imagine this.

Imagine an app for your iPhone that allows you to edit, organize AND easily add comments & stories.

Imagine an app that helps you get your photos off Facebook and into your life.

Imagine an app that sends reminders to take pics on special occasions.

Imagine an app that when you add a print plan and FLAG your favorites, they will automatically be printed and shipped to your door! (With NO shipping charges.)

Imagine that the app is FREE... and you get it from me... or at the Apple App Store.

No imagining necessary. It is called inawink. And it is coming soon!

This is Ahni & Zoe.

may i introduce...

Ahni & Zoe might be just what you need to get your photos off your devices and into your life!  A simple approach to album making... from snap to finish!  

The inawink app can be attached to a print plan - Simply tag 25 favorites - They will be printed and shipped to your door in a wink! All for only $8.50 - no shipping charge.

Ask me about the no-decisions album pages AND slide-in pages. It is genius. You have to see it to believe it.

We are waiting on the app... I will let you know when it arrives!

our new pathway for support & updates.

Hello  fellow lovers of Memory Manager & StoryBook Creator!  These two software programs changed my life for the good just over 7 years ago.  They equipped me with tools to manage my digital images with ease and confidence... all 40,000 of my photos can be found and enjoyed because they are in user friendly folders with helpful labels.  More importantly, these two software programs have helped me get my photos out of cyber space and safely into my family's hands. Now memories can be relived and stories can be passed down from generation to generation because our photos are enjoyed in hardcover albums, calendars, cards, photo panels and family cookbooks.

My love for these programs can hardly be contained.

As you know, Creative Memories was the company that introduced us to these amazing products that were created by Caspedia, now called Panstoria.  And we are all thankful for the great support CM provided over the past 7+ years!  In the process of Creative Memories' exciting "makeover", they have decided to reemerge without MM and SBC, but the good news is that the mother company will be providing us with the support and updates that we want from October 2nd forward.  We can even smoothly transition all of our digital embellishments in SBC - and all of our labeling, sorting, stories & stars in Memory Manager!

The link below (in pink) will take you to the Panstoria site and link you to me as my customer.  You can share this link (and this web site) with any friends you know that want to get Memory Manager (Historian) or StoryBook Creator (Artison) - and enjoy the best photo software in the world for themselves.  Or click on the banner under "about Me" on the right.

Support for Memory Manager & Storybook Creator through PANSTORIA

I am still researching what our best print options will be in the future.  In the next few days or weeks, Panstoria will be offering print services through the Panstoria Print Shop (similar to print services available at the CM Digital Center).  I want to spend some time researching where we will find the highest quality products, because that is what always sold me on Creative Memories.  I will keep you posted right here.

If you own StoryBook 4.0, you got an update notice in your software yesterday, October 2nd.  (Open your SBC software and look in the lower left hand corner.)  When you complete this update, you will have access to the Panstoria Print Shop.  I could not get the update to work for me today but I am sure they are working out all kinds of bugs.  Just be patient.  The great news is that the programs will still be supported and updated, and there is still a place where we can ask our questions. 

If you own StoryBook 3.0, watch for your update notice to appear around October 7th.

I plan to continue my Digital Diva Classes --- with hopes of going viral with some of the training.  Exciting times. 

the ONE YEAR...AND COUNTING album.

The Cover - Front & Back

Pages  1-20

 

This is a simple 20 page album that you can make in a snap!  I created this one to honor Charlotte's first year of life. It is basically a Photo-A-Month album.  What a blast to watch a baby grow up right before your eyes in a simple 20 page album.

Here is the link for you to view the StoryBook:
To see the shared StoryBooks Karen Blanc shared with you, simply follow this link:http://www.cmphotocenter.com/photos/share.php?code=-2M0Qh5Yg_LVLtt7yzcDlltGN_mGoZ4Z&share_type=storybook

And guess what? I made a ONE YEAR... AND COUNTING Template for SBC so you can make your own version quick as a wink!   Just clink on the link below to download the Predesigned Pages.   Drop and drag your own photos into the grey boxes - and VOILA!  Baby Album DONE.

Click here to view ONEYEAR...AND COUNTING Template.

I started with a pregnancy photo labeled 0 MONTHS.   Then I followed with 1 HOUR, 1 DAY and 1 WEEK.  (You could change it up depending on what precious photos you have.)   Then I followed with 1 MONTH, 2 MONTHS, 3 MONTHS, etc..   The hardest part is selecting just one photo!

