Have any unfinished scrapbooks?

As you may have heard, Creative Memories is in the process of streamlining and simplifying their business/product line.  We're back to basics, with a focus on "easy, quick, pre-designed, pre-assembled, beautiful, permanent, archival products."  All designed to help us continue to celebrate life's greatest treasures so that anyone with photos can easily enjoy their memories and tell their stories! 

 

So, to make room for the new, CM announced that we are clearing out most of our existing traditional scrapbooking products.  {Does NOT include PicFolios, Fast 2 Fabulous, OR Digital products.}  Now through July 31 is your LAST CHANCE to purchase our Pages, Protectors and many of our albums.

 

This may be startling news, but I am optimistic that Creative Memories has terrific products coming--especially for photo-lovers who are overwhelmed and starved for TIME. Sooooo, please hang in there with us through our "re-imaging"...

 

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW???   Will you please tally the supplies you need (especially tools, organizers, and decorative items) to complete works in progress?  You can place your order through my website to have it come to your doorstep OR just contact me.  I have supplies on hand or will order for you!  You know I am more than happy to chat with you!!!  Thank you for loving your families and photos so much.  What reminders all the recent storms and fires are that photos/stories are priceless.

Let me know if you would like to see our July Mini Catalog which includes some gorgeous products that were in the works long before these announcements were necessary. I have also scheduled the following FREE "Stop, Shop, & Crop" days for you (I am still committed to making albums, for myself and others!):

• Saturday, June 29th, 10am-4pm
• Wednesday, July 10th, 10am-4pm

Please let me know how I can be of service to you in this transition!

blessings,

Terri

Did I ever mention that I make Blog Books?

I have been in the business of helping people preserve their memories, save their pictures, and share their stories for almost 15 years! I do parties, sell albums and scrapbooking supplies, host workshops and retreats where my friends can have fun while preserving their memories, teach digital scrapbooking, and I help others start their own businesses. Plus, I do lots of projects for other people. 

When I first discovered blogging, I was in love. I think it is so great that so many moms are taking the time to share their photos and stories. This is just what my mission has been for so long! I love bloggers!!!

So what is better than a blog?

A Beautiful Blog Book!

I have had the joy of converting several blogs into colorful, unique, 12"x12" hardcover books that can be enjoyed and treasured forever. It is so fun to help my bloggy friends take their blogging to a new level by creating a Beautiful Blog Book that permanently documents all of their precious words and photos.

I lovingly copy each and every post, one by one, pasting it into this "newspaper" format so that you have a chronological record of your blog. OR, I can use selected posts... you may not want to have all your "giveaways" or diy's in your book, so I can include just the posts that you most want to save and cherish.

And then there are the photos! I actually do some photo editing, as needed, such as removing red eye and brightening up dark pictures. I do my best to include every picture, placing them where it makes sense, so that they flow with the story, just like you do on your blog.

Creating a Beautiful Blog Book is a labor of love for me. I am so honored when I am entrusted with this important task. I spend up to six weeks crafting each page, and placing each picture. You are able to choose from a wide array of beautiful digital artwork that complements your blog and style. But in the end, it is your stories and photos that are the star. Imagine holding your book in your lap, looking through the story of your life... who else might want a copy?

Isn't my sweet friend Jenny's family just the cutest? I loved making this book for her!

It's a Giveaway Day!

Welcome to my blog today! I am pleased and proud to be partnering with Modern Parent to give away this beautiful 8x8 pre-decorated scrapbook. You can go to the Modern Parent Facebook Page to get the details for this one-day (December 8th, 2011) giveaway!

If you want to give a gift from the heart, here is an easy way to share love and memories with minimal effort. I have already done most of the work for you!!! {But guess what... it was easy... I used a kit so it all came together really quickly!}

This cute 8x8 album has a classic chocolate cover (that can be personalized with added Persona Imprinting). The 24 inside pages are already decorated and ready for your pictures. These rich, earthy colors work well for a guy, like your husband or dad, as well as your mom or best girlfriend!

Each page is unique and will be even more beautiful with YOUR photos on it!

This prize package includes everything you need to make a special, sure-to-be-loved gift! Just add pictures!!! The pages are ready to go, complete with beautiful papers, stickers, and photo mats. In addition, you will receive a Tape Runner adhesive dispenser for attaching your pictures to the pages. Once your album is complete, Page Protectors slip on to add the finishing touch. All of this is worth nearly $72.

All YOU need to do is gather up your pictures, get them printed, and stick them down.

See how the photo mats are the perfect size for 4x6 photos? You can also add your own captions and sentiments directly to the pages. Cute and easy and memorable!

