Bound to be Cherished

Summer Vacation Memories

2010-06-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun idea for recording those family memories on vacation...

Have a photography contest with the members of your family! My family just got back from a great vacation in San Francisco. Each day of the vacation, we took tons of pictures. At the end of the day, we had to each pick our 5 favorite photos. We then uploaded all 25 photos to Facebook and had people vote on them. It took a few days to catch on, but then we had people coming back each day to see what cool, new things we took pictures of. After we got back, we took the top 5 photos from each day (our friends' choices), and posted them all together as the Championship photos. We then asked everyone to vote on their top 5. As I type this, we are in a 3 way tie! I wonder who the winner of the family photography contest will be?!

If you don't have a Facebook account, you can upload them to Flicker, or Photobucket. And then email all of your friends and family and have them go view and vote on the pictures. This was a fun thing to do as a family. Not only did we have some healthy competition going on, but we now have some really amazing photos for our family vacation book. I'll start working on that soon.

Just a word of caution - don't get so caught up in getting the perfect photo of some"thing", that you forget to take pictures of the people in your family enjoying the vacation.

A few pointers for your vacation book...

1. Using a Vacation Dailies pack of journaling pages from Cherish Bound is the perfect, most easy way to help record your vacation memories. It will take you from the planning, through your vacation, and to the trip home.

2. Make sure to ask everyone to contribute to the book of memories - maybe ask what their top 5 favorite things were. Then, using one page of the book - list all of those. I did this on the last vacation book I made, and I added a picture of each person's TOP FAVORITE THING about the vacation.

3. Get your book done ASAP - don't put it off. Start and finish it the week after your vacation. If you don't, you'll start to forget all of the fun you had.

4. Instead of buying souveniers, save your money, and use it to make a beautiful hardbound vacation book - your kids will love it forever!

Have a great summer vacation - and, let me know if you do the photo contest. I'd love to hear how yours went.

Blog Feature, and Give-Away

2010-04-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

Today, this blog is being featured on April Shower's website (she is the designer who did my Incredible Women blog!). I'm doing a SWEET give-away for my feature over there.

Here's what you'll get if you win:

$57 Value Storybook Kit
--------------------------

"When I Was Little" Story Starter
"Looking Back" Mini Story Starter
"Recipe" Mini Story Starter
All in a Sassy Binder!

Along with this story kit, you'll get a free lifetime customer account, plus a $29 coupon for publishing!!

With this package, you'd be able to do a beautiful book about your childhood, OR even help your parents do a book about theirs! Don't miss a chance to win this fun give-away. Head over to April's blog and do what she says!

And just to get you in the mood for creating your new book, here's a sneak preview - a couple of questions from the "Looking Back" Mini-Story Starter:

"What was your first time away from your home or family?"
"What was the first time you were scared - and what were you scared of?"

CHALLENGE: Try this...

1. Using one of the questions above, for three minutes, brainstorm. Write down everything that comes to mind - names, dates, places, etc. Everything you can think of about the question.

2. For the next 3 minutes, using the stuff you wrote down, flesh out those ideas - make those ideas and words into complete sentences, and then a full paragraph.

Believe me, ANYONE can write for just 3 minutes. Here's mine:

"What was the first time you were scared?"

Brainstorming: me, my friend (probably Alicia), my little sis, Kristin, parents playing cards, movie, Jack Nicholson, bat, ax, hotel, "Red Rum", running up the stairs, Rick teasing me, scariest movie ever!

My Story:

"Well, I don't remember if this was the first time, but it left a huge impression on my memory. I remember quite clearly watching a movie with one of my friends, and my little sister, Kris. My parents used to invite their friends over to play cards. On one of those occasions, the adults were playing upstairs and we were downstairs, watching Jack Nicholson, in "The Shining" - a movie based on a Stephen King novel. We were lying on the floor, cuddled underneath a giant blanket, and every few minutes we would SCREAM our heads off. You know the part in the movie, where Jack is advancing up the stairs toward his wife, who has a bat in her hands? Very calmly, he says, "Give me the bat", as he's stalking her. The screams that came out of our mouths would have made the dead wake up. And the part where he is hacking through the wooden door with an ax, trying to get to his wife, who has locked herself in the bathroom?! Pure terror! I've remembered that all my life. There is nothing that freaks me out more than when my husband teasingly looks at me and says, "Give me the bat, Kara." (!) I'm always thinking about that scene when I'm running up the stairs, too, and I always trip. Looking back, I can't believe that my parents let us watch that movie! They must not have known what is was like."

See? That's not hard AT ALL. It's actually quite fun. Try it! And then, comment on this post, and let me know how it went. (By-the-way, this is what we do in a Story Workshop - we just take questions, one by one, and write about them. It's really fun. If you want to schedule a workshop - either at your home OR as an online party, let me know.)

Genealogy - Make Your Family Tree

2010-03-31T09:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, my mom came over and we spent some time searching for some ancestors on one of the genealogy sites. I can't believe some of the stories we found about ancestors from the 1600s and the 1700s. Have you ever done this - researched your family? Try it - you'll be amazed at what you'll find. It won't be easy - the answers don't often just fall into your lap - you'll have to be a Sherlock Holmes and solve some mysteries, but it is worth it.

