open storybook

day in our life layout

2009-06-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

Created with new Cottage Garden digital kit and enhancements.

Font: Brown Bear Funk

Inspired by Ali Edwards Weekend Creative

Welcome to June! You're looking at some of the new digital product available from Creative Memories this month. I am still thrilled to be onboard with CM as they forge into the digital market. I mean, look at these pages. Gorgeous. I love it.

Working on this 'day in our life' project really colored my week - primarily with thankfulness. Looking closely at my life through the lense made me realize that there are a lot of choices we have made that I am happy for. Top of the list: my decision to stay home and sacrifice my time and energy and income for the babies. Once in a while I have a chance to dip into the Word; yesterday I read John 12. Just before his death Jesus says: "Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds... " It's a kingdom principle - when you make sacrifices for others your death goes into the ground and produces a harvest 10, 20, 100-fold. (this also includes the sacrifice to leave your babies to continue working. That is not my hard road, but I know it is some of yours.) A mere two and a half years into being a parent I think I am already reaping a little harvest of peace and fullfillment in return for the sacrifices I have made for my kids to have a stable routine and an attentive mommy.

And I'm hopeful that Jesus' words mean that although my prayer time is mostly reduced to a couple of sentences before bed with Nevin, this lifestyle in itself honors his Father. May changing diapers, making bottles and folding laundry be my acceptable acts of worship today. Amen.

day in our life

2009-05-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Seems like the harder life gets, the harder I work to make creating a part of my daily routine. Logan's been working 10+ hour days the past two weeks, which means I work 12+ hour days with the babies. I was inspired by this Ali Edwards post to create a layout about a typical day in our life. I've spent the past few days being my own photojournalist - trying to capture our everyday moments. Seeing them on film makes me realize how special these days really are - and reminds me how happy my kids are. The layouts are coming sometime after this weekend - here's some of the pics I'll be featuring:

7:21 am. I make us a loaf of bread every other day. I love having a breadmaker 'cause I can wake up to the smell of fresh bread baking. wow.

7:28 am. Breakfast of champions: mommy-made bread, peanut butter and milk. Often accompanied by 'Blue Planet.' Nevin takes a long time to wake up and he loves watching the jellyfish.

8:08 am. 1 pot of tea = 3-4 cups for mommy to keep me going through the morning.

9:17 am. Nora asleep for her morning nap - Nevin and mommy together time! We had a very productive morning today: I got a page of long-hand done and we read a pile of books!

9:17 am. There's the tired lady making peace and love a daily reality for her babes. You should know I carefully angled my photos around the extreme mess that has taken over our downstairs. Making room for a week of writing and creating means other things have to go and I've decided to embrace that. :) Next week I'll be all rejuvenated and it'll be the dishes turn for attention.

10:33 am. Nora's awake! I tried to count how many diaper changes I do in a day and couldn't keep track. I'm guessing 13-16.

12:04 pm. Two kids hanging in while mommy does a big grocery shop. Cinnamon danishes help. I am still stunned by the amount of momentum required to get out the door with two kids, their diapers, snacks and gear.

4:21 pm. Lunchtime passed in a blur of putting Nora to sleep, putting groceries away, putting Nevin's pizza in the toaster oven and then putting Nevin to sleep. Wow. Today the babies naps didn't overlap very much, but Nevin's naptime means at least a few minutes of mommy break time: coffee, writing, playing with photos on the computer.

4:11 pm (yesterday). Nevin's naptime means mommy and Nora together time!

7:31 pm. Time for the little girl's bedtime bottle. 5 bottles/day = 30 oz formula + 4-5 bowls of baby cereal and fruit. Nora is a growing girl.

7:58 pm. Daddy's home! Everybody's happier when we're all together - although more grown ups around doesn't mean more energy. By this point Logan and I are tied for 'most tired parent' award and hoping Nevin wants an early bedtime.

8:24 pm (Wednesday). We actually did this bath before Logan came home from work and it did not end in tears. I felt like a super-mom.

