughter. She wanted stuff from a store I liked. This will be easy, I thought. It will better than the black pit I had just left. As I walked through the store looking at the displays on the walls I picked up quite a few items. Before I knew it I had over $300 worth of clothes. That was more than my budget. I only had four or five outfits! I wanted to give her more than that. I made myself put back half of the clothes then decided to spend the rest of the money on something that could last both kids the rest of their lives.

I considered Quilts, Mugs and T-Shirts with photos on them but they wouldn't last. Then it hit me. A scrapbook! I had been scrapbooking for years, but had never made the kids an album. It was the perfect gift! I got started right away. Christmas was less than three weeks away.

I placed my photos on the pages. I journaled the stories along with the photos. Then I added colorful stickers and put page protectors on so that fingerprints could be wiped off. Finally, I added a few poems telling each of them how much I loved them and why. Then, I wrapped them with snowman Christmas paper and added them to the presents under the tree.

On Christmas morning, the kids opened up gift after gift. As they opened each one they said thank you, and threw it to the side awaiting the opening of the next one. But, when they opened their scrapbooks they opened them up right away. We sat around as a family and the kids went through all the pages reminding us of what was happening in the photos. They made sure when we went to grandmas for dinner they didn't forget them. Getting those new clothes on them was a different story!

Memories are important. It doesn't matter how old you are. You want to share the stories that are important to you. So do your kids. They love to read things about themselves and see the photos. I make them one every couple of years now. They usually ask me to cover important events in their lives, like vacations, or school events. It is the gift that makes you feel good and they will cherish it forever.

Memories To Cherish-Sample Layouts

Vanessa calleja — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 16:47:50 GMT

Check out some of my sample layouts! Your scrapbooks could look like this! --->

You can take any photos and make them into a scrapbook page! You can make simple pages or very detailed and elegant pages! The choice is yours!

If you are like most people you take a lot of photos! Where are they right now?

Want To See More Writings By Vanessa?

Vanessa calleja — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:28:54 GMT

Vanessa Calleja is a freelance writer specializing in scrapbooking, pets, family relationships, & health and wellness topics.

You can also see more of her writings by clicking on any of the links below:

Featured on Helium!

Expert Author on Ezine!

Scrapbooking Columnist on WAHM!

My Writing Broadcast On PNN!

Have A Scrapbook Project? Memories To Cherish Can Help!

Vanessa calleja — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 15:06:38 GMT

Are you photos in the closet? Under the bed? In a Shoebox? Do you want to share your memories? Not a scrapbooker? Don't have the time? Don't fret! I am here to help.

As a former independent consultant for a leading scrapbooking company I have over 10 years of experience putting scrapbooks together.

Services I offer:

Photo Organization
Digital Scrapbooks
Wedding Albums
Memory Albums
Anniversary Albums
Family Reunion Albums
Baby Albums
School Albums
Graduation Albums
Heritage Albums
Family Tree Albums
Baptism Albums
Confirmation Albums
Special Event Albums
Sweet Sixteen Albums
Birthday Albums
Holiday Albums
Mother's Day Albums
Father's Day Albums
Christening Albums

Interested? Email me or leave a comment with your name and how you would like me to contact you. (There is no cost to join PNN-but you have to join to leave a comment.) I will contact you within 24-48 hours to set up a consulation by phone, email or in person depending on your location.

Don't see the type of album you are looking for in the list above? No problem. Just contact me and we can discuss your vision!

Vanessa
Memories To Cherish

Like What You See? Let Me Know!

Vanessa calleja — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 04:05:56 GMT

Thank you for visiting my site!

I hope you have enjoyed your time here and liked my articles!

Did you leave a comment? You can also Email Me!

A Little About Vanessa

Vanessa calleja — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 23:42:48 GMT

I have two passions in life. Writing and Scrapbooking!

I made my first scrapbook over 10 years ago! I wanted to make a baby book for my daughter.

