I am obsessed with scrapbooking and I know you are too! I think about it, talk about it, and do it any chance I get. I love to shop as much as I love to crop. My blog will have: product reviews, show reviews, scrapbook organization, my shopping finds, and just general scrapbook topics. There are so many scrap blogs out there where the author journals about their life and shares their pages. I wanted my blog to be a little different. Hope you enjoy!
Wanted to let y’all know that I won’t be blogging for several days. Hey! Put down the tomatoes! I have a good excuse…I’m going to the Magical Kingdom…Disneyland, to be exact! In honor of that, some scrappy Disney goodness…
ARTICLE by LeNae Gerig called “Scrapbooking Your Disney Photos”
LINK to some Disney shopping at ScrapbookingWarehouse.com
An About.com ARTICLE called “Wanna Peek Into the Disneyland Scrapbook?”
Scrapbooking POEMS about Disneyland from Scrapbook.com
A RESOURCE for your Disney juicy gossip…TheDisneyBlog “by fans, for fans”
And, finally, my favorite…that rockin’ Disney scrapbook I posted about once BEFORE, from the Cricut Message Board. HERE</strong> is the link; here is a sample (just a few of her 182 layouts!):
******* LAYOUTS BY JENNIFER BOCKLEMAN ********
I will definitely be using this amazing scrapbook for inspiration when I get home from my trip! Do you have any cool Disney scrapbook links to share, or pages you’ve posted that you can link us to? C’mon, help a sister out!
Have a great rest of the week. Catch ya on the flip side…Peace out
Okay, after looking at the ad (very top of this entry) that I received in a ProvoCraft e-mail today, and then at the (10) cartridges I copied above from the ProvoCraft WEBSITE, I was confused. But thank the Cricut gods that I found this on the ProvoCraft BLOG, because now I got it all straight, and hope it helps you too!
QUOTED FROM THE PROVOCRAFT BLOG:
“April 08, 2008
Cricut Solutions vs. Classic Cricut cartridges
Cricut Solutions cartridges are starting to appear in stores, and we’re thrilled that many of you are adding them to your Cricut collections! There have been some concerns about packaging, so we want to clarify the difference between Classic Cricut cartridges and Cricut Solutions cartridges:
Classic Cricut Cartridges
– type of cartridges you’re all familiar with
– contain 100 designs and 6 creative features
– latest additions include the Pooh and Friends and Pooh Font Set cartridges, and we will continue to create more must-have Classic Cricut cartridges
– suggested retail price is $89.99 (or $99.99 for Disney cartridges)
– come packaged in a storage box that includes the cartridge, keypad overlay, and handbook
Cricut Solutions Cartridges
– new style of Cricut cartridges
– contain an average of 50 designs and 2 creative features (mostly Shadow and Blackout/Shadow Blackout)
– themed cartridges that contain Cricut designs tailored to meet specific project needs
– eight total: 6 shape cartridges (Baseball, Soccer, Wedding, Camp Out, Home Accents, and Indie Art) and 2 font cartridges (Stone Script and Street Sign).
– suggested retail price is $49.99
– come packaged in a plastic shell (blister packaging) that includes the cartridge, keypad overlay, and fold-out card
We are developing a storage system for the Cricut cartridges, including a great option for all 8 of the Cricut Solutions cartridges. Stay tuned!! [End of quote]”
I’m anxious to hear about this “storage system,” aren’t you? What are your Top 3 Faves of the new Cricut carts and tell us why? Here’s mine:
1. Stone Script – The thin letters always make me nervous, but these look so cool, it’s worth going through some pain to get them on my page…
2. Street Sign – Yep, I’m a sucker for fonts and this one looks very versatile. I think the simple block shape to the letters will really showcase any PP you cut them out with, and solid colors will be “bulky” enough to really have fun inking or edging them.
3. It’s a close one between Home Accents and Indie Art, but I’m going with Home Accents. There are some very cute designs, and I can see myself using them for projects outside of scrapbooking.
Sometimes in our little online world, you make the coolest friends (whom you’ve never really “met”), and they help you out in the coolest ways. My “friend” Nicole from the HUMOR ME blog (and a fellow CKMB’er and fellow AMR MB’er) hooked me up big time! Gosh, it’s a long story and I’d probably farkle it up anyway but long story short, Nicole gave my e-mail and blog info to the author of not one but TWO new scrapbooking novels. (PS: Nicole is quite the writer and is beginning to rub elbows with Big Time Writers. She’s been published on the Killer Hobbies Blog and was just asked back to write for them again). The author is JOANNA CAMPBELL SLAN who is associated with a fun hobby blog called KILLER HOBBIES. Okay, pause, rewind…first I need to say THIS BOOK IS NOT COMING OUT UNTIL FALL 2008 and will be published by MIDNIGHT INK. Anywaaaayyyyzzz…thanks to Nicole “introducing me” to Joanna, I am one of the lucky bloggers she has chosen to send an advance copy of her book!!! I’m so frickin excited! I don’t get it until September but that’s okay, I can wait. Then I’ll read the book, give you all a review on my blog, and hopefully even have the author herself “come by” around the time the book comes out. Okay, you have to understand, I love to read novels, I love to write, I LUH-HUH-HUV scrapbooking. What better stinkin’ thing could happen to me? Well, I will tell you…NOTHING! Ha!