So I can't wait to bring these - and more! - all together in one layout at a digital workshop tommorow. Try taking your camera with you everywhere with an eye to telling the story of your day. A day in your life may seem boring to you, but your story is totally unique. I especially liked some of the close-up shots I got, which focus on the details of my day. Generalities are boring - specifics are fascinating. I'd love to see a day in your life on facebook or wherever you share your photos.

L'chaim! (To life!)

bringing home the beach

2009-05-07T08:31:00.000-07:00

'He sells sea shells by the sea shore'

Layout and brushy page edges: Discover predesigned page templates

Background paper: Travel ltd. edition digital kit

Title font: Font in a Red Suit

Story font: Eras Light ITC

So Edmonton is nowhere near the sea shore and in fact, I have not been to a beach in 9 years. Wow, too long. I collected these shells on that long-ago trip to Florida and have enjoyed them in a jar on my bookshelf in a number of homes. These shells have become special playthings for Nevin. I'm looking forward to the day when he can visit their home and hear the crash of the waves in person, instead of just on the Blue Planet dvds he likes to watch.

Some little pieces of CM news: I'm working with the new Memory Manager 3.0 and just loving how smoothly it operates as I organize my photos and use the editing tools to make them really pop - the one click 'contrast' fix makes magic of my flashless photos, like the ones above. And knowing I will be able to find any of my thousands of photos by the people in them or by key words in the title or journal box - well that's just priceless.

Yesterday I received 10 12x12 Page Prints from the CM Photo Centre, including many of the pages I've shown here. Wow. They're so big! My photos look amazing! I wish you could all come to my parties and see them in person. I was surprised at how cheap the shipping was - $2 and change, and the Page Prints cost $3.99/ea. (less with my consultant discount :) Very competitive... if you can just bear to wait 10 days to hold your digital pages in your hands.

And if you haven't already done the Mem Manager/Storybook Webinars I highly recommend them - each session is under 30 minutes and will really help you make the most of your software. Email me when you order your first Storybook for a great CD of fonts and digital goodies. Happy scrapping!

in my project pile

2009-04-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

May is shaping up to be a good month for my little Creative Memories business. I am busy keeping current with our new product and software. Okay so that translates - scrapbooking a lot. :) This is my favourite part of this consultant gig - a very solid reason to keep up with my scrapbook projects and photos. Here's a peek at what fills my hour and a half of working time/baby napping time:

Nora's 0-6mos baby album is my biggest ongoing project. I've abandoned the photos that came before and will return to them when this album is done. I'm loving our 'Delight Baby Girl' kit and Display Accents digitally and in paper. I am putting both digital and traditional scrapbook layouts into a RED coverset. I checked out CM's Persona Imprinting to put Nora's name and a little something pretty on the cover (the best time to do this is before you order a coverset - the whole finished product comes to your doostep), but in the end I've decided I'll have more fun doing a little home stenciling.

I can't keep away from the beautiful spring pictures that are filling up my camera's memory card! Lucky for me, this blog is a great excuse to work on a little something fresh every week. These are the revamped 'Signs of Spring' pages I sent to the CM photo centre for developing. I was wanting to create an very open layout, but the big, blocky photos in the previous version stopped the eye dead. I solved the yucky shirt color problem by just making those photos smaller and not so noticeable.

Last, I'm trying my hand at some card making - part of the goodie bags I'm giving out at my National Scrapbook day event May 2 (drop me a line if you want to join!). I've heard cards are addictive little craft fixes... and it's true. How cute are these?

Thanks for letting me ramble a bit - this is my plug to work some crafty time into your upcoming week. You are a creative person - pull out the pens or the baking ingredients or the gardening gloves and play!

how to change project size

2009-04-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

This little tutorial is going to introduce you to the handy yellow button at the top left of your Storybook Creator workspace. This buttom is called the 'Start Menu' and allows you to open multiple projects at once and switch between them. I have received some questions about whether it's possible to turn a 12x12 project into an 8x8 one, or an 8.5x11 project into a 5x7 softcover book. The answer is - absolutely! I'm busy with this today, so come along and I'll show you how.