Be sure to check out Modern Parent to get yourself into the drawing for this sweet gift. You can also visit {& Like!} my Facebook Page, too! And if you don't win... well, I have lots of other options for you! Who in your life would appreciate a lovely little scrapbook made just for them?

{Quick Albums}
{8x8 Kits and Albums}

{Simply Said mini-books}

{Paper Albums}

{Gift Albums}

{Photo Displays & Decorations}

Love Displayed in Meaningful Gifts!

During this wonderful season of giving (and all year, actually), I love to give gifts that are unique and meaningful. Here are a few fun gift ideas for you. {Bonus, I can help you with any or all of them!} If you are looking for information on my Beautiful Blog Books, click here!

Personalized photo gifts always are a favorite and much enjoyed by the recipient! Here are a few gifts I made this past year. The Photo Panel is wood and acrylic, but also comes in metal. {Free templates make it easy to put together yourself, or custom options can be designed.} Look here, and you will see how I am using another Photo Panel as my countertop dry-erase board!

The Custom Album Coverset can hold scrapbook pages or digital page prints. It can also be designed online, or made completely to your specifications.  Items like mugs, mousepads and t-shirts are always fun, too! Who wouldn't want to enjoy daily seeing their favorite people on an everyday item???

Photo Calendars are another wonderful gift! Pictured here is a 12"x18" calendar... the page can then be inserted into a 12"x12" scrapbook when the month is over. This style is also available in 8"x12", for an 8"x8" album.

The calendar plus an album makes a wonderful gift for grandparents. {I like these luxurious 12"x12" Picfolio albums -- they will hold almost three years' worth of calendar pages!}

Another idea is to use the calendar pages for heritage photos... walk down memory lane with all your pictures from growing up, and give the calendars to your siblings. In 2-3 years, you will all have your own completed family album!

The desk calendar is new! It has it's own easel, and the 4"x6" images also tear out. It is a great size to put on a desk at work, or to carry when traveling. Every month can highlight a special memory or cherished person.

All of these calendars can be customized with one or more photos, words and quotes, as well as special dates and events. You can go here to see more info about them. Again, I am happy to help you with your custom calendars!

Now, here is another fun and personal gift! The Simply Said books are sweet little 7.5"x5" books ready for you to fill in the blanks with your photos and feelings. Don't know what to write? It is easy with the prompts that are provided!

So do you have a special person you want to bless this holiday season? These are all fun and easy ideas... and of course, there are also photo books, cards, photo displays albums, and more! I would be pleased to help you with your personalized photo gifts... in person or by email {terricendejas at gmail dot com}!

{If you create a Creative Memories Digital Center account, please use my Consultant ID: 24915986}

Shhhhh.....

Here is my scrapbooking & all-things-photo "store", right in my dining room.... wonder what those boxes on the left hold????

Hey, it's my secret stash of grocery deals {$0.25 bags of Goldfish!}!!! Got to hide the stockpile so that I can make it last!

Custom Photo Gifts

Thinking ahead to the holidays, do you have any hard-to-buy-for people on your list??? Pictures always make a perfect present! And I have some quick, EASY, and beautiful projects I can help you create.

With just a few of your favorite photos, you can have gorgeous, one-of-a-kind gifts that will be treasured.

Gift ideas include Calendars, Metal or Acrylic Photo Panels, Quick Albums (just add photos, all the work is already done), Custom Scrapbook Covers, T-shirts, Mugs, Mousepads, Posters, and more!! I can also help you with an assortment of gorgeous, custom cards for any occasion!!

Check out these beautiful calendars...
Watch a video here to see how you can use Creative Memories software to create your own custom calendars... and here is the link to the software for Mac & PC. At just $64.95 it is a great deal for all it does!! {Plus, you can try it out for 30 days, for free.}

Learning new software not your thing? Well, I also do custom work for you! You supply your pictures and I work with you to create your custom creation. I would love to help you with meaningful gifts this year!!!

My Business Card!

I just read a post by my friend Kim at Everything Etsy on creative business cards. I realized that I haven't shared my business card before... and I think it is somewhat creative! I designed it with my software, dropping one of my favorite scrapbook pages in as the photo. It is actually 1/2 of a 4x6 photo. So for the price of printing a picture, I got 2 business cards. I think they are fun! What do you think?



{Just for August 2011, my software and all the artwork is 50% off here!!! Wow!!}

Merry Christmas!

{Beautiful Photography by Cindy Gongon...
card designed by me using StoryBook Creator Plus and the Holiday-Traditional artwork}

Celebrating your Star!

