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I have been an avid scrapbooker for 19 years and have used only used Creative Memories albums and products. The company seems to be going in a digital direction and I prefer traditional scrapbooking--paper and scissors in hand. I can't afford to stock up and tons of albums, pages, and protectors so I am starting to look for another company that offers top notch products that are archival safe to continue preserving my family's memories. I enjoy creating on 12 X 12 pages. Any feedback about other companies will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.
I am sooooo with you! Looking for another company....I really love my creative memories pages/protectors/albums! I'm anxious to see if any one chimes in!
Glad to hear that hear that I am not the only one who LOVES CM scrapbooks, pages, protectors, etc. and do hope that someone chimes in. Since I don't see myself going digital and I love playing with paper/stickers/layouts, I need to find an alternative should CM stop selling all their traditional items. Hoping for the best!
I used CM years ago and loved them but realized I needed the 'D' ring binder and switched to Stampin' Up products. I've been very happy with them. Good luck!
Have you looked at Close to my Heart? We've been around for 30 years, and in fact, just took over the Australasia side of Creative Memories (Australia and New Zealand). They approached our company when they began to have problems, but didn't want to leave their CM consultants in a lurch.
A close friend of mine is a CM consultant. I just got an email last week saying the album coversets, pages, and page protectors "as we know them" will not be continued. What! Those are the very reasons I purchase CM. I can get all my other supplies from a variety of sources, but I really like their albums. I am hoping that they come up with something comparable, or I may be forced to look elsewhere.
A close friend of mine is a CM consultant. I just got an email last week saying the album coversets, pages, and page protectors "as we know them" will not be continued. What! Those are the very reasons I purchase CM. I can get all my other supplies from a variety of sources, but I really like their albums. I am hoping that they come up with something comparable, or I may be forced to look elsewhere.
"Mimi" Teresa
I am wondering if they are going to go with a ring binder style instead - I believe that they are the only company that now offer the strap hinge style. I too have been using CM for almost 20 years, and although I have ventured out beyond them for my paper, embellishments, and adhesives, I have stayed true to their product for my albums and pages. I did however move away from the traditional albums to the 12X12 picfolio albums with the 12X12 pages - it gives me the flexibility of scrapping directly onto a 12X12 piece of card stock or patterned paper then dropping that into the sleeve. Easier to move pages around if necessary, less bulk, but all the quality of CM and their albums.
I noticed that they still have the Picfolio for sale in the size I want, but no longer have the pages available. I have enough albums in stock for 2013 and 2014, but after that I am out of luck.
One of the things that for me always set apart the CM albums from the D ring and other ring binder styles was the spine - the CM one just looks so much more finished and elegant to me - looks much nicer on my shelf.
I do hope that somehow CM will survive, even in a much more pared down version, but since this is the 2nd bankruptcy in a very short period of time, am not too confident that they will be able to bounce back a second time.
__________________ Elizabeth
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Hand over the chocolate, and no one will get hurt!
My CM consultant has the feeling that CM is moving away from traditional scrapbooking towards digital. I personally prefer traditional scrapbooking and have been using CM albums/products for 19 years. I can't afford to stock up while supplies last so I'm searching for an alternative tape runner. Can someone recommend an acid free/lignin free adhesive that can take the place of CM tape runner? I'm down to my last refill and it's so old that they no longer make it. Does Close to my Heart offer similar albums or are they ring ones? Thank you.
I started scrapping with CM so I have lots of punches and of course the adhesive. I stayed with the adhesive, but I now use all Close To My Heart Papers and Albums.
The CM Demo in the area was able to get me a few adhesive to stock up but unless I get in on the WSL sale starting 07/08 I will have to move to something new.
I just saw a post on Taylored Expressions about a Joint Scrap Blog Hop they're doing July 15 & 16 with a company called Scrapbook Adhesives. I was going to go look that up.
Also I printed out HL coupons tonight so I can stop tomorrow and check out the adhesives they have available for sale to see if I can find an alternatives. I'll report back
__________________ Lela -- Scrap Blog -- Come Scrap With Us ---- YTD 87 / 300 Pages 2023 -- 64 / 252 Cards 2023
My CM consultant has the feeling that CM is moving away from traditional scrapbooking towards digital. I personally prefer traditional scrapbooking and have been using CM albums/products for 19 years. I can't afford to stock up while supplies last so I'm searching for an alternative tape runner. Can someone recommend an acid free/lignin free adhesive that can take the place of CM tape runner? I'm down to my last refill and it's so old that they no longer make it. Does Close to my Heart offer similar albums or are they ring ones? Thank you.
