Creating Keepsakes Submission Calls

Hello Friends.  I know I mentioned this earlier on my blog but I think is worth mentioning again. I was recently in Utah for editorial meetings with Creating Keepsakes magazine.  It was amazing on so many levels but one of the things that I am VERY excited about is that CK REALLY wants to reach out to the Digital Scrapbooking community.

There have been some changes in the magazine recently.  In addition to providing a print subscription, a digital subscription is also available.  If you are a print subscriber, you automatically have access to the digital version of the magazine.  You can also just subscribe to the digital issue.  You can find out how to access the digital version here.  The print version is not going away however, you will find the most content in the digital edition.  The digital edition has now become their core magazine.  The digital issue offers more opportunities to expand on content that  is not applicable to the print edition such as video tutorials, step outs and more pages.

As I mentioned, they are really interested in expanding their digital content.  In fact, the July/August digital issue will have a digital scrapbooking insert and they are hoping to continue on this path.  I left each meeting very excited about their interest in the digital scrapbooking community.   If they can see that this is well-received, they are very excited to continue expanding it.

Submission Calls - The submission calls for the November/December issue just went live on the CK Blog.  There are a number of great calls including some specifically for digital scrapbookers.  Here is the link.  They are looking for "never before seen" pages.  I want to encourage you to submit your work for an opportunity to be published.   I would love to see your pages in print!

I am very excited about where CK is headed.  They are very interested in digital scrapbooking.  I also know that if we want CK to continue expanding their digital content, they need our support and feedback!!!

We R Memory Keepers Albums

Last week I received a fabulous shipment from We R Memory Keepers. It was filled with fun new products that I am eager to try and also a new album with page protectors.  Ever since I started digital scrapbooking I have used the We R Memory Keepers leather albums.   They have a variety to pick from but I use the D-ring albums.  I LOVE them for so many reasons.  The page protectors are fabulous.  The quality is top notch and I don't have to worry about the pages being damaged.  My kids look at their albums frequently.

Another thing that I love about these albums is the volume of pages that I can include.  This is a typical album for me and as you can see, it is LOADED with pages.  LOVE that.

This is my library of digital albums.  My paper albums are stored in a different place.  As I mentioned, all of my albums are the leather albums and they are all cinnamon.

Each of my children have their own set of albums and then I have a set of family albums as well.  If the page is about an event that all of us were a part of, then it goes in the family albums.

These albums are so special to me because they are filled with memories and I feel so lucky to have found an album system that I love.

Creating Keepsakes- May/June 2013 Issue

Creating Keepsakes May/June 2013 issue is now on sale.  As I mentioned in a previous blog post, Creating Keepsakes is also offering a digital issue which is free to print subscribers or you can subscribe to just the digital issue.  With this issue, the digital issue has become the core issue of CK.  There is more pages and content in the digital issue.  The print issue is not going away but they are very excited about the opportunities that a digital issue provides.  A digital issue allows them to expand on content, include more pages, more step out tutorials and also video tutorials.  I am excited about the direction that CK is headed in.

For more information about subscribing to Creating Keepsakes, please go here. 

    Here is one of my pages from this issue of Creating Keepsakes.

This issue also includes a feature on graduation, weddings, mini albums and more.  I hope you check it out!

Persnickety Prints

Last week I was in Utah for meetings with Creating Keepsakes.  It was a very full and fun week.  There are many scrapbooking companies that make their home in the Salt Lake City area and we had a few tours which was awesome.  One of the places we visited was Persnickety Prints.  I was SO excited to go there.  Persnickety Prints is where I get my pages printed.  I have tried a couple of other places and I always come back to Persnickety.  I put so much time and effort into my pages and I am extremely picky about the quality of my images.  Every time I get a package from them, I am blown away with the quality of my prints.  I feel like I could hang each and every one of them right on my wall.  The quality is not the only thing that blows me away....the speed is also top-notch.  When I place an order, I'm always shocked when I see it on my doorstep two days later and let's just say Utah is not right around the corner from Minnesota.

When members of the CK Editorial Team and Dream Team went to Persnickety Prints, we went around and introduced ourselves to Chari, the owner.  When I introduced myself, Chari said "oh my gosh Jana...you order from us all of the time" and she ran over and gave me a hug.  She then went on to say "we know our customers by name".  It was so cool and reconfirmed why I have been such a loyal customer for over three years now.