I have Page Prints on the way from the CM photo centre (glorious!) but I need some pages in a hurry for a party on Saturday, forcing me to use a local photo developer. I am turning my 12x12 layouts into an 8x10 project with 8x8 layouts in the centre so that I can get my page prints developed through an ordinary photo kiosk at my local walmart. Here's how you can too (click the images for a closer look):

1. From the project you plan to downsize, click the yellow Start Menu button. Select 'Create a new project' - this is the box you'll see. Choose the size of project you want to create - I am creating a 'custom' project, and I set the size of the pages at 8x10".

2. Group together all the page elements from your original project. Grouping makes it easier to move and resize them in your new project.

3. Click the side arrow on your grouped item to change the 'order' so that all your elements function normally, not like the background. You could skip this step, but the background thing annoys me. Right click your page and copy!

4. Click the yellow menu button and open your new project. You can see I have two projects open (listed under the 'Home Page' icon). I'm switching from 'Nora's baby digital pages' to '8x10 page prints.' Right click the blank page of your new project and paste your layout onto it.

5. Your page is too big! The simplest thing is to use the white square 'handles' and manually make your page smaller until it fits inside your new page. You can also right click your page and choose 'properties' to automatically change it's size, but sometimes there's stuff hanging over the edge of the page that messes with your plan.

There you go! Ready to rock those Walmart ladies with your awesome digital scrapbooking! You can find more helpful tutorials at CM's Help Zone, including four 20 min webinars that will teach you to use both Memory Manager and Storybook creator plus to go from a mess of JPEGs in windows folders to a completed Storybook album. Wow!

I spy with my little eye

2009-04-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

'Signs of Spring'
Created with blank white 12x12 Storybook page, my photos and the wand tool.

Lately I've been playing with this clean, open look by scrapbooking on a plain white page. I was never a fan of white as a traditional scrapper. After a year and a half with Storybook's limitless choice of papers and embellishments, I find the simplicity of a blank white workspace really appeals to me. I think I have a lot to learn about how to arrange my photos attractively - there's no place to hide an awkward layout choice. I should google graphic design basics. If there is such a thing.

For the budding branch 'stamps', I took a bunch of photos of the branches just about to bust out their leaves, then used the wand tool to select those shapes and add them to my page as its sole embellishment. I wasn't crazy about the choice of sepia for a spring layout - I must have forgotten the cardinal rule of scrapbooking when I put a pale pink shirt on my pale pink arms: dress for your layout and make sure your whole family coordinates! :) However, the resulting three-color palette: brown, blue, green appeals to me.

As for the beavers... while Logan and Nevin were exploring a path beside the river, Logan made the mistake of pointing out the chewed trees and saying they were the work of beavers. Nevin immediately put up his arms to be carried. "Come? Nevin scared?" And that was the end of that little adventure. Now he looks around the backyard warily while playing in the sandbox. "Beavers hiding?" No Nevin, there are no beavers at our house. You're safe.

rest your eyes on this

2009-04-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

Shiny new boots! For splashing!

Mommy, Nevin and Truck.
Peekaboo Nora!

Suddenly it's warm and everything is melting. We've been out for walks every day this week. There's a bridge over a finger of the North Saskatchewan river just down the road from us. It's quiet enough to hear the waxwings flocking in the bare trees, the yellow grasses rustling in the wind and the water hurry hurrying to free itself from ice. These walks make me feel lighter, like my anxiety about money and lack of sleep can't stick to me with the wind blowing and the sun shining.

I read in the paper this week that "exposure to inherently facinating stimuli" helps your brain relax and rejuvenate. Turns out those waving grasses are making my brain work better. This explains why walks are such a tonic for worry and depression, and why solutions to my problems just seem to come out of the air while I'm walking.

On a smaller scale, handling my photos and beautiful papers helps my brain relax. I'm guessing this is why scrapbooking is so huge in northern climes - we need something beautiful to rest our eyes on in the long winter days. What better thing than photos of our loved ones... preferably taken in the summer on the beach? :)

These pics will make it into a scrapbook layout here very soon - but the writing bug bit this week and I'm back working on my novel. You know, I remember a time when I didn't have to fit my creative pursuits into 45 minutes a day. It helps when I remind myself that I also had to work for someone other than my children, 40+ hours a week. But those weekends off... my I miss them.

