Hi! After 3&1/2 years of collecting materials and reading 'Memory Makers' magazine, I've finally succeeded in completing several pages. In fact, I've started "memory photo albums" for both sets of grandparents! They will each receive a "starter" scrapbook with six pages of photo memory pages of their grandson and a promise of additional memory photo pages to be sent every few months. Now I just need to complete the pages for our book! I had planned on starting a scrapebook when our son was born 3&1/2 years ago, but I felt so overwhelmed about "how to" that I only succeeded in making one page. What finally got me stated was a set of really great photos from a family trip to Florida with my parents and my brother's family, and the need for some really great Mother's Day gifts. So, I found this great little package of beach scrapebook making pharaphernalia and now, there's no stopping me. I've made twevele page (six for each book) in two weeks! I think what keeps me motivated is that I know that both my mom and my mom-in-law will get a real kick (not to mention both dads) out of the albums. I can just see my mom now---she's going to feel so pround showing-off her grandson's memory album to all her co-workers (all of whom are teachers and will just love the concept!). Anyway, I just found this site and think it's great. Can't wait to read all the postings! Now I have a question: What does "cm" stand for? Is it a mail-order catologue? Thanks for all the great info.

My friend and I run a Scrapbook Summit and this is our third year -- always on the first May weekend and falls on Nat'l SB Day. This year we have 107 scrappers meeting in the Berkshires for F/S/S at a great Inn. Always lots of fun and on Saturday it's pajama night!!! Becky

Thanks, Diane, and no, it's just me and my scrapbook... I have 'scrapper's block' or something right now, I'm trying to decide what I want to add to my pages. For me, it's a way to stop fooling around with web pages! I think paper is more creative than the screen, anyway! I see in your bio that you make laundry soap...I've recently made a dishwasher 'soap' that I like. It's posted at my recipe site...I love homemade products, especially since they don't bother my sinuses as much as commercial products. Hey, maybe I'll check out the Kitchen Table forum, too, and see what that is...

Hi, I see that it's been a little while since you posted this, but I wanted to share the info I have in case you still need it. I discovered Creative Memories Digital Scrapping software around 6 months ago and haven't looked back. I packed up all my traditional stuff, (and I had lots and lots of it...) and I'm now trying to decide who to give it to. Creative Memories is great, I had tried scrapping with Adobe Photoshop Elements since I already used it to manipulate my photos, but I could never get the hang of it, (I've since discovered that many other people say the same thing, you have to have a good working knowledge of it to scrap with it.) CM does all the major things that PSE does, you can lasso an area and turn a photo into sepia or b/w while leaving that one spot in color just for one example. There are bunches of free paper collections that you can download, along with a free version of the scrapping software, Storybook Creator. The free version is very limited in what it will do though, you can basically only use it to drag and drop photos into all the pre-designed pages available. It's not terribly expensive, and if you buy the beginners collection you get a 39.95 coupon toward a storybook, (an 8x8 is around 40.00.) With it you also get a large kit of paper/embellishments/overlays, (which you can fill with color, gradients, paper, etc.)/and word art. You can do things like change the look of a piece of paper or embellishment simply by changing the hue or color of it. You can change it to match your photos or just to get several different looks from the same paper or embellishment. CM collections that are available to purchase, (in addition to the free ones) are very inexpensive. They range from 3.95 to 9.95 for a very large collection. There are also freebies added daily to my website that you can download, or you can use products that are not CM although I rarely need to because they have so much to choose from. I know some people like to use the freebies you find online though and most of those are compatible with it. I was so impressed with the company that I signed up as a consultant a few weeks ago and I'm loving it. I have a Facebook group called Tamela's Scrapbooking Divas where you can check out some of my work along with a few other people who have posted there. The software is extrememly user friendly and what I do is teach people how to use it, in addition to the free web claasses that CM offers covering beginning to advanced techniques. If you would like more info just e-mail me at Tgillespie67@aol.com and put CM in the subject line so I know to open it. I will be happy to tell you how to download the free software and papers if you contact me. Sorry, I didn't mean for this to be so long... Have a great evening! Tamela (Tammy) Gillespie