May 24th, 2013
Today marks two weeks exactly since we first saw Project Life arrive in actual, physical retail stores! As most of you know, it is in Hobby Lobby locations across the country – and very soon, will be hitting the shelves in many, many other stores. Which stores? When? Check out our STORE FINDER – recently added to the website.
Remember that the stores listed on that page are “Authorized Retailers” – meaning, they are carrying a FULL line of Project Life. If you don’t see your favorite store there, they may be carrying our products but just haven’t ordered quite enough to be listed on the site. Any retailer who has questions about carrying our products can go HERE.
We are thrilled to see sooooo many pictures from you guys – thank you! It’s all over social media, and flooding our inbox and we LOVE it. Today we just wanted to share a few such pictures of Project Life at Hobby Lobby.
Or … #PLatHobbyLobby. ; )
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Finally got them in here in Boardman, Ohio, I was able to pick up the Cinnamon Core Kit and the Holiday Mini Kit. When I took them to the register the cashier asked me, “Are you the lady that have been calling?” I was proud to say yes I was.
Comment from Margaret on Facebook
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Oh my goodness!!! I was smiling like a loon from ear to ear when I uncovered this signed copy of the Cinnamon Core Kit at my Hobby Lobby in Tulsa today! As I was about to leave work this afternoon, I decided to call one of our local Hobby Lobby stores to see if Project Life had by chance made its way to the shelves yet. I asked for someone who could tell me about a product in stock in the paper crafting section. She laughed and asked how SO many people knew about these products arriving this week and said she was AT THAT MOMENT putting the products onto the display.
Within minutes I was in my car and happily daydreaming about finding that signature! The mini albums were hanging up, but I found the core kits still waiting in a cart…it felt sneaky, but I peeked through the core kits and found Cinnamon signed by you! All I kept thinking was “I’ve got a golden ticket” (please, sing it with me) from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. One of the employees came back to the cart as I was looking through the other products and mentioned there was an autographed one somewhere…yes, in my hands.
At the checkout, the clerk looked quizzically at the kit and said she didn’t know which section it was from and hadn’t seen it before, so I helped her out and she started asking questions about Project Life, which prompted the woman behind me in line to start asking questions and we had a great little discussion about it being the best thing for memory keeping since the invention of the glue stick.  I’m fairly certain you’ll have a few more fans in Tulsa very soon! I must have sounded very excited because the clerk asked me if I was Becky Higgins. LOL Just thought I’d share my fun story of finding the “golden ticket” with you. It totally made my Monday. Thank you so much for all that you do to make memory keeping simple and beautiful. I can’t wait to see these flying off the shelves!
Teresa Victor in Tulsa, Oklahoma
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We are traveling and touring Nashville. I pleaded with my husband to please let me check on the GPS for a Hobby Lobby here in Nashville, TN. We were there before noon. I spotted the Project Life core kits and some other items in a shopping cart, complete with price stickers and an employee telling me to come back. I pleaded by case to him that I was desperate to get it in my hands. He let me look through the cart and I got my mini kit… signed 48/48. Here’s my photo. Yeah!
Desiree in Gulf Shores, Alabama
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I had to share my photos with you… I heard my HL was getting their shipment this morning. I did a quick pre-k drop off and headed up to 7th st and Bell rd. I was the very first person in the store and quickly realized that my dear PL was buried in one of about 50 boxes for the scrapbooking department. They said I could start looking…which I did…until I was totally busted by the manager!! After a little explanation and some laughs, she ran to get her price gun so I could pay for PL!!
The best part was that after she warmed up to me, we chatted for about 20 minutes about how great it is to work at HL and I filled her in on how PL works. It turned out to be a GREAT morning. I was super excited because I came for the Honey edition and snagged myself #9/100!! Wahoo!! Here’s my shout out to Melody at HL in MoonValley, Phoenix. Thanks for putting up with my “crazy” and having fun with me!! Thanks to YOU Becky for such an AWESOME product. I’ve been around since the first edition and am so excited for you!
Mandy in Phoenix, Arizona
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I was lucky enough to find 4 signed kits!!! INSANE RIGHT???
I have been randomly checking every hobby lobby in Central Ohio for weeks…so my hard work and persistence finally paid off! It’s crazy because I just told my husband that if I could choose a signed kit to find…it would be midnight or honey…and I found both….at my local store! Thanks so much for doing this, I am beyond thrilled to have access anytime I want to Becky’s products. It make preserving our memories so much easier and fun!
Mendie in Newark, Ohio
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My husband ROCKS!!! He took my boys out shopping on Friday for Mother’s Day, and I’d suggested stopping by Hobby Lobby to see if Project Life had made it there yet. When he got there, they hadn’t unpacked the boxes yet – so he asked an employee to unpack them for him, AND got the one I wanted in a signed edition! It was an awesome Mother’s Day present and made my day!
