I was sad to receive an e-mail recently from one of my favorite stores, Gotta Crop in Lodi, CA. They are closing their doors on 6/23/07. So between now and then, they are having a liquidation sale and offering discounts on all purchases. The discounts increase as the closure gets closer. I’m just sad to see them go. I’ve visited their store several times over the years when I have been traveling in that part of the state. Every time a Local Scrapbook Store (LLS) closes, it makes me sad. If you are near to Lodi, go give the owners a hug from me and buy some of their stuff, k?
About The Author
Memory Works: Crops and Monthly Scrapbook Kits
If you’ve noticed that my posts have gotten rare lately, it’s because I’m planning another scrapbook crop. The first one I did this past May 12, which was an all-day Saturday event. It went over so well that several friends asked me to organize another one, and couldn’t we make it THREE days long this time?? You ask, I’ll deliver! The next event will be in about two weeks (June 22-24, 2007). We had such good luck with the hotel we used last time, that we’re holding it there again. So I’m just in Heaven over here, taking sign ups, planning meals, shopping for goody bag items, getting my Memory Works stuff ready, and praying that lot of people sign up (so far, pretty good!).
In other ‘happy me’ news, I got my first sign-up for the Memory Works monthly kit (it’s called MW Express Kit). Well, okay, it’s my MOM but that still counts! Last week I decided to send out MW catalogs to everyone who had purchased something from me, mostly at the last crop. Those Basic Grey chipboard file sets were a big hit! I included a handmade Thank You card, the catalog, and flyers for the June crop, the June MW monthly kit, and the Sneak Peak for the July kit. My mom saw the June kit and loved it. Here it is:
For $35, you get:
8 sheets of Crate Paper/Basic Grey paper
6 sheets of Prism textured cardstock
26 Scrapworks shimmer letters
6 velvet blossoms, 6 crystal brads, 2 metal tabs, some 7 Gypsies goodies, 4 yards of ribbon
1 chipboard accordian purse kit by 7 Gypsies
supplies to make 5 cards
(and so much more I can’t list it all)
She also compared what she’s receiving in her current kit with what MW’s has and said mine has more for the money. So she’s canceling her current kit and going with mine! I’m so stoked!
Here is the July Sneak Peek:
I love that the kits are month to month with no commitment (as long as you cancel by the deadline, one week before they send the kits out). MW has been doing kits since Feb. 07 and I have loved them all. They have such good taste, and I appreciate how their Design Team posts ideas on the website for pages and altered items you can make with each kit.
One more piece of news: I’m so happy to see that my blog has rolled over 8,000 hits. When it passes 10,000 it will be time for another RAK! Stay tuned…
Tell me how things are going in your Scrap World – any crops or CKUs coming up? Any good buys lately? Tell me about it in Comments :)
New Organizing Magazine & Lisa Bearnson
Finally, someone thought to create a magazine about organizing and home organization. Wouldn’t you know that Lisa Bearnson, our favorite lady from Creating Keepsakes magazine, is somehow involved? Two of my favorite things together: scrapbooking and organization. Click HERE to see the article I found!
Edited 6/11/07 to add:
So I e-mailed them over at the Organize Magazine website. I said how much I was looking forward to the magazine (being the organizational freak that I am). And that I was doubly excited because my favorite scrapbook gal, Lisa Bearnson, was involved. I received a quick response from Joyce Dorny, the Founder and Editor in Chief. She thanked me for writing and said that I “will LOVE the
Nov/Dec issue because Lisa is our FEATURE!!!”. She said some other nice things too. Whoo hoo, I’ll definitely be subscribing now!
Scrapbook Organization: Store in Style Cubes
In this post, I included photos of my re-organized scrapbook area. Reader Crafter727 noticed the white storage cubes I have and asked about them – if they were the ones sold by Oriental Trading Company and how the quality is.
