SHINE ON Creative Memories... Shine On!

Creative Memories turns 25 this year.  Congratulations cM!

It's been so cool to be part of this company for 10 years.  When I started, cM was just celebrating it's 15th anniversary as a company.  I just had my 10 year consultant anniversary in November. WOO HOO!

To begin the anniversary celebration cM has created SHINE.  I'm featuring the fabulous new Shine Products at my New Year (I still call it January Jumpstart) workshop tonight.

Again, I have to commend the cM paper designers.  Beautiful.  Love them!  Again, I'd have to urge cM to enter the fabric market.  If these designs were on material- watch out Amy Butler (who I do love)!!!

The Shine Paper Pack is BIG.  In fact it's somewhere between a mini power palette and an additions pack on steroids.  There is A LOT of paper in this pack.  All the papers are double sided.  The 12X12 papers have more complicated designs where I'd call the photo mounting papers - patterns rather than designs.

Click here to order Shine Paper. 

The color scheme is greys, light blue and a yellow-ish green that does look light yellow in certain light.  I am WILD about grey.  I know I know, grey and brown - I love them.  That doesn't mean I don't like color, I just happen to have a soft side for the colors grey and brown. 

The pack is distinguished.  It's calming.  I could see it working on a baby boy page, or for a black tie event.  The paper is also somewhat gender neutral.  Tho. I wouldn't choose this for a baby girl, the shiny elements and kaleidescope patterns work for girls but aren't too girly to use on a guy page - I like that about this pack.

Along side of the Paper Pack is the embellishment pack.  WOW!  Awesome.  Every paper embellishment could stand alone on a page - again, I'd be embellishing all kinds of stuff if these were made for fabric, purses, quilts, zipper pouches, etc... so cute, but again - not TOO cute. 

Another coordinator is the Shine Stickers.  They are blingly bling bling with sparkles, raised domes, jewels, etc... but again, believe it or not - with all that bling.  They are not TOO girly fru fru... I am not really a girly fru fru kind of a gal so this resonates well with me.

Together, I did a little playing around - old school, traditional style with paper borders and scrapbook tools and tape - and I came up with a few fun designs.  I'll be saving them to use on JUST THE RIGHT page - because they aren't related to a season, or a holiday specifically, these borders can just wait until the photos on my page call for them - gotta love that RIGHT?

I'm showing these off at my workshop tonight - I hope they provide some shiny inspiration for you.

Here are a few more Shine related products - get the whole line today!

Coverset.



PicFolio

Specialty Paper (giant die cuts).

Happy Scrapping, Sher

Double Heart Border Maker RAINBOWS

I'm not sure why I saw this new cartridge for the Border Maker system and thought rainbows.  Maybe because I've been crocheting.  Maybe because I LOVE all the rainbow inspiration on the Attic24 blog and the Day to Day blog I follow.  But, I installed this cartrige in my border maker system (currently on backorder until FEBRUARY due to the popularity of this tool) and pulled out my scrapbook paper and tuned into ROYGBIV (Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet - if you didn't learn this as a kid).

By the way - the bordermaker system is on backorder, but the new cartridges are available.  So if you already own the tool - you're good to go.

Get the cartridge here. 

The double heart border cartridge lends itself to all sorts of mix and match.

Here are some tips:

• It doesn't work so well with the thinner, printed paper from cM (shame on cM) so punch two pieces of the thinner paper at the same time to solve the problem.

• Root around in the scraps that fall out of your cartridge when cutting, cute little perfect hearts will be floating around in the trash, pull them out.

• After you punch, consider, paper behind, paper on top, cutting apart, re-combining, etc...

Here are some of my inspired ideas~

Most of these designs are self explanatory.  You can just look at them and tell how to create them.  However, the one boxed in pink heart on the second page of examples is a technique created by another consultant.  To cut a box around your bordermaker designs, load paper into your tool.  Don't punch the first place you can.  Move instead to the 2nd place you can punch.  Now punch.  Then, move one more over to the 3rd place you can punch.  Now punch.  NOW STOP!  Don't punch anymore.  Remove your border design from the bordermaker tool.  The top and bottom will already have a thin box border.  Cut the left and right side with scissors to create a box around your bordermaker design.