Maria in Fort Worth, TX
Tags: Hobby Lobby
Posted in products, scrapbooking | 1 Comment »
May 23rd, 2013
A week ago I hopped up to Salt Lake City for a very quick whirlwind trip. Can you believe this rainbow? What a warm welcome, right?
I thought I would share some behind-the-scenes snapshots from going there to be a part of a tv show called Studio 5. Once a year they do their live recording with a studio audience, and I was invited back. But first …
Since I had still not had the chance to see my own product actually in an actual store – ever – I took the opportunity to stop by Hobby Lobby just for a glimpse. They were closed (no wonder the parking lot was empty) and all the employees were headed to the front of the store to leave for the evening. There I stood with the big glass doors that separated me from about 10 employees who for sure didn’t know me from Adam.
I yelled (in my friendliest tone of course) through the doors, “By any chance, can you just tell me if you’ve received Project Life?” to which they confirmed that the shipment arrived that very day. I hesitated to inquire anymore. I didn’t want to keep anyone from going home. But I decided to not be shy. “I’m Becky Higgins. That’s my product. Please don’t feel obligated, but I still haven’t seen it in the store in real life.”
(Admittedly, I’m feeling a bit embarrassed as I’m asking.)
The manager is now approaching the group and no one seems to believe me – or care – except for Amy who then looked a bit surprised and perplexed and said something like, “That’s you? You’re really Becky?” Turns out Amy is a Project Life enthusiast. Long story short, she and the manger took me back to the aisle and told me all about how they’ve been slammed with phone calls and how customers were there actually waiting for the product to be unloaded.
And then … there it was. A half-empty wall of what was left from just hours before. I was only there at the store for a brief few minutes, but honestly guys, it was truly a thrill to finally see this in real life. This is Amy at the Hobby Lobby in American Fork, UT. If you ever see her, give her a high five.
I crashed at my brother & sister-in-law’s place, stayed up WAY too late chatting and visiting with them (worth every minute of lost sleep) and then arose early. Hair & make-up on my own for going on-air? Not the best idea … but “my Jen” (one of my dearest friends + way more stylish than me) was out of town. So I worked it out. ; )
Aaaaand … here we are. Arriving at the TV station headquarters in Salt Lake City on a beautiful May morning.
I was so impressed to see so much hard work and organization by the team to put together all these goodie bags for everyone that came to the show. Seriously, that’s just so KSL. They rock like that.
I popped in to say hi to Brooke Walker (show host) who was getting dolled up for the show, and enjoyed a brief but delightful conversation … picking up where we left off last time. She’s simply wonderful.
Hanging out before show in the “real” Studio 5 set. Here I collected my thoughts with a prayer in my heart that I might say something – anything – that would inspire and uplift even just a couple people watching.
That’s Michelle Torsak (below on the stage) extending a warm welcome to our live studio audience of about 400 people that piled into a tight space. She is an inspiring woman, insanely talented, and I don’t know anyone with handwriting quite as perfect. I adore her and think very highly of the entire staff that works on Studio 5.
10:57am. The show is about to start. That seems like the right time to snap a picture, right? Actually, we were all relaxed enough so … yes. That’s Darin Adams, by the way. He’s the other host of Studio 5 and the type of guy that would be so fun to hang out with at a BBQ. So fun. Super nice.
My brother Kevin snapped this picture (below) from the audience just before we went live with my segment. Apparently I’m really funny, guys. ; )
The show was an hour-long and packed with inspiration all about showing love to children – from a physiological standpoint, a creative standpoint, and more. My segment focused on showing love to children through memory-keeping + pictures + journaling. Since I bounced around between here and there, I still need to watch the whole thing. The bits & pieces that I caught? Such fantastic content. Seriously.
I was grateful to have a few family members and a few friends in the audience there, that happen to live in Utah. This is my brother Kevin + sister-in-law Lauren and our cousin Dina (who is a HUGE Studio 5 fan).
Just as my experience has been in the past, KSL makes the whole thing so much fun. I love when they reach out and invite me to be a part of something special. I love all the back & forth in communication to pull together meaningful content. I love that they trust me to come up with something valuable to share with their viewers. And I super love the fact that I just learned that producer Michelle actually got her whole staff Project Life for Christmas last year! How cute is she?
Thank you KSL. Thank you to my friend Loni of the Ruby Bloom Boutique who hooked me up with my darling outfit (yes, anyone can shop their online store – you should check out the cuteness!). And thanks to so many of you that tuned in.
Anyone can watch! Click HERE for my segment.
Posted in family & children, scrapbooking | 7 Comments »
May 22nd, 2013
If you follow me on facebook, instagram, or twitter you may have noticed that once in a while I share a silhouette photo. I’m not sure what it is about this style that draws me in, but I just love taking pictures like these.
