Igniting the Flames of Creativity

 How many times have you sat down with a pencil and piece of paper, determined to create *something*?  During the past several months, I have done this at least two dozen times.  I doodle, I sketch, I erase.  Nothing seems to ignite my creative flames anymore.  That is until I picked up my Bullet Journal at the behest of a Facebook group leader.  She forced me to ask myself several questions which I had not thought about for several years: 

1 - Why do I have so many art supplies that are just sitting and wasting space if I don't encourage myself to use them?

2 - How much joy does art create for myself and others?

3 - What feelings does creating art elicit in me that are idly sitting by the wayside?

4 - When is it ever time to give up on something that you love?

With these four questions, my creative flames were rekindled.  So, I began slowly.  I decided to create a doodle of my favorite insect (a honeybee) that turned out so beautifully that I pulled out my Micron Pen Set to give the drawing more depth.  I even posted the image to my Instagram account (which so far only had a few pictures of my cat).  It is going to be the cover page of my next Bullet Journal.  From that point, I decided to blog about the process of Bullet Journaling.  I have spent hours searching Pinterest, Amazon, and AliExpress looking for the perfect *new* supplies for my newly rekindled passion.  Then, yesterday, it hit me!  The only way to encourage myself to use my skill and imagination is to write down an attainable goal for my creative endeavors.  

Goal setting is a great way to get yourself out of a creative rut.  First, you need to set a specific goal.  A teacher friend once told me that a goal is just a dream until you write it down.  It isn't enough to say, "Practice art for 15 minutes a day."  If that were my goal, I would set a timer and hold a pen for 15 minutes without ever drawing on the page.  Instead, I have set a challenge to "Create a Hamsa coloring book with at least 15 different Hamsas."  Now, I have an outline to work from and a specific image with which to work.  Secondly, make the goal attainable.  If I had simply said. "Make a Hamsa coloring book," then I would have not known when enough were created to satisfy my goal.  Last of all, your goal needs to have a timeline.  For this, I researched 101 Goals in 1,001 Days.  This gives me a definite time period (2 1/2 years) to complete my goals.

If you happen to find yourself in the same position as I did, I encourage you to create an art goal.  Creative endeavors only take up about 10 of my 101 Goals ranging from drawing and writing to cooking and photography.  Please look at the Bullet Journal page on this blog to find out the rest of my 101 Goals.  I wish you all the best on your artistic journey!

~ Melissa

MyMemories Software Giveaway!!!!

In honor of my birthday on August 19, this year I will be giving away one copy of the MyMemories Scrapbooking Software Volume 3 and $10 to spend in the MyMemories Store!!!!  My lovely friend and designer, Celeste from Touched By A Butterfly, will also be giving the lucky winner a $20 coupon to spend in the Touched By A Butterfly Store at MyMemories. Each contestant will be allowed to enter the contest in 5 ways:

1.  Follow http://missasmuse.blogspot.com/ and leave a comment with your email here.
2.  Visit www.mymemories.com to pick out your favorite designer and kit that you would like to have and come back here to leave a comment with your email.
3.  "Follow" me on Pinterest and leave a comment here with your email saying that you have done so.  (There is an easy follow button on this website!)
4.  "Like" MyMemories on Facebook and leave me a comment telling me so along with your email.
5.  Follow MyMemories on Twitter and leave me a comment telling me so along with your email.

The winner will be randomly chosen at 9 p.m. EST on August 19, 2012.  I will post the winner here and email the winner with the coupon code and instructions for using it shortly thereafter.  Good luck!

MyMemories Scrap Challenge and Sale

As many of you know, I am now on the Creative Team of Touched By A Butterfly, a digital scrapbooking design company.  This week, our fearless leader Celeste is hosting the Weekly Blog Challenge at MyMemories.  To enter, all you have to do is design a page using one of Touched By A Butterfly's kits.  These may be purchased at her MyMemories Store or you may download a free kit from Touched By A Butterfly's Facebook page simply by "Liking" it.  You can purchase the MyMemories Software for $10 off plus get $10 to spend in the MyMemories Store using the coupon code STMMMS4712.  The lucky winner of the challenge will receive a FREE copy of the kit Smashology 101 by Touched By A Butterfly.

In honor of her hosting the weekly scrap challenge, Celeste is offering 35% off her entire store as well.  Be sure to check out the store!  I have several new clusters and an upcoming photobook there which you are sure to love as much as I do.  Make sure that you hop on over to the pages listed in order to enter the challenge and have a chance at the freebies!

Remember to make a memory today, and keep a camera on hand to capture it!

Digital Scrapbooking Giveaway!!!

Created by Melissa using Black Tie Event from Trixie Scraps Designs

Over the past several months I have become addicted to digital scrapbooking!!!  Using the MyMemories Suite V3 is so easy, that I am sure you will be creating scrapbooks left and right for everyone you love (please include one for yourself).  You can include pics, wordart, video, music, and a plethora of digital goodies that you can only get from using this amazing digital scrapbooking suite.  (For a preview of what you can do, simply download the trial version of the V3 Suite!) You can even make cards, banners, gift tags...the only limits are your imagination.  I am giving away 1 copy of the MyMemories Suite V3 and $10 to spend on your choice of goodies from the MyMemories Store.  That is a total of $50 worth of goodies up for grabs!!!

