Photos of the projects for the Happiest Place virtual events have been released. I’m sure you’ll love them as much as I do!
If you are a Disney fan like me, I’m sure you LOVE our new Happiest Place Collection! Last week, I posted the schedule for August workshops that will take place on the Close To My Heart Facebook page. That schedule includes a three-day event using the magical Happiest Place collection on August 26 – 28.
We now know what the cardmaking and scrapbooking projects will look like!
Cut Above Album (8/26)
The project for this session has already been revealed, but I’ll include it here so you can see all the projects we’ll be making during the 3-day event. We will be making a 16 page 8.5″ x 11″ album. The kit comes together quickly thanks to printed base pages, die-cuts and stickers.
Cardmaking Workshop (8/27)
During the second session, we’ll make 16 individual magical cards. Yes, I said SIXTEEN!! And there is such a variety of styles, patterns and sentiments! These cards lend themselves perfectly for birthday wishes, but they can be used for all other happy occasions. You could even use them as announcements or invitations for a trip to the Happiest Place!
At the virtual event, we will walk through the steps to create these cards, from cutting the papers to stamping to embellishing. Along the way, you’ll learn lots of card making tips and tricks!
Scrapbooking Workshop (8/28)
I can’t wait to make these nine pages and adding pictures from our last trip to Disney World! During final session, we’ll make a single page and four 2-page layouts.
Details
These FUN & FREE virtual craft event will happen each day starting a 5 pm CST August 26 – 28 on the Close To My Heart Facebook page. Note that Close To My Heart will have prize drawings during the event. Be sure to click “GOING” on the Event Page for a chance to win.
The Happiest Place products used for all of these projects are conveniently included in the Happiest Place Bundle (CC7209 or CC7211) at 20% off retail price during JULY only.
In this HUGE bundle you get so much! Once you finishe the event projects you will have supplies left over for a few more projects. Plus of course you’ll have the stamp and thin cuts to use forever. The Bundle includes:
Happiest Place Cut Above Layout Kit
Happiest Place Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet
Happiest Place Coordinating Cardstock
Happiest Place Acrylic Shapes
Happiest Place Stamp + Thin Cuts
To make all the projects during the event, you’ll need the following supplies:
Stamp Pads: Archival Black, Candy Apple, Glacier and Lemonade
Preserve the happiest of memories and create truly magical artwork with the exclusive collection, Happiest Place!
The Happiest Place collection includes a whole suite of coordinating products, including an extra-large paper packet with 12 patterned paper sheets! Your projects will shine thanks to silver glitter foil accents on coordinating stickers and cardstock sheets. Add in stamps, acrylic shapes, SVG’s, and complete album workhop, and you have the recipe for hours of unforgettable crafting fun!
Be sure to check out the Happiest Place Product Bundle, which includes several of the items in this collection at a 20% discount in July!
Paper Packet
The Happiest Place paper packet includes 12 sheets of duo-sided pattered paper. Each sheet includes an additional 1/2″ zip strip that lists the coordinating colors on one side and has a decorative design on the other. Let’s take a closer look at the papers!
You can get the paper pack with our without the coordinating sticker sheet. Don’t you love the silver glitter foil accents on the stickers?
Coordinating Cardstock
The cardstock pack gives you 12 more sheets of paper to work with in coordinating colors of Candy Apple, Glacier, Lemonade, White Daisy and Black. Half of these papers have silver foil stars or stripes on one side. This really extra accent really adds some pizzazz to your projects!
Acrylix Shapes
The Happiest Place Acrylic Shapes pack includes assorted matte black acrylic pieces that go along with the theme. The back side is shiny which means for each image (except for the words), you can choose matte or shiny!
Stamp Set and Thin Cuts
The Happiest Place stamp set is the perfect way to add more words, images and icons to your projects. With stamps you can make your own accents with any color you’d like. This stamp set is available alone or you can get it bundled with coordinating Thin Cuts. The blue shading in the image below shows you what thin cuts are included.
