Weekend Update

Tomorrow is October 1st - it feels like September just flew by.  We have another wedding celebration this weekend - for our nephew and his new wife - at the family apple farm.  I expect to be able to check in and post as usual but things will be pretty busy!

I have just a few things to share today- one of them is my passion for digital and some information that may be helpful to you if you have been thinking about taking the plunge into the digital world.

 I got some exciting news today - the upgrade for the Creative Memories StoryBook Creator program will be available on Monday, October 3rd.  If you have the 3.0 program, you will be able to upgrade to 4.0 for $24.95 and the upgrade will include more than $60 worth of digital artwork.  You will not be able to upgrade from the 2.0 version - you will have to buy the new program for $64.95 or get the upgrade to 3.0 in the next day or two and then upgrade again to 4.0.

If you have the older StoryBook 2.0 version, you can purchase the upgrade to 3.0 for only $9.95 (half price) HERE until the new 4.0 program becomes available on Monday.  This upgrade also includes a digital kit and a set of 12 x 12 predesigned pages.  Then you could purchase the upgrade to 4.0 and be totally up to date (and get the new content included in the upgrade).

If you don't own the program  yet, you could purchase the 3.0 version on sale for half price ($32.98) HERE until the new program becomes available on Monday.  Then you could purchase the upgrade next week for $24.95 for a total of $57.93.  The new 4.0 program will cost $64.95 and it will not include the content that you will receive with the upgrade.  You will get different "starter" content"

The 3.0 program comes with over $80 worth of content:

Discover and Delight Digital Power Palettes

Discover Predesigned Pages: 7x5, 8x8, 11x8.5, 12x12

Delight Predesigned Pages: 7x5, 8x8, 11x8.5, 12x12

Black Predesigned Pages: 7x5, 8x8, 11x8.5, 12x12

White Predesigned Pages: 7x5, 8x8 11x8.5, 12x12

Silver Office Supplies Digital Embellishments

The new 4.0 program will come with:

• Cheerful Digital Power^® Palette
• Cheerful 12x12 Predesigned Pages
• Cheerful 11x8.5 Predesigned Pages
• Black & White Digital Power^® Palette
• Black & White 12x12 Predesigned Pages
• Black & White 11x8.5 Predesigned Pages
• 2012 Calendar 12x18 Digital Predesigned Pages
• 2012 Calendar 8x12 Digital Predesigned Pages

 The upgrade from 3.0 to 4.0 will come with:

• Serene Digital Kit
• Serene Digital Overlays
• Serene Digital Alpha Set
• Just Fun Digital Kit
• Just Fun Digital Overlays
• Just Fun Digital Alpha Set
• 2012 Calendar 12x18 Digital Predesigned Pages
• 2012 Calendar 8x12 Digital Predesigned Pages

You can see PDFs of all of the digital artwork content in the help zone on the website HERE  

I really enjoy digital scrapbooking but I often use the program for other projects.  I know that many of you are dedicated "paper scrappers" but the possibilities when you add digital to your paper scrapping are incredible.  Hybrid pages with some digital manipulation of photos and some paper layering and die cuts is a great option.  The page I did (above) for the Cruise contest last year was partially digital and partially Cricut cuts and paper layers.

Another thing that I find fascinating about digital is the changes that you can make with your digital papers - the paper at the top is one that I recently purchased (Autumn Digital Additions) and I changed it to completely different colors with just one simple adjustment in the program.  (These images are only screen size resolution).  You never run out of paper and you can change your papers to suit your needs.

The StoryBook program also allows you to create your own digital content and to use content that you already have or that you purchase from other sources.  The possibilities are truly endless!

Creative Memories Rewards Club

A couple of weeks ago I told you about the new Rewards Club.  Today is the last day to sign up and get the instant $20 credit.  Beginning in October the instant credit will be $10.  I have copied and pasted the information from that post here.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am a Creative Memories Consultant.  I started as a consultant in 2005 to keep myself in supplies and to help friends and relatives with their scrapbooking projects.  I purchased a Cricut in 2007 and soon became totally caught up in the world of digital die cutting.  I started this blog to share my Cricut Design Studio files and tutorials and, more recently, I have been trying to keep my readers up to date on the Creative Memories products that I particularly enjoy using (such as the StoryBook Creative Plus 3.0 software for digital scrapping).

Last year, Creative Memories and Provo Craft began working together.  So far there have been four exclusive Creative Memories Cricut cartridges (Cheerful Seasons, Reminisce Accents, Stork's Delivery and Traveler - just click each name to see more information about each cartridge).  Next month, the Cricut Expression 2 machine will be available through Creative Memories and there will be an exclusive "Best of Times" sampler cartridge included with the Creative Memories E2 machines.  The price will be $299.

The cartridges retail for $55 and they are full of great content and well worth the price.  However...I know that some people find this price to be more than they would like to pay for a cartridge, so I have a few suggestions to help make the cartridges (and other products) more affordable.

Creative Memories is offering a new Rewards Club.  The annual fee is $39 and you get an immediate $10 credit that you can use to purchase Creative Memories products.  If you enroll in September, your immediate club credit will be doubled to $20.

If you join the Rewards Club, you will have access to exclusive products and promotions and every purchase you make will earn you a credit of 15% to be used for future purchases.  You can accumulate these credits to save for a more expensive item (such as the E2).  You could also use the immediate $20 credit to purchase one of the CM Cricut cartridges for $35.

You can read more about the Rewards Club and sign up as a member on my CM personal website HERE. 

If you'd like to earn even more credit, in addition to the Rewards Club, you could host a "party."  If you are located near me in Massachusetts this could be an "in person" get-together.  If you are at a greater distance, you could host a virtual party and earn hostess credit when the people you invite shop on my website.  The details of the host benefits can be seen HERE.

If you want to get even more products and purchase your items at the consultant discount (starts at 27.5% and increases depending on sales volume) you should consider signing up as a consultant.  The cost to start up is only $50.  My good friend and fellow blogger Joy Tracey (of Obsessed with Scrapbooking and Everyday Cricut) just joined Creative Memories through me and we would love to have some more of our online friends join us to create a great team!

There are additional incentives for new consultants who meet certain goals in their first months and if you join in September or October and complete the "Success Plan" you will earn this wonderful "Let's Create Pack" worth over $140.  If you are not a "party person," remember that you can sell through your Creative Memories personal website.  The fee for the first three months for your website is waived - what could be better than a free website to help you sell in the first months.

If you are interested in more details you can find them HERE on my personal website or contact me online by clicking the box on that page or emailing me directly at capadiadesigns@gmail.com

Thank you all for your responses to my question yesterday about your experiences with the world of die cutting - how you got started, which machines you have and use, and what you are interested in doing in the future.  I'd like to hear more of you and to let you know that I am definitely trying lots of new things.

I am very excited about some of the designs I have been able to make using the Silhouette software.  I am so happy to have some of the features that we all have been requesting for years in the Cricut software products with no results.  The intricate cut in the sneak peek above is something that I was able to make very quickly with the Silhouette software.

Tomorrow is World Card Making Day.  If you click HERE you can find out more about this event.  There is a card contest with 20 huge prize packages - to find out more about this click HERE.  Entries must be postmarked by October 11, 2011. You definitely should check out the list of prizes that the creators of the top 20 cards will receive - the total value is over $1,000!

Have a Great Friday - we'll be on the road most of the day...

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