PS – This picture of our 3 kids with 3 of their best friends might be a cool snapshot … but what is really special about this photo is that these kids have all known each other their whole lives – and their family means so much to us. I’m so grateful to have this picture.
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So what are the secrets to silhouette success? I’m sharing a few basic tips + tricks that work for me. Anyone else who wants to add comments with more tricks … please feel free to share.
1. Dusk. When the sun dips below the horizon, that’s when I tend to have my best results. The sky is bright, but not sunny. Clouds or no clouds – I’m not sure that really matters.
2. Fancy camera not required. I use the camera built into my iPhone 4S. In fact, every picture you see in this post was taken with my iPhone.
3. People are the best. Don’t get me wrong. Trees and things are cool too, but people really are the most interesting objects. And pets that are held up in the air. ; ) This one I snapped of our kids – framed between a couple of trees – is quite possibly my all-time favorite silhouette I’ve taken so far.
4. Notice the horizon. There’s no right or wrong, but I do think it’s cool to see as much of the person as possible. In order to achieve this, you want your subjects to be higher than you. If they can be up on a hill, great. If not, you can back up and squat down to get yourself in a lower position. Just move around – and move your subject around – and experiment with your angle. For this picture below, I was practically laying on the sidewalk, looking up at Porter so the horizon wouldn’t cut him off awkwardly in the middle of his chest.
5. Use those limbs. The difference between your subject(s) standing as if they’re having a mug shot taken vs. putting their arms and legs out, or holding hands, or something like that? The results speak for themselves.
6. Meter off the sky. Okay, I just realized that saying “meter” means I’ve lost at least half of you because it sounds technical, and if you’re like me – I’m not interested in the technical side of photography (that has never been my gift). Let me put it another way: If you have an iPhone or any sort of camera built into your cell phone that acts similarly, did you know that when you’re about to take a picture you can touch your screen in the area that you want to “focus” on?
For “regular” pictures, this is awesome for actual focusing. In this case of taking silhouette pictures, and because this type of picture is all about the light, wherever you touch your screen for the picture you’re about to take, is where it meters the light. You want to meter off the sky … or “touch” the sky in your picture. If you’re camera is trying to focus on the subject instead of the sky, it will usually blow out the sky making it too bright, over-exposed, and less-interesting. These 2 pictures illustrate that difference. Notice how the sky on the left is blown-out, and how the sky on the right show more details of the clouds? Tap on the sky before taking the picture.
PS – Absolutely, positively NO FLASH.
7. There’s an app for that. We all know there are a bazillion photo apps out there for fun, quick edits on your photos. I can’t possibly offer a full photo app review, but I’ll just mention that my current favorite is PicTapGo and my favorite filter in that app for making the sky just a little more amazing than it already is, is called Sweet Tooth. But every picture is different, so I don’t always use the same filter on every picture.
This picture shows the original, and then the final image after I cropped in a little closer on Claire & Ella and then added the Sweet Tooth filter in the PicTapGo app.
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{ photo challenge }
Are you ready to try this? We want to see your silhouette pictures! Submit your all-time favorite silhouette picture that you have taken and we will share our favorites in an upcoming follow-up blog post.
- dSLR or cell phone camera … doesn’t matter what you use to take the picture
- people or pets or objects … doesn’t matter who or what is in the picture
- horizontal or vertical … doesn’t matter which orientation or shape
- America or Scotland or Taiwan … doesn’t matter where in the world you live
- 12 or 25 or 63 … doesn’t matter your age or phase of life
In other words … there aren’t really “rules” for this photo challenge … except these 3 things:
- DEADLINE: Wednesday June 5th (2 weeks from today)
- EMAIL your photo to submissions@beckyhiggins.com
- Be sure to mention your first name + city + state/country with the photo
Posted in photography | 14 Comments »
May 21st, 2013
Today we are delighted to introduce you to the Solar Family and their Summer Bucket List Challenge.
Josh and Jenny Solar are parents to three kids, Max, Ava, and Lia (and a basset hound named Banana). In addition to being full time photographers, they created The Happy Family Movement in the spring of 2011 to encourage and inspire family togetherness through memorable family experiences and simple ideas for happy family living. The overarching goal of The Happy Family Movement is to rewrite the way our generation views raising kids… to seek out a happy family and find the JOY in parenting all over again.
As part of this movement, they created the Summer Bucket List Challenge to help themselves – and families just like theirs – to embrace all that summer has to offer by helping them DO more of what they TALKED about doing during the summer.
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In Jenny’s words:
Summer is the one time of the year that feels like freedom. Even though we shoot a lot in the summer since we’re wedding photographers, we get a break from packing lunches and toting kids back and forth to school, soccer practice, art lessons, and such. And the last two summers have been incredible for our family. What’s our secret?! We started making a summer bucket list every year!
