Summer Blog Hop with Creative Life Scrapbooking

Welcome to our Creative Life Summer Blog Hop! Summer has flown by, hasn't it? Have you been able to take some time for yourself? I sure hope so!

Ours has been a good one, with trips to the beach, Utah and Las Vegas. Naturally,  I am knee deep in photos that I want to save and preserve, but thankfully many of these trips have already been documented in albums because I have made it a priority! My process when I travel is the same every time - upload the memories to my Forever account throughout the trip so I can know they are safe, organize them in albums and nested albums right there in my account, and when I am ready, make a book from them! Depending on the event, I can either create the book quickly in Forever Design and Print online as I did with my beach and Las Vegas pictures, create an elaborate two volume set using Artisan as I am currently working on with my over 3,000 (yes!) photos from our trip to the National Parks, or print a few favorites to add to my traditional Creative Memories albums (those tend to be reserved for every day life for my family!) Whether simple or creative, my story is told and my shelves are full (my heart as well!) 

A lifetime of memories in Creative Memories albums

Christmas, Disney, and Beach trips are perfect in digital books printed by Forever

Quick and easy, drag and drop Forever Design and Print books!

Love the variety of sizes of the books I create (5X7, 8x8 and 12X12)

The point is, making albums doesn't have to be hard, and you just need to be organized with your time and with your photo process so when it IS time to put a book together, you are ready! Having a clean and organized workspace never hurts either - I know I am always more inspired to work when I have a nice table or two  just for memory keeping. 

My scrapbooking room (on a good day!) 

So with that pep talk, let's take a little time to be creative!

Mermaid Cove Using the Scrap Happy Project Recipe

If you have been around a Creative Memories Advisor in the last few years, you might have been fortunate enough to have been handed Project Recipes. If you don't have an Advisor, find one in your area that hosts events if you aren't near me (I am in Alabama) and make sure you start receiving them! They are fantastic.

A binder or Creative Memories Project Recipes for inspiration for page ideas

Binders and page protectors are my favorite office supplies!

Project Recipes are like sketches, and while CM launches them every time they release a new paper pack, I often take the "pattern" and use it with another collection. I have done that here with the Mermaid Cove Paper and Stickers using the Scrap Happy project recipe! I love how it turned out :) Sea creatures and tide pools, what a perfect way to highlight those. I also made a mini album using Mermaid Cove and the Hexagon Explosion Album idea, be sure and like our Creative Life Scrapbooking Facebook Page to see all of our posts! We share every week and also do the occasional virtual crops so we'd love to have you follow us.

The CM "Scrap Happy" Project Recipe featuring the Mermaid Cove paper and stickers

Card Making with Rainbow Rush

And for some quick card projects, all you need to do is make a few borders, grab some stickers, and put them together for when you are in need. I had these borders leftover from some projects I had already finished, and I thought I should use them for cards. Creative Memories sells a box of plain cards and envelopes for $6, so I keep several of those around for when I have some time to knock out a few cards. I used Rainbow Rush primarily to make these - I also used the new and gorgeous Lace Trim Border punch to make the lace on the gingham ones. Easy, done, ready to give away!

Blank cards and envelopes from Creative Memories

Cards created using Rainbow Rush paper and stickers

Whether you prefer to make digital books, traditional books, cards, or all of the above, I can help you, so respond in the comments or shoot me a message and I can help you get inspired to bring your photos into your life in a meaningful way.  Be sure and check out the other ideas on the Blog Hop! Here are the links:

Stop 1: Karyn Crops with Karyn McDermaid-Rolfe
Stop 2: Julie's Creative Memories Blog with Julie Tambrini
Stop 3: Crop with Stef with Stefani Jones
Stop 4: YOU ARE HERE! Celebrating Your Beautiful Life with Fran Smitherman
Stop 5: Scrapin JPEGs with Candace Bouldin 

Digital Memories Saved and Enjoyed Forever!

Happy November to you! It is a month of gratitude and thanksgiving, and Forever is always here for us to help us celebrate life's most precious moments. Whether you have calendars and cards to make for gifts using Forever Print, videos you want to share with other family members wherever they may be, or photos on your phone you want backed up safely and privately, Forever has you covered. 

November is a Great Month to Save!

Being the month of "Black Friday", Forever has amazing deals on all the things I love and use every day to keep my memories under control and in my life. If you love your photos and videos but are not a Forever storage member yet, I would encourage you to buy your permanent membership today. Flash drives and external hard drives are great for a while, but they are not permanent and they are easily misplaced or malfunction. Storing photos online as a second backup is a great idea and the "cloud" is a necessity in this digital age, but as photo printers like Wal*Mart and Flicker send out reminders that they are going to delete your photos if you don't order, and as the headlines point out daily about the privacy issues at Facebook and Google, I am so grateful for my Forever home for my photos, videos and documents. Forever Storage (all size accounts) is on sale for 30% off this month - it could be the greatest gift you ever get for you or your family:

 Here is a list of all the things on sale (and there are other deals that pop up from time to time so remember to check the "Deals" tab!) Let me know if you have any questions about any of them. 

November 1-30 PROMO CODE: BLACKFRIDAY18

·         Save 40% on all Printed Calendars! 

·         Save 40% on all Printed Projects!

·         Save 40% on FOREVER Artisan® purchases and upgrades! 

·         Save 40% on FOREVER Historian™ purchases! 

·         Save 30% on all FOREVER Storage® Single Payments or get your first month FREE!

·         Save 30% on all Digital Art!

·         Save 15% on all Conversion Boxes!

​

Conversion Services

If you have had scrapbooks, photos, negatives or videos converted by Forever, you know what a wonderful job they do. Now that Forever has video capability in your Forever account online, you can decide whether you want to have your videos you have had converted stored there in addition to the flash drive you were sent. If you have videos, there are two ways to store and enjoy them. For permanent account members, videos can be uploaded and stored for future download just like any photos you have up there without any additional charge. If you want the extra privilege of streaming and sharing, a Premium Video Plan lets you do that. I have it and I LOVE it! Here is a video I can enjoy and share anywhere because I have the video plan - what would YOU like to save? 

 November is a wonderful month to think about the memories that matters most to us and I am here for you! I hope to connect with you soon - please let me know how I can help you make your photo projects come to life. Fran