Why scrapbook?

I know we have our "canned" responses when family members ask what the deal is with the 47 colorful "photo albums" we have on our coffee tables or when someone tries to use one of our Zig markers for writing out a shopping list, for Pete's sake!

But, really, why do you scrapbook? Not only is it my question of the week (bet you thought I wasn't doing those anymore, eh?), but it's also my challenge to you.

Almost every time I send out a newsletter, I get a person who wants to unsubscribe. It's a little sad, but I know what it's like to get a bunch of email and sometimes, even the best newsletters are just too much and I unsubscribe just to keep my inbox clean!

Last week was no exception. I got an unsubscribe request, but it was not the usual. It was from a subscriber's husband. He wrote me to request that he remove his wife's email from my list because she died in November.

Wow.

I didn't know her personally, but it really made me sad for him and his family. Imagine having not only to go through a loved one's personal belongings, but having to go through their email...people sending notes or newsletters totally not knowing that the recipient passed away.

It made me take a look at the emails I send out to my friends and hope I communicate how much I love and care for them.

Then it made me think about how grateful her husband must be that one of her hobbies was scrapbooking. He and their children (if they have any) now have a physical reminder of her. Her thoughts, her creativity, her handwriting...all in a neat little package we call a scrapbook.

I know I always like to think about my grandkids snuggling up with me on a couch someday asking to see photos of their mommy (not daddy because we have all girls!) when she was little. I just never really thought about them looking at them without me because I was no longer here to share it with them.

So here is my challenge to you and to me.

Make your scrapbooks count. Make them "you" in book form. Make them a snapshot of your personality, your thoughts, your dreams so others will know who you are even if you never meet.

This little email that was only 1 sentence may have changed my life. I am going to attempt to do an album about me. I used to think these were selfish type albums, and maybe they are in a sense because if I were to leave this earth for Heaven tomorrow, I want MY girls to know who I was, what I loved, what I didn't and most of all, how much I love them.

Let me know your thoughts on this by posting a comment below. But most of all, PLEASE share this with someone you know who also scrapbooks. Let this mourning husband's email to be removed from my mailing list be the catalyst that gets us all scrapbooking the legacy that is our lives.

Better yet, have them go to my website, Barefoot Memories, or my Squidoo lens to sign up for my newsletter. It might just be what they need to get motivated to scrap their photos and make their legacy book for their families.

Your scrapping friend,
Susan

Want a free scrapbook gift? Sign up for my scrapbook newsletter!

If you haven't already signed up for my FREE scrapbooking newsletter, why not take a second right now and do it? Just click here to sign up.

If you already have joined and would like to get a special gift for telling your friends, go here!

(Note: If you are signing up for the first time, you will be given the opportunity to get this special gift for telling your friends. No need to do it twice! :o)

Susan

A Cute Set of Totes...for Scrapbooking

Whew...what a week! I've been switching over to a new email management program, been battling sickness, crazy schedules and just haven't had the time to get on here to post! Sorry!

Well, to try to make it up to you, I wanted to give you a coupon code for a VERY CUTE set of 3 totes from Chadwicks. No, it's not a scrapbooking site, but the totes are just too cute to NOT tell you about. The code is CH5663 and they are free with any purchase. I've gotten some of their free offers before and have always been pleased. Just go to Chadwicks.com and shop!

Now, I have another video for you right now. This one is a "Behind the scenes" look at Two Peas. Very informative and interesting seeing what goes on in one of the big names of scrapbooking online. Enjoy!

The fire's still going...

Don't fret if you haven't jumped in on the Scrapbooking Fire Sale! You can still get almost $250 of digital scrapbooking products for a small fraction of the value. Check out my blog post below to check it out or you can click here.

Now, for something totally different, I have found some neat scrapbooking videos to share with you. I hope you like them. Feel free to leave your comments about this new addition to my blog. If you'd rather have the videos, tell me. If you'd rather have my ramblings, tell me. I want to make this blog more about YOU!



If you want to see the first video in this series, you can see it on my Scrapbook Ideas Squidoo lens.

Barefoot Memories Fire Sale

This is BIG. HUGE actually. I've never done anything like this before, but it HAS to be done.

My computer, bless her heart, is on her last leg. She's served me well, but she's got to go. She's been showing me her ugly "Blue screen of Death" and I don't like it.



So what does all this mean to you??

You're going to get a STEAL of a DEAL on some of my best scrapbooking digital products. Not digital scrapbooking products, but digital products that are all about scrapbooking.

Now, there IS a catch.

The faster you act, the more you save.

The sale begins on Monday, February 19th and ends Friday 23rd at midnight.

Everyday, the price goes up by $10 and the sale starts at only $7.00!!!!

I know...you might be thinking I am nuts, but I have to get a new computer and this is the most creative way I can think of to raise the funds!

Tell your family. Tell your friends. Tell your scrapbook buddies. Tell whoever...I don't care!

Anyone who likes to scrapbook and likes good deals will LOVE this sale.

Ready to know more? Visit Barefoot Memories Scrapbook Fire Sale now before the price goes up!

Lookie lookie Neat Scrapbook -ie

I must be on a roll this week with really neat goodies for FREE.

I really stumbled on this next one by accident. I was on this gal's website, well, blog really that a friend told me about. Very pretty, but not much about scrapbooking.

Anyway, she had this neat little tool on her site that creates a virtual slide show with photos, but in a way I have never seen done before.

Check out this link here:
http://www.slide.com/arrange?a=4&s=right&cid=5055226&ver=9&tt=0&pv=9#

Again, this is not an affiliate link, just a link to the site. It looks like there is more on this site, but this is the one that I was looking at. If you have a website or blog, this could be a great tool to display photos of your pages, photos of products you sell, etc.

I might consider trying this on my own website when I have some spare time...he he...like that will ever happen! :o)

By the way, if you like getting all these links for freebies, let me know! Just click the comment button below and leave me a note.

Your scrapping friend,
Susan

Digital Photo resizer

If you're like me, I hate resizing photos. It is a huge pain to go into Photoshop Elements and edit the size of digital photos. Actually, the resizing isn't the problem...the program just takes FOREVER to open and I like instant access! :o)

Well, I had someone on a yahoo group (don't you LOVE those?) tell me about a photo resizer that you can download and keep on your computer that will quickly reduce the size of your photos. I was so excited about this that I haven't even tried it out yet!

Here is the link to download it:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/pixresizer.html

It isn't an affiliate link or anything. Oh, and did I mention it is FREE!!!! I LOVE FREE!

Enjoy!