Part I:  live & love

The thought “inappropriate” did cross my mind, but only because I’m the creator of Snap Stories (and my sister gives me a hard time about these crazy little books permeating every crevice of my life).

Otherwise, making a One Big Adventure book for my mother-in-law to keep as a reminder of her husband who just passed away, would not only be completely appropriate, it would be thoughtful.

I asked my husband if he thought I should do it.  He not only gave the thumbs up, he selected the photos for it.

Selecting photos to commemorate a chunk of time like 45 years is [usually] no small feat.  For that reason, it’s not [usually] what I’d recommend for a Snap Story.

It so happened, though, that for my father-in-law’s memorial the family put together a slide show with photos that were all scanned & uploaded to Picasa.  I then sent select photos to Shutterfly and picked the prints up at Target.  It was all quite easy.

So far, this is my favorite completed book.

click on book cover to see all ten photos

Part II:  Bounce!

Mark your calendars and tell your friends about MONDAY, MARCH 15th.  If you’re in St. Louis (or St. Charles), this is a unique way to spend a Monday night.  Forget hum-drum homework & hit the bounce house!

Pump It Up is an inflatable party house that is hosting a shopping event.  This coming Monday, you and your kid(s) can get into Pump It Up for $5 ($10 for over two kids).  You can shop-shop-shop a variety of vendors from Made for you TuTus, to Uppercase Living, to Classy Cupcakes, to your truly, Snap Stories!  All the while, your kids can be bounce-bounce-bounce.

Follw Tigger’s lead and “save your best bounce” for Monday night at Pump It Up!

Click here to take a peek at all the one-of-a-kind venues I’ll be selling Snap Stories in St. Louis this spring.

Live.  Love.  Bounce!

My peepers are always on the prowl for reasons to celebrate.

Two great things to celebrate:

1. Emma’s 36th [6x6] birthday!
2. the 60th [6x10] Snap Stories online order

Hip Hooray it’s a great, six-ish kind of day!!

We’re so excited!  In fact, Lilah stuck her finger up her nose in pure jubilation.

 What can you do with your excitement?

You can “pick” a friend to receive a FREE Snap Story (baby, birthday, girlfriend, or adventure).  This is a $15 value ($10 book, $5 shipping) that is yours for the picking er, taking.

The 6th person to email me (emma@livekindly.org) with the SUBJECT titled “FREE FROM ME!” will be notified that they won a FREE Snap Story to be mailed to one of their lucky friends (think “Pay It Forward”).

And my dear blog-readers (hi mom, hi sis) to answer the question I know you’re thinking, yes friends and family are also encouraged to partake in the ‘FREE from me’ fun.  Without you, I wouldn’t be celebrating order #60 —or my birthday— in the first place :)

I thank all [6!] of you for that support,

Here’s what I like about Hallmark Holidays:  a given day to appreciate something important.  Here’s what I don’t like about them:  the emphasis on pricey gifts.

Valentine’s Day is a perfect example.  It’s a day to appreciate the love around you and to let someone(s) know they are valued.  Yet, when I caught a corner of the Early Show on CBS a few days ago, a guest was talking about one-up-ing the tradition of flowers & chocolate and buying a laptop for your Valentine.  They’re website today is featuring Valentine splurges or steals (flowers for $700?).  I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds that a little ridiculous.  (no offense, CBS, home of OPRAH—-my dream Snap Stories endorsement!)

I took my frustration and flipped it around to pitch some easy-affordable-thoughtful Valentine’s Day ideas to Great Day St. Louis (a local CBS version of the Early Show).  I think they are going to feature the ideas tomorrow, Friday the 12th, so tune in 10-11am on channel 4 if you can.  The broad strokes of my ideas involve photos (huge surprise, I know :)

• Print out 5-10 photos of your Valentine. The night before Valentine’s Day hide them in places they will be discovered throughout the day by your Valentine, like on the bathroom mirror, on the milk in the fridge, in their coffee mug, on the dashboard of the car, taped to their cell phone, etc.
• Write sweet, silly, or sarcastic (ex:  Yes, I STILL love you) notes and do the same hiding thing.
• Make a small photo album or a One Big Adventure Snap Story for your sweetie; see one of the page spreads above.  It’s a great way to remember the fun you have together.
• When you give a gift (flowers, chocolates, jewelry, a laptop [!!], or whatever) PLEASE be sure to give a card.  Take the time to write WHY you love someone or WHAT SPECIFICALLY you appreciate about them.  This is the one day to really express that feeling.

