In honor of Mother’s Day, Heather and Ellen, the co-founders of Artifcts, thought up something a little different for this week's ARTIcles story. Our co-founders have always said if anything happens to either of them, they have the peace of mind that their daughters will have their Artifcts to know them, the real them. And, they will even know what to do with all the ‘stuff’ they would inevitably leave behind. 

Heather and Ellen decided to put that theory to the test last week and challenged their daughters, Hazel (13 years old) and Violet (14 years old), to co-author a piece about what they’ve learned about their moms through their Artifcts. What they chose was delightful, funny, and at times irreverent. You can see THEIR personalities in their revelations. 

We hope you enjoy this little looky-loo into the minds of young teens through the lens of Artifcts.  

We Know Our Moms. Here's Proof!

Hazel (Heather's daughter): My mother had a secret work life! She was a frequent flier out to Silicon Valley in the 2010s. I had no idea she spent so much time with the tech companies. Rather ironic since she is the least tech savvy of all of us. (Case in point, I just showed her how to add Artifcts to her personal Word dictionary.) I guess she had to know a thing or two about security. She also had awesome taste in shoes, which is how I discovered this whole Silicon Valley thing. View the Artifct.  

Violet (Ellen's daughter): I always see my mom reading, but it never occurred to me to wonder about how connected she is with books until she started Artifcting them. She could definitely be a writer (she says no), with the way she writes her Artifcts and how passionate she is about reading and the guidance it gives her. She has so many favorite books, and she’s always looking for more. One of my favorite things to do with her is book shopping, although she always seems to be surprised at what I pick out. Enjoy one of many #realbooksarebest books Ellen’s Artifcted.  

Hazel: I always knew my mom was the real alpha of skiing, but I did not know she was crazy enough to ski 3 Tre in Madonna di Campiglio. 3 Tre is an (in)famous downhill World Cup run. Sorry, that Artifct is private though, just us!  

Violet: My mom always ‘oohs’ when she sees pretty textiles, but I now realize how much they mean to her and brighten our home. (Great example: A family quilt.) From Mexico to here in Texas, there are many textiles Artifcted that each have a story, and I know she's grateful she gets to look at them every day. 

Hazel: Turns out my mother not only knew but Artifcted me skipping school during COVID. Technically I was not skipping school so much so as giving myself a much-deserved snow day. She’s yet to see it my way. View the Artifct.

Violet: My mom’s time in the Czech Republic completely changed the path of her life, and I know from reading her Artifcts and hearing her stories how proud she is of that. She has Czech recipes, ornaments, random items, and everything else Artifcted, and they all show her true character and that she learned so much from her time there, and not just education. Case in point, a little crystal, anyone? 

Hazel: My mother has an unhealthy obsession with trail signs. And road signs. Maybe she’s reliving her early 90s days and she finally saw THE sign. She claims it’s “leave no trace” tourism, I think she’s just crazy. View one of the many trail sign Artifcts she has.  

Violet: My mom sure has a love for travel. Almost all of our trips—Hello, New Orleans!—and hers are Artifcted. From little holiday trips to her Mexico yoga trip and of course her time in the Czech. My mom is always dreaming of trips we can take together, and what we can do to make the most of the family time. It always helps our family bond throughout tough school years when we don’t have much time otherwise.  

Hazel: My mother has the patience of a saint, especially when it comes to me and my skibbidy art projects. Me and my trusty pink Crayola scissors have wreaked havoc on house and home and yes, even hair. She’s Artifcted it all. And now I’m dreading my graduation video; she keeps muttering something about karma not being a cat. View one of the many Artifcts.

Violet: She LOVES artwork. This goes along with the textiles, but it’s a little different because it can be anything. Whether it’s an arts and crafts project I butchered in pre-k or a phrase she ordered to hang on the wall, cards from friends and family, photographs, everything. Although she doesn’t agree and doesn’t talk about it, she is an amazing artist. She always helps me on any little sketch I need to do for school, because she did not pass down that gene (rude). (Hi, this is Ellen chiming in. Don’t listen to her. Kid art, like this, is simply the best. 💕)

Curious what your Artifcts say about you? What do you have to lose... Ask your loved ones! Heather & Ellen are certainly glad they did.  