Close to my Heart's albums are post-bound. Three posts that screw together, very high-quality page protectors you can slide pages in and out of, first company to offer TRUE 12x12 size papers. Albums come with spine covers, so they look great on your shelf. And we sell tombow mono adhesive, plus liquid Bonding Memories glue.
Yesterday Scrap Friends, I went and purchased the Scrapbook Adhesives (actually the name of the company) I saw advertised here. It was $5.99 (at HL) for a Holder and Adhesive (similar to our CM ones). I did find a Combo pack for $9.99 and since I had a 40% off (that was nice) I bought that. It came with 2 types ... E-Z Squares White Permanent (Pink Dispenser) and E-Z Runner White Permanent (Red Dispenser).
The Squares were a little harder to get lined up but the E-Z Runner was very similar to the CM one. They were nice and sticky although I could still adjust right after I stuck it down but this morning my picts aren't moving.
I did like that I could use a coupon and save $$ and at first use, the adhesive worked very well so far
Anyone Else try one they liked?
__________________ Lela -- Scrap Blog -- Come Scrap With Us ---- YTD 87 / 300 Pages 2023 -- 64 / 252 Cards 2023
I have a few friends that use (and love) that big pink gun thing......haven't actually tried it myself.
I do use the big ATG, and truly adore it. The ATG is a product from 'Scotch' brand, and they offer acid-free refills along with their others. Cost per yard is an excellent buy when ordering about 12+ refills at a time. ;)
I saw that you posted about the ATG acid free refills. I have always used CM adhesive for my scrapbooks and my ATG gun for creating cards. Now that CM may not be offering adhesive I thought I'd explore the acid free tape for my ATG gun. Do you remember where you bought your ATG acid free tape? My LSS doesn't carry it so I need a source. Thank you.
I saw that you posted about the ATG acid free refills. I have always used CM adhesive for my scrapbooks and my ATG gun for creating cards. Now that CM may not be offering adhesive I thought I'd explore the acid free tape for my ATG gun. Do you remember where you bought your ATG acid free tape? My LSS doesn't carry it so I need a source. Thank you.
I bought my gun and buy all my refills from FramingSupplies.com They sell the 3M acid free and 'regular' tapes. I buy refills in boxes of 12. They ship very fast and their price is great!
I have exclusively used CM albums, pages and protectors for all my scrapbooks. I teach, so I do lots and lots of scrapbooking over the summer. Have two stacks of pages on my dining room table and just learned that CM is filing bankruptcy and there can/ will be huge delays shipping product.
I am so sad...and apprehensive, too. Will look into CTMH. Any thoughts on We R Memory Keepers? They have a 12x12 album.
Thanks,
__________________ Blessings,
Christine The Lord gives strength to His people and blesses His people with peace. Ps 29:11
I'm at a loss as to what to do.....I've looked at the We R Memory Keepers 3 ring binder-type books.....I think that is what I'm going to change to ......I don't like the post albums....I like the strap hinge albums. I keep hoping CM will change their mind and keep with the traditional supplies!
__________________ Deb Enjoy the little things in life...for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things.
Westrim makes the strap hinge albums and it has been bantered about that they are the company that made the albums for CM.
You can still purchase Westrim albums and refills many places...Joann's, HL, Amazon...etc.
They are no different than the CM albums as far as I understand. You may not be able to use the refills interchangeably, if the staples are spaced differently, but otherwise...they're the same.
I guess one more comment on the end of CM won't hurt. I am also sad they will be done with the albums and page protectors. I tried a few other albums but always came back to CM. I hope to find something I like just as much but for now the hunt continues. I only have 1 pack of page protectors left and my last album is almost full. Oh dear!
My friend, who is a long-time CM consultant, still says it is not "the end." It is the end of CM "as we know it", but according to their website, they plan to emerge as a new business sometime in the fall. My consultant had a "sale" earlier this month, and I purchased/ordered pages and protectors for the albums I already had. I figure I'm good for the next 5 years. That should be enough time to see what is really going to happen or find a replacement product. Call me a Pollyanna, but I'm still holding out hope that somehow, somewhere those albums, pages, and protectors will rise again. I just can't see the best product on the market disappearing completely! And whoever picks up that line has my business.
