Timothy's First Bath

I can't believe he's not this little anymore.

Made in StoryBook Creator Plus

Discover Baby Predesigned Pages

Creative Memories Deals for July

In honor of our 22nd Anniversary, we're offering the chance to join Creative Memories for $22!

---

 There are some really great new tools to check out, including a really neat Scallop Maker.

---

Who doesn't like free?  Order $100 or more from my website and you'll get a 50-sheet pack of cardstock worth $25!

---

 Finally, browse the new Mini-Catalog for all the latest deals and new products for the summer season.

Happy Scrapping!

May Creative Memories Specials

Greetings croppers! It's hard to take a babymoon from blogging, so I thought I'd pop in and at least update you with the latest Creative Memories specials.

Finish It Up!

If you haven't finished some of those albums in the older sizes, right now is a great time to do it! The Finish It Up Bundles come with Original 12x12 refill pages, page protectors, and a tape runner for only $25.

Make it for Dad

The Make it for Dad featured project comes with everything you need to make the perfect Father's day gift: Ltd. Ed. All-Star Paper Album Kit and a Tape Runner. And you’ll get the Galaxy Micro Maker ($8.50 retail value) for free!

Upgrade to Memory Manager 3.0

It's Here! The newest version of Memory Manager is available for download or on CD. If you haven't seen this fabulous software for organizing and editing digital photos, you are missing out! Check out what Memory Manager 3.0 can do, check out the Help Zone.

Take a look at these and the rest of the new products on my personal website.

Blog Party Winners & Update

I just want to take a moment and thank everyone who participated in my first Mystery Host Blog Party!  It was a lot of fun seeing all of your favorite Creative Memories products and getting to know a few of you.

Unfortunately, the total sales from the party weren't enough to earn host rewards for anyone, so no mystery host was drawn.  We'll try again next time!

In the meantime, here is a list of all the winners (they have been contacted):

Baby Album Package:  Janet & Maya
Harvest Stickers:  IE Mommy
Bountiful Paper: Estela
Cardstock Sampler: EllyBean

And I will be sending the Mini-Album set to Joan!

Congratulations all of you.

Now for a baby update.

We still have not welcomed our newest addition!  I'm not "technically" due until this Friday, but because of my gestational diabetes, we're hoping on an early delivery.  We have, however, scheduled an induction for the 16th, when I will be 41 weeks.  There is still no danger to the baby yet and we are doing everything in our power to make sure that we have a safe, peaceful delivery.  :)

Thanks for all your well wishes and I look forward to updating you with a birth announcement!

Blog Party: Friday Giveaway

Today is the last day!  I hope you guys have had fun shopping.  :)  Make sure you get your orders in by midnight tonight so they can count toward the host total!  If you have questions about how to place your order for the party, please email me.

I have another easy giveaway today.  All you have to do is leave a comment telling me how long you've been scrapbooking!  I love hearing about how people started.  I started scrapbooking when I was a kid.  Of course, things didn't get "serious" until I joined Creative Memories and had kids.

The winner of today's giveaway will receive a Pastel Cardstock Sampler Pack, perfect for making greeting cards and other projects!  It includes 30 sheets in 10 colors.

I'll announce all winners tomorrow if I don't have a baby today.  If I do, then rest assured you'll find out soon!

Blog Party: Thursday Giveaway

Just a reminder: You can still enter this week's giveaways.  They will all close tomorrow, so even though it isn't Monday or Wednesday, don't miss out on your chance to win!

Today's giveaway is a little different.  I hope it gets you guys motivated to shop!  Remember that every $10 you spend earns you a chance to be the Mystery Host.

I'm giving away a PicFolio Mini Album Gift Set!

For a chance to win this adorable gift set of TWO 2x3 mini albums, just make a purchase from my website!  Digital items ARE included, as well as clearance & specials.  So, if you've been waiting for the chance to make your purchase toward the Mystery Host total, today is definitely the day to do it!  Don't worry about leaving a comment here letting me know you've made a purchase--I'll have a record of everything.  :)

Good luck!

