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 Monday, December 03, 2007
What's a Master's Challenge?
12/3/2007 11:34:14 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) Beginning with the January 2008 issue of MM, you’ll find a Master’s Challenge inside every issue (where you’ll find it will vary by page number in each issue).
Here's how it works:
In each issue, one of the Masters will publish a challenge and her
layout in response to her own challenge. Then, you get to respond with
your own layouts. The Master who issued the challenge will visit the
forum thread and provide feedback on all the layouts posted. Fear
not—the feedback will be offered with the kindest of intentions to
applaud a job well done, to offer suggestions for different ways to
achieve a certain technique or to provide helpful tips for future
projects.
Here's the link to where you can post your responses to the January challenge. The January issue is on sale now, if you're not a subscriber, at your favorite bookseller or online. Or click here if you want to become a subscriber and get your issues before they hit the newsstand! Peace and love, Patty p.s. For those of you who got socked with the winter storms this weekend, I hope you're safe and warm. And perhaps you got a chance to scrap on your snow day?!
12/3/2007 11:34:14 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
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Saturday, December 01, 2007
Happy December 1st
12/1/2007 4:05:10 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) Just stopping by to wish all of you a delightful first day of December. After running some errands and picking up groceries, I'm back inside and getting ready to decorate my home for the holidays. It's gray and cold outside (with rain in the forecast), so I'm looking forward to an evening of holiday music and decorating. After the decorating is complete, I'll make pizza and curl up on the couch to watch a few favorite holiday movies. What are your plans for today/this evening? Decorating? Shopping? In other news, I received some very exciting mail today: handmade journaling spots from Every Jot and Tittle. I LOVE journaling accessories, so I can't wait to use these. Perhaps I'll have some time to play tomorrow afternoon.  What are your favorite ways to add journaling to your pages? Have a lovely rest of the weekend. Katie
12/1/2007 4:05:10 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, November 30, 2007
Are you our winner?
11/30/2007 7:40:57 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) I'm blogging in the comfort of my jammies this morning with my Christmas tree aglow, my kitten (Boo) in her usual spot lying across my left arm as I try to type, and my one decadent cup of coffee at hand. This end-of-year time gets busy on every level -- at work we're wrapping up projects for this year and forecasting what's to come for 2008, and at home I'm making gift lists, organizing cookie exchanges and anticipating all the joy that Christmas brings. So I'm taking this quiet, early-morning moment to chat with y'all. (Thanks for joining me for coffee this a.m.!) We issued a creativity challenge on Tuesday 11/27 (scroll down to read all the details) and we already have a couple great entries in the forum. TOTALSCRAPPER posted an Andy-Warhol inspired layout entitled Catitudes (Boo loves it!) and LSHORTS posted Moonlight Kisses (adorable!). Someone is going to win a prize package from KI Memories worth more than $80, so take some time out of your own busy schedule and create a response to our black-&-white challenge. You deserve some fun, too, as you're balancing the demands of life. CLARIFICATION for the challenge: Within your 8.5x11 layout there may be one 5x7 area of color or colored/patterned paper. I'll leave you with this quote: When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
~Jimi Hendrix peace and love, patty
11/30/2007 7:40:57 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, November 29, 2007
Having Fun with the Embrace Life FREE Digital Kit
11/29/2007 4:06:58 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  This is my first creation with Sande Krieger's Embrace Life Kit that you can download here for free. The colors are nice and bright and complemented the photo I edited at picnik.com perfectly. One of my favorite embellishments in the kit is the swirl with the music notes inside. They were originally black and white but I changed the color in Photoshop Elements going to Enhance - Adjust Color – Hue/Saturation. I then clicked the colorized button and adjusted the hue/saturation levels to match the other colors in the layout. This layout was inspired by a recent road trip my boyfriend and I had to Baton Rouge. On the way home we spent a few hours in Nashville, Tennessee. The city is alive with the sounds of music…ahhhhh (I can hear Julie Andrews now). And it’s booming out of every bar or should I say, honky tonk. It was such a fun break in our 14-hour road trip. Zach even let me take a few posed shots of him like the one I used in this layout. I hope you have fun creating amazing things with Sande’s Embrace Life Kit! Create Something. Inspire Everyone. GinaMarie
Digital Scrapbooking
11/29/2007 4:06:58 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Five easy ways to use the newest version of Adobe Photoshop Elements for fixing and sharing digital photos.
