Adding Music & Narration to your Slideshow! :-)

Congratulations!  You have some great pages digi-scrapped and you’re ready to create a DVD.  Before you burn it, consider adding music or narration to really add a special touch (and quite honestly make it that much more interesting!).  Adding music to your pages adds more depth and can create a mood that is like the bow on top of the package.  It makes the show fun to watch and listen to!  The hardest part?  Deciding WHAT song to use, of course!

Do you want light-hearted, fun songs, songs that tell a beautiful story or music that has a special meaning?  What genre?  Country?  Classical?  Rock?  Christian?  Pop? Jazz?  The possibilities are endless and can create whatever mood the pages are intended to portray. It’s all personal preference and limited only to your music library!

The best part is that it is quick and easy to do and can be added to ANY album matching any theme!  Christmas pages?  Carols of course!  Baby/kids’ pages?  Play your favorite lullaby or your child’s favorite song.  Wedding album?  Play classical music or the love song that you and your spouse danced to the very first time.  Remember, it’s not just pictures that create memories but sounds, too.  Music and voices can bring back memories the moment they’re heard.

Another way to add a special touch to your albums is to add narration.  Does your computer have a built-in microphone?  Use it!  I created a “movie” for a client’s surprise party for her husband’s retirement.  Many years ago, her husband composed a beautiful heart-felt poem for her and she wanted that included.  I scanned it and placed in the movie.  The writing was too small to have all the guests read from the projection screen so I recorded my husband reading it (obviously it would have been better to have HER husband read it but because it was a surprise, well, you see my point!).  It brought tears to every eye in the room.  Had we not added that narration, no one would have been able to read it and

Other narration could be the sweet sound of your child’s voice, a grandparent reading a favorite story for your child, you and your family sharing memories – ANY voice adding narration can create an unbelievably special memory, one that is worth preserving and sharing.

If you haven’t placed music or narration into your albums, first create your album (I LOVE Ettes Designs in the Design Shop at My Memories Suite) and consider the mood you would like your album to portray.  Songs will just pop into your head as you go along because you’ll tend to use songs that are your favorites!  Once you’re ready to add music, follow these easy steps:

1. At the top menu bar, select Insert > Add music.
2. Navigate to where your music is stored on the computer and select the song you wish to add to the album; select “open”.
3. That’s all you have to do!  You’ll see the name of the song at the bottom of the screen!

Want to add narration to a page?  Select the page you wish to narrate (make sure you’re open on that page) and follow these steps:

1. At the top menu bar, select Insert > Add page narration.
2. Select the “record” button to record the narration (you even have the option to re-record if need be!).  At this point, notice that there’s a box at the bottom of the page to have music that may be in the album playing softly in the background.  If you’d like this option, select the box “background music (faded)”.  If this box is not selected, the music will automatically stop when the narration begins and will begin playing once the narration is completed.  Once the narration is recorded satisfactorily, click “ok” and it will be added to that page.

Have fun adding these special touches to your DVD!

Jackie L. ~ Creative Team

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.

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!**

Great Family Gift Idea!

Good evening friends!  As the weather starts to cool off and the we get ready to greet a new month, our thoughts start to turn to gift giving for the upcoming Holiday season.  There are SO many things you can create with My Memories Suite that make perfect gifts for special friends, family, teachers, neighbors, etc.  Brooke and Beth have shared some awesome ideas the past couple weeks and today I want to share one of my favorites!  For many years in the past, I have created a wonderful gift for my family at Christmas.  I have bought individual calendars for each extended family, grandparents, close friends, etc.  I made sure I took time at each holiday during the year to search out little stickers and goodies to mark each special date on the calendar.  A friend and I used to order Mrs. Grossman’s stickers by the roll to make sure we had enough to get through each “calendar” season.  We would hunt out birthday stickers, Easter stickers, Halloween stickers – and on and on and on!  We would lay out stacks of calendars across the dining room table, living room floor and try to keep the list straight that went with each family’s specialized list.  Well, needless to say it was a LOT of work!  But it was my Nana’s FAVORITE gift (and who can say NO to their Nana???)  Well, fast forward a few years and now we have My Memories Suite software, and out calendar project goes from cumbersome and time consuming to a TRUE treat!  I can still create each family’s special calendar with pictures to notate each special birthday and anniversary… I can still mark each special holiday with a great graphic or embellishment – I just NEVER run out of anything now!  No more ordering rolls of stickers or shopping for the entire year so I don’t miss a holiday for my sticker stash.  It is ALL accessible in MMS.  If I find a great birthday embellishment I can use it 2 times or 200 times!  I group my extended families together and complete their calendar, mark each of their birthdays, anniversaries, and special events – from the first day of school to a special graduation.  Then, I just upload the whole project using the CALENDAR option in SHARE ALBUM option in My Memories Suite software – and I am DONE!!!  No more stacks of sticker and backing paper scraps all over my living room!

It is a truly wonderful way to share a gift that KEEPS ON GIVING ALL YEAR with your family and then they have the calendar to keep for the memories!  It is truly a treasure!  Just wish my Nana was still here, she would LOVE this!  Here are a couple pages from the upcoming project I am working on!

To get you going on the project BEFORE the holiday rush, we are offering this great promotion this week… spend a minimum of $5.00 in the Design Shop and RECEIVE the OUR MEMORIES CALENDAR template set for FREE – Just use the PROMO CODE: “OURMEMORIESCAL”  at checkout!!

