December 2019

****This Giveaway is Now Closed****

Welcome to a “special” edition of Scrappin’ Wednesday- on Tuesday!  I’m moving things up a day this week so I can have my Thanksgiving free!

If you’ve been reading my blog this year, you know that every week, I share a digitally-scrapbooked page that I created.  It’s really helped motivate me to catch up on my scrapbooking.  So, I was super excited when I was contacted by the company that makes My Memories Suite, a top rated, best-selling digital scrapbook software.  I was offered the opportunity a free copy of their product to use, review it, and give one away to one of you!  (more on that in a minute-) Many people use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements for their digital scrapbooking.  Those programs are great, but expensive- often prohibitively so.  They also have a steep learning curve.  So, I know lots of people are on the lookout for good alternatives to those programs.  My Memories Suite might be what you’re looking for.

1.  It is affordable– the full software costs $39.97, and that includes a good amount of papers, embellishments, and such.  If you use my coupon code that I’ll give you later, you can save $10 on your purchase, making it even more affordable!

2.  It is easy to understand and navigate.  You can choose pictures and embellishments from the menu on the left, then use the menu on the right to edit them.  On the page, you simply drag and drop.

3.  You can use all the digital “stuff” you already own.  This was a big concern of mine.  I’ve spent a lot of hours, and a decent amount of money collecting digital scrapbooking kits, elements, word art, etc.  I was worried I’d be unable to use them, but you can simply add them as a photo, or even import them into the program and organize them as you desire.

Remember this page from last week?  All my own elements, created with My Memories Suite.

4.  You can create other things besides digital scrapbooks.  I used MMS to create a holiday card.  (This is an old picture, so I’m not actually sending these ones out).  It was so easy to do!

You could also use it to create a “slideshow” of sorts from a recent trip.  You even have the options to share your albums by printing them, exporting as JPEG so you can have them printed, creating a hardbound book, creating an interactive “movie”, or sharing on Facebook.

5.  It is compatible with Windows/PC and MAC.  If you’re a MAC user, you’ve got a version just for you!

Now, the few concerns I have: 1.  Pictures Pixelate.  I have used other software that enables my digital elements to change sizes without pixelating.  On My Memories Suite, I have to be much more careful in the dimensions I choose.  It seems like there is less leeway there. 2.  Albums v. Pages-  I wish I could just create a page at a time, instead of having to create a new album each time.  I currently have to create or open an album,create a new page in the album, and then save that page to the album.  It’s just not the way I usually work- sometimes I create out of order- my pages don’t necessarily go together, so it’s just clunkier for me. 3.  I would love a “group” option for my elements/text, so I could move things all together.  Though I hear that version 3 will be offering that….. __________________________________________________________________________________

Want a Free copy of My Memories Suite?  Simply visit MyMemories.com, choose your favorite kit/paper pack/element pack and leave a comment telling me what it is.

For extra entries:  (please leave a separate comment for each!) 1.  Follow Occasionally Crafty on GFC (1 entry)

2.  Follow the My Memories blog here:  (1 entry)

3.  “Like” My Memories on Facebook:  (1 entry)
4.  Follow My Memories on Twitter (1 entry) 5.  Blog, Facebook, or Tweet about the giveaway (1 entry for each)

Want it now?  Use my coupon code to save $10 off your purchase, and a $10 coupon for the My Memories Store.  Nice.  The coupon code is STMMMS33532.  This coupon code is good from today through….forever!  It might make a great gift for the scrapbooker in your life!  

The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, November 29th at midnight Arizona time  (Mountain Standard, I think).  A winner will be chosen by random.org and announced on Wednesday, Nov 30th.  Good luck!

I’ve been a Primary president for over three years.  The Primary is the children’s organization at my church- kind of the children’s Sunday School.  I LOVE it.  I would gladly do it for three more years. Unfortunately, my time is ending, and I’ll be asked to do another job in my church, and let someone else have the amazing opportunity of working with the children and their families each week. Every year, Primary has a theme that we focus on throughout the year.  Next year’s theme is “Choose the Right”.  I love this theme- it’s so simple, so basic, and yet so important. We always display the theme on a front table in our Primary room.  Before I knew my time in the Primary would be ending, I created a poster to use for the theme.  It has both the theme for the year and the scripture. I don’t know if they’ll still use it- but this is the display we would have at our front table. On a side note- I absolutely LOVE this picture of President Monson, the prophet and leader of our church.  We made these fun blocks as part of a craft night at our church.  I love seeing his smiling face each day. So- back to the printable.  If you’d like to have one for your Primary, or just to display for your own family somewhere, you can right-click on the image below and save it to your computer.  It is intended as an 8×10, but you could print a smaller one too.
Thanks for stopping by today!  I’ll be linking this up at some of my favorite parties.  I hope you’ll come check them out!

