I've been told many times that I’m I creative person, and I like to think that’s true. I also tend to be a bit of an anal-retentive freak a perfectionist when it comes to keeping my photos organized. So when everyone started scrapbooking eons ago, I got all excited and thought “Oh, this SO up my alley.”
I didn’t know one could be so wrong about one’s own alley.
I can’t tell you how much money I spent on good intentions. I purchased several pretty fabric scrapbooks, reams and reams of beautifully patterned background paper, and fancy-pants photo cropping tools and cutting boards. I even bought those little corner cutters.
Armed with all of this merchandise that I didn’t know how to use, I attended a scrapbooking party…. And I hated it. I made one page. ONE. And it took FOR-EV-ER. I never attempted another scrapbook page.
Now, all of my scrapbooking supplies take up an entire Rubbermaid storage bin, which still resides under the guest room bed. It remains unopened, collecting dust.
Then digital scrapbooking became a thing, and once again, I thought “Oh, this SO up my alley.”
Humph. Wrong again.
A wonderful co-worker dedicated her entire lunch hour to showing me how to create a scrapbook page using “a popular design software” that I shall not name here. Why not? Because it was friggin’ HARD! She guided me step-by-step, showing me how to add layers, create overlays, include text, throw in some embellishments. Even with my copious note-taking, it was too much for my overwhelmed brain. I never made a single page.
I resigned myself to the fact that I was not a scrapbooker. When I got pregnant, I was sad that my child wouldn’t have the same beautiful scrapbooks documenting his life that all his friends would have. Not that the kids would care, but other mommies would use their awesome scrapbooking skills to demonstrate their extreme superiority over me. I just knew it. And I would feel like crap. Bad mommy already.
But then, a ray of hope. Out of the blue, I get an opportunity to try the MyMemories software for free. I made a gorgeous scrapbook page in about fifteen minutes. It was that easy. The hardest part was choosing which photos I wanted to include.
Here, look at this. I made this page all by myself. And I created it using my own photos, free stuff from the MyMemories website, and some images I found for free on the Web. To review, this page took fifteen minutes and ZERO dollars to make.
So then I got a little ambitious. MyMemories has tons of free stuff on their website, including these holiday gift tags. How. Cute. Are these? Again, FREE!
You can create more than just scrapbook pages. Make calendars, greeting cards, posters and other fun stuff. You want some of this, don’t you? Don’t worry, I got you.
It’s my first giveaway!* You can win a free copy of the MyMemories software. One winner will be randomly chosen next week. All you have to do to enter is check out their website, and then come back here and leave a comment below telling me which of their digital goodies you like best and what you want to create with it.
Want to increase your odds of winning? To get additional entries, you can:
- Tweet this giveaway. Include a link to this post, and mention me in your tweet (@mel_awideline) so I know you did it. (Just once a day, please.)
- Include a link to this blog post in your blog post. Send me a link to your post in an email (awideline@gmail.com) or in a comment below so I know about it.
One winner will be chosen next Tuesday 11/29. Don’t want to wait? You can get $10 off the MyMemories software right now with this promo code: STMMMS53909
Now I can add more pages to the incredible Quinn scrapbooks my family and friends who took pity on me and made for me. Including the one of my grandma’s lullabies and silly songs from my mom.
I’d love to show you more examples of the cool things I created (without spending a DIME), but I don’t want to spoil any surprises for my family. Oh, the Christmas gifts I can make for Quinn’s grandparents! They’re going to be so stoked!
Finally, digital scrapbooking is quick, inexpensive and easy enough for me to do. This MyMemories software is SO up my alley. I have a good feeling this time.
*I was not compensated for writing this blog post. I received a free copy of the software to use and review. All optinions expressed here are my own. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t write about it.