A blessed Easter to you, friends.

vote for your favorite designer

2009-04-01T14:29:00.001-07:00

I checked out Creative Memories' 'Design It' competition today and I'm totally excited. Nine designers, nine original paper collections, one month to vote vote vote - the winning entry will be released later this year so you can use it on your pages... ack! Too long to wait! Here's a peek at some of the entries:

Check out all 9 designers and their collections and vote for your fave HERE.

Your favorite place

2009-03-25T10:58:00.001-07:00

'Ikea Breakfast'
Page created with Basic White 8x8 predesigned pages
Papers and embellishment from Jewel Spring Additions
Dotted stamp border from Jewel predesigned pages
Font: Candara

Now accepting submissions! I'd love to break up my posts with YOUR layouts and show off what you're doing with Storybook Creator. If you don't currently have a project on the go, here's an excuse to play:

Send me one or two pages about one of your favorite places. Your layouts don't have to be fancy - just tell me your story. Everyone who sends me layouts for the blog will get some digital freebies to use on your pages, including my favorite font, 'Velvet,' which I used on my 'thirty' layouts. Or if you have a current project, I'd love to post one or two of those pages.

Here's mine: our local Ikea restaurant. These pics are from one year ago - I was a few months pregnant with Nora and enjoying my last days with Nevin alone. I'm missing my parents, who are gone for 9 weeks on sabbatical, and I had happy thoughts this morning of our breakfasts out together. I like how the rows of squares in the layout echo the framed prints on the wall in the centre photo, as well as the square print on Nevin's shirt. Plus working on a really simple white backround was a refreshing change.

Happy scrapping - stuff my inbox, I dare you!

Rachel, what do you do with your photos?

2009-03-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Here's my agenda when it comes to the files full of jpegs on my computer:

I want our family photos to be available for my kids to look at anytime.
I want those photos in books or in frames.
I want to be able to keep up!

I scrapbook for the pleasure of handling my photos and papers and for the creative freedom of working with a big blank page, but I don't want to be trapped into thinking I have to do a scrapbook spread of every photo I take. Here's two fast solutions working for me: (click the links to see the details from my CM site):

Everyday Display, 16x16" magnetic frame.

Those brown 'buttons' on the corners of my scrapbook pages are magnets - so fun to switch photos or cards or memorabilia in and out of this frame! I currently have this 12x12 Page Print, backed with a loose collage of scrapbook papers up on my living room wall.

Picfolio Milestones album

This is Creative Memories' pocket style' album. You can slide 10 photos into each two-page spread - 6 horizontal and 4 vertical.

I used the Jewel Milestones kit to fill in the blanks so I can journal my family stories with the pictures. This album holds 160 photos and goes together in 2 hours... depending on how organized you are. :) I think the 10 photo spread is very striking - great for your coffee table!

I use these speed tools (and digital predesigned scrapbook pages) to stay caught up on my photos - so I can dig into the projects I really want to spend a lot of time on. I've been looking forward to scrapbooking Nora's first year since I found out we were having a girl. :):)

I am using a 12x12 CM scrapbook coverset and adding both digital Page Prints and traditional scrapbook pages to this album. Total creative freedom!

'You change everything'

Page created using Natural scrapbook pages

Pastel Spring additions papers and embellishments

White monogram stickers

Circle cutters and 12" straight trimmer

Fine tipped pens

Tape runner adhesive

Here's how I get my digital scrapbook pages out of my computer: I upload my pages from my Storybook program to the CM's online photo centre. My Page Prints are delivered to my door - they're like 12x12" photos. Very few local photo developers do this unique size - I no longer have a Costco membership and London Drugs charges a small fortune.

I'm going to put my Page Prints right onto the paper pages you see above. CM also has side-loading sleeve pages for scrappers who are used to the top-loading post bound album style. (CM albums are strap-bound and this is not the place to go into all the ways they are the best ;)

I'm all torn about what color of coverset to choose: red? the new pink? lavender? yellow? What's the color of Nora's personality? If only we had a hot pink album! Check out the options - what do you think?

thirty

2009-03-10T10:16:00.000-07:00

'thirty'

Pages created with 'Romance' papers and embellishments.