So there are all kinds of cool things about this book, including that it’s part of a series and Joanna has already written Book #2, to be called “Designed for Death.” The e-mail I just got from Joanna is full of details but I’m not sure how much I can say yet, so I’ll share with you as I can. Maybe I’ll put out little teases all summer, LOL. For now, I’ll share this from Joanna: “…as of today, AMAZON was accepting pre-orders. Signed copies are available through Main Street Books of St. Charles (email msbstchas@sbcglobal.net).” So if you are as excited about this new novel as I am, you can pre-order it now (click HERE. (C’mon, it’s showing on pre-order as only $10.17 plus another 5% off at checkout), or even request a signed copy!
What do you think? Are you looking forward to Joanna’s books? Have you read any scrapbooking novels or mysteries before?
Behind the scenes where you can’t see, WordPress just made a bunch of changes. My dashboard looks completely different and I’m still finding my way around. So far, the changes seem to be good ones. Here are a couple of interesting things I found in a new part of my Blog Stats section:
In other words, of all the posts I’ve written, these are the Top 3 most clicked on.
Also:
Top Searches
Fiskars Threading Water Punch, Scrapbook Organization, Threading Water Punch
These are the most common terms you all were searching when you linked here.
So, how long has it been since the Kristina Controversy? And I kid you not, DAILY I see that there are readers still finding me from searching her name, and then reading that post. (Although I wrote several where her name is mentioned, this is the one that gets all the attention. My poor other Kristina posts feel bereft and unwanted…).
I think the Fiskars Threading Water punch wins the award for the Best Frenzy Item EVER. I know it’s still the talk of CKMB, with a lot of scrappers finding one of these sought-after punches …. and many still searching. And I’m not surprised there’ve been so many searches for Scrapbook Organization, as that is a topic near and dear to all scrappers hearts.
Thanks for all the “hits” and all the comments you leave and please keep coming back!
Yep, I also LUV the message board at Creating Keepsakes. It’s huge and fun and always happening! To the right, you can see the huge CKMB Blog Roll. I posted @ CKMB recently asking for updates, for those blogs I didn’t have listed yet, and many have responded. I’m slowly adding them, so please be patient with me if you’ve requested to be added. Thanks :)
i’m also trying out a Tag Cloud. The larger the word is, the more times I’ve used it here somewhere. Funny, huh?
As you know, I can’t stop talking about how great it is at AMR, er, All Moments Remembered. The owner, Stacey, has an awesome ONLINE STORE (where I was one of the first to get the amazing Fiskars “Threading Water” scallop punch), a BLOG, and a MESSAGE BOARD. AMR also has a monthly kit, which they celebrate each month with an online crop. Please come on over and join us this Saturday, April 5th ~ just click on the MB link above, or down to the right in my Blog Roll. The membership there is growing so fast, we literally shut down the message board she started with because we were posting so much! Stacey had to get a new board with much larger capacity, LOL. {We’re pretty proud of ourselves for that one…}. So, please join in the fun for challenges, RAKs, and lots of chatting. This time there’s even talk of margaritas!
I copied this from the message board post about the crop:
(from Heather)
“Hey ladies just wanted to let you know about the upcoming AMR Online
Crop!! This month’’s crop will be held on Sat. April 5th starting at
4pm EST – 12am EST. I will host the event and each amazing DT member
will provide a challenge including one from Stacey!! Yup, the whole
event is AMR sponsored!! Of course there will be RAKs given away and
this time there will be a separate forum for the event. In addition to
the challenges, the DT members will be on the board to answer any
questions you may have and to chat away with you! As an extra surprise
this month, the wonderfully talented KARLA DUDLEY [I added the link to Karla’s blog] will be chatting
with us also, so have your questions ready!!! (Put her name in your
subject line so she knows which ones are directed to her). I hope you can all make it!!
_________________
Heather
Lead DT Member & Coordinator, Creative Director”
If nothing else, attend just to chat with Karla Dudley. What a talent! She designs for Technique Tuesday and October Afternoon.
Remember to register beforehand with Stacey at www.allmomentsremembered.com and tell her I sent you so she knows your not some kind of robot spammer, lol.
Yeah, one thing leads to another, yeah, yeah, yeah….
I’m chatting over on the AMR message board, and the owner Stacey mentions that she has received some more of these MAKING MEMORIES 5th Avenue Spiral Journaling Books I’ve been waiting for:
So I head over to the online STORE, and figure, while I’m here I may as well see what else is new. Well, why did I do THAT?? I don’t have a lot to spend right now….why oh why did I “browse”?? Among lots of other lovelies, I found these DREAM STREET PAPERSthat I’m absolutely McLOVIN!