I can't wait to find more stories, and then put them all into a book for my family!

Here's your challenge: Write down your family tree - 4 generations back. And then, using those names, do some research and try to find out something you didn't already know.

Here are some of the great online tools you can use:
www.Ancestry.com
www.Genealogy.com
www.Familytreesearcher.com
www.Familysearch.org
www.Findyourfamilytree.com
www.Onegreatfamily.com
www.Familytrees.net

Let me know how it goes!

Story Starter Question... Discovering Me (Teen)

2010-03-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

The new "Discovering Me" Story Starter is for the teens in your life. It's part of the "School Collection" of Story Starters from Cherish Bound. There are 4 sections in this story starter: Discovering Me, Where I Come From, Who I Am, and Where I Am Going. This story starter has 42 "fill-in-the-blank" statements. Here are two of them...

1. I want the world to see me...

2. I just wish I had more...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few suggestions on how to use this story starter:
a. Have a "family night", and use these statements to get to know each other better.
b. Give your teen a journal, and use this story starter to give them ideas to write about.
c. Use a statement from the Story Starter to help your teens become better writers.

If you'd like to purchase a Discovering Me Story Starter, or any of Cherish Bound's 50+ Story Starters, you can contact me at (801)360-4666 OR kara(at)cherishbound(dot)com.

Digitizing Memories

2010-03-09T22:59:00.001-08:00

The following is a post that appeared on my personal blog today. I thought it would help my customers out, so here you go...

I thought I'd post a few guidelines for scanning pictures here. If you are as old as me (*wink*), A LOT of your photographs are not digital. It's really a good idea to get them scanned and digitized.

Most scanners should allow you to set the dpi guidelines. For normal sized pictures (4x6 and bigger), you should set the dpi to 300. For smaller pictures (3x5s, wallet sizes, etc.) set the dpi to 600. This will take MUCH longer than the pictures being scanned at 300 (which explains why it took me ALL DAY to scan pictures), but it's totally worth it, because you'll be able to enlarge these pictures with no problem.

At the VERY LEAST, please please please fix the red eye in your pictures. Nothing annoys me more then seeing pictures where everyone looks possessed! This should be a simple fix using Photoshop, Picassa, or any photo editor you have.

Before scanning your photos, ORGANIZE them. It's doesn't take that long and it's really worth the time and effort. I usually just take a handful of photos and split them up into different piles. (some suggestions: one pile for each person in your family, trip photos, holiday photos, pet photos, etc.). Get some of those cool photo organizer boxes (they look like shoe boxes), and using the dividers and labels, place your "piles" of photos in the boxes. Then, very methodically, take each pile - scan it - put the pile back - and then move to the next pile.

It's tempting to just scan, scan, scan until you're through with all of the scanning, but I think that it's easier to organize your photos on your computer as you go. I just make a different file on my desktop for each "group/pile" of pictures and as I scan them, I throw them immediately into Photoshop, fix them, and then save them to the appropriate file. SUPER EASY. After scanning, say, all of the photos of my family members into their own separate files, I'll make a new file entitled Our Family Photos (or something like that), and drag all of the individual files into that one master file. Then, I drag that file into my Photo directory.

As I take pictures now with my digital camera, I just upload them to my laptop and put them into the appropriate file.

It really isn't that hard to take that HUGE box full of photos and digitize and organize. Think about how pleased your extended family will be when you present them with a CD full of family photos! I've been working on my family photos (ancestors) for awhile now, and in the very near future, I'll have almost ALL of the existing photos digitized and put onto CDs to distribute to all of my Aunt/Uncles/Cousins/etc. Someone has got to do it - and if it's this easy, maybe that someone should be you! In just a few weeks time, you'll have all of your photos in digital form, and ready to make into a book! Good luck.

If you decide that you just don't have the time to do this yourself, this is something that you can hire me to do. I charge 50 cents per scan - that price includes cropping to the desired size, color fixes, red-eye reduction, and minor photo repair. Plus, I'll put all of your photos onto a CD for free! You can order additional CDs for $5.00 each. You can contact me at kara(at)cherishbound(dot)com.

Other People's Books

2010-03-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

I don't know if any of you know this, but if you don't have the time to do your books, I'll do them for you! In fact, I'm actually working on a book right now for a client. His dad is turning 80, and this book is a celebration of his life. I'm having a great time. I'm about 1/2 done, and have about a week until the deadline.

It is entirely possible to do a life story in 2 weeks, or less.

If you'd like to work on yours, or your parents life stories, contact me and I'll help you get going. There is nothing better than giving a gift like this!

kara(at)cherishbound(dot)com. 801-360-4666

My Interview for Startup Princess

2010-03-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

I was interviewed over at Startup Princess about my Cherish Bound business. Here's the URL if you are interested in reading the interview...

http://startupprincess.com/introducing-kara-herron-mother-and-blogger/

$5 Buck Friday!!!!