The boxed in design was shared in the forum on the consultant network.  Thanks for sharing!

Valentines Day is around the corner, see what you can do with this tool to create cards and designs for your own pages and cards.  Have fun and happy scrapping!  Sher

Nancy O'Dell LOVE

Do you LOVE the new LOVE album?  OMG - how cute is this.  I am super super thrilled with this product!  Nevermind that I have an anniversary on Valentines Day and I already have plans for this little baby - I'd find a way to use it even if I didn't!

As soon as I opened my box of January new Creative Memories products, I snatched up this album and its coordinating 8X8 scrapbook kit (LOVE THESE - cM keep em coming!) and pre-decorated it entirely.

Here is the album.  Click the link to purchase one (or more) from my website.



Here is the 8X8 scrapbook kit.  Click to purchase.

I have a FABULOUS lesson planned about this album, just perfect for this time of year.  I will be teaching this lesson at my workshop tonight (no worries cM folks, I'll post my ideas on the forum) but I can't discuss my great idea for the Love Album on my blog here - just in case my DH (dear Hubby) reads my blog - doubtful that he will or ever does or ever has - but there's always a first for everything!

Nonetheless, I did take photos of all my page spreads - done with a minimal amount of tools (I think I only used a tearing tool and a tape runner and it took 30 mins to decorate the whole thing).  The papers were so deliciously yummy and beautious.  I almost couldn't stand to use them.  There was one shade of a dull green in the decor that I realized I used almost none of - but most of the papers were just breathtaking.  OMG - cM can you PLEEEEASE climb on the fabric design bandwagon?  Maybe I've said this before but as a quilter and sewer, I can just picture myself wrapped up in fabric that mimics the gorgeous designs of our scrapbook paper.

If you haven't seen the album and designs in person - buy one, borrow one, find a consultant and peek at theirs - in person.

Enjoy the album (no time to edit out the carpet or get really close up on each page - maybe later - but I'm really pressed for time today and wanted to share these lessons for one of my DL who will be hosting a crop tomorrow night).

Blogger has a mind of its own when it comes to adding photos to a post and it doesn't allow me to rotate, crop or improve the images.  I usually do that in my Memory Manager software before posting on the blog - but sorry, no time today, so I hope you at least can get a feel for the album designs.  If I get reminders to do so, maybe I'll post some closeups and better photos later, but for now, this is what I've got!

Remember to check the cmc-network forum for my LOVE album idea and lesson - probably sometime this weekend.  If you don't see it soon, send me an email reminder to cmsher(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll get to it!

Happy Scrapping - Sher

I've been absent but not idle!

I see that my last post was on December 1st -

Shame on ME!

I've wanted to post - I've needed to post - I've wanted to sit in a corner and play with my new Creative Memories traditional and digital products, but life has me mega mega busy!

Not just the holidays mind you, but also work - paying work - freelance work - work that helps me pay college tuition - gratifying work - but work that takes me away from my blogging and creating. 


Also - new dog!  A rescue, aged 1, by the name of July who likes to take at LEAST 3 walks a day.  Ain't she cute? (no she's not supposed to be on the couch!)

 

Add to that RACE TRAINING.  I've committed to a 10K race in April.  I'm not a good runner.  I'm not a fast runner.  But I run.  Add 3 - 4 runs per week to the busy schedule. 



Add to that hosting 9 additional people here at Christmas...not to mention a visiting dog who is prone to seizures, 2 brand new kittens, 2 toddlers and a house with ONE FULL BATHROOM.

I also made 5 quilts, a table runner, 2 stuffed dogs, 5 digital albums, 3 digital calendars, etc etc etc... and that was after knocking off more than half of the hand made items from my list.

Needless to say, I just received my Christmas cards  or rather New Years Cards in the mail yesterday - I didn't get to that before Christmas!  Along those lines, we decorated our Christmas cutout sugar cookies on New Years Day!

But, I'm back.  Still very busy - still with a lot of paying work (a ton in fact - YAY!), still with a schedule I don't know how I'll keep up with - but back.

Today I will present THREE lessons (hopefully) - don't mind that the house is a mess and I've a bunch of croppers coming tonight for my first specialty crop of the new year!!!

Stay posted and bear with me!  Sher