More Promos and Deals!

Have you hopped on over to Forever.com yet for their 10 Days of Deals? Today's is another awesome print deal - 50% off all Artisan print jobs!!! Get your page prints and storybooks printed today!

And they added a special Deal of the Day just for today! Perfect to start your Christmas and Hanukkah scrapbooking.

Now over at Creative Memories, check out FREE SHIPPING on orders $80 or more - this is only between November 4-8 so you still have time!

Check out the beautiful Winterberry collection - it's pretty cool with it's icy blue and purple color scheme.

And did I mention the new Border Maker cartridge? The Crystal Chain is my favorite one yet!

Don't forget to stock up on adhesives and refills while you're browsing my CM site. You don't want to run out!

Enjoy your day and let me know what you are scrapbooking today!

10 Days of Digital Deals

Yep, you read that right, 10 days of Digital Deals over at Forever.com. We're already on Day 3 (eek, I missed days 1-2!) but today's is still pretty awesome -

Save 50% on all FOREVER Design & Print and Artisan printed products!

Artisan is the new Storybook Creator, and with it you can create the most beautiful scrapbook pages (and calendars, photo books, invitations, etc) with ease. 

I made these pages back in 2017 so I'm not exactly sure of the digital artwork used. I'll do better keeping track with more current pages!

Right now Artisan is only Windows PC based unless you run can run Windows on your Mac.

Take a look around Forever.com and see what they have to offer - and make sure I am set as your Ambassador so I can answer all of your questions, and help you navigate through all the neat stuff!

A look at 2011

Happy New Year.

It’s 2012!

“Twenty-twelve” as my daughter likes to say.

Here’s a little of what I did last year…

 

I so slowed down on all my projects in September due to my new full time job. Hoping 2012 allows more time for playing with my children, quilting, sewing, painting and scrapbooking – oh, and of course, blogging!

Out with the old…in with the new!

One a Day

Being an avid photographer and album maker, it pains me when I cannot find a few minutes to work on my album pages. Late last year I had come across the concept of scrapping one photo for each day of the year. So, even if I cannot get to my family and special albums, I still have a record and at least one photo of what happened during the year. One week is a double page layout so at the end of the year, I’ll have a complete album (that is if I can keep up!) I am a wee bit behind, but I am finding that catching up is pretty quick. I am making my album digitally, but you can do this with paper scrapping, too.

Last night I worked on the last week of April 2011. The top photo is the left page and the bottom one is the right page…

 

Feels good to be working on these pages…every once in a while when I have a bigger chunk of time I pick up my paper scrapbooking and work in my daughter’s dance album, or my son’s baby book (which I just finished the other day – woo hoo!) I have an ongoing series of family albums, but I am super behind in them, like I’m working back in June 2008 STILL!

And as you can see, I take pictures of EVERYTHING and scrap all of it!

So you know, I made these pages in Creative Memories Storybook Creator Plus 3.0 software using my own layout and the Fabulous Digital Power Palette.

Seven is Super

For the past few years I’ve made 8x8 digital scrapbook pages for my daughter showcasing the highlights of her birthday party. Five was Fabulous, Six was Stupendous, and this year, SEVEN IS SUPER!

Her Girl’s Rock Dance party will live on forever.

Page made using Creative Memories Storybook Creator 3.0 software, Decorative Click and Fill 12x12 Pages and the Fabulous Digital Power Palette.

Window to the world

Well, at least one to a beautiful scene.

I made this page in a matter of minutes using StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 for the PC and a tutorial from the Pixels2Pages blog. The tute was super easy to follow and the results are stunning. (It had to be easy - I did it with my 2 adorable kids RUNNING around the house!)

I actually used a paper fill on the "Cape Cod 2008" lettering. The paper used is Paper 8 from Nature's Whisper Digital Kit (which sadly isn't available any longer). The ABC lettering is the Sophisticate Alphabet Letter Set. I had to type each letter individually, arrange them how I like them and then I grouped and flattened them together, under the Arrange tab. Once flattened, you can apply any paper and/or surface effect to them.

Oh, and for the background (the area surrounding the window pane) I simply filled it with the same photo, just cropped it to only show the water portion. By using the same photo I was certain it would match and no tweeking would be needed.

Pixels2Pages has a TON of Blueprints and tues to help you create the best digital pages you can. And they are always coming up with new ideas, challenges and freebies!

17, 18, 19...TEN-TEEN!

On the 2 Peas in a Bucket website recently, the weekly challenge was to create a page about a funny story. Just had to do this one! So, here's my page.

It's a 12x12 single page layout created in Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus. I used Delight Digital Power Palette Paper #3, embellishments tag #12 & CuteAsCanBe and Digital Overlays - Baby Girl, overlay #7 filled in with paper #2 from the Delight Digital Power Palette.The photos are edited with the Parchment edge. I also added a dropped shadow to all items. Fonts used are CK Becky for journaling and Bosshole for the title.