Digital Art
We also have two brand new sets of Digital Art: Titles and Designs. These collections include SVG files that you can upload to Cricut or other design software to add even more creativity to your Happiest Place projects! After downloading the images, you can manipulate them in a program like Cricut Design Space™. Resize it, remove layers, and much more! Each different color in the image indicates different layers that can be edited and cut individually with your chosen software and personal cutting machine.
I love digital art because I can cut it any size and out of any material that I choose. Wouldn’t one of these titles be perfect to cut from Heat Transfer Vinyl for the front of the album?
Cut Above Album
The Happiest Place Cut Above workshop makes sixteen 8.5″ x 11″ pages. The only thing you need to complete this kit is your favorite adhesives. This is thanks to base pages that are pre-printed with designs, cut paper, die-cut pieces and stickers. You also get a full color instruction guide so you know exactly how to finish your pages.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the best value is to order the Happiest Place Bundle. You will get the Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, Coordinating Cardstock, Acrylic Shapes, Stamp + Thin Cuts plus the Cut Above Layout Kit! It really is a wonderful assortment of products to unlock your creativity! It’s 20% off only in July 2020.
WOW! That’s a lot of products to celebrate your Happiest Place isn’t it?
On August 26 – 28, Close To My Heart will be hosting virtual events using the products in the Happiest Place bundle. You can see samples of the projects, supply lists and more information on the events page. Be sure to order your bundle in July to get the 20% off dicount.
I’ve created a few other Happiest Place projects that I’ll share with you over the next few days. Stay tuned!
Last week, we spent three jam packed days visiting all four parks at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Although we have been there several times, this trip was special because our daughter graduated from High School in May and will be heading off to college in August. Because family vacations may look different in the future, I wanted to make sure that we had lots of pictures to remember this trip.
As an avid scrapbooker, I always put my phone to good use taking snap shots and selfies. However, I wanted to make sure we got a few pictures of the whole family and didn’t want to have to ask strangers to take them. The Disney PhotoPass Service and Memory Maker seemed like a good solution. In this post, I’ll summarize how the plan works and give you tips for making the most of the service. While I have done my research and believe this to be accurate as of July 2018, be sure to review the current details on Disney’s website before purchasing the plan.
The first time I used Disney PhotoPass was almost 10 years ago. In October 2009, the whole Brown clan traveled to Orlando together and spent a week “doing Disney”. This included 15 people in 4 families and we purchased the package together. I was thrilled with the quality and quantity of photos we had to remember this amazing trip.
Although the PhotoPass system has changed a bit since 2009, the end result is still a great variety of pictures to document the fun days at Disney World.
WHAT IS PHOTOPASS AND MEMORY MAKER?
Here are a few FAQs that help explain the basics of how the system works. (The information presented here is based on my understand of the current program as of July 2018. Please refer to the Disney website for complete details.)
Q: What is PhotoPass?
A: PhotoPass is a free photo taking service throughout the Walt Disney World Resort. You can get photos taken at many iconic locations, on rides, at restaurants and even at a studio at Disney Springs.
Intense! Can you tell we are competitive?
Q: How can I view or purchase my photos?
A: Each time your photo is taken, you will either receive a photo card from the photographer or have your Magic Band or park ticket scanned. To view or order prints of your pictures, you will need to set up an account on the Disney website and link the photo cards, Magic Band or park ticket. Once your photos are linked, you can purchase downloads, prints and other photo products like calendars and mugs.
Q: What is Memory Maker and is it worth the price?
A: Memory Maker can be purchased to allow you to download all of the PhotoPass photos from your trip. The current cost when purchased in advance is $169. The current cost of a single download is $16.95, so this is a great option if you are planning to purchase 10 or more images. The price for prints is also reduced significantly when you purchase the Memory Maker. For example, a single 5″x7″ print is regularly $18.95 but just $0.95 when you have Memory Maker.
Q: Can I get free downloads?
