My Memories Freebie of the week 6/29 - 7/5

Hello everyone!  My Memories has some new Freebies this week! check them out!

This is the first Freebie, a pretty floral accent for you page.  Click here to get it.

Here is freebie number two, 62 piece page elements set, perfect for titles or accents. 
Click here to get it.




If you ever have any questions about the freebies please feel free to ask, I am always happy to help a fellow digi scrapper!

Can't Rain on Zachary's Parade

I love that I live in a town that has parades.  We have been going to the parades since we moved here over 20 years ago.  Our oldest son David has marched in a few parades and this Memorial Day Zachary got to march in the parade for the first time.  He was so happy about it that I was sad when I saw that the weather was not going to cooperate with our day.  The rest of us watched the parade and waited to see Zachary go by. I was a little worried about the rain and thought maybe he was upset to have been left with the scouts without Ben or I.  When I saw his group coming I scanned for his face and was so happy to see his big grin.  Then when he heard us calling his name and waving his smile got even bigger.  The rain could not spoil his fun. 

Here is my sketch for this page.  Hope you can use the sketch for some pages of your own.  I would love to see your pages if you do and if you care to share, post them to my Facebook page under my post of the sketch.  I would love for all of us who are still using MDS to gain inspiration from each other.







Thanks for stopping by!

Silly Squirrel

Hello everyone!  I have another page to share this week.  This one is of a crazy squirrel that wouldn't let us leave the dentists office.  Unfortunately, I think the little guy was a bit too used to people, and I didn't see his mother anywhere.  We had to throw granola into the grass to get it to let us drive away.  The kids wanted to keep it of course.  It was adorable but I told them it was best to leave it be.  I was tempted to let it roam in our neighborhood but I was hopeful it still had a mom of its own and we left it.








This layout is super simple and I thought it was good for a page that I wanted to really focus on the story and pictures.  You can easily dress the page up or down with your papers and make it elegant or childish.  Fancy or silly with different frames and fonts. 










Thanks for stopping by!  If you would like to share a page you have made with this layout, add it to the comments at my Facebook page, I would love to see what you've done with it! 

My Memories Freebie of the week, June 22 -28

HI everyone.  I have a new Freebie of the week for you! Don't you love FREE? I sure do.

Here is a new Freebie from My Memories.
Click here to get it.

Freebie number two is perfect for a recent college Grad.
Click here for this one.

Sketch #4 BOOM BOOM Balloon

Hi everyone!  I have another page for you.  This one is pretty plain and simple.  No papers at all, no embellishments.  There is a lot going on in the pictures and I couldn't decide on a paper or anything and so I just used the fun action bubble stamp from "Calling all heroes" all added free form lines as a background.  I kept intending to add more, but every time I did I didn't like it.  If you use the sketch perhaps something will work differently with your photos and you can add more to your page, but I think I like this one as it is.

Here is the sketch.  Show us what you created at my Facebook page.















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S'Mores! Using downloads from outstide SU!

Hello everyone!  Well, I finally did it. I finally purchase some downloads from another company besides Stampin' Up!  Yikes!  But, I wanted to give it a try and see how hard it would be to add digital content to MDS.  Well, I am happy to report that it was super easy! I stared by buying a couple of downloads from a place called "the LILYPAD"  This site seems to have a lot of digital content from a variety of designers.  They have a list of freebies that I started with.  I didn't want to spend money before I was sure I could make it work.  Once I downloaded a couple of the freebies I added a couple of the Kits I had in my "wish list".  I was very simple to do and I followed the directions give my My Memories, they have a video tutorial as well as step by step pictures.  I followed the steps in my MMS (My Memories suite)  software just as they described, and once that worked just fine, I did the same with my MDS Software.  I still have both on my computer and I think that I will continue to work in MDS for the time being since I am used to their features and MDS has a few features that MMS does not.  That being said Tami Hewlett, one of my co-demos on the MDS Monday blog, has been in contact with the people at My Memories and they have indicated that they are going to add some of the features that us MDS users have come to love into the My Memories software.  So far the people at My Memories have been super helpful and very accommodating with us Stampin' Up! people and I think this is going to be the beginning of a really good partnership.  They seem to see the opportunities that a whole group of Stampin' Up! customers can bring.   Stampin' Up! has indicated that they are going to sell a select group of Stampin' Up! images through My Memories, so that is good news too!! And they have added some of the print products that we love too, like individual pages and swatchbooks. I am relived to here all this wonderful news since I was so sad that Stampin' Up! was discontinuing the MDS line.

