Went to a creative memories demo

[Jiminy102]

I bought a couple of things. I didn't want to spend to much since I just bought a bunch of Mary KAy stuff yesterday!

Ok my questions are:

1. What creative memories items are an absolute must for a beggining scrapper

and

2. where do I start???

I have a few die cuts, some paper and a scrapbook that a friend gave us to do an ablum for our trip to WDW this poast december. I keep looking at the stuff....I bought some stickers in WDW and I bought the corner cutter, adhesive stuff and the 3 ruler set today!!!

Where to start!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really want to have this one done before our trip in September!!!

 

[dizfamily]

My list of CM must-haves for the beginner scrapper:

Personal trimmer (unless you already have a trimmer)
corner rounder
The Custom Cutting system is NICE but I suppose it is possible to do without it
Tape runner
Short cuts are also one of my must-haves since it makes doing pages SO easy!
A set of pens, although I suppose you could make do with just a black pen
My new must-have is the square maker

Of course, there are so many things I personally couldn't live without!

 

[AlliM]

I agree with all of those but I would get the Fiskars 12in. trimmer over the CM one. I love my Fiskars one (Michaels/Walmart carry them) because you can cut the bigger paper.

Start whereever you wish.......for me CM albums lend themselves to scrap chronologically so that is always how I have always done it. I suggest visiting websites like www.twopeasinabucket.com or www.dmarie.com for some suggestions. They both have great articles and ideas.

WARNING......scrapbooking is addicting.....once you start you will 'need' all there is out there!!!

 

[lisaschu]

I agree on the aforementioned must haves....

trimmer, corner rounder, adhesive, black pen and CM Short Cuts.

I would add the CM Scenic Paper pack and Zesty Geometrics pack only because they have the die cut squiggles, zig zags, etc. They make awesome borders along with the Short Cuts.

The Custom Cutting System is an awesome tool, but I would recommend working your way up to it. I also love the square maker and couldn't live without it! If money is no object, then go for it! Otherwise, schedule your own class and earn it for free!

 

[Lesley]

Everyone's lists above are good...

I do recommend the cutting system though....you can actually skip on the trimmer and get the cutting system with the 12" pattern to have the most flexibility out of one tool. The trimmer is faster, so eventually you'll want both. But if you'll be using shortcuts and not cutting anything 12" the trimmer is also less expensive than the cutting system.

Really decide what you want to do and get the tools that will make that possible!

 

[BevS97]

I don't use much of anything CM, but I do like their small paper trimmer - if the item I want to cut will fit in the trimmer than I always choose it. It's the only trimmer I've tried that is really straight (my fiskars is terrible), and I really like the grid on it, it seems to be very easy to get mats etc just the right size on it.

Bev

 

[chessie]

I think is so funny that each of us has a different experience with our tools. I love my friskers trimmer but hate my CM personal trimmer. I love the CM cutting system, especially the wavy ruler. Hermafix and the small see through photo splits are my favorite adhesives. It all boils down to personal style. I am very frugal with tools.

 

[BobbinWeez]

I too am a scrapbooking addict. I've tried a few other products but I keep coming back to the Creative Memories products. I love my consultant she just rocks so that's another reason why I stay with CM. I love my corner rounder--it's so much fun. If anyone has any great ideas on how to put together a Disney trip scrapbook let me know. I have 3 trips worth of photos to put into a book!!!
--Robin

 

[BobbinWeez]

Just a reminder Saturday May 4th is National Scrapbook Day!!

 

[BevS97]

Robin - you can take a look at my disney album if you want my scrapbook pages I was a very new scrapper when I started, so the style changes somewhat throughout the album, but you are welcome to look.

Bev

 

[Spinning]

I too am rather new to scrap booking. So I have been looking and....buying alot of stuff! But I think I am done shopping for now
I love the CM corner rounder and the oval cutter also the sqaure cutter is great too!
Also I got a bag to carry all my stuff in from Michael's that is really nice I htink it is called a scrap and go JR.
I have a fiska cutter which I really like too.