Blog Party: Wednesday Giveaway

Hope you all are having a good week!  Alas, I am still not in labor, but hoping to be very soon.  :)

Don't forget to spread the word about this blog party.  So far, we have a running total of: $0 toward the Mystery Host!  How are you guys going to earn any rewards?  Tell your friends & family that you really, REALLY want to get some free stuff and send them to my site!

Today's Giveaway

For today's giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me your favorite Creative Memories product.  If you've never used any of CM's stuff, take a look around at my website and tell me what you would like to try.

The winner will receive a pack of this pretty 8x8 paper:

All winners will be drawn & announced at the end of the Blog Party on Friday.

Blog Party: Monday Giveaway

Hiya folks!  Welcome to the blog party!

Our first activity and giveaway is VERY simple.  All you need to do to earn today's prize is go to my personal website and tell me what you would want to get for free if you are chosen as the Mystery Host!

The winner will receive a set of beautiful stickers.

I'll draw a winner at the close of the party on Friday.  Good luck!

In order to qualify for the Mystery Host, you must place an order through my website.  After creating your account and clicking on "Shop Products", you'll see a link that says "Credit this order to my host."  Type in the name "Mystery Host" and select it from the list.  All orders will be direct shipped to you!

Sweetened the deal:

I have just added a couple more things to the first prize of my Mystery Host Blog Party!  In addition to the Baby Coverset, I'm including a pack of refill pages & page protectors so you can get started on your album right away.  :)

Go forth and spread the word!

Mystery Host Blog Party!

**I'm extending this giveaway for ONE more week & having the blog party next week.  I haven't had enough people participate yet!**

Are you ready for this?  Starting Monday, March 30, I'm holding a Mystery Host Blog Party here on Suzy Q Crops!  For five days, you'll have the opportunity to earn fabulous prizes and the chance to rack up tons of Host Rewards.  And have you seen the Host Rewards?  Not only will the mystery host earn 15% of the total event sales (when they reach $250+), there are EIGHT Host Packs to choose from!

How does a Mystery Host Party work?

Well, in order to qualify for the chance to BE the mystery host, you must make a purchase from my website at any time during the party.  For every $10 you spend, you'll have an additional chance!  So, if you only spend $10 or less, you'll earn one chance.  If you spend $20, you'll earn 2 chances, $30 will earn you 3 chances, and so on.

At the end of the week, I'll tally up the totals and announce a winner who will then be contacted to claim her rewards.  The Mystery Host will have 60 days to place an order with the rewards earned.

In addition to just earning some great rewards, I'll be holding drawings throughout the week for other goodies, too!  You'll have several chances to win and the first one begins right now.  :)

The very first prize is an original-sized Baby Coverset, a pack of pages, and page protectors!

 

How can you win this great prize?  SPREAD THE WORD!  For every thing you do, please leave a comment.  (You don't have to participate in the Mystery Host Party to win, but it would be great if you do!)  Here are some ways to spread the word:

• Blog about this Mystery Host Party and link to this post
• Tweet about it and link to your tweet
• Use the "Share" button at the end of this post and share using a method of your choosing

I can't tell you how excited I am about this party!  Now go share this with your friends!

This giveaway will end on Sunday, March 29 at 11:00 P.M. EST.  Only open to U.S. residents.

Color Challenge

The If the Shoe fits...Scrap It! Color Challenge was definitely a challenge.  But I was prepared!  Turns out the colors in the challenge are a part of the new So Chic line.  Ha ha!  So I pulled up a digital page I was working on in SBC+ that featured me singing with my sister at her karaoke wedding reception.  It's goofy and for some reason it wasn't working when I started working on it a few weeks ago.  Yesterday, when I played around with it some more, I finally got it looking the way I actually envisioned.

 

I used the French title because she's in Cameroon right now doing the Peace Corps thing.  Anything in French reminds me of her.  I miss her terribly.

