Managing your Greeting Cards

Life can get way too busy for us to manage our own communications whether it's through our professional or private lives. Before you know it, a birthday has come and gone, the thank-yous are forgotten, and as for the get wells and congratulations, they slip by with barely a thought other than "I should have" or "I wish I would have."

That's a task Your Publishing Source can take on for you and this is how we do it:

• Just let me know what you want the front of your card to say, such as Season's Greetings, Happy Holidays, etc., and if you have a color and a mood in mind, share that with me. I will email you a few selections.


• You then call me with your credit card information or you pay me through my PayPal email account of cadargevics@yahoo.com (pricelist below).


• You email me the names and addresses of your recipients; Word or Excel is best.


• I complete the design of your card to include your personalization and then have each card mailed directly to your recipient with your return address on the envelope.


• The cards arrive in your recipient's mailbox in about a week.
  

Pricelist, includes card, design, personalization, and shipping to your recipient:

• 1-20 cards, $5 each


• 21-30 cards, $4.50 each


• 31 and over, $4 each.

Let me take the weight off your shoulders while your friends, family, co-workers, and clients get the greetings they deserve. Maintain the good relationships you have taken time to build.

Carolyn Dargevics

www.YourPublishingSource.com

Give Your Child a Letter from Santa!

Simply provide me with the child’s name and address, and anything specific to that child (ie helping brother, sister, etc.) and I'll customize and mail your child his/her own personal Santa Letter from the North Pole.

The total for your Santa Letter to be customized, including tax & shipping to your home is only $5.00!

Hurry! This special ends December 14, 2008.

Money orders and credit cards accepted. Contact Carolyn at 920-203-3610 or email at cadargevics@yahoo.com.


Carolyn Dargevics
Your Publishing Source LLC

Questions for You to Begin Storybooking

Don't know where to start when you want to hear someone's story? These suggestions and questions are designed to get you started.

The First Step

1. Before you begin recording your stories, gather photos, yearbooks, family albums, letters, heirlooms, souvenirs, mementos, and other reminders of your life.

2. Use your free time over the next couple days to look at these items and think about the events and people in your life.

3. Review the questions a few days before recording or writing your story. Let the responses percolate in your mind to help organize your thoughts before you begin. You will be surprised and pleased as to how much you can recall.

4. If you are writing your own story, it might be helpful for someone to read the questions to you. That person can then jog your memory with additional questions.

5. This can be exhilarating or tiring so be sure to allow yourself some time to rest. Optimally, no more than 2 hours at a time is plenty. If recording, breakdown each start/stop into segments preferably no longer than 10 minutes each.



The Generations - How far back do you remember? Whether we realize it or not, our previous generations had a great influence on our lives - our attitudes and even our health.

1. Where did your great-grandparents come from?

2. If it was other than the United States, why did they leave their homeland?

3. Where did they live in the U.S.?

4. What did they do for a living?

5. How many brothers and sisters did they have?

6. How many children did they have?

7. What do you remember about your great-grandparents?

8. What do you remember about your grandparents?

9. What did they do for a living?

10. How many sisters and brothers did they have?

11. How many children did they have?

12. What do you know about their brothers and sisters?

13. Did anyone from these generations serve in the military?

14. What type of education did they have?

15. What stories did your parents tell you about their lives?

16. Where did your parents live while they were growing up?

17. What schools did they attend?

18. How did they meet?

19. When and where did they get married?

20. Are there any customs or family traditions that have been passed down through the generations?



Childhood - Do you remember the days when you didn't have a care in the world? Some of your greatest concerns were getting time to play, talking to friends, and finding out what was for dinner.

