My Memories Review

Hi!
A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away), (sorry, had to throw in the Star Wars reference)… I started scrapbooking.  I really got into it when our current house was being built (about 13 years ago).  I enjoyed it but felt like I could never catch up.  Then a friend introduced me to rubber stamping.  That turned into card making, since “hey, I already have most of the stuff I need!”.  Well, I’ll say that card making has a lot more toys (which is probably why I like it better – more stuff to buy!)

I tell you this because I haven’t been very good at scrapbooking my pictures.  I have unfinished albums of trips to Disneyland, our wedding, you get the idea.  When we went to Hawaii a few years ago, I intended to do the album in iPhoto, but never finished it.  This year I intended to do project life – I tried online, got frustrated, and then bought the paper version which I haven’t used…yet…

I’m sure you’re wondering where I’m going with this, aren’t you?  Well,  a few months ago, My Memories approached me and asked if I’d like to try their software (and they’d sponsor a freebie for my blog).  Well, I got busy, but I finally pursued it.

I’ll be honest; I was skeptical at first, since I’m challenged with graphic software and scrapbook software (give me a spreadsheet or a presentation and I’m right at home!), and I know that I’d been really frustrated with online scrapbook software/sites.

So I gave it a try and I have to say I like it.  I haven’t used it to it’s full potential, but I’ve enjoyed it…  here are a few things I’ve done:

Mother’s day gift certificate (easy peasy!) which I just printed out on my printer (8 1/2 x 11), which made my mom happy!

This was so easy to make and print…

I did a scrapbook page layout (yep, that’s me):

Which I have to say I really liked the ability to make the text box as big as I wanted, and to change the font to whatever I wanted, and to change the background color to whatever I wanted…

And I just played:
My own background paper:

And a card (just need to print it out!)

If I wanted to doodad the card up (highly technical term!) I would likely add some glitter and maybe print out another one and fussy cut it so I could give it some dimension.  But for a 5 minute card (come on, we all know we’ve done those), it’s not bad!

I did try importing/exporting with my Cameo, but I got tired and didn’t pursue it….

They have all kinds of layouts available online that you can get for free and even more that are available for purchase.  I showed it to a friend (the one who got me into scrapbooking) who has gotten hooked on online scrapbooking (using a photo site) – the only drawback is that you have to upload all of your pictures (which is time consuming).  She liked that you didn’t have to upload your photos (and you can share the album, regardless of whether you have a mac or a pc – which is a problem I had with the iPhoto album I made a while back – I couldn’t share the album for them to edit if they didn’t have a mac).
And you can have it printed!  I have to say, the people at My Memories have been very nice.. I’ve had a few (dumb) questions (like how do I find my photos on an external hard drive) and can I print  and  how? and they’ve provided me answers very quickly.

Overall, if you’re looking for a relatively inexpensive digital scrapbooking solution (with lots of available layouts for free!!! and to buy) and want to not have to upload your photos and want to be able to use it for other things, this is a great solution!  I think I will find lots of uses for this software… I have a scrapbook already planned and I think I will do it in my memories!

If you’d like to buy My Memories software, they will give readers of Crafty Card Gallery a  $10 discount on the purchase of the MyMemories Suite V3 scrapbook software from this site. (Software also comes with a $10 coupon for downloads-a total value of $20!) (YEAH!)..  If you use discount code STMMMS93040 at http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software

And even better, they’re sponsoring ONE FREE COPY of their Software!!!  Woo Hoo!!!
How can you win???

Easy!  Visit  www.MyMemories.com,  choose your favorite digital paper pack or layout, then comment on my blog telling me which one you chose.
You can also follow them (comment and let me know if you’ve done that as well) for an additional chance to win! Be sure to tell them you’re there from Crafty Card Gallery!!!
Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/

Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593

Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite

I will post the winner 6/25.  There must be at least 5 comments or I will extend the contest….

Be sure to comment and share the giveaway! 
Have a great day!
Jennifer