The thoughtfulness and care it takes to hide the photos or notes will bring happiness, joy, and child-like FUN to your Valentine the WHOLE day.  If you’re in St. Louis, you can stop by Cassie’s in the CWE to get a strip of FREE [vintage Acts of Kindness] stickers to hide for your sweetie.  (This way you don’t even have to think up the messages, they are already written for him, for her, and for romance.  A few are kind of racy and they can be altered for lots of fun!)

What do I want to GIVE my Valentine this year?  The satisfaction (and picture-proof) that who he is makes me happy and proud to be married to him.  What do I want to GET from my Valentine this year?  A laptop.

Kidding! 

Happy Heart Day,

Special Delivery:  the much anticipated Adventure and Birthday photo story books HAVE ARRIVED!

Yay!  I feel like my family has been re-united!  We are complete again, my four “babies” and me.

The silver lining to selling out of One Big Adventure and Hip Hooray it’s your Birthday (in addition to giving me a break) was the chance to play more thoroughly and thoughtfully with My Baby Face.  I forgot to snap photos of the books before I popped them in the mail, but here’s what I did:

• BRAG BOOK—-for my friend Jim featuring cute photos of all his grandkids (which I swiped off of his Facebook page) and photos of him with my kids (since he’s our Papa Jim).  Plus I left the last two photo opening “open” so he could add some of his favorite snap shots.
• NEW BABY—-for my friend Shanah using photos they posted on Shutterfly (I got the photos developed at Target).  She just had her second son & I made the book for both boys.  I used sticker letters on the front to spell out “Eli & Ben.”  I also embellished the front with dimensional stickers and buttons.  It looked super-cute!
• AUNTIE GIFT—-for my best friend Carrie featuring photos of her with my girls over the last few years (from newborn to toddler).  What a gift for a special auntie!
• PERFECT PLAY MATE—-as a holiday gift for my friend Megan who I swap babysitting with.  She gets the babies on Tuesday; I get the babies on Wednesday.  I had a year of Anderson & Cali baby photos to choose from, it made for a very special My Baby Face.  She loved it!  (A big hit for just $10.)

One of the best things about Snap Stories is that they are board books, so they stand up easily on their own.  It showcases the front photo just like a picture frame…BONUS there are nine other photos inside!  It’s the perfect innovation for a baby’s bookshelf, a mantel piece, a kitchen window sill, or a coffee table.

Have fun.  Get snap-happy!

Kindly,

Hello Fellow Photo-loving Friends,

Today I was on Great Day St. Louis (a local morning show) sharing ideas on how to integrate photos into holiday table settings. Click below for the 3.5min clip.

From Emma on Great Day St. Louis

 I had more ideas to share than we had time to cover on the show, so I figured I’d post the details here.  

By the way, you don’t have to be crafty to do these projects.  Anyone (kids included) can do these.

back of place cardsfront of place cardsPLACE CARDS:  fold card stock in half, putting name & embellishment on one side and affix a photo to the other side with double-sided tape.  These are great conversation starters & when they’re photos of YOUR family, YOUR trips, YOUR garden, YOUR pet, YOUR Disney adventure, etc. then you are really bringing a part of yourself to the table setting.