 You see, we used to be the family that made all kinds of plans to do awesome things every summer but was never able to follow through. Year after year, we continued to let our summers slip away, shooting weddings and hanging out at the pool. Not that there’s ANYTHING wrong with shooting weddings or hanging out at the pool… but we had SO many more plans, and we never got around to them. And then two years ago, all that changed.
We decided that summer that it was high time we took advantage of all the family time we get when the kids are out of school. So we made ourselves a summer bucket list. I wrote each activity out on colored index cards and we hung them on the wall in our kitchen.
As the summer went by, we checked off activities, until every last one was done! And I’ll tell you something, we had the BEST summer we’ve ever had! We did so many awesome things as a family… we had a picnic in the park, we had a water balloon fight, we went to a Royals game, we went to a carnival, and we splashed in the waves of the Pacific AND Atlantic Oceans… all in one summer… and all because we made a list and stuck to it! We loved it so much, we did it again last year!
And I’m sure this won’t surprise you, but we’re doing it again in 2013. We’d love it if you’d join us! We’re thrilled to announce our third annual Summer Bucket List Challenge! If you want to create some memorable experiences for your family this summer and really be intentional about your time together, the Summer Bucket List Challenge is for you!
Sign up for our free challenge and we’ll give you all the resources and inspiration you need to create your own summer bucket list! We’ve gathered our best summer fun resources in one easy-to-find place including a Pinterest inspiration board, a Facebook group where you can interact with other families who are participating, and awesome giveaways from our sponsors to keep you motivated all summer long! Click here to join The Happy Family Movement’s 2013 Summer Bucket List Challenge!
This year, we’re excited to be documenting our summer bucket list activities with Project Life! We’ve always photographed our summer fun, but we’ve never followed through with actually making a book or anything like that. Not anymore! We’ll be sharing our summer bucket list Project Life album on our blog throughout the summer, so make sure you follow along!
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Becky again:
You can see why I have invited the Solar family to be guests here on my blog. Anyone who shares my philosophy of “cultivate a good life and record it” is kinda, sorta, my instant friend. We are completely honored that they are choosing to use Project Life for their amazing documentation of their family summer.
As so many of us are about to embark on the summer season, it is my hope that we can be intentional about how we spend this extra time with our family, so as to maximize our togetherness and strengthen our family bonds. I am so grateful to the Solars for being such awesome examples to us, and to thousands of other families … possibly even YOUR family now. : )
Posted in family & children | 21 Comments »
May 17th, 2013
The graphic below shows the large retailers that are – or will be – carrying Project Life. We are also very, very pleased to have so many independent retailers carrying our products across the U.S. as well as several countries across the world. And we will continue to carry our products on Amazon as well. We encourage you to shop where you want to shop. Choosing one retail option over another retail option really comes down to where it best fits your needs.
In light of Project Life entering the retailer world … we have a new and very helpful addition to BeckyHiggins.com. It’s the Store Locator! Find out if your favorite retailer will be carrying Project Life. If they’re not, you can send them HERE. ; )
Speaking of exciting things … I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Salt Lake City to be a part of the live broadcast of Studio 5 with an awesome studio audience. I’ll be blogging about that soon (some fun behind-the-scenes pictures to share) … but HERE is the link to watch my 6 minutes segment if you’re interested. I talked about ways to show your children love through photos, journaling, memory-keeping.
Posted in products | 9 Comments »
May 14th, 2013
A couple Project Life customers shared with us how they’re saying THANK YOU to special coaches + teachers in their life, now that the school year is wrapping up for so many.
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Terri in Texas created this End of Season Mini Album and had this to say:
I wanted to share with you the books I made as a thank you for my daughter’s soccer coaches. The team is going to present them to their coaches tonight at their banquet. I used a mini album and photos I took during the season. Each player as well as parents wrote a short thank you note to each of the coaches (there are 2) on blank grid cards. I love the way they turned out and I think the coaches are going to love them! I thought I would share with you another idea for using the mini album. I love your products!
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Sarah in Florida made this End of School Year Mini Album and shared this with us:
Just wanted to share a project I did with your mini albums. I made it for my son’s first grade teacher. I had each kiddo draw a picture on a 4×6, and I also had them write a thank you on a folded 4×6 that I put behind their name. The rest of the book was filled with photos I had taken throughout the year. The kids loved looking through it and the teacher loved receiving it.
If you have completed – or are currently working on – some sort of gift for someone using Project Life in any way, we’d love to see! Anyone can email photos to submissions@beckyhiggins.com. Be sure to include your first name + city + state and a brief description of your gift/project.
Posted in giving, scrapbooking | 11 Comments »
May 13th, 2013
As usual with the monthly offering of inspiration, I will share just one glimpse from each of their respective Project Life albums. And then – whenever and wherever you want to see more – just click on the person’s name and it will take you to their blog where they each share more details, more information, more pages, more examples of how they’re using Project Life as a memory-keeping system. If someone’s style “speaks” to you, you’ll want to check out the additional pictures and explanations on her blog.