2010-02-24T06:28:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while Cherish Bound offers this incredible deal - $5 Buck Friday. This is a HARDBINDING special - you can get hardbinding on any book ordered (new order or re-order) for $5 instead of $17. This is a $12 dollar savings. This weekend (starting Friday, the 26th of February) Cherish Bound has generously offered to extend the $5 Buck Friday through the whole weekend.

So, if you'd like to finish a book you are working on, OR order another copy of a book you previously did, OR even make a brand new book (it CAN be done in such a short time), GO FOR IT!

This only happens 2 or 3 times per year, so now is the time to take advantage of this great deal. If you have any questions, please contact me at 801-360-4666 OR kara(at)cherishbound(dot)com.

GREAT TIME TO SIGN UP AS A CHERISH BOUND CONSULTANT!

2010-02-18T08:53:00.001-08:00

Cherish Bound is running a Consultant Sign-up special right now, and it runs through the 20th of February...

When you sign up to be a consultant by Feb. 20th, with ANY Starter kit, you get your Cherish Bound email account for FREE! That's a $25 savings! And, if you purchase our $99 Starter Kit or higher, you'll get your email account free PLUS receive our Office on the Go Bonus Pack! Your kit will come packaged in a great tote bag and you’ll get added business tools like pens, pencils, extra event reminders, etc. Start this year off right with one of our fantastic Starter kits and set yourself up to earn the extra income you need in 2010!

If you are thinking about becoming a Cherish Bound Consultant, now would be a great time to do it, don't you agree?!

Contact me at kara(at)cherishbound(dot)com to find out how - or just go to www.cherishbound.com and sign up. If you want to be part of my team, be sure to sign up under my consultant number: 677.

Consultant Sign-up Special

2010-02-05T08:20:00.001-08:00

If you are interested in joining the Cherish Bound team, and helping others tell their stories, now is the time to join! There is a "Storytellers" special - $25 - which signs you up to be a consultant, and give you some fun product. This is a great deal. Becoming a consultant gives you a 20% discount on all products and all of your publishing. You earn commissions on products you sell and your customers who publish. There are NO minimums to stay a consultant, either. SUPER good deal.

Contact me at: kara(at)cherishbound(dot)com, and let me help you get started. I'd love to add you to my team.

VALENTINE'S DAY IDEAS

2010-01-18T18:13:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

Now, I know the holidays are over, and that big push to finish your books is done. But, I don't want you to pack away all of your photos and memories until next year! Now is the time to start working on preserving those memories that mean so much.

For instance, my grandmother died about a month ago. I was at her house recently - helping to clean and pack it up - and I found a bag FULL of tons of beautiful cards. My grandmother loved cards. These cards were really special. They were cards that my grandparents had sent to each other! 3/4 of them were signed "Love," or "Love always," - but the rest had little love notes inside. I decided to make a small book for Valentine's Day for my parents, full of all the love notes that my grandparents wrote to each other. I thought it would be a wonderful remembrance for them, plus a gentle reminder of how we should treat each other. I spent a wonderful afternoon, looking through all of those cards. There were hundreds. As I immersed myself in these cards, the memories of my grandparents came flooding back. I could actually hear them saying the words to each other. Those love notes really touched my heart.

So, I went through my pictures and found my favorite pics of them together. Then, I opened a new project - a 5x7 book - and proceeded to fill each page with quotes from the love notes I found in the cards. I threw a picture in here and there. And a couple hours later - it was done! I'm so excited about this little book. I can't wait to see my dad's face when he opens this up. I bet each of his siblings will want a copy, too! Here is the cover and a few pages from the book I'm making for you to look at...

The front cover is on the right and the back cover is on the left. I found, as I went through the cards, that many were signed with the nicknames Slim and Georgie, so that's what I named it! (My grandparents' names were Douglas and Georgina).

I started the book with their wedding picture. I was able to write at least 5 love notes on each page of the book.

I found many very funny love notes, so I paired them with funny pictures of my grandparents.

On the last page of the book, I scanned (at 600 dpi) two of the signatures from the cards - one of my grandfather's and one of my grandmother's - and made them into JPGs. Then, I uploaded them as pictures, and put them here. That way, we can remember their handwriting. I also started the book with a little note from me, telling my family that I hope they enjoy this book, and that I want this to be a reminder to us of their love.

Why not work on your own love story for Valentine's Day? It doesn't have to be a huge project. Just pick a few of your favorite pictures, and jot down a few special memories, and you've got a beautiful book! Do one for your spouse, or one about your parents' love story. Or you can even do a special little book for each of your children, full of your favorite stories and pictures of them. You can put a small book together in one afternoon. It takes about 3 weeks to get your book back once you submit it. So, there is still time to make someone's Valentine's Day special.

Call me if you have any questions, or need help. You know I LOVE to make books!

ANNOUNCING... PHOTO RESTORATION!

2009-11-30T13:58:00.001-08:00

I'm sure this has happened to you... you get the box of old family photos out, start leafing through them, and come to one that is an old favorite - but, it's been damaged! Discolored, bent, cracked, etc. It makes your heart sick! Well, now those photos can be restored to their original shape, and you don't have to pay a fortune to have it done, either! My son, Grant Herron, is an expert at Photo Restoration. It doesn't matter where you are located - you don't have to send your precious pictures through the mail. Just scan them, and email them to Grant. He'll fix them and email the restored photos back to you! It's as easy as that.

