Creative Memories National Showcase News - Day 1 and 2

This week is the National Creative Memories Showcase Scrapbook Convention in Minneapolis, MN.  It’s an annual event attended by about 3000 Creative Memories consultants.  This year, Creative Memories has jumped on the social media bandwagon and they are broadcasting this huge event in a play by play format on their facebook event page.  Not a Creative Memories consultant?  No problem – the facebook event is open to you too! There is also a lot of info on the Creative Memories Home Office FB page too - and lots of photos!

At the convention a LOT of new things are announced, new company programs, new products in their traditional scrapbook line, digital scrapbook line and organizational and home products scrapbook line and a ton of programs that will benefit Creative Memories product users, customers, hosts, and consultants.

I am attending the VIRTUAL Creative Memories event this year.  I have been glued to the facebook event page for the past two days and I feel it’s time to offer a summary of all I’ve learned so far. 

As a virtual attendee, it’s a little harder to get EVERY detail about the information I’m sharing, so until it comes out in a more permanent form after September 1^st, please enjoy this sneak peak into the new world of cM… I will make corrections to anything I don’t have JUST RIGHT as soon as I learn about any mis-steps I’ve made here.

First up – Let’s hop right into some NEW PRODUCTS!

I’ll start with the most comprehensive new line…  REFLECTIONS!

Reflections is an entire new design system.  Creative Memories has made a totally WONDERFUL VIDEO on YouTube about the new system.  Watch it HERE.

Reflections verbal summary: Reflections – a whole new product line

cM (Creative Memories) studied the trends in fashion, furniture and design to shape this product line.  Their research paid off!  They blended this product line with the same look as what will show up in the photos in your life.  The décor is modern with a touch of shimmer.  There is a glossy varnish element too.  This design also includes some foil accents. 

Reflections offers both Traditional and Digital products lines.  In the traditional line, an entire Quick set of products have been developed (Reflections PicFolios).  The new PicFolios are light blue with wonderful cover styling designs and photo windows.

Also in traditional look for new shimmer card stock in 2 colors. 
Reflections definitely captures your modern sensibilities.

Reflections also offers a new décor to the outside of the organizing phenomenon, the powersort box.  AND… we can’t leave out the two new Everyday Displays.  The new full sized Everyday Displays are still large magnetic boards with a frame effect and they will be offered in black and white and include magnets each. They can be hung horizontal or vertical and don’t have a clothespin bar like the previous version.  The design is more sleek and modern. 

NEW Traditional Album Coversets with Custom Covers – Check these out…there are 3 ways to create the new covers for these albums…every traditional scrapbooker will be able to create one and digital scrapbookers can design covers with their digital scrapbook software – just another way to make all scrapbooking more “hybrid.”  Check out this YOU TUBE video on CUSTOM COVERS to see more.

Next we have 3 new SIMPLY SAID albums.  The three new ones feature the themes: friends, teacher and Hope.  These albums offer super fast and short ways to complete a project and these new themes will make GREAT gift products as well!

There are several new products in the PicFolio line which will be greatly loved! NOW most albums in the PicFolio line are expandable, and some feature photo windows on cover, landscape sizes, new pocket pages, and recipe themes, look for new 11X14, 13X9, 4X6s etc.

Think Pink is an entire line to accompany breast cancer causes.  The line includes a 12X12 traditional album with the word Believe on the front.  There are also paper, stickers and a brand new LOOP RIBBON maker.  Consider using the new ribbon shape maker with paper colors other than pink to represent the colors of additional causes.

NEW in Digital Scrapbooking you will find:  an upgrade to SBC+ to 4.0.  There will be a full blown 4.0 version ($64.95) and an upgrade version.  No news yet on the features and details of what the new software will add to your digital scrapbooking, but it’s bound to be awesome, after all it’s Creative Memories!  Keep in mind that both versions include a bunch of design packages.  The full blown version has $75 of digital art and the upgrade has $60.  Upgrade version will cost $24.95 and will debut sometime this fall.  New design items in the upgrade version are called Serene and Just Fun – both versions will include calendar 2012 items.

