Category: Creative Memories

Creative Memories News

On By patriciamanhireIn Creative Memories5 Comments

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

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  • Sad news (patriciamanhire.wordpress.com)

Sad news

On By patriciamanhireIn Creative Memories12 Comments

Hello there

I have had some very sad news over the weekend.  Creative Memories Australia and New Zealand has been placed in Voluntary Administration.  This has been as a result of the parent company in America filing for bankruptcy and unable to continue to provide products for the Australasian market.  This has resulted in my website being disabled and my business being placed on hold.  The recession is really hitting us all hard, but we have to stay positive and continue to spread the word about the importance of memory keeping and documentation.

I am sure that the staff at Creative Memories are doing their best to find solutions to this situation and I guess it is just a matter of watch this space.

There is still a limited range of products available so if anyone would like something please contact me to see if it is still available.

I will continue with my scrapbooking and crafting and blogging my efforts as I have enjoyed interacting with many people around the world, and getting a lot of inspiration from the many talented people in the blogosphere.

I would like to finish of with the mantra from the consultants in Australasia – Keep calm and scrapbook!

Happy scrapping

Patricia

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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Memory Manager Magic

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Creative Memories, Digital Art, PhotographyLeave a comment

Welcome back

I would like to take the time to thank all the people that visit my blog and take the time to comment and like my posts.  I really appreciate the feedback and hope that you are enjoying what I am posting.

Yesterday I was doing a digital presentation and was playing around with the Memory Manager filters.  I was showing how you can create different effects with the Filter button in the Adjust ribbon once you have double clicked on the photo.

Here is the original image:

Original image of Wellington Harbour

The image after having the rotating, cropping and AutoFix:

Edited using the Rotate, Crop and AutoFix functions
Edited using the Rotate, Crop and AutoFix functions

I then clicked on the Filter>Artistic Effects>Oil Painting to finish with an oil painting.   Here is the finished image:

Oil Painting

One aspect of doing this effect is that there were some elements in the image that could have been cloned out, but would have been time consuming, but the oil painting effect covered it all over.  I was really impressed with my artwork and will look at creating a card out of it.

I am normally a purist with my photography, but my old camera was not quite so good as my new one and sometimes there is a need to do something completely different.   This just opens up a whole new artistic direction for me!  Watch this space for more special effects…

The Memory Manager 4.0 is reasonably priced and very simple to use, so if you would like more information please feel free to contact me.

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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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More fun Rugged Baby layout

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

Welcome back.

As I promised here is the other half of the fun layout I did the other day.  All I have done is invert what I had done in the previous page.

 

 

 

 

 

Single page fun Rugged layout

 

And here is the double page layout together.

Double page layout

 

When I scrapbook, my layouts are very dependent on what photos I have.  I work on sets of photos at a time and then decide on how many photos I place on each page.  Sometimes I only have 1 photo on a page and other times I might be able to fit about 4 or 5 photos.  I don’t always have the same layout on each page of a double layout, but I will try and have at least one element that links the two pages together.  I get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and the facebook pages such as Christine’s Creative Capers, but my layouts always seem to end up being my own creations, which I guess is a good thing as it means that I am working on my own creativity and individuality.  I have personally found going to a class where they do one specific layout tends to hinder my own creative style.   But everyone is different and it is a matter of finding out your own personal style.

Another aspect I have tried to do with this album is to have elements linking throughout and keep the range of  colours to a minimum.  For this album I have mainly used the Rugged Baby Additions as well as cloud and yellow cardstock and tried to use different elements to link the whole album together.  I have used another addition from Creative Memories (which I will show in another post) as the colours in that addition also worked in really well with the Rugged range.  I also have used my Border Maker to have another design feature to link the album together.

I hope this helps explain how I design my layouts

Happy Scrapping

Patricia

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Fun Rugged Scrapbook layout

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Babies, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Scrapbooking7 Comments

Welcome back.

With all that has been happening in the world recently (including another devastating earthquake in China) I have been reminded off how important it is to document and keep meaningful keepsakes of all our family and friends.  I will always remember after the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011  I watched a TV news item about how one of the partners of a woman killed in the earthquake got a lot of solace and comfort from looking through the memory books or scrapbooks that she had created.  Books that had been made with love.

As I have been saying in previous posts I have been completing my son’s scrapbook album.  In this fun page layout I have used the Creative Memories Bright Decorative Cardstock and to make it go further I have cut it in half and used it on another page which I will show at a later date.  As you can see I have continued to use the Border Maker Twinkle Chain and picket fence cartridges and to finish decorating the page I have used some Rugged embellishments.  I have used the Custom Cutting System oval cutters to trim the photos and that has helped to keep the focus on a very cute James.  What has been lovely is that I have been watching James grow up all over again.  That has been quite unexpected, but very enjoyable and pleasurable.  I hope that he will look at this book the same way as the gentleman in Christchurch did.