The cost right now is $15 per photo restoration. You'll have to look far and wide to find someone else who will work on your photos for less than that. It's a real bargain!

Here are a few of the photos he has restored...

To see more samples, look on the sidebar of this blog.
Email Grant at: grant.photorestore@gmail.com

Cherish Bound Black Friday Publishing Specials

2009-11-25T08:18:00.000-08:00

I'm furiously trying to finish several book projects, plus help my customers to do the same, because...

in 2 days, it's Black Friday!!!!! What does that mean at Cherish Bound?! Publishing discounts galore!

This Friday, if you submit books for publishing at Cherish Bound, you'll be eligible for the following discounts:

EVERY book gets hardbinding for 1/2 price - that's just $8.50 for a hardbinding upgrade instead of $17! Hardbinding makes your book so much nicer, and it's guaranteed for LIFE when it's hardbound!

If you buy 3 books at regular price, you'll get a 4th book for 1/2 price. This is HUGE! Make one beautiful book for your family - and then get copies for everyone... what could be easier? And, it doesn't even need to be 4 copies of the same book - just buy any 3 books, and get the 4th one 1/2 price.

If you are making any of the Cherish Bound Designer series books, you'll be happy to know that CB is waiving the $12 designer fee! You won't have to pay the extra fee to be able to get one of these beautiful, professionally designed books! These are so easy to make - they are designed for you, so just drop your pictures into place and type some text, and voila - a finished book in just minutes!

Last special - if your cart charges are $150 or more, you'll get a free journal from Cherish Bound. Choose from Gratitude (purple), Favorites (green), Traditions (orange), and Heritage (Blue). Cart charges, meaning AFTER coupons, tax, and shipping. So, if you want to take advantage of this special, don't use your coupons - save them for another time.

So, that's the deal - 4 exciting publishing discounts on Black Friday only. It is TOTALLY worth sitting your butt down right now and making a book, right?!

Have fun creating.

An announcement & Christmas Idea - CALENDARS

2009-11-19T13:22:00.000-08:00

Exciting news at Cherish Bound...

Cherish Bound now has a blog! This blog just went public, so there's not too much there right now, but I'm sure there will be in the near future. They've started posting, so go check it out.

http://www.cherishbound.com/blog/

REMINDER: Christmas is coming fast! Are you working on those book gifts? I hope so. There is nothing that is more satisfying than watching someone open a beautiful personal story book on Christmas Day (or any other time, for that matter!). I hope you'll give the gift of story this Christmas season.

Calendars are another great way to share your story with others. I've been working on calendars for family members and friends, and at Cherish Bound it's so easy. Just upload 12-15 pictures, type in a caption or quote under each picture, and fill in all of those birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Submit, and get your beautiful spiral bound calendars back in time for Christmas. Here are some pictures from one of the calendars I've done this season...

I chose to put quotes about family and friends in my calendars instead of captions. The quotes I found were so great! Here are just a few ideas...

"It's funny that those things your kids did that got on your nerves seem so cute when your grandchildren do them."

"The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family." -Thomas Jefferson

"What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories." -George Eliot

And, probably my favorite....
"The family - that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to." -Dodie Smith (haha!)

TIPS:
Be creative with your calendars - Each of the monthly spreads in the Family calendar is a different color - match your text color to the background.
Put a shadow behind the pictures - it makes the pic POP from the page. Be aware of the picture you are putting on each page - match clothing and other things to the background color.

Cherish Bound has 3 different calendars for 2010. The one above is the Family calendar. We also offer Baby Boy and Baby Girl calendars (blue and pink respectively). Each of these calendars has room for a picture and text, plus the capability to fill in each different day on the monthly calendars. Plus, as a nice bonus, each page has several questions to get your family talking, or to help you remember to record important events.

Let me know if you need help starting one of these beautiful calendars.

A Few Announcements...

2009-11-04T16:19:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be adding a page especially for my downline - my team members. I'll post updates, information, pictures, etc. for them there. Look for that link on the sidebar in a few days.

For now, let me say that I so proud of one of my team members, Jamie! She now holds the top 2 spots in the company for personal sales. Way to go, Jamie! Keep working hard.

Just a reminder to all of my customers... Cherish Bound usually has a pretty sweet publishing special on Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving), so make sure you have your Christmas books done so you can push the submit button that day! If anyone needs help - you know how to find me. I'd be happy to come and help you finish your Christmas gifts.

Keep telling your stories!

Happy Halloween...

2009-10-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

It's Halloween - such a fun time of year, with lots of wonderful memories for me. I loved dressing my children up and going trick-or-treating with them. On my family blog, I've posted some great pictures of my kids throughout the years. Hope you take a minute to go and visit... MY STORY MOMENTS.

Don't forget that it's also a great time to record those fun Halloween celebrations. One of the consultants on my team, Jamie Robinson, has a customer who is doing this wonderful Halloween book for her grown kids, called something like "A Halloween Spooktacular". She is including memories from all of her children, pictures, and Halloween stories. I can't wait to see it. Even if you don't do a book dedicated completely to Halloween, though, you can still add pictures of your kids in their childhood books. Here are some of mine...

