iPod Valentine Cards

I was busy making iPod-like Valentines and finished them yesterday. You ever make something and it just seems as though it's not quite right? Yeah, that was the problem. You see, I try to get as many items on a page that I can to control printing. I used an 8 1/2" x 11" page initially and really should have used landscape to begin with!  I was able to fit 3 on a page instead of just one now in landscape. Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout! (I have watched Despicable Me quite a few times. That and Si.)

Here's the new Valentine I came up with for kids. Once again, I looked through a catalog to get some ideas and then opened MMS to create my own version.  It's truly THAT easy:

I inserted an identical page and then changed the background paper each time. I have a few more sayings like, "U R a Rock Star" and such (although you don't see them all here). Just create some of those funny little Valentiney sayings and you're good to go. On the blue background, I thought it looked a little plain so I added a couple hearts I found in embellishments.  Grabbed one, mirrored it and placed it on the opposite side.

I now have 5 sheets of 3 Valentines each that my daughter feels are acceptable to pass out to girls and boys (nothing terribly "lovey-dovey" for my 10-year-old!). We can print them on cardstock and she can cut them out, address them to her classmates, sign her name and she's done (or get real Martha Stewarty and add headphones made out of yarn)!  I honestly think she'll prefer the owl Valentine because it's a candy holder, and that just has kid appeal and charm. It's really the candy appeal, but I get that.  I was a kid once and am still one at heart. Anyway, the purpose of these is to simply show you how easy it is by starting with a shape, add a few more shapes, add a text box and a few shadows (because, you know, I like shadows!), choose your paper for backgrounds and it's all done. I didn't line everything up perfectly like I usually obsess about just because I know my daughter won't use these, but be sure to throw on your guides, rulers, grid and you can use the tools in MMS to align vertically and horizontally. It's a lovely feature.

If you haven't seen the owl Valentine, check it out here.  In the meantime, get inspired and then get creative!  You can do it and it's easy in MMS to do both (be inspired and creative).  Have fun!

Kid's Owl Valentines

Last year around this time I created an easy Valentine (you can see it here) in MMS for my daughter to hand out at school. They totally rocked! This year? I knew if I just found a little inspiration I could easily re-create a Valentine card. And that's exactly what I did. I grabbed a catalog from a company that sells cards and took a looksy. And then came up with my own version.

How long did it take? Ah, that would have been smart of me to clock it, but being a mom, I just didn't make a Valentine card in one sitting. I baked a turkey, worked a little on the card, fed the dog, medicated the dog, worked a little on the card, did a load of dishes, took the dog out to do her thing, etc. Need I say more? An estimate would be about 30-45 minutes. But it was fun, fun, fun!

Anyway, I saw a cute little owl and thought to myself, "I can make this!" I quickly looked through embellishments and didn't find an owl that I thought would work, so I went with Plan B. Make it from scratch in My Memories Suite V4:

1. I went to the Shapes menu and added a circle, square and triangle. Created the sizes I wanted, duplicated the triangle and used them for the ears rotating them slightly to look like real owl ears, the square for the head and the circle for the bottom of the owl body.
2. In the Shapes menu, I selected the "Paper" option and selected different colors of paper to place in the shapes as the background color. I think I chose nice Valentiney colors! Noticed the ears looked plain so I added two more little white triangles and placed them inside the ears rotating as needed.
3. Went back into Shapes, added 2 circles leaving one larger and white while making the other a little smaller. I chose to fill the smaller circle with a different paper and added a thin matte around this iris. Then I grouped it, copied and pasted for the other eye so I only had to make it once. Then moved them over using the grids to make sure they were in the same line.
4. Used the new Paint function by adding a black circle in the middle of the iris for a pupil. Did that on each eye. Paint option in MMS V4  is FUN. Be sure to play around with that when you have a chance!
5. Needed a nose.  Triangle!  Shapes menu again, added, re-sized, rotated, colored it orange and put by the eyes.
6. I needed to add wings, but believe me, there are no "owl wings" in embellishments! (I really didn't look...that's just something you have to assume.  =) I went into the Shapes menu again and found an acorn which looked like it would work.  Re-shaped, colored orange, doubled, mirror-flipped it and placed them for wings. It looked plain, so I went back into embellishments and found a little scroll. Added one, copied, mirror-flipped and placed it on the other wing.
7. Added a text box and added a cute little "owl" saying.
8. Went back and added shadows under the eyes, nose, ear triangles, wings and text. I like shadows.  =)
9. Grouped, copied and placed one on the right. Re-grouped the two, copied and placed them on the bottom part of the page so I had 4 on one page, lining them up using the grids. Chose different colors from my papers, added a different saying for each owl and inserted a duplicate page. IF I was smart (that's a hugeIF), I would have duplicated the outline first before adding the eyes, wings, and such, but that's hind-sight. All I had to do was take a little time to delete everything off the body of the owl and added a text box with a To: and From: and it was complete!