1. Where and when were you born?

2. What was it like there?

3. What was your house like?

4. What were your parents like?

5. What are your favorite memories of them?

6. What was the most important thing they taught you?

7. Did you have any brothers or sisters?

8. What do you remember about your childhood?

9. What kinds of things did you enjoy?

10. What were you like as a child?

11. Did you have any pets? If so, what were they and do you remember their names?

12. Who was your best friend?

13. What was your school like and did you enjoy it?

14. What were your best and worst subjects?

15. What was your favorite food and favorite thing to do?

16. Did you have chores to do around the house?

17. Did you participate in sports, scouts, clubs, or church?

18. What were your family vacations like?

19. How did you celebrate holidays?

20. What was your most memorable birthday?

21. What was the best present you ever received?

22. What was the most memorable present you ever gave?

23. What did you want to be when you grew up?

24. Did you have any jobs in high school?

25. When did you get your driver's license?

26. What was the first car you drove?

27. When did you get your first car and what was it?

28. What did you like most about your childhood?

29. When you misbehaved, what was your punishment?



Adult Life - You passed through the crucible of childhood and youth with all the rapid swings of change those years often bring. As you matured, life brought new challenges, new heights to climb.

1. Where did you live when you left home?

2. Did you further your education? If so, how?

3. What was your first job as an adult?

4. What were the best and worst jobs you ever had?

5. What is your present job or was the last job you had before retirement?

6. Did you serve in the military? If so, where?

7. Have you belonged to any organizations?

8. What was your favorite activity?

9. When did you buy your first house? Where was it?

10. What do you remember about living in your first house?

11. What was your favorite car?

12. Have you done any traveling? If so, what places did you visit?

13. What do you remember about the world at different times in your life?

14. Where were you and what did you think during historic events?

15. What was the most embarrassing thing you ever did?



Family Stories

1. Did you marry? If not, why did you choose to remain single?

2. If you married, how did you meet your spouse?

3. How old were you when you got married?

4. What do you remember about your wedding day?

5. What was it like when you were dating?

6. What was popular at the time?

7. Did you marry for love or another reason?

8. Where did you get married? Where was your honeymoon if you had one?

9. Where did you live when newly married?

10. Do you have any children?

11. What feelings did you have when your children were born?

12. How do your children's lives differ from yours?

13. What were your children like as kids?

14. What were they like as teenagers?

15. When your kids misbehaved, how did you discipline them?

16. What were the holidays like in your family?

17. What traditions did you observe?

18. What was your home and neighborhood like?

19. Why did you choose to live where you did?

20. What were the happiest days you remember?

21. What were your proudest accomplishments?

22. When did you feel most proud of each of your children?

23. Do you have any grandchildren or great-grandchildren and if so, where do they live?


Love Stories - What would life be without love?

1. Did you have childhood or teenage crushes? If so, for whom?

2. Who did you first fall in love with?

3. How and where did you meet?

4. Do you remember a special present you bought or received from him or her?

5. Did you have a favorite place to go together?

6. Did you have a favorite song?

7. Do you have a special memory of a time you spent with that person?

8. Are you still together, or, if not, why did you part?


Photo Memories - "A picture is worth a thousand words." Select several photos and get the story behind each.

1. What is the date/year of this photo?

2. Who is in the photo?

3. Who took the photo?

4. Where was the photo taken?

5. What brought you there?

6. What is happening in the photo and what was the event?

7. Why is this photo important to you?


Wisdom Stories - A life well lived is full of surprises, twists, and turns. Your experiences can provide valuable lessons to those who come after you. They can help them to avoid your mistakes or build on your successes. By sharing your experiences and perspectives, a lifetime of wisdom can be passed along to a new generation.

1. If you could go back and re-live any part of your life, what would it be?

2. What is your proudest moment and why?

3. What guided your decisions?

4. At times of stress, what got you through them?

5. What was your greatest fear and how did you deal with it?

6. What are the most important lessons that you have learned so far?

7. Who was the one person you admired most and why?

8. What are you most sorry about?

9. What were the causes you were most concerned with?

10. What was the hardest thing you had to do?

11. Who was the greatest influence in your life?

12. What were some of the things your dad and mom said?

13. What books and/or movies made the most impact on you and why?

14. What is your most treasured possession and why?

15. As you look back, what are the three most fantastic changes you witnessed?

16. What are some of the principles you have lived by? What guides you?

17. How well have you been able to live by those principles?


Medical History - It is important for our future generations to have as much knowledge and information as possible about our family's medical history and background.

