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Posts from March 2007

Military Families Stay Close with Photo Albums

A new way to save and share photos has recently come on the scene, and it’s proving to be a hit with military families who want to share favorite photo memories. It’s a product called ZoomAlbum™ and it’s an easy way to produce a hand-made miniature album of 12 photos -- cementing the connection between deployed military personnel and their loved ones back home.

Military families everywhere know that pictures are important parts of sharing their lives – whether together or apart. It doesn’t matter if the picture was snapped with a digital or film camera, a cell-phone camera or scanned in from an old photo – it’s the printed picture that we hold, carry, mail or put into albums.

Amber Runke is the Coordinator of Operation Military Kids at the University of Minnesota. A major part of her program is to support military families throughout the Minnesota National Guard. This year, she’ll be showing military personnel and their families how to stay in touch by using ZoomAlbums to capture life’s precious moments.

Amber says that “pictures bridge the gap of separation, and for military families these ZoomAlbums are meaningful mementos that help deployed dads and moms stay connected to the people that matter.” She notes that she’ll be helping several thousand families stay in touch with ZoomAlbums, because “ZoomAlbums are ideal for family projects, and selecting photos and printing the albums is a fun way to creatively tell a family’s story in pictures.” “They’re charmingly small,” she says, “and they can carry a slice of family life to any corner of the world.”

Doug Rowan, the company’s CEO gives a glimpse of what ZoomAlbums are all about: “ZoomAlbums are innovative kits for creating handmade albums of photo memories from digital images, a personal computer and a home Inkjet color printer. Each ZoomAlbum holds 12 photos on glossy, high-quality paper and it takes just minutes to make these charming and lasting keepsakes.” The albums are easily mailed, and their 3’X3” compact size make them easy to carry in a pocket, field pack, or purse.

Rowan noted that the company has made a commitment to support military families by offering special military pricing, and the company voluntarily attends many military gatherings to help families learn to have fun with pictures.

About ZoomAlbum, Inc.
ZoomAlbums (www.zoomalbum.com) are an exciting new way to turn digital images into handmade, professional-looking albums of twelve glossy photos. All you need is a PC and Inkjet color printer. ZoomAlbum supplies everything else (software, photo sheets, album covers) to create these charming and lasting keepsakes. You can even print your own personalized covers.

NOTE: ZoomAlbum's Sales Director has a blog here.

New Resource Helps Manufacturers Stand Out in Scrapbooking Market

Downloadable ebook provides resources to help new products get noticed.

Lee's Summit, MO - March 27, 2007 - Scrappy Marketing Solutions has released the first in a series of downloadable ebooks aimed at helping scrapbooking/craft manufacturers reach their target audience. Written by industry insider Angie Pedersen, "Launch Your New Scrapbooking Product" reveals 28 ways manufacturers can promote their products to the media, storeowners, and consumers.

"The most common comment I hear from clients is, 'If people just knew about our product, they would love it,'" says Pedersen, a marketing communications specialist with Scrappy Marketing Solutions.  "This ebook gives manufacturers specific steps they can take to help increase their exposure in the scrapbooking market.  Using these tips, they can reach their audience from a variety of angles, so it seems like they're everywhere at once."

The 12-page ebook is based on Pedersen's seven years' professional experience in the scrapbooking industry, as well as blog archives, seminar material and examples from her marketing communications projects. It features live links to online resources such as free press release distribution sites, lists of industry-specific media, and del.icio.us linkrolls.

Three tips featured in "Launch Your New Scrapbooking Product":

  1. Compile example projects that highlight your product(s) into an idea book, complete with supply lists and step-by-step instructions. Consider publishing as an e-book, to minimize costs. Provide the downloadable PDF as a “Special Gift” for signing up for your newsletter on your website or as an incentive for an opening wholesale order.

  2. Offer yourself as an interview subject for craft podcasts, blogs, and websites.  Listen to or read the archives, so you have an idea of their interview style.  Have a list of potential talking points ready.

  3. Post a YouTube or Google Video demonstrating how to use your product.  Mention each “episode” in a blog post, and/or archive on your website.