Don't forget that using a Story Starter makes telling your story so much easier. Our FALL story starter has some great questions about Halloween and other Fall celebrations.
As always, if you need more ideas, or help on those important books, contact me at kara (at) cherishbound (dot) com, or call me (801)360-4666.

Happy Haunting!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - A GATHERING

2009-10-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of the Cherish Bound Gathering I hosted at my home last night...

We had lots of fun - if you are interested in hosting a gathering in your home, please contact me at kara (at) cherishbound (dot) com.

Christmas Gifts - Tribute to Someone Dear

2009-10-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

Idea #2 - A Tribute

I know I've blogged about this kind of book before, but I just finished a book that I'm so excited about. I submitted it last week and it's on it's way here right this minute, so I don't have any pictures of it. I'm hoping that the person I did this book for never reads this blog, because the book is a surprise for Christmas...

It's a tribute to someone very special in my life. A few years ago, I did a Tribute for each of my grandmothers, and the reaction was priceless. They just couldn't believe they were in a book! Here are some pictures of these beautiful books (they match because I also gave them to my parents and I wanted them to look nice together on the bookshelf...

I was lucky to have lots of wonderful pictures from their childhood days...

I even was able to scan things like their marriage certificates...

I added current family photos of kids, grandkids, and their families...

Even though many of the pictures I had were color, I chose to make all of them black and white - to make the book flow a little better...

A few pointers for "Tribute" books. Get other people to help you with the stories. Cherish Bound has a wonderful product for this - it is called Tribute Lifeprints. These are a collection of "story leaves" - 16 in all - that are all the same. You hand these out to 16 different people, and they use these "leaves" to write about the person. This is what the Tribute Lifeprints look like...

And here is the inside of one of the "story leaves" - It has 10 questions they can choose from, and a place to write their answers...

After you gather these back up from everyone, use them to write a tribute to the person. Gather pictures, and stories and when you've got everything ready, make your book. This is one of the best presents I've ever given! I wish I could tell you all about the one I just finished, but that will have to wait until after Christmas. By-the-way, once I made the book for my grandmothers, I was able to order copies for all of their kids! How easy is that?! Then, if any of my cousins ever want one of these beautiful books, they just have to go onto Cherish Bound's website and enter the number found on the back of the book - pay for it, and then they'll get it in the mail in about 2 weeks.

If you are interested in doing one of the books for your special someone, contact me at kara at cherishbound dot com, and I'll get you set up with your own publishing account (free). There is still plenty of time before Christmas.

CHRISTMAS GIFTS - 5X7 Book Idea #1... Books for your kids

2009-10-02T07:37:00.001-07:00

Ok, readers... let's talk about Christmas gifts. Every fews days, I'm going to be giving you an idea for Christmas using Cherish Bound. Let's face it, you WILL be spending the money anyway, right? So, why not give something that will be treasured for generations to come?

CHRISTMAS IDEA #1: Stocking Stuffers

Our 5x7 sized books are the perfect stocking stuffers. The first idea for these small books is "Mom's Favorite Pictures". I did one of these small books for each of my children (for Valentine's Day actually). This is something that even older kids will love - my youngest at the time was almost 12 - oldest one was 18. (Actually my oldest was 20, and he was gone for two years, so I haven't done his yet).

First of all, you get to go through your pictures and pick out the ones that you love. This was the hardest part for me because I love taking pictures and I couldn't decide which pics were my favorite. But, once I got started, memories came flooding in and I knew which pics to pick! These books start with 24 pages, so if you do one picture per page - along with a little story, you'll need 24 pictures. I had a hard time keeping it to 24 - I think I ended up with around 36 for each book.

(*Remember that you can add pages to this book for 50 cents per page)

Next, if you're as old as me, you'll need to scan your pictures. Digital cameras weren't around when my kids were little. Remember to scan pictures no lower than 300 dpi. For those tiny pictures, do 600 dpi. And just a little reminder - wipe off your scanner every once in a while (I actually do this between scans), because the scanner will pick up even little dust particles (especially at 600 dpi) and they'll show up on your pictures as tiny white dots. Scanning really doesn't take that long. I scanned about 300 pictures a few days ago, and it only took me about 2 hours. I scanned several at a time, and then afterward, I cropped them apart in Photoshop.

After you've scanned the pictures, if they are the way you like them, you're ready to go. If you want to "fix" them, or turn them black and white, or whatever - do that in a program like photoshop. I save all of my pics to a folder on my desktop. Each book gets its own folder.

Now, as you are going through the pictures, make sure you jot down some stories about those pics. You know that saying... "A picture is worth a thousand words"? NOT TRUE. Really, in a 100 years, if there is not a name and a story to go with a picture, no one will care about them. You're photos will end up in a box, and then eventually thrown out. But, if someone can read about you - learn things from you, even when you are gone, that's priceless. SO, don't forget those stories. Kids are so cute and wonderful - there are bound to be some crazy, sweet stories about them that you can include in their books. You can either type the stories up in a word processing program and cut and paste into the books, or just type them straight into the books.

