A solution to the Creative Memories pages and protectors dilemma

Welcome back.

This is a quick post is for all those people out there (like me) who have Creative Memories albums but not enough pages or protectors.  The very resourceful new CTMH Consultants in Australia have discovered a solution to your dilemma.  You can convert the CTMH page protectors to use in your CM albums and save a lot of money instead of trawling through Trade Me or Ebay and paying exorbitant prices.  It looks to be very easy to do and the CTMH pages are really good quality and will protect your photos in many years to come.  I am really hanging out until the time I can sign up as a Close to My Heart Consultant in New Zealand.  Hopefully it will be early next month.

Please check out this YouTube video for further information and details:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5rIJlpQEpY&feature=youtu.be

I hope you find this useful during this transition from Creative Memories to Close to My Heart.

Happy scrapping

Patricia

Special cards for the budding ballerina

Welcome back.

I have been busy going through all my stash and found these gorgeous papers that I bought years ago when I first starting scrapbooking.  They are from K & Company and the pack is called Hopscotch.  I have no idea if they are still available, but the papers make beautiful cards.  I have already done a couple of layouts of my ballet forms from many years ago and will perhaps keep a couple of papers for layouts for my daughter for when she did ballet.  I managed to match up the colours with various cardstock that I had already and I am really pleased with how they turned out.  For most of these cards I have distressed the edges and that has helped with making the different papers stand out more from the backgrounds.  The little pictures of flowers, butterflies and tutus have been fussy cut out from the paper.  These cards have been easy as the paper and colour coordination was made easy by using the same range of papers.

I am sure these will go down a treat at Make Shift.

Here they are:

Ballet card Ballet card Ballet card Ballet card Ballet card Ballet cardMaterials used for these cards:

K & Company Hopscotch 12 x 12 pad

Creative Memories Cardstock – Pink Shimmer

Bazzill Cardstock – Bling (sorry not sure of the name)

Peelcraft stickers

Kaisercraft pink pearls

Stampin‘Up greeting

Versamark stamp pad

Gold embossing powder

Creative Memories Place-n-Punch – Blossom

Creative Memories Custom Cutting System – circles.

Tim Holtz Distressing Ink – Victorian Velvet

I am really excited to be going to Auckland tomorrow to find out more about Close to My Heart and also get my hands on some of the products.  I can’t wait to join up and start having workshops at Make Shift.

I hope you all keep well and safe and Happy Crafting

Patricia

More scrapbook layouts

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

 

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

 

Baby boy two photo layout

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

Reflections of a Day in the Sun

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

 

 

Fun Rugged Scrapbook layout

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

More Rugged Baby Boy

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