I am in the process of working on an end-of-season coach gift and remembered this picture I wanted to share. One of my awesome customers has kids who are athletes. Last spring, her daughter's softball team had a perfect 17-0 season!!! To celebrate, Susan made her daughter this gorgeous poster! I happened to be at Susan's home a while back and was able to see it in person and take a photo {that in no way does this 20x30 poster justice}!
Isn't this such a cool idea?! It is a natural for celebrating a coach or an athlete... but would also be great for a teacher, a dancer, a cheerleader, a pet lover, a horse rider, a special couple, a grad, a dad.... well, you get the picture! What a terrific gift for a hard-to-please teen. It is so easy to get started because you can go here to pick out free designs, upload some photos, drop them in, and order! {If you need a consultant ID for your CM Digital Center account, you can use mine: 24915986.}

I am also able to make custom posters for you in a variety of sizes. You send me the photos and I send you the finished product ready for hanging or framing. What fun project would you like to display?

"I can do this myself!"

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet a sweet friend for some yummy iced lemonade-green tea, and to chat about having me create a predecorated album for her to give as a gift. Her friend is in the process of adopting a 2 year old little girl. Susan wanted to give her an album that was ready for the mom to add photos and introduce this precious child to her new forever-family.

I love it when people decide to give albums for gifts! What could be more personal or perfect, no matter who it is for?! And I feel honored and blessed when I can be involved in the process.

Since this album was going to be handled by a toddler, I recommended the 8x8 PicFolio Max that has slip-in pockets for each scrapbook page. These albums are so durable, and great for little hands. I just happened to bring with me the Family Quick Kit to show Susan.

Well, it turns out that Susan absolutely loved the Family Quick Kit and the 8x8 album that coordinates! She thought it really fit her friend. When she saw the predecorated pages and the fun stickers and tags... she realized that she didn't need to hire me, after all! She said, "I can do this myself."

Am I famous?

I am collaborating with Jacob's teacher to create a class book of poems written by each child. I used this image at the top of the order form that went home to parents this week. It was so cute... Jacob said that when all the other kids saw the order form and saw his picture on it, they all thought he was famous! He assured them that no, this is just what his mom makes.

I will also be working on soccer books, mother's day books, and graduation announcements, just to name a few upcoming and current projects.

Who can you make feel famous with traditional or digital scrapbooking???!???

Confessions...

Lately I have been a blogger who doesn't blog and a scrapbooker who doesn't scrapbook {much}. Last Sunday, however, I did make a deliberate choice to work on my youngest's baby album rather than work on taxes. He will be 7 in a couple of weeks, so I really wanted to get those last pages of his book completed! I actually got 17 pages put together, which felt really good. I need to write on and decorate those pages still, so can't yet show them here. Which is one of my problems... lots and lots of unfinished pages and projects! Anyone else have that issue?!?

I am motivated by two things:

1. Deadlines!
2. Saving money!

Both of those situations came into play this week as I started and completed two projects. I made two different 7"x5" softcover StoryBooks this week!

The first project was definitely deadline-oriented. Tuesday afternoon, Abbie came home from school with the news that one of the most popular boys in her class would soon be moving back to his home country of South Africa... soon as in next week. Even though he was new to the school this year, he had made many friends. She said her teacher wanted to do something special for him and have all the kids participate. So Abbie, my good girl, raised her hand and volunteered her mommy to make him a scrapbook! Of course I was happy to lend my services, and let her teacher know that when he called later that afternoon. I offered to make a little, 20-page digital StoryBook for Austin.

Wednesday, I went into school in the afternoon and took pictures of all the kids in the class. Thursday, Abbie came home with letters all her classmates had written to their friend. At first I had thought I would re-type all their notes, but after looking at them, I knew I needed to include them as is. So I photographed the letters and added them into the book. Thursday evening I got busy dropping photos of kids and letters into pre-designed layouts {tweaking the layouts as needed to fit everything in}, and by 11pm the book was mostly completed!

Friday morning, I put the finishing touches on the cover, uploaded it, and got it ordered! It will be back in time to give to Austin on his last day of school this coming Thursday. This slim little 7"x5" book will be easy to keep and transport, and will continually remind him of his friends here in the USA! This one page gives you a glimpse of how it turned out. I used the Primary Elementary Digital Kit & Predesigned Pages. {I used this same artwork in the traditional teacher albums I made last year for a client.} This project turned out really cute, I think!

So my next project was motivated by saving money! When ordering a StoryBook, it is always a better deal to order more than one. Why? Because the shipping for one is $7. But when you add another book to the order, the additional shipping charge is only $2! So the average shipping cost goes down the more books you order. And order 10 books or more at one time, and you even get an extra 10% off of each book. I wasn't ready to order 10 books, but I was motivated to take advantage of a savings on my shipping charges.

