School Days Online Class

Inspirations Online Class – School Days

School Days. Join Lynda Angelastro and Roxanne Buchholz for the best in teacher gift, graduation and school yearbook projects, and a sneak peek of May’s art! To view the video of this free class, click on http://youtu.be/QnnLGGFMQn8

Heritage Makers holds online classes twice a month. Learn time-saving tips and tricks from Studio experts, including digital mastermind Lynda Angelastro -- former managing editor of Digital Scrapbooking magazine. Lynda and our other Inspirations Class instructors will demonstrate creative ideas and template shortcuts to bring an inspired touch to your storybooks and projects. 

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

Rebecca Brooks
Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com
940-453-9192
http://www.OurPhotoStories.com

FREE Premier Weekend May 3-7th

EXCITING NEWS! Another FREE Premier Weekend is coming!

Stay tuned for news about special online videos featuring timely tips and project ideas to be made available May 3-7th.

FREE use of all Premier art (90,000 digital art pieces and 8,000 pre-designed templates that can be customized)

Perfectly timed for National Scrapbooking Day (May 5)

Contact me today at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to find out how you can benefit from Free Premier Weekend.

http://www.OurPhotoStories.com
Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com

April is Awesome with Heritage Makers

Welcome to my April 2012 newsletter.

The world looks glorious outside. Trees are in bloom. The promise of spring is everywhere. Weddings, graduations and Mother’s Day gatherings are right around the corner. It’s the perfect time of year to plan ahead and create meaningful gifts and greetings for your spring and summer celebrations.

This issue of my April 2012 newsletter is chock full of ideas to make your spring gift giving fast, easy and meaningful. Check out our many Mother’s Day gift suggestions. Read our photography tips and Studio tricks articles. See what welcome gifts canvases can be for moms, grads and newly married couples. They’re our featured product this month and an additional 10% off your already low Club HM prices.

Join me at my Spring Fling Digi Crop as I give you the tools to sort, organize, save and share your photos.  I can help you “spring clean” your digital photos, and scan your pre-digital prints.  Spring cleaning is more FUN with friends, so bring a friend Saturday, April 21, 2012 10 am – 10 pm (come and go or come and stay)!

As this season of spring celebrations and gift giving begins, I encourage you to consider becoming a consultant on my Heritage Makers team. You’ll save even more money on those meaningful gifts you’re planning to give, while pursuing a financially rewarding business opportunity that can help lift the lives of you and your family. Contact me today and I can share more information with you about how our entire team would help you learn to bring meaningful HM moments to your family and friends

Click here to see April New Studio Art

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Getting Started About Club HM Club HM FB Hosting Opportunity

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Follow these photography tips to help ensure that your pictures turn out perfect. Learn more here. Newbies and pros alike will appreciate these time- and sanity-saving Studio tips. Read more here. Host a "Grad Gathering" or "Bridal Shower" party and enjoy free publishing! Find out how here. Start a business that you'll absolutely love and sell something that will never be resold! Learn more here.

Inspirations Online Classes Gifts and Greetings for Mom Thu, Apr 12, 2012 7:00 PM MDT Watch & Listen Here School Days Thu, Apr 26, 2012 7:00 PM MDT Watch & Listen Here

Upcoming Themes & Specials  April: Canvases All sizes (save 10%) May: 7x5 Storybooks (save 10%) June: 8.5x11 Booklets (save 10%)

            
Notice: Website maintenance
Apr 14 10:00 pm MST to Apr 15 2:00 am MST

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

Thank you for being my clients! Please let me know how I can help you get your projects complete. I am here for you!

Rebecca Brooks
Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com
940-453-9192
http://www.OurPhotoStories.com

No Spring Cleaning Needed

One of the simplest advantages to the Heritage Makers consultant opportunity is the sheer fact of what we sell. Or, more importantly, what we don’t sell. We don’t sell anything that causes clutter or needs to be “spring cleaned” from your home. We sell publishing points that clients turn into cherished family keepsakes in the form of storybooks and other custom publishing products.



It’s highly unlikely that any Heritage Makers product will end up on someone’s garage or yard sale. What we sell does not go out of style, season or fashion, which means we won’t discontinue products each season for those very reasons. No “clearance” merchandise! No inventory — simply share your OWN projects as samples!

Think of the many other product-focused direct sales opportunities available. Surely you’ve been invited to parties where a consultant is selling home décor, kitchen gadgets, food products, lotions, potions, jewelry, clothes, makeup, supplements, weight-loss shakes, bags, candles, cleaning supplies, and the like. There's nothing wrong with buying and enjoying those products—they're "nice" to have. What we're talking about here is something altogether different. If heaven forbid, your house were to erupt in flames, you might be tempted to spend an extra minute grabbing your Heritage Makers storybooks. Thank goodness there's Heirloom Assurance so you don't have to! The point is, no one would consider risking their life for gourmet kitchen gadgets, not to mention the scented candles, which are probably already gone anyway. Hey, wait a minute...is that what started this fire???



