Creative Memories Golden Ticket Prize Package Day 2

Monday I posted our Birthday Bash Celebration News! Creative Memories is giving away 3 Golden Tickets each day. They're being placed in 3 random orders throughout the day, each day this week! When you place an order via my website you may be the lucky recipient of a Golden Ticket. 

Tuesday's Golden Ticket can be redeemed for:

Everyone who places an order via my website today will receive a free 3-pack of Fall Stickers:

Everyone who places a $75 or more order via my website on Tuesday will receive free shipping!

Everyone who places a $250 or more order via my website on Tuesday will also receive one of these two Exclusive 12x12 Coversets with silver foil seasons design!

 So much to celebrate! Thank You for a phenomenal year!

 Happy Scrappin'

Creative Memories Birthday Bash!!

Hi Friends! This week we are celebrating Creative Memories Birthday - one year since we kicked off CM with our new owner Caleb!  Our first year has exceeded all expectations and we would like to thank you for making it phenomenal! 

Creative Memories is offering some very fun "gifts" this week only.....

11am CST, Monday, November 2 through 3pm CST, Friday, November 9, 2015

Every order placed via my website will get a FREE 3-pack of Fall Stickers!

Every order of $75 or more placed via my website will get FREE Shipping!

Every order of $250 or more via my website will get an Exclusive 12x12 Bookcloth Album Cover in either Warm Sand or Smoky Blue with a gorgeous silver foil etched design of four seasons! (colors will be randomly selected)

Each day during the Birthday Bash, our elves will place a sparkly Golden Ticket into 3 randomly selected orders during different times of the day! 

If you are the lucky recipient of a Golden Ticket, follow the instructions to redeem your ticket for a Product Prize Package! There will be a different Prize Package associated with each day's ticket.  Today's Golden Ticket holders can redeem it for a Fall In Collection:

My focus is on simplicity and completing albums in a fast, easy way but I know many of you enjoy being crafty and using your paper and tools and embellishments to enhance your photo albums so I will be sharing project ideas during our Birthday Bash week too!

Now...to help kick off the holiday season....take a look at what just launched today:

Happy, Happy Birthday CM!

Happy Scrappin'

Halloween Costume Scrapbook

As you are taking photos of your ghosts and goblins this weekend, I thought you might want some ideas on how to enjoy these photos for years to come.  A Halloween or Fall Festival Theme Album is a super fun way to capture creative costumes and fun times!

If Halloween is a favorite holiday for you - packed with parties, Trunk or Treat, school Fall Festivals, etc.., then you should probably use a 12x12 Album like this Black Mica Pumpkin Patch album cover. You can't see it in the photo but the cover actually has reflective flecks woven into the bookcloth for an iridescent effect! It's lovely!

If you aren't a big fan of Halloween and only let your kids dress up but don't have many activities involved, then I suggest a smaller album like a 7x7 or 8x8 size with just one photo per year to document the costumes. This will be so much fun to quickly see the progression of time as you flip through years of dress-up in just 12 pages (24 sides).

This 8x8 album (pictured above) is pre-decorated so all you do is tape your photo onto the page and you're done!  It's soo easy!  You can write the date/year beneath the photo at the minimum or you can add a story about the costume:

Why they chose it

Was it store bought or home made?

If home made, who made it?

What were the popular Halloween costumes this year?

What candy did you give away?

Or what was their favorite candy this year?

The Fast2Fab albums come with Page Protectors so when you're done adding the photo and any journaling, you just slip on the protective clear cover and you don't have to do anything to it until next year when you add the next costume photo. This keepsake will be a nice fall decoration on your coffee table each year and you can enjoy it for years to come! Even the future grandchildren will enjoy seeing their parents Halloween costumes in this handy little album. 

For those of you who like to get creative, here are some NEW Halloween Stickers and Papers just for you:

You can cut and paste to your hearts delight with Creative Memories Trick or Treat Paper Pack and Trick or Treat Stickers! (you can use the CM link on the right-hand side of this blog to get to my website or click on one of the photos)

The black and green border was made with the Border Maker and Bubbles Cartridge

The stickers are from the Trick or Treat Sticker Pack

I hope you enjoy these ideas

Have a safe, memory-making Candy Day!

