Category: Crafts

Funky Birthday Cards

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Crafts, Creative Memories, Greetings6 Comments

Welcome back

I have been really busy making lots of cards for our new pop up shop, Make Shift, that we are looking to open about the beginning of August.  I am looking at doing a wide range of cards for to cater for everyone, but some cards have been easier to make than others.  I love feminine cards with flowers, but that is not going to interest everyone so I have been using a wide range of products and papers to make lots of different cards.

For this range of cards I have purchased one sheet of gorgeous paper with foil accents and was able to make 8 cards out of this one sheet of paper.  I love the colours in this paper and have kept the cards fairly simple to highlight the simple, naive design of the paper.  I managed to match up the paper with the Creative Memories It’s a Boy embossed cardstock – lime green and Creative Memories Taffy Cardstock.

Handcrafted card Handcrafted card Handcrafted card Handcrafted card Handcrafted card Handcrafted card Handcrafted card Handcrafted cardThe materials I have used with these cards are:

Creative Memories Shape Maker – square

Creative Memories Square Maker

Peelcraft stickers

Stampin‘Up greeting

Scorepal

Creative Memories Tape Runner

Creative Memories Rotary Trimmer

Kaisercraft Pearls

As you can see these birthday cards can be great for any age – but probably more suitable for the ladies or girls.

I will keep posting more photos of my cards as I complete them to show the wide range that will be at the shop.

I hope you all have a great week.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

Wow – Great News

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Creative Memories, Digital Art, Photography, Scrapbooking2 Comments

Hello there

I have just received news that Creative Memories Australia and New Zealand has been bought out by Close to My Heart to  start their Australasian business.  I wasn’t really sure about Plan B, but I have had a look at the catalogue from America and it is amazing.  I love the fact that there is plenty of scope for my stamping and card making as well as for scrapbooking.  There is a lot more decorative products, plus there is also digital products as well.  It is also in a good financial position as well, which is very critical after what we have been through over the last few weeks. I still have a lot of questions about the structure and set up but I will now definitely be looking at this very closely.

So watch this space…

Happy Crafting

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RIP Creative Memories Australia and New Zealand.

On By patriciamanhireIn Crafts, Creative Memories2 Comments

Hello there.

Today the doors shut on Creative Memories Australia and New Zealand.  This is a very sad day as they have been a very good company to work with and I will miss the fabulous tools, albums and decorative elements.  I have also met some lovely people in the process of  building my business and it has kept me going through all the health challenges over the last 18 months.  However, I guess it is a sign of the times and we just have to keep positive and move on.

However, all is not lost as there is to be a major announcement either at the end of today or tomorrow so I will keep you posted.

I am still working on the Art and Craft Collective and will keep you posted on the progress.   I can’t wait to open the shop and have my cards and photos for sale in it along with some amazing crafts from some incredible people here in the Hutt Valley.  But there is a lot of logistics to cover first and it is a crash course in small business administration which is very useful indeed.

As you can see I have changed the header on my page and have now renamed it my Creative Corner.  I will now post all the different crafty creations that I get up to over the next few months/years…

Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

 

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The End if an Era!

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Cardmaking, Crafts, Digital Art, Photography6 Comments

Hello everyone.

Well it looks as though Creative Memories Australia and New Zealand will be closing down on 10 June 2013.  This is very sad as the business in New Zealand and Australia was doing well and the products are of very good quality.  There is some hope in that there will be an announcement on June 11 regarding a new venture so all is not lost.  However, I have made the decision not to continue as a CM Consultant.  I have had significant health issues over the last year and it has been a struggle to maintain my commitment to my customers and to the company.  I have enjoyed my time with CM and have met some wonderful people.  I have also gained some great tools that will keep me going for some time yet.

But as one door shuts another one opens!  I have been involved in setting up an Art and Craft Collective in the Hutt Valley and in conjunction with the Hutt City Council, we are in the process of setting up a shop in the Hutt CBD.  This shop will be selling locally produced arts and crafts and be run by the collective.  I am really excited about this new venture and I am very grateful to the Hutt City Council and their About Space Programme that has allowed us to set up this venture and keep our costs to a minimum.  I will be selling my cards there (and look to doing some artwork with my photos)  and there are going to be a wide variety of products for sale – a one stop shop for all your gift needs.  So watch this space…

I hope you all have a safe and happy weekend.

Patricia

 

More scrapbook layouts

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Cardmaking, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Pets, Photography, ScrapbookingLeave a comment

Hello there

It is sooo good getting my computer back!  But there is still a lot to do with tidying up all my photos and trying to remember all my passwords to go back onto various websites.  I think I will be busy over the next few weeks.  I am so pleased that I had backed up onto an external hard drive, although I did lose a couple of digital kits but it is no big deal fortunately.

As I said yesterday I have been working on James’ album and he is now up to 9 months old and soon I will be doing his first birthday.  I am still trying to make my resources stretch and have kept up with lots of photos per page and linking the album with accents such as the border maker twinkle chain and picket fence cartridges as well as the same colours throughout.  It is not taking long to get through these photos and I should have his first year album completed very soon which will be good.

