Christmas Giveaway // My Memories Suite

My goodness - it has been one busy month at the day-job [hence the lack of posts here]. I am however now on a well deserved, three week long Christmas break. During this time I have many many things to plan, work on, improve and start... basiclly 2012 is going to be a kick-ass year in the world of Pierced Beauty Designs, but more about this soon.

I have been suffering from the end of year blues and because of this I haven't been in the mood to do any art journaling recently. It all seemed too messy and too much effort. I have however been having a fantastic time doing some digital journaling using My Memories Suite. And because it is the season of giving, I am really excited to announce that I have one copy of this awesome software to gift to a lovely reader- that's right, one of you! But first I want to show you what I managed to create and also share some of my favourite features.

Now. I have to admit that when I first opened the software, I was worried that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. I am not interested in scrapbooking, it seems far too precise and rigid for me. I much prefer art journaling, less pressure to create something perfect and more room to let your emotions dictate what you create. But I am happy to say that it actually surpassed my expectations.

To suit my recent love for lists, here are five things that impressed me* about the My Memories Suite.

1. It has spell check. This has always been something that bugged me about Photoshop; no spell check. I'm not the worst speller but I can't count how many times I have finished something only to realise that I have spelt something important wrong and had to go back and change it. I would love it to have had a UK spelling option though, at the moment it only has US spelling.
2. Free built in templates & embellishments. I was so impressed with the sheer quantity of built in templates. Most are what you would consider traditional scrapbook layout but if that doesn't tickle your fancy why not check out my next point.
3. Extra Digital Scrapbooking Kits. These are extra kits you can purchase off the MyMemories website and they are very reasonably priced with most staying under USD$7. They cover all sorts of themes, colours and seasons - one of my favourites is the Welcome to Wonderland Pack.
4. The price! Now anyone who knows me, knows that I am sporadic with money and most of what I say dosen't make sense. For example; I am happy to spend $7 on a coffee and turn around and say that a $5 sandwich is rip off. But I have to say that with this software you definitely get more than what you pay for, and at USD$40 it really is affordable.
5. You can create your own calendars. I have always wanted to make a calendar in Photoshop but without a template, it was going to be a very looooong and tedious job so I never really bothered. I was so excited to see a calendar option and I can't wait to make mini calendars to give to people!
6.  Free Kits. Want to get a few more freebies before you dive in and purchase a kit? Why not have a scroll through all of the free downloadable kits available and choose a few. *I know this is number 6 but I couldn't stop on 5 hehe*

How to enter

So the big question; how do you enter? Well I want to make it as easy as possible so all you need to do is click here and tell me one thing:

1) What is your favourite digital scrapbooking kit from My Memories?

Do you want an extra chance to enter? Well why not tweet about the giveaway (remember to mention @piercedbeautynz or I won't be able to track it), or mention it on your blog? If you decide to do this leave an extra comment on the above link for each.

I will be drawing a random winner on Jan 1st 2012 and will contact that person through facebook as well as an announcement on here. I wish everyone the absolute best of luck!

Extra Awesomeness
I have also been given a special code for Pierced Beauty Design readers. Hop over to the My Memories website and using the code STMMMS41828, you will get $10 off your own Suite and $10 off the MyMemories.com store. How awesome is that??

Rhiannon xxx

**Note: The are my own honest thoughts and opinions on the software. I have not been paid to write a good review, nor would I ever do this for any product.