These ideas need to be updated as products change. This file includes Left/Right game, kid classes, level 2 classes, etc. Also see Workshops and other files in the Consultant Section.
(created by CMC Alison N. L. to give to class coordinators)
Memories are oh so priceless,
And pictures are special too.
If you want to tell others this message,
Have I got a deal for you!
This pretty little package
Is a home class "in the bag."
It's filled with the essential items
And attached is a FREE price tag.
You don't have to shop.
The food's in here too.
You won't have to teach a thing.
That's what I love to do.
So take this kit! Let's set a date.
Those pictures await our attention.
Generations to come will thank you
In ways too numerous to mention.
(put in the bag: Coordinator Handbook with 20 invites/20 stamps, coordinator checklist, the poem "Tale of Two Coordinators" (see below), brownie mix, coupon for Coke or Pepsi, etc.)
(Gena H.)
Congratulations! You booked a Creative Memories Class.
You can get a free album--it may not be your last.
Here's a tale of two Coordinators as you can see.
So Listen and pick which one you want to be.
First, there was Lisa, so proper was she,
Her invitations were printed in calligraphy.
"I'll just invite eight, I don't know too many,
I'm sure they'll all come, so there will be plenty."
She forgot to remind them to send their checks,
"I'm sure they'll all come--oh, what the heck."
She set a buffet fit for a king,
But forgot to give her guests a reminder ring.
The night of her Class her home looked just great,
So she lit the candles and proceeded to wait.
Only one guest arrived with pictures to see.
"Why?" Lisa wondered, "does this happen to me?"
Then there was Susan, so excited was she,
She was planning to get that album for FREE.
She mailed out twenty invitations and told everyone she could.
"For posterity's sake saving memories they should!"
She bragged on the albums and their great guarantee.
She called them all up to share what they'd get for their fee.
She didn't have time to set a buffet.
So she skipped the food, her class was that day.
The house wasn't perfect, but the memories they kept.
They didn't even notice that the floor hadn't been swept.
The numbers were added, the album was FREE.
"May I do this again?" she shouted with glee.
Everyone pre-registered, the Thanks to You! gifts were won.
"Wow!" she said, "that was really fun!"
"Now I have friends who love to crop,
day or night, we don't want to stop!"
The moral of the story won't leave you to brood.
Concentrate on your guests, not your home or your food!
1 large bag of diapers
3/5 of a movie with husband
2/3 of a large pizza
2 1/2 value meals at McDonald's
OR . . .
A class that will change your life, by teaching you how to organize, crop, photo journal and preserve your photos in an acid-free environment that will not damage your pictures.
Unlike dirty dishes and laundry, once these books are done, they are done forever and because of the quality of the products, they will be enjoyed for generations.
SO . . . What would YOU rather have--heartburn from a lunch at a fast food restaurant or the start of an album that your family will look at over and over.
Stress that these are classes NOT parties. Compare them to a quilting class. Obviously at the first class the customer does not make the whole quilt, etc.
Be yourself and explain what you do clearly, concisely and professionally.
Try saying: I help people turn their boxes of photos into family storybooks to be enjoyed for generations. By doing this, you wouldn't believe how much my own family looks at our pictures now! We get such a connection with the past by just looking at our albums. It also reinforces our connection with relatives who live far away. By including them in our albums and talking about them with our children they feel they know them better.
Set a deadline to have the fees in YOUR hand. It could be three days or a week. Whatever is enough time for you to either prepare or cancel. You have blocked that time out and could have booked another class or just stayed home and relaxed.
I've only had one person who got really irate when I canceled. She wanted me to load up my stuff and come hang out at her house and see if anyone showed up. Umm. No. I think she was under the impression I had nothing better to do with my time. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to teach a class. But to hang out with somebody I don't know on the off chance some of her apparently flaky friends might show up? Sorry. (CMC Ann)
"You have always heard that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, after time goes by, a picture without words is just a picture." (donna d). This is a good line to stress the benefit of journaling. Display old family photos that you can't identify as you talk about this.