Happy Scrappin'

Christmas Countdown

I'm so excited! Today I received Email #1 in Cynthia Ewer's Countdown to Christmas and this time I am actually going to do it! 

I love Christmas and I want to enjoy every minute of the holiday festivities - from Thanksgiving through New Year's! For a busy mom of 4, it takes some planning and preparation in order for me to truly enjoy "the reason for the season" and not get suckered into a frenzy of consumerism, stress, and unrealistic expectations.

If you would like to get started on an Organized Christmas too, head on over to Cynthia's blog and sign up for her email assignments. You can also download her free Christmas Calendar/Planner notebook!  Sweet!!

christmas.organizedhome.com/christmas-countdown/home

Xoxoxoxo 

DL 

Joining Legacy Republic

Soo this was how I was welcomed into the Legacy Republic family today!  They posted this photo on Facebook - pretty cute, right?  (this was just one photo in a series of new September enrollments but I happened to notice my name - does that make me Famous? or does that make me Vintage? At least they didn't put me on a Beta! Haha).

I packed up my first shipment today...a bit nervous, but mostly excited!  I'm sending in 5 of my personal MiniDV's to have them transferred onto DVD's (that also includes a private online account where I can access them to share or edit from my computer or phone or tablet! And, of course, my old tapes will be mailed back to me along with the new DVDs).

The ordering process was super easy and the packing instructions very thorough. I took my time because I wanted everything to be correct and safe as possible. Legacy Republic entrusts us with caring for our client's memories as if they were our very own.  Going through this process of mailing some of my home movies to be transferred to DVDs certainly helps me experience what my clients may be feeling when using my services. 

I wonder if my home movies will be embarrassing? (no doubt!), silly, sad, boring, adorable, hilarious....?

all of the above?

I wonder and I wait....

Home Movie Conversion

I'm excited to announce my business is expanding to include "old" media conversion service! 

Putting these precious "old" memories (1995 is now considered old?!) onto DVD's and, even better, onto Cloud storage where they can be accessed via a home computer or smart phone with endless possibilities for duplication, sharing and enjoyment!

I'm sending my first package off today and I can't wait to receive it back and have a family movie night starring my kids!  I'll share some snippets with you too (don't worry, this is not your 1950's style boring Slide Show...I'll actually be able to share snippets from the DVD via Facebook, email, blog, etc... ).  Eventually I want to transfer all of my old media over but I'm so excited to see how this all works that I decided to send in a few 8mm tapes that I had taken during My Hero's deployment back in 2006.

Being a "single mom" to 4 kiddos during those 9 months was very challenging. I'm not sure I was very good at it. In fact, I think some of the videos might show me pretty exhausted and maybe a bit impatient....but I kind of remember maintaining a sense of humor (at least I hope I did) and it was a precious time for our family as we went through that separation having "daddy" gone. 

The company I am partnering with is called Legacy Republic.  Does that sound like something out of Star Wars?  

"Nap or do not, there is no try."

(That's my cat Buddy, by the way....you can follow him on Instagram @napfordays   

Don't you think he would make a great Legacy Republic mascot?)

So it's definitely not Star Wars affiliated....it's actually a legit company in California (this California girl says Yay!!) with the technology, know how and careful attention to detail that helped me decide to offer this service to my clients.  

I'll keep you posted on how the videos turn out!  

Happy Scrappin' and Memory Keepin'

Donna Lyn 

Creative Memories Advisor 

creativememories.com/user/donnalyn

and Legacy Maker

donnalyn.legacyrepublic.com

Why First Day of School Pictures are so important

I recently reposted a blog post from 2009 where I shared my family tradition of taking a photo on the first day of school. Today I want to show you this side-by-side photo I stitched together using the i-Phone app "PicCollage."  I was able to stitch together a photo of the Prince from his first day of Kindergarten (pulled off of my Facebook page) and then a photo from his first day of 5th grade (right from my phone).

THIS is why I take first day of school photos...just look at the perspective! First year of elementary school vs last day of elementary school. Be still my heart!! Enough to make a grown momma cry....

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