Flower stamp created with the wand tool... see below!

The text on these pages reads:

"Thirty. February 28, 1979 - I find myself strangely exhilirated to be leaving my twenties behind."

"Hair: brown, pink and yes, white

Occupation: Mother

Side-line: Creative Memories consultant

Aspirations: to complete my novel

to pay off our debts

to occasionally mop my floor

Favorite Nevin thing: "'ere you go. Ba-beddur. It's beddur!" Nevin likes to make things better.

Favorite Nora thing: the head hug and drool smooch combo.

Favorite Logan thing: how shiny his face looks when it's clear of the cloud of depression. We've seen this face more this past year than anytime in our marriage.

Things I've learned: I'm good at carrying my babies. God's better at carrying my family.

Woman I want to emulate in the next 30 years: Grandma Margaret Nikkel. She was faithful and strong."

The person most often absent from your scrapbook pages? You. I love imagining my teenage children coming across this page and going "Pink hair?! Mom? No way!" (see below for how I got that color to really pop)

how to do cool stuff with the wand tool

2009-03-10T09:49:00.001-07:00

Here's how I got that cool effect in the photo on my 'thirty' layout. First I layered three copies of my photo onto the page. I used the 'add photo to the page in a new frame' so they landed exactly on top of one another.

This is a good time to 'crop' your photo using the blue bead - make sure all three copies are selected.

Zoom in nice and close to see the area you're working on.

A higher color or intensity sensitivity will result in the wand tool selecting less of your image - great when you want to be precise, like here.

Each click of the mouse will result in more of your image being selected. If you mis-click and accidently select your whole head, the 'undo' button will undo only your last click, not all your previous work with the wand.

Now you have a freaky looking thing on your left hand sidebar: you child's eyeballs or a random flower head, or in my case a lovely pink toupe.

This creates a lovely subtle effect, and smooths the join between the stuff you 'wanded' out and the picture below. I used this effect on the collage of photos on the facing page, so that their different colors didn't distract from the overall look. I flattened the three photos into one so I could crop it for my page. You're ready to rock and roll!

Spring flowers!

2009-03-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

'Delightfully Yours'

Created with:'Delight' Predesigned pages 12x12

Font: 'Marcelle Script'

So it is thoroughly winter outside - but my Storybook program is bursting with spring flowers! March 1 marked the beginning of a new catalogue, packed with gorgeous new paper designs, coversets and tools. Here's a little overview:

'Wishes and Dreams' platinum coverset and paper
kit, with shimmery photo mats. Proceeds go to the 'Make a Wish' foundation.

Puzzle Maker Punch - major coolness potential.
This is the first punch I've ever wanted to own to be able to make puzzles out
of my title or photos.

A pile of new baby papers and kits! Wow, I could
not be starting Nora's album at a better time.

I love the new 'Discover' and 'Delight' power palettes - click the image in the catalogue to get a good look at each paper and all the stickers. There's a Discover Baby Boy and a Delight Baby Girl kit with softer colors for the little little ones. And with a new pink coverset out - well I just don't know what to do with myself. :)

And I should mention: if there's just a lot there you're loving, the Creative Memories consultant kit with its 30% discount, is now available for $75. If that's something that interests you - and I'm loving being a consultant - drop me an email.

