Want to win a FREE copy of MMS V2?

Hi all!  If you Twitter make sure you follow us!  We are giving away a FREE copy of MMS V2 this weekend!  We are very excited about some of the new updates and upgrades to MMS and want to share them with you!

So… here’ the deal!  It’s MY birthday, but YOU get the gifts! I am giving away a copy of the top rated MY MEMORIES SUITE digital scrapbooking software! In the recently released Version 2 upgrade, many cool new features were added and upgraded from V1! There are over 1500 new papers, 1300 new embellishments and 20 new template sets all INCLUDED with your software. MMS is one of the most user friendly, fun scrapbooking software programs available today. It is easy to learn and master, but robust enough to really take you to the next level in digital scrapbooking too! MMS has tons of other Designer Templates available for purchase, and you can use digital scrapbooking papers and embellishments from other sites as well – so ALL those goodies you already own are completely usable too!

But, don’t take my word for it, check out our Facebook page and Flickr page and SEE all the amazing pages that our friends have created with their software. You WON’T be disappointed with My Memories Suite Version 2 – and especially if it’s FREE!

So, leave a comment here on the blog page – just to say hello, and I will draw one winner (maybe two) on Monday and post it. Winner will be drawn at random – but showing a little love in your comment might not hurt!

Happy posting and we hope to see you around again soon!

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

Lisa J.

Make your Valentine’s Day extra SUITE!

Make sure you take advantage of some of the GREAT new deals and goodies in the Design Shop! They are guaranteed to make your Valentine’s Day pages extra SUITE! Get them before they are gone! Make sure you savor every little bite!

…and remember to make a memory today!

Lisa J.

Join the Quick Design Club today!

Here are a couple pages from one of the Designer Templates included on the new Quick Design Club CD! This wonderful new kit is called “Cross My Heart”! This is a great kit that is perfect for all of your upcoming Valentine’s Day pages, or for any book that needs a sweet template! Take a peek at the pages, and sign up for the Quick Design Club today!

The Quick Design Club is a great way for you to get a jump on your scrapbook designs. Club membership entitles you to exclusive access to all new, never before seen templates and packs at a substantial savings.

Shipped directly to your doorstep every other month, each club disc contains over $40 worth of new designs—but is offered to club members at only $14.99. That is a savings of more than 50% off! Plus, by enrolling in the Quick Design Club, you will automatically receive additional discounts and special offers throughout the year with even more savings.

Membership is convenient and affordable. You will only be billed when your disc ships (every two months). You can cancel your membership at any time. Don’t waste another minute, join the club and start creating your scrapbooks now!

Quick Design Club CD Sign Up!

New Features Video Tutorial from Lesley @ The Pink Toque

Happy Sunday, and have I got a treat for you… introducing My Memories Suite VERSION 2! That’s right, you heard me correctly. Not only is there a new version to My Memories Suite with all new features, I created a video tutorial to explain it all and show those new features off!

Last month, StoryRock unveiled an all new version 2 of its famous and very popular digital scrapbooking software, My Memories Suite. Version 2 is packed with all new goodies and awesome new features that we were dying for in Version 1. It’s like StoryRock read all of the feedback of features and ideas that its users over the years have been wanting out of the software and put it in one neat little package that will make digital scrapbookers the world over very happy.

If you’ve been to the Pink Toque Craft Blog before, you know I am an avid user of My Memories Suite. I got the software over 3 years ago when it first came out, and I have been in love ever since. I don’t want to babble on forever (because the new Version 2 goodies are exciting!) but if this is your first visit to my blog and you’re wondering what all of the excitement is about and why I love this software so much, be sure to go and read my review. My Memories Suite has been the best digital scrapbooking program to ever come along and with Version 2, it just got better.