I've raised a lot of interest in my business by creating an album for my son's Elementary School. I dedicated the album to the teachers and PTA. The album is kept in the office for parents or visitors to look at while waiting. The back cover has a message about scrapbooking and my business cards. It's been a labor of love to shows off how great our schools spirit is and the sense of community it has. Now a group of teachers want to attend a class!
Ask the women's group at church if you can give a presentation on photo preservation and family history. Ask a friend if you could do that at HER church. I made a Brag Book called "Mommy's Blessings". It fits into a tote bag or large purse so you can show people what you do.
Check to see if your local library will let you set up a display. I researched books in the library card catalog (under photos, albums, genealogy, etc.) that I could put in with my albums.
My main focus was to make people aware of the need to preserve their photos, making their own history with albums. I have a sign that mentions that I help people start if they are interested and a phone number to call for info.
I called Childtime day care center to ask if I could set up a display. I said that I was a CM Consultant and explained the CM program. I said that parents find the products very appealing. She thought it sounded nice and set a date. She had dealt with other companies setting up displays so she didn't mind.
I didn't sell anything, just took leads. I had handouts, sample pages, business card, and slips for them to leave their name and address. I went back the next day when the parents were picking up the kids. I brought albums with me, handed out brochures and catalogs. I had left a note with the display saying when I would return so the parents were able to look at stuff and ask questions the next day.
When I first started scrapbooking I showed my albums to my sister-in-law, but she was not interested. A year later she happened to see one at my house and loved it. The difference was that in the meantime she had had her first grandchild--which gave her reason to be interested in scrapbooking. Things change. You can shown your albums to someone but they will not actually "see" them until they are ready. Don't push people, just find reasons and opportunities to present CM to them. Perhaps they were not interested in your family albums but would love your travel album or pet album. Or maybe the first time you tried they had something on their mind that distracted them. (Denny)
A fun game to do at classes (or adapt for a workshop or other event).
Give someone a wrapped door prize and then each time they hear the words "RIGHT" or "LEFT" they pass the prize in that direction. The last person to get the prize wins it.
Example of a script to use for the game:
Once upon a time, there was a woman who was invited to a Creative Memories Class. The class coordinator used to live RIGHT next door to her but she moved to the RIGHT side of town a few months ago. She knew it would take a while to get there, but going to the Class was the RIGHT thing to do for she wanted to learn the RIGHT way to store her precious family photos. She LEFT home in plenty of time, but on the way she discovered she had LEFT her purse at home. She turned RIGHT around and went back for it. After starting out again, she ran into a detour RIGHT and then another RIGHT and then another RIGHT and finally a LEFT to get onto the RIGHT road again. When she got to the class she knew she had made the RIGHT decision because she learned so much about how to make a scrapbook the RIGHT way and if she didn't start now, nothing would be LEFT of her precious photos. She made her first page RIGHT at the class too. She cropped her photos and LEFT only the best parts. She used bullet journaling on the LEFT. Then she decorated the RIGHT and LEFT sides of the page with stickers and die-cuts. When she was finished she slipped a page protector on from the RIGHT. She was so excited to complete her first page that she ordered a kit that was RIGHT for her first scrapbook project. She also ordered a beautiful Creative Memories album that would look RIGHT in her living room. She saw a lot of ideas to the RIGHT and LEFT of where she sat and decided she wanted to sign RIGHT up for the next Workshop so she wouldn't be LEFT out. Then, after seeing the wonderful class coordinator plan, she booked her own class before she LEFT. All the way home she thought about who to invite and what she would get free! And we all know how nice that is . . . RIGHT?
(adapted by Kari M.)
I LEFT my house and was on my way to (coordinator's') house, but I LEFT the directions at home RIGHT by my phone. I knew RIGHT away that I needed to have the RIGHT directions to (coordinator's) house so I turned LEFT and then RIGHT and went back to my house for the RIGHT directions. I arrived RIGHT on time to set up my table. I put pens on my LEFT, corner-rounders on my RIGHT, albums and cropping tools on my LEFT and catalogs RIGHT out front.