We completely adore how each person’s style is so unique – in photography, with their journaling, and how they bring it all together in their albums. As you see how others are doing Project Life, our hope is that you will feel an increased desire to document life, and that you’ll be more in tune with what your own personal style is. No matter how you slice it, it’s all good. It’s your story. This post is loaded with eye candy. We don’t mean to overwhelm you. We simply want you to be inspired in your own memory-keeping efforts.
This month we challenged our team members to keep things ultra simple to remind you that you really can create an entire scrapbook with the 3 core Project Life components and nothing else. Album + Project Life Core Kit + Big Pack of Photo Pocket Pages. That’s it. If you’re looking for more inspiration on using Project Life in the most simple format ever (that is, no extra embellishing) – check out the sample albums on our Inspiration page.
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Pages by Amanda Caves featuring the Jade Edition - coming soon to retail stores + Amazon, or available now at AC Digitals.
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Pages by Ashley Bennett, featuring the Seafoam Edition. Left page is Design D.
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Pages by Catherine Davis, featuring the Jade Edition – coming soon to retail stores + Amazon, or available now at AC Digitals.
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Digital pages by Donna Gibson, featuring the Blush Edition – coming soon to retail stores + Amazon, currently available at many Hobby Lobby Stores, returning to HSN tomorrow in limited supply, or available now at AC Digitals.
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Digital pages by Dunia Acauan, featuring the Honey Edition – coming soon to retail stores + Amazon, currently available at many Hobby Lobby Stores, or available now at AC Digitals.
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Pages by Elise Blaha Cripe, featuring the Seafoam Edition.
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Digital pages by Haley Ney , featuring the Wedding Mini Kit – coming soon to retail stores + Amazon, currently available at many Hobby Lobby Stores or available now at AC Digitals. Right side is Design D.
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Pages by Heather Johnson, featuring the Baby Edition for Her.
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Digital pages by Jennifer Hignite, featuring the Kraft Edition - coming soon to retail stores + Amazon, or available now at AC Digitals.
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Pages by Joy Pribish, featuring the Seafoam Edition. Left page is Design D.
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Page by Kristina Proffitt featuring the Blush Edition – coming soon to retail stores + Amazon, currently available at many Hobby Lobby Stores, returning to HSN tomorrow in limited supply, or available now at AC Digitals.
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Page by Leena Loh, featuring the Seafoam Edition.
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Pages by Lorimay Barba, featuring the Seafoam Edition.
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Image by Maggie Holmes. She is using a vintage typewriter to quickly + easily add text to journaling cards.
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Pages by Nisa Fiin, featuring the Rain Edition - coming soon to retail stores + Amazon, or available now at AC Digitals.
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Pages by Petra Corcoran, featuring the Seafoam Edition.
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Page by Rebecca Cooper, featuring the Olive Edition and Design E.
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Page by Rhonda Mason {and congrats to Ronnie on the addition of her new baby boy this past month!}
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Pages by Shelly Jacquet featuring the Mayfield Childhood Edition.
Left page is Design F and right page is Design B.
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Pages by Shirley Polk featuring the Kraft Edition - coming soon to retail stores + Amazon, or available now at AC Digitals. Right page is Design F.
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Pages by Stephanie Baxter, featuring the Jade Edition - coming soon to retail stores + Amazon, or available now at AC Digitals.
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Digital Pages by Teresa Victor, featuring the Honey Edition coming soon to retail stores + Amazon, currently available at many Hobby Lobby Stores, or available now at AC Digitals.
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Pages by Tracy Larsen
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Note: This month, many of our team members used new designs that are headed to retail stores and Amazon shortly. While a few of the products shown are arriving at Hobby Lobby now, many will become available in retail stores and online in late May/early June. Stay tuned to my social media for the most updated arrival information.
Posted in creative team, products, scrapbooking | 12 Comments »
May 10th, 2013
It’s time for another round of Q+A with my brother Kevin. He’s seriously smart, one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, and he has a passion for helping people embrace and utilize technology to bless their lives (and their businesses). I asked you to submit any tech-related question, and these are his responses.
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Q: Where is the safest digital place to store photos? I have had two back up hard drives crash, but never my main one. Should I just copy everything to blu-rays?
