Three Favorite Things

I’m a huge fan of Tanja’s. She’s one of my top commenter’s on my personal blog and she gives me lots of support and encouragement. I really cherish her and she has so much to offer us bloggers.

Tanja is our 5th giveaway sponsor in our 20+ Day Giveaway. I want to further spotlight her with beautiful tip she e-mailed me. These are her words:

I am an avid scrapbooker that believes it is very important to leave your legacy and document your life. I have always felt passionate about documenting my children’s life but more so after having my children.

I always thought I ‘d have time to sit down with my parents and ask them the intricate details of my life and milestones. You hear stories growing up but you don’t know how important they will become until you don’t have the means of getting the information you want or need. My parents took tons of pictures and put them in albums but they usually only had the year printed on the back and no names of the people in the photos or where the photo was taken.

In 1990, my Mom had three consecutive and massive strokes. Her memory is vague and has no real recollection of detail, although she tries. Three years after my first son was born, my Dad was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and passed away in 2007.

I am left with the stories that my sister and I were told and pictures with only half a story. It’s unfortunate but I told myself that I would not do that to my children and that I would MAKE time to document their lives so my husband and I could leave them a legacy.

Here are my three new found favorites I’d like to share:

A Tribute provides a meaningful and unique way to celebrate and honor those you love. Designed by Anna Aspnes, this beautiful photo book evokes the feel of past eras with pages featuring a warm, rich color palette and distinctive layered embellishments.

Here’s an excerpt from My Tribute book to my boys:

“We all leave something behind. Sure, some leave behind material things and money. But, all of us, in a true sense, live on in others we have touched. We leave behind parts of ourselves, both the good and the bad. We pass along our values, hopes and habits every day.

Each moment we leave a legacy behind. At the same time, we carry with us the human essence of others, those we have experienced directly and those transmitted to us from great distances of time and space. Even if we never inherited a dime, we are all in debt up to our eyebrows.

Even the most self-sufficient, self-made ones among us have given so much. Sometimes, I think, we act as though we got here on our own, that our generation invented civilization. And it’s easy to lose our appreciation for generations that have preceded us. But, when we stand, we stand on the shoulders of others.

Our existence is built upon the inspiration, the perseverance, the hard work, the struggle, the imagination and the joy of others; from teachers, parents, friends, strangers, whole communities and cultures. Collectively and individually, we receive a precious legacy from the past. This is only an example of what we all can and should do in this world…leave a legacy…in the lives of those we love. This is a message of hope and love. We believe that’s something worth leaving behind.”

The Celebrate Everyday Life guided photo book is a great way to let you remember and celebrate the important moments that happen every day. Guided by the insights and advice of renowned scrapbook life artist and author Ali Edwards, Celebrate Everyday Life provides a showcase for the little things that make life a joy – everyday beauty, places, moments, and blessings.

Her contemporary design features an abundance of space for your images, as well as areas to journal the details of a day in your life. Elegant embellishments and simple text titles make the finished book a work of art.

School Days photo book offers a fun, charming, and memorable way to celebrate your child’s school year. Designed by Tiffany Tillman, this playful book allows you to cleverly combine important school milestones-from the first day of school to graduation day-with the everyday moments of friends and favorite teachers. The unique design features a chipboard background accented with vibrant colors.

Traditional school symbols are featured, including a red apple, school bus and gold stars. In addition to places for your photos and captions, the layouts are embellished with special touches such as digital layouts of report cards and bulletin board backgrounds. Perfect for a wide range of school activities and grades, this exclusive design allows you to create a “school year in review” photo book for your child or collectively for the class. Idea
l for a child of any age.

Great tip, Tanja!!

I have personally made 6 of these Shutterfly books and I love them! My kids love looking through them and they think they’re famous because they’re in a book. {{giggle}}

I second Tanja’s urge to get things printed out (in whatever format) and share stories with your kiddos.