The Trespasser

The Trespasser by Patricia Manhire
The Trespasser, a photo by Patricia Manhire on Flickr.

Hi There
I have been able to get outside with the camera again with the weather improving somewhat for a little while. One comment on this photo on flickr got me thinking about our current CM situation. My friend said that no caterpillar in his right mind would resist such a pretty bloom, he will take the nectar and restore their beauty as a butterfly. He is a very poetic person I might add, and his photos are incredible.
Anyway, even though the situation looks dire at Creative Memories, it is important to keep in mind that there may be something better after restructuring (?) for us.
Patricia

Stretching resources – a 12 photo scrapbook layout

Hi there

Thank you to all for all the support that I have received over the last few days since we received our sad news.  I am unable to add much more at this stage except to say that we have some incredibly good deals going at the moment.  These are up on my website at this point in time, so if you would like anything please feel free to contact me.  I don’t know how long these deals will keep so you will need to get in quick.   I would like to think that there will  be some positive resolution to our current difficulties and that we will still be able to access the wonderful Creative Memories Products in the future.  I have also been very heartened with all the support from the other consultants and the way we are all helping each other to get products to all our customers.

Following on my post the other day here is a layout that I did last year on my daughter’s photo album.  This page has 12 photos in it and I have trimmed off all the excess that I didn’t need and the end result is quite pleasing.  Plus I was able to use a lot of photos, which saved on pages and resources, and I got through a lot of photos in one hit!  There is no embellishments on this page, except for me writing down the names of all the people that attended my daughter’s Christening so many years ago.  This highlights the fact that we do not need to add all the embellishments to create an effective page.  Memory keeping is about writing down our memories so our children and grandchildren can look back and understand what was going on.  The embellishments are the decorative element and really should be secondary to what the photos are about.  Less is more!  And when times get tough we just have to get back to the basics to help our supplies stretch further.

12 Photo page layout

Patricia

Saving resources – The Many Faces of James’ Double Page Layout

Hello there

Because of what is happening with Creative Memories Australia and New Zealand I thought it was timely to look at how we can make our limited resources stretch a bit further.  The great thing with the CM albums is that you don’t need a lot of papers and embellishments to make a great page.  Personally I like to try to get as many photos on my pages as possible mainly to save on products, but it also helps reduce the weight and size of my albums.  Some of the albums with lots of pages can get really heavy!  Also using lots of photos can help to get an album completed more quickly as well.  So there are lots of benefits to be had in being more creative with photos.

With this double page layout I have used 11 photos as well as a journalling paper.  I had an eclectic mix of photos of James and they did not really fit in with any particular theme so decided to put them all together using my page planner (which unfortunately is no longer available) to help with sizing and placing.  To keep with the overall theme of the album I have just placed a strip of cloud cardstock and white twinkle chain strip to tie the layout in with the rest of the album.

The Many Faces of James' Double Page Layout The Many Faces of James' Layout The Many Faces of James' Layout

 

Another way to say on products is to use the page protectors on every second page so as to make them go further (thank you Grace Green for that piece of advice).  The photos are still going to have some protection from the plastic sleeves.

Products used:

Creative Memories Cardstock – Cloud

Creative Memories Cardstock – White

Creative Memories Rugged Story Mats

Creative Memories Border Maker – Twinkle Chain Cartridge

Creative Memories Rotary Trimmer

Creative Memories Tape Runner

Creative Memories Precision Point Glue Pen

Creative Memories Black Journalling Pen

So keep calm and keep scrapping

Patricia

 

Creative Memories update

Hi there

Just updating you on progress on Creative Memories Australia and New Zealand.  There has been a very positive meeting today in Sydney with the appointment of different administrators and the formation of a Creditors Committee to help represent the interests of Creative Memories Consultants and their Very Special Customers.  The indications coming out of this meeting are positive and here are some of the outcomes so far:

The following can be claimed for:

VIP – Annual Subscription – Unused Portion
Digital Vouchers – Claim the balance you were not able to use. Example: For a customer with $100 voucher – Use the $25 on an order and submit claim for other $75.

(Please contact me for further details)

Complete and UPLOAD STORYBOOKS you are working on!

Feel free to join us on a virtual crop every Friday night – click on this link  https://www.facebook.com/groups/113744225467835/

This is great for new ideas, motivation  and sharing.

Don’t forget we still have lots of products in the warehouse including tools, albums, paper packs, stickers, embellishments and accents and the consultants are all sharing their products so if there is anything you would particularly want please contact me and I can put the message out to the other consultants to see if they have it.

So keep positive, stay calm and keep scrapping.

Patricia

 

Happy Mother’s Day

Today is Mother’s Day and it is a chance to reflect on how important mothers are in our world today.  They provide unconditional love and support to their children and are the glue that holds families together.

I have created this card for all the mothers in the world.  I have used the 2013 Anniversary Digital Kit and used the colour coordination feature to change the colours from blue/green to my favourite pink.  I hope you enjoy my offering.

Happy Mother's Day

 

Happy Mother’s Day

Patricia

Rugged family time

Welcome

Regardless of what is happening with Creative Memories I still have my son’s album to complete.  This double page layout is special as it shows my husband and I spending some special time with James.  James cried a lot as a baby and often my husband, Matthew was the only one who could settle him which helped me a lot, and gave me some time out.  On the whole though he was a good baby and was so cute!

Double page layout Father and son layout Growing up - Rugged layout

 

Products used:

Creative Memories Rugged Photo mats

Creative Memories Decorative papers (sorry I have forgotten the name of it)

Creative Memories Cardstock – Metallic green

Creative Memories Cardstock – Cloud

Creative Memories Custom Cutting System – circles

Creative Memories  ABC Monograms Swirly – Black

Creative Memories Rugged Title Stickers

Creative Memories Rotary Trimmer – straight and deckle edge blades

Creative Memories Tape runner

Creative Memories Epoxy stickers – Enchanted

Happy scrapping

Patricia

Reaching for the sun

Just a little photo to cheer people up after the last few days. I was really pleased at how this photo turned out and I did not have to do a lot to improve this photo. The daisy seems to just pop out on the page. Some days I can get great photos and other days I delete a lot, but I am improving.
I hope you all have a great day.
Patricia

 

Creative Memories News

Hi there. I just want to reassure people that at this stage it is still business as usual for Creative Memories.  There are still products available for sale and you can still order story books from Creative Memories to print.  I went onto Trade Me yesterday and the bidding for some products have gone crazy.   I gather Ebay in Australia has also had some crazy prices as well.  A Creative Memories colleague in Australia has written a really good post about using Trade Me and Ebay to buy CM products – please check out this link:   http://jensdigiscrap.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/leeches-lemmings-and-legends/#like-197.  She puts it so much better than what I could.  You can buy these products through online auctions but you end up paying huge amounts and to me it is tantamount to scalping tickets to concerts etc.  I would urge people to wait and see if there are any solutions to this situation and save your money.  It is not worth spending hundreds of dollars on products that are only worth a fraction of that.

Also, my website is still functioning so please check it out and see what is still available.  There must have been a glitch yesterday when I tried it out but it will remain up until further notice.

So hang in there and be positive and keep scrapping. Patricia

  • Sad news (patriciamanhire.wordpress.com)