Where have I been?

Wow, it' been like, um, forever since I last posted! I've been around, but things have been keeping me busy (such as my other blog). I did want to post a quick message out here to let you all know that I am still around. I've had to postpone my crops for a little while as all my CM stuff has been packed up as we move some rooms in our house. However, once I get that straightened out, I'll be adding some more casual crops back to the calendar. Then, I'll take some time off in October, November and maybe December when I have baby #2.

In the meantime, my web site is always open and you can always email me with questions. Also, if you order Storybook Creator Plus 3.0 (on its own or part of the Digital Collections) through me and you live in the local area, I will come to your house for a 90 minute tutorial on how to use it....for free!

Oh, and if you are a Disney fan, be sure to check out the new products this month--Creative Memories has released some great Disney themed items for both traditional and digital scrapbooking.

Crops and National Scrapbook Day!

First off, I've cleared my calendar of my scheduled crops. It seems I just have bad planning karma! Everytime I set a date, something comes up. Never fear, I will have crops again, I just need to get my calendar straightened out. Also, I probably won't have any crops from October until the end of the year as my second baby is due in October.

Okay, now here is an event that is DEFINITELY going to happen! My CM Team is getting together for National Scrapbook Day! On May 15th (that's a Saturday), we'll be having a crop from 10am until 10pm at Greater Portland Bible Church. The cost is $40 for a full day and $20 for a half day, with a $5 discount if you bring a dish for the potluck. You will, of course, have space to crop, snacks, meals and goodies! Since a number of consultants are coming together for this event, it will be a BIG group! If you are interested, either RSVP on my website or contact me for more details.

Website with GREAT tips and tricks!

Through the "Creative Memories GO DIGITAL" group on Facebook, I found a fabulous blog with lots of tips and tricks on it. My Life in Digital Scrapbooking is by another CM consultant who is one of the best digital bloggers I've seen who uses Storybook as their software. She has templates, she has tutorials, she has videos....I highly recommend it!

Let me, once again, sing the praises of Memory Manager!

As I've posted before, I love Memory Manager--it has been a total lifesaver for me to keep my digital pictures organized (and, if I ever get my scanner up and running again, it will be a lifesaver keeping my scans organized).

Now, "fixing up" pictures is one of those skills that we all want to have, but it seems to technical for most of us. Memory Manager, however, makes it easy.

Don't get your hopes up, Memory Manager is NOT a miracle worker and will not replace an unflattering picture of yourself with one of Angelina Jolie. However, it can save some pictures that, on first glance, just don't look great.

Here is an example. This picture is of the flowers at my baby shower:

Now, this doesn't look very nice. It kind of looks like everyone was smoking up a storm in the room and the flowers have jaundice. However, just about 15 seconds later (using the assistant in Memory Manager and clicking my mouse about 3 times), the picture looks like this:

Quite an improvement, eh?

A lot of the pictures I have only need minimal touch ups, or none at all. However, Memory Manager CAN make a huge difference with some pictures.

I've been DIGITALLY ENDORSED!

Yes, I am now a DIGITALLY ENDORSED Creative Memories consultant! What this means is that I've completed a training on the digital Creative Memories features so that I can better help customers with their digital needs. Woo-hoo! I decided to go through with this since I am mostly doing digital work myself. I also believe that Digital Scrapbooking is a wonderful option for people who may be a little intimadated by the "arts and crafts" aspect of traditional scrapbooking, who are more techie in nature, or who--like me--need something that doesn't involve a lot of "stuff" to take out and keep out of little hands!

I've also started a Digital Scrapbooking mailing list for digital scrapbookers using the Creative Memories products. It's called CMDigiScrapping and you can join just by using the box in the sidebar. I'll double post somethings here and on the list, but the list will also have more discussion, more project examples, etc. Please join if you are at all interested!

Yet another change in crop dates....

It's true...nothing is written in stone! My upline consultant is having a team meeting the same day I had scheduled my February crop, so I've had to switch things around a little. The new dates are:
March 7
April 25
May 23
June 27

Phew! The good news is that by moving the February Crop into March (and, um, getting rid of the previously scheduled March crop) is that new product will be available! Woo hoo!

No January Casual Crop

Just a quick FYI here....

I've had to cancel my January Casual Crop due to a personal conflict popping up on that date. However, the other Casual Crops are still on my calendar....
February 28
March 21
April 25
May 23
June 27