The Perfect Poem for your Oldest Friend

Reading this poem immediately reminded me of  my relationship with my oldest friend and Bellflower Books business partner Heather Smith.  I thought it would be a great addition to any Bellflower Book being given to a good friend as a wedding, birthday, new baby or support gift.  It would look perfect spread across two pages with old school photos or photo collages on each page.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and that you have someone special in your life that you can relate this to as well:)

The Stages of Friendship

In kindergarten your idea of a good friend
was the person who let you have the red crayon
when all that was left was the ugly black one.

In first grade your idea of a good friend
was the person who went to the bathroom with you
and held your hand as you walked through the scary halls.

In second grade your idea of a good friend
was the person who helped you stand up
to the class bully.

In third grade your idea of a good friend
was the person who shared their lunch
with you when you forgot yours on the bus.

In fourth grade your idea of a good friend
was the person who was willing to switch square dancing
partners in gym so you wouldn't have to be
stuck do-si-do-ing with the dork of the class.

In fifth grade your idea of a friend
was the person who saved a seat
on the back of the bus for you.

In sixth grade your idea of a friend
was the person who went up to your new crush,
and asked them to dance with you,
so that if they said no
you wouldn't have to be embarrassed.

In seventh grade your idea of a friend was
the person who let you copy the social studies homework
from the night before that you had forgotten about.

In eighth grade your idea of a good friend
was the person who helped you pack up your
stuffed animals and old baseball cards
so that your room would be a "high schooler's" room,
but didn't laugh at you when you
finished and broke out into tears.

In ninth grade your idea of a good friend
to that "cool" party thrown by a senior
so you wouldn't wind up
being the only freshman there.

In tenth grade your idea of a good friend
was the person who changed their schedule so
you would have someone to sit with at lunch.

In eleventh grade your idea of a good friend
was the person who gave you rides in their new car,
convinced your parents that you shouldn't be grounded,
consoled you when you broke up with your significant other
and found you a date to the prom.

In twelfth grade your idea of a good friend
was the person who helped you pick out a college,
assured you that you would get into that college,
helped you deal with your parents who were having
a hard time adjusting to the idea of letting you go.

At graduation your idea of a good friend
was the person who was crying on the inside but
managed the biggest smile one could give
as they congratulated you.

The summer after twelfth grade your idea of a good friend
was the person who helped you clean up from that party.
Helped you sneak out of the house when you just
couldn't deal with your parents.
Assured you that now that you and your
significant other were back together,
you could make it through anything.
Helped you pack up for college
and just silently hugged you as you looked
through blurry eyes at 18 years of memories
you were leaving behind.

And finally on those last days of childhood,
went out of their way to come over
and send you off with a hug, a lot of memories
and reassurance that you would make it in college
as well as you had these past 18 years.
But most importantly sent you off to college
knowing you were loved.

Now, your idea of a good friend is still the person
who gives you the better of the two choices.
Holds your hand when you're scared.
Helps you fight off those who try to take advantage of you.
Thinks of you at times when you are not there.
Reminds you of what you have forgotten.
Helps you put the past behind you but understands
when you need to hold on to it a little longer.
Stays with you so that you have confidence.
Goes out of their way to make time for you.
Helps you clear up your mistakes.
Helps you deal with pressure from others.
Smiles for you when they are sad.
Helps you become a better person.
However most importantly loves you!

--- Author Unknown

Wonderful Quotes about Mothers

Happy early Mother's Day!  I found this selection of quotes about Mothers and thought they would be perfect to put in a Mother's Day card or in a Bellflower Book for a special mother in your life. I have also included some artwork by one of my favorite artists, Mary Cassatt.  Enjoy!