 

[DVCajun]

My BF is a former CM consultant and she introduced me to scrapping. I found the CM style unappealing-- too many stickers, too large titles-- and as a result it took me ages to get into scrapbooking. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to start and it seemed like I would have to buy everything under the sun to just do my first page! Finally I saw Becky Higgins style (of Creating Keepsakes magazine) and I was hooked! Her style is very creative--she doesn't use many stickers, if any, and her pages seem to really spotlight the pictures rather than cutsie titles and stickers. While I have a few CM things (some of which I'm about to unload on ebay because they just don't fit my taste) I would recommend starting small, buying only what you need to create your first page. The embellishments that make the biggest difference are usually the least expensive-- i.e. eyelets and brads, and many times simply layering paper and vellum can make a beautiful page.

BTW, something I strongly dislike about CM is the fact that you use both sides of a page-- this can cause problems if you accidentally leave something out of your chronology. I find that it's much better to create pages seperately and layer them back to back in a page protector. That way it's not a big deal to move them around or insert new pages in between old ones.

It also seems impractical to me to spend money on diecuts that you aren't going to use over and over again.

I'm so glad I waited a while before diving in because I really saved myself some money. My BF now isn't a big fan of CM. Unfortuantely, she has a small fortune in CM merchandise sitting in her office. I cringe when I think of how much she spent on stickers. Those can be a real money drain. She never even uses them now.

So-- my advice is: take your time. Look at some different styles. Attend a crop. THEN spend some money.

 

[Jiminy102]

THe Demo I went to The constultant siad what she liked about Cm style and what she did not and how she did it including the fact that she perferred to use one side of the page and to keep the pages fairly simple!! Thanks everyone for the imput....I am so excited to try my first page!!

 

[Lesley]

DVCajun, its so funny you say that because I'm a 99% CM cropper (I'm a consultant....but there are a couple of other things I like) and my personal style uses very few stickers, is quite simple but sometimes very creative with paper and keeps the focus on the photos. I'm not really much of a title person at all. I ended up using primarily CM products because they all coordinate....I'm really kind of uptight about things matching and coordinating properly and I would spend hours in the stores (which aren't near my home at all...and I've got small kids who were always with me...) trying to find the perfect match of paper color for a certain sticker that I had fallen in love with, or trying to match a pen color to a paper, or whatever. Drove me nuts. I'll admit to having a lot of stickers, but I stock them mainly for my customers. It is nice having everything available whenever I want it!

I had an awesome consultant (now my unit leader) and I think that helps a lot! But there is a lot on the market and it is best to figure out what will work for you before spending a lot of $.

When I first started I thought I wanted to do the top loading page protector albums. My first was a 3 ring type with top loading pages and I discovered that using separate sheets for each page was beginning to make my album really heavy and thick....so I switched to using both sides for my pages. When I switched to CM it wasn't a big deal. If I miss something I can always toss in another page....I always have photos or journaling I can do to fill both sides.

I think we all have our own little quirks about what works for us and what doesn't!

 

[DVCajun]

Thanks for responding, Lesley! I am actually a newbie to scrapping, though I have a lot more knowledge than a lot of newbies because I was very interested in the craft for a long long time before I actually created my first page. Something that has always turned me off are the cutsie titles. I think about what our kids and grandkids are going to see when they look at these albums as adults (if we're doing them for posterity), and I can't help but think they're going to roll their eyes at some of the huge titles with dual meanings that are the rage right now. I am positive that scrapping will be looked at as a "turn of the millennium thing," sort of like macrame was in the 70's. Scary thought!!!! As a result of that feeling, I'm trying to keep my titles very low key and focus on the pictures. And journaling will never go unappreciated! That's one thing that I do like about Creative Memories-- the stress on journaling, and in your own handwriting as much as possible.

Anyway, it was fun to read your post, Lesley-- thanks!