Just remember nothing is RIGHT or wrong. Please put your name in the top LEFT corner of your order form. If you'd like to be a class coordinator check the LEFT box at the top LEFT corner. And if watching me tonight has inspired you to do what I do, check the RIGHT box at the top LEFT of your order form. It's the RIGHT thing to do!
If you have any questions after today's class, give me a call RIGHT away. This class felt RIGHT and I hope I LEFT you thinking and dreaming of all the pages you can create at home and at my workshops. There is really nothing LEFT for me to do, so congratulations to our winner, she's patiently waiting to the LEFT of you. (Cmcwi)
(or "You want me to spend WHAT on a photo album?!?")
If someone got into scrapbooking before they knew about the safety factor they may have things they are reluctant to throw away. Give them alternative ways to use the items. Examples:
(Or, "I don't have time to do my dishes every day, how do you expect me to make a scrapbook?!?")
You don't need to put every picture you take in your album; only one picture of your baby in the high chair eating spaghetti not five!
Even if you only put ten pictures from every year of your child's life in a small book with a few stories, they will have more to enjoy in the years to come than most people, and definitely more than they have now!
Getting your albums done or caught up is a little like getting fit; you don't lose twenty pounds and become toned in a week--it happens a little at a time with a regular commitment That's why I offer workshops every month so you will have at least one scheduled time to work. Not only is it a great uninterrupted time to get a lot done but it is fun; it can be your 'girl's night out'.
A section of my class covers speed techniques; plus, we have several items available that make doing the album quick and easy, such as . . .
Our class includes tips on getting organized.
Thanks for saying it looks like I spent a lot of time on my album; actually we have a lot of nifty speed tools to make the process go a lot quicker than you can imagine. I recently completed one year in my family album (20 sides) in just one weekend. One weekend a year is really not too much time to spend getting memories in order, especially when you realize that your time and effort is well spent--you will never have to re-do these photo-safe albums!
The trick is to start with your current pictures! Work backwards as you have the time. If you start with today you will never be behind again, and even if you never get all the old pictures in an album your family is still better off.
(Note from Denny: Everyone is different. I would not have started scrapping if I had to start current and work my way backwards. I am too orderly to be comfortable with that. I picked a logical place in my past--when I got married--and started there. Then I did my childhood starting with my baby pictures. Other ideas of where to start are when you moved away from home, had your first child, etc.)
(Compiled by Corrine R.)
I'm doing a class for Girl Scouts 3rd Grade and up. I have the school cafeteria reserved since all troops were invited. The 3rd grade troops will be working on their Bridging activities to move up to Junior Scouts. To do this you must complete activities with a Junior Troop so this class can count as a Bridging activity.
About one month before class I sent info to the scout leaders.
Page 1: told what I was doing and that I was charging $12.00 for the class but that $5.00 of that would be donated back to each individual troop for all fees that were prepaid. And that their responsibility was to copy the invitation, keep track of who paid, get me the money three days before the class, and make reminder calls the day before.
Page 2: was an invitation addressed to the Scout, and Mother, Dad, or favorite adult (I didn't want to leave someone out by having it just be Mother/Daughter). Also on this invitation was an explanation of what Creative Memories is. And the fact that each troop would be receiving a donation back to use as they wished for all prepaid scouts. Plus the date and time. Leaders need to make copies for their girls and send home.
Page 3: was a registration sheet for the leaders to keep track of who has paid that they will then turn into me with their prepayment. I also included a SASE to make it easier on the leaders.
Hold a class for two hours for five mornings.
Cost: $65 which includes kid book, photo splits, pen and various stickers and paper.
Theme: Do a different theme each day:
~ Monday: Myself
~ Tuesday: Me as a Baby
~ Wednesday: Family Tree and Pictures
~ Thursday: Something I'm Good At
~ Friday: A Hero or Special Event in my Life
Use two lined pages for journaling. Have kids write a poem about themselves.
