our new pathway for support & updates.

Hello  fellow lovers of Memory Manager & StoryBook Creator!  These two software programs changed my life for the good just over 7 years ago.  They equipped me with tools to manage my digital images with ease and confidence... all 40,000 of my photos can be found and enjoyed because they are in user friendly folders with helpful labels.  More importantly, these two software programs have helped me get my photos out of cyber space and safely into my family's hands. Now memories can be relived and stories can be passed down from generation to generation because our photos are enjoyed in hardcover albums, calendars, cards, photo panels and family cookbooks.

My love for these programs can hardly be contained.

As you know, Creative Memories was the company that introduced us to these amazing products that were created by Caspedia, now called Panstoria.  And we are all thankful for the great support CM provided over the past 7+ years!  In the process of Creative Memories' exciting "makeover", they have decided to reemerge without MM and SBC, but the good news is that the mother company will be providing us with the support and updates that we want from October 2nd forward.  We can even smoothly transition all of our digital embellishments in SBC - and all of our labeling, sorting, stories & stars in Memory Manager!

The link below (in pink) will take you to the Panstoria site and link you to me as my customer.  You can share this link (and this web site) with any friends you know that want to get Memory Manager (Historian) or StoryBook Creator (Artison) - and enjoy the best photo software in the world for themselves.  Or click on the banner under "about Me" on the right.

Support for Memory Manager & Storybook Creator through PANSTORIA

I am still researching what our best print options will be in the future.  In the next few days or weeks, Panstoria will be offering print services through the Panstoria Print Shop (similar to print services available at the CM Digital Center).  I want to spend some time researching where we will find the highest quality products, because that is what always sold me on Creative Memories.  I will keep you posted right here.

If you own StoryBook 4.0, you got an update notice in your software yesterday, October 2nd.  (Open your SBC software and look in the lower left hand corner.)  When you complete this update, you will have access to the Panstoria Print Shop.  I could not get the update to work for me today but I am sure they are working out all kinds of bugs.  Just be patient.  The great news is that the programs will still be supported and updated, and there is still a place where we can ask our questions. 

If you own StoryBook 3.0, watch for your update notice to appear around October 7th.

I plan to continue my Digital Diva Classes --- with hopes of going viral with some of the training.  Exciting times. 

the ONE YEAR...AND COUNTING album.

The Cover - Front & Back

Pages  1-20

 

This is a simple 20 page album that you can make in a snap!  I created this one to honor Charlotte's first year of life. It is basically a Photo-A-Month album.  What a blast to watch a baby grow up right before your eyes in a simple 20 page album.

Here is the link for you to view the StoryBook:
To see the shared StoryBooks Karen Blanc shared with you, simply follow this link:http://www.cmphotocenter.com/photos/share.php?code=-2M0Qh5Yg_LVLtt7yzcDlltGN_mGoZ4Z&share_type=storybook

And guess what? I made a ONE YEAR... AND COUNTING Template for SBC so you can make your own version quick as a wink!   Just clink on the link below to download the Predesigned Pages.   Drop and drag your own photos into the grey boxes - and VOILA!  Baby Album DONE.

Click here to view ONEYEAR...AND COUNTING Template.

I started with a pregnancy photo labeled 0 MONTHS.   Then I followed with 1 HOUR, 1 DAY and 1 WEEK.  (You could change it up depending on what precious photos you have.)   Then I followed with 1 MONTH, 2 MONTHS, 3 MONTHS, etc..   The hardest part is selecting just one photo!

On the last double page spread, I put 16 photos on each page that reflected her growing up like magic right before your eyes!  This also allowed me to use more of the favorite photos from her first year.  The final page was reserved for photos from the first birthday party.

I am sure you noticed (or I hope you did!) that this sort of works like a COUNTING BOOK too.

Babies grow up faster than you can say 1,2,3...

exciting times.

As you know, I am married to MM and SBC, so to speak.  These software programs have helped me to keep my treasures safe, and to enjoy my photos more fully.  I am in love with them and passionate about them.  And I have a love relationship with Creative Memories.  I am truly thankful that Memory Manager, StoryBook Creator and Creative Memories have given me an opportunity to have "work" that I love... and that doesn't feel like "work" at all.

As our beloved company re-designs itself for a happy future, I am now actually and honestly anticipating the transition.  I plan to stay loyal to CM and to MM & SBC --- and I hope to take you all with me!

What I know today:

1.  We know now that MM and SBC will be supported - either by a new vendor relationship or with the software's "mother", Panstoria.  Be comforted that we will still have:
 

- Continued support

- Continued ability to buy digital artwork and use it in SBC

- Continued ability to print StoryBooks and other output that we will be proud to own

- Continued availability of upgrades and improvements to the software

- Access to existing projects

- Ability to move the software to other machines

2.  Creative Memories has exiting things up their sleeves with the new company.  One of my dear, dear consultant friends is currently Beta testing the new digital app they will be launching in November.  And while she signed a confidentiality agreement and could not share specifics, I could hear the sheer excitement & enthusiasm in her voice about where we are going as a company.

This means we can still use the software that we are IN LOVE with - and also have access to a digital app that will offer 'simpler solutions' when we need it.

I just wanted to write to share my heart about this stuff... and my excitement.  We should all be working to complete any projects we have in the works, as we can use the current CM Digital Center to order projects until September 23.  I am having a blast being a busy bee with my photo projects.  This deadline is helping me stay more committed to the projects I long to complete.

Thank you for sharing my love for stories & photos!

 

do this.

If someone were is ask me "If you only had time to make ONE photo album this year, what would it be?"  My answer: Make an in-a-nutshell album about your life.  Where you live, what you do, what your house looks like, what your kids look like, and then add some nutty facts about yourself. 