It looks like she still has many of each collection, so I had to pass for now and am hoping it’s still in stock when I get some moolah! I especially like the Art Nouveau ~ that teal/brown color combo is gorgeous and it would work with so many themes.
What I did order, in addition to the notebooks, are these cool CLEAR SCRAPS ACRYLIC LETTERS (you have to order consonants and vowels separately) only 80 cents each!
Here is a description from the Clear Scraps site: “Use jump rings to link these together to make words. Alter just one letter. You can use your crop a dile to punch holes and make a mini album. The ideas are endless. These are light weight!!! Take a look at the idea gallery for all the possibilities for these letters! They are approx 3″ tall.”
I bought enough to spell 3 words for now, and will go back for more later. These should be fun to play with. One cool thing is that a member of the Clear Scraps Design Team, JULIE HOWARD aka SCRAPPIN{JEWLZ} joined the AMR board for a Scrap Chat Hour awhile back, and she has since become a VERY active member of the board. {I mean, seriously, you can’t stop this girl from chattin’, LOL}. And she’s in the Late Night Girlz Club with me so we have a lot of fun. Anytime we have “acrylic-anything” questions, she helps us right away.
Confession time: My 6×6 acrylic album is STILL sitting all packaged up on my desk. I’m still skerred… What have you done with acrylic? What do ya think of those Dream Street papers? How much MM Noteworthy and 5th Avenue have you bought already, LOL??? Confess, confess…
In my last POST, I told you about the ATC Swap I’m participating in as a member of the AMR MESSAGE BOARD. I promised to show you my first attempt at EVER making an ATC, so here goes…these are the ATC’s I created and will be mailing to Jingle tomorrow:
I’m showing the front and back sides, and also that I made four or five variations of color combos. On the front they say “Journey” and then there is a “journey” definition stamp. The reason this represents ME is that, on every message board I’m on, even my e-mail address, my handle is always “journeyfan.” It has a triple meaning, but the easy one is that I’m a HUGE fan of the 70s/80s band Journey, and have been since junior high. Anyway, my ATC’s probably don’t look like much, but they really were a lot of work for some reason! Here are the steps I used to make them:
1. Cut all the kraft cardstock and patterned paper into 2.5″ x 3.5″ “cards” and used the scraps of PP to cut the little slivers that show behind the scallop punchout (the color in there is different than whatever color is on the back of the card).
2. Used my awesome new FISKARS THREADING WATER PUNCH to cut a scallop within each card (as opposed to scalloping an entire edge).
3. With acrylic stamps and chalk ink, stamped the word “journey” on the kraft cards. First I did the j-u-n-y letters, spaced apart, in one color (steel blue). Then I did the o,r and e separately in different colors (dark grey, green and purple).
4. Used an acrylic stamp and black chalk ink for the “journey” definition. It was part of a larger stamp, so I masked it with, what else?, masking tape! Wow, my first ever masking! I impressed myself! (Note: I’m barely a decent scrapbooker, and I’m NOT a stamper by any means).
5. Used acrylic stamps and silver ink to stamp a bird, then a journaling circle with black ink on the patterned paper cards.
6. Added the plastic flowers and either a glitter star brad or a “bling” to the center of each flower.
7. Adhered the little PP strips to the back side of the scallop punchout.
8. Adhered both sided of the card together, trying a variety of adhesive methods until I found one that worked, LOL.
9. Used a sanding block to sand the edges of the cards and make them blend together better, and to give a lightly distressed look.
10. Cut the ribbon into 2 inch pieces, punched the middle hole with the Cropadile to make it larger, threaded the ribbon through and stapled it.
11. Used white or black pens to write on the back: AMR “ATC Swap”, Erika, ‘journeyfan,’ Calif. USA, April 2008
12. Laid all the ATC’s out across my desk and “Stickled” them, to the best of my ability (which, seeing them after they dried, was not much ability…).
Materials Used: Bazzill kraft cardstock, My Minds Eye ‘Everyday Tango’ patterned paper, Color Box Cat’s Eye chalk inks in Night Sky queue (that I got from AMR Store), Autumn Leaves acrylic stamps ‘Hand Drawn Alphabet by Katie Pertiet’ and journaling circle ($1 stamp set from Target), 7 Gypsies clear stamp set from QVC, American Crafts plastic flowers, Making Memories glitter star brads, MAMBI bling from Michaels, ‘Frosted Lace’ Stickles from AMR Store, and random black/white gingham ribbon.
Overall, I guess I’m happy with them. You know how it is, there are such talented ladies on the board, that I hope I don’t embarrass myself! But they were fun to do, I tried some things I wouldn’t normally do (like masking a stamp), and it got me to break out the myriad of acrylic stamps I’ve collected and not used enough. Do you think they’re okay for a swap?