Version 2 includes 1500 new background papers, 1300 new embellishments and 20 new layouts that come built into the software for your use right out of the box. On top of that, new features such as the zoom ability, Resource Gallery, and WordArt Designer make creating beautiful digital scrapbooking pages even easier. My favorite new feature is that your text can now be curved and follow shapes. This was not something you could do in Version 1, and I love that I can create text in beautiful circular shapes or to follow the edges of a photograph right on the page. It was probably the most requested feature and question I got from readers of my blog. Before I had to tell people they could only do something like that in Photoshop, but now My Memories Suite allows you to edit curved and rounded text on the fly right in the program instead. Hooray!

Another highly-sought-after feature that a lot of people asked me about was how to view pages side-by-side so they could build double page spread layouts. Unfortunately, this was not something you could do in Version 1, but now in Version 2 it’s easy. You can also now share your digital scrapbook in a wider variety of ways, including trading cards or calendars. They’ve also streamlined the Photobook process to make it easier to create beautiful photobooks of your finished albums.

I received Version 2 last month and have been trying hard to squeeze in some digital scrapping time with it so that I could show off the new features here on my blog. I finally got around to it today, and created a new video tutorial that highlights all of the major new features available to you in Version 2. I walk you through the new things and how to use them, and it makes it easy for Version 1 users to pick right up where they left off in the old version, or for new users to My Memories Suite to see just how awesome the software really is so they can get it for themselves.

Version 1 users will love that all of the photo albums and pages they’ve created in Version 1 will be converted for them into Version 2 compatibility and that the transition will be seamless. You won’t lose anything and all of your old albums will be right there for you in Version 2, ready to go and waiting for you to use the new tools and features to enhance them even further. When you’re adding embellishments or papers, you’ll be able to easily see what items are new to Version 2, and all of the old embellishments and papers from Version 1 are collected together in a folder labeled as Version 1, so you can quickly find all of your old favorites or check out the new stuff.

Speaking of Favorites, another new feature that I just love is that I can “bookmark” the embellishments and papers that I use most often and mark it as a favorite. This means that it’s added to a special “favorites” folder so I can access those favorite items quickly anytime I want to without having to search for them every time I want to use them on my digital scrapbook page designs. I show how this works in the video tutorial.

The WordArt Designer allows you to create fun and professional looking word art for your pages easily, and is built right in to the side tab of My Memories Suite now. Type in the text you want to create into word art, select the font and sizing, line spacing, colors, fill, stroke, etc. You can add shadows or a bevel and design the perfect word art accompaniment to any page you’re working on. I also demonstrate this in the video tutorial!

I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but I’m really excited about the new features in My Memories Suite Version 2! I just recently finished up Family Life 2009 digital scrapbook and am eagerly looking forward to working with all new designs, layouts, and features with Version 2 in 2010. If you want more details about what Version 2 has to offer, check out the info on mymemoriessuite.com. Original users of Version 1 will be able to upgrade for a nominal fee to get all of the new features, papers, embellishments, and layouts that come packaged with Version 2 and brand new My Memories Suite users can get on board and pick up Version 2 for themselves!

I’ve spent most of the afternoon recording the latest tutorial and getting it uploaded for viewing. It ended up being 18 minutes long! Since YouTube only allows videos up to 10 minutes each, I split the tutorial into 2 parts:

Link to YouTube Video Tutorial Part 1

Link to YouTube Video Tutorial Part 2

Enjoy! Be sure to let me know if you have any questions or comments on the new video tutorials or you need help with My Memories Suite Version 2. Hope you’ve had a great weekend Happy scrapping!

Lesley  thepinktoque.com

To Introduce (and re-introduce) our Creative Team!

Hi! I am Lisa J.!  I live in Jacksonville, Florida and I have been scrapbooking – in some form or another for probably 20+ years.  Although raising three children (for a while as a single parent) often put the scrapbooking on the back burner.  I found it extremely difficult to keep up with the pages, since it required pulling out all of my supplies – or I would get to a page and run out of ‘just the right thing’ to complete that page.

