I have decided to set up a referral contest which will give you entry into a monthly draw for 20 free publishing points.

As you came to the site, you SHOULD have seen a popup (which will show up on each page for awhile as you go through the site), which gives you the chance to sign up for my newsletter.  There is also a form at the end of each post that you can sign up with as well.  (Once you sign up, the forms will no longer show up – so if your wondering where they went and you are signed up for the mailing list – that is why;-)

The contest is set up so that for every 5 friends you refer to this contest to sign up for the newsletter, you will receive an entry into a monthly drawing for 20 free publishing points.

I am not sure how long I will run the contest for – and I reserve the right to stop the contest at any time – but for now, I think it is a great way to motivate and show everyone how much fun it is when they get in and start working on their own projects.

So – here is a basic overview of the contest rules:

Simply refer 5 of your friends to receive one entry into the monthly draw.

Refer 10 friends, and receive 2 entries.

(You can refer as many people as you want and receive an additional entry for every 5 people who sign up).

RULES:

1)  You and each of your referrals must sign up for the mailing list and you must register for your free basic studio account by going to yourstorybooklife.com.

2)  Draw will be made on 15th of every month through random selection.

3)  *ONCE YOUR ENTRIES ARE RECEIVED YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY HAVE YOUR NAME PUT BACK IN FOR EVERY NEW DRAWING EACH MONTH!  SO, YOU CAN WIN MORE THAN ONCE, AND YOU WILL CONTINUE TO BE ENTERED FOR AS LONG AS YOU REMAIN A NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBER!

4)  Publishing points that you win will be transferred to your account when you are ready to publish your first project.

It really is as simple as that!

And, you and your friends can begin having some fun playing in studio to see what all you can do.  Watch some tutorials and learn some of the basics of using studio to create your projects.

I am also here to help – you can simply contact me through the contact form on the site – or send an email directly to me at marie[at]yourstorybooklife.com

I am looking foward to seeing what fun projects everyone starts working on to use the points that they win!

I am LOVING the new project options that are available with Heritage Makers now! I just recieved my latest order yesterday, and it was just like Christmas opening it all up!!

I had finally finished my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding album – so I decided to use up some of my points and get some stuff for myself.  I had made a canvas print for my mom and dad this past winter for their 40th wedding anniversary, so decided to go ahead and make one for myself.

I ended up making three!  (2 are only the smaller 8X8′s though, so it isn’t like I made 3 huge canvases!)  The one small one is the one I posted a picture of before – “My greatest blessings call me mom…”  I also made one of my Grandma who passed away last month, and it is amazing.

Just before she passed away, she had said those words to me when she was saying her good-byes – and I wanted something that let me hold onto that special moment with a very special lady.

As I was scrolling through the template gallery, I saw another canvas template I just had to do for myself.  (I get so many ideas just from going through the template gallery that there is no way I could ever hope to do all the projects I want to do!)

This one is straight from a template – it took me about 5 minutes to finish it.  All I did was put my own pictures in on top of what was there:

I did a couple other projects as well, along with the canvases and my brother’s wedding book.  I did a poster for my daughter’s teacher who is retiring this year.  I won’t post it here yet since I haven’t actually given it to her yet – but it turned out great too.  We will have it framed, and along with a card I made up for her, we will give it to her on the last day of school.

My 13 year old niece had also been working on a book of her own over the past year or so, and she had finished it as well.  It is a great little book that I know she will look back on someday and not help but smile.  She had all the pictures of everything that is important to her right now, along with the stories of important events and moments in her life to this point.

I love getting these projects delivered to me – it is just so exciting to see the finished product!  It also gets me wanting to make more – and thanks to the template gallery, I have so many ideas I need to get working on!

I am what you might call a digital scrapbooking/crafting “junkie”.  And, I have tried tons of different products, lots of different softwares.  I have done the traditional scrapbooking, and while I do enjoy it, there is just no way I can keep up with it.

For one thing, I don’t have the space in my house.  I have two girls – ages 8 and 6 who make enough of a mess around here without me leaving all my scrapbooking stuff out too.  And, that is what I have to do when I am scrapbooking because if I have to keep getting it out and putting it away, I never get around to it.

So that is why I decided to try digital scrapbooking in the first place.  No need for stuff scattered all over my house.  Don’t have to keep buying more embellishments that I may or may not ever use, but buy anyway because they are “cute” or on sale.

I tried Heritage Makers first a couple of years ago, and I loved it.  I signed up as a consultant because I thought it would be a fun way to make some money – at least enough to pay for my own products I kept making.  But, life got a little crazy and I wasn’t sure if these products were the only way to go.  I like to make sure I am getting the best deal, and the best products – all that kind of stuff.  Sometimes I overanalyze – but I always have to make sure there isn’t something better out there.

I went ahead and tried some other things, each that has its own merits and products it offers.  But, nothing was ever seeming to compare to Heritage Makers.  I even went so far as to purchase the private label rights to some software that makes pretty good products, and was pretty simple to use – but there just was no comparison as far as quality or selection.

I kept finding that when someone wanted me to make a wedding album, or anniversary canvases – I was still using my Heritage Makers account because I knew that the product would be the best and that it would be something really wonderful.

Finally, one day I figured that I may as well just accept that Heritage Makers had the best selection, the best software and just everything I was needing.  So, I signed back on as a consultant – and am in the process of making a whole bunch more products!

My latest canvas (which I show on my About Me page…) is this one:

I ordered it the other day (along with 2 books I had finished up, a poster, a greeting card and 2 other canvases…) and can’t wait for it to get here!

So yes, I am back and if you need any help or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!