Oh! And if you are going to enter ATC World anytime soon, I thought I’d show you these items I saw in the AMR STORE that seem to be very popular among the Message Board Girlz:
The best part is going to be seeing all the cards from the other girls when they come in the mail. I can’t wait! Thanks for reading about my “journey” into ATC’s (man, I’m so funny, I crack myself up!).
Sorry I haven’t posted for over 3 days, I think that’s a record for the most time between posts for me, LOL. I started a new job and it’s so stressful that by the time I get home and do family/house stuff, all I want to do is go to bed! Which is also why I was lagging on getting my ATC cards done. BUT….I got them finished lastnight and I’m so happy and relieved. So, I guess I should explain about the swap…
Over on the AMR MESSAGE BOARD, about 20 of us are doing an ATC Swap hosted by JINGLE (who does not have a blog….what???…is that even legal in the scrapbook world these days??). We each make a batch of ATC cards, keep one for ourselves, and send the rest to Jingle by April 5, 2008. Then she will separate them out into piles, and mail a set of the ATC cards to each of us. Fun, huh?!?
I’ll admit, before deciding to sign up for this swap, I had heard of ATC cards but didn’t really know much about them. I thought they were the territory of those ‘artsy’ types (um, that would be, NOT ME!) because I thought you had to use all kinds of fancy painting, inking, embossing, altered art kinda stuff on them. But, I found that they have evolved into something more accessible to scrapbookers like me, who just like to play with our pretty paper and scallop punches, LOL.
As shared by ANNE MARIE on the AMR board, here is the Wikipedia definition of ATC Cards:
Artist trading cards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“Artist Trading Cards are individual art miniatures which pass hand to hand. Some sources have credited M. Vänçi Stirnemann, who began trading sessions in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1997, as popularizing ATCs in the modern era, although modern ATC’s can be traced back to portrait miniatures and to a kind of business card popular with Impressionistic era artists.[1]
Artists have produced miniatures for trade or self-promotion in many eras and places, and the current trend is thus part of this larger context. Historically there were few standard rules or guidelines to art trading cards, and many variances in sizes can be seen in older cards. The standardization in size of baseball cards is credited with creating the standardization in size for art cards. Today the only rule for these cards is their 2.5 by 3.5 inch size, same as baseball cards and collectible card games. There are, however, certain conventions usually observed by those who make and trade these cards, such as the expectation that they be traded, not sold, and that they be created as unique works or small limited editions of prints. Artists generally sign and date the back, and may also include a title and contact information. The face-to-face trading session is considered an integral part of the concept, although many people find each other via the internet and trade by mail.
Artist Trading Cards are typically made on a base of card stock. However, ATCs have been created on metal, stiffened fabric, plastic, clay, glass, balsa wood, leather, embroidery canvas, acetate, heavy watercolor paper, and many other materials. The art on the cards can be done in any media: textile arts, pencil, watercolor, acrylic, oil, collage, scratch board, mixed media, assemblage, digital art, calligraphy, beadwork, rubber stamps, carved soft block stamps, pen and ink, colored pencil, airbrush, pastels, and many others – anything artists use.”
So, yeah, you can get fancy with it, but the goal of our swap was to “create ATC’s that in some way represent YOU. Please be sure to sign each ATC so we know you created it!” And here was my favorite part of the instructions from Jingle: “Please show your best work and be sure to send in pieces that are made neatly and cleanly. (You know…avoid glue boogers and stuff! LOL!)” Yeah, of course we gave her a hard time about the glue boogers comment :) But you know what she’s saying…do a good job, not rushed, as people will be showing these off in some manner.
The challenge sounded all well and good but, when I sat down to actually make them, I was shocked at how SMALL 2.5″ x 3.5″ really is. I mean, I’m a 12×12 scrapper for googely sake! How am I supposed to create something that expresses who I am in such a small space? Well, after being in panic mode for awhile, I noticed that other ATC girls started posting their completed ATC’s on their blogs and/or the message board, and made them look totally do-able, like KELLIANNIE:
A late addition from ~Q~ (no one knows her real name, a real lady of mystery…), posted just the backs of her ATC’s as a teaser:
Also, I think it was Sam who posted a link to fabulous MARFA’s blog, where she’s been going a little ATC crazy, which works for me because she gave me such inspiration. Here is a POST with some of her beautiful ATC’s and I copied some of them below.
When I receive everyone’s ATC’s from this swap, I think I’ll include them in my album in a similar holder page to Martha’s. Except I won’t sew it myself like she did (cuz I don’t know how to sew), but I’ll cheat and buy something similar to baseball card holder pages, or maybe there is a 12×12 version from Crop In Style?
But anyway, after seeing how you could just relax and have fun with these cute little cards, I sat down and designed a prototype card in about an hour. Tune in tomorrow for photos of what I came up with, and how I put them together….
Have you done ATC cards? Or a swap of any kind? How did things turn out and would you do it again?
