EN

A gift you make yourself

One book about Mom and Dad. From your memories

Warm questions about your mom, about your dad, and about their life together. You answer out loud, we turn it into one book for both of them that plays your voice.

Start the book

Takes a minute — one payment, no subscription. You can record the first story today.

A book about someone else
  • ✓ Writing is optional, they can just talk
  • ✓ Mom and Dad don’t have to do anything, it’s a surprise
  • ✓ Your brothers and sisters can add their own stories

Perfect for a golden wedding, an anniversary, Christmas, or no occasion at all

A young woman smiles as she records a voice message about a loved one, old family photos spread on the table

How it works

You just talk. We make the book.

  1. A daughter hands her smiling mother an elegantly wrapped gift box

    You order

    Checkout takes a minute: their name, your WhatsApp, one payment. Your question page opens right away — no waiting for anything.

  2. A phone screen with a question in a chat and a voice-message reply

    You answer questions about your mom and dad

    Warm, simple questions: how the two of them tell the story of meeting, what an ordinary day off looked like in their house, what in you comes from your mom and what from your dad. You answer by voice or on camera, like a voice message, short or long, whenever it suits you.

  3. A grandmother laughs while recording a voice message, her daughter hugging her

    Family and friends join in

    Share one link — their stories land in the same book, and every story is signed with the name of whoever told it. Or keep the book yours alone.

  4. A daughter presents a hardcover life-story book to her mother

    You hand them the book

    A hardcover made of your stories and photos. Point a phone camera at a page — and it plays the voice of the person who told that story. Until that moment, it stays a surprise.

A look inside

How your words become a story

This is what Velena looks like: the page where you record, and the stories your answers turn into.

The Velena recording page: a question at the top and one large record button

One question — one button

A question about your parents and one big record button. No writing.

A video answer being recorded: the question on screen, the storyteller in a small self-view

Speak — or turn on the camera

Add the video add-on and tell it on camera: the QR codes in the book will play the video too.

The “My stories” list: finished stories with photos and play buttons

Stories add up to a book

Every answer is another story. You watch a whole book take shape.

The questions

You never face a blank page

Velena asks; you answer out loud, whenever you have ten free minutes. A few of the questions about your mom and dad:

  1. How do your mom and dad tell the story of how they met? Which part does each of them add?
  2. What is your earliest memory with both your mom and your dad in it?
  3. What was an ordinary day off like in your parents’ house? Walk us through it.
  4. What does your mom always do around the house, and what does your dad? Tell about an ordinary evening.
  5. What do your mom and dad laugh about together? Tell about a time you saw it.
  6. How do your mom and dad make up after an argument? What does it look like from the outside?
  7. What in you comes from your mom, and what from your dad? Tell where you see it in yourself.
  8. What have you long wanted to say to your mom, but never found the moment for?

More than fifty questions about the two of them. They arrive a few at a time, so you are never staring at a list.

Wondering what your book would be like? Answer 3 questions — takes under a minute
An open hardcover book with a family photo, a story in Russian and a QR code

The book

Not just a book — a family heirloom

A hardcover book of your stories about your mom and dad and your shared photos. And unlike any other book, this one speaks.

  • Hardcover, thick archival paper
  • Your stories — in your words, each signed by who told it
  • A QR code on every story — point a camera and hear their voice or watch the video
  • Every recording is kept in your Velena account and can be downloaded anytime

Design the cover of your book

Type the title and the names — the book on screen changes right away. This is how it will arrive.

Cover

This is only part of the collection. We can draw a cover made just for your book.

The photo stays on this screen only. You will add it to the book after checkout.

You can change the cover and the title any time before printing.

The photo, the story, the voice and the video — on one page

Every story in the book has its own QR code. Point a camera at it — and the story plays in the voice of the person who told it: you, or the people who love them.

An open book with a black-and-white family photo and a QR code; next to it a phone playing the same story in the grandmother’s voice

Why give this

The words that are hard to say out loud

The words that are hard to say out loud

These things don’t get said at the table: not the thank you, not what you came to understand about your parents once you were grown. The occasion passes, the words stay with you. In a book they finally get said. And they stay.

A gift no one can repeat

A gift no one can repeat

What your mom and dad are like together is something only their children know. It is in no shop anywhere, and nobody but you will ever tell it. A book like this cannot be bought ready-made.

Mom and Dad will read it together

Mom and Dad will read it together

They scan a page and hear your voice telling a story about them. Not a caption under a photo: your real voice, kept for years. And it is one book for both, so neither of them is the one who got less.

What if your parents say they don’t need anything?

Nearly everyone says that, and you still have to choose a gift. And for parents people usually buy two: something for Mom, something for Dad. A month later both are in a cupboard. Here you are not giving a thing, you are giving what you remember about the two of them. That cannot be bought ready-made.

Price

One gift. One payment.

$99 one-time

What’s included

  • A whole year of questions — answered at their own pace, even daily
  • Voice recordings without limits — in any language
  • Every story beautifully written out and kept for your family
  • A hardcover printed book with a QR code on every story
  • Optional: invite family and friends — their stories go into the same book, each signed with their name
  • Every recording downloadable anytime

Want video too? Add video answers for $19 — the QR codes will also play the moments you told on camera.

Start the book

Money-back guarantee: a full refund within 30 days of purchase, up until the book goes to print.

The cost of recordings already transcribed is deducted from the refund.

Start today — record the first stories tonight; we print the book when the stories are ready.

Yours forever

These stories belong to your family. Forever.

One payment, no subscription

The payment covers a whole year of new recordings. Reading, listening and watching never expire — and nothing is ever charged again.

Download everything

Every recording and every story can be saved to your own phone or computer at any moment — the archive is yours, not ours.

The QR codes keep working

Open the book in thirty years, point a camera at a page — and hear your own voice again, telling it.

Questions

What families ask

Will my parents find out about the surprise?
Only if you tell them. Mom and Dad don’t need to record, install, or confirm anything, everything happens on your side. The book stays a secret until the moment you hand it over.
I’m no writer — will it come out well?
You don’t write — you talk. We ask the questions and gently shape every answer into a written story, keeping your words and your way of telling it. Any story can be edited before printing.
Can family and friends add their stories?
Yes. Share one link — everyone records the same way you do, and each story in the book is signed with the name of whoever told it. Or keep the book just yours: that’s up to you.
What language can the stories be in?
Any language they are comfortable in: English, French, Dutch, Russian, or a natural mix, the way people actually speak. We write the story in the language it was told in and keep the original recording untouched.
How fast can the book be ready?
The first stories take an evening; most books gather over a few weeks. Answer at your own pace — a whole year of questions is included. When the stories are ready, we print and deliver the book.
Can I answer on camera, not just with my voice?
Yes. With the video add-on you choose for every answer: voice or camera — and the QR codes in the book will play the video too. You can add it at any time.
Is this a subscription?
No. You pay once. Every recording stays with your family, and nothing is charged later.
Whose recordings are they? What if we want to keep everything?
They belong to your family. Every voice recording and every story can be downloaded at any time — the book is yours on paper, the archive is yours digitally.
What if it doesn’t work out?
You have 30 days from the moment of payment: if the gift isn’t right and the book hasn’t gone to print yet, we refund the full amount. The cost of recordings already transcribed is deducted from the refund. And whatever happens, every recording stays downloadable for your family.

Ask us on WhatsApp

Who else this book can be about

Same book, same price. Pick who it is about and we will open their page.

Not about a person? Your own book →
An open hardcover book with a family photo, a story in Russian and a QR code

The warmest gift is what you remember about your parents

Order in a minute — and record the first story tonight.

Start the book