11/28/2007 3:19:14 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) One of my favorite Web sites, popphoto.com, has a great article on using the latest version of Adobe Photoshop Elements (version 5) to enhance photos. Check out the new, free, online community for Adobe Photoshop Elements users where you can publish and preserve your Photoshop Elements creations. Christy
11/28/2007 3:19:14 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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A Work in "Progress"
11/28/2007 1:52:41 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) Howdy and happy Wednesday! I mentioned over the weekend that I had worked on the beginnings of an "Our House" album. It's in the same state it was Friday night, as I have yet to take photos and journal. Still, I thought I'd share anyway because I have no idea when I'll actually get around to completing it. Confession: I love making mini-albums, but I have a terrible tendancy to then take days, weeks, even months to actually include photos and journaling. I'm quite the starter, but not much of a finisher! My follow-through often leaves much to be desired if I don't have a hard deadline. But, I know it will get finished "someday." No guilt allowed. What "someday" scrapbooking projects are on your list? Leave a comment and let me know!    supplies: Epoxy sticker, ribbon, rub-ons, patterned paper (KI Memories) | Misc.: binder rings, chipboard Best, Beth
11/28/2007 1:52:41 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Ready to WIN a KI Memories prize package?
11/27/2007 3:28:18 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) It’s been too long since our last creativity challenge! Rev your creative engines and post your response to this week’s challenge in the forum at Black-&-White Challenge by midnight Tuesday, December 11. The winner of this challenge, chosen at random from all submissions, will receive a prize package valued at more than $80 from KI Memories. The prize package is full of paper, chipboard, borderlines, tattoos and ribbon. Check it out below. Prize package includes: Hip Chip Accents, Sashes, Mini-Sashes, 3 packages of Softies, Borderlines, Chipboard Album and 16 packages of Tattoos.  Here are the challenge requirements: • Create a 1pg, 8.5x11 layout • Use one or more photos; photo may be color or black and white. • Show only one section of your layout, measuring no more than 5x7, of color/patterned paper. Keep all other papers, embellishments, etc., black and white. • Theme: True Colors (interpret as you will!) • Deadline: Midnight on Tuesday, December 11 We can’t wait to see your layouts posted in the forum, and to give away the KI Memories prize package worth more than $80! Peace and love, Patty
11/27/2007 3:28:18 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, November 26, 2007
Holiday Preparations
11/26/2007 1:40:50 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) It's a gray, rainy Monday here in Cincinnati, and I'm back in the office after some relaxing time off spent with family.
I've got a busy week and weekend ahead of me:
*The Memory Makers staff is beginning to work on the next issue (always exciting!).
*I've got all of my holiday decorating to do (also exciting because I
love the process of getting in the holiday spirit). I'll turn on some
holiday tunes, make a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and get to
work decorating (while trying to keep my kitten Mia from getting in to
everything).
*I have to make and send all of my holiday cards.
Whew! I'll be busy—but a good busy. I love the hustle and bustle of the holidays.
As I make holiday plans and to-do lists this season, I'm reminded of
family traditions and memories of past happy holidays. But with all of
the activities and rushing around, it's often hard to find time to
document the memories I'm making. If you're in the same boat, you
might be interested in the online class Journaling Your Christmas, which starts December 1 and ends January 6. Course participants receive daily prompts that include a theme for that day’s page,
writing to get them inspired and eye candy from a variety of
artists.