Now all I have to do is print on card stock (front page of the face, back page with the To/From) and have my daughter cut out! Once she cuts them out, we'll make two small vertical slits at the bottom and slide a Pixie Stix in (or a pencil if you're worried about tooth decay). Not only did we make a Valentine but it's a treat/gift holder, too!

Want to see?

Notice I have the colors on page 2 in different spots? Yeah, that was on purpose. When I print them, it'll match up color for color.

It was easy, fun and quite enjoyable! Who can't have fun playing in MMS V4? I also made an Iphone Valentine, but I'll share that NEXT My Memories Monday. Until then, have fun making your own Valentines! 

Photo Project Ideas for 2013

If you haven't checked out Photojojo yet, you really don't know what you're missing! I absolutely LOVE this company. It's fresh and fun and they offer some of the best photo products! And one of the best parts? I signed up for their emails and I'm lovin' it! They give great advice about photography tips and tricks that you'll want to bank...forever!

Even though it's past January 1st, you can still do a quick makeup and get some photo projects going for 2013. You don't have to have a project a day or anything like that if you don't want to, so don't give up already! I promise - there's still time to get a project going. Need some ideas? Photojojo has some great ideas you can check out here. They say there's seven, but they have so many links to other areas there are many more than just seven.  Enjoy!

Digital Scrapbooking

Meaningful Photo Projects

While you're thinking about your new year's resolutions, have you given thought to your photo projects for 2013? I'm sure you've heard of Project 365 where you take a picture every day. I have to be honest - I found that too hard to complete and rather than taking pictures that were important and relevant, I was LOOKING, sometimes frantically, for something to take a picture of. Seriously, did I really think a picture of a door knob would be something that would knock my socks off? I'd look at it and say, "Oh yeah, 2012 was an awesome year! Just look at my door knob!" Or my cup of coffee? Ah, the memories. You get my point.

So I offer you a challenge: instead of taking 365 new pictures, why not use the pictures you already have? You know the ones I'm talking about. Those that are either sitting in boxes in your basement or the digital images still stuck on that memory card in your camera. DO SOMETHING WITH THEM. Get them in albums or scan them and create a digital album to share with family and friends. Whatever it takes, just do it! You can grab a picture a day and get caught up on that back log. (If you need help getting a handle on it, give us a call!)

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying don't take pictures in 2013. I'd probably go into cardiac arrest if you told me I couldn't take pictures! I'm suggesting using what you already have as inspiration. Don't just point and shoot (promise me there will be no door knob pics!). Challenge yourself to get a little creative and make your pictures for 2013 meaningful, like recreating a picture that was taken years ago. My husband's cousin and wife, who were high school sweethearts, recently did just that and told me I could share it here:

What a beautiful couple! Their daughter posted this picture on Facebook and typed, "You kind of have to believe in soul mates when this picture exists." Exactly. And now their children have a wonderful keepsake of their parents. I can see this picture taken again in 20 years and again 20 years after that! See the meaning? Of course you do!

We'll be posting more suggestions and ideas for photo projects in 2013 in the next week so be sure to stop back for more ideas!

Homemade Calendars Are The Best!

I uploaded MyMemories V4 and have played just a smidgeon with it.  I know.  I know.  Just a smidgeon?  Yes.  You see, I'm getting ready to go on vacation with my family so there's a LOT to prepare for that.  But I'm giddy with excitement and I think you know why...I'M TAKING MY LAPTOP WITH ME and I'll be by the pooldiving in!  Not the pool, mind you.  I'll be diving in and out of V4 learning all the new and exciting features and I'll share them here!