I recently cleaned out my storage closet. I was still using a supply that I had purchased ages ago when a friend offered me her discount before leaving being a consultant. It was like a story problem trying to figure out what I had left and what I needed. I ended up getting three coversets, hoping that will finish me out on what I had in terms of pages and protectors. I am bummed they are going away, but hopeful that perhaps they will stick to a minimum core line of product--wouldn't that be nice! If not, I'm sure there are some nice options that are our there, just wish my book case would look consistent when it's all said and done. Probably wishful thinking.
Close To My Heart and Stampin Up both have very good quality products. Both companies keep up with what's going on in the paper crafting world and offers the best products to pick from.
I'm a CTMH consultant, and we recently got word that CTMH is developing page protectors that will be compatible with CM albums. Instead of using a refill page and slipping the protector over it, it sounds like these will be strictly a protector that has the opening on the inner seam of the album, and you build your page on cardstock and then load it into the protector. I'm assuming they will have a strap system, otherwise they wouldn't work with the CM albums. Anyway, they are due out early next year, so if CM hasn't reinvented itself by then, you might check out CTMH!
I also am a Creative Memories fan! Love the albums and hinged pages.
I am also a Stampin Up customer and use a lot of their products for scrapbooking. But no one can beat CM albums and pages for me. I am also at a loss as to what to use instead. The new CM are predesigned hinged pages that you add your pictures to and embellishments to. I have been searching for the Westrim pages everywhere and can't find them. I really don't like post scrapbooks...... Any ideas from other scrappers other than the ones already mentioned on what to use now?
I'm not much help because I switched from CM to CTMH a few years ago. I scrap chronological and wanted to use drop in pages instead of trying to keep track for post bound.
I didn't realize that Westrim was no longer making albums or pages? That is a bummer if that's what you like! I hope you find a replacement.
I know I've been looking for adhesive as CM was a fave Adhesive of mine.
__________________ Lela -- Scrap Blog -- Come Scrap With Us ---- YTD 87 / 300 Pages 2023 -- 64 / 252 Cards 2023
I used to be a CM demo and have lots of albums with pages and sleeves in various sizes. If you need anything we can work out something to help you out and get rid of some of my inventory.
HI,
CM has released albums again but i think you have to purchase in a bundle. It's very project life like. Some are pre-printed by theme and the others are side-loading. Because most scrappers wall papered over the white page they chose not to make those. I think they plan on having mini catalogs to introduce new product. So far Im not impressed. check out the CM website and go to newco
I haven't read all the responses but I will say I am sorry to hear the changes to CM, I know a lot of consultants are really in a bind and have a lot of on hand cash and carry items left. Sad for those ladies!
I started scrapbooking and found my love with Stampin' Up. They recently stopped carrying the Simply Scrappin' kits but they do show up on the clearance rack from time to time. I also think they said they may carry some things from time to time in the seasonal catalogs.....or maybe we are just all hoping they will! I fell in love with SU because of their cardstock and everything thing that I can get that cordinates.
I just started a blog series about using stamps in my scrapbooking. I won't post that link here but my blog link is in my signature if you are interested in checking it out.
I have always used We R Memory Keepers albums. I love D ring albums. Even better for me, I can get them in a big box store with a coupon!!!!
Hope this helps!!!
This is short on details, but I want to share the idea.....
You can take a Post style album, remove the posts, and replace with plastic wrap style sliders. I don't know what they're called. They remind me of the Accu Binder style system I used years ago when computer printing was done on those green and white accordion style paper and you wanted to put them in a binder/folder. A CTMH demo showed me what she is doing. The CTMH albums are great quality, very similar to CM, but use the post style. She said she purchased them at Michael's or Jo-Ann's and didn't have any in the wrapper to show me. Then a friend said she did the same thing and purchased them from Jo-Ann's.
If anyone has any details of the brand and price of these fasteners, please jump in! They are not as pretty as the CM product, but they do seem to be easier to use than the post style and hold the pages very securely.
CM alternative
OH Yes
Ohhhh .... BTW
Adhesive Test ...
Hmmm