Mary Cassatt ~ Mother and Child III

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” ~ Elizabeth Stone, high school literature teacher and author of A Boy I Once Knew

“A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.” ~ Dorothy Fisher, American social activist and author

 “Men are what their mothers made them.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, American philosopher and poet

 “The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.” ~ Barbara Kingsolver, American writer and author of Pigs in Heaven

“My mother had a slender, small body, but a large heart – a heart so large that everybody's joys found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation.” ~ Mark Twain, American author and humorist

Mary Cassatt ~ Mother and Child

 “A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after.” ~ Peter De Vries, American editor and novelist

 “You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.” ~ Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist

“A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity; it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.” ~ Agatha Christie, English crime writer of novels, plays and short stories

“The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.”
~Honore de Balzac, author

Mary Cassatt ~ Mother and Two Children





“The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom.”
~Henry Ward Beecher, US Congressional clergyman

“By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class.”
~Anne Morrow Lindbergh, author

Spring Flower Photos for your Bellflower Book

Sometimes when people create a Bellflower Book we notice that there are a few pages without photographs.  A lot of the time this is because the person creating the page did not have a proper photo for the occasion.  We decided to help people out by creating a series of blog posts with somewhat "generic" but attractive photographs that can be plugged in for many occasions.  These beautiful spring flowers would be perfect for books with wedding, birthday, anniversary, sympathy, tribute or new baby themes.  The best part about these photos as that they are considered to be in the "public domain" so we are not violating any copyrite laws!  The images shown below are just a fragment of the actual photograph.  I needed to add them to the blog in "actual size" so that when you click to save them they will be saved in a file size large enough to produce a full sized photo in your book!  Just click, save to your desktop as a jpg and upload to any page of your Bellflower Book in need of a special photograph.  See below for an example of how wonderfully this works:)

Photo Collages for your Bellflower Book Made Easy!

One of the biggest questions that people ask us is if they can put more than one photo on a page in their Bellflower Book.  The answer YES as long as those photos have been combined into one file or jpg.  The best way to do this is by creating a photo collage.

I recently stumbled upon an app that makes creating photo collages from pictures in your phone extremely easy!  The app is Photo Collage HD – the Amazing Pic-Frame & Pic-Collage & Postcards Manager Plus iLoader for Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr Pro and can be purchased from the itunes store for only $0.99.

Here is an example of what it can very easily do:

And this is how this image looks in your Bellflower Book:

Even though it is extremely self-explanatory, here are the simple instructions:

1) Select a Frame from the many wonderful options.  You can even customize this frame by adjusting the color, margin width and corners.  See below:

2) Choose your photos - you can even have friends and family participating in your book send their photos right to your phone!

3) After your photos have been chosen, it is easy to adjust them within the template with their simple editing functions.

4) The last step is to email this photo to yourself so that it can be downloading onto your desktop for easy upload into your Bellflower Book.  There may even be an easier way to do this if all of your systems are connected!

5) To send your collage, touch the button on the top right of your screen and email the photo. Make sure that the file size is large.  You may have to play around with file size a bit to make sure the photo is not too large to upload into your Bellflower Book or that it is not too small.  I have found that keeping the size at "normal" then emailing it as "large" works best.

6) Once the photo is emailed, download and save it and you are good to go!





A Meaningful Gift for a New Mom

Having your first baby is such an exciting time!  We have had many books come through our printers to celebrate this special occasion as a gift from a husband to a wife or as an extremely special gift from a group of family and friends to the expectant mother at her baby shower. Rather than one more rattle or pacifier, give a personal baby shower present that the new parents will treasure long after Junior is out of diapers.

One of the many options for a "Baby Shower" themed book

There are many creative ways to create a Bellflower Book for your favorite new mom to let her know that she is loved, appreciated and cared for.  Here are some of our favorites!

A personalized memory book full of favorite photos and warm wishes makes a beautiful and unique gift for the new Mom.

Invite her closest friends and family members to shower her with good wishes.

This creative baby shower gift could include reasons why she’ll make a great mom, tips for motherhood, fun memories of her life before children, or reminders of why she is so important to you.