25 more tips are available in the ebook, which retails for $7.  It is available for purchase now at http://scrapbookmarketing.com/blog/marketing-ebooks/. 

Future ebook topics will include marketing with e-newsletters, increasing blog traffic, and a marketing self-assessment worksheet.

Visit http://scrapbookmarketing.com/blog for frequently-updated scrapbook marketing resources.

About Scrappy Marketing Solutions
Scrappy Marketing Solutions provides promotional writing services to the craft industry, from press releases to trade show press kits to web content.  Specializing in new media, Scrappy Marketing Solutions also provides consulting services on blog marketing and reaching your target audience online.

Free Ancestry.com Access Ends for Family History Centers

As of April 1, The Generations Network will discontinue free Ancestry.com access to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' US Family History Centers . A March 16 memo from the church to FHC directors was followed March 17 by a public announcement from TGN, owner of Ancestry.com.

For the past seven years, FHCs have received Ancestry.com access free, without a licensing agreement. Recent efforts between the church and TGN to reach a formalized agreement were unsuccessful.

TGN "still hopes to create an acceptable agreement with the Church," according to its press release. The FHC memo says TGN won't offer FHCs the option to purchase their own licenses. It asks FHC directors
to encourage participation in the church's online indexing projects, which include the 1900 census.

Genealogists' reaction on Internet message boards and an FHC staff mailing list ranges from gratitude to TGN for the years of free service to condemnation for ending the benefit. FHC visitors taking advantage of the last days of free Ancestry.com access have reported coming across online ads offering a 30 percent discount on a personal subscription.

Existing contracts will keep a few Ancestry.com databases available at FHCs, including the 1880, 1900 and 1920 US censuses; 1841 through 1891 census indexes for England and Wales; and WWI draft cards.

About 1,400 public libraries in the United States and Britain subscribe to Ancestry Library Edition, a version of Ancestry.com, and offer it free on site to their patrons.

***
Reprinted with permission from Family Tree Magazine Email Update, copyright 2007
F+W Publications Inc. To subscribe to this free weekly e-mail newsletter, go to http://www.familytreemagazine.com/newsletter.asp

For a free sample copy of the print Family Tree Magazine, America's #1 family history magazine, visit this page.

Free Online Genealogy Database Hits Milestone

Library_medium SALT LAKE CITY -- A powerful genealogical database launched several years ago on the Internet has now expanded to include 150 million names and is still growing.

Back in 1999, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints invited family history enthusiasts to contribute their family trees to the Pedigree Resource File (PRF), a database housed on the Church’s FamilySearch Web site. Since then the file has grown steadily, and the Church announced this week that it has passed the 150-million-name mark, making it one of the largest free databases online.

Unlike the IGI (International Genealogical Index) on the same site that provides data on hundreds of millions of individuals, the Pedigree Resource File links genealogies to make identifying whole families and generations much easier. The Church said this week that a new feature has also been added to PRF that allows users to view information for deceased individuals in a familiar pedigree (family tree) format.

“Our commitment is to make the user’s experience as easy and rewarding as possible,” said Steve Anderson, marketing manager for FamilySearch. “We also wanted to display search results for an individual in the more familiar context of a family tree. This new feature allows them to do just that.”

Before the addition, users were only able to see the person they searched for and their parents. By using the pedigree view and checking the “show all events” box, users can now view data for extended generations.

Since its launch in 1999, PRF has grown at a rate of about 19 million names a year, making it a popular destination for family historians looking for missing branches of their family tree. The central concept of the Pedigree Resource File is that people visit to share information and to preserve their family histories online.

To respect privacy, only information about deceased individuals is displayed online.

FamilySearch is the public channel of the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU), a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FamilySearch maintains the world's largest repository of genealogical resources, which can be accessed through FamilySearch.org, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries.

The Church’s interest in family history is driven by its doctrine, which teaches that families can survive forever and that Church members have an obligation to research their family trees.