Hardcover storybooks will now come with a limited lifetime warranty, you can also upgrade to layflat pages in hardcover storybooks.  Keep in mind that in the month of Sept 2011, hardcover storybooks will be sold at 20% off including 20% discount on any extra pages you add to your hardcover album.  AND another thing to celebrate… No more ugly barcode printed on the back cover of the book.

Many of these products will be available starting Sept 1.  Some will begin in October and November 2011.

Speaking of November.  Check out the NEW TAPERUNNER VIDEO onYouTube.  A new tape dispenser system will debut in November.  The new tape has a drop in refill that does not require you to THREAD the tape into your dispenser when you replace it.

Finally – there is the GRATITUDE line… Nancy O’Dell’s second line of products following her Hummingbird line of products.

Gratitude features a warm and homey array of colors in browns and peaches.  Her gratitude products will be available in both Traditional and Digital Scrapbook varieties.  Also available in Gratitude is a fabulous new rich Brown PicFolio Milestones album with cross hatch design and a photo window on the cover.

But what I LOVE the best is the new 8X8 Gratitude Recipe Kit.  The album is an 8X8 PicFolio with a whole new look and the accompanying design products are as cute as ever.  I see holiday gifts by the dozen with this new set!

Also in the Gratitude line is a new MINI Everyday Display – it’s mainly brown with some black elements and a bit more traditional styling to its molding frame.  It still has a clothesline bar like it’s predecessor.

I know you can’t imagine that there’s more…but there IS…

I haven’t even begun to tell you about all of the new PROGRAMS cM is rolling out.  First up is the new Customer Rewards program.  This program will replace the old Memory Keepers Club.    Customers will JOIN the Rewards Club by paying an annual fee.  The fee is $39 annually but is being offered at between $20 - $29 per year (will clarify the exact amount when I get written notification of the program) if you are one of the first to join and you take advantage of this GREAT deal in September 2011…

As soon as you enroll you get a $10 reward in club credit applied to your first order!

Then, you receive a 15% club credit on your purchase…

And it doesn’t stop there – you also get EXCLUSIVE products ONLY for you!!!  ( I saw the first and it’s an entire Halloween Product Bundle). ONLY Rewards Club members get this exclusive product so join up right away!

Consultants – you will get a commission when you SELL the rewards club.  It’s like a product you sell and a customer loyalty program all rolled in to one… a win win situation for everyone!

Think we’re done?  NOPE… There’s a NEW HOSTESS reward program.  There are a lot of details but just know that no matter what you host, a class, demo, workshop, open house, whatever… you will be rewarded and even BETTER than in the past… more details will be posted later, I don’t want to mix up any info.

A couple of EXTRA things.  Creative Memories knows that product to help you scrapbook and share products are important to all scrapbookers and so this year, they featured a fabulous new product at their EXPO.  Check out the FLIP PAL  - it’s a moblie scanner.  Here is a link to it on AMAZON MOBILE SCANNER and here is a YOUTUBE MOBILE scanner video you can check out.  It’s pretty cool – especially how it can scan right through page protectors AND stitch BIG pages together.

 

And last but not least, if you LOVE the Pixels2Pages digital training website, hear this.  The Pixies will be giving up their jobs as consultants and will be taking on the role of FULL TIME digital training.  P2P will officially be part of Creative Memories.   Their website (check it out SOON because it will close down the free version and open an new version on Oct 1) will be a new subscription service - $49 for 3 months of training, videos, blue prints, freebies and MORE.  Same fabulous pixies – new service.  AND.. if you are cmc, you can SELL the P2P subscription – again, more details forthcoming. 

Visit P2P website and P2P Facebook page for more details.  If you are attending Showcase, check out their BOOTH.

Guess what!!!  As a Creative Memories consultant, I get to purchase all of these awesome new products at a 30% discount, even off of the sale prices!!!  Become a consultant for just $50 in the US and you can start saving too!  Visit THIS LINK for more info about becoming a consutant.

Happy Scrapping!