Don’t forget that Moms pregnant for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time (or more!) need encouragement too!

Why not make a personalized book full of reasons why you think this special person is a great Mom? She will love the encouragement.

Make a custom photo book for the baby!

Have friends and family contribute photos and write special letters to the new baby welcoming him or her into the world. Include favorite stories about the new Mom and Dad, advice from older brothers or sisters, or favorite memories from grandparents and other relatives.

A personalized book for the baby is a unique shower gift that will be treasured by both the Mom and the little one (when she learns to read).

Build a custom cookbook!

Collaborate with friends and family members to create a book of delicious and easy recipes. Make sure to include a photo of the finished product! What a great resource for the busy new mom!

Do you have an idea for a "New Mom" themed Bellflower Book?  Please let us know!  We'd love to include it in future "inspiration" :)

Grandma Corrigan's Irish Soda Bread

It is March!  Spring is almost here, so naturally I had to make my Grandmother's special Irish soda bread.  Even though she was 100% German, she always created one heck of an amazing St. Patty's Day dinner.  I always loved her soda bread because it was extremely moist, unlike a lot of the drier versions out there.  This year I decided to make the bread into muffins and they turned out great!

My Grandma was a huge lover of holidays so every holiday holds a special memory for me of special "Corrigan Family Traditions".  I am happy to share this one with you!

Grandma Corrigan's Irish Soda Bread Muffins

Preheat oven to 350

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup golden raisins

roughly 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar and buttermilk set aside for glaze

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients and raisins together.  Make a "well" in the center.  Add the buttermilk and then mix together.  If you choose to make a bread instead of muffins, pour the dough into a greased round or square cake pan and bake for roughly 45 minutes.  Check the top, once it is starting to turn a golden brown pour the glaze of equal parts buttermilk and powdered sugar on top and cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Make sure to insert a toothpick in the middle to insure it is baked completely.  Sometimes the center can get gooey.

For muffins, pour batter 2/3 of the way in greased or lined muffin pans and bake for around 15 minutes, add glaze to the tops and bake for and additional 1-2.  Again, you will know when they are ready when the tops start showing signs of turning a light golden brown.

Enjoy and happy St. Patrick's Day in advance!

Etsy Favorite: Sweet Charity Designs - Art Helping to Educate -

Sweet Charity Designs

Handmade jewelry from freshwater pearls and genuine stone



This Etsy shop is close to my heart because it is MINE!  Since I became pregnant with my son close to seven years ago I have been making and selling jewelry, donating 100% of the proceeds to causes close to my heart.  By working with Sister Mary Clement of the Sisters of Saint Casimir I have raised close to $10,000 for the scholarship fund at Maria High School on the South Side of Chicago where I formally taught. I always thought of Maria High School as an oasis in the inner city because it was a safe please for girls to go to school and reach their full potential.  Sister Clement and I make quite a team!  I purchase the materials and create the jewelry, and she attends craft shows all over the Chicago area selling it.



Although I am still raising money for the scholarship fund Sister Clement campaigns for, the items currently in my Etsy Shop were made to raise money in support of my son's former preschool teacher's mission trip to Haiti.  She will be working with the Brad Reddick School in Savanette, Haiti. As soon as I found out she was going I volunteered to raise funds. It means a ton to me to be able to support such an amazing woman and I am so happy that the many students at the Brad Reddick School will have the priceless opportunity to learn from her.


Please spread the word about what I am trying to accomplish.  My jewelry is made from quality genuine stone, glass and freshwater pearls and each piece is created by me by hand.  A piece of jewelry from Sweet Charity Designs makes the perfect "gift that gives back" so please think of us when you are looking for a special gift for someone!  I have also been commissioned to do jewelry for weddings, proms and other special occasions.



Making jewelry is one of my favorite stress relievers and I love that I can use my talent to help others.  If you have an idea for how to help me promote my cause, please email me at kerry (at) bellflowerbooks (dot) com.