NAPKIN RINGS:  slice a 4X6 photo to capture the best part of the photo.  Then attach it in a circle with a craft brad or office fastner.  Clip a name to it and it can double as a place card.

napkin rings (photos of Lilah in Door County)napkin ring (photos of Norway) w/name attached

WINE CHARMS & JUICE COVERS: simply trace the bottom of a wine glass over the best part of your photo, cut it out and double-tape it to the glass bottom.  For the juice boxes, use fun photos that feature your kids.  Maybe even add googlely eyes (a favorite in our home)!

wine “charms” on bottom of glassjuice box covers with googlely eyesphotos attached to apples with push pinsCENTER PIECES:  Just add the photos into whatever style center piece you already have in mind.  One easy tip I’ll share is that you can use push pins to attach the photos to fruit, squash, or the base of pillar candles.  Remember to cover your back when you use photos, meaning that you may want to back photos together to avoid patches of white that will be visible from another angle.  Another tip:  use the photo cards that come in the mail to you from friends and family.  Not only are the cards attractive, but it’s as if you’re including a wide range of friends in the fun of your holiday table.the foundation of the center piece: applesholiday cards attached to apples with push pins

A FEW MORE TIPS (but these aren’t rules, because there are no rules! You can be traditional or silly or anything in between):

1. use photos that are handy, otherwise you’ll be picking & choosing photos well into the new year (for example, pick one album from your online service to get developed AND DON’T EDIT IT, or develop whatever is on your digital camera RIGHT NOW w/o editing, or use the photos that come in the mail on greeting cards)
2. keep it simple (these photos will be very hands-on, so they may not last after their debut; this isn’t a scrapbook or a piece of altered art.)
3. less is more (crop photos to capture the best parts AND JUST INCLUDE ONE OR TWO OF THESE PHOTO-IDEAS; you want to make it personal, not overstimulating)
4. work with what you’ve got (let the photos work into your decorating style and color choice for the holidays).

Photos are a wonderful reminder of the true gifts of the season:  friends and family, memories and traditions, joyous smiles…

Phew.  The holiday bustle is in full swing.

What a busy busy few weeks.  I don’t know if I’m sad or happy to report that two of the four Snap Stories titles are SOLD OUT.  I didn’t have time to do a “friends promotion”… However stay tuned (and sign up for the email newsletter) because as soon as more product comes in, I’ll be back to getting the word out!

I attended a slough of events with a sleigh full of Snap Stories.  Now I’m left with just a few Go Go Girlfriend and My Baby Face books. Check out the slideshow:

My favorite thing about the shows is the shoppers.  Hearing their enthusiasm for Snap Stories and hearing how they’re going to use the books

• one gal bought 5 girlfriend books to send her gal pals who take trips together
• one woman bought a baby book to put all the grandkids photos in for her mother who’s in a nursing home
• one gal did a birthday book for her 16-year old niece using photos of the girl from over the years
• one woman bought 2 adventure books for her sons to fill with photos from their holiday trip to WI…

…all so thoughtful & creative!

If you have girlfriends or babies to celebrate, you can still get in on the fun for this holiday season…

PLUS, I just introduced the Full SNAP Service, which is extra-awesome for busy folks.  For $35 I’ll send a completed Snap Story to your doorstep or to the mailbox of a loved one ($18 for additional, identical books).

Just point me in the direction of your photos & you’re good-to-go, as they say.  Here’s Page 1 from the book I snapped together for a gal who sent me the link to her Picasa albums:

It got the special Emma-treatment before it left Snap Stories headquarters.  I use custom rubber stamps & pages from vintage children’s books on all my mailings.  It’s something special; it’s a Snap :)

This isn’t the last time I’ll wish you & yours a very Snap-Happy Holiday!

Cheers,

I am very new to the gig of “doing shows,” but I’ll venture a guess here that I started at the very top of the food chain today.  Bellerive Country Club is gorgeous, and the grounds are beautiful, especially when the weather is 65 degrees and the dusky light of autumn settles over the expanse of the golf course.

