I {{PUFFY HEART}} SIMPLE START!!!

Yes, I know that typing in all caps is the equivalent of yelling, but I want to yell out loud how much I love the Creative Memories "Simple Start" CD!

So, I can design my own digital scrapbook pages and I enjoy doing it. However, it takes a while--sometimes a great while--to get a page to a point where you can say you are satisfied. If you are like me, and behind on your projects, then THIS is the CD for you!

What is it? Blank templates--that's all! There are 150 templates to use! If you have Storybook Creator Plus, you can edit the templates as you need to! Here is an example:

I went from THIS:

(please ignore the background on this...I had to put in a background paper for it to save as a jpeg)

To THIS:

(I used the new Vintage Romance Content Collection here)

in about 5 minutes. Pretty good, eh?

The CD is $39.95, but it inlcudes a $39.95 coupon code good towards a hardcover storybook. So, really, it's FREE! You can order it from your Creative Memories consultant or, if you don't have one (or if you are already one of my customers!), you can order through my website.

Wow! Is it 2010 already?

Yeesh! I can't believe that I haven't posted since November! What have I been doing all that time? Well, there was all that holiday fun...and, of course, I've been working on getting my pictures organized in Memory Manager! I am proud to say that I have everything from February 2009 (when my daughter was born) to the present done and, frankly, anything before that is low on the priority list right now.

Now, onto 2010. I've scheduled my casual crops for the first part of the year. They are all at my home and the dates are:
January 31
February 28
March 21
April 25
May 23
June 27

These are all up on my personal website here. If there are any changes to this schedule, it will appear both on my website and I'll post something here. Also, please RSVP if you are planning to come. There are times when I have to cancel an event on short notice (low attendance, sick child, other unexpected event) and only the people who have RSVP'd will get the note.

Another fun thing to pass on...are you looking for some digital help? Check out Creative Memories Webinars for some great trainings. I've gone through all of these and have found them to be incredibly helpful. They can be up to an hour, but you can always pause them and finish them later.

Please remember that you can always email me if you have any questions, comments, or ideas. Also, my website is always open!

12x18 Calendars are here!

Creative Memories have been touting their new 12X18 calendars for a while--of course, they started talking about them after I started working on a 2010 calendar in StoryBook with the old format! Grr. Oh well, no biggie!

So here's the thing about these new calendars. The actual calendar part is the bottom 6-inches of the page and, when the month is done, you can tear these off and you are left with a 12x12 page print. Brilliant, no?

If you are interested in trying this, the template is a free download for StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0! All you have to do is:
1. Go to my Creative Memory Website.
2. Click on Shop Products on the top bar.
3. Click on Digital Scrapbooking on the side bar.
4. Click on Digital Content Downloads on the side bar.
5. Click on Free Downloadable Themes on the side bar.
6. Scroll down and click on the template of your choice. There are three: Pre-designed pages for the free version of StoryBook (don't bother with this if you have StoryBook Creator Plus), Pre-designed pages for StoryBook Creator Plus, and Basic (Blank) pages for StoryBook Creator Plus.

I chose the third option, which allows you to create your own pages. Then, what I did, was go into another file where I had some 12x12 layouts I wanted to use. From there, I saved the pages as .jpegs in the images files for my calendar and then just stuck it in the calendar. It was unbelievably easy--far easier than it sounds here.

Anyhow, for those of you looking for some one-of-a-kind holiday gifts, this may be the way to go.

Quick bit on digital scrapbooking

My friend Jeannette wanted to know more about digital scrapbooking--and I will post more! I just want to make sure I lay out information clearly and logically (both of those are a challenge for me sometimes!). However, if you want some info now, feel free to check out Kerry's post about her obsession!

Next Casual Crop

The holidays are crazy, aren't they? Since my November seems to be chalked up, I'm not going to have a crop that month. Instead, I'm going to move my crops from the month-ends to the month-beginnings and will hold my next crop on Sunday, December 6th at my house. If you are in the Hillsboro, Oregon area and want to join us, you can RSVP on my CM website or email me for more info.

Memory Manager 3.0

Yesterday, my friend Kerry and I were talking about digital scrapbooking--which makes sense since since digital scrapbooking has become my preferred method since my daughter was born and Kerry is quite the digital scrapping queen. (The ironic part of this conversation was that it took place while were working on our traditional scrapbooks. Go figure!) Anyway, the one thing I think Creative Memories does excel in is digital scrapbooking.

I'll probably be posting quite a bit on digital scrapbooking in the future, so I won't do a whole run-down of it here. I will, however, start with the Memory Manager 3.0 software. Why start there? Two reasons:
1 - I've been using it sort of half-heartedly and am working of become more proficient with it myself. (And, I'm typing this while it backs up my pictures).
2 - It's really the "first step" in CM's digital scrapbooking.

Memory Manager 3.0 is actually not a digital scrapbooking program. It's a photo organizing program--which, let's face it, we need to organize our photos before we do anything with them. So, first steps first. I've always had my own system for organizing pictures, which was--well, okay. Not great. However, since our photo volume has exploded in the last 8 months, I figured I'd better step up and start using the "real stuff."

Okay, since I'm not an expert on this, I'm not going to give you all the sales pitch. However, if you'd like the sales pitch, click on over to this video from Creative Memories (and if you are sold on it, you can order it from my website).

I will tell you, though, that I'm working the program! Okay, right now I'm mostly just indexing my pictures. Once I'm caught up (well, since the beginning of 2009 on. I'll work backwards once I have that done), I'll get all artistic on some pics for you all and post them here so you can see the wonders of Memory Manager. Oh, what fun!

Welcome!!!

(stands up): My name is Melinda and I'm a scrapbooker.

There, I said it!

I've been scrapbooking for, gee, several years now. I'm not the most accomplished nor the most creative scrapbooker, but I love it. I find cropping relaxing and love the nostalgia that comes with going through a scrapbook. In fact, I love it so much, I became a Creative Memories consultant.

Yes, there are a number of scrapbooking companies and Creative Memories is just one of them. I'm not here to tell you that CM is the best or the only way to scrapbook. It happens to be the method and brand that I use most frequently (although, I'll admit it, I don't use CM exclusively).

Why did I choose to be come a CM consultant? After many years as a corporate drone, I became a SAHM. As any mom will tell you, once you have kids you start taking A LOT of pictures! Obviously, my scrapbooking needs were going to increase, not decrease! I loved going to crops and I loved to have people over...so why not have my own crops?

I'll be honest. I'm not in this to make money--I became a Creative Memories consultant to share my love of scrapbooking to others. Not only can I help people learn more about scrapbooking, but I can also learn things from other scrapbookers! And, let's face it, it's fun!

So what is this blog for then? Well, a couple things. First of all, it's a place for me to discuss new project ideas and events. It's also a way for me to communicate with my customers (current and future) and a place for others to post their thoughts and ideas. If you read something here you have a reaction to, please post a comment!

I hope that you find this blog informative and entertaining. On the sidebar, there is a list to some great scrapbooking links, including my CM page. If you are in the Hillsboro, Oregon area and would like to join us for a crop or host your own party, please don't hesitate to contact me!