The organizational cubes are sold in the Oriental Trading catalog. They are made by Crop In Style/Store In Style. However, I got mine one by one at Michaels using 40% and 50% off coupons and think that is the way to go. I just looked on Oriental Trading website and the plain cube sells for $28 plus shipping. At Mike’s with the coupon, I paid $15-18 and no shipping of course. As for the quality, it is very good, just make sure to line things up well and tighten the screws when you assemble them. Then they will be very sturdy. They also give you stabilizer brackets you can screw into the back to keep the entire unit safe from toppling over.. I recommend the cubes and plan to get more. Btw, Target sells similar cubes but the dimensions are different and no coupons, so they cost more. I’ve seen the Target cubes and feel they aren’t as good quality but others who have them say they are just as good at the Store in Style cubes.
I use the 1-Drawer Cube to store all my adhesives. I have the Drawer Divider inside. It’s perfect for all those boxes of sticky dots, vellum tape, and random glue sticks. I have one cube with a door where I put a bunch of mini albums and little projects I’ve made at CKUs. The Filer Cube has my non-themed paper by color. As you can see in the photo, I use the other cubes just plain or with the Inserts to store albums, projects in progress, page refills, etc. Thanks for posting all these great questions – you give me ideas what to write about!
Scrapbook Organization: The ScrapRack
I purchased a ScrapRack about 3 years ago and really love it. It helped me to get organized in a way that was logical to me. This made me very happy because the system I had before this was not working. I used to keep my papers filed by subject in Scrapfolios (the 12×12 accordian folders with handles that you can get at Michaels).
My theme stickers and embellishments were first kept in a Creative Memories binder…
…then in “PSB’s” (Paper Sticker Binders) by Crop in Style. Themed ribbons, beads, metal, buttons, etc were kept in other separate places. The problem was when I went to choose items for a page, I was looking in 10 different places for what fit the theme I was working on. It would get very tiring and frustrating. I also had outgrown the capacity of my old system, with 3 paper takers and 3 PSBs bursting at the seams. It was time for a change…
Then one day I was at a Scrapbook Expo event and they were demonstrating this product called the ScrapRack and I fell in love! I knew on the spot it was right for me.
An Empty ScrapRack:
This is how it looks without any pages in it. It consists of a metal Base and 7 Spinders, which are like the spine in a 3-ring binder. The Spinders are attached to the Base with velcro and you can add, remove and configure them as you like. You can use the huge variety of 12×12 pages sold by ScrapRack or you can improvise. I purchased a kit which came with the ScrapRack and a variety of pages, and I’ve supplemented them with my old PSB pages (which I just moved right from the PSB to the SR) and with 12×12 page protectors for full sheets of paper.
The ScrapRack website is full of helpful information on how to best utilize it. There are organizational steps, category suggestions, room makeovers, testimonials, and FAQs. They have excellent customer service and are happy to answer any questions. They’ve really done a great job with their website.
This is how I’ve utilized my SR system:
– It’s on my desk right in front of me when I scrap, within easy reach.
– I have it divided into the categories that made the most sense to me, but you are of course free to make it your own. First, I have a kind of ‘through the year’ half which goes January through December with all the months, holidays and events. For example: New Years, Winter, Valentines, St Patricks Day, Spring, Easter, Mothers Day, Summer, July 4, etc.
– The other half is by topic in alphabetical order, for example: Birthday, Camping/Outdoors, Cowboy, Dog, Family, Graduation, Ocean, School, etc.
Here is a filled page showing how you can also use the ScrapRack to file your items by color:
I have lots of stuff and getting it all into the ScrapRack was not a quick process. I think it took about a week of evenings to gather things from their various places and get them into the pages. I took most things out of their packaging which helped them fit better into the pocket pages. The only paper I put in the ScrapRack was themed paper. So my cardstock and more generic patterned paper is elsewhere; otherwise, I would need another ScrapRack! What I love about this system is that everything from a given theme is all in one place. I just turn the pages til I get to that theme and everything I have is right in front of me. No more searching all those other places and taking 30 minutes just to see what I have. For instance, the other day I was working on an Easter page. I turned to the Spring/Easter section and found some cute Easter-themed paper, some 3-D bunny stickers, and a card of pastel self-adhesive ribbons. All I had to do then was get cardstock from the vertical holders on my bookshelf, and I was ready to scrap!
The only disadvantage to this system is that some would consider it pricey. I know I did, and asked for $$ for my birthday that year so I could afford it :). But when I considered how much I had invested in 3 PSBs, 3 Scrapfolios, and the other storage I could get rid of, it was more than worth the cost. I wish they could get the ScrapRack on QVC – then you could get a good deal for sure! As you can tell, I highly recommend this product (no, they are not paying me to say that, LOL). Feel free to ask me any questions you have about the ScrapRack.