I really enjoyed the members and guests of the club, many of whom bought Snap Stories (thank you) to share with their family and friends.  The snappiest best-seller?  My Baby Face.  Not entirely, of course, but almost 50% of the books I sold were My Baby Face.  And probably 90% of the My Baby Face sales were to proud grandmas or pregnant women :)  I also enjoyed meeting and socializing with the other vendors.  Check out the slideshow of vendors closest to my booth.

I am really glad I participated in the show.  I sold a lot of books (yay!), but more importantly, I learned two important lessons.  I have to thank my friend Kelly for the first lesson.  After listening to me explain Snap Stories to several gals, she said “Emma, are you jumping immediately to how the books work?  to how you get your photos inside the page?”  Yes, I answered.  “Well, I don’t think you should do that.  That’s kind of boring.” she said.  “Try talking about how cute the books are.  How they are whimsical illustrations with layered, happy art and the cute words you use in the story.  If they ask you how the photos get inside the page, tell them, but otherwise don’t.”  At the end of the day, I believe I found the right mix somewhere between highlighting the art and showing the how-to practical bit.  But Kelly’s advice much improved “the pitch.”

The second lesson came after a few hours of working with lesson #1.  I had an a-ha! moment that left me with some critical clarity.  This is what I learned:  the books are not about how cool it is that your photos just snap inside the pages.  The books aren’t about the cute, layered artwork either.  The books are about the photos.  Period.  It’s each person’s photos that bring the book to life.  End of story.  It’s that simple.

The books are really the perfect (cute AND easy) excuse to get up close and personal with your photos.  It’s about having memories at your fingertips, not stored away in the computer or on your cell phone or collecting dust in the closet.  I told the gals at Bellerive there are no rules with these books.  You can make them crazy with googlely eyes, or beautiful with stickers and ribbons.  You can give them as gifts, or keep them for youself.  You can give them to babies who are still nursing, or to family members in a nursing home.  They’re only $10, and they’re just for fun:  no rules (which was ironic to say inside Bellerive where there are strict rules on tipping, attire, cell phone use, smoking…).  I do love a good irony!

Miles of Smiles,

From the farmers’ market to the country club, Snap Stories is a popular pick this holiday season!

Snap Stories was invited to participate in a unique holiday shopping experience at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis this Wednesday and Thursday (Nov 11, 5-8pm & Nov 12, 11-3pm).  If you or someone you know belongs to Bellerive, please come by, say hello, and peek through the Snap Stories showcase of goodies.

We’re debuting a BRAND NEW SERVICE tomorrow at Bellerive.  It’s the service of having a Snap Story created for you.  We know that Snap Stories are not only EASY to create, they’re SUPER-FUN to snap together.  True, “so easy a monkey could do it” & “so fun a 5-year-old will sit still for 20 minutes to do it.”  BUT, the occasion may arise that no matter how easy or how fun, you just don’t have the time to pull it together (so-to-speak.)

Let me pull it together for you.  It’s full service, and it’s my pleasure.  In fact, it feeds my growing addiction to complete the books.  So I beg you, please tell your friends about this service because my fingers are itching—er, twitching—to peel back the tape & snap pages together!

Stay tuned to this blog station, because important updates will be coming shortly that apply to short people [HINT:  kids-photos-project-kit-easy-ready-to-go].  Also, there will be a FRIENDS & FAMILY promotion starting any minute—or day—now…just in time for holiday gifts, of course.  If you are my friend or family (naturally) you’ll be invited.  OR if you have signed up for the Snap Stories email newsletter, you’ll be invited (because a fan of Snap Stories is a friend of mine :)

Wishing you a day full of snap-happy stories,

ps.  Have you seen the new video on the website?  Check out a parent product review.  The first person to guess the venue where this video is taped will get FREE SNAPPY STICKERS.  Leave your answers in the comment section.  Ria, you can’t play :)

Very exciting!  You can now really stick-it-to those sassy little Snap Stories books with matching stickers!

