What would you do differently?

We all have those moments when you think “I wish I had done….” For me that happens all the time when I am talking to new moms. I wish I had kept a pregnancy journal… or I wish I had kept a better log of the “Baby’s First” milestones. I got in the habit of thinking, I will do that when she can start sitting up on her own, or when she can crawl, or when she can walk, and I now find myself thinking I wish I had started doing that before I had a toddler to chase around! So before she turns 18, and I have completely forgotten everything, I am making an effort to really work on her First Year Book, and do Family Yearbooks!

Here are some photo organizing tips that work for me! First I am so thankful for my iPhone and Dropbox! When I sync my photos into Dropbox from my phone, they save as the date and time the photo was taken. I try to sync my phone at least once a month. Then I go into Dropbox on my computer and move the photos from the “camera upload” file to the month and year the photo corresponds with on my computer. So for example 2013 would look something like this:

Then from there I go through and make sure all the pictures are facing the right direction, and then I delete the multiples, or blurry photos… This step is very time consuming and hard for me. I feel like I need to save all the pictures of my daughter, but I don’t need the 20 pictures I took trying to get the one smile, and neither do you! They aren’t going to remember that photo was taken J

From there I will upload all the remaining pictures to my Heritage Makers Studio, saved the same way by year and month.

Now I have everything ready and I can just go through and pick my favorite pictures to put in her book J

How do you stay organized?? Any advice for first time moms? I hope these tips helped you!

If you would like more info, or have any questions for me, please feel free to email me!

busybeehm@gmail.com

www.heritagemakers.com/busybee

Easter Fun

Easter is coming up quick! We usually just celebrate it by having a family dinner, but this year Payton will be able to do a little egg hunt! I can’t wait to see how much fun she will have looking for the eggs! Here are a couple ideas on how you can make your Easter celebrations a little more personal!

Easter Basket using paint cans:

Who doesn’t love something made just for them? Using template ID 104746 you can change up the name on the tag and its ready to publish! Or you can Change it up so it fits your personality! It’s so simple!

Easter Chocolate Wrappers:

A big part of Easter is chocolate! How great would it be to open up a little egg with a little Hershey’s Nugget wrapped to match your bucket?? Or even make these for your candy bowl on your desk, or in your kitchen! Template ID 104748 is all set up for you, or you can make it personal and add your family name!

Easter Greeting Card:

My family loves seeing pictures of our little girl, so I try to send a card out when we take new pictures! Here is the 7×5 Card I created using Heritage Makers. I started with a blank project and went to the “Hey Chickie” artwork and selected a few elements from the collection. 15 minutes later I had a card ready and waiting for photos!

However you choose to celebrate the holiday, there are so many ways to make it personal and fun using Heritage Makers!

Let me help you create beautiful keepsakes you and your family can enjoy for years to come!!

Personalizing Templates

Personalizing Templates to make something look so different is simple with Heritage Makers! Earlier this month HM Home Office had a challenge for their design team… They were given a 6×4 Invitation “Map”  and they were to create their own invite along the same idea as the map, and had to leave the picture and text the same. Here is the Map they were given: 

(Template ID: 102966)

Below are some of the invites the design team came up with:

 

Here is what I created:

 

As you can see there are 5 different birthday invitations here and each one looks completely different! This challenge is a great way to show how easy it is to make something your own using HM. From here you can create one of a kind decorations for your party all with the same color scheme and/or theme!! No need to run around to several different stores trying to find something that will work with the theme your trying to create!

Are you planning any parties? What is your theme?

If you like what you see here please let me know!

Snapshot Storybooks

Towards the end of December, beginning of January, I had seen a lot of post on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest about project365 and/or Project Life. I didn’t really know what it was, and I didn’t really look into it. Well along comes this month’s Heritage Makers Inspiration Class (these are twice a month) and the subject was “Snapshot Stories-Scrapbooking Made Easy”. (you can watch the class here)  Basically Snapshot Stories are a way to keep up with everyday life and make sure those important little moments don’t get left behind. Heritage Makers has made this REALLY simple! They have so many templates (and new ones are added every day) to fit the 4×6 & 3×4 format of the Project Life page protectors, or you can use one of the many templates for an entire 12×12 page that you can add to your post-bound album.