Please see THIS POST (or just look right below this post) for the news that broke yesterday. Just wanted to direct you again to STACY’s BLOG, as she has now posted about these events. And also back to the SIMPLE SCRAPBOOKS blog, as their editor, Jennafer Martin, left a nice post today (again, undated, and there is no direct link…so if you click my link, it will take you to the blog but not directly to the post…grrr…). There are also links to blogs with “Stacy” posts, and they announced the winner to the daily contest from yesterday.
From the Simple Scrapbooks BLOG today (? … I guess…it’s not dated…)
++++++++++++++++
Oh the Places You’ll Go! Well, we can’t keep Stacy to ourselves anymore! She’s got so many exciting new opportunities coming her way (on top of a schedule only Superwoman herself could manage) that she’s decided she needs to lighten her load here at Simple Scrapbooks magazine. Stacy is a true entrepreneur, a big-picture thinker (pun intended!), a creative machine, and a scrapbook ambassador. And it’s only going to get bigger and better from here. We are so happy for Stacy–she’s following her heart, and we have no doubt that great things will come out of this move. We can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!
While Stacy will be less involved in the day-to-day runnings of the magazine, we will insist on publishing her projects whenever possible. And her original vision will continue to guide this magazine, as it has from day one. Stacy will always love Simple, and Simple will always love Stacy. We’re certainly going to be keeping tabs on her, and looking for opportunities to grow and evolve the scrapbook industry together!
You can look forward to your regular dose of Stacy in the next FOUR upcoming issues: May/June, July/August, September/October, and our Mini Albums in an Evening special issue, on sale in July. In the meantime, please join us in celebrating Stacy as we kick off the first-ever Stacy Julian Appreciation Week! Want to join in the festivities? Here’s what you do:
1. Call. We’ve set up a special toll-free number that you can call for the next 30 days and leave Stacy a voicemail! How cool is that? Call 1-888-HUG-STACY to share your thoughts. (note: that cool vanity number won’t be live until Monday AFTERNOON. In them meantime, you can leave your message at 877-809-8041.)
2. Comment. Leave a comment on THIS blog to let Stacy know how much her work has meant to you. We’ll pick one random commenter EVERY DAY this week to win a copy of Stacy’s new book, Photo Freedom. {NOTE: Leave a comment on the SIMPLE SCRAPBOOKS blog, NOT Scrapbook Obsession. I’m sure Stacey does not read my blog, nor will I be handing out books for free, LOL!}
3. Browse. Check out what Stacy has to say on her blog, and please leave her some happy mail there as well. Then visit Wendy’s blog and Cathy’s blog for more Stacy tributes (one done in video form!).
4. Check Back. We’ve got guest bloggers showing up all week long, so check back every day for news and updates. (Our Editor in Chief Jennafer Martin is on deck for tomorrow.)
A Note from Angie to Stacy:
Stacy, this is my favorite picture of you. It reminds me what a cheerleader you’ve always been to me personally and to the readers we all care so much about. I really mean this: I scrapbook today because your philosophy rescued me. I was overwhelmed by my pictures. I felt behind. I had given up. But your Simple Scrapbooks vision got me back in the game. And for that I will always be grateful. Thank you for the inspiration, the motivation, and the SmartCookies you brought to our meeting last week. Also, thank you for publicly admitting that you are a nose picker, which inspired me to come out of the closet with my nose picking ways. Booger Busters unite! (Not sure if you wanted it to be THIS public, but there it is.) [Um, yes Angie, that was way TMI!]
p.s. We’re also sending Stacy a different present every day this week. Once I know she has received today’s present, I’ll let you know what it was!
++++++++++++++++++++++
The post above says to keep checking blogs from Stacey, Wendy and Cathy so here are the links if you’re interested.
Nothing on Stacy Julian’s BLOG yet but I’ll keep checking.
CONGRATS to Stacy Julian! It sounds like we’ll still be seeing her in the scrapbook world, just extending beyond SIMPLE SCRAPBOOKS magazine. I’m assuming the BIG PICTURE SCRAPBOOKING andBOOK WRITING PROJECTS are going so well, that’s where we’ll find her. But with Stacey, you never know. I hear she has boundless amounts of energy so perhaps we’ll see her in other places as well. I look forward to seeing what Stacy has in store for us.
I hope you enjoy participating in the contest on the SS blog, and that you leave a note of appreciation for Stacey somewhere. I think she deserves to know how much she means to all us scrappers.