1. How old did your great-grandparents live to be or how old are they if they're still living?

2. What illnesses or allergies did they have during their lifetime?

3. If they have passed, how did they die?

4. How old did your grandparents live to be or how old are they if they're still living?

5. What illnesses or allergies did they have?

6. If they have passed, how did they die?

7. How old are your parents?

8. What illnesses or allergies did or do they have?

9. If they have passed, how did they die?

10. What illnesses or allergies have you had in your lifetime?

11. Do any special illnesses or specific allergies run in your family? If so, what are they?


Business, Career & Finance - This part of life is one that everyone has opinions on. Whether you owned your own business, worked for someone else, or just had to pay the bills, you have stories to tell. The ones who will follow your trail need to know how you dealt with these issues, good or bad.

1. If you have your own business or manage one that has been in the family, what kind of business is it?

2. What do you like most about what you do for a living?

3. What are our feelings about using credit?

4. What have been your experiences with professionals like attorneys, CPAs, brokers, real estate agents, lenders, etc.?

5. What accomplishments and recognition have you received? How did they make you feel?

6. What did you do that led to those accomplishments?

7. How did you manage your money?

8. Have you ever gotten in over your head? How did you get out?

9. What was your typical workday like?

10. Was your work stressful? If so, how did you deal with it?

11. Do you have any special thoughts on dealing with bosses, subordinates, co-workers, or customers?

12. How do you define "success"?

13. What gave you the most satisfaction in your career?

14. Did you have a mentor? If so, who?

15. Does someone you mentored stand out in your mind?

16. What were the main ingredients of your success?

17. If you could, what would you have done differently in your business life if you had to do it over again?

18. A great deal of success in business is the quality of people you hire. What special traits did you look for when considering a new hire?

19. Were you ever fired? If so, what were the circumstances?

20. Did you ever fire someone? If so, what were the circumstances?


Spiritual Life - Spiritual life has a different definition for everyone. For some, it may mean participating in organized religions. For others, it may mean communing with nature. It's a very personal part of life and can provide important insight about you to those who hear your stories.

1. Describe your spiritual or religious beliefs?

2. What were your grandparents' and parents' beliefs?

3. Do you still practice the faith you were born into? If not, when and why did you change?

4. Have you participated in any celebrations within your faith? If so, what were they, and how old were you?

5. Have you done any work with youth groups?

6. Have you traveled to spread your faith to other people? Tell a story about a memorable experience from that time.

7. How has your faith helped guide you through life?

8. Was there a special time in your life when your faith sustained you in a time of crisis?

9. What is your favorite scripture and why?

10. Share a story about a prayer that was answered.

11. Do you believe in miracles? If so, did you ever witness one?

12. Describe some of the ways your life has been blessed through your faith.

13. What would you like to share in regard to your faith?


Veteran's History - The following questions are based on the Veteran's History Project Sample Interview Questions. Some questions may not apply to every veteran. The more you can find out about a veteran before an interview, the more successful the interview will be. If you are the interviewer, it would be helpful for you to read up on any conflicts the veteran participated in and to look at maps of the areas where he/she was stationed.

Jogging the Memory:

1. Were you drafted or did you enlist?

2. Where were you living at the time?

3. If you joined, what was your motivation?

4. Why did you pick the service branch you joined?

5. Do you recall your first days in service?

6. What did it feel like?

7. Talk about your boot camp experiences.

8. What do you remember about your instructors?

9. How did you get through it?

Experiences:

1. What war(s) did you serve in?

2. Where exactly did you go?

3. Do you remember your arrival and what it was like?

4. What was your job or assignment?

5. Did you see combat?

6. Were there any casualties in your unit?

7. Talk about a couple of your most memorable experiences.

8. Were you a prisoner of war? If so, talk about your experiences and when freed?

9. Were you awarded any medals or citations?

10. What did you do to earn them?

Life in the Service:

