Hello and thanks for joining me for this week's Albums Made Easy Monday. Sorry to have my post up a little late but I had a terrible weekend dealing with some tooth pain. I am sure many of you can agree when I say that I would much rather bear a child than endure tooth pain...LOL.

Many of you expressed that you were interested in this method of Scrapbooking in your comments on last week's post so I am assuming that means that many of you have not tried the AME system yet. I'm sure after you spend a little time with me here, you'll find that it's a great way to get multiple pages done in a short amount of time. You'll also find that you'll be using more of your photos than every before.
Another great thing about Scrapbooking this way is that you can keep it as simple as you like or you can add a variety of embellishments, die cuts and stamped images that show your personal style.

So are you ready to get started? Well alright! Here we go...

Let's start by talking about photo sleeves.  We R Memory Keepers Albums Made Easy offers you 5 styles of Photo Sleeves to work with. Here is a look at those styles.

And the 12x12 Photo Sleeve

Now you can choose to work with the same Photo sleeve or you can mix and match them. I still enjoy Scrapbooking 12x12 layouts, so I like that I can mix and match the multiple photo sleeves with a 12x12 layout.

Now let's talk about Scrapbook. If you like to add embellishments like I do, then you want to use the 3 ring binder for storing your AME pages. I have the 12x12 3 ring Kiwi Classic Leather Albums for my layouts.

You could use the Classic Leather Post albums but the pages don't turn as easily in my personal opinion. The other problem I found is that over time my embellishments became smashed and the layouts did not look as nicely as they did when I snapped them inside the album. 

The 3 ring binders look fantastic lined up on my bookcase (pre- iphone 5 pic and excuse the labels I did not even take the time to peel off) I also have the ivory 8 1/2 X 11 Size for storing my rubber clings stamps. That is a great way to store then with the EZ Mount boards.
 

With the 3 ring you do have to pay attention when you slide them into the book case because the pages might bend downward and you could end up smashing your pages as you slide the album in. To avoid this I simply pinch the top of the pages as I slide the album into my bookcase to keep the straight.

Finally, let's talk about the Journaling Cards.We R Memory Keepers offers several styles and colors Albums Made Easy Journaling cards. You can view all the selections available here on the We R Albums Made Easy page.

New for the Albums Made Easy system is the 3x4 Card Punch which is now available in rounded and straight corners. You can use this tool for photos or patterned paper scraps that you would like to turn into inserts for yous Albums Made Easy sleeves.

Now that we've talked about the products that make the Albums Made Easy System easy to use, I'm ready to take you thru my process of completing a 2 page spread featuring the Chalkboard collection next Monday. 

But before I go, I'm offering up another Albums Made Easy prize package! 

Leave a comment to win a prize package that contains: 2 12x12 Albums Made Easy photo sleeves to create your first spread, a sampling of Albums Made Easy Journaling cards and a coordinating sticker sheet from our September featured collection:

Chalkboard

Thanks for stopping by!

{S}

Albums Made Easy winner!

Hello friends. Thanks for stopping by last Monday and leaving all those great comments. I am so excited to be starting this weekly feature. I just know you are really going to enjoy the process of scrapbooking your memories with the Albums Made Easy pages by We R Memory Keepers.

Last week's winner of the  2 12x12 Albums Made Easy photo sleeves to create your first spread, a sampling of Albums Made Easy Journaling cards and a coordinating sticker sheet from our September featured collection: Chalkboard is...

Commenter # 7

Carol W. said...
Beautiful work, Love the chalk board look you created. Thank you for sharing and for the video!
~Carol W.
workmanscraps at gmail dot com

Congratulations Carol! I will be emailing you for your mailing address so I can send out your prize. 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and left a comment there will be more chances to win.

I'll be back later today with this week's Albums Made Easy Monday post with a new two page spread featuring the Chalkboard collection.  

I'll also be giving away another prize package with all the items needed to create the same spread I'll be featuring.

{S}

Cottage Roses 3D stickers from Anna Griffin

The 24 hour crafting event on HSN last week was really fun to watch. Anna has so many beautiful new products to share with everyone over at her HSN page. Please stop by and have a look.

We have a really great design team and we have all been working on samples for the show since June. Today I am happy to share the Cottage Roses 3D sticker cards I created with you. These stickers will add instant beauty to any project you use them with. Here are a few ideas for you.

Use them to create a beautiful Sympathy card

On a card for a special friend

or to let someone special know they are in your heart.