My last post was about all the new GOODIES at Target. That post prompted a well-written response in Comments, which I loved. So I asked the writer, June, if I could make her comment a standalone post {I want to make sure everyone sees it}, and she graciously agreed. So here ’tis:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(From June…)
Ah, yes. Another reason to visit – as if I needed one! LOL! But please, please, PLEASE remember the LSS’s in your area. Yes, it is certainly CONVENIENT to be able to browse and purchase SB supplies at the same time you’re stocking up on shampoo and dog food, I have to say how sad it makes me that the “Independents” struggle to survive amidst the Big Box stores. Many people don’t even realize that some of the most WONDERFUL goodies stocked at your local LSS aren’t even made available to chain stores (a wonderful way suppliers are trying to help the LSS’s to compete). And further more, people make the GRAVE mistake that they’ll save a lot of money by buying from the Big Guys rather than their LSS’s – not exactly true. If you’re up for the challenge, make note of the price of patterned paper, brads, adhesives, etc. next time you’re in a “Big” store, then treat yourself to a fun little jaunt to your local LSS and compare… Is that dollar you’re saving at the “Big” store really worth the price we all pay by not having an LSS to “escape” to on a quiet afternoon or to be able to attend crops and classes at with friends? I bet you’ll find the gal stocking the shelves of your local LSS MUCH more personable and knowledgeable about the best adhesive to use on that project you’re desperately trying to finish than the young, college-aged fella wearing the backwards baseball cap who’s stocking the scrapbooking aisle at the “Big Box” store. Besides, I always get in trouble in those stores; always intending to pick up one or two items and coming out of the store 20+ items and $100+ over budget. At least the LSS receipts are easier to “hide” than the ones with scrapbook items AND the toaster Hubby wants to take back because it didn’t work out of the box. I’d rather hand him a receipt with a toaster and toilet paper itemized on it instead of one with a toaster, toilet paper, and $50 worth of scrapbook goodies on it!
Sorry. I’m rambling. Maybe it’s because I just went to work for Just Let Me Scrapbook! in Barnesville, GA – the last LSS in my area (if you can call 25+ miles away from home “in my area”). I had just discovered the darling, exquisitely stocked little shoppe when I found out the owner, Mary Beth Burrell, was considering CLOSING the doors and going home to run her business exclusively online from her home (because overhead is SO darned expensive). That would have made FOUR brick-and-mortar LSS’s in two years in my area that closed their doors! Each of them were wonderful little gems in their own right. Each of them fell victim to “Big Box” and Chain retailers with far more buying and advertising power than these smaller coutnerparts. It has always made me SO UPSET that we, as scrapbookers, undervalue the BEAUTY of the LSS. The POWER we have as women, as consumers, as trend-setters in the fastest growing craft/hobby in not only the U.S., but in much of the world. The classes, crops, advice, and stellar industry knowledge that can be found in these quaint shops all over America is INVALUABLE!!! When you shop at your LSS, you’re doing more than just “adding to your stash”. You’re helping women entrepreneurs feed their families, pay their mortgages, fulfill their dreams, and helping them serve as FANTASTIC role models encouraging younger girls and women who may also have that entrepreneurial “spark” within them. In my store, we have hired a young lady who’s working after school as part of her high school curriculum; learning invaluable lessons about retail economics as well as how to stay positive even when things look bleak financially. She now has a good understanding of what it looks and feels like to run a small business and can compare her experiences with us with what working for “someone else” might offer. Her horizons have broadened. She’s been exposed to the inner-workings of a small business from the ground up. They don’t teach you that at University. I wish they had.
More than the mushy-gushy, touchy-feely “support your local female entrepreneur” schpiel here, I just want to emphasize how VERY appreciated your hard-earned dollars spent in your local LSS are. We know you could have spent your money anywhere you chose to, but you chose to spend them with US; purchasing paper and supplies to document some of the most IMPORTANT people and events in your lives. The part-time gal at the counter may not express it at the time of check-out (though I hope she would), but that LSS store owner who reconciles the cash register (and sometimes online sales) at the end of the day sure does. She’s the gal that doesn’t get to scrap much herself, but MAN! does she enjoy helping you make your pages SHINE!
At least that’s how we feel at Just Let Me Scrapbook! in Barnesville, GA. If you can, stop by and see us sometime on your way to Target. I’ll bet you’ll find something in OUR store you’d NEVER see at the Big Box.
Be Blessed! (and thanks for reading all this! Don’t know WHAT got into me!)
Oh yes, this girl is passionate and she can write! If you’ve read my blog for awhile, you know how I LUUUUURRRVVVE the LSS. How I am so saddened to see all but one of the stores in my county close. How I have always held the dream to own my own store “someday” and am crushed to see that dream die. How I support local business owners in general, because they are our neighbors, our friends, our fellow church goers, our Little League coaches, our local economy-drivers. So, yes, I am conflicted about shopping at Target et al. I think there is a place for those stores, I just hate to see them take over every single community to the point that the Mom and Pops are killed by them. I spread my money around to the big and small, the big for necessity-sake, the small because they are ALWAYS better at what they do.
Anyway, I just thought June did a beautiful job of saying what I’m always trying to say. I hope you enjoyed reading her post as much as I did. If you too believe in the LSS, go visit the online part of the LSS she works at and help to keep them afloat. Or just visit their blog and say “hi,” or since they’re in Georgia, that would be “hey, y’all”, right? If nothing else, go read the store owners’ About Us page…what a cool story.
