iNSD Part 2 - The freebies

The only regret I have is that I didn't have the bandwidth, nor the time, to get EVERYTHING.

If you are only starting out as a digital scrapper... going online last weekend would have helped you accumulate a decent stash of kits, elements, papers, and other what-nots. 

Digidesignresort offered coordinating designer grab bags, Fresh.

Digidesign Resort Designer Grab bags - Fresh

My Memories sponsored a blog hop for a limited time only. I only had time to go through the designers last night so I was not able to get everything. Here are some stuff I was able to get for free:

Spring Delight by MarieH Designs (original price: $3.99)

Balancing Act Pack by Snickerdoodle Designs (original price: $6.99)

Mother Own Add-on by Pati Araujo Art E Designer (original price: $0.99)

Animal Crackers Bugs-N-Kisses by MagsGraphics (original price: $3.99)

A Mother's Love Combo by Digizines by Terri (original price: $5.99)

My Mother's Love by A-Manda Creations (original price: $6.99)

Dearest Friend by Simply You Simply Me (original price: $3.99)

My Heart by Studio RA Designs

I also visited the blog hop over at Scrappity-Doo-Dah and was able to get the following freebies:

Pick-a-Daisy kit by Papier Creatif

iNSD Bloghop Text Paths by Digi Overdose

 There are other blog hops and a ton of freebies offered on other forums but I had bandwidth limitations (I was also downloading the kits I bought at the same time, but more on that later) so I only downloaded those that I really liked.

Coming soon: iNSD Part 3 - Shopping!

Remembering

A month ago, I was given a free copy of the digital scrapbooking sofware, My Memories Suite. Since then I have made a lot digital scrapbook pages, though I haven't shared them here. It has become one of my favorite pastimes, when I have a little time for myself but too tired to craft. And every now and then, I check out the Free Kits section of the My Memories website.

I usually create my pages from scratch, but formatting the page to look just right for me can take some time. But a few days ago, I checked the Free Kits section and saw 2 quick pages that I love. They look so vintage and I figured the pictures I scanned from my grandmother's album will go well with them.

This quick page is called 'Passionate'. Pretty isn't it? You can check out the link to download it for free. The image will work with My Memories Suite or other imaging software like Photoshop. The photo I used is of my great grandmother. The photo was taken in 1904, during her 18th birthday. This is the oldest photo my grandmother has of her mother.

This second quick page is called Autumn Rose. 

 

And that's my grandmother and grandfather. My grandfather died 4 years ago. And until now, I still find it surreal when I think that he's gone. It's like I still expect to see him there at their home when we visit our grandmother. I still miss him.

These pages gave me the idea to create a digital scrapbook of my grandmother's old photos, print them out into a photo book and give it to her for Christmas. I tried restoring one of her old photos using Photoshop a few years ago. It's one of her photos from before she got married and it's in sepia tone. I added color to it, changed the background, printed it, framed it, and gave it to her for her birthday. She loved it. I'm sure she will love the scrapbook as well. Now... I just need to find the time to create the pages (using quick pages will definitely save me a lot of time compared to  creating my own pages from scratch) and get it printed before Christmas.

And we have a winner!

I am so sorry for the late announcement. I was stuck in meetings from 10AM until 2:30PM this afternoon. Seriously... I only had a short break for lunch. Whew! Now that that's done... you excited? :)

So we had 12 comments in all... and according to random.org, the winner for this draw is:

And comment number 1 belongs to Dianne of Dianne Writes who left this comment:

 

Congratulations Dianne! I will be sending you an email shortly to confirm your winning and to give you instructions on how you can claim your prize.

To all those who joined my first giveaway, THANK YOU SO MUCH! :) I hope to have another giveaway soon (already working on it) so stay tuned!

Last call for the My Memories Suite giveaway

--GIVE-AWAY CLOSED--

Hey guys, if you haven't joined my giveaway yet, you still have a few hours to do so :)

I will be drawing the winner tomorrow at 10AM my time (here in the Philippines, GMT +8) so the giveaway contest will remain open until then. I have a meeting between 10AM - 12NN tomorrow though, so I will be announcing the winner after that. 

To those who already joined, you can increase the chances of winning by earning additional entries. Check out how here. Please leave a separate comment for every additional entry condition.

Let's find out who wins tomorrow! :)

Giveaway: My Memories Suite

-- GIVEAWAY CLOSED --

My Memories Suite is a top-rated digital scrapbooking software that allows you to make digital albums, photo books, cards, invitations, calendars, movies and a lot more! It's so much fun and easy to use. This is what I used to make my story photo book that I posted here and here.

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After using this software for a few day, here's what I can say about it.

INSTALLATION - After purchase, you can download the installer for My Memories Suite from the link that My Memories will provide you. Running the online installer will require you to download around 500MB worth of components though. If you are not using a high speed internet connection, this might take a while. However, if you are in the US, you have the option to get a CD installer from My Memories which has all the system components already so you don't have to go through the download stage. You have to add $4.97 plus shipping if you ask for the CD but I suggest this option. I'm not in the US... so I had to download. After the download stage, the software installed easily.