1. How did you stay in touch with your family?

2. What was the food like?

3. Did you have enough supplies?

4. Did you feel pressure or stress?

5. Was there something special you did for good luck?

6. How did people entertain themselves?

7. Were there entertainers?

8. What did you do when on leave?

9. Where did you travel while in the service?

10. Do you recall any particularly humorous or unusual event?

11. Did you and others pull pranks, and if so, describe some?

12. Do you have photographs? (Go through them if available.)

13. What did you think of officers or fellow soldiers?

14. Did you keep a personal diary?

After Services:

1. Do you recall the day your service ended? If so, how did you feel?

2. Where were you?

3. What did you do in the days and weeks that followed?

4. Did you work or go back to school?

5. Was your education supported by the GI Bill?

6. Did you make any close friendships while in the service?

7. Did you continue any of those relationships? For how long?

8. Did you join a veteran's organization?

Later Years and Closing:

1. What did you do as a career after your service?

2. Did your military experience influence your thinking about war or about the military in general?

3. If you're in a veteran's organization, what kind of activities does your post or association have?

4. Do you attend reunions?

5. How did your service and experiences affect your life?

6. Is there anything you would like to add that we did not cover in this interview?


Be sure to add observations and thoughts. Allow the stories to flow.
Questions taken from the "StoryKeeper User Guide."

Carolyn Dargevics

Keep your Famiy Happy During the Busy Season

Keep your Family Happy During the Busy Season
By Mark Semple CCC, The Spouse Support Expert, DirectSellingLeader s.com
© 2008 Sarah Robinson Co.

Living a balanced life can be an interesting process.

You know that just being a wife and mother can be a full time endeavor. When you add your home business to the mix, life can get very interesting. Especially when you are in your busiest time of the year.

Let's be realistic - there is only so much time in a day and there is only one of you.

When you start to get busier in your business, that is going to require some more time, which will take time away from something else.

All too often, the first thing that gets cut is personal, self-care time. This is actually what makes everything else possible for you. After all, if you're not taking care of you, who will take care of your family or your successline if you get sick?

Next is your time with your family. You know how precious that time is. You need time as a group, you need time with the children and you need time with your partner.

Although you are working your business to make a difference for your family, they will notice if you are not available to them and they may have a problem with that.

So, where does this leave you?

First and foremost - be clear on what is truly important to you and ensure your time is allocated appropriately to reflect that.

Prior to heading into your busy period, have a meeting with the family and let them know that you need to shift time a little bit. Ask for their input and see how creative you all can be as a family.

Ensure that there is regular family time on the calendar and that it is non-negotiable. Your family will be more supportive of you when they know that they are a priority and that are still on your radar.

If you are doing too much by yourself, stop! What chores or tasks can you delegate to other family members?

Show them how a little more help from them can free you up to produce more to make life better for everyone.

Although it may seem selfish, this truly is all about you. You deserve to take the absolute best possible care of yourself.

What is the most loving act: Spending half a day with your family when you are stressed, drained and thinking about your business? Spending some time taking care of you and then spending a few hours with your family where you are fully present, in the moment, happy, relaxed and fun to be around?

Taking care of yourself is the greatest act of love that you can do.

The bottom line is to decide how you want this Busy Season to go for you. Do you want to get to the New Year totally depleted, ready for a getaway and wondering why you're doing your business; or: happy, vibrant and knowing your business is one of the best decisions you ever made.

The choice is yours.

Mark Semple CCC
2007 International Coach of the Year

What is Premier?

You can certainly make any storybook from a wide selection of page layouts - all at no additional cost. But if you like to express your creativity, you will want a Premier subscription.
The Premier subscription allows you to explore 317 different collections to your heart's content. At the right is the "Journey" collection.

Even with over 35,000 different backgrounds and embellishments to choose from, it's easy to navigate and to find exactly what you want. For instance, if you want a red ribbon, you can type "ribbon" in the search bar and click on red, and all the red ribbons will pop up. Then you can drag-and-drop your ribbon onto your page, make it big, small, with a shadow, with a border, flip it - whatever you want to do with it, and make as many copies of it as you want at the click of a button.