I had to have a photo with Chari.

Chari went on to explain how she started Persnickety because she was a digital scrapbooker and was not happy with the options that she had for printing.   As she showed us around and talked about the company, her passion for what they are doing was obvious.  Chari and her team are in this business because they want to give digital scrapbookers the best quality prints to preserve their memories.  We saw some images being printed which was so fun.  There were a few pages laying on a table with notes on them.  Chari explained that the  images had poor resolution and they had contacted each of the customers to talk about how the image could be improved. They truly care about the quality of what they are producing.  As a memory keeper, that is HUGE in my world.

Chari went on to talk about the technical aspects of their product.  They use photo paper which isn't always the case when you are having images printed.  Photo paper allows the image to actually be embedded in the paper itself.  For example, if you bend an image that was printed on photo paper, you will not see any white in the creases because the ink is actually on the inside of the paper as well.  If you spill water on a print, you can just wipe it off and it will not alter the quality of the image.  

It was so great to meet Chari and to hear more about what goes on behind the scenes of Persnickety Prints.  They have been my "go-to" company for over the last three years and will certainly continue to be.

Just a heads up....they are having their big semi-annual sale during the first week of May in honor of National Scrapbooking Day.  You might want to start getting your images ready for print.  I know I will be.

Creating Keepsakes Editorial Meetings

I had an amazing week.  I was in Utah all week for editorial meetings with Creating Keepsakes.  It was an opportunity to talk at length and to see all that happens behind the scenes.  We evaluated past issues, talked about upcoming trends in the industry, digital scrapbooking, and we really zeroed in on content for future issues.  It has been such a privilege to be involved on this level with a magazine that I have loved since their very beginning.   I am very excited about what is ahead for Creating Keepsakes.

Creating Keepsakes continues to makes changes based on the most effective ways to get content to their audience.  Technology is playing a huge role in where CK is headed.  There has been some significant changes in terms of the digital issue starting with the May/June 2013 issue that was recently released.  If you have a subscription to the print copy of Creating Keepsakes, you also have free access to the digital issue.  If you have not signed up for the digital issue, you can follow these instructions and you can get signed up in no time.   This link will also give you the information that you need to subscribe if you do not currently have a subscription.  While we can still enjoy the print edition of Creating Keepsakes, the digital issue includes everything in the print edition plus a whole lot more.   The digital issue has become the core issue of Creating Keepsakes and we are very excited about the opportunities that the digital edition provides.  In fact, I will share a little secret about the July/August issue of Creating Keepsakes there will be a special insert in the digital issue and all I can say is that as a digital scrapbooker, I am VERY excited!

I really enjoyed my time with the editors and dream team members.  It was so fun to finally meet everybody in person and we had such a great time.  Everybody just clicked and I felt like I have known everybody for years.  In addition to the work that we put in (which was also fun), it was a week full of laughter and friendship.  There are so many scrapbooking companies that make their home in Utah.  In addition to our meetings, we also enjoyed tours of Persnickety Prints, American Crafts and Stampin Up.  I will share more information about these tours later this week on my blog.  It was awesome!

It has been an action-packed week to say the least.  Jing-Jing Nickel is also a dream team member and lives in the Minneapolis area.  Minneapolis just received a ton of snow this week and we had some issues getting back which transferred into spending an unexpected night in Spokane, Washington.  Ellie and Mia's big ice show is this weekend so it is nothing like getting off of the plane and hitting the ground running.   It is such a fun time of the year.  A special "thank you" to all of my friends at CK for such a fabulous week!

I will be back with more information from our tours later this week.  Have a great weekend!

Scrapbook Pages

I hope everybody had a great weekend.  We are STILL in the middle of winter.  We have been getting snow for the last several days and I'm not sure spring will ever arrive. 

I haven't posted any pages for awhile so I thought I would do that. 

 

All products are from Designer Digitals.

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Album for Ellie

I started scrapbooking many, many years ago because I wanted to document life.  Once we had children, my passion for memory keeping went to an entirely different level.  I love photographing, recording and documenting every aspect of our lives...the big things and the small things.  I absolutely love the whole creative process but still the most important thing about what I do is that my children are going to be able to look at our memories in the pages that I create and always hear my voice.  