Unlike all these other products, Heritage Makers publishing projects are made to last and are treasured for generations to come. Storybooks are lovingly displayed on bookshelves and coffee-tables to be read and enjoyed time and time again. You can’t say that about a garlic press, earrings, lipstick, lunchbag, vitamins, mop or candle warmer, for example.

What’s more, our publishing products appeal to almost anyone — men and women, tweens to seniors, computer-challenged to tech-savvy, Mac and PC people, and everyone who has photos, both print photographs from the past and digital pictures of today. Very few people find our products undesirable because they see the value of saving their own photos and stories in a custom keepsake.

If you’re annoyed by the “stuff” you’ve accumulated and enjoy spring-cleaning those now-unwanted possessions, you may be an ideal candidate to consider starting a Heritage Makers business. Contact me to learn more about selling something everyone enjoys and that’s never resold!

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

Diapers To Diplomas & Books For Brides

This time of year two types of moms begin to stress out — moms of grads and moms of brides! The pressure to provide photos and memories from years past can easily overwhelm the most-organized mom.

Mothers of graduating high school seniors begin to panic about hosting an open house. Often the goal is to create a “diapers to diplomas” display of photos and memorabilia from birth through high school activities and achievements. It can be an elaborate and time-consuming task to say the least and usually strikes fear in the hearts of anyone who had once tried traditional scrapbooking.


Fortunately, Heritage Makers can help moms of grads & brides! From the invitations to thank-yous, party décor and display items, as well as gorgeous gifts, publishing projects created in Studio will make any grad or bride proud, and can take away the guilt and stress from busy moms!


Hosting an in-home party showcasing solutions from Heritage Makers with your fellow moms of grads, or even as a bridal party or shower, will be a fun way for you to earn an average of $100-$150 in FREE publishing for your own project plans. Everyone will enjoy seeing the creative choices and fully customizable options offered in Studio for their own photos and stories worth capturing and preserving.


Brides and grooms agree that Heritage Makers’ wedding projects are truly stunning — from invites and thank-yous to guest sign-in books, gallery-wrapped canvas prints, storybooks and so much more. You can host a bridal shower workshop featuring Heritage Makers publishing projects. Guests can give publishing points as gifts and their personal purchases help you earn host reward credit too!

You simply invite 10-12 friends and provide light refreshments. As your Personal Publishing Consultant, I’ll do the rest. Schedule a date with me soon so we can plan to publish your projects before your child’s graduation or wedding day!

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

A Trio of Tips

Awesome Studio Time Savers



1. Use Trash to Save Searching
Swap something out and the replaced item goes into the trash. Click on the trashcan to open the window and you’ll see all papers, photos and elements trashed in this Studio session, including the template’s original photos. To use a new photo in one spot and the original in another without having to go back and search your photo albums, simply open the trash window and find the replaced photo. Drag it into any “drop here to swap” target. Use the same technique for papers, alphabets or embellishments.




2. COPY and PASTE Simplifies Design
Want to add a photo to the layout? Sure, you could drag up your photo from the “my photos” tab and then resize, rotate and apply all the appropriate effects to it. Or you could simply copy and paste one of the photos from the layout, position it, then lock it and swap in your photo from albums. It saves time and simplifies your efforts.



Try “Copy” and “Paste in Place” to create several interesting effects. Make the new photo in front slightly smaller, then blur the back one to make a fuzzy outer edge. On text, “Copy” and “Paste in Place” to create a thicker “bold” effect, which is handy if you’re using a font that doesn’t have a built-in “bold.” Just be sure you are completely done editing before you do this, otherwise it will get confusing with two layers of the same text box!

“Copy” and “Paste Format” is another serious time-saver in the “Paste Special” menu. Once you have the effects you want on a photo, embellishment, alphabet or text box, simply select it, click “Copy.” Then select another item that you want to have the same effects on it. Click on the “Edit” menu, “Paste Special,” and “Paste Format” to have those same effects applied instantly. You can even SHIFT-select multiple items on the page to apply desired effects automatically.




3. The “C” Page is a Free Page
Other than the back cover, the last inside page of any storybook is labeled in the Page Manager as the “C” page. That “C” stands for COPYRIGHT. We overprint a ¾-inch white stripe with the HM logo, your consultant’s website and a unique code that allows us to identify your project. Design whatever else you want to fill the other 99% of the page! And if, by chance, you find a template in the gallery that leaves it blank, fill it however you see fit. It’s yours to use.

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

Photography Tips

Face-free PhotographyPhotographing the graduation, wedding or Mother’s Day gathering? Capture a least a few photos that are face free. Relationships and settings are often more powerfully demonstrated with tight close-ups of things other than faces. Let’s look at a few shots you won’t want to miss.