 

 

Did you see Anna's flourish die in the card above? I love her new dies. They really add that extra something to cards and layouts. Hopefully she'll have them available again soon at HSN. They sold out so fast and honestly after working with them, I can understand why.

In case you missed yesterday's post, I have a giveaway going on and you can enter here.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Have a creative day!

{S}

Albums Made Easy Monday

Hello friends! I am so excited to share that I'll be doing a weekly feature on my blog starting today giving you tips and techniques for We R Memory Keepers Albums Made Easy pages. A few months ago I made a video for We R Memory Keepers giving an introduction into what the Albums Made Easy System is all about that was featured on the Joann Fabric and Craft Stores blog. You can have a look at the video by clicking the link below.

I really enjoy creating with the Albums Made Easy system and that's why I wanted to start sharing some tips and ideas here on my blog with you. I really think you will find yourself wanting to try it out as well. Here's a look at the layouts I showcased in the video:

As you can see, I was easily able to incorporate stamped images, the Sew Ribbon tool and so much more into my Albums Made Easy pages that added my own personal style. What I like most about this method of scrapbooking is I am able to tell the whole story by using several of my photos that I have taken instead of the 2-3 I would have used on a 12x12 layout. Before using the AME system I scrapbooked one page of my family events and now I find myself easily completing several pages in a very short amount of time.

So... to kick off my Monday Albums Made Easy feature I am giving away 2 12x12 Albums Made Easy photo sleeves to create your first spread, a sampling of Albums Made Easy Journaling cards and a coordinating sticker sheet from our September featured collection:

Chalkboard

To be entered to win simply leave a comment on today's post and make sure I can reach you via email. I will post the winner next Monday so that gives you plenty of time to share this post with your friends. Thank you in advance if you do.

Edited 9/25: I can't allow Anonymous users to comment any longer, as soon as I allowed this for today's post I got hit with tons of spam. It's takes just a moment to register to leave comments so I hope you'll understand why I had to go back to my regular settings.

**Giveaway is only open to US residents since I am covering the shipping fees myself.**

I hope you'll join me here each Monday as I share some tips, fun products and ideas for making your Albums Made Easy pages easy & fun to create. 

Oh yes, and there will be more giveaways to come! So don't miss out!

Have a creative day!

{S}

Unity Thursday

Hello friends! It's that time again, Unity Inspiration Thursday! There's awesome inspiration with some fun new releases, great sales and a prize to be won! So let's get started! Releasing today...

Here is a sample I made with dream catchin'

Supplies: My Mind's Eye Quilting Bee, Spellbinders Label die and copic markers. I added some stickles to the dream catcher to make it sparkle a bit.

If you love the SMAK kits as much as I do then you don't want to miss this deal!

 

There are so many fun images in the SMAK kits! I love scrapbooking with them and using the images for cards. The map within the heart is one of my favorites!

And on top of all these great sales...for every $7 you spend, you get a free stamp! What could be better?

Now I am sending you onto Thienly

Have a creative day friends!

{S}

Stitch Craft and Create Charlotte NC

If you're in the Charlotte area please join me for a fun weekend of crafting at Stitch Craft Create live! I am please to share that I will be teaching 2 fun classes. Here's some info:

Calling Adventurous Crafters: Try Sewing, Papercrafting, Art Journaling, and Jewelry Making, All in One Weekend!

Stitch Craft Create Live is the ultimate craft event! Take part in this two-day extravaganza jam-packed with workshops in sewing, paper crafts, jewelry making and full day of art journaling. With dozens of workshops available, you are sure to find one that's right for you!

Merry Christmas Shadow box class

sponsored by Maya Road & Webster's Pages

 

Learn to fussy cut patterned paper, dies and other elements to alter a shadow box into a beautiful home decor gift you can give to someone special or keep for yourself.

Albums Made Easy Class

Scrapbook faster than ever before using We R Memory Keepers Albums Made Easy System.
Learn how the Albums Made Easy System takes the process of scrapbooking and memory keeping and simplifies it into three easy steps. In this class you'll complete 6 12x12 photo sleeves while learning how to utilize stamped images, punched shapes, placemats and stickers from Jillibean Soup and other embellishments to record your memories faster. We'll be using a variety of We R Memories tools along with the brand new Chalkboard collection. 

Registration is open so head on over to the website for a look at the many other awesome classes being offered!

Hope to see you there!

