My Memories Version 4 Winner!

Have I mentioned that my laptop is in the shop yet? Ugh! So I drew a winner for my giveaway using random.org, but if there is a way to copy and paste images on the Kindle, I'm not familiar with it. I hate that I have to say, "Trust me, it was 3!" But, um, trust me, it was 3! Congrats to CricutLuvr, I will be emailing you! 

And for those of you who didn't write comment number 3, you still have chances to win at Sew Cal Gal, Missy's Scrap Space, Digital Scrapbooking, Stuff- n- Such, Two Girls at Play, and Dear Creatives. Or you could skip the wait and use my code in the sidebar to buy your own for $10 off! Either way. 

My Memories 7 Days of Software Giveaways..Last Day!

It's giveaway day, again! Your last stop on the blog hop is 2 Girls at Play! Go see what Cheryl has in store for you today, and if you need another reason...

I'm writing this on my Kindle. My hard drive bit the dust, but all of my content purchased from My Memories is stored right on their site in my download page! Once I get my computer back from the shop, I will be able to reload all of my purchased kits! Think of how much money that can save in the event of a computer crash!

So go visit Cheryl and then take advantage of the last few days to enter the other giveaways from Sew Cal Gal, Leah, Lisa, Missy, Dear Creatives and me! 

Day 6 of Software Giveaways! You have to see this!

The giveaways are almost over and maybe you haven't entered because you aren't a scrapbooker. If I just described you, then you must head over to Sew Cal Gal's giveaway post! She has used her software for loads of projects in some really creative ways! 

And if she manages to convince you that you can use this program come back and enter the  five previous giveaways at Leah's, Missy's, Lisa's, Dear Creatives and right here! 

My Memories Suite 7 Days of Software Giveaways..Day 5!

Whoa! It's Day 5 and the giveaways are piling up! Today it's Leah's turn and she's showing off some cool layouts with the ripped photo effects new to Version 4! She even has a video tutorial for how to use these photo effects with background papers! Awesome! 

Of course, Day 5 means there have been four other giveaways this week! Enter at my blog, Dear Creatives, Stuff-n-Such and Missy's Scrap Space to quadruple your chances at winning this software! 

My Memories 7 Days of Software Giveaways..Day 4!

Wow! Time is flying! I can't believe we're four days into the giveaways! Today's giveaway is provided by Melissa at Missy's Scrap Space and she has a great pep talk for you on switching to digital, or switching from different programs! She also has links to some free printable Christmas trees that would look great in a centerpiece for the holidays and some really cute Christmas card and layout inspiration! Check her out! 

And if you haven't yet, enter the rest of the giveaways from this week at Stuff-n-Such, Dear Creatives and right here at 28 Peppermint Grove! 

My Memories 7 Days of Software Giveaways..Day 3!

Alright! Day 3 is here! You should have already entered my giveaway and the giveaway at Dear Creatives, now it's Lisa's turn over at Stuff-n-Such! She is showing off her cute take on the standard 4 by 8 photo card! No having the same design as all of your friends when you use My Memories to create your holiday greetings! Go check it out and really increase your chances at owning this great software! 

My Memories 7 Days of Software Giveaways..Day 2!

It's Day 2 of the My Memories Christmas blog hop and Dear Creatives is stepping up the game with a whole lot of chances at winning the digital scrapbooking software and a free gift tag printable created with My Memories! Be sure to check her out! 

There is still plenty of time to enter my giveaway as well! 

My Memories 7 Days of Software Giveaways!

Oh my gosh, are you ready for this?! I have teamed up with six other bloggers to bring you...

Happy holidays to you! Seriously, I love this software. It is one of the greatest perks of being a blogger that I was provided a copy of My Memories to review for all of you! And I love being able to give the gift of My Memories to someone else! 

Why do I love My Memories? Digital scrapbooking is so much cheaper and so much less messy than the traditional methods! I can "get out" hundreds of papers, tapes, flowers, ribbons, etc. with nothing to clean up! I can do it with my kids in the room and not have to worry about them cutting themselves with my scissors, it's incredibly freeing!

But that's just digital scrapbooking, what about the software itself? 

My Memories is easy and fun! There is no 400 page manual here because you just don't need it! You can take minutes and create amazing layouts! As a matter of fact, My Memories holds a speed scrap on their Facebook page every Sunday where you take a few minutes for each step, and they walk you through making a great page.

I've taken the last two Sundays and scrapped activities from this Christmas already! Getting our tree, and taking the kids to see Santa is done! Compare this to my traditional paper scrapbooks where the one I started for my five year old's first year is still not complete!