A: Disney VISA card holders can receive free downloads of photos taken at the special character experiences at Epcot and Disney Hollywood Studios. Even though we bought Memory Makers and thus didn’t need the free downloads, we visited both of these locations. Since these are exclusive to card members, the lines were very short — basically walk up — and offer unique photo experiences. At Epcot, our pictures included both Mickey and Pluto and at Hollywood Studios, we had an exclusive meeting with Kylo Ren! We really enjoyed this perk.
Certain annual pass holders also receive free downloads.
December 2019 Update: We took a quick trip to Disney World over Christmas. We did not purchase PhotoPass, but did get photos taken at the Epcot Visa character experience. After a quick scan of my magic band, I was able to see all the photos taken at this location in the App on my phone. Once I was home, I was able to download all of them for free! Great perk of having a Disney Visa.
MEMORY MAKER TIPS
Because Memory Maker is a pretty steep investment, I’d suggest you educate yourself before your trip to make sure you get as much out of it as possible. You will definitely want to review the information on the Disney website carefully. I’d also like to offer up these tips to help you make the most of your Memory Maker package.
1 – Purchase Memory Maker at least three days prior to your first day at Walt Disney World to save $30. However, be aware that the purchase is nonrefundable, so don’t purchase until your plans are definite.
2 – Be sure everyone in your group is on the Family & Friends List of the Memory Maker owner in My Disney Experience. Only the owner can download images, but all of the photos linked to the tickets and Magic Bands of the Family and Friends will be available to the owner who can then share them with the group. This is especially important if the group will be splitting up for some of the time at Disney World.
3 – Set the expectations of your kids (and husband?) that you will be stopping often for photos. The photographers know how to get good pictures for the location they are in and can complete a mini-photo shoot relatively quickly. Fortunately for this trip, my daughter was excited to get some fun pictures, but a few years ago I may have had to bribe her with the promise of a Mickey ice cream bar to get smiles for the pictures
4 – Keep your eyes out for roaming Disney photographers. Even on busy days like we had the week of July 4, they are readily available near landmarks like Cinderella’s Castle in Magic Kingdom. But you can find them throughout the parks as well. If there is a line at one photographer, look around there is probably another nearby.
5 – Do what the photographers ask you to do, even if it doesn’t make sense. Certain photos will become “Magic Shots” with titles or animated characters when they appear in your account. So be prepared to hold out a hand or point or act cold or blow a kiss. Just play along with the fun.
6 – Look for the photo kiosks as you exit rides. Some of the rides automatically detect the newer Magic Bands, but otherwise you need to scan your Magic Band or ticket to collect these action shots.
7 – At greetings, relax and interact with the characters instead of posing immediately. Encourage your kids to talk with and hug on their favorite Disney friends. Not only is it fun, but the photographers will often snap candid pictures which will likely become favorites. We love seeing the personality of Mickey and his friends, as well as the princesses’ come through.
8 – Don’t be afraid to make special requests. We found the photographers very willing to take individual pictures or pictures of just the girls (my daughter took a friend) or just my husband and I. Of course, if others are waiting you’ll want to keep it brief, but otherwise if you want a picture of yourself standing in front of the castle with your arms in the air, just ask!
9 – Don’t forget to download your images! It’s easy to let this slide when you get home and step back into non-vacation mode, but the images are only available for 45 days on the Disney website so set a reminder on your calendar so you don’t miss out!
SUMMARY
So, would I recommend Memory Maker to friends headed to Disney World? Generally, yes but it would depend on a few things including the length of their trip, the size of their family or group and of course their budget.
We had over 300 pictures taken on our three days in the parks (plus breakfast at ‘Ohana’s on day 4 before we started the drive home). In addition to pictures of us, we also received about 40 bonus pictures of Disney characters and park scenes. I’m not sure that I’ll use them but they are included with the package.
So if you are like me hoping to get a number of great family shots of a special occasion, I’d recommend considering investing in Memory Maker. If instead, you anticipate downloading just a handful of pictures, I’d say skip the Memory Maker purchase and pay to download individual images.
If this information has been helpful or if you have questions, please let me know if the comments below. If you have used Disney’s PhotoPass or Memory Maker, please tell me your tips.