The next step, once you've gathered everything (I know this looks like alot of stuff, but really, the previous steps shouldn't take that long - maybe a day for each child), is to go into the Cherish Bound publishing online tool, and open a new project. Upload your pictures (easy to do quickly, because they have all been saved in one place - just pick all of your pics at once, and upload). It takes a little time for all of the pictures to upload, but you can start laying out your book during this time. I think these books automatically open with about 12 pages, so go ahead and add pages until you get to 24. The tool will let you know if you've reached the limit of free pages.

Go through and pick a template for each page. Then just start dragging and dropping pics onto pages. Add your text. After you are finished, make sure you read through everything and proof the book. Then, press the submit button. This whole process can be done easily in one day. It took me less than an hour to finish each book.

*Remember, these are just snapshots in time - you are not doing their entire childhood. Just a few of your favorite pics and stories. On my kids' books, I put a picture of them on the front, and then on the back, I put a pic of me with that child and a little "love" note. (You can add pics and words to the back cover of the small books, but not the large books.)

So, here are the books I made - I'll show you a few pages and the covers...

That book on the right probably needs an explanation. Those two pictures are a little different. In one, Alex is wearing a Batman cape and has his binky in his mouth. In the other, his binky is gone and he is grinning at the camera. Alex LOVED his binky - he went everywhere with it. I loved the idea of showing both pictures next to each other. It reminded me that I had to tell him to take his binky out of his mouth! What a cutie pie.

SAMPLE STORY... "This is one of my favorite pictures, Matthew. I found you one day, asleep on your favorite chair - your Blues Clues Thinking Chair! You and I watched Blues Clues every day. You loved that show. What a funny kid!"

On the back of each book were the words... To (kid's name) With Love, Mom

Cute, right? So, to recap... do a small 5x7 book for each child with your favorite pictures and stories. Shouldn't take more than 2 days for each one. You don't even have to leave the house. You'll receive your books in the mail about 3 weeks after you submit. Easy peasey!

Contact me to get a $29 publishing coupon. This will open up your customer account - which will stay open forever. And every penny of that $29 will go toward your first book. Cherish Bound is free to use - no software to purchase, or monthly fees. And, our hardbinding is guaranteed for LIFE!

Good luck and have fun with those memories.

Time to record those VACATION memories...

2009-08-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been FOREVER since I posted here. I'm really sorry. I've been busy working on a new blog: www.reallyincrediblewomen.blogspot.com

I was also was gone for a week to Education Week at Brigham Young University, so, it's been a busy few weeks.

Well, it's back to school this week and now that you've got a little time to yourself, may I suggest that it's a GREAT time to start catching up on your books. Did you take a vacation this summer? Well, you'll want to gather all of the great pictures you took and make a fun souvenir for your family. Cherish Bound offers a beautiful Designer Vacation Book - one that is already laid out for you - just load your own pictures and text into the space provided. Here is a picture of the vacation book we made (when we traveled to Northern California)...

I've taken a picture of each of the colored pages - there are several of each color in the book. Notice all of the text we added - it's so important to make, not just a photo book, but a memory book as well - one that has lots of room for the story! As always - you can design you own book - this is just one that is already designed for you (it's my favorite of all the designer books!).

Please contact me at kara@cherishbound(dot)com, to start working on your vacation book today. What a wonderful gift for your family!

Attention: Missionary Moms

2009-07-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

If you'd like some ideas for gifts for your missionary - here are two that I did. They were a big hit!

For Christmas, I did a Tribute to Elder Herron, using Cherish Bound's Tribute 'Lifeprints'. 'Lifeprints' are a set of 16 "story leaves" - pages with questions on them. All 16 are identical. You give one to each of the people who want to add to your elder's tribute book. Ask each person to pick one or two of the questions on the inside to answer - write their answer in the space provided. Take a picture of each person (or ask them for one). For the cheaper version - the one I did - print each picture off and attach it over top of the set of questions, opposite of the person's written answer. When you've got all of the pages done, put them all into a 'Sassy Binder', wrap a bow around the spine and you've got a beautiful gift for Christmas. You can take the pictures and everyones' written pages (typed up) and make one of the beautiful hardbound books through Cherish Bound. That costs a little more, though (about $10 more). Here are pictures of the one I did for Elder Herron...
1. This is the set of Tribute Lifeprints

2. This is an inside page (one of 16) - inside and outside

3. These are pages from the inside of the 'book' I did - one from his dad and one from me. The one with his picture on it is the inside of the cover.

4. This is the whole thing completed - all the story leaves with pictures and writing put into a Sassy Binder with ribbon tied around it. Grant loved it. He had been gone for 10 months and it was nice to hear from everyone - especially all the nice things they said about him. We gave the story leaves to grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, etc. I printed off the pictures at Costco with a white border around each one. The whole gift cost around $35.00 (Lifeprints are $19.50, Sassy Binders are $12.00, (plus tax and shipping) plus cost of pictures and ribbon).