Two sticker sets (Adventure & Birthday) have been manufactured and are available to use with your Snap Stories.  The other two sets (Baby & Girlfriend) will be available in several months.  I will share some evidence below, though, of cross-pollination of the books and stickers, and guess what?  It works!  Despite all the hub-bub and nay-sayers, you CAN use Adventure stickers in a Baby themed book!  We here in the research lab are EXSTATIC!  In fact, it produced stellar-cute results (see examples “peas in a pod” & “girls at play”).

Here are some of the F-U-N and F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N-A-L uses with these (and other) Snappy Stickers: 

• Use the stickers to “edit” your photos.  My example places a bee sticker precisely over a beer bottle and magically transforms the beer into a bee, which is much more kid-friendly for the Birthday book in which it lives.
• Use the stickers to embellish your books.
• Use the stickers because STICKERS ARE SO MUCH FUN TO USE.  Find me a kid who doesn’t love stickers.  Who in the audience remembers “sticker books”?  I LOVED my sticker book!  Well those kids grow up to be big kids who love stickers.  Further proof:  wouldn’t you rather peel & use a self-adhering stamp than lick a stamp?
• Some of the stickers allow you to write little notes on your Snap Stories.  In memory keeping, this is called “journaling” and it can further personalize your Snap Story.
• Mix and match Snappy Stickers with other stickers.  Maybe they’re fancy stickers, maybe they’re silly stickers.  Go with your favorite flavor of fun!  Snap Stories and Snap Stickers are all about enjoying your photos and memories in a hands-on way.  There are no rules.  Memories are priceless, but a printed photo is ten cents, so if you mess up, no big deal.

googlely eyes gone wild! Uncle Jeff has been on One Big Adventure, and back!

The best visual of the Snappy Stickers is on the Shop page because it magnifies the image when you roll the curser over the stickers.  There are a total of 6 styles of stickers.  The classic stickers are $3.00, the notation stickers are $3.50, and the bubble/dome stickers are $5.00.  (Sorry, googlely eyes not included.  I got those at Target.)

Sticky Smiles,

Great folks!  Great kids!  Great food!

Selling Snap Stories at the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market this past Saturday was GREAT^3!

Highlights:

• A four-year-old girl who climbed her first tree right behind our booth—you go girl!—came down from her tree-adventure and got busy with the Snap Stories.  SHE TOTALLY UNDERSTOOD how to assemble the books.  I showed her one page & she wanted to keep doing it—luckily her mom bought her one of her own—she was on fire!  (She ended up being a much better sales gal than I was!)
• THREE independent people (who BTW are not related to me!) came back for “seconds” because they had thought of more Snappy stories they wanted to make or gift.
• I didn’t count, but about half the customers were men, which TOTALLY surprised me.
• A gal from www.kidliterate.com stopped by the booth and coordinated an opportunity for me to get the books into Pudd’nHead Books in Webster Groves.
• Madeline Dames introduced herself and said I should use her name to connect with Great Day St. Louis.
• Two boys from Kimker Hill Farm who were walking around the market place and playground area with a big basket of muffins, liked the idea of selling Snap Stories, too (for a commission, of course).  So we added a few to their basket.  They made $2 for every book they sold and they did an impressive job!  (My mom even bought one from them!)  I wish I had a picture of them—it was great!
• My two-and-half-year-old daughter started calling the books “Snap Stories” rather than “momma’s books.”

The entire day was filled with F-U-N highlights, but I’m going to break off here and share some photos.  Sorry there aren’t more, but—I’m happy to report—I was too busy…

If you were there & want to share any stories, post below in the comments.

Cheerio,

Greetings:

I’m busy pulling together booth bling and photo paraphernalia to make a super-snappy, ultra-fun showing at the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market THIS Saturday, October 24th (9:00am-2:00pm), here in St. Louis.

I LOVE attending the Farmer’s Market, and am really really looking forward to selling Snap Stories there.  If anyone reading this wants to come join me behind the table, let me know.  I just hope it doesn’t rain because books and photos don’t look shiny and delicious with a mist of water, like a red wagon of carrots does.  I’m tuning my sunshine vibe to full-blast (and Calli is wearing her Lucky Shades), so we hope to see you—and all your friends—at the last market of the season.

