Christmas Projects ~ Ready, set, create! :-)

I have a confession to make – I like being recognized as the creative and crafty mom who takes time to make gifts, remember all the special people in my kids’ lives and go above and beyond expectations.
One of my goals when I was a little girl was to be a great mommy. You know the type—a great mommy brings homemade snacks in for the classroom, a great mommy makes cool things for all the friends in the classroom to take home, etc. We all know they type of mommy I’m talking about. I wish I were that great!
Here’s the reality – I have three kids, a full time job, a house to run and plenty of extra curricular activities that leave me with next to no time to be creative and crafty. I more often than not forget special occasions, snacks for school are almost always store bought and making gifts for people has always just been a pipe-dream. That was until I discovered My Memories Suite (MMS). In fact, this was the very reason my love affair with My Memories Suite started—It allowed me to do something creative and crafty things in almost no time at all. And now…it’s helping me make personalized gifts for everyone I know…Oh how I love MMS.
So what’s my newest project? I’m making Christmas gifts. I discovered pocket calendar covers, and I am making them for everyone I know. They are a breeze to make and they will get me the kudos that make me feel like a great mommy – a perfect combination;-) You design a snazzy cover for a pocket calendar that you can buy almost anywhere for $1-2, they type that have a plastic covering that you might carry around in your purse, and you place your cover on top of the original cover and sheath it under the plastic.

Here’s a quick tutorial.
First you will need to purchase your pocket calendar. Measure the width and length of the calendar when it is spread open and flat on your work surface. Next you will open MMS and create a photo box the size of the calendar you are working with.

You will need to select a background and add it as a photo to your page. Drag the photo created with your background into your sized photo box.

Add your embellishments and photos. Remember that this will be folded in half once you put it around the calendar, so be careful not to add too much embellishment to the center of your layout.

Print your calendar cover and cut it out. (I recommend printing a practice cover to make sure you have everything the right size before printing it on photo paper.) Remove the calendar from the plastic sleeve and insert photo cover.

Insert calendar into sleeve on top of the calendar cover.

Now you have a finished product. Give it to a dear friend or family member.

Happy Digital Scrapbooking Day!! Woooo woooo… get on the BLOG TRAIN!

Hi all!  Well – it is ALMOST Digital Scrapbooking Day!  Okay – just noticed it is midnight… it IS Digital Scrapbooking Day!  The Creative Team here at My Memories Suite are really excited to be bringing you the first trip on the MMS Blog Train!  We would LOVE for you to join us for a trip around Goody Town!  We have some fun things hiding on each of our blogs!  Simply visit each blog and collect the KEYWORD that is on each blog!  When you get to the end of the line, you will have a 5 word phrase!  There will be some fun little goodies to collect along the way, but when you collect ALL the words to the phase and EMAIL them IN ORDER to Lisa you will be entered in the drawing for some GREAT prizes!  We are giving away 5 copies of My Memories Suite software AND some great discount coupons on great kits in the Design Shop!

On your trip you will visit the blogs of each of the girls on the Creative Team… from here you will visit Brooke’s Blog – Brooke is a very talented page designer and has posted some great layouts on the Facebook page!  If you haven’t visited us on FB – make sure you check it out!  We have lots of fun, give a way prizes and offer help and inspiration!

So…. ALL ABOARD!  Get on over to Brooke’s blog and collect the FIRST word in the 5 word phrase!  When you get to the end of the train at Lisa’s blog, she will tell you what to do with the phrase to get entered in the drawings!  IF you get to someone’s blog tonight and they aren’t updated yet, please check back in the am (we sleep sometimes too!)

Have a great time on the train! See all our smiling faces above (Jackie’s not there, but we will add her picture this weekend!)  We are SO happy you are here!

FIRST STOP:

http://lovingthefreelife.blogspot.com/

So, thanks for hangin’ out… and don’t forget to make a memory today!

Lisa J.

Adorable CD Case Calendar Project

Well, Christmas is RIGHT around the corner and we have started to think ahead to some great projects that you can put together for those family members and friends on your shopping list!  We have just added a great new project idea to the Design Shop!  It is a great little calendar template, called MY YEAR TO REMEMBER 2010 – and the fun thing is, that when trimmed up, all the pages fit all nice and tidy in a CD case!  These fun little calendars make a GREAT gift that is easy to put together and even easier to give!  Just pack all the pages inside the case and put a bow on it!  You can even find really cute little CD wrappers at some music shops that make wrapping even easier.

There are just a couple of quick instructions then you will be UP and running!  First of all, these template pages are a “landscape” layout on a 8.5″x11″ page, so they can easily be printed at home on your home printer.  They print two months on a page so they only take 6 sheets of paper, or 6 1/2 if you create a cover!  I chose to print on a matte finish everyday photo paper just to give them a nice feel.  They are designed to fit in both a standard CD case OR the slim-style CD cases.  The pages will store inside the standard cases, but not quite fit in the slim-style case.  You can just attach them in a pretty envelope for giving.

After you add your pictures to the template pages and make any changes you wanted to make, print the pages and carefully trim out the calendar pages.  I find it really easy to use some of the scrapbooking trimmers to make the cuts nice and straight – even an old style paper cutter does a great job!  After they are trimmed, just stack them in order and place them inside the standard size case and give them away!

The standard cases will require removing the case lid, then flip it and carefully reattach it to get it to display your case.  The slim style cases must be carefully opened and gently pushed back onto themselves to get them to display your pages.  See the picture above so you can *see* what I mean!  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to zip me a note on Facebook, or email me directly at lisaj@mymemoriessuite.com

Hope you enjoy using this template as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Have fun!

Lisa J.

Ready for Some Scary Savings???

Now that Halloween is over, you are sure to have all those cute little ghosties and goblin pictures to scrap!  Just think of all the wonderful Pumpkin Patch pictures that you have piled up!  There are some VERY fun packs in the Design Shop that are perfect for those pages in your book!

Check out the *brand new* PUMPKIN PAPERS that have just been added to the Design Shop!  These wonderful papers make a great back drop for the Halloween pages you have floating around in your head!  Get them scrapped before they fly away!  Spend a minimum of $5.00 in the Design Shop and get PUMPKIN PAPERS for FREE!  Enter the promo code: PUMPKIN at check out to get this super cute set of papers free!

You could also pick up HALLOWEEN SCREAM too!  It is being offered at the bargain price of $3.97 until November 7th!  You might also choose the very cute SCAREDY CAT kit that is also being offered at $3.97 too until November 7th.  To really stock up on all the Halloween goodies, get Halloween Scream, Scaredy Cat, enter the promo code at check out and get the Pumpkin Papers for free!  You can’t do better than that!

Make sure you check out our FACEBOOK page!  We are getting SUPER close to 1000 fans and as soon as we reach it, we are going to be giving away some REALLY great prizes!  You can also follow us on TWITTER, so you don’t miss anything!

Have a fabulous week – even the weather in Florida is finally starting to cool off!

… and don’t forget to make a memory today!

Lisa J.