The other gift I did for my son was an autograph book for the end of his mission. If you are going to do one of these, you'll want to start it about 3-4 months before the mission ends. It will take a few days to make it, about 3 weeks to get it back from the publishers, and then about 10 days to send it to your missionary. The book I did was a 5x7 size, hardbound book. It has 24 pages - full color. I gathered enough pictures and quotes from his letters to put either 2 pictures on a page or one picture and one quote on a page. I didn't label the pictures or anything. I left the rest of each page blank for people to write on. Once the book came back, I bought him a small set of colored super fine tip Sharpie markers (the pages are glossy - you have to use Sharpie markers on them) and sent both to him. He LOVED it. Here are pictures of the outside front and back covers, and a few pictures of the inside pages.

Let me know if you'd like to do either one of these for your elder. I'd love to help you with it. Call me at 801-360-4666 OR email me at kara (at) cherishbound (dot) com OR nafari01 (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Take Care,
Kara Herron
RM: Grant Herron - Fukuoka Japan Mission 02/07 - 03/09

I Heart Utah Festival - July 18th, 2009

2009-07-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

The I Heart Utah Festival is this weekend, friends! It will be held at Thanksgiving Point and is FREE to everyone! That's right, I said FREE! Please join me there - and look for my Cherish Bound booth. Drop by to say hi and enter our drawing for free product and a free writing workshop for you and your friends!

Thanksgiving Point is sponsoring this fun-filled day, with over 100 vendors. Businesses include health and wellness, travel and tourism,sports and recreation, home and garden, businesses catering to women,preparedness, education, 'Greening" Utah, arts and entertainment, and there will also be a Farmers Market!

From the press release:

Throughout the day attendees can walk the Festival grounds including theme areas: (1) Pink Street sponsored by Window Fashions with vendors catering to women, (2) Green Street sponsored by Utah Valley University including businesses and organizations that focus on 'green living' and taking care of Utah, (3) Red, White, & Blue Street hosted by Vyking Entertainment representing businesses throughout Utah with a patriotic theme, (4) Kids Korner sponsored by Sunshine Generation of Utah County with businesses catering to children including numerous inflatables from Goose Jumps, (5) Sports Park sponsored by Supa Fly Mobile Detailing and representing local sports and recreation organizations, (6) Front Parking Lot sponsored by Fun
Share Rentals including boats, ATV's, motorcycles and a Utah Trikes demo, (7) and a Farmers Market reflecting Utah cuisine, food and beverage as well as local artists and crafters. Additional activities and displays include a karaoke contest at the Talent Quest booth, hang gliding display by Wings over Wasatch, a sailboat from Bonneville School of Sailing, a helicopter by Universal Helicopter, and an airplane from UVU Aviation plus many more prizes, activities, demos, and education at over 100 "I Heart Utah" vendor and informational booths. All Festival attendees can visit the information and prize booth to vote for their favorite Utah businesses and sign up to win a number of prizes throughout the day including our grand prize courtesy JetBlue Airways. A full day of entertainment will be available on Ebay's Green Stage which is powered entirely by the sun and captured by Green Tow's mobile solar power trailer. Entertainment includes local artists and musicians (Shaun
Barrowes, Jarrett Burnes, Justin Williams, Ryan Innes), performances by the Talent Quest karaoke competition winners, dance performances, and even performing dogs trained by Arrow Kennels Dog Training.

WOW! Talk about a day that is PACKED FULL of fun and information! The festival opens at 10:00 and runs all day long. There will be Krispy Kreme donuts at the opening, while supplies last. And, check this out: The first 5,000 Festival attendees will also receive a pearl necklace courtesy of Overstock.com. SWEET!

See you this Saturday - the 18th of July. Bring your family and friends.

I'm An Author Writing and Publishing Workshops

2009-07-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

I'm hosting some fun writing and publishing workshops in August. They are for kids and teenagers, ages 12-18.

August 3rd and 4th - The "Growing Up" workshop. Participants will record memories of the "first time" moments from their early childhood. They will then gather pictures from their younger years and put memories and pictures into a cute book.

August 6th and 7th - The "Recipe" workshop. This will be a fun workshop for teenagers. They will gather favorite family recipes, or exchange recipes with friends, and make a beautiful recipe book - great for taking to college with them, or giving to a mom or grandmother for Christmas.

August 10th and 11th - The "Top Ten" workshop for ages 7-12.
August 13th and 14th - The "Top Ten" workshop for ages 12-16. These workshops will focus on the participant's list of top ten - places they've visited, scriptures, friends, things they want to be when they grow up, etc. The book will be made using either illustrations or pictures.

Join us for one or more of these workshops. The cost is $40 - for that fee you'll get a mini story starter and a paperbound book. The classes will last 1 hour each. As a special, upgrade to hardbinding for 20% off of the regular price during the workshops.

Here are some pictures from the workshops I held last summer. We had so much fun!

I can't wait to see you there!