What I did quickly see brought a giggle of happiness.  I LOVE calendars.  Just love them.  But I was tired of buying the kits that had the dates for the upcoming year already there.  WHAT A HASSLE if you wanted to make a calendar the next year.  Grrrrr.  So my giggle escaped when I saw the "calendar" feature in the tool menu.  What Smarty Pants thought of that?  Because all the comments I've sent in to MMS with ideas for upgrades, that one never made it on my list.  Duh.  I'm gladsomeone was thinkin'!

Back to creating calendars!  I made one page that took less than 2 minutes to complete.  I didn't use any of my own images at this point, but I just wanted to show you how easy this is!

Open MMS V4, select "Design Your Own" and select the shape you prefer:  portrait, landscape or square.  Then size.  I chose an 11 x 8 1/2  landscape for this example.  Before you go ANY further, I recommend turning on the page guides.  To do this, in the top menu bar, select: View, Guides and the Trim Area you prefer.  Generally, I select the large trim area when I work on any project larger than an 8 1/2 x 11 up to 12 x 12s.  I'll choose Small Trim Area when I work on 8 1/2 x 11 or smaller.  This is just to be safe in knowing all of your page content will be printed once the bleed is taken into account.  What is bleed?  Please refer back to our recent blog post describing this printing phenomena here.  =)

Once your blank page is open you can choose your background paper.  This is where creativity is endless!  Select a simple background or choose a purchased paper that's decorative.  I wanted to see the new backgrounds that came with V4 so I chose one of the decorative papers. Fun!  You can also use an image set as the background or anything that strikes your fancy.  If you're making a 12 month calendar, you'll have 11 more to go so keep that in mind if you're choosing a theme.  Otherwise, just sit back and have creative fun!

Add the calendar by selecting from the right tool bar "Calendars".  From that drop down menu, you can add a single month or the entire year.  I created a single month.  Once it's added to your page, you can drag from the four corners to enlarge to the desired size.  Remember, if you re-size from the middle, it'll change the aspect ratio of the picture making it look like a picture on silly putty being stretched out (did you ever do that with the comic strips when you were younger or did I just show my age?) or super squatty and pudgy if you push it in from the sides.  Four corners only. Make that your re-sizing mantra.

Be sure to use your align tool if you're like me and require continuity.  I can't live without it.  On the top menu bar, select:  Arrange, Align, and then Center Vertically On Page and Center Horizontally On Page.  Of course, if you're going for an artistic quality being off-centered or simply to the side, eye ball it!

You can go back and select the font and size of the month and numbers on the calendar by going back into the Calendars menu and selecting Edit.  You can also change the size and color of the lines (you can even select NO lines if you want!) as well as the location of the numbers (i.e. top right, top left, bottom right, bottom left).  You have a lot of options for calendars!

Before you finish, if you're anal like me, you can go in and add text boxes and add special days and birthdays.  For this sample, I didn't as that would have taken a little longer, but while I'm on vacation, I'll be making a calendar for the year and I'll take the time to add all those special birthdays and holidays before I print.  I think I'll also grab our Cinch Bindery Tool and bind my calendar (if you do this, just remember to leave a little extra space at the top for the "binding" area).  If you're interested in a Cinch, I'll be talking to Mary to see if we can add those back to our inventory in our shop.  I'll keep you posted on that one.  Until then, here's my simple 2-minute calendar page:

As with any project you create in MyMemories, please have fun and enjoy yourself because, well, isn't that what scrapping is all about?  Happy Digi Scrappin'!

MyMemories V4 is HERE!

What's New in MyMemories Suite?

Already rated as the #1 scrapbook software, MyMemories Suite v4 delivers more new features and content.

• Export to SVG to use with your Electronic Die Cutter
• More Custom Canvas Sizes
• New Paint Tool
• Improved Printing from Home
• Global Search and Add
• Photo Recolor Options
• Change Shape Option
• Photo Tiling
• Rip Photo Edge
• In Software Customized Artwork Organization
• Mirror and Flip Groups
• Mirror and Flip Backgrounds
• Enhanced Text Features
  • tracking
  • text inside shapes
  • text mirroring
  • top, middle and bottom justification
• Enhanced Word Art Features
• 15 New Designer Templates
  • 210 Backgrounds
  • 753 Embellishments
  • 587 Monograms

Click here to order and be sure to use the special code:  STMMMS70891 at checkout to receive $10 off the software. You'll also receive a $10 certificate to use in the MyMemories Design Shop!

Happy Digi-Scrappin'!