A: Let me start by stating a fact (for those who don’t backup their data, this is meant to scare you into submission)… 20% of all consumer-grade hard drives fail in the first 12 months of its life. If you aren’t backing up, you need to… NOW. Fortunately, you are trying to, and that is commendable. If you’re serious about backing up precious data, you may want to look into a multi-drive storage system like a Drobo. Even if one drive fails, your data is still protected and accessible (you would need to replace the drive, of course). The downside, they can be pricey. For a more economical solution, a single external USB/FireWire hard drive would suffice as a primary backup, but I would also recommend a secondary backup as well. Carbonite, Crash Plan and Mozy are a few good online backup solutions worth looking at. I generally shy away from DVD or BlueRay just because they are cumbersome to work with and easy to misplace. That stinks that you’ve had such bad luck with external drives, but stick with them (and make sure you aren’t buying the ultra-cheap brands… you get what you pay for). If it makes you feel better, I’ve had drives in my Drobo fail on me. Unfortunately, it’s relatively common for hard drives.
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Q: What would you say is the simplest, straight forward photo editing program or app? I don’t do Photoshop or anything close to that…but I would really like to be able to set up two photos next to each other, do a little color correction and cropping and easily print onto a 4×6 photo paper.
A: I would take a serious look at PhotoShop Elements. It’s a great mid-range solution for those who want to do some of what PhotoShop does, but don’t want to spend that much money (PhotoShop gets very pricey).
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Q: Looking for a new laptop used mostly for pictures and family movies. Is a Mac really worth all that money or can I get what I need from a PC? Any recommendations?
A: If you’re looking for a reason to not buy a Mac, you’re asking the wrong guy. I used to be a hard core PC guy, then saw the power of what Macs can do. As someone who knows both sides really well (and works on both all day, every day), I’m telling you… you really should do a Mac if you can. I could write a 10-page response to give you all the details, but I don’t want to bore everyone else. I’d be happy to walk you through some of that offline, if your interested (contact me).
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Q: Internet providers which do you prefer: Phone Companies offerings or Cable Companies offerings?
A: That’s a hard one to answer without knowing locale, but generally, you will have better luck with a cable company. Where I live, I wouldn’t even consider going with the phone company, so I chose Comcast. Some love them, and some hate them… as long as they are responsive and reliable, I’m good. Comcast has been great for me, and I use it for everything, including voice (Vonage), Internet and media consumption.
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Q: Would love to know how to get away from cable.
A: Oh, this is one of my favorite topics, and I could go on and on and on about it (in a positive way, of course). I became a cord-cutter about 7 years ago. My setup is nearly complete, yet super simple (and super inexpensive). My total home setup includes the following: 3 LED TVs, 3 Apple TVs, 1 Mac mini. That’s it. As you can imagine, each TV has an Apple TV, and it acts as the multimedia receiver (much like a cable box for cable) to my Mac mini. The Mac mini is what stores all of our movies, TV shows, music, etc. You don’t have to use a Mac mini to do this (a PC would also work, as long as it has iTunes), but I chose to for reliability purposes (and I use it for others things as well). I get my movies from either iTunes or Netflix (in that order), and I get my TV shows from Hulu Plus, Netflix and iTunes (in that order). iTunes is great for newer movie content, Hulu Plus is great for newer TV shows, and Netflix is great for documentaries and older movies and TV shows. I believe that more people would be cord-cutters if it weren’t for the fact that it’s still hard to get live sporting events and news (CNN, CNBC, etc). I even get local channels and networks (like ABC, NBC, etc) using an HD receiver ($30 from Walmart) mounted to the back of one of my TVs, but I honestly rarely use it. The best part about all of this… you watch what you want to watch, when you want to watch it (and without commercials). If you want to talk more about this offline, I’m happy to answer your questions in more detail (contact me).
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Q: If I were to purchase a tablet for my 9 yr old son, who likes digital novels, games, puzzles, etc. what direction is the best to go that would allow me to have the most parental controls over approving downloads and web surfing?
A: Each of my children have iPads (that’s no surprise to anyone who knows me), so I know exactly where you’re coming from. The way that we decided to handle it was we control their iTunes account (they don’t know their password). If they want to purchase a game or book, they go looking for mom or dad to help out. Sounds a little restrictive and inconvenient, but we find that it works really well for us. As for the device… you really can’t go wrong with an iPad, and the iPad mini works great for our children (and they’re cheaper too).
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Q: We have a WordPress blog. This week I was trying to link to an old post and it seems to have just disappeared. Is this possible? Why would it happen?
A: The whole site is gone, or just the one post? This is a tough one to answer without much to go on, but I’m happy to help if you give me more information (contact me).
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Q: My question is about photo stream, photo album and camera roll on iPad and iPhone – I’m confused on how it all works. Do you need to have both going on? Does that take up twice the memory? Also, is there a way to delete photos in bulk on iPhone and iPad if you do it later?
A: Photo Stream is a great service! I’m really glad that Apple released it. What’s really neat about it is that I can take a photo on one of my devices, and that photo is available on my other devices almost instantly (as long as they are connected to the Internet). A real world example (and a common one for me): I take a photo on my iPhone, then open that photo on my iPad where I then use Adobe PhotoShop Touch to edit and share with others (or post to a blog entry). I can do the same editing on my Mac, since it’s available there as well. It does take a little more storage, but it’s really not that much compared to other content on your devices. The key to making this all work… make sure you have Photo Stream enabled on all devices (and all devices are using the same Apple ID). You can fine more information here.