SOURCE: Newsroom - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

ScrapEase Merges Scrapbooking with Web 2.0

Scrapeaseonlinescrapbooking_2 Riverside CA (PRWEB) March 28, 2007 -- Kizmeta LLC has announced the initial beta launch of their online scrapbooking software, ScrapEase. ScrapEase.com is a website that offers a convenient new way to be creative with digital photos. ScrapEase is a cross between an online photo sharing site and image editing software. Users add photos, then crop, flip, and embellish their digital memories to create and share digital scrapbooks online. And to make things even easier, there is nothing to download or install because ScrapEase runs online in the user's web browser.

ScrapEase is the brainchild of Kizmeta LLC founders, the husband and wife team Matt and Laurie Petty. The original idea for ScrapEase came on a trip back from a family reunion. "The reunion was so much fun and gave us some really great photos," said Laurie. But having moved from Missouri to California in 2004, the couple was unsure how best to show off all the pictures. "We wanted to put the pictures online," said Laurie, "but a plain gallery wasn't quite right. I told Matt it would be great if I could just scrapbook the photos right online and then send album links to everyone." Knowing that a lot of other families are separated by long distances and suffer from the same lack of time and resources to spend on creating traditional scrapbooks, the pair decided to create something that everyone could use. When they arrived home, Matt got straight to work on what would eventually become ScrapEase.com.

ScrapEase is a new type of software called "Web 2.0" or "Webtop" software. Unlike traditional software that you download or purchase on disk, and then install on each computer you own, you access ScrapEase through any computer with a web browser. ScrapEase uses the latest technology to provide a look and feel that is similar to traditional software, but with the advantages of the Web. Web-based software users gain the benefit of feedback from the network of other users, and the flexibility of accessing the software from anywhere. ScrapEase runs on most platforms and is not limited to Windows computers. It works the same no matter if you have Windows, Mac OS, or even Linux.

ScrapEase is more than online scrapbooking software, though. The site also has forums, or message boards, and the ability to leave comments on album pages. Users can share, get feedback on, and find ideas for their own scrapbooks. "We wanted a single place where you can create, share, and discuss your scrapbooks, all online," said Matt Petty, co-founder and lead developer on ScrapEase.

Some of the unique features of ScrapEase include:

  • Drag-and-drop page editor -- Create layouts in minutes
  • Papers -- Choose from a vast array of papers Embellishments -- Dress up your pages with the growing collection of embellishments
  • Photo Editing -- Use effects like Black and White, Sepia-tone, Drop-Shadow, Rotate and Crop
  • Ideabox -- Save your favorite papers, embellishments, and layouts
  • Coordinating Kits -- Makes creating great looking pages easy
  • Forums -- Get ideas from other ScrapEasers
  • Comments -- Read and leave praise on albums
  • Instant Album Sharing -- Send your scrapbook albums to anyone around the world

Kizmeta has issued an open invitation for testers, and to help encourage feedback, anyone who signs up during the beta test period will be eligible to receive discounts on the upgraded service after launch. The upgraded service will include increased space for albums and premium features not available in the free accounts. Sign up for free and learn more at ScrapEase.com.

SOURCE: PRWeb

Scrapbooking Event to "Memoralize Angel Babies"

Just a Cloud Away Crop

Creating Keepsakes Announces Hall of Fame Inductees

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Creating Keepsakes Magazine has announced the winners of their annual Scrapbook Hall of Fame.

  1. Courtney Kelly
  2. Jackie Stringham
  3. Summer Fullerton
  4. Linda Harrison
  5. Jennifer Perks
  6. Vivian Masket
  7. Allison Davis
  8. Sheri Reguly
  9. Vidya Ganapati
  10. Kristina Contes
  11. Wendy Bretz
  12. Mou Saha
  13. Bernadette Henderson
  14. Lea Lawson
  15. Rachel Cohara
  16. Deena Wuest
  17. Jill Hornby
  18. Paula Gilarde
  19. Kimber McGray
  20. Karen Wilson-Bonnar
  21. Shannon Liu
  22. Mitchell Kraft
  23. Jamie Harper
  24. Cherie Mask
  25. Tracey Odachowski

The list of Honorable Mentions has been posted here.

Next week CK will post photos and a sample of the winners' work on the CK website.  Until then, a list to most of the winners' galleries on TwoPeas has been posted on this thread on The Pub message board.

Editor's Note: hat tip to Michelle for the heads up that the winners had been posted.