Here is a picture of Just Let Me Scrapbook! from their website. SO wish I was close to Georgia. What an adorable place…
As if they haven’t already taken enough of my money, now Target has gone and re-stocked their scrapbook aisle. I mean, I knew it was coming because we’ve all watched our Tar-jay scrapbook aisles get emptier and emptier. For a while, a great fear spread across Scrapbook Land that Target was closing the scrapbook department altogether. I mean, it was real Prozac time for a while there, people! But no, then some sort of Target Rumor Control / Perez Hilton wannabe but for the Target set put all our fears to rest, informing us that they were just clearing things out in prep for new things from CHA-Winter. I’ve been checking the aisle (mine just has one aisle…grrr…) every time I’m in Target, and no new stuff. In fact, I was there today and nada, zip, zilch. Well, the ship is on the horizon! According to the 2PEAS CHICKS & CKMB GIRLZ, there have been sightings of some fun new stuff:
~ KI MEMORIES “Pop Culture”, and felt albums
~ MAKING MEMORIES “5th Avenue,” “Noteworthy,” and “Animal Crackers”
~ ALL MY MEMORIES totes
~ MARCELLA BY K (Targets brand for K&Co.)
~ CLOUD 9
~ EK SUCCESS
~ AUTUMN LEAVES
~ HEIDI SWAPP
~ K&CO “Ancestor” line
And shhhhhh….don’t tell anyone, but they have acrylic stamps in the Dollar Spot, and tons of the older stuff on amazing clearance….
Tell me, tell me…will you be shopping at the Big Red Bullseye soon? If you’ve already gotten, what’d ya get???
Here is the punch used on a white piece of 12×12 cardstock. Is that stinkin’ cute or what?
Stacey at ALL MOMENTS REMEMBERED is shipping them now! Go get one before they sell out! And do me a favor…tell Stacey that Erika at Scrapbook Obsession sent you to her, okay? When you check out, you can put a mention in the Comments section. THANKS :)
Remember that Eddie Money song from the 80’s? C’mon, sing it with me!! “I think I’m in love!” (I know CHEEKY will sing with me…)
I just found THIS on the Pebbles Inc blog while looking for their new Easter kit. It’s called the Share & Tell Binder System. Here is a pic and quote from their blog:
“We’re excited to introduce to you our Share & Tell Binder Program! Let’s face it…we are all busy. Whatever stage in life we find ourselves in, time seems to limit us from all that we want or need to do. The Share & Tell Binder Program offers simple ways to organize your photos and display them beautifully!
The Share & Tell Binder Program includes Albums, Sheet Protectors, Creative Pads and Journaling Cards that all work together to make scrapbooking your memories easier! This is the only system on the market that is flexible enough to work with hard-core crafters and non-scrapbooking consumers alike!
Start looking for the Share & Tell Binder Program this spring!”
Then I clicked over to their recently launched (March 2008) WEBSITE and found this:
And this:
“The Share & Tell Album Program offers simple ways to organize your photos and display them beautifully! Let’s face it…we are all busy… This program was created by Brenda Birrell, mother of five daughters and founder of Pebbles in my Pocket and Pebbles Inc. as an answer to today’s busy life! A simple system that is easy to maintain and will provide us with more time to spend with loved ones creating memories! Isn’t this what life is all about? This is the story of your life together and as you share it, relationships will be strengthened and memories will be preserved. In this age of digital photography it is so important to print out your favorite photos for safe keeping and enjoyment. CDs get scratched and hard drives crash. Your memories deserve to be placed in organized books that can be enjoyed by your loved ones. Isn’t it time to share your story?”
On the Pebbles website ~~ which you can now order directly from! ~ all the items currently show “Temporarily out of stock, available April 2008.” The albums posted come in black and brown (retail $29.99), page protectors in 12×12 (for full pages) and divided 4×6 (retail $9.99). Can anyone read the fine print? How many page protectors do you get in the package? I have a laptop & my screen is too small. Here are pics:
The website shows the following (14) Creative Pad theme sets ($4.99 each): Baby Boy, Baby Girl, My Guy, My Girl, Nellie’s Garden, Theodore, Season’s Greetings, Sweetheart, Party Time Boy, Party Time Girl, Easter Time, School Days, Summer Day, and Zoo Fun. They contain 30 sheets of paper and 4 sticker sheets. Then (10) sets of coordinating Journaling Cards ($3.99 for a pack of 25). Sorry, I was unable to paste them over here for some reason…
Here is what I like about this system:
~ I’m tired of always feeling “behind” in my scrapping. For instance, Christmas was 3 months ago and I haven’t scrapped any of it yet. Honestly, it’s intimidating to me because I have photos from about 10 events (Christmas tree lighting, making cookies, cutting the tree, decorating the tree, Christmas Eve service, Christmas party, opening presents, and on and on…). If I had a system like this, I could put them in an album right away, jot some journaling down, and we could’ve been enjoying them for the last 3 months. If I decide to “really” scrap any of the photos later, awesome! If not, at least they’re in a cute presentation that everyone can access.