I bought MMS last spring (2008) to do a book for my oldest daughter as graduation gift. Then,  just before Mother’s Day this year, I got the idea to create a ‘Memory Book’ for my Mom for a gift.  I literally sat for an entire weekend and scanned almost 20 years worth of pictures for this book.  I strolled down memory lane and the early childhoods of my three children for the book.  My children are now 19, 15, and 13 and there were a TON of photographs from our pre-digital days.  I put probably 150 pictures into that book.  Both those that I scanned and the ones that started digital came out BEAUTIFULLY in the printed book that came from MMS.

I joke that mostly my role as parent right now is driving my children places and writing checks for their activities!  But, when I have time at home, I love to sew (I had a website for a while for the handbags I have made ~ but I am creating a Facebook page for them now!) I have always enjoyed creative activities and have always been involved in some sort of “artsy-fartsy” stuff!  I love traveling with my darling hubby, and we have enjoyed visiting wonderful B&B’s in several states! Visit my other blog where I post my MMS creations.

Hi, I’m Beth C.  I’m a happily married mother of four from the heart of Oklahoma.  When I’m not busy being the chef, maid, chauffeur, or teacher, I LOVE to do all kinds of crafts—quilting, crocheting, knitting, painting, and especially scrapbooking!  I have been scrapbooking for several years and have made many scrapbooks and other paper crafts.  I was introduced to digital scrapbooking and My Memories Suite when I received the program for Christmas of 2008.  And I just have to say that I have loved every minute of scrapbooking since I started using MMS because it is so easy and produces such beautiful results (and you don’t have to clean up the scrapping mess when you’re done)!  I’m excited to be part of the Creative Team and get to support a product that I so greatly enjoy.  You can check out my work on my blog.

Hi!  I am Brooke F.  I am very excited to work with MMS. This software is how I discovered digi-scrapping and now I’m obsessed. I have been a traditional scrapper for almost 10 years and found digi scrapping about a year ago. I love the creativity and freedom that digital layouts give you and the mess free environment. I have a wonderful husband who is very supportive of everything that I do and is always inspiring me to try knew things. I am a stay-at-home mom and I love chasing my two kids around, Sam 3 years old and Ellie 18 months. I’m looking forward to this new adventure with MMS.

Hi! I’m Sarah!  I am happily married to my hubby of seven years, Mitchell and we have three children.  My daily responsibilities include working full time outside of my home, running the house, and trying to keep up with my kiddos!  With all of these tasks being required of me daily, I thought I would never be able to scrapbook our memories for my children.  All of that changed when I discovered My Memories Suite.  I started using MMS after making several digital scrapbooks with Smilebox.  Smilebox provided simple templates that I could create scrapbooks with, but it didn’t give me the ability to change the page elements or use my creative skills.  My Memories Suite not only provides some pre-made templates for those times I want to make a quick gift or scrapbook, but it also allows me to scrap pages from scratch in just a matter of minutes!  There was NO learning curve – I created my first pages the day it arrived in the mail.  I am so excited to be able to share this software with others, especially with those working Moms who think they don’t have time… I am living proof it is possible!

Sarah B.

scraphappysarah.blogspot.com

Hi I am Mary M.!  I graduated from Grand Valley State University with a B.S. Degree in Legal Studies and worked as a Trust & Estate Settlement & Tax paralegal at Warner Norcross & Judd (www.wnj.com) in Grand Rapids, MI until our first child was born.  I then took several years off to stay home, have two more babies and be a mom.  I decided that I would not have the flexibility that our family needs if I chose to go back to work as paralegal.   So, I took my photography passion to the next level by taking photography and graphic design courses at Kendall College of Arts in Grand Rapids and also attended several photography seminars taught by world famous photographers including Cliff Mautner,and we are enjoying what we are doing tremendously.

Jackie L.

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.

Page of the Week Winners from Facebook!

Hi all!  Here are the newest postings chosen for the “Page of the Week” contest on Facebook!  They are three wonderful pages ~ a VERY special CONGRATULATIONS go to Amy, Heather and Megan!