I am so excited for this style of scrapbooking! I had never heard of it until this week. The idea is to work on a smaller scale and do a page a night, once a week, or even once a month. At the end of the year you have your family year book done! Or maybe you want to start a little smaller and do just the School year as a teacher gift, or just the season of your child’s sport. Whatever you decide to do, Snapshot Stories go together quick, and your pages look stylish and memorable!

Here are a couple templates you can use to make your own! 

Or you can start with the Snapshot Story Map, just drag and drop your photos and artwork! 

 

Don’t you just love these?!? I am currently working on Payton’s first year baby book and will be using this format. How would you use Snapshot Stories in your digital scrapbooking? 

If you really liked these templates, and want to get started on creating your family’s story, please contact me!!  

Creating Memorable Gifts

Since having Payton I have become a planner! Ok maybe it started before she came into my life, but I feel like I have way more to plan for now!! So I start thinking about what I am going to give as gifts for each holiday way before its really necessary…It isn’t even Valentines Day and I’m already thinking about what holiday is next?? For us the next big gift holiday is Mother’s Day in May. I don’t know about you, but my mom is one of the hardest people to shop for. This year she will be getting something made from Heritage Makers… but what?? There are so many options… Here are a few great gift ideas for any occasion!

 11×14 Poster… This is a great gift, and its one of the more affordable projects to make. You can publish this beautiful subway art template (ID: 85291) as is, you can change the words around, or you can create something more personal by adding photos of your loved ones! Buy a great frame to match the gift receivers house and your done!

 

Bucket Bag… Who doesn’t love to see pictures of their family everyday?? and What grandma doesn’t love showing off her beautiful grand-babies? This Bucket Bag is a great option and you can get an additional 10% off in March, or host a home workshop and get a great deal as a host gift! Plan ahead with this one, it takes 2-4 weeks to be processed and delivered.

 

Photo books.. These are beautiful and a great way to showcase how special someone is to you! You can make the book a story about them, or even have a Q&A with your kids about why they love grandma, and include photos of them together. The best part is Heritage Makers offers a variety of sizes and styles of storybooks. You’re sure to find one that fits your budget and needs!  

 

There are a ton of different ways to use Heritage Makers to show someone how much they mean to you! What will you create? 

Whatever it is, make it memorable with Heritage Makers!

Becoming an Independent Consultant

Direct Sales business’ have been popping up for years. They are really popular when they first get going, then they kind of drop off… at least that’s how I see it. With so many direct sales companies coming and going, it only makes sense to be apprehensive about putting your money into something that may or may not be around for long. One thing that pushed me to start was the fact that I had never heard of Heritage Makers before. This company’s product is so great, and can fit into anyone’s life!

One question I get asked a lot is: Why are you doing this? It’s not for the money, even though that is a great motivator! I am doing this because I cherish family! I want Payton to know who helped get her to where she is. I want her to know that she is loved beyond just her parents. And I believe everyone should share those beautiful life moments with their families. How great is it to find your parents old photo album and see their life as a kid? As we get older the stories start to change, and the little details tend to get foggy. With Heritage Makers you can write those stories down as they happen, and in 5/10/15/20 years we won’t need to worry about the little details.

It’s only been a month since I joined, and I am ready to be a part of this company for life!  One thing that really inspires me is being part of a  company that has great leaders. At the Regional Connect Conference the rep from the Home Office was the VP of Sales and Marketing, and he was such a nice guy! He knew most of the consultants there, and he made a point to get to know the new faces! I mean how many VP’s do you know that will do that? This company was started 9 years ago, and they still have several consultants who started with them. It is a great feeling knowing you are joining a team who wants everyone to succeed!!

If you feel like this is something that you can see yourself being a part of, let me know and I can get you more info about joining my team!

Let’s make 2013 the year you start recording your own history, and let’s do it in a beautiful way!

Customized Valentines

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and this will be Payton’s first time exchanging valentines. I enjoy being crafty, and what better way to show that than with Valentines? I haven’t fully decided on what we will be doing, but I did put together these Valentines as a possibility…

These were put together pretty quickly using Heritage Makers Studio! I started with a blank 5×7 invitation then all I had to do was make one, copy and paste into the 3 open spots. Once I had everything in place and locked, I went through and changed the background paper, made everything color coordinate using the eye dropper tool (LOVE that!) and I was done! on the back I did one solid background and added a maze 🙂 These could easily be taken to the next level by adding a picture, adding more embellishments, or changing the background paper.

However you choose to show your love, make it personal and memorable!

XOXO