I also needed a sample to show of our 7"x5" StoryBooks. I have 11"x8.5" books, 8"x8" books, and 12"x12" pages to show off, but none of these little softcover books. I thought the perfect project for my sample book would be to use photos of my new niece for a little brag book.

My sister and her husband look soooo happy as they greet their new daughter! I started this little book Tuesday night so that I would have it done before I started the goodbye book for Abbie's classmate. Just let me say, making this little book has actually been on my To Do list for two months. Yep. But the deadline worked! In less than two hours I had all 20 pages of this sweet little book completed!

I wanted to keep this book simple, so that I can show how easy digital scrapbooking can be. I simply made each picture the page background {truly, just one click in StoryBook Creator}. I then added embellishments from a few different artwork packages I have from my vast array of Creative Memories digital products. Many of the embellishments were actually black --- but again, one click and I was able to change them to white. This is a sweet little project! I can't wait to get it in my hands, and have photos of my sweet little niece to look at off the computer.

Friday morning, I ordered both these books. I met my deadline and saved money. I even got some scrapbooking done this week! Oh, and I also saved even more... because 7"x5" Softcover StoryBooks are $5 off through April 30th! What project would you use a little book like this for?

Just Add Pictures!

So over the weekend, we were sort of stuck indoors due to the snow. I finally completed my inventory for my CM business, and found some fun supplies that were not being enjoyed to their fullest. I wanted to do some scrapbooking over the weekend, so here is what I made.

The cover of this sweet little 7x7 album is a pretty green.... the camera didn't do it justice.

I put this little album together with the retired "Inspiration" kit I had on hand. I love the rich, warm colors. To set off the beautiful papers, I decided to hand-color the edges of the pages with my metallic bronze pen. I like how that turned out!

Click on any photo to enlarge and see in more detail. It really is much prettier in person.

Each page is 7"x7", with 24 pages in the album.

Each page is ready for a photo, and maybe some handwritten notes.

Wouldn't this make a sweet and meaningful Valentine's gift?

This little scrapbook makes a perfect quick gift for someone you love... just add pictures!

A Wedding Album

For the past 12 years, I have been blessed and honored to be hired to make albums and scrapbook pages for others. As a stay-at-home mom who needs to contribute to the family budget, this has been work that provides a creative outlet for me, as well as some necessities for our family. I feel fortunate whenever I am entrusted with these heart-projects. I love that my work brings joy!

{Click Images to Enlarge}

At the same time, I have also taught and encouraged others, and provided them with tools and supplies to make their own beautiful pages. I get paid well to make albums for others, but I really gain more satisfaction from helping people make their own pages and complete their albums themselves. I do love a new project, though!

I recently completed these pages and had so much fun with them! I was commissioned by the mother-in-law, but worked with the bride. She gave me so many beautiful photos to work with!

We chose to use the Black & White Power Palette to best match her wedding.

We also chose to do this project as digital pages, rather than traditional scrapbooking. Digital pages are fun because they provide so many options! We could have had these printed as a hardcover StoryBook in either 12x12 or 8x8 sizes. In this project, the pages were printed as Page Prints and put in a traditional scrapbook album.

I like to design layouts as two-page spreads that coordinate. Here, I am showing individual pages, but you can tell that pages 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, etc. all coordinate with each other.

And I will let you in on a little secret... I started with Digital Predesigned Pages and then I tweaked them with StoryBook Creator Plus Software!

Do you think digital scrapbooking is too difficult or complicated? Predesigned pages and easy-to-use software created for scrapbookers makes it fun and simple! Really!!! You don't even have to be creative. But if you are, the sky's the limit to what you can come up with!

Want to try digital scrapbooking? All you have to do is download free software here, and download free predesigned pages here. It is as simple as dragging and dropping your photos, and clicking and typing your text! {Have a Mac? Our Mac software isn't ready yet, but will be soon! In the meantime, you can go here to make digital pages with any of the 125+ free layouts.}

Aren't these pages fun?

I so enjoyed making them!

The best part, though, is when the recipients see them and love them!!!

The following page is one I gave a sneak peak of a few weeks ago. I still love it!

This wedding album was 20 pages, with 97 photos!

Really, the hardest part of the project was choosing which beautiful pictures to use!

I would love to answer any questions you have about digital scrapbooking!

I am hosting a Giveaway this week! Click here for details!!

I am linking up with Kimba's DIY Day! See more fun projects there!