How are you storing your photographs that are not in Albums? Do you have photos in shoe boxes, bags, drawers, in the attic, or under the bed? Many of us do.

I have a safe and easy method to organize and store your photographs from long ago to recently printed Digital images.  Why do I say this is a safe method?  Because I am all about keeping our memories and pictures in the safest possible way.  Remember cardboard and plastic contain harmful chemicals that can damage your memorabilia.  So, I offer acid free, buffered paper, and PVC free products to help with the storage of your prize possessions and wonderful photos.

This Power Sort System is so easy to use and store.  This system is also available at a discount with all the components needed to start storing all your memorabilia.  I started by using the Power Sort Mini Box to organize many of my photographs for scanning and placing them in albums.  There are three inserts that slip out of the box one at a time, and can go to the table with you while you scan or place them on your album pages.  Then it can slip back into the box with the remainder of your photos for the next time you are working on them.

Now I have filled a Power Sort Mini Box, a Power Sort Box, and a Power Sort Memorabilia Box. AND, I have completed several photo albums using this system. Mostly, I love knowing exactly where my pictures are; especially if I want to work with them for my Family History. My pictures range from the late 1800s to recently printed digital photographs.  I know they are all safe using this method.

Give this a try.  You’ll love how easy it is to use and the knowledge of knowing where everything is.

Click your pictures with your digital camera.  Print your pictures with you color printer or at a printing station at the local pharmacy or store. Slide your pictures into a photo safe album and tell your stories on a journal card.  It all sounds so easy.  Well there is a very easy method to do this.  And, this also helps you keep a very nice back up of your favorite moments as well as their stories.

With the Digital Age for photographs, as well as the boxes and drawers loaded with old photographs, these photo safe “slide it” albums are a quick and easy solution to scrapbooking.  They hold 4″ x 6″ photographs and come with a 32 backing/journaling cards.  You can put five pictures or 4 pictures and a story card on each page in this 16 page album (32 pages of pics).  It comes with 32 story cards also.

When I travel, I take tons of pictures just like everyone I know.  Not all the pictures are grand, but some are wonderful.  You can actually take one of these albums with you on a trip.  Add a story card to the sleeves inside the album after a grand adventure and you’ll never forget a moment.  Or just take the story cards with you and write as you are enjoying the day.  That way the cards are always with you.  It is very easy to match your favorite pictures with the stories you have written.
My husband would often complain that I took hundreds of pictures he would never see after the trip was done.  This is the perfect solution so he can open the album and enjoy the trip again.  And, writing the “Who, What, When, and Where” at the time saves our memories accurately.  He loves to grab one of these albums and live the wonderful time again.

Try this sometime:  Write your stories the same day they happened.  Store them in a safe place and match the pictures to the stories when you get home. Does anyone have a better idea?  I am looking for more solutions every day.

Now that we all have the ability to take thousands of pictures on our Digital Cameras and CamCorders, how do we make sure they are safe?  Are you backing up your  method of storing all the photos on your PC?  Here are a few of the things I do to make sure I will always have these pictures.

1.  My PC is backed up to an external hard drive that can be hooked to any other computer.

2.  My most important files and images are also on my husband’s PC.

3.  Additionally, we have all of the images and files stored on DVDs and a copy given to other family members.

What is most important to remember is that a disaster can happen to anyone anytime.  Ask those hit by hurricane Katrina, a house fire, a tornado, or even an earth quake.  Always maintain a backup of your important life’s memories and critical data in a place other than your home.  That way, any disaster will allow you to get those wonderful memories back again.

I watched one lady during the fires in California carry out all her photo albums before she left her home.  I saw her carry several albums and framed pictures, and knew what was important to her.  Many memories are lost after natural disasters.  She was hanging on to hers.

Let me know of any suggestions you have for keeping your Digital Media safe.  Is there a need for this kind of information?

Remember the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”  Well it is for some, like the one who took the picture.  But, for those looking at the picture many years later, no knowledge of the photo will bring any words to mind.  If you don’t tell your story, who will?

Looking through all the pictures of my mother, father, and grandparents has left me with a million questions.  No names, no places, no why the picture was taken appears anywhere on the photograph.  For me, these people are gone and most of the mysteries remain.  When I am lucky enough to run into a story and find the picture at the same time, I am overjoyed.  I immediately record the story and save it with the picture usually in a digital format.

Many years ago, my grandfather wrote me several letters telling me wonderful stories about his childhood.  I put them all together into a book, then began looking through all the old pictures for the stories.  The most precious story was of a picture my grandfather no longer had of him, his brother, and their dog Frisk.  The story is so funny.

Frisk was following the birdie

After a search on the internet just placing his surname in Google, I found someone in my Grandfather’s home state who had an entire photo album belonging to my Grandfather’s family.  I bought all the pictures from him.  One of the pictures was the very picture my grandfather told me about.  I was very surprised.  And, now it is included in the book with the story in my grandfather’s own words.  However, my grandfather never saw that picture again.

The old Magnetic Albums contain a harmful glue as well as a PVC plastic cover.  The PVC gasses alone will deteriorate photographs as will the glue that held the pictures to the page.  If the pictures have been in these albums for a number of years, getting them out can be a problem.  After removing the plastic page cover, use dental floss to slip under one corner and begin removing the picture from the album.  Be patient and work slowly, moving the dental floss back and forth between the photo and the page to loosen from the page.

Now you can scan the photo to stop any further deterioration and repair any damage to the color while it was stored in the Magnetic Album.  Then finally store the photo on acid free buffered pages and cover with PVC free page covers.  If you don’t know where to find acid free buffered scrapbook pages or PVC free page covers, I recommend looking at this site for a great solution.  Remember in the future to always store all photos on acid free buffered paper with PVC free page covers.

Effects of Magnetic Album

After scanned and repaired

Begin Creating your StoryBook pages today with this wonderful free software.  Just take a look at the link and decide on your own if you would like to have a beautiful hardbound book of your loved ones or to remember your own story.  Add your photos to your choice of page templates.

StoryBook page of several pictures from our Family Reunion 2005

There are also free downloads of several page themes using the Creative Memory paper designs that look just like our traditional albums.

I love the new Creative Memories Storybook 2.0 software.  I was able to take the “Devil” eyes out of my grandson and change them back to blue with a click of a single button.  Best of all is the Storybook I made of our Family Reunion with all the old photos and the new ones taken at the reunion made scrapbooking easy.  Family History is wonderful when you keep all the stories and the photos in the same place.

My CM site has lots of free downloads and free products.  Take a look at my CM site.