July 2025

Jun 30

Written By stacy julian

A Summer Plot …

**Welcome to *Live Your Story* in July.**
It is a NEW season here in the membership as we continue to unfold our 2025 Year of Stories! *We’ve introduced characters, established the importance of setting and now it’s time to develop the plot. Stories that lack a compelling conflict can never reach a satisfying resolution.*
In personal and family stories—especially those documented in scrapbooks with photos—we tend to focus on the happy moments, but a willingness to identify uncomfortable events, challenges and turning points within a life story adds interest and depth, allowing family members to relate and find comfort, meaning and strength for their own lived experiences. In other words, let your plot thicken—it’s ok!

Print the Calendar

July Dates & Details

New Month Meet-Up: Tuesday, July 1st at 11AM PT, Watch LIVE Here
We’re kicking off a new month and our Summer season! Print your calendar and come watch and comment. I love interacting with you in these live sessions on YouTube!

2nd Saturday Saturday, July 12th from 10AM PT to 2PM PT, JOIN HERE
REMEMBER: You do not need to register, but you do need a personal Zoom account and you will need the passcode: LYS25

WWW: Wednesday, July 16th at 9AM PT, Read the Recap email HERE. Video Replay is HERE
What is your workflow for “Audio & Video?” How are you using and preserving both? Bring your questions, frustrations and ideas and we’ll explore how these incredible elements of memory can be leveraged in your scrapbooking!

Project Play: Friday, July 18th at 4PM PT, Recap HERE and Replay HERE
Let’s check-in, catch-up and make progress on our yearlong, Connect Game project. It’s NOT too late to get started—the 2025 Project Overview is HERE.

Do It Together: Tuesday, July 22nd at 1PM PT, Replay HERE and Recap HERE
You’ll want to find and print a handful of photos that highlight a “then & now” or “this, therefore that!” storyline and bring them to this session. We’ll use our Sketch This! for inspiration and make a page!

Story Coaching: Wednesday, July 30th at 5PM PT, Replay HERE and Recap HERE
We will explore the concept of a “Six Word Memoir” this month and then talk about and plan for six stories we want to tell by the end of 2025.

📬 15 on the 15th Video Message & Email

Download the ✅ Monthly Tracker. Click to PRINT

Hue & Me

Color loves company. Perhaps this is why the Nyhavn Canal in Copenhagen is so frequently photographed and shared. It is bustling with people, yet definitely boasts a vibe of cozy Danish culture!

July’s combination of blues inspired by sea and sky paired with a bright coral pink and a stabilizing brown captures the essence of traveling exploration or a local farmer’s market. It is a wonderfully FUN grouping for supporting your summer photos. You can easily add touches of additional hues without worry. I can’t wait to SEE how you use Colorful Canal!

🧡 Be sure to share what you find and create! Remember, you can download a folder with the full set of 2025 color swatches HERE!

Sketch This

How do you visually connect photos to highlight a narrative across time? There are certainly many ways, but a sketch like this can help. You’ll want a larger photo for your starting and ending point and a variety of smaller sized photos to illustrate the narrative that connects these two.

Well chosen photos—even small ones—will visually carry the “what happened next” part of your plot and you can easily expand this sketch to fill two 12x12 pages. A clear title near the beginning and easy strip journaling, along with well chosen accents will complete your story!

Working On Video

This new series is simply me involving you as I ‘work on’ a variety of memory-related efforts.
In June I was busy planning details for an extended family reunion. I’m excited to share the process of an escape room activity. Early in the video, I mentioned this book as a fantastic resource.

PLEASE NOTE: Anna and Trey welcomed their new baby girl on June 30th and I extended my stay in Utah. This means July’s video is coming very soon!

Story Process Video

This is a 12x12 layout with a pocket to hold some of the notes Addie wrote to me as a little girl.

REMEMBER 💛 In 2025, you're invited to join me each month in creating a Story Process page! Everyone who posts a finished page to our Live Your Story Facebook group, will be entered in a drawing to receive Happy Mail from me!

If you need a StoryDeck, it’s HERE.

July 3rd is International Drop a Rock Day. At our recent reunion, I set up a table with paint pens and already (spray) painted rocks. Family members could stop at this picnic table station anytime they had a free moment, to connect with each other and create a happy message for others.

Why not paint and drop a rock or two this month? When you do, snap a photo and share it in our Facebook group!

Anyone and everyone—all ages and stages—can do something to create summertime smiles and make lasting memories!

I am always eager to hear your comments and questions. 💛 Feel free to reach out anytime! stacy@stacyjulian.com

Did YOU know? Members of Live Your Story now have EASY access to past courses, like 20in20 and Photo Freedom.
When you login, look for these on the list of options!