Tag: Australasia

Photo of the Day – Paris Daisy

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Creative Memories, Photography, ScrapbookingLeave a comment

My photo of the day. These Paris Daisies are amazing. They have self seeded in my garden and have given such great colour and lots of inspiration for my photography.
I will also take the opportunity to update what is happening with Creative Memories and Close to My Heart as I have noticed that people are searching for answers about CM products in NZ. Brian O’Callaghan was on Facebook on Friday night (he was the MD of CM and is involved with setting up CTMH in Australasia) and stated that they are looking into trying to continue with getting the pages and protectors here, but there are no promises that they are able to procure them for our market.  There are issues with patents and copyrights with CM USA.  There are lots of products on Trade Me, but do be very careful as there are some price gougers out there asking for $150 or more for one set of pages and protectors.

I have no more information as yet regarding the launch of CTMH in New Zealand.  I am hoping to know more later in the week and will keep you posted here.  Their range of products look exciting and I can’t wait to see what is released Down Under.  I am particularly excited that there is lots of card making products.  I am busy making lots of cards for our shop and it will be great having a new range of products to play with.  So it is still a matter of watching this space…

I hope you are all having a safe and happy weekend.

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

 

Rainy daisy

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Creative Memories, Digital Art, Photography2 Comments

My photo of the day for the people in Oklahoma who are facing yet more tornadoes. I think the people in Oklahoma are incredibly brave to deal with these forces of nature. I am not sure if I could do it.  We get southerly storms here but they are nothing compared to the twisters.
My computer is now up and running again after being without for a week. I have had to get windows re installed and I am now faced with the mammoth task of transferring my photos back into Memory Manager. Fortunately I was able to activate the both my Memory Manager and StoryBook Creator before the cut off time midnight last night. I will now look at using Picasa to store my photos as well so if this problem happens again I won’t lose my photos and it will be a good back up for Memory Manager. There is now no Digital Centre from Creative Memories and I suppose that at some stage I may have to look at Photoshop or Lightbox in the future as well.  However, people can still get their photobooks and other digital products printed until midnight 3rd June.  There is to be a meeting on Tuesday in Australia so it will be interesting to see what the outcome will be for Creative Memories Australia and New Zealand.  This is such as shame as the products (especially the albums and pages) are really good quality and I have done a lot of pages for my children’s albums.  It has been so easy to use coordinated products that last a long time.
While I have had no computer for the last week I have been busy with doing cards and scrapbooking and when I get the photos sorted out then I will upload them on here. So watch this space…
I hope you all have a good weekend.
Patricia

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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