I love to create things for my children....from key chains to bookmarks to notes tucked in their lunchboxes.  I decided recently to create an album for Ellie and thought I would share a few of the pages here.  I'm pretty certain that Amelia and Quinn will have one similar using this same template that I created.  

Have I mentioned lately how much I love digital?  I'm sure that I have.  I created a simple template which I used throughout the entire album and the album came together very quickly.  I simply changed the color scheme based on the photos and that was it.  Before I started the album, I made a list of topics that I wanted to share in Ellie's album.  The journaling on each page is just a matter of me telling her how I see these different topics right now in her life.

Here is the title page....

The following pages are all two page spread...

Ellie is all about zebra prints so Katie Pertiet's new kit Lucy Lou at Designer Digitals couldn't have been more perfect.  In addition to the page titles that you see here, I also included pages on family, faith, artwork, school and Girl Scouts.  Ellie has watched this album come together and is so excited to have it in her room.  She takes such an interest in what I do as well as what the people in my classes do.  The other day I had a good laugh.  She loves to look at the galleries for my classes and she seems to know everybody.  Ellie was looking at somebody's awesome page and said "Hey Mom, what filter did they use on this one?"  It was so funny.

I love sharing my passion with her and I know she gets it.  I hope that she will always be able to look at the pages and things that I have created for her and hear my voice.

Digital Classes with Jana Morton on Facebook

I recently started a facebook page for my classes.  I would love it if you would like my page and help me get the word out about classes at Creative Passion.

Creative Passion also has a facebook page and we certainly appreciate all of the support we can get.  We have been so fortunate to have such a great community.

I also wanted to mention that next Sunday, April 15th I will be on the hot seat at Digital U.  I'm going to be deconstructing one of my pages so others can hear about my creative process.  As always, Digital U is free and you just need to pre-register at Creative Passion to reserve a seat.  I hope to see you there.  Have a great weekend!

CK Blog - Documenting School Days

Hello.  I'm over on the Creating Keepsakes Blog today talking about documenting school days. You might want to hop on over there and check it out!

Cards from Little Yellow Bicycle

I love to create.  It is as simple as that.  Any time that I am creating my heart is beating a bit faster.   It is like I am in kindergarten and I'm waiting for the teacher to handout the scissors and crayons so I can get started. These days most of my creations have been in the form of digital art or scrapbook pages but believe me I love to create anything that I can get my hands on.  

I've been receiving so many fabulous product lines and I have been chomping at the bit to get busy with them.  Today I took a few minutes and created a couple of cards.  I used products from Little Yellow Bicycle.  I absolutely love their product line.  The colors just pop and I love the clean patterns.  

This simple card came together in no time using their Fern & Forest Collection for boys.

This card was created with their Fern & Forest Collection for girls.

I used stamp pads from ColorBox.  I used to create a lot of cards but haven't done much of that recently.  It was so fun to jump back in and these products made it so easy.

I also wanted to mention that if you aren't already doing so, you should certainly put Creating Keepsakes Blog on your list of spots to check out.  There is always so much going on there.  It is loaded with fun and practical ideas and tons of giveaways.  They are currently giving away a Creative Memories Border Maker System.  You just need to leave a comment on this post and they will be drawing a winner on Friday.  Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

At The Studio

A couple of years ago, I found this fabulous place called UClick and I was so excited to say the least.  When   my kids were little, I always wanted professional shots of my kids but I was always so frustrated that you would have to pay an arm and a leg to get the proofs.  I always felt like if I had the right set up, I could get some good shots of my kids.

UClick was just what I needed.  It is a studio that is rented by the hour to all different levels of photographers.  They have a natural light studio as well as formal studio.  It costs $35.00 per hour.  In my book, it is certainly a WIN-WIN.  I have rented the studio several times including for a few senior photo shoots and it has been fabulous.  They have props, lighting (if you want to use it) and a variety of backdrops.  I think the whole concept is such a wonderful idea and has certainly been the answer that I was looking for.

Our girls are both skaters and every year before their ice show I rent the studio.  I cannot get any decent shots in an ice arena and it has been SO worth it.  Here are some shots from the studio in their skating costumes.  They will be skating to "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing Techniocolor Dreamcoat".

 Here is the page that I created with some of the photos.

Of course since we had it for an hour, I had to do a few more (ok, more like 100 more)...

I am so grateful that UClick is near and has been my answer to my photography frustrations from years ago. If anybody lives in the Minneapolis area, I really think you should check them out.