Speed Scrap created with Christmas Giggle

Speed Scrap created with Flakes and Fun

You can use kits from anywhere in this software! Those cute designer freebies that you see on Facebook pages and blogs? Grab 'em! As a matter of fact, the just released Version 4 of My Memories makes using outside content so much easier! Not that I don't have some serious love for the My Memories designers, but it's great that I don't have to hesitate if I find something I like elsewhere! As a matter of fact, I whipped up this greeting card from a non-affiliated designer freebie on Facebook! 

Created with Merry Chrismoose Bella Gypsy Facebook freebie

New to Version 4 you can recolor photos and anything else you bring in under the photo tab! Yes, that means paper and elements, although pre-shadowed elements work best for this (it tends to shadow around the box, great for papers, not so much when you're using a button, and just to clarify, this ONLY happens when you bring an embellishment in under the photo tab). I was never really missing this feature, as I love to search for that perfect thing from my stash, but for those of you who were, it's now available! 

There are great designer kits included, along with the very basics that came with the software from the beginning! There are ripped photo effects and cool photo tiling! There are probably features I haven't even discovered yet because this version is just a little more than two weeks old! 

Flakes and Fun, again, with A Saxon Creation rips

I have been playing with it, though! I have so many ideas for our Christmas cards...now I just need cute pictures of the kids! I'm using some from years past for these mock ups. But that's another thing great about My Memories. I can take these photos out and sub them with current ones once I take them, and have them all ready for printing in a matter of minutes! Amazing! 

So if you'd like to get your hands on your very own copy, comment here before Monday, December 17 letting me know what you would make with My Memories! 

For a second entry, stop by the My Memories store and tell me your favorite kit in another comment! 

And just because I love my followers, leave me a third comment if you follow my blog for a third entry! That's 3 possible entries on my blog alone! Don't forget there are six other bloggers hosting giveaways this week! Visit them all for at least six more chances to win My Memories Suite Version 4! 

Mon Dec 10- Theresa at dearcreatives.com 

Tues Dec 11- Lisa at Stuff-n-Such by Lisa

Wed Dec 12- Melissa at Missy's Scrap Space

Thurs Dec 13- Leah at Digital Scrapbooking

Fri Dec 14- Sew Cal Gal 

Sat Dec 15- Cheryl at 2 Girls at Play

Just can't wait a week to see if you won and start scrapping? You can use my code in the sidebar STMMMS79028 to get My Memories Suite Version 4 for $29.97! Plus a $10 credit to the My Memories store! Not only that, but for today only, My Memories is offering 30% off Santa Packs and a free template with the code 12DaysHoHo!

Giveaway now closed! Winner announced here! 

Giveaway winner!

Comments were still trickling in on my Holiday Lane Pillow, but that has stopped and I thought I should maybe figure out who won part of my stash. How perfect is that random number?! Love it! 

Comment number 28 was pinsandneedles who blogs at Quilting by Dawn! Congratulations! I will be emailing you shortly! 

Holiday Lane Blog Hop

It's here! My day is finally here! I've been so excited watching the other hop participants reveal their pillows! I have to give a big thanks to Madame Samm and Pauline for hosting this huge gathering and cheering us all on!

So, without further ado, here is the back of my pillow!

I'm showing you the back first, because I fell in love with this fabric from Robert Kaufman's O' Tinsel Tree 2 line at a quilt show and immediately envisioned my Holiday Lane. I wanted those wonky doors and window panes, the cute snowman, the wreaths and lights and most importantly, the blues and grays! 

I think I was pretty successful at adapting it for Jill's pattern (which is free if you'd like to put together a Holiday Lane of your own!). 

Ready for some detail shots?

This fabric was supposed to be waves, but I had houses on my brain when I found it. I saw shingles!

I had these miniature buttons made for scrapbook pages in my stash and just had to add them to my snowman! 

It's simple, but my favorite house is this plain blue with the little Christmas tree in the window. I hand embroidered the tree next to it with a motif from my flange fabric using a split stitch. 

I substituted fleece for the wool the pattern called for and used my machine to blanket stitch it down. I absolutely love how this pattern lends itself to customization! I can't wait to see how the other ladies have personalized their pillows today! I just know you'll want to join me in visiting them!

J Kafer on the Net

Busy as Can Be

Dachsies With Moxie

28 Peppermint Grove-You are here!

Marjorie's Busy Corner

Kris Loves Fabric

Linda - that other blog

Dora Quilts

Shedding the Wolf

Quilting, Sewing Granny

Creative Notions

Chickadees Country Cottage Crafts

Madame Samm @ Sew We Quilt

I wanted to buy a little something to give away today, but I couldn't find the time! I thought maybe you wouldn't mind if I de-stashed a little? 