Here is the sketch...

I hope that you will use the sketch to make a fun page.  And, if you do, perhaps you would like to share it with me, I would love to see it.  You can post it on my Facebook page.  













The S'more download is called "Luv U Smore" and it can be found here.

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My Memories Freebies of the week...

Hi everyone, My Memories has a couple freebies this week.  Good through June 21st.  Check them out here...

Click here to get this download.

This has 3 page elements, just in time for your vacation photos.

Click here to get this one.

It is one page element, fun for summer.










You will need to create an account, and go to check out, but the total will be $0.00.  And it's good to have an account because you will be all set up should you choose to get the software, or for if other freebies are offered in the future :)

Sketch 3, Snow Day

Hello everyone!  I hope that even though MDS is no longer being supported by Stampin' Up! that you are still saving memories with scrapbooks.  I decided that since I am going to scrapbook anyway, I might as well post my pages here.   Some of you have switched to My Memories, and I bought it and downloaded the software last week.  I am happy to say that it is VERY similar to MDS. They are offering a free trial of their version 5, and the version 6 is $19.99 with a $7 store credit to use on downloads.   As for right now I am still using MDS, but I have them both on my computer so I can play around with My Memories when I have time. 
Here is my page for today...

This is the sketch I made...

I don't have a way to add linkies like we did with MDS Monday, where you could add your photo with the sketch to this page so we could all see it, but if you would like to show me what you made with the sketch, please post it to my Facebook page, I would love to see it!!

My Memories, It's a keeper!

Hello everyone!  Well I finally decided to just do it.  I bought the My Memories Software.  I am very happy with it and with the company.  Several of my other MDS friends have bought it as well and called the tech support with various questions and they are very easy to work with.  They also seem to answer email questions in a very timely manner.  AND, they really seem to want to cater to us MDS users and make us feel welcome.  My Memories is offering their version 5 software free, and version 6 for $19.99 with a $7 credit towards downloads. I was surprised and pleased that when I checked in at the My Digital Studio.net site, they are showing how to make the transition easily and add your MDS content to their software so you can keep using the SU downloads you love. Check it out here!    Not sure how long that deal lasts.
Stampin' Up! and My Memories have been working together a bit and My Memories has agreed to add some new Print offerings to their selection, some that we as SU people want, like 4 styles of cards and my beloved Swatch books! YES!  and individual pages so I can print them and pop them into page protectors.  
AND, Stampin' Up! has said that soon My Memories is going to start to carry a selection of Stampin' Up! downloads! YEA!!  very happy
I went ahead and downloaded the software onto my computer.  I played around with it a bit and then migrated all my SU content to the My Memories software.  I kept it on my My Digital Studio software too. I am not ready to completely delete MDS and since it is like second nature to me, I will probably keep making my pages in MDS for quite a while too.  But, getting myself all set up in My Memories was a HUGE load off my back. I now know that if I need it, I have tech support and a supported software to keep me creating.  So happy.  And it was easy.  I also taught myself how to add content from a third party.  I found a couple places to buy downloads that are really great.
The Lilypad has a huge selection of digital content from a large list of designers.
Snap and Click has a huge selection as well, and the prices seem really nice too.
Designer Digitals has a very large and nice selection as well.  and if you search from brushes or stamps they have really nice ones!! 
My Memories has a series of video tutorials to help you learn all the features but if you use MDS, it will be super easy!
Please feel free to ask me any questions!!
Thanks for stopping by!

Save the Date

I had to make a Save the Date card last week and I thought I would share what I made with my Digital Scrapbooking Friends.   I used a download called Autumn Elements.  The event is in early fall so I thought these flowers and color scheme worked well.




I created them as 5 X 7 post cards. 