On the last double page spread, I put 16 photos on each page that reflected her growing up like magic right before your eyes!  This also allowed me to use more of the favorite photos from her first year.  The final page was reserved for photos from the first birthday party.

I am sure you noticed (or I hope you did!) that this sort of works like a COUNTING BOOK too.

Babies grow up faster than you can say 1,2,3...

exciting times.

As you know, I am married to MM and SBC, so to speak.  These software programs have helped me to keep my treasures safe, and to enjoy my photos more fully.  I am in love with them and passionate about them.  And I have a love relationship with Creative Memories.  I am truly thankful that Memory Manager, StoryBook Creator and Creative Memories have given me an opportunity to have "work" that I love... and that doesn't feel like "work" at all.

As our beloved company re-designs itself for a happy future, I am now actually and honestly anticipating the transition.  I plan to stay loyal to CM and to MM & SBC --- and I hope to take you all with me!

What I know today:

1.  We know now that MM and SBC will be supported - either by a new vendor relationship or with the software's "mother", Panstoria.  Be comforted that we will still have:
 

- Continued support

- Continued ability to buy digital artwork and use it in SBC

- Continued ability to print StoryBooks and other output that we will be proud to own

- Continued availability of upgrades and improvements to the software

- Access to existing projects

- Ability to move the software to other machines

2.  Creative Memories has exiting things up their sleeves with the new company.  One of my dear, dear consultant friends is currently Beta testing the new digital app they will be launching in November.  And while she signed a confidentiality agreement and could not share specifics, I could hear the sheer excitement & enthusiasm in her voice about where we are going as a company.

This means we can still use the software that we are IN LOVE with - and also have access to a digital app that will offer 'simpler solutions' when we need it.

I just wanted to write to share my heart about this stuff... and my excitement.  We should all be working to complete any projects we have in the works, as we can use the current CM Digital Center to order projects until September 23.  I am having a blast being a busy bee with my photo projects.  This deadline is helping me stay more committed to the projects I long to complete.

Thank you for sharing my love for stories & photos!

 

do this.

If someone were is ask me "If you only had time to make ONE photo album this year, what would it be?"  My answer: Make an in-a-nutshell album about your life.  Where you live, what you do, what your house looks like, what your kids look like, and then add some nutty facts about yourself. 

When we went to Ireland four years ago, Mike is the one who said "You should make an album about our day-to-day lives to take with us.  Even though there isn't a language barrier, a picture is worth a thousand words and it might help us connect with more people."   Did it ever!  We were amazed at the number of times we whipped out this little album and made a conversation more interesting.

The fun (and fascinating) thing about this album project is that "ordinary life pictures" are sometimes something we don't even have in our possession.  The advent of the cellphone camera has helped, but ask yourself --- do you have a photo of the outside of your house?  Your car?  Do you have a nice photograph of where you work - and spend hours everyday? 

I grabbed our "Made in 2009 About Us Album" when I headed out the door to a 125th Anniversary Celebration of Delta Gamma recently.   While conversing with sorority sisters, I was shocked by how out-of-date our little book was - in just 4 short years!  There was no mention of our 2+ year house renovation... or Mike's cancer journey... or the addition of 6 grandchildren!  Below are some of the pages from our REVISED About Us album.  You can view the whole thing on this link:

Revised ABOUT US StoryBook

If you meeting someone for the first time and only had a few minutes to tell about yourself --- what would you say?  These are the sorts of things that go in an ABOUT US album.  

I always try to grab this little album when we are going out of town.  I was glad I had it in my purse when Mike was having his cancer surgery in St. Louis.  It turned out that Mike had to be on a ventilator for three days... the nurses that tended to him day and night knew nothing of the man they were caring for.  I made sure to leave the little ABOUT US book on the tray table next to his bed each night so that when he couldn't talk or communicate --- the book could for him.  I wanted the nursing staff to know about the fine man they were caring for.  Because of this simple collection of photos... they did.

thoughtful words.

"If you want to learn what someone fears losing, watch what they photograph."

 

Got this cool quote from photographer extraordinaire, Wyn Wiley.

Isn't it amazing to ponder the power of photography.

 

I used to regularly tell my clients that even taking a photograph of a child (or adult) esteems them, because it is communicating that 'you care' and 'you want to remember this moment together'.

 

It is thrilling to ponder that our photography (even with our phones) communciates a lot about us.

 

The wonders of photography run deep.

How are you protecting your treasure?