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© 2024 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Reading time: 3 minutes 

We all have them—those projects we’ll get to "one day." No, we’re not talking about chores around the house or our honey-do lists, we all have those too.  

Today we’re specifically talking about projects made with love and attention that we start with the best intentions and then... life happens. Maybe our vision starts to deteriorate, or our arthritis ticks up; or maybe our free time becomes swamped with doctor’s appointments, visits from family, and the like, and those projects are left in a semi-done state to get to one day.

Even if the project is unfinished, it doesn’t diminish the love, the meaning, or the thought behind it. We all have our own reasons or obstacles for not finishing those projects and no one is here to judge.  

We want to take a moment and highlight an example from one of our Arti Community members and encourage you to scan through your own projects and those of loved ones and consider if this story might inspire you to action! 

The Stocking That Wasn’t 

She was an avid needlepoint artist back in the day, and still enjoyed dabbling in the craft as the years went on. She started the tradition of making stockings for her grandchildren one year, many years ago.  

Each stocking took months if not a full year to make but she did make them. Until she got to the last grandchild, that is. She started the stocking, stitch by stitch. She got about halfway through and then life happened. There was always something else to do, some reason why it wouldn't get done today. 

Her family at first teased her about it, hoping that it might prompt her to finish. The teasing turned to pleading to no avail. And now, years later? Vision, arthritis, and well, life, have conspired and she cannot complete the stocking.  

Does it diminish the work she has done? No, not at all! Does it diminish the love, thought, and care? Not even close. Sometimes those unfinished projects have their own stories, even working their way into family lore: “Remember the stocking Grandma started but didn’t finish?” "You mean my stocking? Yeah, I remember!” Even the unfinished piece is now a cherished family heirloom. 

But what happens if you want to finish that project but are no longer able? Or you inherit an unfinished project—blanket, quilt, needlepoint, etc.—that you would love to see finished and used?  

That’s where the Loose Ends Project comes into play, and why we invited them to our Spring 2024 Evenings with Artifcts.

Loose Ends is on a mission to help families complete unfinished textile projects after a death or disability. It’s truly a labor of love and a gift from the heart. Watch the replay, and maybe get a little inspiration for your unfinished projects or next steps if no one in your family has the skills to see a project through. And when you do see that project through, take a moment to Artifct That! After all, it’s the story, memory, and person who got it started that make the object irreplaceable and uniquely yours.

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© 2024 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

If you are new to Artifcts and wondering what makes Artifcts special, this is the ARTIcles story for you!  

We know the magic of Artifcts, because Artifcting is a daily habit for the team who has built it. Those Artifcts include everything from “I’ll never forget” moments captured in photos to sentimentally and financially valuable personal gifts and collections we preserve on Artifcts. 

Artifcts makes a great gift because it helps people preserve and share the stories behind their keepsakes—combining memories, photos, videos, documents, and personal meaning in each Artifct. It’s especially thoughtful for those who value connection. Why wait until the end of life or letters or videos from the grave to share? Here are our top five reasons Artifcts is a standout gift: 

• • • Personal and Meaningful: Artifcts turns everyday objects, photos, and heirlooms into lasting digital memories that can be shared with family and friends. 
    • Easy to Use: The Artifcts platform is designed and tested for ages 16+, supporting people at all life milestones, so anyone can create digital memories quickly and easily. 
    • Helps with Organizing and Decluttering: Artifcts helps people to declutter physical spaces while preserving emotional value and financial value, making it ideal for downsizing, estate planning, updating insurance, or just tidying up. 
    • Legacy and Family History: Artifcts is a way to pass on family stories, values, and histories that might otherwise be lost, especially when the alternative may be journals and documents lost to time and digital chaos or intimidating genealogy software or expensive memoirs. 
    • Experiential and Ongoing: Unlike one-time gifts, your Artifcts collection grows over time—as your gift recipient adds more Artifcts, the value of your gift only grows.