I'll give away this pretty mini-quilt and matching tote pattern I have been meaning to make for ages, along with this Clover Rose Maker in size small (I bought all three sizes and have only opened one...bad stasher!) and a little Christmas fabric surprise to one random person who comments letting me know about something they've been stashing for awhile! 

Giveaway is now closed!

A blog to follow and a great chance to win!

I am hard at working trying to finish up my UFO (there may be photos of a completed top tomorrow!) and dealing with this crazy moody baby today, but I came across a couple things I just had to share. 


Number one, the Ginger Scraps blog. I have not known about this blog or shop for a very long time, but for at least two months now (and maybe all the time?) they have been hosting a daily download! We've missed out on July, but are just in time to go collect a few pieces to one awesome kit every day for the month of August! The designer has hinted that links will be going away soon, so hop on it! And definitely add it to your list of blogs to follow for more generous freebies and great sales! 


Number two, and this may help you out if number one doesn't apply...in honor of her birthday the lovely lady behind Missa's Muse is giving away a copy of My Memories Suite Version 3! That's right, the very software I use to make all of my layouts! And the last time I checked, she only had five entries! Amazing odds to win! 

Completed!

Last Monday I posted that I would enter the challenge over at Amy's Creative Side and complete my sister's birthday gift. I'm happy to say that I did it! Her birthday was last Tuesday, and I had most of the doll completed by then, but wanted to add all of the little extras. I hope she really enjoys her.

This was really a project for my sister that was also inspired by her. She really liked this:

   

..Which got me to thinking what that might look like. I think I'm a little too far removed from high school to have any idea what goth kids dress like anymore, but I think I did a pretty decent job. I hope! I'll either be getting an elated phone call or a very confused one. 

Panda and pleated skirt patterns are Dolls and Daydreams (who is having a giveaway right now!). Boots and bag are my own. :)

P.S. Erin Bradley is having a giveaway!

You may have seen a bunch of digital scrapbook stuff on here lately, as I'm learning to use my new software and giving away a copy of it. Well, those of you interested in that may also be interested to know that Erin Bradley Designs is giving away a HUGE Halloween package with five sets of clip art and three sets of digital papers! If you haven't heard of her, she has the cutest owl stuff ever! Enter here before 8/28, and for those of you wondering, YES, you can use these papers and clip art with My Memories!

Review and Giveaway!

Have you heard of My Memories software for digital scrapbooking? Admittedly, I hadn't until I was contacted by them and offered a free copy for my opinion, but now that I know, I am so excited!

I no longer have to get out a variety of glues, tapes, scissors, ribbons and papers to scrapbook. I don't have to worry about the kids getting into my supplies and covering my oak table with stickers. With My Memories on my laptop I can actually find scrapbooking relaxing and fun...the way I used to, before I had the children I wanted to scrapbook about.

Do you know how awesome that is?!

My Memories Suite is so much more economical than traditional scrapbooking, too. Their website has pages of free downloads and an even larger selection of $0.99 downloads that they call the dollar store! So affordable, and you can use them repeatedly, versus the expensive stickers, papers and alphabets you buy and use once the traditional way!

Working with the software, nearly every time I found myself wishing it did something, I would magically discover the button or function that did exactly what I was looking for! I found it so simple to use, and I was able to make some really creative pages without downloading any extras!





This quilt journal page is my favorite! I will absolutely be making a page like this for every quilt I make from now on, and probably printing out books of them too! The fabric close-ups, selvage strip and little blurb about the project are just so fun! I can't wait to download more!

As a matter of fact, if you purchase My Memories Suite using the code STMMMS79028 they will actually give you $10 off the purchase price and a $10 coupon code to the My Memories Store! That's $20 exclusively for my US and Canadian blog readers!

Of course though, you could just win it! You're dying to know how, right?

MANDATORY: Visit the My Memories Store and tell me which paper pack or layout is your favorite in a comment here!

Earn extra entries for each of the following that you do:

1. Follow my blog (or let me know that you are a follower) and leave a comment here.

2. Post about this giveaway on your blog, then comment with a link back to your post.

3. Visit My Memories Suite Facebook page, like them and let me know you did.

I will randomly pick a winner on Thursday, September 1, and PLEASE make sure there is a way to contact you either in your profile or comment! If I can't contact you I will not consider your entry valid.