If you sign up for this online course, you'll receive the following:
*37 daily prompts from December 1 to January 6
*November preparation prompts
*Three audio messages
*Access to a private forum for members to chat and share their work
*Access to a permanent archive of the course materials
*Ongoing membership for every Christmas that you would like to participate
Visit www.shimelle.co.uk for more information and to sign up.
Best of luck with your own holiday preparations. And if you have any crafty decorating ideas (or tasty hot cocoa recipes), please share!
—Katie
11/26/2007 1:40:50 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Saturday, November 24, 2007
Pieces of My Thanksgiving
11/24/2007 11:31:33 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  I've been having a wonderful Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekend with my family. We've been sharing many delicious dishes, watching movies, catching up, relaxing and just generally enjoying each other's company. I am grateful for all of these simple pleasures shared with loved ones.
Yesterday, my sister and I spent hours scrapbooking at the dining room table. It was the perfect time to just play with our supplies and chat. Below, you can see a peek of one of the pages I created about one of my good friends from high school and college. And to the right of that is my fantastic sister.   Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone. —Katie
11/24/2007 11:31:33 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Nothing Like a Long Weekend ...
11/24/2007 10:04:17 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) Love that it's only just Saturday morning and there's still pretty much a full weekend ahead. We've spent our holiday weekend kicking back ... went to see The Bee Movie, had Thanksgiving at my sister's house, assembled 3 puzzles, had lunch with my parents, started an "Our House" scrapbook (will share soon) and watched old movies on TCM. Granted, there are leaves to rake, clothes to wash, rooms to clean, Thanksgiving decorations to take down, library books to get and groceries to gather, but there's still all of Saturday and Sunday ahead of me. No rush; it will all get done with time to spare. For now, we're going to cuddle back up on the couch and hang out before the UK football and basketball games today. Hope you're having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with just the right amount of work and play. Best, Beth
11/24/2007 10:04:17 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, November 23, 2007
Did you venture out on Black Friday?
11/23/2007 10:22:03 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) Yes, I've been known to be out there among the shopoholics at those wild hours between midnight and 6:00 a.m. just to get the perfect gift at an astoundingly low price. Often I was getting something for Megan (my daughter) and would feel all smug and super-mom like because I found the must-have item on her list on sale for nearly half the original price. But this year it's been different. Maybe it's because surviving chemo and cancer have given me a new perspective on what are the most important gifts. (They're not the ones we can buy.) Or maybe it's because Megan said to me, "Mom, there's nothing I really need. And the things I want are things James and I are going to have to work toward getting ... like a home." Need, she said, not want. The times they are a changin'. This year we're all a little more serious but a whole lot more happy. (But those years when we had less stuff and yearned for something special under the tree on Christmas morning -- and then that something special was there! -- were magical.) I'm having lunch today with my big sis at Ohio's oldest inn -- the Golden Lamb -- where the likes of Charles Dickens and past presidents have dined and slept. It's snow flurrying and we'll walk around the quaint town of Lebanon. I'm as happy as a shopoholic at 4:00 a.m. at a blue light special  . Hope your post-Thanksgiving day is a good one. Peace and love, Patty
11/23/2007 10:22:03 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Do you see what I see ... ?
11/21/2007 9:46:08 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  Perhaps you thought I was going to skip Thanksgiving (what with that Christmas-carol teaser), but fear not! I love Thanksgiving best of all the holidays throughout the year, and so after I spend a half day here at the office I'm ready for four and a half days away. It's a ghost town here at the Memory Makers offices (THAT'S what I see ... a whole lot of empty seats). The rest of my team is already traveling home or starting the baking preparations for tomorrow's feast. A few of the MM Books folks are here, but it's very quiet today. Tomorrow I'll be hanging with my sister and brother-in-law, watching football and eating dinner. My daughter and her husband are cooking for friends who have to work over the holiday (bless their hearts! makes not seeing them understandable). Then the rest of the weekend I hope to spend walking in the woods at a nature preserve nearby, reading The Whispering Season and relaxing. Wishing you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Peace and love to you and yours, Patty
11/21/2007 9:46:08 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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