We had our first long car trip with two babies a few weeks ago, driving to Caronport for Youth Quake weekend. I couldn't believe how fun it was to be with my kids on the road... I was braced for the worst. Nevin loved his 'car ride adventure' and still asks to go on a trip when we get into the car. Mommy life is full of surprises. :)

'Car Ride Adventure'

Created with embellishments from 'Discover' Predesigned Pages 12x12, and the Ltd Edition Discover and Delight kit offered in January through parties only.
Font: Bleeding Cowboy

'Mommy's Briercrest'

Created with: papers from 'Discover' Predesigned Pages, overlays and embellishments from 'Delight' Predesigned Pages.
Font: Candara

'Discover Grampa Glenn's Office'

Created with: papers and embellishments from 'Discover' predesigned pages 12x12
Font: IndieStar BB

extreme scrapbooking

2009-02-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

Scrapbooking with a two year old. It's an adrenaline rush. You may notice he even has his own drink on the table where we are working. What's was I thinking? We have recently discovered that scrapbooking is a fun way to play together. Nevin loves my tools (the old, dull ones) and makes digger noises for them while he destroys scrap paper and gets stickers everywhere. He also loves that he's allowed to draw with markers when he 'scrapbooks' with mommy.

I feverishly complete my layout, trying to get everything stuck down before it disappears or is randomly selected for trimming or embellished with markers. But... the pages do get done. :)

And a word on journalling. I was recently going through pictures from my first year of marriage and came across this gem, scribbled on the back of a photo of Logan's parents and brother over to our house for dinner.

"First dinner with guests. We made pancakes and eggs - our specialty!"

:):) Our cooking skills have come so far I can barely remember the days when we pulled out all the stops and made pancakes and eggs for our guests. I'm so glad I was conscientious about jotting a few things on the back of my photos ... before babies arrived and we went digital.

I love the journalling feature of my Memory Manager software. I dump my photos in once a month and jot down a few things in the journalling box, knowing it'll be there when I print my photo or when I go back to it to upload into Storybook. In fact, I discovered to my pleasure that photos printed with the CM photo centre will have my journalling printed on the back along with the date the photo was taken! I love that! So gems like "our specialty, eggs and pancakes!" won't be lost to my increasingly selective memory. :)

Gratitude

2009-02-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

'Gratitude'

Page created using papers, embellishments and title from 'Give Thanks' Digital Kit.

I am a chronological scrapbooker - that's just the way I think. My scrapbooks start with photos taken in January and end with photos taken in December... or August, if I just can't fit them all in! So once in a while it's fun to break up the timeline with a thematic page like this one. These photos, from March to July, are brought together by the theme of the page: gratitude. I am so grateful for the house we currently live in. This time last year we had no idea where we would be living when our lease was up - we never imagined that we would be able to rent a beautiful house like this one. I loved spending a grey winter day reminding myself of what I have that I'm thankful for.

If you like the idea of scrapbooking your values and your spiritual journey - and what an awesome gift to give to your family! - check out 'Faithbooking'.

Digital Done-in-4 and give-away

2009-02-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

'Be my Valentine love, Mom.'

February 2009

'Life is to be lived!'

January 2009

Pages created with 'Family' digital kit and templates.

This kit available free with the completion of a Done in Four webinar and Storybook!

So you bought the software and you love the idea of getting your digital photos organized - and made into a Storybook! - but getting there from here is a little intimidating. Remember when scrapbooking was all new and Creative Memories offered classes to teach you how to celebrate and preserve your photos? Now there's online workshops - webinars designed to take you from scattered JPEG files to a completed Storybook in four sessions:

Done in Four webinars

And if you order your Storybook within two weeks of your last session Creative Memories has a great digital kit for you, FREE! I loooove give-aways. These layouts are a little taste of the papers and embellishments in the 'Family' kit: teal blue, raspberry, orange and a sweet selection of quotes and stickers to complete pages in any season. The kit includes a set of coordinating templates in your choice of size. Oooh yeah. I'm feeling inspired.

So sign up for the webinars and send me a celebratory email when you've ordered your Storybook - this sweet digital kit will find its way into your inbox. Happy scrapping!

Can I use it on my Mac?

2009-02-04T13:30:00.000-08:00

The short answer is yes, you can use Storybook Creator on your Mac computer... if you have a Windows platform. Here's what you need:

1. Intel Processor
2. 'Parallels' or 'VMware Fusion' program
3. Windows.

Here's how you know if you already have a Windows platform: when you start your Mac it looks like Windows - there's a blue or black bar along the bottom and a green 'start' button on the left.

Microsoft Office for Mac is not Windows! It is a Microsoft program re-written for the specific requirements of a Mac computer.