March is National Craft Month

Spoon Family Craft Project Elmwood Park, NJ / PRNewswire / - Crafting is booming and continues to gain in popularity. Why? Because it's an enjoyable activity that provides lots of benefits. It's easy; it helps reduce stress; it builds children's self-esteem and learning skills; it's emotionally pleasing; and most importantly — it's fun! Nothing is quite as satisfying as making something with your own hands — no matter what your age or skill level. Because crafting is such a well-liked pastime, the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) has dedicated the entire month of March to celebrating all that crafting has to offer.

During March, craft retailers around the country will offer special classes, demonstrations, tips and projects to get customers involved. Craft and hobby retailers nationwide will offer a variety of fun-filled craft activities to introduce families and kids to the joys of crafting. All are encouraged to take that great kid in their lives — a child, grandchild, niece/nephew, neighbor or someone who is simply a kid at heart — to their local craft store to enjoy the festivities.

"Crafting is a great way for families to get together, be creative and have a good time," stated Terri Ouellette, national spokesperson for the Craft & Hobby Association. "National Craft Month provides consumers with the information and tools needed to start a craft project and to experience first hand the good feelings that crafting fosters."

National Craft Month is the perfect time to check out what all the buzz on crafting is about. To find out what is going on in your area during National Craft Month, call your local craft store or visit www.craftplace.org for additional information about crafts and National Craft Month.

The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) is a not-for-profit organization consisting of more than 6,000 member companies engaged in the manufacture, distribution and retail sales of products in the $30 billion craft and hobby industry. The Association offers a broad range of member services, including market research, education and consumer branding initiatives, as well as operates two annual trade show events, the CHA Winter and CHA Summer Shows that attract industry professionals from all over the world.

Related Links
www.craftplace.org
www.craftandhobby.org

SOURCE: PRNewswire

Product Release: ACDSee 9 Photo Manager for Windows Vista

Image002 Victoria, British Columbia – March 13, 2007 – ACD Systems International Inc. today announced that it released a new version of ACDSee 9, now “Certified For” Windows Vista. ACDSee 9, Vista Certified edition, is the perfect solution for consumers with large digital image collections.

“Our customers have outgrown basic photo organizers,” said Mark Franklin, executive vice president of ACD Systems. “They rely on ACDSee to quickly find and view photos on their cameras, computers and CDs, and share digital memories through e-mail, slideshows, online albums and quality prints. By working with Microsoft, we feel confident that ACDSee 9 provides a superior experience for users of Windows Vista.”

“Products that carry the Certified for Windows Vista logo have met explicit standards of reliability and quality, and have been tested and proven to deliver a superior experience with Windows Vista,” said Brad Goldberg, General Manager for Windows Vista Product Management at Microsoft Corp. “We are extremely pleased that ACDSee 9 Photo Manager carries the certified logo and takes advantage of the new technologies available in Windows Vista.”

Pricing and Availability
ACDSee 9, Vista Certified edition is now available in English, French, German and Dutch at www.acdsee.com for $39.99 USD. Owners of the previous version of ACDSee 9 can get their free Vista Certified update via the ACDSee Support Center.

About ACD Systems
Headquartered in British Columbia since 1993, ACD Systems International Inc. is one of the world's leading developers and marketers of digital imaging software, including the renowned ACDSee image management tool and Canvas, an advanced cross-platform technical illustration and graphics program.  ACD has delivered value to a global marketplace through Internet distribution and through partnerships with manufacturers and developers.  ACD has millions of consumer and business users and over 33,000 corporate customers including many Fortune 500 companies.  For further details, please visit the corporate web site: http://www.acdcorporate.com/.

SOURCE: ACD Press Room

Online Video Podcast to Debut March 14th

Tasra Dawson, author of Real Women Scrap, is starting "an online video podcast for women to help them reconnect with their lives, their selves, and their creativity."  View the intro here: Real Women Scrap TV.

Tasra describes the show: "With scrap lessons and life lessons, we bring together the best of both worlds and help you begin making choices to live intentionally and create the life and layouts you want."

The first episode, Getting Organized, airs Wednesday, March 14th, on Tasra's blog.

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