A few years later, I became an independent consultant for a leading scrapbook company. I ran my business for over 2 years, but because it involved teaching classes and having parties to sell products I decided to try something different. The teaching was fun, but I love to put scrapbooks together!

After this I began making scrapbooks as gifts....the rest is history! Memories To Cherish was born! Now I am able to help people preserve their memories!

Whatever your passion is, you should explore the possibilites! If you can do something you love, go for it!

Life is what you make it!

Email me with any questions! I would love to hear from you!

Sharing Your Story For Generations

Vanessa calleja — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:30:38 GMT

Do you have any photos stored in away in a shoebox and have no idea who is in the photo or when it was taken?

While looking through my grandma's tattered, mildew stained scrapbooks, I realized that almost every photo was deteriorating and fading. All of the memories that she wanted to share would be gone in the next generation. Some of the items in her scrapbooks were already ruined.

In the past, products used for scrapbooks were not safe for photo preservation. People thought they were cataloging their life. But, most of them did not journal, did not include dates and also didn't tell who was in the photos. They made these books with the intention that they would show them and then the people who looked at them would remember the stories as they listened. They didn't take into account that the products they were using would damage their photos, newspaper clipping and postcards. Nor did they think they might forget the stories themselves, or even worse, they might not live to tell every story.

Most scrapbook products today are acid free and lignin free. This is important bcause when an acid product comes in contact with photos it migrates, causing permanent damage and decay to the photo. Newspaper clippings contain a high amount of lignin which causes yellowing and discoloration. It is worth purchasing these products because trying to repair or correct photos damaged from acid and lignin can be costly and most of the time the damage is irreversible. The craft industry spends over a billion dollars a year developing products that are safe for photos. Some offer buffered pages that can remove high levels of lignin from newspaper clippings and make it safe to put them in a scrapbook with their photos.

The idea of documenting the events of their lives for themselves, but also for future generations is important to those who scrapbook. They see their lives as a never ending story that they want to share with their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so on.

How do you do this? By putting your photos in a scrapbook, using safe products, journaling the story and including the dates and those who are in the photos. Locks of hair, postcards, coins, etc can also be included in a scrapbook. These are a great way of telling the story using physical items.

Some scrapbooks are very detailed and some are very simple. It really doesn't matter how complex the layout, as long as you get the story on the page. You can use stickers, colored papers, and even use different colored pages in your albums. You can choose any style of album you like. You are not limited to a few items. The choices have always been endless. Even the scrapbooks of the past could be quite complicated.

Scrapbooks are not only popular in the U.S. They are companies that service Canada, Germany, Japan, the U.K., Austria, Australia, Taiwan, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and South Africa. After all, every memory is precious.

In years past, people made scrapbooks as a hobby. Today, that is still true, but it is also a billion dollar industry. Crafts stores and specialty scrapbook stores carry a large range of supplies that are competitively priced. If you want to you can even attend parties and retreats where men and womn get together and put scrapbooks together. Yes, I said men.

Don't want to play with paper and stickers? Are you too busy to craft? Today, your computer can even help you tell your story. You can download your digital photos or a photo CD on to your computer and using a photo program you can make a "digital scrapbook." You drop and drag your photos onto the templates of your choice, do some journaling and the book is processed and sent to you via snail mail.

Don't know where to start? Don't fret! There is help available. The internet, your local craft stores and even the newspaper contain all the information you need to get started. There are also over 90,000 independent consultants worldwide that have been trained to teach you how to scrapbook. These consultants have the knowledge, experience, time saving tools and safe products that you will need. They offer classes, free of charge, and will even come right to your home!

If you don't want to learn how to scrapbook yourself, why not hire someone to do it for you? A hard core scrapbook maker will take on this challenge with a smile. They love what they do, and it is important to them.

Have you shared your stories with someone? Are you confident they will remember the details? You can be sure if you document your family history in a scrapbook. People will always have photos, always share stories about them and no matter how the method of photo taking changes, scrapbooks will continue to share your stories for generations.