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Q: Is there a way to move you photos in your iPad to a new folder and have them disappear from your old folder without having to manually delete them?
A: Absolutely! Well, kind of. Yes, you can move (or rather add) photos you take to an existing or new album on your iPad, but doing that won’t remove the photo from your Camera Roll (at least not when you move the photo using your iPad). The Camera Roll is designed to be a rolling set of photos on your iPad, and the only way they will disappear from that is if you either delete it, or you sync your photos with a computer and then remove it from your iPad. If you want to add (copy) photos to an existing or new album on your iPad, go to your Camera Roll, tap “Edit”, select the photos, then tap “Add To”. If you want to move the photos to an album, then remove them from the Camera Roll, you will first need to sync the photos with your computer, put those photos into an album, then remove the photos from the iPad while then syncing the new album back to the iPad. Hopefully that makes some sense. You can learn more about sharing your photos here.
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Q: Do you recommend having an external hard drive or using an online back up service? Why?
A: Both. Here is Kevin’s rule of thumb when it comes to backups: if your data doesn’t exist in at least 3 different places (with two of those being different geographic locations), then your data doesn’t really exist (and you can’t be mad if you lose it). My backup strategy is this: I have my live data on my MacBook Pro, a complete backup (using Mac OS X Time Machine) at home on a Drobo, as well as a backup on Dropbox (in the cloud). I sleep well at night knowing that if my laptop were stolen, I could pick up a new one and restore my data without missing a beat.
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Q: Our family wants to purchase a new wireless printer. We would like one that can scan, prints color and can handle cardstock. Any suggestions?
A: I’ve said it before and I will say it again (and again and again)… you get what you pay for with tech. Seriously. With that in mind, I would recommend you look at the HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 Premium. It retails for about $400 (you can probably find it for cheaper), but it’s a great unit (fully functional and pretty quick).
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Q: I use Carbonite. How do I know if video files within iPhoto are being backed up? I know it does not happen automatically but I don’t know how to find them from Carbonite and select them for backup when they are in iPhoto. Any suggestions?
A: First of all, good job for actively backing up! You’re a rock star! OK, here’s the deal. Carbonite does automatically backup your iPhoto library UNLESS you chose to manually select the files you wanted backed up initially, or you specifically chose not to backup your Pictures folder (you should be able to go into your settings and verify that). As long as it is being backed up, you should be able to browse your backup files, dive into the Pictures folder and look for a huge fie called “iPhoto Library”.
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Q: I have just transferred from PC to Mac and am struggling with how to keep my photos organized/stored in iPhoto. I would love to know how to do this with Project Life. Are you creating an iPhoto album to copy your PL photos to? I would like to transfer my older photos to an external hard drive. Should I transfer the whole iPhoto library or just export my photos?
A: Managing photos is a hard one to tackle because everyone has different requirements and thinks differently about how to organize. What works great for me, may not work great for you (and may actually slow down your workflow). My organization is actually quite simple… let iPhoto do the work. By that, I mean iPhoto has some really, really great tools built-in (like face recognition, tags, albums, smart albums, etc). My advice is to use that technology as much as possible starting now, because it will make it much easier for you to be organized later on. As for creating albums and integrating with Project Life… again, that’s hard because it needs to match your personality and needs. The more you know about iPhoto’s capabilities, the easier it will be for you. If you’re close to an Apple store, they have lots of free workshops there to help you feel really comfortable with iPhoto (or any of their apps). Don’t hesitate to schedule some time with them. They are there to help.
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Q: I bought a MacBook Air last Christmas and am now putting my photos onto the mac book using iPhoto. Could we have a general explanation of iPhoto. I struggle a bit when I go to use the photos in Word documents or Publisher documents as insert, or want to send them to an online printing company. It seems I need to export them. It is very different from the folders which I had set up on my PC where the photos were all just saved as jpegs, and I would cut and paste or simply copy them.
A: iPhoto is a photo management system. One thing that’s important to understand is that the files are not stored in a normal file structure (like with other programs). Instead, it’s all stored nice and neat inside a huge library file. That can make it challenging when using it with Word, but some apps (like Apple’s Pages app) has built-in hooks so that you can just drag and drop from the Inspector (for the record, I much prefer Pages over Word anyway… it may be worth looking at). When you have time, here is a link you should really check out these iPhoto tutorials. And as I mentioned in the question above, Apple offers free workshops at their stores to help people feel comfortable with their apps. I would take advantage of them.
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Q: When I go to sync my iPhone and mac Book or iPod and MacBook, I am worried about losing contacts from the phone or music from the iPod as they are maybe not seen as the ‘primary’ source. Could you explain syncing to me.