You never run out of stuff, you never have to download anything onto your computer, and there's never an extra charge for the new collections that come out every month and the new templates that are added to your Premier account.

Blessings,

Carolyn

http://www.astorytohold.com/

How do I convert from traditional scrapbooking to digital scrapbooking?

"When my first child was born, I vowed to make a scrapbook of him for each year. It became an overwhelming task when each set of grandparents also wanted a book. So, of course, I had to make three. Now, with my fourth child, I'm way behind on the scrapbooks so I'm eager to get going with digital scrapbooking. My question, though, is how do I make the transition? I have a shelf unit full of scrapbook pages I will never use and I have a drawer full of leftover embellishments. I feel guilty for spending so much money and not using them but the clutter is weighing heavily on me too. Any suggestions?" -- Tammy, West Bend

You are not alone, Tammy! I was a scrapbooker too. I got married nearly eight years ago and scrapbooked my wedding. Then I scrapbooked our trip to Ireland ten months after our wedding. Our trips to Hawaii and Austria have been in boxes for five years, complete with the scrapbook binders, pages, and embellishments I planned on using. Just the thought of taking time and spreading out the supplies, cutting and pasting, etc., made me nauseous.

Being very frugle, I too felt guilty from having spent all that money. Most of the stuff was still in their cellophane wrappings! I knew I wasn't going to make any more traditional scrapbooks so I gathered everything together and sold it as a bundle on eBay. What a relief!

And to top it off, I finished my 53-page Austria book in Heritage Makers within two weeks. My husband and I can relive that wonderful experience of singing with the Classical Music Festival just by opening a book. And stuff won't fall out either. Plus, our book is archived forever on the Heritage Makers site.

So, if you want to get some of your money back and a lot of weight off your shoulders, either bundle it up and sell it on eBay, or give it to your scrapbooking friends, or donate it to Goodwill. You will not only be very relieved, you will be able to get caught up very quickly, easily, and with much more fun making your Heritage Makers storybooks.

Blessings,
Carolyn
www.AStoryToHold.com

How do I choose the size of the book I want to make?

This depends on your subject matter.

For brag books or token memorable books, I suggest the 5x5 storybook. I made a 5x5 book for my husband for Valentine's day. It featured a photo on the left side, done in black-and-white with a black background, and on the right, I added a quote about love (I'd be happy to transfer this to your Heritage Makers account if you'd like to see it). For a friend, I made a book entitled "Laura's Book of Amazing Friends." Again, I simply added photos and quotes about friendship.

For a traditional storybook, I suggest the 8x8. This is the size I used for my granddaughter, entitled "Grandma and Natalia: Our First Storybook." I also used this size to make a storybook of my first wedding. I scanned in photos from the wedding album, added them to the book, and then told the story of how my first husband and I met, why we chose the church, who was in the wedding party and why we chose our attendants, where we had gone on our honeymoon, etc. I gave one to each of my children so they know about their parents' wedding and can pass that along to their children.

You might want to choose a 7.5x10 book for a story too. This size is great for profiling a marriage, a business, a love story, etc. I used this size book for profiling Clydesdale horses.

The 11.5x8.5, I think, is great for a trip or a process, such as building a home. I made a book about the building of our home. In this size book, the detail in the photos is easy to see. The first page gives an explanation of why we chose the lot and the design of the home. Each successive page shows photos of the process and the dates.

Another good process book on a smaller scale is the 7x5. I used this size to show the process of my husband's artwork and I display it at all the art shows. It's easy to handle and pack.

The 7x5 book is our only book that offers themes. So if you want something quick and easy to put together, you can choose from 13 different themes: baby's first year, Christmas, sports, Mother's Day, Father's Day, summer vacation, etc. You drop in photos, add a little text, and you're done.

The 12x12 is a great digital scrapbook. I used this size for my family's geneaology. And of course, it's an appropriate size for copies of traditional scrapbooks.

Of course, these are all just my opinions. Go with your vision, and please know that I'm here to help you.

Blessings,
Carolyn
http://www.astorytohold.com/