The So Chic digital kit is a customer gift and not available for purchase.  However, you can purchase the Make it for Mom Featured Project Bundle which features the Limited Edition So Chic Paper Album Kit!

Organizing your photos

I've had a few people ask me how they should organize their photos before putting them into albums.  They are overwhelmed with boxes of photos from their parents' house or just from the last 20 years.  Are you one of these people?  Have you been meaning to get those photos put into albums but haven't because you just don't know where to start?  Read on...

First thing's first: storage.  I am obviously biased because I'm a Creative Memories consultant, but I constantly sing the praises of the Power Sort System.  Not only are the boxes sturdy and photo safe, the removable compartments allow you to organize and re-organize depending on your projects.

I've got storage! Now what?

When you've got what you need to start sorting your photos, decide on a system that works for you.  There are several options for sorting your photos and I use different methods depending on what my album plans are.

By Date

More traditional albums are chronological.  In this case, organize your photos by date.  This can be by year (or decade!) and then broken down into months.  Be sure to label photos as needed and write down any significant details to accompany your pictures.  The dividers in the Power Sort Box will also need to be labeled for easy acess to the photos you need.

By Event

If you like putting together themed albums, organize your photos according to events.  These can be anything: birthdays, holidays, graduations, reunions, vacations, weddings, etc.  It helps to group these photos together and if you'd like, organize these chronologically as well.  Our Disney photos are all in one place and organized by day.

By Person

Some of my photos are organized by person.  My children's baby pictures, for example, are separated out and then organized by date so I can quickly put them into their respective albums.  I also have sections in my Power Sort Box for extended family photos and random photos of friends.

Miscellaneous

I have a Mini Power Sort Box that I've dedicated to all those pictures I've taken at the zoo and pictures of flowers.  If you're a nature junkie, obviously you can organize by animal, vegetable, or mineral.  Heheh.

Once you've got your photos organized, you'll be ready to start putting them into albums!

Do you have any other tips for organizing photos? I'd love to hear your ideas.

Sketch Challenge

I feel like a fickle challenge-enterer.  I haven't done Sunday Scrappin' in two weeks!  And then a new blog with challenges came about, so I wanted to check it out.

All my challenge pieces have been digital lately (except for some Valentine's Day stuff).  Frankly, it's exhausting being THIS pregnant and trying to get out all my stuff only to have to put it all away again.  So I happily click away in SBC+.

If the Shoe fits...Scrap It! promises to be a really cute site with lots of challenges and design ideas.  I like the sketch challenge because it takes the guess work out of making a basic layout.  My sister has all those old Creative Memories template books and really do prefer to have a guide for my layouts.  I'm just not always good at coming up with my own "thing."

Anyway, here's my digital 12x12 page for today's Sketch Challenge.  This is Corey and Aiden from Easter like two years ago.  I'm still really proud of that egg we hid.  It was the last one found.

Digital card: Love

I was inspired by a card in the CM Project Center to make this:

(Made in StoryBook Creator Plus)

This was a good exercise for me in layering, flattening, and transparency.

Host your own blog party!

 (See what Host Packs you can choose from)

How many of you would like to host a Creative Memories Get Together but don't really have the time? Time is usually a factor in scheduling parties, but I've discovered the perfect solution! Thanks to Rebecca @ The Copper Brick Road for the idea. :)

I'm offering all of my readers the chance to host their own Get Togethers on their blogs! It's really simple:

• Announce your party on your blog and for 48 hours (or however long we agree upon), your readers can shop through my secure website.
• You earn the same host rewards as an in-home Get Together host, and the best part is you can invite ALL of your friends!
• Invite your blog readers, twitter pals, ning site friends, and anyone else you can think of who would love to shop Creative Memories but wouldn't normally be able to come to a home party.

So what kind of rewards can I earn?

When you host a Get Together with $250 or more in sales, you'll earn 15 percent of your total event sales in free products of your choice!