Are you and your child working on an album together? Does you child want to have an album of his/her own? Then don't miss the Parent/Child workshop to be held____.
Three hours to spend with your child working together to create a beautiful memory album. Children love to look at photos of themselves and those they love. Why not share the fun of putting together a scrapbook with your daughter/son? I'll spend some time with the younger ones explaining the importance of preserving their memories and the proper use of various cropping tools. This will give you time to get things ready for the pages you will do with your child. We spend the remainder of the workshop together to preserve those memories!
You don't have to be the parent. Any adult/child combination is welcome to attend! Join us and watch the magic begin!
I am charging adults a workshop fee. The child comes free. It needs to be one child per adult. I will give each child a Ziploc bag with a few die-cuts, stickers, short cuts and a stabilo pencil with poem. I will have sample pages--one for a birthday and one for a sports page to give away.
I gave my 11-year-old daughter a birthday party. We did a photo scavenger hunt at the mall and then went back to the house and did CM pages!
Because she was 11, we had 11 different clues to send her and her friends to various places in the mall (I stayed in one place in case they got lost, and my husband kept one step ahead, to make sure they ended up where they were supposed to). They had a disposable camera, and at each stop they were to ask someone to take a group picture of them (Disney store, cookie factory, sun glass hut, bookstore, record store, etc). Then they all met at the candy store. There we took individual pictures while they picked out their favorite candy.
I took the film to one-hour developing and we had pizza while it was being processed. Afterwards we went home and I gave a very brief class (not using construction paper, glue or scotch tape, make sure stickers say acid free, etc).
Each girl got to choose a group shot, plus their individual picture. I cut white paper to 8x10 to use for "pages". As a favor, they got an 8x10 frame to put their completed picture in.
The girls had a blast. They worked on their pages an hour and 45 minutes. Most had their own ideas, but one girl enjoyed copying from the idea book. (Molly in KS)
I charged the party hostess $5.00 per child. I had told her to tell parents to send each child with three or four photos of "summer happenings". I divided the girls into groups of three and each group shared a trimmer, corner rounder, scalloped scissors, wavy border ruler, circle template. I provided each girl with an 8x10 page. The pages were decorated sideways (having the staples as the TOP of the page). I pre-cut yellow circles to use as suns. They all had to listen about how to use the products safely. I had them pick a picture to just trim, corner round and mat with a large border so they could trim with scallop scissors (collect rounder and scissors). I then had them pick a picture to use the circle template on. Then they just left their remaining pictures alone or trimmed them slightly.
They used the wavy border ruler and pens to add "water" if it was appropriate or just "funky" lines down the sides. Every thing was then arranged on the page and photo splits were distributed. I showed them how to journal their pages, and then I distributed stickers (the highlight, I might add). Got to use up a lot of partial strips. We slipped on pages protectors and used ribbon to thread through the staples to they could hang up their pages in their rooms! (That's why the staples need to be the TOP.)
The moms looked at the pages before anyone left. ALL moms received CM info and a free workshop certificate.
At that age there will be indecisiveness. Sometimes I just had to make the choice for them--use this color/place picture here, etc.
You can do this with just the girls for most of the time and moms there only the last few minutes to see the results. If you have the moms there it is a good idea to have albums, page ideas and products to look at and try out while the girls do the pages. Kids like to feel they are doing things themselves and some moms tend to 'help' a little too much.
Figure cost of 15-exposure disposable camera, five 7x7 refill pages, paper and your time to determine cost. The workshop will have two classes. The first class gives the kids a brief lesson on the importance of becoming a family historian and caring for photographs. Explain that "they are going to be creating their first very own Photo Friendly album". On a sheet of paper have then write down ten pictures they would like to take--family, parents, siblings, house, pets, friends, favorite play spots, school, etc and tell them they have fifteen pictures on their camera in case they need to take another of something but we will only be using ten in the album. Explain to mom that within the next week the film needs to be developed so their child will have pictures for the next workshop. Have each kid write down their favorite color to use for the paper album cover. Send home a catalog highlighting the sentiments album so mom can purchase the album and page protectors if she wishes.