BONUS FUN:  you can get your photo taken in the ONE BIG ADVENTURE cut-out!

Miles of Smiles,

I finally posted some examples of the My Baby Face Snap Stories title.

My favorite page is of Calli’s face filling in the entire die-cut frame…

The My Baby Face books are great gifts for new moms.  They are awesome brag books for grandparents.  They serve as baby books and keepsakes that the baby can actually touch and feel and interact with.  They are delightful for babies who like photos of babies (which, of course, is every baby).

Think of it like Facebook for babies.  Or maybe that’s not entirely helpful… Think of it like a cute story with whimsical, happy doodles that bounces to life when baby’s photos go inside the pages.  Yea, think of it like that because that’s what it is!

They look great with any baby photos…but they look down right artsy with professional black & white photos:

Every baby deserves to be framed like this & every mom deserves to have memory keeping made so easy.

It’s in the late hours of the night, laboring over the use of the word “snapshot” or “photo” somewhere hidden in the depths of website pages, that I ask myself ridiculous things like:  how many photos are taken by men verses women?  would wasabi taste good on toast? and is this business of books + photos really worth it?

Then I get an email like the one below from a gal who came to one of the recent Snap Stories events:

I wanted to tell you that John was out of town last Friday night (weekend travel is such a bummer), so I pulled out the One Big Adventure snap story book and Lucy, Edie and I had a ball. We got out all sorts of pictures and Lucy kept saying, “I love this project, Mom! This is so fun!” I’m sure you have experienced this many times, but just wated to report back on another satisfied customer. I am going to have to order more!

It makes me feel like “Yay, this is worth it.  Not only are people enjoying the books they’ve created, they are enjoying CREATING the books.”  With that, I’ll pour another cup of coffee and finish up these snappy webpages as I snack on wasabi toast (just kidding)!

Cheers,

Emma

The Snap Stories event at Cassie’s in St. Louis’s CWE was a hit!  It was so much F-U-N fun!!  Lots of neighborhood moms stopped by, with kids in tow.  I got to demo how to use the books & I even worked on two books with two different 4-year olds.  There were so many nice things that happened during the hands-on event:

• My friend Amanda said she was going to buy Snap Stories as THE Christmas present this year—she gets a “universal” present for everyone and is D-U-N done with holiday shopping!
• My friend Sarah bought 10 books to send to her friends all over the country (!!!).  Gotta get the word out she said.
• My friend Ria [mymommymanual.com] video-taped Snap Stories in action & invited me to demo the books live at a broadcast event in Chicago!

But the highest highlights were from the kids, of course.

Isabella (age 4) asked me when she looked in the bag with her Snap Stories, “where are the pictures?”  Meaning, where are the photos to put inside?  Too cute!

Another kid-highlight requires an understanding of where this event took place.  It was at a boutique that specializes in “spa” products like lotion, tonic, soap, make-up, fragile gift items, etc.  It is a lovely store with a fabulous owner, who despite having her adorable 10-month-old son at work with her all day, does not have a kid-friendly store.  One display that was at kid-height was of colored bath balls the size of a racquet ball.  My friend’s son (age 3) had a ball with the colored balls.  He inspired his younger brother (age 1) and my daughter (age 2) to join in the fun.  Next thing I knew I was looking out the front window of the store and saw the kids on the sidewalk throwing the bath balls around…..um, time to go, kids!  Really it was quite funny and an apropos end to a fun-filled event.

Here’s a full album of pics…

(click here to see the album in fuller size.)

Thanks to all my friends, neighbors, and the folks that read about Snap Stories in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who came by.

Emma

Hi,

I just got an email from a dear friend of mine I included on some Snap Stories promo stuff.  She writes:

Emma-

I really dig this idea! I will definitely order one and try it out!