Storybook for Mac is coming! The buzz is: January 2010.

Need more help? You can visit the 'Genius Bar' in West Edmonton Mall's Apple store - or Apple support online.

what is a Power Palette?

2009-01-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

'Irresistable'
Page created with Pastel predesigned pages.
Font: Batik regular.

Creative Memories' Power Palettes are coordinated lines of paper, stickers and titles. Each Power Palette comes with 40 digital papers, 20+ stickers and 45+ titles or quotes ($9.95, digital) - more than enough to complete an album. I switched from traditional scrapbooking to Storybooking because a table full of papers, cutting tools and photos just didn't mix with a busy 18 month old. Immediately, I fell in love with the 'bottomless paper' concept. My digital downloads will never expire or run out - I never have to hunt for that little scrap of matching paper to complete a page again!

'A whole new world!'
Page created with Jewel predesigned templates.
Font: Maiandra.

You can purchase predesigned pages for each Power Palette line - very handy when you want to get an album done fast. Bonus: I discovered that the predesigned pages have elements not included in the power palette, like the flower 'stamps' in the corners on the page above. You can save these elements and use them over and over with the 'My Stuff' application. With a few clicks you can totally change the look of your predesigned template by changing the background paper and using the 'fill selected shape' option (see the little menu on the right of every paper image in the paper tab) to make the rest of the elements match.

'Joel's Birthday Party'
Page created with Primary power palette.
Font: Maiandra GD.

'High rider'
Page created with Earthy Power Palette.
Font: Microsoft Sans Serif

'Love'
Page created with Romance Power Palette, including quote.
Ribbon, stitching and eyelets from 'Digital embellishments: sewing room' Romance kit.

Pastel, Primary, Jewel, Earthy and Romance Power Palettes are your staple paper lines. Creative Memories continues to release coordinating additions so you can keep your pages fresh. The 'Vintage' and 'Mod' Power Palettes are older lines that are not growing.

So what's your favorite power palette style?

how to create torn edges

2009-01-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

'Let it snow!'
Background:Earthy Serenity power palette kit
Paper and embellishments: Primary Christmas power palette kit

How to create torn edges:

There is no 'tearing tool' in your Storybook software, but you can add papers with torn edges to your pages by using the torn paper shapes created for Creative Memories' templates.

1. You can find torn paper shapes in the Daily/Christian inspiration free templates. The Jewel Heritage predesigned pages also have torn paper shapes. Open a page from one of these templates and click on the torn paper element.
2. Save it. It should automatically save to the 'My Scrapbooking Stuff' file in your 'Creative Memories' folder.
3. From the Storybook Home Page, click the 'My Stuff' (top left). This is where you can create collections of your own artwork or whatever and use in your Storybook program like any other paper or embellishment.
4. Create a new collection: 'Torn edges.' Add the tear shapes you saved to the collection either as paper or as embellishments.
5. When you open an album your 'Torn edges' collection will be in the drop-down list of your papers. You can add the shape to your page and fill with whatever paper or color you like!

Come on in...

2009-01-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

... my store is open.

Last December my parents gave me Creative Memories Storybook digital scrapbooking software. I love taking pictures and making albums for my family, but traditional scrapbooking with a busy one-year-old under foot had become time consuming and impractical.

One year later: I'm so hooked. My digital pages are gorgeous, my digital paper downloads are instant, bottomless and cheap, and scrapbooking with Storybook is hands-down my favorite naptime activity. (paying the bills isn't even a contender... sorry telus. I'll be in touch.) Me and my laptop went on a scrapbooking weekend and I found myself doing Storybook demos and giving tips to other digital scrapbookers... most of whom were already Creative Memories consultants. I said to myself "Self... why aren't you a consultant? You could be getting paid to do what you're doing right now." And myself replied "You're so right!"

Since then, this blog has been a little dream of mine. I wanted to create an online community for scrapbookers and Storybook users to share their stories and pages, get help and get inspired to complete projects! I'm hoping Open Storybook will quickly become a gallery not only of my pages but of yours as well!