When the kids come back they each have their own 'album', with stickers and coordinating triangles or paper and the use of the personal trimmer, corner rounder and photo splits. Explain what journaling is and how important it is for them to write who, when, where, what it means to them etc. When they are done they will have a wonderful first album that was relatively inexpensive and hopefully they will be excited as will mom when she sees it and how proud her own children are of their accomplishments. Have a sign up sheet or talk to moms one on one and see if they would be interested in coordinating a class. I will cut the paper a little bigger then the pages, use a hole punch and run a ribbon up through the holes and the staples on the pages and then tie them. (Kim/CMC/Maine)
The idea below are for people who have already had a beginning class and have already started scrapbooking but want to learn more.
(Lourdes S)
The purpose of this class is to show different ways of incorporating your memorabilia and your photos in your Creative Memories Album. I'll demonstrate the Creative Memories Pocket Pages, Portrait Sleeves, Mounting Corners and Photo Mounting Sleeves as well as how to make your own pocket page!
I'll give tips on how to store different types of memorabilia in your albums. Samples will be shown.
Fee includes:
2 12x12 Pages
1/2 sheet Printed Paper
1 12x12 Page Protector
1 sheet Solid Paper
Mounting Supplies
Instructional handout
Stickers Ideas Handout
Ideas for Pocket Pages:
birthday, Christmas and other greeting cards
vacation maps and brochures
children's artwork
magazines
event programs
(Lourdes S)
You will learn how to incorporate the black refill pages into your albums. You don't have to have all black pages in one album--mix 'n match works fine!
Fee includes:
1 12x12 Page
1 12x12 Black Page
6 Paper Triangles
1 die-cut
2 12x12 Page Protectors
Instructional Handout
Stickers Ideas Handout
Mounting Supplies
Things that look great on black refill pages:
Birthdays, Holidays, Halloween, Weddings, Pets, Graduations, Vacations, School, Family, Heritage, Thanksgiving, Children, Baby, 4th of July. See Black Refill Pages for more ideas.
See the ABC Albums file
Do a Make and Take Shop Talk with Computer Titles. Use the hand out WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THEM? (left over pictures or pictures that don't fit anywhere.) Pick easy fonts to trace and print them along with the handout. Customers pick one to trace on their own page and you provide the coordinating stickers.
Titles:
Nothing like seeing pages already made up. I number and price the pages, and bag up the stickers, die cuts, a black and white reduced picture of the layout, and scraps of colored paper needed to complete the layout. I write the colors of pens and any border ruler I used, on the layout picture for reference. I number and price the bags to match the pages. Some of the pages are "twofers" because they are coordinated--like two Christmas pages that utilize the die-cut ornaments on one and the centers left from the ornaments on the other. (Sharon D.)
My upline gave me this idea and it has been very successful. I have a 12 x 12 album with over thirty page ideas. Each page is numbered and has a price on it. I have a file box with a folder for each idea. A customer looks through the Make and Take album, finds the idea she likes and notes the page number. She then goes to the file box, finds the folder with that number and pulls out the Ziploc bag with all the items to make the page, pre-cut for them. I try to keep six of each idea in the folders. Here is an example of how I set the price. (Croppin' Kelly)
Christmas Idea:
(triangles go in opposite corners, rectangles go on top of triangles, trees on top of rectangles and one gold star on tree tops)
2 black and red check paper triangles (4 x 6 rectangle cut on the diagonal)
2 2x3 cement rectangles cut with the deckle trimmer
1 evergreen tree mini die-cut
1 mod of gold stars
2 pieces of paper - 70 cents
1 mini die-cut - 25 cents
1 sticker strip - 60 cents
I rounded up to $1.75 for 'labor'
You make more profit if you do multiples because the entire sheet of paper or whole strip of stickers is not needed. With the one described above, you get four make and takes out of two sheets of paper and one strip of stickers. My make and takes range from $1.00 to $2.75. (pages are not included).
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