Heartfelt thanks and gratitude .....

A heartfelt note of thanks to all of you who took the time to stop by the Washington Heights Art Center for the holiday "Open House in B&W" on December 18th!  It was truly awesome to see you all again, to see how much your kids have grown, and to catch up a little bit.  I know the time we had that day at the Art Center went by quickly!

Just to follow-up on some things since that Open House .....
* My website is still current (www.mycmsite.com/daurieaugostine) in case you need to order new CM products, such as Page Protectors or Tape Runner.  Sorry, I ran out of these items but they were the first things to be snatched up that day.
* I do have some discounted inventory left, and will be making it available again, and possibly adding to it, at some point before the 2011 World's Largest Crop on Saturday, April 2nd. 
* If you need contact information for the artist who shared the space with me that day, please let me know.  All proceeds from the sale of her photographs go to the orphanage she volunteers her time at in Nepal. 

As I said in my Christmas note, it's been a privilege to have the opportunity to get to know all of you through Creative Memories and to provide you with CM products while helping you share and celebrate the milestones of your life --- both big and small.  Wishing you a New Year filled with moments that make you smile!
                                                                                                                                                   -- Daurie

World's Largest Crop 2011

World's Largest Crop 2011 Registration Info .....

Register online now (at earlybird prices only until January 17!!!) at the website www.celebrateevents.com and enter my code DAugostine9673 or print out the registration form and use it to mail in payment.  The theme this year is "A Bumper Crop of Memories" and Creative Memories has even produced a special 12x12 album to celebrate and commemorate the 10th anniversary of this awesome event organized and designed by the amazing "Celebrateevents" team.  Congratulations Mel and Julie --- I wouldn't dream of missing this important milestone!!!
                                                                       -- Daurie

A Holiday Open House in B&W

Dear CM friends,

I want to take this time to thank you for your support during these past years! It has been a pleasure serving you with the many products and services Creative Memories offers and sharing the joy of remembering life's favorite moments with photos and stories.

I'll be hosting a CM Holiday Open House on Saturday, December 18 from 11:30 AM - 3:30 PM at the Washington Heights Art Center located at 6375 W. 1st Ave. in Lakewood, Colorado (1/2 block east of O'Kane Park and near my old Quay St. house) --- the theme is "A Holiday Open House in Black & White". Please join me if you can for some holiday cheer and, especially, many great product specials!

From my home to yours, I wish you a new year filled with moments of love, joy, and laughter. May your camera be ready to capture them all!

Warm wishes,

Daurie Augostine

DaurieA@aol.com

Be sure to visit my website at www.mycmsite.com/daurieaugostine to order products, see new ideas, get inspired!

One more photo ...

Next year's event is planned for Saturday, April 2, 2011 just in case you want to mark your calendar now!

Even more WLC Pics!

There were so many variations of different projects being worked on during the day at WLC 2010. In addition to attending classes, some people were finishing up or starting traditional albums, others spent the day journaling in their nearly-completed books, many were working on digital scrapbook programs, etc. Everyone was hard at work. And all day! Album-making (i.e., scrapbooking) today isn't just a paper and scissors undertaking. In fact, if you think about it, and according to my son, a *blog* is really just an online scrapbook too.

More WLC photos!

Rhonda Anderson (Creative Memories co-founder) is on the right in the photo below (the one wearing a green jacket).

World's Largest Crop 2010

There were 400+ page designs at the event!

Rhonda Anderson

Rhonda Anderson (Creative Memories co-founder) talked for approximately 45 minutes at WLC 2010 and mentioned some of the following .....

She said people take sooooo many pictures today (due to digital cameras) that those photos don't even seem important anymore. According to Rhonda, people are simply overwhelmed about what to do with all their digital images; so, they're left on memory cards, hard drives, etc. and forgotten.

Take time to print out even a few of your best photos instead of just leaving them on the computer.

No time to catagorize all your photos in chronological order? Be selective then! Choose a few photos to print out and if nothing else, focus on putting together a small "theme" album with that small selection of prints.

Importance of photo albums:

Photo albums give people a sense of belonging, gratitude, self-esteem, etc.

They also preserve the past, enrich the present, inspire hope for the future.

However, photos without journaling (identification, explanation, etc.) will one day have no value. She told a story about a friend that inherited her mom's perfectly created photo albums. They were all so beautiful but without any labeling or journaling. Since the daughter had very little space in her home, out of the 11 albums, she only kept one, and threw the rest away.

According to Rhonda Anderson, journaling is key. She asked the audience what a few photos perserved with a some of your great-grandmothers writing would be worth to you and with this perspective she hoped that we would spend some time creating small theme albums with even a few pictures.

My great-grandmother's name was Dora (in fact, I was named after her) and she was my grandmother's mother. She was my mom's absolute favorite grandparent and though she talked about her with much love, I don't know anything about Dora's life. Imagine how much of a treasure even one photo with a short handwritten explanation describing the photo, or the people in the photo, or why the photo was taken, etc. would be for me. Priceless!

Coming soon!

I'll be posting the follow-up to our first quarter "Challenge Yourself" and some photos of World's Largest Crop 2010 soon. The event yesterday was very fun, as usual --- lots of interesting classes, new page ideas, prize winners, awesome displays, and many, many pages completed. Rhonda Anderson (co-founder of Creative Memories) was at the event as well, and I will post some of what she shared at her noon talk, in case you have interest and missed it.

Congratulations ... and WLC info!

So far, seven people have taken on the challenge talked about below. The projects are --- finishing a small wall quilt, finishing a baby's quilt that should have been done two years ago, catching up on the stack of clothing repairs, restoring a corner table, completing some batik projects, finishing a botanical illustration, as well as several small scrapbook projects.

The deadline is April 12th to complete your chosen project. Remember, you can still get in on this challenge, and *you* decide how big or small the project is. According to author, Marcia Wieder, there is tremendous POWER in completing the things you start. She says the accomplishments, no matter how small, tend to spill-over into other parts of your life.

Good luck!


WORLD'S LARGEST CROP INFO
Just a reminder so you don't miss out --- the registration deadline for the WORLD'S LARGEST CROP 2010 has been extended until Thursday, March 18th. It's easy to register online at www.celebrateevents.com and use my consultant code of DAugostine9673. You can even pay right online, or follow-up with a check in the mail.

Blog contest!

FEBRUARY BLOG CONTEST -------

Email me a brief description of your "Challenge Yourself" project (see details below). Not only would I love to hear about it ---- but your email is your entry into the blog contest! The drawing & winner will be announced on Friday night 2/19/10, at the Friday Dinner Crop.

Prize is a $30 Crop Coupon which is good for 6 (Lunch or Dinner) Crops!


"CHALLENGE YOURSELF" EVENT, 1ST QUARTER 2010!
We all have unfinished projects, don't we? Projects we were really excited about in the beginning, and for many reasons, after buying all the supplies, our very important project got abandoned in the closet or the basement. Our project isn't completely forgotten, and always, there are good intentions (someday) to go back and complete it, but we never seem to find the time.

Join our "Challenge Yourself" Event, 1st Quarter 2010 by naming one of your projects (just one!) and making a committment to yourself to finish it by April 12, 2010.


Note: Your project doesn't have to be a scrapbook project.

Check this out!

Hello everyone!

Check this out .......

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pollymlaw/publishing-the-word-project

This is an awesome project --- the artwork is beautiful and the words are so fun!