The back has an area for the addresses and stamp. 
I decided to order them with Vista Print and I was very happy with how they turned out.  Vista print had many size options and quality options for paper type and glossy vs matte and so on.  I stuck with the basics and ordered 250 and the final cost with tax and shipping was $71.30.   That's just 0.28 cents each! I chose the cheapest shipping option which said it would take 5 to 8 business days and they arrived in just 3 days.  Super happy. 
I plan to use this same design and download elements for other things for the event such as a letter head with the itinerary and other things. 

Here are my finished cards.  Bad lighting in my photo, the color quality was actually really good.

They arrived in a big brick.  At first I wasn't sure what it was. 














Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you are still having fun creating with your MDS or new MMS software!!

update on printing options

Hi digital scrappers.  As you know, MDS is now official over and many of you are like me and looking for the best alternative.  I am going to keep using MDS as long as it keeps working but in the future some update in windows or java or whatever, may cause MDS to stop working properly.  When that day comes I am going to start using MMS6 (My Memories Suite version 6).  I just bought it, and downloaded it to my computer.  I will transfer my MDS downloads to the new software when I need to. 

Stampin' Up! announced that they have spoken with StoryRock, the creators of MDS and MMS and MMS had decided to add some print products to their offerings.  One of the things I was hesitant about My Memories is that they didn't have card options, just scrapbook pages.  But now they are going to offer cards as well. YEA!  and they used to only offer printing of photobooks, not individual pages, but now they are going to offer that as well!! double YEA!! and, triple YEA, swatchbooks!! 
These added print options is what made me decide to go ahead and get the new software.  They are selling the software to MDS users for $19.99 with a $7 credit for downloads.  I have to say that I am not super fond of the downloads that come with the program, so I am happy that I can add my Stampin' Up! MDS downloads to the new software.  I am also happy that I can add downloads from other companies into MMS. 
Here is the update and link to the MMS deals for MDS users.
here are the print offering from MMS

Sleepy little monsters

Hi Digi scrappers. I have another page to share with you.  This page is of my little cuties after a long day of Halloween fun.  They were giggling and being silly on the way home from trick or treating at grandma and grandpa's.  Just before they had fun at Zachary's preschool class party.  Jillian got to go to the party to since I was the room mom and needed to be there.  There are only 7 kids in his class so it was not a big deal to add Jillian to the mix.  All off a sudden it got really quiet and I looked in the rear view mirror I saw them sound asleep, Zachary still wearing some plastic fangs he got while trick or treating.  When I pulled into the driveway I had to snap a few pictures before getting them out of the car.  Too cute!!

Here is the sketch that I made.  I hope  you are inspired to use it!  If you do please show me what you made on my Facebook page!  We can all get ideas from each other! 
Thanks for stopping by!!

A litle inspiration to hang on my wall.

Hello digital friends.  I thought I would share a print I made today to hang above my work space. 

I have made similar things with this background before and I love to use it again and again, one of the wonderful things about digital. 

It starts with a background of some sort of newsprint.

Next look for stamps that look like watercolor and add them all around the page.  You can change the opacity on some if you wanted.

Next add your desired stamps. 

Next open the free form tool and add a wash over the stamped images.  I made the opacity about 75%.

Now send your white wash layer back behind the stamps and print it out.   I printed on watercolor paper that I trimmed to 8 1/2 by 11 so that it would fit in my printer. 

Next I watercolored the stamp images with Aqua Painters and ink.  I also printed out some text to add to the print out. 

Hope you give it a try!!

Sketch #1 Neighbors and Friends

Hello everyone!  here is a new sketch for you.  My kids have been playing outside non-stop since the beginning of may and I am so happy that they have lots of fun friends to play with all right in their backyard.  From age 14 to 6  they all play nicely together, for the most part, and stay out till we force them in for bed.  I hope it lasts till school starts again in August!  I had great friends right next door and across the street when I was growing up and I always remember playing kick the can and ghosts in the graveyard all summer long.

Here is the sketch.  Hope you give it a try.  Thanks to those of you who have been sharing your pages on Facebook!  I hope to see more!!