Creative Memories Bankruptcy - Important Closing Information

Creative Memories is in bankruptcy and they are winding down the current business.  All Creative Memories consultants will be released from their contracts at the end of August and the ordering websites will be shut down.

Here are the important dates you should know:

This Wednesday, July 31, 2013 is the last day to order album coversets, pages and protectors and tape runner refills through the Last Chance Order offer.  These items will be manufactured to fill the orders and could take weeks or months to ship.

You can find the Last Chance Order page HERE on my CM personal website.

If you need to order anything I would not wait until the last day as the servers have often been overwhelmed by large sales and you may have trouble placing an order.
 
The Creative Memories albums were one of the main reasons I got involved as a consultant and yes, I will miss them too (I have stocked up a bit for my personal use).

The last day to order from my CM personal website is August 21, 2013.  Items are available "while supplies last" and some popular items have been sold out.  There are still some coverset colors and designs available while supplies last that are not part of the Last Chance Order (but you will not be able to order pages/protectors for these after Wednesday).  All Rewards Club, Host and other Product Credits must be used by August 21st.

Four of the exclusive Creative Memories Cricut cartridges are still available, Be Young, Divine Wedding, Reminisce Accents and Stork's Delivery.  You can find them HERE.

Digital Artwork will be available for sale until August 21, 2013.

Digital Center orders will be accepted until September 23, 2013. 

The software programs (Memory Manager and StoryBook Creator) will continue to function but you will not be able to upload projects to the Digital Center for printing after September 23, 2013.  You should make sure that your programs are up to date and back up all of your Memory Vaults, Projects and Artwork.

Important information including directions on how to backup your digital programs and content are in the complete Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document for Digital Software, Artwork and the Digital Center Products which you can download HERE. 

Please leave any questions in the comments below so that I can answer them for others to see as well.  I will be sharing more information as it becomes available (updates or changes).  If you have a local consultant, please contact your consultant for ordering and questions.

I do have some information about alternatives that I will be using once the current Creative Memories is finished.  They plan to launch a new party plan company in November but very little information is available about that right now. 

I wanted to keep this post short and to the point to be sure that everyone is aware of the deadlines - but I had to add a photo for those of you who are not Creative Memories users.  The day lilies are plentiful this year - some of ours grow right next to the garage so I see them everyday.   What's blooming in your garden?

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This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product using the link I may receive a commission. I only participate in affiliate programs for products that I use or can recommend without reservation. 

Autumn Leaves (and a special box...)

Metallic cardstock is so pretty - I just love the shimmer and shine.  I found some copper metallic cardstock a while ago at the Tuesday Morning store and I have been drawn to it for many of the cards I've made recently.

This paper pad from Prima has quite a few sheets that coordinate beautifully with the copper metallic cardstock.  I cut a top layer from one of the sheets and aligned the design so there would be a leafy area along the left side and bottom of my card.

I found this little stamp set from Inkadinkado  and decided to make the card a genereic sort of note card for Fall.

I stamped the words with Versamark ink and heat embossed them with dark brown embossing powder.  I had a tiny mishap with the bottom of the "N" missing but there is always a way to cover up mistakes like this.

I had some dark brown leafy ribbon that would work perfectly for the card.  The ribbon has a thin "stem" and this can be tricky to adhere to a flat surface.  I used my Precision Point Adhesive pen and drew a line of adhesive where I wanted to place the ribbon.  It is white when you first apply it but if you wait a few minutes it will turn clear.

Once the adhesive has dried to clear, it is easy to set the thin ribbon into the adhesive.  With a little pressure it will hold quite firmly.

I cut away one of the leaves on the right side before I stuck the ribbon down on the card front.  This gave me a space to add the pretty copper leaf.  The leaf is a Metal Filigree Accent from the SEI Moonrise collection and it coordinates very nicely with the copper cardstock.  I turn over the patterned paper and secured the ends of the ribbon with tape before attaching it to the dark brown mat layer.

The stem of the metal leaf tucks under the ribbon and is hidden under a leaf.  I also used a couple of small glue dots to secure the leaf to the card.

I used the leaf that was removed from the ribbon to "accent" the words.  It very conveniently hides the small error in the stamping and a gem sticker adds a third bit of shine to the card (Embossed words, copper leaf and the gem sticker).

The card even matches my copper frog that I use for some photos! 