Ahem.  As I mentioned yesterday, it’s still slightly HOT here in Phoenix.  Yet, I am slowly putting up my fall decor.  Maybe if I keep dropping hints like that, the weather will cool down faster 🙂 Here’s some great projects that caught my eye this week:

1.  I really like these Jute-wrapped Pumpkins by That’s My Letter.  I like the rustic, homey feeling they give.  I’d love to have some for my mantel!

2.  If I ever pick up another hobby, it might be quilting.  I really like this Bunting Quilt from Away We Go.  Bunting is all the rage, and I love the fabrics she chose to match her baby’s bedding for her nursery.  It’s darling!

3.  I love this beautiful Birthday Party Budget Dessert Table from little lulu’s nest.  These are inexpensive ideas that could be adapted for any age and many different occasions.  I love all the gorgeous party displays that we see around blogland, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the expense of all the accessories and a dozen different kinds of treats.  This post shows you don’t have to spend tons of money to make something beautiful!

Thanks for the inspiration ladies!  Grab a featured button if you like!

It’s my first ever Mouth-Watering Wednesday, and I hope you are ready to try something delicious. First off, I have a disclaimer.  I’m not a professional baker by any means.  I often cut corners or use shortcuts to save money or time, and I tweak recipes to make it work for me.  I probably don’t do things “the correct way”, but I make a lot of cookies and goodies, and they usually turn out pretty delicious anyway.  It’s kind of like math to me- who cares how you get the answer, as long as it’s right?  (Don’t cringe, math teachers.  I was never very good at math anyway!)

So, today, I’m sharing with you my favorite Snickerdoodle recipe.  I have tried many over the years, and this one produces deliciously yummy, soft cookies covered with just the right amount of cinnamon and sugar.  I originally found in in Essential Mormon Celebrations, and have tweaked it just a little.

Gather your ingredients.  Here’s what you’ll need: 1 3/4 C. Sugar (divided) 1 C. margarine or butter, softened 2 eggs 2 3/4-3 1/4 C. flour 2 tsp. cream of tartar 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp. cinnamon Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare your cookie sheets.  The recipe says 400, so you can do that if you want, but here’s my secret to perfect cookies every time—

Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, no matter what the recipe says.  When I do this, my cookies turn out exactly how I like them, 99 percent of the time.  They are nice and firm on the outside, moist and chewy (but not doughy) on the inside.  I use a typical electric oven, so you may have to adjust for your own, but be brave and give it a try on a test batch.  (What’s the worst that could happen?  If they’re not quite baked, just bake them a few more minutes.  Or eat the dough. Yum.)

Continuing on…. 1.  Soften your butter or margarine.  I hardly ever bake with butter, mostly for money reasons.  My favorite substitute to bake with is Imperial margarine, but I’m sure others are good too.  You can leave it out until it softens or put it in the microwave for about 15 seconds.  Just don’t melt it. 2.  In a large bowl, cream together 1 1/2 cups sugar, your butter/margarine, and your eggs. You’ll know it’s ready when it looks like this: 3.  In another bowl, sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.  (** I hardly ever do this, because I’m lazy.  I usually just dump it all together in one bowl.  You should probably follow the directions, but my cookies turn out great anyway.) Combine dry ingredients with creamed mixture.  Don’t overmix.  (** I use my Kitchenaid, but you can do this by hand.  Some people swear by hand mixing, but again, I’m lazy.) 4.  In a small bowl mix together 1/4 cup sugar and your cinnamon.  Set aside.   Shape dough into 1 inch balls..  I find my dough to be pretty sticky.  You don’t want to add too much flour, so you can do two things.  Either put it in the fridge to chill for an hour or so, or you can do what I do– break out the cookie dough scoop. Mine is a 1 inch scoop, so I fill it and scrape it on the side of the bowl to flatten it. Then I release the dough into the cinnamon/sugar mixture, and lightly roll it around with my fingers.  Place it on your cookie sheet. (** I use a silicon mat from Wilton on my cookie sheets.  It saves me from having to clean cookie sheets, and it keeps the bottoms of the cookies from getting too well-done.  Love it.) Bake the cookies, as discussed above, for 10 minutes.  When they come out of the oven they will be all puffy, like this: But if you let them sit for a few minutes, they will flatten out and crackle across the top, just like a perfect Snickerdoodle will. These are best served warm or on the same day you make them, though they also freeze well.  Store any leftover in an airtight container. I bet your kids would love you if you made these for them!  Here’s a printable recipe:

Linking up to some of my favorite parties- come check them out with me!