first day of school traditions

Here is a blast from the past...originally posted in 2009 on a dash from Donna Lyn... 

our tradition is to take a photo of our 3 girls and a prince by the front door on the first day of school and the last day of school each school year. These photos go in our scrapbook and are a quick peek at how amazingly fast they grow. They are always so excited in these pictures: the first day of school - excited to get their schedule, see their friends....and the last day of school - excited for summer!


Blondie pointed out that she is now tall enough to have the wreath mistaken for hair extensions - oops!


but she smartly stepped aside...her last year of jr. high



Jelly-in-the-middle's first year of Jr High...


and I begged her to wear her hair down...and she did!

My Hero takes time off work each year to be there for the First Day of School....I talked to so many moms later that night asking them how their kid's first day of school was only to hear "I was at work today, by the time I got home, they didn't say much or didn't talk about it." Awww...too bad. Our 3 girls and a prince are always bursting with news about their first impressions but it's always immediately after school - a small window of time. Another tradition I have is baking chocolate chip cookies on their first day so when they get home they walk into a warm and delicious smelling home. I'm one of 'those moms'...a cookie-bakin', kitchen-table kinda mom. And yes, I'm a working mom, but I do take this day off of work. It's an important tradition...and only happens once. One year I had an amazing Leadership Trip to attend that fell right on Blondie's first day of Kindergarten. Nuh-uh...didn't go.

Sugar's first day of second grade


lots of time before the Prince hits that wreath! one more year of preschool...my little guy is also growing up. chocolate chip cookies are a comfort to momma too...sweet babies spreading their wings...

Playing with Paper...Wall Art and Miniature House Wallpaper

Creative Memories Designer Papers aren't just for putting in scrapbooks....these beautiful papers also look great showcased on a wall. Simply start with 12x12 art canvases and a jar of decoupage medium. Easy, beautiful and inexpensive home decor!

Here is another fun idea using Scrapbook Paper....Karen (A house full of sunshine) transformed a wood dollhouse with white paint and scrapbook paper as "wall paper" - I love this!  

You can find Karen's "how to" steps on PracticallyFunctional.com or the link on my Pinterest "Miniatures" board.

Happy Scrappin'

Creative Memories Coupon!

Ooohhh, I love FREE Gifts!  August 11-18 when you place a $100 order via my website link I will give you a $25 Dream Big product package!!

Place a $501 order via my website link and I will give you a $100 Dream Bigger product package!!

www.creativememories.com/user/donnalyn

To redeem:  When the total reaches either $100 or $501, you will see a large notice and image when you visit the View Cart page.  Click on Add to Cart to have the free gift applied to your order.  You will see the product packages of free gifts included with the other products in your Cart, showing a price of $0.00  Woot! Woot!

Thank you for being the very BEST customers and followers!!  (p.s. you may share this with your friends!)

Happy Scrappin'  

Caleb Hayhoe, Creative Memories new owner

Who is Caleb, you ask?

Caleb goes way back...Caleb Hayhoe's product design and sourcing company provided tools for CM's product line back in the 90's.  Caleb fell in love with the Creative Memories mission and commitment to quality. Over the years Caleb attended many Creative Memories Showcase National Conventions, workshops and parties. 

Fast forward to the financial challenges faced by Creative Memories and Ahni &Zoe, Caleb knew how much passion still existed for the brands and their products. So when the company came up for sale, he was convinced that CM could be renewed with the right business model. 

Caleb is now the proud owner of both brands (CM and Ahni&Zoe) and the proprietary manufacturing and testing equipment. Did you know that CM is also in Japan? The albums and refill pages are Made in the USA but exported to Japan where the CM business is thriving (Caleb purchased CM Japan as well).

The products, equipment and brands are the same, but this is truly a new business with a new owner. It's well-backed financially, debt-free and relocated into a smaller facility in St Cloud, Minnesota, U.S.A. 

We are no longer a party-plan business but an affiliate business where customers can purchase products directly through my website link OR they can sign up as Advisors themselves with no minimums and no quotas - just an opportunity to share their personal CM website link and receive commission based on sales through their unique link.  

As for me, I'm super thrilled that Caleb "gets it" and has brought back the beloved Creative Memories Bookcloth Coversets and plain Refill Pages (including Page Protectors and clear Pocket Pages) as well as the predecorated Fast2Fab albums that many of us have come to LOVE for their quickness and beauty.

