Thursday, October 10, 2013

Converting CTMH Page Protectors to fit CM Albums

For many who have relied on Creative Memories over the years as their source for high quality albums, page protectors and coversets, Creative Memories' 2013 bankruptcy filing and subsequent decision to stop producing these products has been heartbreaking.


Many scrappers found themselves without a resource to complete their albums, or without the funds necessary to stock up during Creative Memories' transitionary period earlier this summer.


What made the Creative Memories albums and page protectors unique and a favorite among scrappers was their "strap system" that replaced the more traditional D-ring binder or post-and-bind as found on a Close To My Heart album. 

The strap system tended to allow the page to lie flatter for display in an album. However, the style is apparently more time-consuming and expensive to produce. CM has no plans to continue this much-loved system when they emerge from Chapter 11 later this year, as projected.

Still, scrappers everywhere need to protect their scrapped pages and memories from dust, elements, fingerprints, spills and accidents.  

What to do?  Close To My Heart has an answer. It may not be ideal, but it can work. Let me show you how.

The Memory Protectors sold by Close To My Heart (Z4115, $22.95 for a package of 50) can be modified to fit a Creative Memories album. Here's Australian CTMH Consultant Shaunna Richards who offers this informative video to demonstrate how to modify CTMH Memory Protectors to accommodate the CM strap system: 

 

Of course, Close To My Heart offers beautiful albums (post-and-bind) where there is no need for such conversion, trimming, etc.  Their faux-leather albums are just $24.95 each and are currently available in five colors: Hollyhock (pink), Dark Cranberry, Outdoor Denim (navy), Dark Chocolate and Black.
 
BUT WAIT!  I have MORE good news -- late-breaking news!  Close To My Heart has decided to produce page protectors designed to fit the strap-system, side-opening albums like Creative Memories used to sell!  We Consultants are told the new page protectors will be available in the next Idea Book, coming shortly after the New Year. These page protectors will be in addition to the post-binding page protectors that CTMH sells currently.  AND CTMH will also now produce/sell side-opening (at the gutter) post-binding page protectors to add more protection for the scrapped page! 

It will be interesting to see how Creative Memories emerges from their restructuring, and to learn what products they will be offering. The "word on the street" is that their emphasis will be entirely on digital memory keeping, now going head to head with companies like Shutterfly, Blurb and other memory book publishers. It's an interesting transition ... and no change is easy for those CM consultants whose customers still derive joy from paper and glue.  Personally, I've scrapped digitally (via Shutterfly) to make my memory books in the past and LOVE Close To My Heart's Studio J program for digital scrap pages. 




DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,

1 comment:

ValByDesign, Valerie said...

Came from Craft Test Dummies' post on Facebook ... what a fantastic idea on this post! Yes, I'm really bummed about CM, and even more so about my Archiver's here in Gurnee, IL - all this bad news stinks! Great posts you have here :)