HandsSnap grandma holding hands with grandpa or the newest member of the family. Grab a photo of the bride and groom hand-in-hand as husband and wife or capture the diploma in your young graduate’s grasp. Show Mom helping her daughter prepare for the prom or graduation. And too, if the event has associated traditions like a tea ceremony or signing a wedding certificate, those moments also deserve the power that a close up, face-free photo brings.







The DetailsGet in close and capture the décor, the jewelry, the shoes and socks, or lack of them, which make your family’s special occasion unique. If it’s a graduation, document the program, the flowers, and the school emblems that are displayed along with the Hawaiian print shorts your son will wear underneath his graduation gown. And if it’s a wedding, remember most wedding décor is chosen to be a reflection of the young couple. Will the bride be sporting jeweled flip-flops under her wedding dress? Are the paper lanterns a nod to her Chinese ancestry? Will one of the groomsmen be wearing purple socks? Let the personal touches they choose for their celebration live on forever in photos, and the memories made will be remembered long after the event is over.





The LocationTrying to get everyone in the photo and still see the scene behind is often just not practical. Always include at least a few face-free shots to help define the location. Whether it’s the celebration table, the high school sign, the outside of the church or a photo of the road sign; such scene-setting photos add context to your pages and projects.

Adding Context and DetailWhile faces are the mainstay of photographed moments, you can add rich detail and important context with your no faces photos. Never let them replace those smiling faces. Just think of them as the icing on the cake!

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

April New Studio Art

Looking for collections with a decidedly feminine touch for that wedding, pregnancy or Mother’s Day project? April’s art offering provides a variety of female-friendly collections that fit the bill perfectly.

Two of our April releases are from French art provider Digital Crea. “Away from You” and “Say Yes” are both filled with frames, foliage and flowers designed for wedding, romantic or other feminine layouts and books.



Looking for home, family or gardening themed art? Our “Time 4 Family” and “Silver Bells and Cockleshells” are wonderful additions for just such storybooking. Check out the cute family pets and the wonderful tree in “Time 4 Family” and the rusted buckets and gardening tools in “Silver Bells and Cockleshells.”



Clean, contemporary and loads of fun, “A Pea in the Pod” is a tastefully designed pregnancy collection. You’ll love it for baby showers, pregnancy journals and recording the arrival of the little one. In this month’s single departure from the more feminine, you and your train-toting toddler will be completely on board with railroad themed “Engine No. 9” from Gina Miller of The Lily Pad.



For wonderful Mother’s Day gifts and greetings for grandma, oma or nana in your family’s life; be sure to check out “Child of My Child: Grandma Add-on.” Its papers, elements and word art are designed for your special grandmother, no matter what the grandkids call her.
And to finish out this month’s art offering, we’re releasing three versions of the 2013 calendars. Jump-start your holiday gifts by taking advantage of these early release calendars today.

Art Purchased Just for You

With almost more art than you could store on your home computer (if you could afford to purchase it in the first place), Heritage Maker art grows every month and you help it get there! Customers just like you send suggestions for seasonal, themed and evergreen art and we listen! Need new Father’s Day art? Interested in a sport we haven’t covered? Want to commemorate a road trip and could use a little extra art? Let us know. We’re building this gigantic and varied art collection to suit you!

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

collection to suit you!

Club Kudos

The Club HM Facebook page was designed just for you. Visit today and you can be part of a supportive community that focuses on learning, growing and sharing. We offer tips to teach, answers to questions, and creative challenges to help us appreciate new art, try new products and learn different ways to document our life stories.



Learning a New Approach
In a recent “No Faces, Photo Challenge” Club HM Facebook members were challenged to document a relationship without showing any faces. The inspiration piece for the challenge was Renee Lamb’s “Unbreakable Bond” a 12 x 12 scrap page, template 78444. Renee’s page showed her three step-daughters sitting on a fence holding hands. The “unbreakable” bond illustrated in the photo was a powerful lesson to many of us on the Club HM page that faces are not always the best focal point for a relationship photo.



Club HM member entries poured in for this one-winner-only challenge, and many were the most striking projects ever posted on Club HM. Some of those in the running to win were Tina Snider’s project “made from a photo she had taken the previous year and loved and Karen Cattles’ project “Love is Color Blind” honoring her new grandson.



Lisa Iwata adapted a page from a page she’s made previously featuring her daughter and her three best college friends. Michelle Bedard’s 12 x 12 scrap page, “A Happy Day” had recently become template 32514 in the Template Gallery and was also a big hit.



And the Winner Was . . .
Our "No Faces" Challenge was one of the most moving challenges we've ever had. From tiny baby hands to children led along by Dad and babies yet to be born, we LOVED how many ways our Facebook Club HM members found to demonstrate deep relationships without showing faces. Our final winner was Jan Stamm for her touching portrait of mom and grandma lovingly preparing the bride for her wedding. It’s a 12 x 12 scrap page, now template 82049 and called "Three Generations of Love."

The Real Winners
The real winners on the Club HM pages are the thousands of participants that learn and grow each day. Join us. We’d love to have you.

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.