Congratulations, Hope!

Michelle’s mother, Joyce, wanted to encourage her daughter prior to treatment and through a lengthy recovery. After learning about VoiceQuilt, she recruited family and friends to leave messages to sustain Michelle through the difficult months ahead. Because Michelle and her father are avid music fans, she asked Michelle’s sister, Rebecca, to add music to the VoiceQuilt that was meaningful to Michelle.

Using VoiceQuilt’s toll-free telephone number, caring souls called by the dozens. Friends put Michelle’s name on prayer lists across the country, and people who had never even met Michelle left prayers and scripture readings. Rebecca searched for music online that referenced these passages and uploaded them to the VoiceQuilt, along with additional musical selections she knew would inspire her sister.

Michelle listened to a portion of this musical prayer chain prior to surgery. After returning home from the hospital, her mother gave her a beautiful keepsake box that plays all of the messages. Michelle tells us that she is healing well and plans to use the keepsake to store her many get-well cards and e-mails.

Go to www.VoiceQuilt.com and click “Get Started” to start capturing your special memories…

How do you share family history and happenings?

Here’s a creative tip from MacWorld.

Read our post on adding sound to slide shows

A customer emailed us on the one-year anniversary of her VoiceQuilt:

Whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, graduation or some other special occasion, you can go to www.VoiceQuilt.com and click “Get Started” to create your own unique, personal sentimental gift…

Social Media get Audible

Words used to honor and recognize individuals are verbal treasures. If you’re asked to speak at an upcoming wedding, don’t stress. It’s easier than you think.

The basics of a good toast are simple phrases that speak from the heart and relate a connection to the person being honored. If you’re giving the toast, seek inspiration in your relationship to the person, then use your own words or mix in a famous quote. Search “Bartlett’s Quotations” and “wedding” at Bartley.com http://www.bartleby.com/). Or, find a quote appropriate for the special couple at The Quote Garden (http://www.quotegarden.com) or The Board of Wisdom (http://www.boardofwisdom.com).

Prepare for the event by writing down what you want to express. Rehearse it out loud and edit your words if necessary. That way, you’ll be ready when you are asked to raise a glass and say a few words. Check out more ideas here

Parents of the bride and groom often record their toasts ahead of time in a VoiceQuilt – and then ask other friends, family and wedding party members to call in their stories, toasts and tributes. It’s a special piece of history – and it reduces the pressure to perform on that special day!

Whether it’s a wedding, birthday, anniversary, graduation or some other special occasion, you can go to www.VoiceQuilt.com and click “Get Started” to capture your verbal treasures…

This is my one of my all-time favorites.

It is a paper invitation to a 50th Birthday VoiceQuilt.
(Note the sequence of birthday girl photos…and the playful instructions.)

Ellin P. created this using a template on the Kodak web site and then snail mailed it out roughly 3 weeks before the event.

Create a unique, personalized, sentimental VoiceQuilt gift to commemorate a special occasion – Birthday, Anniversary, Retirement, etc. Go to www.VoiceQuilt.com and click “Get Started”.

We received this check in the mail today.

It’s for $.99.

A VoiceQuilt gift giver sent the check because she wanted to add a song to her VoiceQuilt and couldn’t figure out how to upload it — so, we did it for her.

She wanted “Happy Birthday” and we downloaded the song from Amazon (on her behalf for all the music royalty folks) and uploaded it to her VoiceQuilt.

It may sound dumb, but we like living in a world where someone makes a promise….and that promise is kept.

Thank you!

Many VoiceQuilt gift givers are creating photo shows and videos using a VoiceQuilt mp3s as the sound track. Maureen Taylor, a family history expert and one of our iPhoto veterans, gave us permission to share this excerpt and her “Quick Start” instructions.

Quick Start Instructions

1.) After finalizing your VoiceQuilt, choose“Instant/Memory Card” on the “Choose a Keepsake” page. Then, select “VoiceQuilt Download”.

2.) While in iPhoto, select “New Album” and then slide show. Be sure to give it a unique name.

3.) Go to the photo album that contains the images you want to include. Drag and drop images into the slide show icon that appears in the bar on the far left of the screen.

4.) Pick a theme. This one shows the Ken Burns effect.

5.) Now, just add the VoiceQuilt mp3 by opening “Music” in the selection bar at the bottom of the screen. Then, select “Custom” and drag and drop your file into that place. Under settings (the gear icon) , choose whether to fit the voice track to the length of the show (that’s what I did) or have it repeat until the end of the slides. You can also add music from the options offered.

6.) Preview the show. When you’re satisfied, go to “export,” and pick the size of the file you need.

The possibilities are endless.

Check out this cool voice/music montage that Tiffany S. created for her best friend’s wedding.

Go to www.VoiceQuilt.com and click “Get Started” to start capturing your special memories…

There are incredible tales in every family—an individual who succeeds despite the odds, an immigration saga, or a person’s role in a local history event. Although Hollywood might not be knocking on your door in the near future, documenting family stories is an important task.

Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective, told us about the recent film, Extraordinary Measures. Starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser, the movie chronicles a man’s search for a cure to save his children. It’s a passionate and compelling story of dedication and persistence. An inspiring story…and there are many more. Just browse through the Netflix.com selections under the subject “Dramas based in real life.” Plenty of inspiration there to get us through a cold winter…

Those movies portray real heroes — who are someone else’s family members. …Is your family story, movie-worthy or VoiceQuilt-worthy? Of Course!

Whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, graduation or some other special occasion, you can go to www.VoiceQuilt.com and click “Get Started” to create your own collection of family stories…