A Photo, A Memory, A Man…
Because of Memorial Day, there were some fantastic news shows on tv. I was watching something on Fox Channel this past weekend where they were interviewing Pearl Harbor survivors. As they spoke to these older gentlemen, who were recalling their horrific experiences, photos were being shown on the screen. As one recalled a good friend he lost in the bombing, they showed a photo of the friend taken sometime I assume while they were in Pearl Harbor because he was wearing a tan uniform and standing on a beach near the water. But I just loved this photo because, as I looked at it more closely, I noticed all these little details. He was a good-looking guy, with dark hair worn slicked back under his military cap. He was holding a cigarette down by his side (you know, back then smoking WAS cool). His belt was cinched in pretty tight which accentuated his muscular upper body, and he stood very straight, staring at the camera, as if to say, “Damn, I’m good and don’t I know it.” And it got me to thinking about how important photos are. Here, all these years later, I didn’t know this man whose photo they were showing on tv, but I “knew” him. I could tell so much about his personality, his looks, his character as a military man, his “way with the ladies” – all those things that his family probably adored about him and missed awfully much after he was killed.
Now, how can I make that meaningful to me today? I think I will try to remember how important it is to capture photos of people, of their being, of who they really are. Yes, zoo pictures and ocean pictures and birthday party pictures are good and important. But let’s try to capture “our” people too, okay? And even better than just a photo in a box, let’s keep scrapbooking them, journaling about them, and making them even more meaningful. I have lost all of my grandparents, and my father, and I only wish someone had captured their essence like this – in a scrapbook – while they were still here with us. Because now all I have is the mystery, the wondering, and the wishing that I could have known more about them. Let’s keep working to not let that happen to our kids or to the generations below us.
Sorry, I just get so emotional on Memorial Day, don’t I? But I do want to say “thank you” from the bottom of my heart to my Grandpa C (WWII) and Grandpa F (WWII and Korea). I wish I could know more of your stories. And thanks forever to my DH, who signed up for the Air Force DURING Desert Storm. Much like those who signed up after 9/11 – knowing they would be serving during wartime – he is the bravest of the brave.
(God Bless the USA!)
Getting Your Scrapbooking Mojo Back
I didn’t scrapbook very much last year. There were a lot of reasons for that – I was working too much, I was busy with other things, I wasn’t going to crops because I was saving for a scrapbooking cruise, I was spending more time with my family, etc. But, truth be told, I had also run out of mojo. I started scrapbooking in 2002 and I really caught the bug pretty bad. I would scrap every chance I got, whether it was spending late nights at my desk, attending crops, or taking classes. I cropped at friends houses and went to retreats. I can’t say I had an awful lot of pages to show for all that time, but I was sure having fun. Looking back, I spent a lot of time socializing and shopping. And I spent too much time on certain techniques that, I feel now, really didn’t add that much to my pages. I think I got carried away, a bit caught up in what the magazines and tv shows were doing, what I was learning at CKUs, what I felt was expected of me as a “scrapbooker”.
But I have a new perspective now and my focus is back on where I think it should be: on the memories and the pictures. I’m now over the guilt of “sticking my husband with the kids” while I crop, and “spending money on supplies when I just went on a cruise”. I’ve become a consultant for a company with products that I absolutely love and am passionate about sharing with others. I COMPLETELY enjoyed organizing the crop a couple weeks ago. My stuff is organized again and I can enjoy the process without tripping over things. So, suffice it to say, I finally have my scrapbooking mojo back. I’m very happy and excited, because I truly missed it while it was gone. I think I was a little depressed without it. A big part of me was missing. I assume it’s why my house – and scrap area – got so disorganized. If you ever lose your scrap mojo, don’t worry – it will come back. Mine did.
Where To Find Scrapbook Organization Items
I’ve done a few posts now regarding scrapbook organization and I truly thank you for all the nice comments and questions. I wanted to share links to some of the organizational items I’ve found very useful in my scrapbooking area:
Julie asked about the Iris project sorter, which is actually called the Scrapbook Chest by Iris.