One theme that I didn’t notice, that I think would be great to add is, “This
is my family” or something along those lines, where you could slot in
grandparents, aunts, mom, dad, siblings, etc. You might have that already
and I just didn’t see it, but a theme like that would be of particular
interest to me, and others I know, to give to their kids.

This is very similar to a suggestion I got from another friend a few weeks prior:

So I would love a snap book for all my old family photos..us old school folks dont want to scan and reproduce these things but a lovely way to show these to our grandchildren would be so welcome.
 
Family Tree: Grandparents and Greats and Great Greats and even Mom and Dad…Parents and Grandparents could show their baby pictures and/or childhood pictures..weddings.. how fun for these little ones to see Grandma or Mommy now and when she was little
 
My Life Story..for grown ups to give to anyone but especially Grandchildren…Baby pics..childhood..school…sports ..military service..wedding .. jobs..homes…towns..trips..family..I know lots of people who would do one for themselves..no one wants to be forgotten..
think of what people have pictures of in those shoeboxes
 
The end..Just the Beginning..The story never ends…just new chapters and adventures to discover

hmmm….sounds like a good idea—what do you think?

Did you know that there are not one, but TWO, very VERY EASY ways to get FREE Snap Stories right now?  I kid you not…

The FIRST—read the blog feature at Creative Imaginations and then leave a comment.  Just by leaving a comment (maybe even a recommendation or a review or anything really) you qualify for a PRIZE PACKAGE that will certainly contain a Snap Stories or two….maybe even some scrapbooking product, to boot!  DEADLINE FOR THIS IS SEPTEMBER 14th!

The SECOND—is on Facebook.  If you’re on Facebook then just visit the Snap Stories fan page and post a baby photo.  It’s that easy!!  (That is, if you think Facebook is “easy,” which I don’t but that’s another non-snappy story entirely!)  DEADLINE FOR THIS IS SEPTEMBER 12th!!

The blog feature at Creative Imaginations continues!  And—way cool—ScrapScene picked up the feature, too!  Click through to the blog feature to see some very fun (and instructive!) videos.  There are two videos relating Snap Stories to kids and they are both quite entertaining, especially the one with the 5-year-old telling us “It’s a SNAP!”  Too cute!!!!!

Makes me want to get these darn photo books into every household with a kid.  Because, you know what, every kid deserves to feel like the star of their own story!

Click above to see Snap Stories in action and check out the mention in Scrapscene to see how you can get FREE SNAP STORIES!!

Plus, I’m anticipating the visual on a totally tricked-out Snap Stories because Cheryl Mezzetti has asked the Creative Imaginations Design Team to get all arts & crafty with the books this week, too…..can’t wait to see what they do!!

Ciao-

Emma!

What an honor to have Snap Stories featured all week on Creative Imaginatinons’ blog.  The first post was a meet-the-artist intro to yours truly.  You can read the full, fun-filled story in its original post, but I’ll share the photos that accompany that story right here:

A girlfriend asked me the other day, “now what do you do again?”  Poor thing didn’t know what she was getting herself into by asking such an ordinary question.  As creator and tireless-evangelist of Snap Stories, I have learned that unless I have a sample of the book on hand with me, I may as well say I sew tents for aboriginal tribes in the deepest part of the Amazon, because I get the same puzzled look and conversation-ending comment:  “Oh.  That’s cool.”

Since I didn’t have samples with me when she asked (note to self:  always have samples.), I said:  “I’ll just show you the next time I see you.  It will be much easier, trust me.”

It’s the funniest, most consistent thing.  When I can SHOW someone how to use Snap Stories, they love it!  They start mentioning all the titles they’d love to have (post your ideas here).  But when I describe Snap Stories WITHOUT showing a sample, no one gets it.  Guess it’s time for the nail polish and sweater-set, folks, because this whole “seeing is believing” thing is exactly why I need to get my snappy-self onto QVC!

The a-ha moment EVERY TIME is the pull-away tape around the outside of the interior page.  Yup, gets ‘em every time!  

OK, I’m off to Target (with my sample in tow)!

Cheers,  Emma