If you haven’t joined us on Facebook – you are missing all the fun!  Make sure you find our page and become a fan!  And we also are also on Twitter – make sure you check it out and follow us!

We have a great bunch of friend son Facebook that share wonderful ideas, and tips & tricks, and help and information!  So, come join the fun!  There is a link to a FREEBIE kit for our Facebook fans!  Hurry and join, that offer will end soon!

Have an amazing weekend!

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

Lisa J.

lisaj@mymemoriessuite.com

Ready for Halloween???

It’s that time of year when little Goblins and Ghoulies roam the night! Well, they are dressed like that anyway! So to get your ready for the big day, we are offering a VERY CUTE Halloween kit from StoryRock!  It is PERFECT for capturing your sweet little characters in your Memory book!  It has a soft color story and is perfect for making those Halloween costume pictures POP!  One thing I like to do is to try and remove the color from your photos with the PHOTO EFFECTS tools from the CONTROL PANEL!  Experiment with a couple different looks and see what tickles your fancy!  This kit is a wonderful way to capture your Halloween cuties!  Make sure you check out Scaredy Cats!

So, visit the Design Shop and check out ALL the fabulous designs!  Spend a minimum of $5.00 in the Design Shop and enter the PROMO CODE: SCAREDYCAT at check out and get this adorable kit for FREE!

*IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT ADD THE SCAREDY CAT KIT TO YOUR SHOPPING CART, IT WILL BE ADDED AUTOMATICALLY WHEN YOU ENTER THE PROMO CODE “SCAREDYCAT” AT CHECK OUT!”

Also, remember – if you haven’t joined us on FACEBOOK yet, be sure to check it out!  We have A LOT of fun there and have a great group of friends and they are FULL of great ideas and great pages to share!  So, become a fan on Facebook!  (we have a FREEBIE kit for all our friends on FB!)

… and – if you like Twitter, if you like Tweets… find us there too, we’re Tweets4Suites!

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

Lisa J.

Chic to Chic ~ Your Story…

As I have become immersed into the scrapping world over the past nine months, I have seen one recurring theme, over and over.  TELL YOUR STORY!  Scrapbooking is the art of telling your story to future generations; you children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren.  But a question that seems to arise just as often is, “Where do I start???”.

There are some great resources online to help you tell your story.  You can find tons of journaling prompts, and digidares that will help you tell stories in a creative manner, or blogs about telling your story like Baby Love Letters.  If you want to get OFF the computer and handwrite some of your story before you scrap it, you can also find books of all sizes about writing your memoirs.  Check out these books: Your Words, Your Story or That’s Life, Finding Your Scrapbook Inspiration in the Everyday.  Another great way to find inspiration is to find weekly challenges.  Here are two excellent challenge sites that will inspire you to tell your story, My Story Matters and The Book of Me Challenge.

I try to tell the story of my family in my scrapbooks, but I do have difficulty telling about myself.  Lately, I have been inspired to do this more from visiting with my Grandmother, who lost her Mother at the age of six.  If something were to happen to me, I would want my children to have something to remember me by, rather than making them rely on their young memories.  So, I was thrilled when I found StoryRock’s Chic to Chic template kit, which is perfect for helping me tell my story.  Here are a few pages from my book of me.  I just changed the backgrounds on the templates provided to match my color scheme and just filled in the journaling!

Can you think of someone who might like to have a book about YOU?  Consider grabbing Chic to Chic this week and whipping one up for them!  You may also consider creating one of these special books about someone else.  Helping them tell their story with your wonderful touch can be a wonderful gift – for them and for you!

Happy Scrapping!  Sarah

Receive the CHIC TO CHIC kit for FREE when you spend $5.00 in the Design Shop and enter the promo code: CHICTOCHIC at checkout!

**IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT ADD the CHIC TO CHIC KIT TO YOUR CART, IT WILL ADD AUTOMATICALLY WHEN YOU ENTER THE PROMO CODE AT CHECKOUT!**