So, by now you are asking, "What do I have to do to win these this awesome gift?"  Pay attention because I am giving MULTIPLE chances to win!  Make sure that you come back here and leave a comment on this page of my blog for each task that you complete.  One winner will be chosen on December 24, 2011.

1- Follow Missa's Muse blog.
2- Like MyMemories on Facebook.
3- Go to the MyMemories Store and find your favorite designer pack.  Come back here and tell me which one it is and why.
4- Follow the MyMemories Blog
5- Follow MyMemories on Twitter.
6- Follow Evergreen_Grrrl blog.
7- Follow @EvergreenGrrrl on Twitter.
8- Follow Evergreen _Grrrl on Pinterest.

That's it!  Eight separate ways to enter this wonderful contest!  Remember to come back here and tell me once you have completed each task.  Good luck and may you enjoy (and win) this "Suite Contest!"
The Contest Winner will be announced here on December 24, 2011!!!

Creating Gifts with MyMemories Suite V3

The time of year for gift-giving is at hand, and I must say that I have been working on gifts for months now.  Since we are all experiencing the turbulence of a Revlon economy, I imagine that more homemade gifts will be given this year.  Plus, nothing says "I Love You!" more than the time which someone invests in making a gift for their special someones.  Some people knit, some people bake, I make digital scrapbooks.  So far, I have created 3 scrapbooks for gifts: one for my mother of the family, one for my sister of her son, and one for my little cousin of all of the growth she has experienced since coming to live with us two years ago.  Thanks to the MyMemories Suite V3, I am not even printing out the scrapbooks.  I have imbedded music into each album and will be downloading them as slideshows onto mp3 players and flash drives!  Who wouldn't love to have a scrapbook that fits in the palm of their hand and that they can take anywhere they please?

But did you know that scrapbooks aren't the only things which you can create using the MyMemories Software?  I didn't until I started playing with the software itself.  Volume 3 even has a special feature just for making calendars, and the MyMemories Store offers card, brag book, calendar, and gift tag templates.  Right now, on the MyMemories Facebook Page, the Friday Freebie is a template for holiday gift tags.  However, you have to grab it by Friday in order to get the item for free.  What a great way to embellish those pretty wrapped packages than by creating a homemade gift tag with personal pictures on them!

Do you travel to Wal-Mart or Target each year to print out family holiday cards?  This year, look no further than your own computer and printer to create the perfect holiday greeting card.  Below I have included a link on how to make greeting cards using your software. Remember that if you use the code STMMS4712 at the MyMemories Store, you can get $10 off the V3 software and $10 to spend in the store.  With all of that extra savings you can purchase your calendar packs, gift tags, and seasonal card templates. Don't forget to grab the holiday freebie kits from the store as well! The MyMemories Suite V3 is the gift that you can give yourself and use to gift to others.  I call that a win-win situation!  

Quick and Easy Card Making Using MyMemories Suite V3

Holiday Postcard I made using the December "Blog Train" with the theme "Traditions."

Finding Freebies

When delving into the world of digital scrapbooking, it is always important to know where to get good scrapbooking content for free.  In the past several months, I have downloaded tons of freebies, won contests for more freebies, and followed blogs just searching for more freebies.  I must admit that I have become addicted to the plethora of goodies out there for all to have.

The first place to look (besides the sites listed on the right hand side of the page) is Facebook.  Almost all designers and companies have a Facebook page where they offer exclusive materials that can be downloaded as "outside content."  MyMemories even offers a Friday Freebie that can often be downloaded directly into your Software Suite Volume 3!  I found that the best way to find new designers is to go to a page (like MyMemories) and simply "like" all of the companies and designers that they "like."  NOTE: You MUST like a page before downloading exclusive content.  Very quickly you will see how much content is to be had for free with only the click of the mouse.

Occasionally, design companies will host a blog/page hop.  This is a communal project among all of the designers the company uses and almost always coordinates in colors.  For Black Friday (available this week until Sunday), Scrapbook-Bytes is hosting a Facebook page hop which has absolutely nothing to do with shopping!!!  The colors are vibrant and varied, but they look gorgeous together.  I downloaded approximately 10 zipped freebies which even includes several alphabets!  This is the perfect opportunity for developing your outside content folders.  The only limits are the boundaries of your imagination.  This is one I created using an old photo of my pet, Cleo, and the Black Friday Facebook Hop downloads.  I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving with tons of memories to scrap!

And just for a very special Thanksgiving, I have included two links to FREE design kits from the MyMemories Store.

https://www.mymemories.com/store/display_product_page?id=3SDS-CP-1111-8426

https://www.mymemories.com/store/display_product_page?id=MHMH-CP-1111-8584

Suite dreams!