Studio J Customer Release

Real Life.  Real Scrapbooks.  Real Time.  That is the tag line with Close To My Heart's new Studio J line.

I have talked about Studio J before and I have shown you some of the Studio Scrapbooking that I have done.  (If you are new here or just don't remember them, click on the Studio J label on the left to see them.) Now it is time for you to try it out for yourself.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Today is the day that it goes live to our customers!  Right now (well, maybe after you have finished reading my post) you can go to my website and check it out for yourself.  There will be a new link added there for Studio J.  Just click on that link and you can begin.

I will try to answer a few questions you may have.  If, after reading through this, you still have questions, feel free to leave a comment or send my an email and I will try to answer them for you.  Click on this link to watch the short demo video about Studio J if you have not already done so.

1. What is Studio J Design Software? Studio J is free online scrapbooking design software brought to you by Close To My Heart. (Did I mention FREE?) Studio J helps you easily create custom-printed two-page layouts using our foundational scrapbook patterns, exclusive color palette, and themed designs all delivered in 12 × 12 custom prints ready for your albums. It’s a snap!
2. Is Studio J easy to use? Studio J software is extremely intuitive and easy to use. The program walks you through five steps that include:
   
   
   
   
   
   1. uploading your photos
   2. choosing your desired themed kit
   3. selecting an exclusive layout pattern
   4. adding photos, embellishments, titles, and journaling
   5. purchasing custom-printed layouts ready for your personal album
   It’s super simple and extremely fun to use! 
3. I love Close To My Heart products. Will Studio J use the same great papers, patterns, colors, and embellishments? Of course! If you love Close To My Heart’s scrapbooking philosophy, then you will love Studio J.
4. Do I need to download any software to my computer to use Studio J? Nope! You only need an Internet connection, and then you simply log in to my MyCTMH website and click on the Studio J link to get started. Feel free to design to your heart’s content—you are not required to buy anything to get started!
5. Can I save what I am working on and come back to it later? Absolutely! You can create a customer profile that allows you to save and return to a project in progress at a later time. Your active projects will be saved for up to 90 days, giving you plenty of time to work on them. You extend that timeline for your active projects by 90 days each time you make a purchase, and your purchased projects will remain archived for one full year after purchase.  Better yet, Close To My Heart will even send you an email to let you know where you are at with your project timeline.
6. Do I need a printer that can print 12" × 12" pages to use Studio J? Nope. Your Studio J layouts are not available for you to print from a home computer. In fact, we take care of the printing for you. When you purchase your designed layouts, we print and ship them quickly and directly to you using only top quality printing technology and archival-quality papers.Mine arrived only a few short days after I purchased them.
7. What is the price? You are not charged a thing until you order your custom prints. The price per printed two-page layout is $12.95 (well below the industry standard). We also offer some fantastic rewards for larger orders. You can receive FREE Memory Protectors to protect your layouts in your albums, and FREE shipping/handling based on the number of layout prints you purchase in a single order as follows:
   
   
   
   • For 5–9 layout purchases: You’ll receive a pack of 5 Memory Protectors FREE!
   • For 10–20 layout purchases: You’ll receive FREE shipping/handling PLUS a FREE pack of 5 Memory Protectors for every 5 layouts in your single order.
8. When can I begin creating with Studio J? RIGHT NOW, Tuesday, April 27th!

Here are a few more layouts that I created using Studio J and just a few of the fun things you can do with this software.  As always, click on the photos for a closer look.

You can add Stickease (just like the real thing) except that you are able to change the size of the Stickease or even journal right on top of them.

I love the fact that you can adjust your photos to fit your needs.  This layout, I had 2 pictures I really wanted to add, but the top of the carousel was red...it just didn't match the paper I chose.  No worries, I just changed those photos to black and white.  Easy!

Also, just look at how real the ribbon and photo hanger looks.  Can you tell it's not real?  That paper tearing?  Also a feature of Studio J...it came out perfect and I didn't have to do the tearing.

I love to use buttons.  Here I have used them and look how real they appear.  They have added an automatic drop shadow feature to get the realistic look.  Another cool thing is that with the click of a button, you can change the color of the button and even the color of the thread in the button.  Love it!

Journaling is also easy to do.  You can choose the font, the color, and whether you wish it to be on cardstock (the color of your choice) or vellum.  They even have spell check  for us!

I will never stray away from traditional scrapbooking, but I will for sure be adding Studio J to my albums.  The fun part is that it goes so well with the traditional scrapbooking, you can mix and match your layouts.  You really need to touch and feel them to see which is which.  They are that real looking.  If you really like the lumpy, bumpy texture on your layouts, you can add that when you get them if you want.  What a fun new tool to be able to try out.  If you don't want to do Studio scrapbooking, you could just use it to plan out your layouts and embellishments before you purchase the products to see what you like the best.  Awesome!

OK, now go check it out and see how easy it really is...

Happy Scrappin'