Becca/BS asked about how to sort all those beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous papers we have. This is what I use – Cropper Hopper Vertical Paper Holders. They are the best thing since peanut butter and banana sandwiches! They hold the paper much like a magazine holder stores magazines, so you can thumb through and pull out what you need without messing up the rest of the stack. I truly love these and think anything by Cropper Hopper is genius! 
Also for Becca – don’t we love ALL kinds of paper?? I recently reorganized this aspect of my house too. I have tons of gift bags, tissue paper, wrap, etc. It used to be in a large flat Rubbermaid container under the bed. But when my collection outgrew the box and I realized how hard it was to find anything, I moved it all to this. 
It’s the wire cubes you can find at Target or Walmart for under $20. I have a couple plastic bins on top for mini-gift bags, bows and ribbons. It’s been a good system so far. I’ll post a photo of mine soon…
Edited: Here ’tis:
While I was writing this, I received an e-mail about another cool organization tool and this one you can take with you to crops! It’s the Catchall by Croppin Cutie and MarthasChoice.com has them on sale for $16 right now. 
I don’t have one, have never seen it til now, but boy it’s cute. Gotta love the pink! I think this would be great to use at crops or just keep on your desktop to keep all those tools and little pieces contained.
Feel free to ask any more scrapbooking organizational questions and I’ll be glad to help!
WWYD If You Lost Your Scrapbooks?
There is a gal who frequents the CK Message Board who had some really bad luck recently. Her water heater burst while she was out of the house, and she came home to find her house flooded. Her scrapbooks were stored close to the floor and she lost several albums along with some supplies. And because Scrapbookers are the sweetest people on earth, her Scrap Friend on the board is organizing a project where we send her pre-done pages that she will slip into an album and send to this gal who lost her scrapbooks. Ladies who don’t have time to complete layouts by the May 30 deadline have generously offered to send on some scrapbook supplies. It’s so wonderful to see everyone pitching in to help. I know we can all identify with how heartbroken we’d be if this happened to us. I’m now looking for another way to store my scrapbooks…because they are currently on the bottom shelf against a wall that backs up to the water heater in the garage. It’s because I don’t have another shelf that can hold the weight of the scrapbooks, but I’m going to have to figure something out. I couldn’t bear to lose all the photos, memories and hard work that have gone into the books I’ve created. Toys, carpet, furniture, even scrapbook tools and supplies can be replaced, but not my scrapbooks. I hope our computer scrap-friend will be able to take a little solace when she receives the pre-done album, feels the love of people she’s never even met, and doesn’t feel AS overwhelmed with the recreation of her albums.
A Scrapbook Crop for Mothers Day
This past weekend, I held my first ever crop! It was a lot of work, but SO FUN. I had hoped for about 20 scrapbookers to attend, but there ended up being only 11 of us. The good part of that is everyone had plenty of cropping space. There were round tables that normally seat 8 people (for dinner), and there were only 2 people per table. My mom had made name tags for everyone with a little clip art that was perfect – a scrapbooker saying “I Need Elbow Room!”. The crop was at a newer hotel and their service was excellent – they were just a pleasure to deal with. When not that many people were signing up for the crop, I was going to cancel it. But I called the hotel manager and told him my predicament…and he lowered the room rental price by $125 so we could still have the crop. Here was the menu: Donuts and Starbucks coffee for breakfast; foccaccia sandwiches with turkey or tri-tip, chips and iced tea for lunch; candy and cashews for snacks; pizza and salad for dinner; and brownies for desert. Yum! Everyone seemed happy with the food. I had planned to order pizza from one place, but it turned out that one of the scrappers’ sons owned a pizza place. So she called in the order, got us a great deal, and it was delivered (vs. me having to pick it up). She said her son would kill her if he found out we ordered pizza from anyplace else, LOL. Two of the gals made a Starbucks run in the afternoon for that needed pick me up. The crop went from 10am to 10pm, so we needed lots of energy. There were goodie bags for each person. And we drew door prizes every hour so each attendee won something. Then there were Challenges – for each one met, you got a ticket to another prize drawing. That was the best part I think, because it really motivated people to scrap a lot and to try new things. I, of course, didn’t get much scrapbooking done. It’s a lot of work to run a crop! I worked on a Daisy D’s class kit and made a little board book about my mom. It had pictures of her from our trip to Rome and it’s called, “Mama Mia!” I will post a photo when it’s done (and after I get her permission to show her photos to the world!). People saw me doing the kit, liked it, and I sold all the kits I had. It WAS a great deal – 2 board books, tons of 6×6 paper, ribbons, 2 sheets of letter stickers, 2 sheets of other stickers, and metal photo corners for $13. Will post a link to the kit later… Have you ever held a crop or are you thinking about it? Tell me about it in comments!