Use your Host Rewards to start your own Creative Memories business!

Host a Get Together and use your Host Rewards to purchase a Business Starter Kit.
Click here to learn more about joining my team.

Check out the Host Rewards section of my website for more details and to see what else you can earn!

So what are you waiting for! Contact me today and let's get your party started!

Register now for free live web classes

If you've got pictures stuck on your camera or hard drive, I want to help!  Register now for "Got JPGs" and "Digital Inspirations" web classes.

Got JPGs
In less than 30 minutes, you’ll see fun, fast and affordable ways to organize and celebrate your digital photographs.   It’s a chance to see what the new Creative Memories has to offer while learning about photo organization software, digital graphics, and photo books, online printing, slip-in albums and more!


Digital Inspiration
You'll get tips and techniques, motivation and inspiration to help you with your StoryBooks and other digital projects. You will get ideas, inspiration and even a few fun design tips during our time together!

• Baby & Toddler classes are March 2-5, 9-12

Space is limited so register today!

Sunday Scrappin: Round

Sunday Scrappin':  "This week, let's think outside the box and go round.... rounded corners, circle-shaped cards, a layout in a circular pattern, etc. Be creative!"

 I've been digiscrapping like crazy these past few weeks with StoryBook Creator Plus.  For this week's challenge, I used the Family Digital Kit and made a couple pages with some circles on them:

(two of my boys with their cousins)

(Simon with another cousin)

Tah-Dah's:

• Doing these layouts!

To-do's:

• I have two Get Togethers this week, so I have to make sure I'm ready for those.
• Put the actual scrapbook pages into the coverset I bought for the Maine album
• "                                                                       " I bought for the Disney album

My kids have passed the flu down the line and the youngest has it now.  Hopefully, Jamie and I won't get it.  Crossing my fingers and toes...

Check out other Sunday Scrappin' folks and link to your own!

My kids are hilarious

Made in StoryBook Creator Plus with the Family Digital Kit

I'm ready to be a leader

I joined Creative Memories because I love the products and I wanted to be able to get them at a discount. It wasn't about making money--that's just an added bonus! If you love scrapbooking, digital or traditional, you'll love Creative Memories, too. I want to help you start your business today.

If you join my team, you can have your own business with:

• A Business Starter Kit of products and tools to start earning money immediately.
• Online training on our exclusive Consultant Web site.
• The chance to be among the first to get and use the latest Creative Memories products.
• Live telephone support.
• Encouragement, support and all the tools you need to take your business as far as you want to go!

Success Plan – Hit the ground running, get a solid start and there’ll be cash rewards in your very near future!

The Business Starter Kit is only $70 (valued at over $200) and you can purchase two additional completion kits to compliment your interests.

Check out my personal website to see what you can get in your business kit and sign up today!

http://www.mycmsite.com/sites/egrant/join-team

Quick Kits: You can complete an album in one sitting

What if I told you you could complete an entire album in one sitting? I bet you'd laugh at me. But it's true! With the PicFolio Quick Kits, you can get those pictures into an album without the stress. This is one of the things I like most about Creative Memories: our products are designed to help you create beautiful keepsake albums quickly.

The pages in PicFolio Quick Kits come predesigned, so all you have to do is add your pictures and stories, then slide the pages into the album.

In the 8x8 Quick Kits, you get:

• 8x8 PicFolio™ Album with 24 Story Sleeve pages
• 24 decorative pages
• 1 sheet of title stickers
• 3 sheets of die cuts with ready-to-stick foam tabs that add dimension

 You can find all of the different Quick Kits, including the Pet Kit that I have pictured, at my personal website. There are several to choose from:

• Winter Wonderland--make an album about your recent ski trip or Christmas memories
  
• Family--gather up all your favorite family pictures
  
• Celebration--perfect for a birthday album
  
• I Do!--for a wedding album, obviously
  

 So what are you waiting for? Get yourself a Quick Kit and complete that album you've been putting off!