CM layout

 

Materials used:

Creative Memories Cardstock – Cloud

Creative Memories Cardstock – Yellow

Creative Memories Decorative Cardstock – Green Apple

Creative Memories Custom Cutting System – circles

Creative Memories Border Maker System – Twinkle Chain and Picket Fence cartridges.

Creative Memories Rugged Paper Tags

Creative Memories Rugged Paper Ribbon

Creative Memories Rugged Title Stickers

Happy Scrapping

Patricia

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Border Maker Magic

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Babies, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Scrapbooking7 Comments

Hi there

As I promised a couple of days ago I said I would post some more of my son’s album that I have been completing but out of respect for the people in Boston I decided to leave it yesterday.  All my thoughts are with those affected by this tragedy.  Even though I live in New Zealand these events still have quite an impact on us.

I am really loving using the Border Maker system and the cartridges.  In this page I have used the picket fence and twinkle chain border and as you can see I do not throw anything away.  I have used the thin strip of card left over from using the twinkle chain cartridge to glue a thin strip of card down the edge of the picket fence.  The yellow has worked beautifully with the outfit that James is wearing as well as the play gym he is playing with. The blank pages I use are a great background without using a lot of cardstock or paper which can be cost effective and allow the packs to last a lot longer.  I have used the sentiments from the Rugged range as well as I can’t seem to have blank spaces somehow!?!  I am working on this all the time and I will get better.

CM layout using Border Maker cartridges

 

Materials used:

Creative Memories Cardstock – Yellow

Creative Memories Cardstock – Cloud

Creative Memories Border Maker – Twinkle Chain and Picket Fence cartridges

Rugged Title stickers

Rugged Baby Boy Additions – sticker

ABC Monograms Swirly – Black

Happy Scrapping and keep safe

Patricia

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More Rugged Baby Boy

On By patriciamanhireIn Crafts, Creative Memories, Greetings, Photography, Scrapbooking6 Comments

Welcome to all the visitors to my blog.  I hope that you are enjoying the variety of posts from cardmaking and scrapbooking to photography.

I am still working on my son’s scrapbook album and here is a photo layout of him at 2 weeks old.  He was such a tiny wee baby and very photogenic and it is hard to believe that he is now 23 years old and taller than me!

James rugged layout using the Border Maker cartridge - Twinkle chain.Sorry the photo seems a little uneven but I hope that you can see my layout ok.  I love using the border maker twinkle chain cartridge and I think that will be a theme throughout this album.  I also like to keep my layouts fairly simple and as I have said before I try to coordinate colours to bring out the photos as they are the focal point of a layout.  The blue and yellow background highlight the lovely yellow jacket that James is wearing.

Another factor in how I scrapbook is the photos are old and printed way before digital cameras were developed (I really am showing my age here!) and some of my photos are not great quality and I just have to make do.  It makes a huge difference with all the digital camera and post production technology available today and the quality of photography is so much better.  I have tried to print of scanned negatives but the quality is not as good.  But you can’t change the past and I have to do what I can with what I have.

Materials used:

Creative Memories Cardstock – Cloud

Creative Memories Cardstock – Yellow

Creative Memories  Rugged Paper Ribbon

Creative Memories Rugged Sentiments

Creative Memories Rugged Additions paper mat and stickers

Creative Memories Decorative Cardstock – yellow

Creative Memories PS I Love You Epoxy Stickers (unfortunately no longer available)

Happy Scrapping

Patricia

Enchanted digital sketch

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Crafts, Creative Memories, Digital Art, Photography, Scrapbooking4 Comments

 

Sometimes I need a little inspiration for my scrapbooking whether it be traditional or digital.  So some clever people have come up with scrapbook layout sketches that make it so easy to get great results.   One of these very clever and smart people is Chris Lothian who is has a Facebook page called Christine’s Creative Capers.  She has designed pages that we can download and use on our StoryBook Creator and get a great page in 5 minutes.

I have used the lovely photos I took off the monarch butterfly last week and teemed them up with the Enchanted digital kit and they went really well together.

This was so easy to do as all I needed to do was click and drag the various papers and photos onto the layout.  I did have to just add the paper to the scalloped strips on the sides by selecting them and then adding the paper to the selected element.  And to finish off I just substituted the flowers with flowers from the kit.  Easy Peasy!

First here is the original sketch:

Chis Lothian sketch #12

And this is the finished layout:

Butterfly Magic

This sketch is also suitable for traditional scrapbooking.  Please note that all sketches on Chris’ Facebook page is for personal use only.  

Have a great day and Happy Crafting.

Patricia