Scrapbook Page Challenges for a Crop
I have a last minute request for you readers. I’m holding my first Memory Works crop this Saturday. I’m giving out prizes for those who participate in challenges. For example, the first one is to “create a layout using any of the sketches on the following page” (then I provide a sheet of sketches). Can you think of any more challenges I can use? Have you participated in any challenges at a crop – will you share please? I’m searching online but I hope you can help me too. TIA!
My New Photo Organization System
As I’ve written about here and here, I’m on a kick to organize my scrapbook area. I’ve made a lot of progress in organizing scrapbook supplies, but to say I was dreading the photo organization part is a drastic understatement. I finally buckled down and got it started last night…and I couldn’t stop! I was up until 1am even though I had to get up at 6. I was in such a groove, man. Wow, watch out for Ms. Organizer Geek over here!
Here is the old way I organized photos and memorabilia:
Here is the new way I organize photos and memorabilia:
The old way: When I first started scrapbooking – like many of you – my photo “organization” was a hodge podge. Yes, I did have some that were nicely chronological in magnetic albums and in mismatched photo boxes. I had some in 2-up or 3-up photo albums. And the rest were still in photo envelopes and stored in various places around the house – the kitchen junk drawer, my nightstand, the office, etc. When I went to my first crop, my friend told me how she organized her photos and it sounded good, so I adopted it. This is it: Buy a bunch of manila envelopes from Walmart; they are cheap and come in various sizes (6×9″, 9×12″ and 10×13″). File photos by event in an envelope and use the larger size if you have memorabilia to go with it. In the upper right corner, write the Event and the Date. Write any journaling notes or page idea notes on the front of the envelope. Then when it’s time to scrap, just grab the envelope and you’re good to go. In addition to photos, I keep everything else too – ticket stubs, flyers, invitations, art, portraits, letters. These are things that don’t fit nicely into your average photo box or album. That’s why her system sounded great to me, and it worked very well for most of the 6 years I’ve been scrapping. But it’s time for a change because…there are flaws in the system. The 2 main problems I’ve discovered are storage area and convenience factor. By storage, I mean that I’m running out of room to store things this way. I have 6 of these white plastic bins full of photos and the leg area under my desk is full with them. I have nowhere to expand with this system and looking ahead, I can see it’s not something I can do forever. The envelopes would file easily in a standard filing cabinet, but I don’t have room to put one anywhere. (Side note: If I would scrap more and blog less, more of these photos would be in albums, but that’s not the point!). Because I ran out of room about a year ago, I’ve virtually stopped filing new photos. I wanted to file older photos too, but there was nowhere to put them. The other factor was convenience, i.e. how difficult was it to keep up this system? I felt like I was constantly buying envelopes and spending lots of time sorting things by event. I rarely ‘pre-flighted’ the envelopes for upcoming events so as time went by, ticket stubs and photos kept accumulating in piles on my desk. In other words, it’s not an easy thing to keep up day by day; it’s a project every time to sit down and do it. Well, who has time for that?!?! In the meantime, Creative Memories came out with the Power Sort Box and it was love at first sight. I like how you can store so many photos in one place, yet pull out smaller portions of the box at a time. I know my photos will be archivally safe in PS Boxes, whereas I was always doubtful of the manila envelopes (the box doesn’t indicate if they’re archival safe or not). So, the only hold up to changing my photo organizing system (other than my dread) was purchasing some PS Boxes…and them babies ain’t cheap! They usually go for $35 each but – patience IS a virtue – I just found 2 of them on CraigsList for $28 each. Consider it my Mothers Day present, yeah? Last night after all were in bed, I plopped down in front of Desparate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters, and sorted photos into my new Power Sort Box. Every time I finished a stack, I went back into my scrap room for more. It was so satisfying to get my photos in order! I worked on 2000 through 2006 and set aside any other random ones that