Creative Ways to Personalize Your Artifcts Gift 

Hats off to the Artifcts Community and the many creative and personal ways they have gifted Artifcts that make this gift still more meaningful and memorable: 

🎁 1. Preload It with Memories 

When you gift Artifcts, you could also immediately share a few Artifcts with the recipient (Check Artifcts FAQs and videos if you need help). That way, they will have personalized content waiting for them and inspiring them when they sign in to Artifcts. Here are a few ideas: 

• • • Upload childhood photos and write the story behind them. 
    • Add a recipe card and the story of the dish. 
    • Artifct a family heirloom (even if you don't have it physically—just include the photo and story). 

Need more inspiration? Download our free Artifcts Inspiration Checklists.

🖼️ 2. Pair the Artifcts Membership with a Physical Object 

Wrap a meaningful item (like an old photo, keepsake, or holiday ornament) with a card that says: 

"The story behind this lives on—check your Artifcts!"

Add an Artifcts QR code to the Artifcted item so they can scan it to see its digital story. Print the QR code directly from the Artifct or purchase and use the Artifcts QR code stickers.

📚 3. Include a Storytelling Starter Kit 

Gift them an Artifct That! Kit, too, and add a note, "You’ve got keepsakes and stories worth saving. Start capturing them with Artifcts." 

While our kit does include starter prompts curated from 1,000 of Artifcters experiences, you could add your own prompts to card, too, like: 

• • • “Tell the story of the oldest item you own.” 
    • “What’s one thing you’d never throw away—and why?” 
    • “Artifct your favorite photo, and the story behind it.” 

Want more inspiration? Check out this ARTIcles story for real life examples of started their Artifcts collections.

👨‍👩‍👧 4. Make It a Family Project 

Offer to host a “Family Artifcts Night,” in person or virtually.  

If in person, remind everyone to download the Artifcts app and sign in and to bring photos and memory-filled items to create Artifcts together.  

Artifcts parties are great virtually or in person at holidays or reunions, too. You can invite everyone to an Artifcts invite-only circle before the big event and give them instructions, like: “Everyone add one Artifct by Sunday night, and we’ll share them on Zoom!”

Happy Artifcting!

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© 2024 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Reading time: 4 minutes

Data Privacy Day is an international event that occurs every year on 28 January. Never heard of it? Chances are that you're not alone. The day was created back in 2007 to bring awareness to the “importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding data, and enabling trust.”  

As you may know, one of our founding cornerstones here at Artifcts is privacy. We believe your information is yours and yours alone. We will not sell or otherwise transact the personal information you entrust with us. Similarly, we want to ensure you are in control of your information and data, which is why we’ve made it easy for you to upload and download your files and your Artifcts.  

We also make it clear in our Content & Community Policy that you retain not only the right but also the ownership of any information you use in creating your Artifcts. This includes copyright. Sadly, not all online platforms share our beliefs. When signing up for new online or app based services, be on the lookout for: 

• • • Memberships plans that end up turning your information public or shared within the platform if you do not pay certain continuing fees. 
    • Where the personal information you upload is being stored – a private server or another third-party platform like YouTube with another set of privacy practices to review? 
    • Who owns the information you upload? For example, does it become part of the commercial commons in the name of the greater good? Do you support that no matter what (because there may be no going back)?
    • Default settings that favor making everything public, including your name, posts, and permission to use your activity for targeted ads and other purposes.
    • If it’s a site or service you will depend upon, consider setting a Google Alert for changes in privacy policies, data breaches and other key terms so that if you should miss an email from the company or a headline, you’ll have yet another opportunity to hear about it and take action.

What Should You Take Away from Recent Media Headlines? 