*DO NOT ADD THE OUR MEMORIES CALENDAR TO YOUR SHOPPING CART – IT WILL BE ADDED AUTOMATICALLY WHEN YOU ENTER THE PROMO CODE: “OURMEMORIESCAL” AT CHECKOUT*

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

<3 Lisa J.

Week 3 “Page of the Week” Facebook Winners!

Good morning!  I am very excited to share the winning entries from our Facebook fan page.  These three entries were chosen as our “Page of the Week” winners!  The winners get to choose a FREE StoryRock kit from the Design Shop as their prize!  We love these pages and hope to see more from the girls in the future.  If you haven’t joined us on Facebook, sign up today and become a FAN!  There is a FREEBIE kit available to our Facebook fans only.

Congratulations to Emily, Kathleen, and Jamie!  Keep up the good work!

Newest Member of the Creative Team!

It is with great pleasure that we announce the addition of a new member to our Memories Suite Creative Team!  We are adding Sarah Barton to the team!  Sarah will join our current team of myself (Lisa J.) Beth and Brooke!  Sarah has been posting some great ideas, layouts and resources on the Facebook page and we are delighted to add her to the team!  Read more about Sarah in her bio below!

Welcome Sarah!

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

Great Gift Ideas for the Holidays!

I know that it is only the beginning of September but I’ve already started to work on my projects for the holidays!  Photobooks make GREAT gifts and are easy, fun and affordable!  I have found that they are great gifts for those people who “have everything” or for the perfect thank you gift for just about anyone!  What’s even nicer is that My Memories Suite makes putting these books together as easy as pie!  You can create all your pages from scratch from any of the wonderful packs in the Design Shop or you can use some of the great designer templates and make them your own!  I usually make my books from one of the great templates in the shop.  I find that it makes it easier to get them done – especially when I am working on multiple books.  Here is a project I did this summer for my husband’s Grandparents as a special thank you for some trips they  had taken us on.  I created these two pages with “Vacation Brag Book” template by StoryRock.

And now, as I look forward to Christmas, I am creating family gifts using the “Family Blessings on Black” designer template from StoryRock.  This wonderful kit makes you special family memories look better than ever!  This designer template is FREE this week in the Design Shop with any purchase of $5.00 or more!  Simply enter the code:  “FAMILYBLESSINGS” when you check out to receive this kit automatically!

** Please note:  DO NOT add this kit to your shopping cart, it will be added automatically when you enter the promo code!**

It is easy to create your photobook once you’ve completed all your pages, simply click on “Share Album”, then “Photobook” and it will walk you through the steps to create a professionally printed and bound book – all ready for gift giving!  (shhhh, we won’t tell your family how easy it was!!)

Photobook Pricing

All prices include:

• Choice of photo, leather, or linen book covers. Linen and leather are available as hardbound covers only
• 26 internal pages (1 sheet printed front and back = 2 pages)
• Photobooks require at least 7 days processing

There are literally ENDLESS possibilities with your MMS software and YOUR family memories!  You can even import pages you have created with other programs into MMS and create great books!  So, get your creative juices flowing and start creating a wonderful keepsake TODAY!  The holidays will be here before you know it!

PROMO CODE:  FAMILYBLESSINGS

Happy Scrapping!
Brooke

Senior Class Spirit - A StoryRock kit by Sandy McDougal

School Memories - A StoryRock kit by Sandy McDougal

Whether you have a graduating senior this year, or a kindergarener just starting out (or a child somewhere in between) this is an exciting and BUSY time for your and your student!  Don’t forget to set aside some time to collect these memories in photographs!  If you are nearing the end of your child’s school career, start planning (and gathering pictures) NOW for that end-of-the year project.  A wonderful gift for any graduating senior (or college grad for that matter) is a photobook that you created with pictures and memories created over their school years!  A book that you have put together to take them forward into the next chapeter of their lives.  We all know the TIME between the beginning and the end goes far too quickly – and it is a great chance to relive those precious moments in time with a book full of memories ~ just be sure you stock up on the tissues first!

So, whether you are planning for the first day of kindergarten or college, there are some wonderful kits by StoryRock – designed by Sandy McDougal that make putting these books together quick and easy.  As you know, one of the great things about MMS is that ANY page can be edited and personalized in a way that makes it truly your own.  You can add embellishments or change colors to create a book that belongs only to you!  So, check out a couple pages I have done with these kits and GET INSPIRED  to get busy now and start putting yours together!  Believe me, the end of the school year gets CRAZY and you can get a jump on the chaos with some planning now…

And remember, when you have the book done, print an extra for yourself too, you will want to enjoy this keepsake as much as they do – and you won’t want to share!

To help get you motivated to get going now, we are offering a wonderful opportunity for you to pick up “SCHOOL MEMORIES’  from StoryRock for FREE! Simply spend $5.00 or more in the Design Shop and then enter the code: “BACKTOSCHOOL” to recieve this kit for free!  So, go – shop – enter your code – and get this kit free!

*PLEASE NOTE: Do NOT add this kit to your cart,

it will be added automatically for free when you enter the code*

So, have fun shopping and enjoy your free gift!  Hurry though, we will be planning summer fun pages again before you know it!

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