Here are a few of the layouts:Best Friends layout James and the cat Family layout Family layout Family time layout Life is Good layout

 

The materials I have used here are:

Creative Memories Card Stock – Cloud

Creative Memories Card Stock – Green Metallic

Creative Memories Card Stock – Brown Cardstock

Creative Memories Border Maker – Twinkle Chain and Picket Fence cartridges

Creative Memories Rugged stickers

Creative Memories Rugged Paper Ribbon

Creative Memories Rugged Photo Mats

Creative Memories Rugged Tags

Creative Memories Rugged Title stickers

Creative Memories  Enchanted Epoxy stickers

Creative Memories Decorative Pack – sorry I have forgotten the name of this.

Creative Memories Rotary Trimmer

Creative Memories Personal Trimmer

Phew what a list, especially as it did not take very long to do and did not seem to use a lot of materials.

I have also been making a lot of cards so please take the time to check out my crafty creations.

Have a good day everyone and stay calm and keep scrapping.

Patricia

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Stretching resources – a 12 photo scrapbook layout

On By patriciamanhireIn Babies, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Photography, Scrapbooking5 Comments

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

So keep on scrapping your stash

Patricia

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

On By patriciamanhireIn Babies, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Photography, Scrapbooking3 Comments

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

 

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Creative Memories update

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Crafts, Creative Memories, Digital Art, Photography, Scrapbooking5 Comments

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

 

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Baby boy two photo layout

On By patriciamanhireIn Babies, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Photography, Scrapbooking3 Comments

Welcome again

Much as I enjoy taking lots of photos I still have to do something with them and now it is time to get back to my scrapbooking.  James’ album will not get done on its own!

As I have said in previous posts, James is growing up in front of me again and here is a two photo layout using the Rugged Baby Boy Addition,s as well as a decorative pack  that I received when I went to a Creative Memories training day last year (I am sorry I cannot remember the name of the decorative pack, but it is no longer available).  The colours go so well together.

I have used a lovely striped pattern as the base of my page.  I then placed a smaller cream patterned paper on the page and then put a trimmed sheet of grey paper from the Rugged Range over it.  The two photos were placed side by side (I was just going through my page sketches from Chris Lothian and found a similar sketch from her!) and I have added a couple of embellishments on the photos.  With this decorative pack came a gorgeous green metallic cardstock and I have tried to make it last several pages as it tones in so well with this album.  I cut a strip of this green cardstock across the page and then placed a small strip of floral paper to add some decoration to the strip and break the wide  strip.  To tie in with other pages in the album I have used cloud cardstock to place under the cream paper for a tag.  I finished this off with a title sticker from the Rugged Baby Addition Pack.  I then finished off with a couple of black epoxy stickers from the P.S. I Love You range.

I am sorry that I am unable to give any precise measurements for my layouts but I tend to use whatever I have in my stash.  I never throw out my scraps because I never know when I might need just that sized piece for a project.  Small strips of paper make great ribbons for other layouts, and different shapes make good embellishments as well for both scrapbook layouts and cards.

CM Two photo layout

Materials used:

Creative Memories Cardstock – Cloud

Creative Memories Cardstock – Green metallic

Creative Memories Rugged Baby Boy Addition Pack

Creative Memories P.S. I Love You Epoxy Stickers

Creative Memories Decorative Pack – sorry I can’t remember which one it was but it is no longer available.

Creative Memories Rotary Trimmer

Creative Memories Scissors

I hope I am showing that scrapbooking is not that difficult and the important part about scrapbooking is actually putting the photos into albums and writing down all our memories for future generations to understand where we have come from.

Happy scrapping

Patricia

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Reflections of a Day in the Sun

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Crafts, Creative Memories, Photography, Scrapbooking2 Comments

Hi there

I am loving the Border Maker system for my scrapbooking and have had this idea brewing in my head since buying the Rustic Fence cartridge, and despite my working on my son’s album, I just had to get this out onto a page.  I also got some inspiration from a page that came from Creative Memories using lots of leaves from the Reflection Paper Flower range.  I have also used the little flowers that come from using the Twinkle Chain cartridge as well.  They make great embellishments – especially when I am working with flowers and flower photos.  I never waste anything – I have scrap drawers to prove this!!

In case people wonder why I do so many flower layouts and not many of my family, my family are not keen on having a lot of photos of themselves on the internet.  Once photos are on the internet it is hard to control where they go.  They don’t mind the baby ones so much (?) but would prefer not be to identified with more recent photos.  I have to respect their wishes.  Besides I must confess to having hundreds of nature photographs and can’t resist using them.

Reflections of a day in the sun

 

Materials used:

Creative Memories Reflections Tone on Tone paper

Creative Memories Reflections Paper Flowers

Creative Memories Reflections Paper Ribbon

Creative Memories Reflections Title Stickers

Creative Memories Border Maker – Rustic Fence and Twinkle Chain cartridges

Creative Memories Enchanted Epoxy stickers

Creative Memories ABC/123 Swirly Black Stickers

Creative Memories Tearing Tool – wavy.

Happy Scrapping

Patricia

 

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