Recent news reports underscore the importance of putting your privacy first and foremost. Forbes reported on 22 January 2024 that security researchers had recently uncovered the largest data breach to date, including 26 billion personal records across Dropbox, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others. The researchers note that malicious actors could "leverage the aggregated data for a large range of attacks, including identity theft, sophisticated phishing schemes, targeted cyber-attacks, and unauthorized access to personal and sensitive accounts."  

Seeing reports like this can lead us to falsely believe that there isn't much we, as individuals, can do to protect our privacy. That’s simply not true. There are several simple steps you can take to enhance your privacy and safeguard your data wherever you have online accounts and transactions. And, if you’re a member of the Arti Community, you will have received an email from us today encouraging you to do a privacy check up on Artifcts.com, following many of these same guidelines: 

• PASSWORDS. Have you changed yours lately? We recommend you update your passwords at least once a year. And while you’re at it, ensure that your password is a strong password, that is, take that leap to 16 characters, and include alpha numeric and special characters.   
• TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION. You may not like another step in your process, but you should use it, where available, especially when dealing with financial or personal, sensitive information, like medical records. Two factor authentication simply means that in addition to your login, you will be prompted for a second means of authenticating that it’s really you. This could be a text, a call, or an email. Do a quick scrub of all your online banking and medical accounts to double check that two factor authentication is set up, and that your second means of authentication is up to date.   
• PRIVATE BROWSING. Don’t want Google to track your every move? Consider using a private window in your Chrome, Brave, Safari, or other web browser (go to File > New Private Window, or similar path). Or use a privacy-first browser from the get-go, such as Duck Duck Go or Brave. These browsers do not store your personal information or follow you around the Web with ads.    
• WHEN IN DOUBT, DON'T CLICK! If you receive an email from an unknown sender with an attachment or link, don’t download, don’t click, and just to be extra safe, delete it. What if you receive the link from a trusted contact? If it is out of the ordinary, or something you were not expecting, text, call, or otherwise double check outside of email just to be safe. Cyber criminals are getting smarter and developing new tactics seemingly daily, including spoofing (i.e. impersonating) email addresses.  

Interested in learning more or looking for other resources? The Future of Privacy Forum has helpful infographics and educational materials, especially tips for protecting youth online. The Electronic Privacy Information Center also offers simple guidelines for consumer privacy and a break-down of some of the most common internet scams. 

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© 2024 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Did any new books find a cozy spot on your bookshelves this holiday season?

On the recommendation of a friend, I picked up The Postcard by Anne Berest. That last copy available at my local book shop.

No more than five pages into the book, I was up out of my reading chair, my rooibos chai tea set aside and cooling rapidly, making notes. This book is practically an award-winning advertisement for Artifcts. In the space of mere pages, I picked out these gems:

Anne, the lead voice for much of the book, confesses she could not have picked her relatives out of a photo and "felt a wave of shame."

How many of us feel the same way? The shame is often about "Why didn't I listen?" or the close cousin, "Why didn't I ask?" This is why we say, "Storytellers, Beware!" And how many of us are willing to invest the time and energy to actually get answers? While some enjoy chasing histories, it's not for us all, and then so much is lost.

Anne also equates her mother Lelia's memory boxes and archival boxes to "little coffins."

We feel the same. If you are willing to spend the money to protect items you care about with archival boxes, please Artifct them so you give life to the items within for anyone who comes across them. And here's an extra tip learned the hard way: if you are going to frame an object, first take pictures to use for your Artifct so that you aren't wrestling with glare once framed.

Lelia refers to the mixture of fact and family lore "blended stories" that fit her own ideas and theories about the past.

Family lore is important. It's instructive, it's real, it may be all you have to go on. Sometimes, we'd even say, it's as interesting to hear the many versions of a past as the facts that may be discoverable.

It's not until a bit later in the book that I saw another important theme emerge regarding the seemingly trivial 'stuff' we accumulate during our lifetimes. Lelia is rummaging through a desk drawer, flicking past check stubs, bills, old day planners, ticket stubs and more, and the book's author writes that these were, "[  ] All the scraps of paper we accumulate over the years, the kind future generations will hesitate to throw away when they're emptying out our drawers after we're gone."

