I wanted to despise this software. I really, really did. Quite possibly, if I even liked it a smidge I would have to finally face years of online photos that have never been printed out and seen the light of day. I wouldn't be able to use my inability to navigate through Photoshop Elements as an excuse any longer, which I ironically purchased years ago for scrap booking!
Let me explain, I have learned to use Elements for basic tasks.. but the thought of creating an entire scrap book page with it makes me want to pull my hair out! It's like using a blow torch when all you needed was a single lit match. Serious overkill.
Rather than dive right in, I checked out the My Memories Suite blog, facebook page and tutorials. I wanted to see what kind of support the product has. It has very robust free onsite tutorials and a rabid fan base. After watching the what-you-need-to-know-to-get-started video I was chomping at the bit to get started and could see why it's users love this software! It is extremely friendly, and intuitive - especially if you have tried other photo editing software. One of the nice things about MMS, is that you can use any custom element you have - whether it's something you created, or a freebie you downloaded off the internet.
I decided to create an Art Journal Album using photos of journal pages I had created in other artist's journals. This first page "Art! Just Do It!" borrowed heavily from Rosie the Riveter and was painted right over Julia Cameron's The Artist Way Chapter 3, "Regaining a Sense of Power".
I've been in an Art Journal round robin for about a year now. We pass our journals around, and each month take turns creating pages in someone else's journal. After one year, we will get our own journal back with all the other participating artist's wonderful art work in it! It has been so much fun and I can't believe it's almost over. This journal page was meant for Joy's journal, so I included photos of her.
This is the second page in my Art Journal album, using my "Art! It's what for dinner..." chicken journal page as the background paper. I liked that the original spiral bound wire was captured in the photo, and wanted to keep that element. I could have covered it with a standard digital ribbon.
I scanned a rusted star I kept from an old wind chime, and used the jpeg (in Photoshop Elements) to create my own digital star embellishment. I downloaded the metal bracket as a freebie digital embellishment from Pixel Scrapper.
This journal page was painted in Anne-Marie's book, so I included photos of her. I would like to create a page of everyone in the Art Journal group - using the page that I created for their book. I loved creating the work and giving it away, but am happy to have a vehicle to create an album for myself with added elements meaningful to the group. The finished album can be printed, or be shared online with music and video added.
Hint: I didn't originally take photos of all of the journal pages that I created, nor did I bring my camera to each group meetup. If you decide to do something like this for any groups you belong to, it would be great to be prepared!
The MMS software made it an absolute joy to play, tinker, swap and experiment with their kits, and with my own custom elements. I worried less about what I was doing, and more about how it was looking. In essence it was true tool, and not a hindrance to the process. Loved the small learning curve and the ease of use.
My husband may yet, actually see a wedding album!
The wonderful people at My Memories gave me one extra My Memory Suite as a giveaway!! Isn't it great to share?!
If you would like to have the chance to win your very own copy of My Memory Suite v2 (retail $39.97) you can enter in any or all of the following ways: (Be sure to comment with an email, or other non-anonymous way, so that I can reach you in case you are the winner!)
1) leave a comment, saying what would be the first project you would tackle if you won!
2) follow my blog publicly, and leave a comment saying so
3) like me on facebook, and leave a comment saying so
4) follow me on twitter and leave a comment saying so
5) facebook, and/or tweet about this giveaway, including a link to this page and leave a comment saying so! Please include @vpmillerart #mymemories and #giveaway in your tweet. Here is a shortened link http://bit.ly/nDV3VW to use.
6) go to the My Memories site and tell me which kit you like best. (I bought "A Wonderful Life" which is a vintage Christmas-y kit, and also one of my favorite movies)
The more comments you leave, the better chance you have to win! Entries will close next Monday at midnight, EST. I will draw the lucky winner next Tuesday!
I'd like to say thank you to everyone who supports my blog, the people at My Memories, and to everyone who loves the arts, in general! Good luck!