~ Many people are getting tired of dealing with strap hinge and postbound albums, e.g. the lack of flexibility to move pages around, etc. On the message boards, I gather that many of you scrappers have switched over to D-ring albums like this, or are at least contemplating it. I’m still on the fence because the “break” in the middle bothers me, as I do about 95% 2-page layouts. However, for the purposes of just getting my photos in books in this simple style, that wouldn’t be an issue.
~ Although Pebbles Inc’s style is what many would call “simple,” I think it’s also a very cute and clean presentation with lots of personality. Besides, there’s nothing to say you can’t take their basics and distress, cut, tear, scallop, ink, punch, sew or whatever it!! Make it your own. For me, as you read in THIS POST, I sometimes gravitate towards this simple, clean style. It’s the one style that, when I look back at my old albums, does NOT ever look dated or trendy or “so yesterday.” So I embrace this style as ONE PART of my scrapbooking. Besides, you can just use the albums and maybe the journaling cards, then use all your own stuff to fill the 12×12 or 4×6 slots. I think I would do a combination of the two if I use this system.
~ Compared to a similar system by Creative Memories called PICFOLIO, I like this one much better. I’ve always been tempted by the CM system but have never bought it because I can’t deal with the fact that you can’t customize the number of pages, i.e. you can’t add or take away pages, because they are bound into the album. With the Pebbles system, you can certainly have as many pages as you like.
The only things that concern me about using this system:
~ The price. Although I do occasionally pay $30 for an album, it’s rare. I use 2 per year minimum on our family album, then special theme albums in addition to that. I hope that Michaels or another store with a 40% discount coupon carries these albums so I can slowly buy them.
~ The D-ring…is it sturdy? The main complaint I hear about D-ring albums is that the rings start to separate and gap over time, which makes it a major PITA to turn your pages. From the photo, I have to say those rings don’t look overly sturdy, do they? BUT…I have a lot of Pebbles Inc items like their RIBBON IRON, chalks, etc. and the quality is always very good, so I’m optimistic about their album quality.
As I was just saying over on the AMR MESSAGE BOARD (where according to JUNE, I apparently spend too much time, LOL), I’m having a wonderful week.
First, the MB Posting Challenge I’m hosting on the AMR board is going very well. We’re giving away 12 RAK prizes (by random drawing) if you post at least 10 new topics and 30 responses by 3/31/08. The girls there are SO generous and have donated all the RAKs as a way to encourage our shy-er members – well, everyone really – to post more and keep the board hopping. It’s going very well and the board has definitely picked up.
Secondly, Karen/Karooch over at SCRAPS OF MIND asked me to write a guest posting for her blog. The topic is…you’ll be SO shocked…Scrapbook Organization. I believe the article will be published next Tuesday. I was really honored to be asked because, when I started this blog about a year ago, Karen was one of the first scrap blogs I found on WordPress. Her blog has been so successful and multi-faceted, that she’s moved it to it’s own website, acquired advertising, and really hit the big time with it. Karen also answered a ton of blog-type questions I had at the beginning, and did so with the patience of a saint. So, she shall forever be a mentor to me… If you haven’t read her blog, you’re missing out. Get over there now or I’ll kick your butt. Mmmm-hmmmm, you KNOW I will!
Thirdly, my good friend Nicole at HUMOR ME blog has passed on one of her Excellent Blog awards to me! For details, see HER POST. I’m honored to be included with the other bloggers she chose, especially Martha at SCRUMPTIOUS blog. Nicole is such a wonderful writer, btw. Hilariously funny and really seems to appreciate the absurdities in life. I mean, really, what else can you do but laugh?? So, now for my acceptance speech:
“I would like to thank the Academy, the Foreign Press Association, my momma, and most of all Jesus Christ without whom this would not have been possible. Oh, and my co-stars, Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, Troy Aikman, George Clooney, and especially John Cusack who really gave his “all” to our partially nude love scene {if you know what I mean, wink wink}. I think this award means that you like me, you really like me! Thank you!!”
So, now my job is pass this Excellent Blogger award on to other bloggers. I’m going to have to think about that one and get back to you. I know, you’d think after all the nice things I just said about Karen at Scraps of Mind, I would automatically give it to her, right? But, dang, I just wrote an article for her, what more does that woman want from me??
I adore THIS POST from Christine Middlecamp’s blog. She shows an amazing layout she created, then gives pics and a description of her “process” for choosing her papers and embellishments. It’s a great read and very inspiring. I read things like that and say, “THAT’S why she’s the famous scrapbook designer and I’m not.” LOL I mean, I don’t even remotely think that way. She is a true talent. In a more recent post of hers, she talks about considering the idea of traveling and teaching. I left her comment in full support, and suggesting she come to California. What a treat it would be to take a class from her, don’t you think?