You know it's true!

But now you have Artifcts, so no excuse. So much less guilt and loss when you declutter.

Of course, it's not always the scraps of paper. Later in the book when Anne is in the waiting room of the office of a private investigator she's looking at the knickknacks and debating: sentimental or bought to fill and decorate the space?

It's normal to wonder. It's also normal to be completely frustrated when you have no answers and it's a space more personal to you, like the home of a loved one.

When someone asks me about when, where, or what to Artifct, I think, "YES!" The fact is, now is when we live. Artifct anytime, anywhere, anything that speaks to you. It will become a part of your story.

And I wish you a more relaxing book read than I experienced this go around when Artifcts was constantly on my mind!

__________________

You may also enjoy:

The Three Things I Wish My Mother Had Artifcted

If Books Could Talk, What Would Yours Say About You?

The Artifcts Bookshelf: Books About or Related to 'Stuff'

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© 2024 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Dear Readers,

As we approach the New Year, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your support, encouragement, and feedback, whether you’ve been with us since the beginning or are just joining.  

Ellen and I created Artifcts to change our relationship with ‘stuff’ and lighten the financial and emotional burden that so often surrounds the stuff we keep and even the stuff we let go. Our goal as founders is to enable you to not only to capture, preserve, and share the histories, stories, and memories behind your most cherished objects, but to also discover (or maybe even rediscover) the joy and human connection that go hand in hand with the items that make us, well, us!  

This year has been one of great growth for Artifcts—we've doubled our membership base, including members across the United States and in 12 other countries and counting. More members have created more Artifcts, and some of our members have even out-Artifcted Ellen and me, which is no easy feat considering we each have 300+ Artifcts!  

As we’ve grown, we’ve remained true to our core and our mission, placing you, your data privacy, and your security first and foremost in all that we do. We know you place a great deal of trust in us as you create your Artifcts and it’s important to reaffirm that we’ve got your back, always. Our patent (yes, we received our first patent last month!) is proof of all this and reinforces it—our patent protects the very cornerstone of our technology and provides a launch pad for the innovation we've dreamed of for years.  

We’ve also pushed head-long into the brain health arena this past year, winning the Massachusetts eHealth Insitute’s Healthy Aging Pitch Competition, and embarking on a year-long pilot study with the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. We hope to validate that Artifcts and the process of Artifcting can be a powerful screening tool for brain health so we can flip the script, reduce the fear, and start the conversations sooner about dementia and its prevention and treatment.  

We’ve traveled the country during the past year on our quest to understand and transform the world of ‘stuff.’ We’ve spoken with experts at AARP; presented at genealogy, LongeviTech, AgeTech, photo management, and downsizing conferences; and learned from and shared with experts in the estate planning and insurance space who are eager to harness the power of Artifcts.   

We’ve also received some much-deserved recognition, beginning in May when the State of Texas recognized Artifcts as an Innovator in Aging. That was quickly followed by an award from  Family Tree Magazine naming Artifcts as one of the best genealogy tech tools of 2023. Ellen and I were also honored to be featured in a mini documentary from Voice of America, and to contribute chapters to the National Aging in Place Council’s book on Difficult Aging in Place Conversations. Bottom line, the word is getting out. ‘Stuff’ and legacy matter, and we are leading the charge here at Artifcts.  

As for the here and now, the Artifcts team is hard at work ensuring Artifcts is where you need it, when you need it. Stay tuned for carefully researched and designed new product features, publication of our spring webinar series schedule, and announcements of new partnerships spanning brain health, end of life, moving and decluttering and beyond as we transform our relationships with ‘stuff’ together.  

We’ll be starting the New Year with a bang at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with our friends at the AARP AgeTech Collaborative. To say we’re excited is an understatement.  

With that, Ellen and I invite you to join us in a virtual toast as we say, “Cheers to 2024!” May it delight and surprise us in all that we do.   

Happy Artifcting, 

Heather

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© 2023 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.