Thank you for believing in the Creative Memories quality and brand!!

Happy Scrappin'

DL

update to my Creative Memories website

Creative Memories continues to improve our Advisor links. Now you will see my photo when you shop with me. This will ensure you are using an Advisor's link and will ensure that you are shopping with the Advisor of your choice!  I appreciate your business sooo much! 

It is exciting to have scrapbookers from all over the country using me as their CM Advisor! With over 20 years experience using Creative Memories supplies and enjoying my own completed family albums, it is truly a joy and a privilege serving you and helping you with your precious photos and memory preservation.

This Saturday I will be hosting a local Workshop. I'll post some photos so if you want to "virtually" scrapbook with us, I would love to have you check in and report your progress, share your ideas, etc... You can join us on my Facebook page: 

 www.facebook.com/adashofscrapbooking 

Saturday, July 11, 9am-2pm PST 

I'll also be sharing some of the NEW July products and a FUN idea creating baby onesie cards using Creative Memories Shape Maker!

Happy Scrappin'

Creative Memories What's New July 2015

Creative Memories has some bright new colors coming out of Minnesota today!

Please help me welcome:

"Be Bold & Flourish"  Fast2Fabulous Album (12x12)

(comes with decorated cover, pre-decorated pages, and a set of Page Protectors!)

"Be Bold & Flourish" Assorted 12x12 Paper Pack

"Be Bold & Flourish" Slide-in Pack (predecorated 6x4 journaling boxes and photo mats) 

Three bright new 12x12 bookcloth coversets in Sunshine, Teal and Coral!

perfect for summertime memories, babies, beach trips, weddings, and more!

New Paper Pack:

Red, White and Blue Paper Pack

12 sheets of 12x12 double-sided exclusive designs (both sides shown below) in patriotic colors make any album page or card making festive!

 Coming mid-July......Two new Border Maker Catridges:

Filmstrip

and

Stars

Also coming mid-July...ABC/123 Stickers:

Gold

and

Black

and a NEW 12" Straight Trimmer

Creative Memories new owner is keeping his promise of bringing us traditional products we love!  Thank you for letting me be your Creative Memories Advisor. I hope you enjoy this Product Preview and Sneak Peek.  

Happy Scrappin'

My "new" old Cricut Machine

I am now the proud owner of a Cricut Machine! Yes, it only took me 15 years to take the plunge, haha.  It is the old-school kind (meaning that it doesn't hook up to the computer). 

It basically cuts out shapes and letters from paper (using the cartridges it came with) and you can adjust the sizes to use for bulletin boards, card making, scrapbooking, etc..

It's called "Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter."  My neighbor told me she heard there was a scrapbook room at a local Estate Sale so I went to check it out. I arrived 15 minutes before they closed on Sunday. I found the sacred scrapbook room and said a silent "bless you." I was happy they weren't selling her scrapbooks and I was relieved I didn't see any uncompleted projects or photos.

I found the machine-that-always-intimidated-me marked with a $167 tag and a $250 receipt tucked in the manual.  The sale was quickly closing and dishes were starting to be packed up. 

I offered $50 and guess what?

They said sure!

It came with 4 Cricut Cartridges, 2 replacement blades, a pack of Cricut paper, 5 Cricut ink markers and 10 Cricut cutting mats. They also had some other things in the box as well including a Creative Memories cutting mat (slightly used). I hope that's a good deal. 

I also purchased several bags of Ribbon for just a few dollars. I LOVE using ribbon - not so much in my scrapbooking, but I love using ribbon because I love wrapping presents! So now I have a ton of really cute spools of ribbon to add to my gift wrapping stash!

I'm sorry the owner passed away and I don't know her 'story' but I do hope she would be happy knowing that some of her supplies will be put to good use and creativity. I'm grateful I could get this older version and not have one that connects to the internet. I'm already on the computer a lot and I prefer to go offline when I'm scrappin'.

How about you? What is the best "deal" you've found at an Estate Sale recently?  Do you enjoy going to Estate Sales? I would love for you to share you comments below!

Happy Scrappin'

How to make a Father's Day Shirt & Tie Card

Finally! A shirt and tie that Dad will love! 