When we went to Ireland four years ago, Mike is the one who said "You should make an album about our day-to-day lives to take with us.  Even though there isn't a language barrier, a picture is worth a thousand words and it might help us connect with more people."   Did it ever!  We were amazed at the number of times we whipped out this little album and made a conversation more interesting.

The fun (and fascinating) thing about this album project is that "ordinary life pictures" are sometimes something we don't even have in our possession.  The advent of the cellphone camera has helped, but ask yourself --- do you have a photo of the outside of your house?  Your car?  Do you have a nice photograph of where you work - and spend hours everyday? 

I grabbed our "Made in 2009 About Us Album" when I headed out the door to a 125th Anniversary Celebration of Delta Gamma recently.   While conversing with sorority sisters, I was shocked by how out-of-date our little book was - in just 4 short years!  There was no mention of our 2+ year house renovation... or Mike's cancer journey... or the addition of 6 grandchildren!  Below are some of the pages from our REVISED About Us album.  You can view the whole thing on this link:

Revised ABOUT US StoryBook

If you meeting someone for the first time and only had a few minutes to tell about yourself --- what would you say?  These are the sorts of things that go in an ABOUT US album.  

I always try to grab this little album when we are going out of town.  I was glad I had it in my purse when Mike was having his cancer surgery in St. Louis.  It turned out that Mike had to be on a ventilator for three days... the nurses that tended to him day and night knew nothing of the man they were caring for.  I made sure to leave the little ABOUT US book on the tray table next to his bed each night so that when he couldn't talk or communicate --- the book could for him.  I wanted the nursing staff to know about the fine man they were caring for.  Because of this simple collection of photos... they did.

thoughtful words.

"If you want to learn what someone fears losing, watch what they photograph."

 

Got this cool quote from photographer extraordinaire, Wyn Wiley.

Isn't it amazing to ponder the power of photography.

 

I used to regularly tell my clients that even taking a photograph of a child (or adult) esteems them, because it is communicating that 'you care' and 'you want to remember this moment together'.

 

It is thrilling to ponder that our photography (even with our phones) communciates a lot about us.

 

The wonders of photography run deep.

How are you protecting your treasure?

 

 

 

year review album is in my hands!

 It is hard for me to contain my excitement about this!  988 photos from 2008 in one fabulous 100 page digital StoryBook album!  988 photos saved from cyberspace with stories written beside them. It arrived this week.

2008 was the year that I stopped printing my photos with the digital age --- so that is where I started.  2009 is next.  Then 2010, 2011, 2012.  Now that I have a plan with these amazing predesigned pages,  the task  does not seem overwhelming.

Every time I get an album back I am always amazed at the quality of our Creative Memories albums. WOW.    This time I opted for the LAY FLAT option, and I will never go back.  (Why haven't I always done this?)  The quality of the paper and the colors and the inks is amazing!

There are more details in earlier posts about my favorite Wedding Gallery 12x12 and Photo A Day 12x12 layouts.  The real beauty of the YEAR REVIEW album to me is that this is where our "everyday family life" is captured... I have managed to keep up with getting vacations and weddings and big stuff in digital albums, but it is the precious, everyday, random stuff that eluded me.  Remember that this is not all the photos I took in 2008. That would be 4389 photographs. (Really.)  This is the collection that formed from creating 8 pages per month. This is the plan that made the project do-able to me.

The reason I wigged out when my computer crashed last December was because it was our "everyday ordinary family life" photos that were left hanging in cyberspace.  I am all about capturing 'perfectly ordinary' for images we almost forget to snap... I want to remember silliness at a family dinner or when Mike dressed in the girls clothes after folding too much of their laundry... I want to remember when Kiley drove the car into the house... and when the ducks started pooping on the porch... I want the quiet, tender moments of my daddy's hospital days as much as vacations and weddings.  A Year In Review album helps capture the gift of all those perfectly ordinary days that make a year... and life.

My quest will be to show this album to as many people as I can... to inspire them to retrieve their precious memories from the computer.  Remember the thought provoking saying "Memory Keeping begins with the printed photo..." This is the essence of it. Images on a computer are at risk - both to computer crashes and to changing technology. The best way to preserve an image is to have something that you can hold in your hands.

Want to take a peek at this album all done?

Karen's 2008 Year in Review Album

Want to make your own version?

year-in-review album.

You know the story... my hard drive crashed... I woke up to the pitfalls of cyberspace... my 2013 goal is getting my precious photos off my computer and into our lives...  

It was 2008 when I stopped printing my pictures, so it is 2008 where I am starting.  The ONLY way I can manage this large task is using the "YEAR-IN-REVIEW ALBUM" concept.  8 pages per month gives me a 100 page album (give or take).  The other part that makes this manageable for me is PREDESIGNED PAGES.  Specifically Wedding Gallery 12x12 and Photo-A-Day 12x12.

(This layout is from Photo-A-Day 12x12. I used it to celebrate the completion of Abby's traditional 

BABY BOOK, which she received for her college graduation!)

I am half way through 2008 and love the result.  Mostly because I am getting it done.  Please check out the book in progress with the link below:
Karen's YEAR IN REVIEW Album

The layouts in Wedding Gallery and Photo A Day are so valuable in my opinion that I am going to recommend that if you do not already have them, you head straight to my web site to do some shopping.  (Ordering hints can be found in an earlier post.)
Wedding Gallery 12x12 Predesigned Pages
Photo a Day 12x12 Predesigned Pages

The cover and first page options are one of the best features of the Photo A Day package. The collage effect is fabulous!

I am giddy happy about having a plan for the photos presently stored inside a metal box called my computer.   I have my work cut out for me, but I am up for the task - thanks to a "Year-In-Review" plan and some great predesigned page layouts.