Trying Digital Scrapbooking and a Great Giveaway!

(This giveaway has ended.)

I respectfully ask that you not pin pictures of my children to Pinterest. Thank you!
 I would love to be all caught up with having my photos in scrapbooks but I am so far behind. One of the hardest things to scrapbook is when you have a ton of photos from just one event like a birthday or Christmas. It feels like you either have to cut out a bunch of great pics or you end up with 10 pages!
Worse still are vacation photos! We came back from Disney with hundreds of photos! If I try to scrapbook those, I'll be doing Disney pages for years.

Fortunately for me, I was contacted by My Memories to review their digital scrapbooking software awhile back. I'd just been so busy with the end of school, wedding stuff, vacations, and prepping for VBS that I didn't have time to even look at it until now. I love regular old cut and stick scrapbooking with paper and embellies so I've never really tried any digital scrapbooking. Mostly because I thought it would be too hard and take too long. I'm happy to say that with My Memories Suite, I was totally wrong.

With all of the pre-loaded content My Memories Suite comes with, it's super easy to just jump right in and create something. After installing the software, I was able to make this in a matter of minutes.

The paper background, ribbon, brads, and flower embellies are all included! I used one of the included layout templates and just dropped in my own pics. I added shadows to all the pics and embellies to give it a more dimensional look. Another super cool thing.... the fonts you can choose from are the fonts installed on your own computer. So all my cool fonts are available in the software. I wasn't limited to just a few basic fonts.

In this layout, I used my neat African font for the title. I added ric-rac ribbon and a paper strip behind the photos. I also added a border around all the pics. (It only took 2 clicks to do it!)

 

And here's another page because I seriously could not stop myself. (This was too much fun!) Again the backgrounds, embellies, and journalling box are all elements that are included.

I think all my "I'm-too-busy" excuses for not scrapbooking are now blown out of the water. This scrapbook software makes it super easy to actually get pages done so I can preserve our memories while I still remember what the memories are. They even have photo book options where you can create an entire album super easily. I think that might be how I tackle our Disney pics. It'll be more than just a photo album but way less time than a traditional scrapbook. Win, win!
I think this will be a great way to compile our homeschool memories too. I could easily make nice collage pages of science experiments or art projects to include in our portfolios.
Maybe like this:

I would show you the picture collages I did put in this year's portfolios but after creating the above layout, I'm way too embarrassed to show you the terrible job I did in MS Publisher. Let's just say that this is a MAJOR improvement. And it took less time than what I made before. :)

They have so many great (and inexpensive) kits and templates on their site too.

Here are some of the great features of My Memories Suite:

"It has over 1500 background papers, 1300+ embellishments, 20 new templates, a new Resource Gallery that lets you drag and drop pictures, embellishments, shapes, backgrounds and more directly onto your layout. There is also a new Photo Wizard to help you assemble your book quickly and easily. Other new features include Word Art, giving you the ability to type text around your pictures and shapes, plus the ability to type text directly on the canvas and zoom in on your page."

You could make all sorts of things like cards, photo books, blog banners, business cards, calendars, posters, and of course scrapbooks! Or make some seasonal art like this using one of our beach pics:

Just print and frame. Easy peasy. Want to up the cool factor? You can even add music, web links, video, and sound to your projects. I could include a video of the Magic Kingdom's Main Street Electric Parade right in our book!

Do you want to try it for yourself??? Here's your chance!
Thanks to MyMemories.com, I'm able to give away a copy of the downloadable My Memories Suite (a $40 value) to one of my readers! (My first official give-away ever!!) Here are the rules:

Mandatory entry: 
#1 Let me know what pics/event you need to scrapbook and visit MyMemories.com to choose your favorite digital paper pack or layout that would help you get it done! Leave a comment telling me which one you love the most. Be warned... it'll be hard to choose just one!

You can earn extra entries if you:
#2 Follow my blog via RSS or Google friend connect (if you already follow, just leave a comment saying so)
#3 Follow My Memories blog - http://blog.mymemories.com/
#4 Follow My Memories on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593
#5 Follow My Memories on Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite


Just leave a separate comment for each entry.
Contest ends on July 11, 2012.
This giveaway has ended. See the winner here.


Can't wait to see if you win??? MyMemories.com is also offering a special deal for my readers --- $10 off the purchase of the My Memories Suite scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store --- a $20 value! Just use this code when you check out: STMMMS89634




Fine Print: 
Winner will be chosen randomly via random.org then announced on my blog and contacted via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.


Disclaimer: I was given a copy of the My Memories Suite to review. All opinions are my own. :)

Linking up to these great blog parties:

Sunday: Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming; Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife;
Tuesday: One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons; Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia;
Wednesday: Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman; It's Overflowing at Overflowing with Creativity; Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts;
Home Decor & Organizing at Organize and Decorate Everything;
Thursday: Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order; Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty and Fabuless;  Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage;
Friday: Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest; Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring; One Creative Weekend at One Creative Mommy