I have a little surprise for you today.  A year or so ago I thought about keeping a small box on my craft table and adding bits and pieces to it through the month.  It can be hard to find certain supplies and I like to share the things I have. 

I finally have a box set up and so far I have added:

1.  2 sheets of the sticky paper I used for the glittered ornament card
2.  A new set of the same Inkadinkado Autumn Leaves stamps I used on the card
3.  An 18 inch piece of the brown leaf ribbon - enough for a few cards.

I'll keep adding things until the end of the month and then I will pick a random comment from all of the posts this month and send the box to one lucky reader/commentor.

You can leave a comment on every post to increase your chances but please just leave one per post and make sure that you give me enough information so I can contact you if your comment is drawn.

Thanksgiving is just one week away - how are your preparations going?  Do you cook the entire meal or join forces with other family members? 

A few people emailed me to ask where they could buy the die that I used for the ornament card.  If you can't find the Memory Box dies at a small local store they can be ordered online.  I added links to yesterday's post HERE - just scroll to the bottom and you'll see the images of the dies.

Have a wonderful day!

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Glittering Delicate Diecuts

Some of my favorite things about the holiday season are the lights and the sparkle.  Since the winter months are so dark, we need to brighten up our surroundings as much as possible.  I think that glitter is magical and when it catches the light it always makes me smile!

Along with glitter and things that sparkle, I have a fascination with intricate cuts.  I often design and cut delicate designs that I can cut with the Cricut or Silhouette machines but they can take a long time to cut and are prone to errors, particularly when there are lots of curves that might cause the blade to "hang."  There are a number of companies that make intricate cutting dies - some of my favorites are by Memory Box.

I recently bought this die - the "Emma" ornament which has the added attraction of a snowflake design (if you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I am a little bit obsessed with snowflake patterns!).  I wanted to cut out the shape and make it as sparkly as possible.  I have various glitter papers in my stash but the twinkle of actual glitter is hard to duplicate.

 I recently bought some of this sticky back paper at my local stamp and scrap shop, Ink About It.  It is from Art Glitter and there are lots of ways you can use it (see the Art Glitter site HERE).

There are fifty card size sheets in the package - you can also buy single sheets but it actually turns out to be a little bit cheaper to get the precut package.  This paper has an edge to edge very strong adhesive on one side.

I taped the die to the paper side of the sheet and ran it through the Cuttlebug.  I needed to put it through several times to make sure that all of the fine details were cut through.  (I have noticed that sometimes my Cuttlebug leaves one area not quite cut through - I wonder if I've worn the rollers down from overuse!  Next time I'll try it with the Vagabond - the Cuttlebug was handy when I started on this project...)

I chose this beautiful blue shade of glitter from a collection pack of Martha Stewart glitters.  I  peeled off the protective backing paper from the ornament cut and poured glitter over the adhesive to get a layer of glitter on the ornament.  I poured the glitter onto a piece of scrap paper and after the top was coated I pressed the sticky side of the ornament into the glitter to be sure it was fully covered with glitter.

I was so excited to get the glitter on the ornament cut that I forgot to take photos at each step.  Here is a photo of one of the letters as I glittered it.  Once the cuts were covered in glitter I put them flat on the table and placed another piece of scrap paper on top of the glittered side and burnished the cut to make sure the glitter was completely secured.

I cut the letters using the "Jolly" font from the Holiday Frames & Tags cartridge. There are three fonts on this cartridge with upper and lower case letters.  The Jolly Font has some additional letter options so you can choose upper case letters with straight lines or curls.  I used the curly options for the "N," "E" and the "L" but decided to make the "O" in the simpler shape with no curl.  The card base is Core'dinations textured cardstock and the mat layer is shimmer cardstock from The Paper Company.

To add more texture to the card, I embossed the mat layer using the "Snowflakes" Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I put the starburst design at the top of the card and aligned the letters to the shapes along the bottom of the card.

When I bought the ornament die, I didn't see a background plain die for that shape.  I checked online and found that Memory Box does have a plain die so I may try to order that.  I decided that I could make my own shape using the die that I already own.

 I cut the ornament again from a scrap piece of pink cardstock to make a template for the background.  I placed this "stencil" over the piece of shimmer cardstock I wanted to use for the background and traced the shape.  I made sure to do my tracing on the back side of the cardstock so any pen lines wouldn't show.

Then, I did something a little unusual for me these days - I cut the shape out with a pair of scissors!  I was careful to stay exactly on the line and moved the paper instead of the scissors to get around the curves smoothly.