A: Sure! Syncing is the process by which two (or more) sets of data (any type of data) is compared against each other to look for changes. Each time a change is made, the sync process begins. Each copy will look for differences between itself and the other copies, then make updates appropriately so that both copies are then current. For example, if I create a new Address Book entry on my MacBook Pro, that is automatically synced with my iCloud account in “the cloud”. That change is then synced with all my other devices (iPhone, iPad, etc) so that they, too, have that new entry. Likewise, if I add a new entry to my iPhone, that entry is automatically synced with my iCloud account, and then synced again with my other devices. All of this happens automatically without you doing a thing. You don’t have to use iCloud for all this syncing to take place. Lots of people use other services like Google, etc. However, my recommendation (especially if you are using iOS devices and Macs) is to use iCloud. I rely 100% on iCloud and it very rarely gives me issues. This may not be a very comprehensive answer to your question, but there’s a lot that could go into really answering it well for you. I’d be happy to take this one offline with you and dive into more detail (contact me).
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When Kevin says “contact me” … you can do that through his website – kevin.allgaier@icloud.com. He is genuinely happy to help. And he might even tell you what I was really like as a kid. ; )
Thank you Kevin, for answering all these questions, and sharing your expertise, insight, and tech tips with us!
Posted in Q&A | 20 Comments »
May 9th, 2013
In my freshman year of college I met a girl named Jaime. We lived on the same 4th floor of the dorms. Sweet as can me, talented as ever. Over the years (has it really been nearly 20 years!?) we have stayed in touch and I have loved seeing Jaime blossom in her passion for literature, music, and food. Today I’m pleased to feature and host a giveaway of her brand new – and completely gorgeous – book.
Jaime shares: I had a teacher in tenth grade who constantly encouraged us to have a “fully realized life.” She explained it meant to really examine everything that came our way—every heartache, every joy, every fear—and truly feel the full measure of each experience and not to shove it away. My life is happier when I follow her advice.
As a single mom, though, it’s hard to slow down to have a family meal, let alone stop and examine every moment of my family’s life together. So much of what we do just feels like surviving. Even so, I wanted to carry on with the traditions I had been trying to cultivate from when they were little–teaching them about classic literature, inspiring music, and great food.
I wrote Celebrate Every Day to help me remember to do just that. And I love it because when the kids and I turn through the pages, we remember working as a family to create each photograph, recipe, and party. To us now, it’s our family scrapbook of the last year.
You guys know how I feel about honoring and documenting the everyday, which makes this book even more appealing to me, let alone the personal connection to the author and the gorgeous photography and fantastically meaningful ideas. To learn more about Jaime’s book, you can check that out on Jaime’s Blog. I’m just saying that when you breeze through her blog, you may have similar thoughts to mine: Can Jaime just live with us? ; )
Jaime is giving away 3 copies of her book to my wonderful readers (anywhere in the world). Just leave your first name + city + state/country, and we will add the randomly-selected winners’ names at the bottom of this post on Monday. Be sure to check back!
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{updated 5.13.13}
Congratulations to the following 3 winners! Please email Jamie at: jemrichardson@gmail.com to claim your prize! Happy Cooking!
Bev – Peoria, Illinois
Sylvia – East providence, Rhode Island
Maria – Buenos Aires , Argentina
Posted in products | 534 Comments »
May 8th, 2013
Project Life is known for simplicity. Prima Marketing is known for gorgeous embellishments. Sometimes people have the urge to blend the two styles together – the simplicity of my pocket-based system of scrapbooking with darling embellishments that make one feel “creative”.
So today’s giveaway is from Prima Marketing. This is open to everyone and we will randomly select 3 winners that will receive the following: a coordinating embellishment pack full of flowers, crystals, washi tape, resist canvas, and more. There is a collection of embellishments for each of the featured Project Life editions: Turquoise, Seafoam and Olive. That’s $75 worth of product per collection!
This collection coordinates with the Olive Edition.
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This collection coordinates with the Seafoam Edition.
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This collection coordinates with the Turquoise Edition.
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Just leave your first name + city + state/country and we’ll randomly select 3 winners from there and add those names to the bottom of this post on Friday. Be sure to tell us which edition you have so that if you win, the collection Prima sends you will coordinate with your Project Life!
Want a chance to win a coordinating album to put your embellishments to use? Head over to Prima Marketing for a chance to enter their giveaway today also!
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updated 5.10.13
Congratulations to the 3 following winners! Please email sharon@primamarketinginc.com to claim your prize!
Sandra – Hagatna, GUAM {Seafoam}
Ashley – Carlisle, Pennsylvania {Olive}
Cynde Thrasher – Naperville, Illinois {Turquoise}
Posted in scrapbooking | 1,256 Comments »
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