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~Kristin


P.S. This is my last post for Memory Makers, as I am leaving to become a stay-at-home mom. Thanks for joining me on this blog each week! The rest of the MM team will continue to bring you news, product info, tips, free projects and more!


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Modern Memory Keepers.

Write a Letter

Sometimes you’ll find that you have to venture outside your immediate family to find the information you are looking for. This is when you can turn to good old-fashioned letter writing. Using a letter to approach distant relatives has many advantages. First, it gives you the chance to introduce yourself without sounding like a salesperson on the phone. Second, it gives your relatives a bit of time to mull over your request and dig through their records before they get back to you. Plus, it’s fun to write letters!

Begin by stating who you are and why you are contacting them. Be specific about what you are looking for to ensure they will reply with useful information. Also include a large pre-stamped, self-addressed manila envelope to make it easy for your relatives to respond. Include copies of any research or information you’ve found up to this point to share with them and to get them excited to do some digging for you.

Artwork: Katrina Simeck

Use the letters you receive back from family members as your journaling. Katrina used an e-mail from her mother for the journaling on this page. This option adds more personality to finished albums because the reader is able to experience memories and stories from more than one source. If you don’t have the story in the storyteller’s original penmanship, use a font that resembles handwriting to print the journaling.

Artwork: Crystal Jeffrey Rieger

Of course, an entire layout could be about the letter itself. Think about how much insight you get into your relatives’ lives by seeing what they find important to include, the type of language they use, how they close their letters and even what their handwriting looks like. Letters, like photos, are little windows into the past and should definitely be included in your pages whenever possible.

Artwork: Karen Bowers

If you are lucky enough to have information that a family member has gathered before you, don’t hesitate to scrap with the letters he or she has collected as well. Every tidbit of information that you can get your hands on is worth saving and sharing. Here, Karen has used a letter written by one of the subjects in the photo to his niece as her journaling.

Artwork: Ronee Parsons

When searching for original letters and notes from relatives for your layouts, be sure to also look for writing on the backs of photos, notes at the bottom of jewelry boxes, etc. Anything you can find that will add a missing piece to the puzzle is worth saving.

Artwork: Lana Rappette

Old love notes make excellent embellishments for heritage pages. There are endless ways to include them. You can make them the focus of the page, or fold them and tuck them into a small pocket the way Lana did here. Either way, a handwritten love note is a perfect way to tell the story of a happy couple in love.

Creative Techniques: Scanning a letter to include handwriting on a layout

Often it’s not possible to include an original letter or note on a scrapbook page, but thanks to technology it’s easy to scan these treasures.


1. Scan your note or letter at 300 dpi or greater and then open it in image-editing software.

2. Adjust the image size to fit your layout.

3. Print onto cardstock if you are creating a traditional paper layout. Continue with the following steps for a digital layout.

4. Select the white area of your image using the Magic Wand tool, or make sure your foreground color is set to white and in the tool bar go to Select --> Color Range (with a value of 100).

5. Invert the selection. Select --> Invert

6. Copy the selection. [Ctrl + C]

7. Open a new document with a transparent background and paste the handwritten note on it.

8. Move the handwriting onto a digital layout.

If you want more unique ideas, helpful tips and creative step-by-steps to help tell your family’s story, check out

I love the free project for August: Making your own gift-card holders!



I like to give gift cards to people for their favorite places to shop, but handing over a gift in the dinky little sleeve they provide gives the gift all the fizz, but no bang. I could buy a card, but the gift card usually just fall out (another sigh); and I'm not often impressed by the "money card" and "gift card" cards I find at the stores — sure, it's hold the card in, but they are typically chee-zy.

But this how-to has everything I need to trumpet a special occasion and give a gift I know the recipient will love! The basic concept for making the gift card holder can easily be morphed into different sizes, color schemes and any occasion! Click here to get the details.

This free project is featured in 175 Fresh Card Ideas, the latest book from papercrafting guru Kimber McGray (click here to go to her blog)! It features more than 175 card ideas to take you through the year and special occasions, with step-by-step instructions for more than 50 cards. Plus, plenty of gift ideas for coordinated giving and gallery cards for inspiration.

Click here to learn more about the book.

Happy cardmaking!
~Julie

Thanks to the random number generator at www.random.org, we have a winner of the free copy of Journal Junkies Workshop.

Congratulations are in order for Sandy P!

Sandy said:

Woohoo!  New scrapbook supplies are coming!!!!!

Start looking at your favorite scrapbook and craft stores for the five new American Crafts product lines at the end of July. These papers and supplies are absolutely inspiring and drool-inducing (at least, they were for me)! And grab a copy of "Remember This" to get some great layout ideas for using these beautiful new products.