The hand cut shape fits the delicate ornament cut very neatly.  Since there is so much open space in the design you have a little bit of stretch as you add the top layer.  I used the Creative Memories Precision Point Adhesive pen to adhere the glittered cut to the background shape.

The ornament is popped up from the card front with some foam circles.

It might be nice to make the ornament removable so it could be hung on a tree by the recipient.  You could make it two sided by adding another glittered shape and attaching it to the card with a ribbon, ready to hang.

I tied a small bow from shimmery ribbon (I think this is from May Arts) and attached it with a glue dot right at the top of the ornament.  Even though it was slightly off center, I made sure to have the top highlighted by the starburst shape in the embossing.

If I was planning to make a lot of these ornaments I would definitely but the plain die but since I discovered that it is not very difficult to cut it by hand I may use the money to buy another one of the ornate shapes.  There are so many pretty Memory Box dies that I'd love to add to my small collection.

I am very pleased with how firmly the glitter seems to be attached to the ornament shape and the letters.  I have handled the card and rubbed my fingers on the glittered parts and nothing has come off.  None of these photos can show just how sparkly and pretty the card is in person - you'll just have to try making one yourself!

I had planned to finish up the post about this card yesterday but some "real life" things kept me away from my computer.  I hope you didn't mind the wait too much.  I am shopping for a new laptop as this one is several years old, has been used very heavily and is starting to give me a few too many problems.  There are a lot of choices so I am trying to decide whether to stick with an HP model or try something new...any ideas?

If you can't find the Memory Box dies locally you can order them from Simon Says Stamps (affiliate links)

InLinkz.com

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Christmas is Coming

The weather turned cold after our snow earlier this week but they say the weekend will warm up.  The cold weather made me realize how quickly Christmas is approaching.  I decided to start making a few holiday cards. 

The limited edition Holiday Frames & Tags Cricut cartridge has a wide variety of multi layered shapes that are lovely for cards.  The shapes remind me of the type that were on the Lacy Labels Lite cartridge.

The frames and the tags are designed using four layers.  This frame is on page 69 of the handbook (letter M).  The top layer cuts in two pieces to reveal a shadowline of the lower color - in this case, red.

You could use some of the frames with just two layers and make different combinations to suit your project.

This frame is designed to have a top layer that reveals just a bit of the layer below.

By leaving the center section of the top layer off you can have a different look.

I tried one version of the card using the frame without the center top layer and then heat embossed the word "JOY" from a Martha Stewart stamp set with white embossing powder.

After trying several variations, I ended up using all of the layers of the frame and embossing the stamp with red glitter embossing powder by Zing.  The frame would look nice on a plain red card front like this.

I decided to add more layers and used this green foil cardstock from the DCWV "Merry Christmas" stack from last year.

This is the stack I used - there are so many Christmas stacks with similar names from DCWV that I thought it would be easier to show you the exact one.

I cut my card layer carefully to make sure that the foil design was centered.  I added a second white cardstock mat to add a thin line of definition around the green foiled mat.  The finished frame was raised from the card front with foam circles (you probably don't need this many, I get carried away sometimes!).

The frame ends up to be quite thick when the four layers are assembled.  I used DCWV Shimmer cardstock (green and red) and Core'dinations Gemstone and Core Couture white glittered cardstock for the top layers.

In hindsight,  I think it would be better to use a smoother cardstock for the top layer if you are planning to heat emboss the sentiment - particularly if you are using glittered embossing powder.

It's hard to tell from the photo but the glittered word works very well with the shine on the green cardstock.  It is important to cut the green layer so the pattern will be symmetrical on the card.  This frame was cut at 3 1/2 inches and fits the card and the design in the cardstock perfectly!

While the cartridge is called Holiday Frames & Tags it is really suitable for almost any occasion.  You can vary the look by using papers in colors that suit the occasion - pastels, metallics, etc. 

Creative Memories has designated this cartridges as a "Limited Edition."  The "Limited Edition" items are only available for two months (until the end of December) and could sell out sooner.  You can see the full handbook for this cartridge HERE.  If you don't have a local consultant and you are interested in buying this cartridge, I'd be happy to help you.  You can order on my website HERE and have the cartridge shipped directly to your address.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  I think that I have sent my Dad's address to everyone that requested it so they could send a card.  He'll be 88 on the 17th.  If you didn't get an email with the address, please let me know right away - Thanks!


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