Fabric Giveaways

I didn't have a Monday Moment this week, which usually prompts me to go out and do something, but I'm getting to that point in my pregnancy where I have appointments all the time! Three this week for different doctors, nurses, classes...Yuck!

I did manage to sit at the sewing machine for quite awhile though and finish up the top of my baby quilt I have been working on. I'd show you, but I'm saving the big reveal as part of a giveaway I'm hosting later this week.

In the meantime, here are some other giveaways to hold you over.

Sara at FairyFace Designs is always putting up beautiful things on her blog and Flikr, and apparently she's been doing that for a year now. In celebration, she's giving away six almost fat quarter pieces of Amy Butler!

Green Fairy Quilts is giving away a huge fat quarter bundle, a jelly roll and a layer cake. Of course, they are encouraging donations to their charity, but you don't have to donate to enter, and if you do, in ANY amount, you get three extra chances at the fabric goodies. Amazing!

Giveaway Reminder

As of right now there are only 24 entries into the My Memories Giveaway! You still have amazing odds to win this software!

The people at My Memories thought that maybe a few more of you could be enticed by this video they put together. It really shows how easy the software is to use with a screen tour that points out where you will find your papers and embellishments, a tour of their website, a beginners guide to creating albums and an intro to some of the tools!

Welcome to the Family! from Lisa Jurrens on Vimeo.

And of course, don't forget the special code just for my blog readers! Just enter STMMMS79028 to get $10 off the price of the software and a $10 coupon code to the My Memories store if you can't wait to win it!

Sweet giveaway

This is just a tiny little peek at a Valentine's gift I've been asked to make. I am loving how it is turning out! And look at that cute loopy stitch my new machine can do. Too bad I still had to do the French knots by hand.

Speaking of gifts, if you'd like to enter to win your own $50 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop, Suzannah at Adventures in Dressmaking is holding a giveaway right now! Who can resist the chance at free fabric?

Monday Moments

I love this photo. I love how my kid is just diving face first into a lion shaped pile of frosting. Maybe it's just that I'm actively watching what and when I eat that I can't get over this picture. I want to be almost three years old, eating buttercream with complete abandon.

Maybe it's all the doll clothes I have been making, trying them on the baby, borderline playing. Do you have this childhood envy too? Or maybe a little one in your life you can live vicariously through? Sarah from Dolly Donations is hosting a giveaway of the most adorable eco friendly dollhouse on her new personal blog Dolls and Daydreams. It is so cute! I'm entered to win and I know you want to be too!

Heads Up!

There are some major giveaways going on out there in craft blog land this week! I stumbled upon a few today that might interest you.

First off, my favorite and the one I hesitate to share, but sharing earns me another entry to this sweet giveaway! Sew Take a Hike along with Superbuzzy is giving away a $60 gift certificate to one winner for Superbuzzy's store. Never heard of it? Picture the cutest, kitschy-est Japanese imports ever, and you still might not get cute or kitschy enough.

Next we have Sew Cal Gal giving away three different assortments of Hawaiian quilting fabrics, books and patterns. Have you been reading this blog long enough to see the shirts my husband wears? I want to win one of these packages badly!

And finally there is Sheree's Alchemy. Sheree makes adorable clothing for kids and is giving away scraps from her latest projects. Some of them as big as 1/2 yard! She has great taste in fabrics and these scraps are definitely desirable!

Some of these lovely ladies even link to more giveaways hosted on other crafty blogs, so be sure to poke around a bit. Hurry, giveaways end 5/23, 5/31 and 5/21 respectively!

Heads Up!

I am working my butt off on the first new pattern I have designed myself in what feels like a million years. So far, I absolutely love it and everything has just come together perfectly, or near perfect. Big thanks to Allison for suggesting to me many times over that I first make my pattern in cheap muslin. There were a few measurements where I was off by about a half an inch and I am SO glad that I made those mistakes out of $2.47 a yard fabric and not $8.99 a yard fabric.

Anyway, I have a bunch of projects up my sleeve for the near future, including one (or more) made from a layer cake. If you'd like to win a layer cake of your own(pre-cut 10" fabric squares, useful for a large variety of things) head over to the Adventures In Dressmaking blog to enter before March 28th.

A word of warning though, my recently purchased layer cake was the Chirp! one that is among your choices if you win. Layer cakes are usually 40 fabrics, sometimes there are a few repeats if the particular fabric line you choose did not have 40 fabrics. Chirp! has 22 fabrics in its line. There are 18 repeats in that cake! Something I wish I would have known before I bought mine.