I think homemade cards are the best, don't you?

You can download a free pdf of instructions on how to make this card by using this link:
http://d2gcc62nhy2pl5.cloudfront.net/media/wysiwyg/ShirtTieCard.pdf

Happy Scrappin'

Creative Memories While Supplies Last List

We are making room for some NEW products coming out so the following products will be available only While Supplies Last starting June 1, 2015....you can check prices/availability on my website: 

 creativememories.com/user/donnalyn

Little Lady Fast2Fab Scrapbook Album

includes pre-decorated baby girl pages and Page Protectors

Mr. Mister Fast2Fab Scrapbook Album

includes pre-decorated baby boy pages and Page Protectors

This is a Creative Memories Bookcloth coverset only (pages sold separately)

Orchid You Not Mini (8x8) Fast2Fab Scrapbook Album

includes pre-decorated pages and Page Protectors

Dual-tip Pen in Spring Green (one side is Bold tip, one side is Fine tip)

I'm hoping this means that a NEW 12-inch+ Trimmer is coming....will let you know asap but in the meantime, this is a super handy Trimmer for smaller paper, photos and craft projects. The arm on the left swings out so you can measure both vertically and horizontally

 while you're cutting.

Sooo as much as we begged them to offer 8x8 mini albums, these have not been a very big seller. They have decided to take them out of our Core Album line and instead offer them a couple of times per year in a theme or giftable format.  

I hope this info is helpful. Thank you so much for your interest in Creative Memories. I'm so happy to be helping you find the very best for your precious memories!

Happy Scrappin'

Memorial Day

Arlington cemetery- page from my Washington DC scrapbook - we arrived at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier right when the changing of the guard was taking place. The dedication, commitment & sacrifice was evident to all. 

Memorial Day or as it was known "Decoration Day" was started when the women of Mississippi honored the graves of both Confederate and Union Soldiers by covering them with flowers. People all over America were inspired by this.

On May 30, 1868, General Logan issued an order that "every post of the Grand Army of the Republic should hold suitable excercises and decorate the graves of their dead comrades with flowers." 

Now Decoration day is known as Memorial Day - where we pay tribute to the men and women who have died for our freedom. 

High School Graduation Party Photo Displays

Here are some fun ways to show off photos of the graduate...

I think every graduation party should have school portraits hung up - seeing the progression of time from adorable preschooler, growing elementary schooler, awkward middle schooler, blooming high schooler....it is such fun to see it all together!

You can tape the portraits to a stand-up Display Board (tri-fold board from Office Depot), put them in a pocket-style Portrait Album, or just clip them to some pretty ribbon and string along your window like this:

I attached the ribbon with a thumbtack hidden just between the window frame and wall, then covered the thumbtacks up with some of Blondie's Cheerleading Bows in the school colors. Then I hung up her 8x10 school portraits from Preschool through Senior year using miniature white clothespins. 

These portraits were easy to find because I keep them stacked in the frame hanging on our wall with the most recent portrait on top (see previous blog posts on how to Organize School Photos).

http://adashofscrapbooking.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-organize-school-photos.html

Blondie's two school albums  (see how to make School Albums) were displayed on the photo table showcasing Preschool through 8th grade in her first album and showcasing High School in her second album.  You can also throw some memorabilia on the table such as trophies, ribbons, pompoms, her diploma, etc...

Something that I heard from several of her friends who attended..."You are so lucky! I wish I had my photos in an album"....hmmm.....it was both sad and amusing to see 18-year-olds these days looking at printed photos like they were something they remember from long, long ago...maybe having seen printed photos before in some distant memory? 

I used leftover paper scraps (scrapbookers always have a stash of scraps for useful things like this) to make labels for our dessert buffet. I love labels on buffets, don't you? I want to know what it is I am about to bite into. It is also helpful for avoiding nut-allergies, etc. when buffets are labeled.

We rolled clear plastic-ware into a large white napkin, tie with sheer black ribbon to resemble a diplomas.  We put these in a large basket outside on the BBQ buffet table. 

We also displayed this book she received on her first birthday - we had a few pens on the table and asked everyone to sign her book with advice and good wishes:

You can find some other fun ideas on my High School Graduation Party Pinterest Board.

I hope this has helped you with some photo display ideas. 

Happy Graduation and Happy Scrappin'!