The "Dear Lizzie Enchanted" line will feature big, beautiful flowers, teacups, keys, and butterflies, all somewhat inspired by Alice in Wonderland. These will be the perfect supplies for a whimsical, fairytale-style layout, maybe using photos from a child's birthday party. The papers are beautiful, but my favorites are the gorgeous rose brads!!!!!


"City Park" is full of the bright, modern colors that I love  - green, olive, aqua, and pink. The accompanying embellishments feature fun, colorful buttons that will give your layouts that accomplished-but-handmade look. Inspired by Central Park, this line will be perfect to set-off your photos of a day outdoors at the park, zoo or backyard barbecue.


If you're like me and playing scrapbook-catchup during the summer months, you may find some Halloween pictures from last year that still need to be scrapped. "Boo" features papers that are bright and vibrant, and embellishments and stickers that have a little hint of Tim Burton spookiness . . . .
"Dear Lizzie Christmas", co-designed by Elizabeth Kartchner, will give your Christmas photos and memorabilia a timeless and classic feel. I love the gingerbread men, holly, popcorn garlands and beautiful calligraphy-style letters, but my favorite is the sheet music paper!
Last but not least, "Love" will have you making Valentine layouts year-round. The papers have a vintage feel, but there's a modern pop of aqua thrown in for added effect. Everyone knows that aqua and red is my current favorite color combination, so I'll probably be picking some of this line up soon.

This journaling technique will add an edge to your scrapbook pages. July's free project features a block-out journaling technique sure to help you highlight the importance of your words. Want a see through option: use highlighters or watercolor markers to make all your writing visible!

Get more info about this FREE block-out journaling project!

July's free project comes from Collage Playground by Kimberly Santiago. Get ready to play with your art as Kimberly shows you how to create 10 tempting types of Collage Elements. Put those elements to use through 25 fun pieces of art! This mixed-media book shows you how to make your own stickers, rub-ons, vellum art and more!



Learn more about Collage Playground here.

Digital Expressions author Susan Tuttle has some great techniques for working with layers in Photoshop Elements.

Layers in Photoshop Elements are like the layers of paint and paper you build up as you create a mixed-media collage, where some of the new layers completely cover what is below, while others allow lower layers to show through. In Photoshop Elements any new layer you add will cover the layers below. You can reveal the layers beneath by using the Eraser Tool, reducing the Opacity of layers or by applying blending modes.

Layers Palette

The Layers Palette (see below) shows each new layer you create; essentially they are stacked one on top of the other. These layers can be manipulated in a variety of ways (as you will see). You can turn layers on and off while you work—just click on the “eye” icon to the left of a layer in the Layers Palette, experimenting until you find just the right look. You can delete a layer by selecting it in the Layers Palette and then clicking the trash can icon at the top of the Layers Palette.

Converting the Background Layer

To protect the original image, the Background layer is locked. To alter the layer, you must unlock it by converting it to a regular layer. Double click on the Background layer in the Layers Palette and rename it Layer 0 (the default name).

Creating a New Layer

Whenever you add an image to your piece (e.g., dragging a new photo into your working file) the program automatically puts it on its own new layer. You can also create a new layer manually by going to Layer>New>Layer, which is helpful when you are adding brushstrokes.

Duplicating a Layer

Layer>Duplicate Layer
You can make a copy of any layer in your piece with this command. Select the layer you want to duplicate first by clicking on it in the working file or in the Layers Palette. The copy will appear directly over the layer you have copied. Use the Move Tool to click and drag it to your desired location.

Arranging Layers

There are two ways to arrange layers, which refers to moving a layer forward or backward in a file: (1) select the layer in the working file and go to Layer>Arrange; (2) click the layer in the Layers Palette and drag it up to move it forward and down to move it back.

Merging Layers

To organize and simplfy working files, you can combine multiple layers, making them into one layer. (Just be sure you will not want to manipulate the layers later on.) To do this, select the layers you want to merge in your Layers Palette by holding down the Command key (the Ctrl key on a PC). At the same time, click on the layers you want to merge. They will be highlighted once you click on them. Release the Command key when you have finished selecting the layers. Then, go to Layer>Merge Visible (see below) to merge them. Keep in mind that once layers are merged, they cannot be changed (only added to). Flattening an image (Layer>Flatten Image) merges all layers, and also turns transparent areas to white.

Layering techniques can be applied to any digital scrapbooking layout. Try combining these techniques with others to create layouts like the ones below.


For more fantastic digital scrapbooking techniques and tips, check out Digital Expressions by Susan Tuttle. Buy it here.

Happy Scrapping!

~Rachel