EASE OF USE - Very easy to use! My Memories Suite can be used on a PC or a Mac. It runs pretty fast on my home laptop. The software comes pre-loaded with the components (e.g. backgrounds, embellishments) you need to make digital projects so you can start right away. Everything I used on my story photobook projects are just the built in components. For the text, this software uses any existing fonts you already have on your machine. So you can integrate your favorite fonts to your projects. If you want more options, My Memories offer digital scrapbooking kits and templates at their website at very affordable prices (from $0.99 to around $9 per set). And they have a lot of free stuff too! Do check it out. These can be downloaded from a link that will be provided to you after check out.

This scrapbook software is great for both beginners AND more advanced users. For beginners, My Memories Suite has built in pre-designed photo album templates where you can select the template you want, and simply insert your photos in the photo slots on the templates. Ta-dah! You're done. Here are some examples of their pre-designed templates.

 

More advanced users can start with a blank page and choose each component that goes into a page. One look at the user interface and you know which buttons to click to find the stuff you want, see?

You can select a page format (or start from blank), add backgrounds, text, shapes and other embellishments from the menu on the right side of the page. The pages I made for my story photobook are all built from scratch. I'm having too much fun trying out different combinations of page elements to see how they would look :)

Not into scrapbooking? Here are a few other projects you can make with My Memories Suite:

How about a blog button?

You can customize by adding your images or graphics.

Or a blog header!

I can feel a blog redesign project coming soon! We'll see :)

Or cards! (e.g. Christmas cards, invitations, birth announcements

Christmas with grandma and grandpa

You can make printables too.

NOTE: All rights for this printable, including the text, belongs to me. If you plan to use any part of this, please give me due credit. Thanks!

And a whole lot of other projects!

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The BEST part? 

My Memories has offered to give away one My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software to one of you! This is a $40 value!

To join the giveaway:

• Become a follower of Of Pinks and Fairy Tales. This giveaway is open to anyone with an internet connection :) Just click that the 'Join this site' button located on my right side bar. 

• Visit My Memories and check out their digital scrapbooking kits and templates.

• Leave me a comment below telling me which of their scrapbooking kits/elements you like best. Please include your email address (emailid at emailprovider dot com - use this format please) so I will know how to contact you if you win.

For example:
My favorite is the Pizza Pie Pack (because I'm thinking of giving Andrea a pizza-themed birthday party this year). My email address is ofpinksandfairytales at gmail dot com.

You have to follow ALL 3 steps first to qualify for the giveaway. Only comments posted on this post qualifies as an entry.

For additional entries, you can also:

1. Follow My Memories Blog and leave another comment here telling me you did so = 1 additional entry

2. Like My Memories Suite on Facebook and leave another comment here. Please include the name you are using on Facebook so we can validate. = 1 additional entry

3. Follow My Memories Suite on Twitter and leave another comment here to tell me you did. Please include the name you are using on Twitter so we can validate = 1 additional entry

Please remember to leave a separate comment for each additional entry.

Winner will be drawn on  September 14, 2011 at 10AM my time (GMT +8) via random.org. I will contact the winner via email (so make sure you leave your email address on your comment!) after the draw. The winner has 1 week (7 calendar days) to reply to me to acknowledge that he/she is accepting. If I don't hear from the winner within one week, I will draw another winner.

If you want to buy the software now, you can get it at a discounted price. My Memories is giving a $10 discount on their My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software to readers of Of Pinks and Fairy Tales! If you buy now, you only pay $29.97. Simply enter this code upon check out to avail of the discount:

STMMMS46091
Please copy and paste the code to make sure you enter the correct value.

Ok then, time for you to join the giveaway! :)

Revisiting My Memories - Part 2

... and The Story of Two Precious Little Girls continues. (Click here if you missed the first part of the story).

...this story still has a few more pages, coming soon!

This project means several late nights but it is so worth it. I'm having so much fun revisiting my daughter's baby pictures and creating the pages.

If you're wondering, I'm using My Memories Suite to make this digital scrapbook. All elements used on the pages are either built in with the software, or downloaded for FREE from the My Memories website. Cool right? 

And even better... tomorrow, you get a chance to win a My Memories Suite! Really REALLY!!! :) Check back again tomorrow.. 10AM (GMT +8, PH time) to find out how.

Coming soon! Like, tomorrow! :)

I am linking to the following parties:

Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Made By You Monday at Skip to My Lou | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Ta-Da Tuesday at Mommy by Day Crafter by Night | Take-A-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts | Handmade Tuesdays at Lady Bug Blessings | Tuesday Party at Running with Glitter | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Tuesday Confessional at Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Hoo's Got Talent at Night Owl Crafting | Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man Crafty Woman |

Friday Photos - Revisiting My Memories (Giveaway Preview!!!)

I am going to give you something a little different for today's Friday Photos. This is a little preview of something I am currently working on and sneak peak of a GIVEAWAY I will be hosting.

Yes, I will be having my FIRST GIVEAWAY next week! So make sure you check back ;)

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A Story of Two Precious Little Girls

by: Janelle

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To be continued...

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This story is about my daughter, Andrea, and her cousin, Helaena. And if you haven't guessed yet, I'm making a story photo book. Check back again next week for the rest of the story. If you want to make something like this, I will also be sharing how I made mine. And of course, there's the...

GIVEAWAY!!!

P.S. This is something you will not want to miss.  See you next week!

I am linking up to the following parties:

Think Pink Sunday at Flamingo Toes | Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime | Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming | Not Baad Sunday at Lamb Around | Craft-O-Maniac Monday at Craft-O-Maniac | Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T. | Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple | A Round Tuit at Creating My Way to Success | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | A Marvelous Mess at Marvelously Messy |