2009-07-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

Are you frustrated with the direction our country is going? If you haven't already heard of Glenn Beck's 9-12 Project, you should visit his website (http://theglennbeck912project.com/)and become familiar with it. “The 9-12 Project is designed to bring us all back to the place we were on September 12, 2001. The day after America was attacked we were not obsessed with Red States, Blue States or political parties. We were united as Americans, standing together to protect the values and principles of the greatest nation ever created. At the origin of America, our Founding Fathers built this country on 28 powerful principles. These principles were culled from all over the world and from centuries of great thinkers. We have distilled the original 28 down to the 9 basic principles.
We suggest that you start in your own homes. Talk to your family about the Values and Principles. Discuss the importance of what the Founders designed for America."
-The Glenn Beck 9-12 Project Mission Statement

Cherish Bound has now published a beautiful little hardbound journal for you to use as you and your family study and learn about the 9 Principles and 12 Values. Include in this 28 page journal your notes, photos and artwork. There is a two-page spread for each of the 12 values. On each value page there is a quote from one of our founding fathers. Pages listing the 9 Principles and 12 Values are also included.

Here's a quick peek into the 9-12 project (quoted directly from the website)...

THE 9 PRINCIPLES:
1. America Is Good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life. (God) “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” --from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday. (Honesty) “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” --George Washington

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government. (Marriage/Family) “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” --Thomas Jefferson

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
(Justice) “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” --Thomas Jefferson

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results. (Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness) “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” --Thomas Jefferson

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable. (Charity) “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” --George Washington

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion. (On your right to disagree) “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” --George Washington

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me. (Who works for whom?) “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” --Thomas Jefferson

The 12 Values
* Honesty
* Reverence
* Hope
* Thrift
* Humility
* Charity
* Sincerity
* Moderation
* Hard Work
* Courage
* Personal Responsibility
* Gratitude

I highly recommend this book as a personal journal or a gift for someone you love.

If you'd like to order one of these journals, let me know and I'll be happy to get one to you. The price is $34.00 plus tax. Order yours now! kara (at) cherishbound (dot) com.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Story Starter Question of the Day

2009-07-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

I'd like to start sharing some of the fun questions that are included in our amazing Story Starters. So, look for these "Question of the Day" posts on Fridays.

Because it's close to the 4th of July holiday, here are some questions to get your creative juices flowing from the "SUMMER" Story Starter... (these are not the exact, word-for-word questions featured in the SS)

1. How do you and your family celebrate the 4th of July holiday? Describe any traditions you participate in.
2. Do you get together with friends and/or family? Tell about a funny thing that happened at one of these get-togethers.
3. Do you attend parades and/or fireworks? Describe a time you enjoyed one of these events with someone special.

Leave me a comment answering one of these questions. I'd love to hear how you celebrate the holiday.

An Enchanting Night of Story for bloggers only!

2009-06-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

My spirits are running high and I'm getting so excited about building my CB business. For any of you bloggers who would love to experience the magic of story, sign up for the Cherish Bound's "An Enchanting Night of Story Telling" at the Orem library in Orem, Utah. June 25th, from 7:30 to 9:30. This fun night is exclusively for bloggers. You'll get to meet with other bloggers, listen to a magical night of story-telling, receive a cool bag of goodies ($200 value), and eat yummy food. Here is the link for information and sign-up. The folks at Cherish Bound are only asking you to do a few simple things to get a free invite. Go check it out - it's first come, first served, so hurry, hurry. I'll be there and I'd love to meet you!

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/359758046

A New Start

2009-06-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Ha, ha! That was my cute son who wrote the first post on this blog. He's excited that I've decided to put some time and effort into building my Cherish Bound business. If you've never heard of Cherish Bound, let me tell you a little about this amazing company that I've been with for a couple of years...

1. Cherish Bound is all about helping you find, capture, and share the memories and stories of your lives.
2. Cherish Bound knows the importance of recording your stories for your family to enjoy now, and for future generations.
3. Cherish Bound offers a unique way to preserve your memories and stories - beautifully bound books that are much more than just photo books.
4. Cherish Bound offers a full line of story "helps"; workbooks, calendars, journals, and more!
5. Cherish Bound specializes in easy, fun, fast ways to record your memories.
6. Cherish Bound offers one-on-one service: a personal consultant to help in any way you need. You don't have to be an expert to make beautifully bound memories - if you need help, I'm there.
8. I offer workshops, leading you personally, step-by-step through the writing and creative process. You won't be on your own.
7. Cherish Bound is dedicated to helping bright, fun, energetic women (and men) have successful businesses of their own - it's the best home-based business model I've seen. I'm looking for people interested in being on the Utah team - a team that will grow faster than you can blink an eye! Come on... be part of something incredible!

Interested? Let me help you get started with Cherish Bound - either as a customer, or as a consultant on my team! Contact me at kara at cherishbound dot com.

Go to www.cherishbound.com to check out this amazing company.

Perish Bound

2009-06-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE! It's on, people. The coolest, hippest, craziest Cherish Bound blog in the whole freaking world was created like mach 1 second ago, and there ain't nothin' you goils can do about it!

I hope you've got your seats buckled and your mascara on, cause once you rock, the party don't stop, sistas!

Blizzam!

PERISH ALL WHO OPPOSE THE ULTIMATE MASTER OF BOOK-RAISING: CHERISH BOUND!!!!111111shift+1!!!!!!

(written by Grant - Kara's oldest son)