Try it - and let me know how you did!

~Carrie

Celebrate a Milestone

Our baby boy turns one this week, I so cannot believe it! To mark special joyous events, I have always created scrapbook layouts for our family album. That's why many of us actually scrapbook. I have also found that to get thru particularly hard or trying times, scrapbooking proves theraputic. Our son turning one is truly a happy occasion, however, it is also bittersweet. My baby is no longer a baby, and I am saddened by that very thought. I decided last night to create a simple 8x8 layout to remind me of what a cute, sweet big boy he is becoming. I'll display it in a Creative Memories Mini Everyday Display (I have it in chocolate). It's a simple layout that truly makes me smile!

I used StoryBook Creator Plus (SBC+) software and 8x8 Everyday Predesigned Pages - a collage page worked the best for me. I always use a ton of photos. Love the predesigned pages as all I did was drag and drop the photos! I made the text color white, and used the Traveling Typewriter font. Lastly, after selecting all the elements using Ctl-A, I added a shadow and was finished! Took all of 10 minutes tops!!!!

Journaling Challenge June 2009

Happy sunny Tuesday morning!

I was inspired by digital scrapbooker, Anne Aspres of http://www.designerdigitals.com/ to create a page that is journaled about what I'd have absolutely zero desire to actually do in my lifetime. If you cannot think of things you'd rather not do, try adapting this idea to what your preschooler, teenager or pet may have no desire to do....like "stop texting", "eat broccoli" or "stop chewing on my slippers". Or do a page about that one thing you would absolutely NEVER do (in my case, it would be skiing).

This would be a great layout for either traditional or digital scrappers, and could be just one page as I've done, or a two-page spread.

Here's my digital page...I created it in Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus (SBC+) software using Anne's .jpg photo. After importing her photo into SBC+, I added it to a blank 12x12 page print as the background and then unlocked it for editing. I used the custom and wand cutters under the Tools tab to remove what I didn't like and keep what I did (mainly the words "Absolutely No Desire" and the floral design). Of course, you could start from scratch and create your own. I added my own photo box, text boxes and shadowing (I like to use light shadows on the journaling so it's easier to read).

The background paper is Recipe Book by CM, the fonts are Traveling Typewriter and Pea Posey. I prefered to color my photo sepia to blend into the page elements. This page only took me about 15-20 minutes to create, even with interruptions from my 5-year old :)

Try it, and let me know what you think!

~Carrie

Want to attend a FREE class?

...from the comfort of your own home?

Just had to pop back in and tell you all about the FREE webinars that are currently being offered. These are classes that last from 30-60 minutes long and you sign in thru your computer! Did I mention that they are FREE?

Find out all about it through Facebook. Join Facebook (also free) at http://www.facebook.com/ and join the group "CM - Go Digital". It's not all digital, there are webinars about traditional scrapbooking as well. Just earlier this month, we celebrated National Scrapbook Day over Facebook, right on the computer! Don't forget to "friend" me on Facebook - let me know you found it thru my blog :)

We also have web classes through my website at http://www.mycmsite.com/sites/cgraziano/includePage?jspPage=helpzone/webinars2.jsp. All different kinds, even a virtual get together!

Jump on this bandwagon NOW, and don't miss all the fun!

~Carrie

So Easy with StoryBook Creator Plus!

I just started playing around today with CM's new digital scrapbook software, StoryBook Creator Plus and WOW! It is so easy to use. It only took me minutes to create these two pages of Juliana's first day of preschool....about 20 minutes TOTAL! It astounds me that is came together so fast!

To create the pages I used the Mod Customizable Templates for a 12x12 book. I used these templates because a suggestion of where the text and photos should go is already there. You then add or take away what you need to tell your story. One the first page I re-sized the text boxes bigger and moved the circle photos out a bit from the center photo. All done by clicking and dragging - easy. I then dragged and dropped my photos in and typed the test and title. Done.

On the second page I added a text box (the smaller one with Juliana's friends names in it) and added the top right-hand photo. Again, so easy! Yes, I had to play a little to see what I liked and didn't, but not too much. Done.

I plan to print the "friend" page and display it for Juliana in her room in CM's Page Frame (or maybe the black Everyday Display..not sure which yet.) She'll love seeing herself and her friends outside of school.

The other cool thing is if you don't want to buy this software, you can do similar things in the FREE downloadable version called Storybook Creator 2.0. It really is free and you can play and play and play. Find the link to download it at: http://www.cmphotocenter.com/.

You'll need to create a free account with the photo center (when it prompts you for your consultant's ID number enter 23113287 for me). Don't worry - you won't get any advertising emails from them or me! The link to download the FREE software is on the top right side.

Have fun and let me know how you do!