Anna Griffin's return to HSN

Hello friends! Anna Griffin is returning to HSN starting tonight for us Pacific Time watchers, for a 24 hour Craft Event. Don't forget to watch the Home Shopping Network starting tonight and tomorrow at 12am, 11am, 3pm, and 7pm Eastern Time. Anna has so many amazing new products to share with you!

 Here's a few peeks of some samples

Holiday Washi Tape

48 piece classic Christmas cardstock kit

Winter Wonderland Christmas Cartridge

The Today Special Holiday Trimmings card making kit

There is so much more so be sure and tune in!

Have a creative day!

{S}

A fabulous Cricut & Silhouette storage find

Hello friends. I wanted to share a fabulous find I picked up last week at Michaels. I get the email alerts and saw there was a 20% your entire purchase so I headed off to pick up some much needed cardstock. I was happy when I came upon this craft cart from Recollections that was on sale for 29.99 (regularly priced at 79.99).  I was even happier that I could add my 20% off coupon to the purchase and walk away with it for about 24.00.  

The box wasn't too large or heavy and I was able to carry it to my car on my own.

My sweet son assembled the cart for me and it did take him about 45 mins but well worth the wait. I love the height, storage drawers and the fact that both of my machines fit perfectly.

The 3 8 1/2 x 11 deep drawers are perfect for my tool kit, USB cord and extra blades and accessories. I was easily able to get 6 cartridges in the second drawer with room for 2 more behind them.

The 6 13x13 drawers are perfect for storing your cardstock and my favorite part about this cart. You can really fill those drawers up with cardstock.

The cart is on wheels so it's easy to roll around when using it and the back is open so it's easy to plug your cords into the nearest outlet.

The shelves to have a nice large space for storage of both machines but when you load the mats, they do hang over the front. It was easy to make the space functional for cutting by simply turning either machine at an angle to allow the mat to glide thru the machine while cutting without being obstructed by the side rails.

When using the Silhouette you can easily roll the cart over to your PC to plug in the USB or if you have a laptop like I do, I simply removed my Cricut and placed my laptop above for use.

    This item has a great design, perfect function and the price was awesome. I would recommend this  cart to anyone with these machines looking for a great way to store them. Previously, both of my machines were sitting on a book case shelf and this set up makes them easy to turn on and get cutting.

I love that I now have an awesome place to use both my Cricut Expression 2 and Silhouette Cameo plus tons of storage.

As I mentioned, you can pick up this cart at Michaels Craft stores. Prices may vary for your area. 

In case you are wondering, I didn't get anything out of posting this review, I just really loved the cart and wanted to share my experience with other die cut machine owners.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Have a creative day

{S}

________________________________________________________

Update December 28,2017: Micheals unfortunately no longer sells this cart, however, I did find a very similar cart available on Amazon. Here is the link https://www.amazon.com/Giantex-Drawers-Rolling-Storage-Furniture/dp/B01N80Q3UA/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1514400992&sr=8-13&keywords=two+shelf+cart+with+wheels

Unity Thursday

Hello friends. I hope you have enjoyed today's inspiration so far. Aren't these little snowmen adorable! Make sure you are stopping by the Unity blog for all of today's specials!

We have some fun new releases for you. Here's a look at the new Snow Peeps

also releasing today

For today's inspiration I'm sharing a project using the August SMAK kit. But first, here's a look at the September SMAK kit

No Matter What the Weather

So many fun images to create with right?

It's Back to School time so I created an Albums Made Easy page using some of the August SMAK images.

I used this month's Paper Posies kit for today's layout. I love adding dies cuts and little embellishments to my pages like the glasses and the MFT This Week die. 

Don't be afraid to stamp right on your photos. I used pigment ink and allowed time to dry before I put my photos in the pages.

Now head over to Thienly's blog!

Exciting news from We R Memory Keepers!

Hey Friends. We have some exciting news to share. We R Memory Keepers, an industry leader in crafting tools and supplies, announced that it has purchased the Lifestyle Crafts brand. We R wanted to purchase a brand that complemented its high quality product and innovation standards, and Lifestyle Crafts was the perfect fit. The acquisition of Lifestyle Crafts will continue to result in the creation of awesome products for virtually every crafting need. It will make it easier for the scrapbook and craft community alike to bring creating into day-to-day life through home décor, scrapbooking, handmade cards, celebrations, sewing, and more. Together we are excited to be able to inspire you in new ways as we lead the market forward.  Learn more about this announcement and have a chance to win some cool products to help celebrate. Check out We R’s blog to learn more: http://wermemorykeepers.wordpress.com/