Welcome to Our Brand New Grandbaby

Today started out as most other days until we had a phone call from our oldest daughter to tell us she was at the hospital ready to give birth to our sixth grandchild a little girl who will be named Elsie. We received the phone call this evening to say that mother and baby were both well. Little Elsie came into the world weighing 7lbs 9oz at about 7:07 ET. We are so grateful for a healthy new addition to our family and look forward to getting to know this sweet little baby. We look forward to some photos that will be coming via email tomorrow, I cant wait to add them to a storybook.

I look forward to the many stories that this sweet child will bring to our lives.

www.GoStorybooking.com

Heritage Makers 2.0

I have returned home from a long weekend away at Heritage Makers Leaders Roundtable meetings. It has been a very exciting time for all of us as we anxiously wait for the release of Studio 2.0 I am counting the minutes until Wednesday for it to be released to all of Heritage Makers Directors. It is just as well it was not released today as I would have had a hard time getting any work done. I would have spent the day on my computer playing with the system and trying out all of the fantastic new features that come with 2.0. Coming home after a trip is difficult enough without having a huge distraction. I can’t wait to share 2.0 with all of my clients and my consultant team, and see their reactions. It takes a lot to impress my husband Nev where technology is concerned, but it was so amusing to see his jaw drop when he watched the demo of 2.0 on the weekend, that when I really became excited. Studio 2.0 is going to take Digital Scrapbooking to anyone who wants to do it without needing expensive software and finding many hours to learn it before you can even begin a project. For people who are not confident in designing a page (I fall into this category) we can use our growing collection of Easy Books to make a book that looks fantastic because it has been designed by one of our very talented consultants. These templates are very flexible and you can change things you don’t like or want to have in your book.

View my Easy Book page and click on the links to see the amazing templates on many different themes. Contact me if you would like to have these books in your publishing account to personalize with your own Digital Photos.

www.GoStorybooking.com

An Amazing Adoption Storybook

One of the most touching storybooks I had the privilege of assisting with was over a year ago. I was introduced to a young girl in her early twenties who expressed an interest in making a storybook. She indicted she had an important story she needed to tell. Several weeks after I had helped her get started she called me late at night and asked if she could come over to my home and use one of our computers. She was at the local public library using their computers and the library was closing and she was anxious to complete her book.

Firstly, I was amazed that she took on the project without owning a computer and was determined enough to use the resources of the local library. It was late at night but I am always up till late so I was happy to assist. After an hour or two in front of my computer, interrupted only by the occasional reach for a Kleenex, she completed the book and asked me to review it for her. Wow what a book!

This book was written for her 1 year old daughter whom she had placed with an adoptive family just prior to birth. She had been married at the time but the marriage fell apart and she felt strongly that the baby girl deserved to be raised by a mom and a dad. The adoptive parents had emailed her several photos taken during the first year and had agreed to allow the birth mom to attend the little girls first birthday.

This wonderful book was to be a special gift from a mom who gave birth to her and loved her enough to place her in a better environment with another mom who loved her and a father. The storybook included photos of the birth mom, her parents and siblings. It contained details of the road to the conclusion that adoption was the best path and the relationship that developed with the selected new parents. The storybook was emotional but joyful as it expressed feelings of love and gratitude and a firm belief in the power of prayer and faith at work in lives.

This wonderfully simple storybook would belong to this little girl, to let her know that she wasn’t abandoned by her birth mother but rather was lovingly and prayerfully placed in a carefully chosen home with a mom and dad who would love her as their own.

With a simple book this little girl will have a place to turn, anytime she wants to know “What did my mommy look like?” and “Why did she place me with my adoptive parents?”

What a wonderful thing for this sweet little girl to grow up not having to wonder about her birth mom but rather to know how much her birth mother loved her and cared for her so much to set aside her own heart ache to allow her to have what she couldn’t provide – a home with a loving mom and dad to raise her.

I will always be grateful for knowing this storybook was made and the goodness that it brought to all involved even a spectator like me.

A very special thank you to the birth mom and author of the book for being a wonderful human being!

My wish would be that every child placed for adoption could have the blessing of a storybook like this.

www.GoStorybooking.com

Sample from one of my books

This was a fun book for my grandaughter who felt it was time she had a “big girl” book.

The book is an 8 by 8 inch size and was a lot of fun to do. The border on each page is from one of the dozens of pre-made borders available using Heritage Makers classic publishing system. The page layouts were selected from the many layouts available. All I had to do was upload the photos and type the text. In all I finshed the book in 2 weeks working a couple of hours per week.

What a fun book for her!

www.GoStorybooking.com

My First Storybook

Here is my first effort at storybooking. I created a 5inch by 5 inch – also known as a brag book about my grandson. What a great experience. It was easy to do and gave me the encouragement to venture into bigger projects.