turned up. I used the label maker to label the 12 new dividers with ‘Jan 2007’, ‘Feb 2007′, etc. so I will be inspired to sort this year’s photos as I go along through the rest of the year. For all the other years, I used the small index cards (vertically) and labeled them the same way for each year. It’s so easy to find things at a glance now and that’s why I want to keep going. There have been so many projects that have flashed in my mind over the years and then the next thought has been, “But I don’t know where those photos are”. Well, now I will. I will eventually re-sort all those photos in the manila envelopes into the PS Boxes. Now, I have just one envelope per month which is easier to maintain. I can just keep the current one handy and not feel so pressured to label them event by event. If I have journaling notes, I’ll just jot ’em down on scrap paper and put them in the monthly envelope also. This is actually fun (am I sick in the head?) and I’ll be working on it again tonight – can’t wait :) There are still other big photo projects to do: getting all my photos on computer, organizing them into files, and backing them up; and what to do with all those index sheets, CDs and APS cartridges? Oy, a worry for another day.
Happy National Scrapbook Day!
Today is the day we’ve all been waiting for. There are so many fun things going on today and this weekend. There are large crops and just friends getting together to scrapbook. There are big sales at the brick and mortar stores, as well as at the online stores. My company, Memory Works, is doing some great promotions. There are online crops – so many, it’s impossible to keep up. There is scrapbooking inspiration everywhere and I just love it. My plan for the day and the reality have turned out to be two different things, LOL. I had planned to have some friends over to crop while we watched QVC and participated in the online crop at Creating Keepsakes. But….both friends had to cancel (important things came up, I understand :). I did have the house to myself – a rare occassion – so I took the opportunity to do an excellent house cleaning (I know, bo-RING!). It’s now 1pm my time and the CK online crop is “over” but everyone is still chatting. Even Elsie stopped by and chatted with us (sweet). I didn’t win any of the cool prizes and didn’t have time to do any of the challenges by Ali Edwards. But I’m reading through all the posts and looking at the amazing pages people are doing. GOD, there’s some talented ladies out there! It truly amazes me and makes me proud to be associated even in a small way with them. There are so many posts, I hope they keep the forum up for a few days so I can get through them all. (Edit: I see now where Ali said it will stay up for a month, whoo hoo). I’m copy/pasting all of Ali’s challenges into a Word document with links to my favorite pages to use as samples for each one. When done, I will have created an Everyday Beauty album. I don’t know when I’ll get to it because I’m still working on that dang cruise album (my love/hate relationship with it is blossoming, can you tell??). Anna Griffin and Lisa Bearnson have been on QVC and I really enjoyed watching both of them. I hope you celebrated in a special way and that you’ll tell me about it in the Comments section (feel free to post a link to your blog). Viva NSD!!
Scrapbook Peeking at Tuesday Morning
First of all, I apologize to my friends at CKMB who’ve already heard this story. But I just had to share it on my blog too. I’ve been finding scrapbook stuff for quite awhile now at Tuesday Morning. The store is about 40 minutes from me, but whenever I’m in that town, I stop in. Sometimes I find nothing, sometimes I hit the motherload – like the huge KI Memories pack for $30 with 80 sheets of paper and tons of embellishments I found last January. So I got my ad in the mail last week and it showed “Mini Scrapbook Kits for $3.99, Compare at $11.99. More than 100 pieces and assorted styles.” The picture in the ad was so small, it was hard to tell the brand or even what you get in the kit. But that price sure sounded intriguing. I drove down that way Sunday to shop at Costco, then went to Tuesday Morning. I looked through all the scrap stuff and didn’t see the kits. Then I realize…duh, their sales don’t start until…..everybody say it with me…..”TUESDAY MORNING!!!”. They always put the sale items on the endcaps, then cover them with huge white butcher paper and writing that says, “Will Be Revealed on Tuesday Morning”. So I’m standing there wondering if my Tuesday Morning will be getting these kits – should I drive all the way back down here in 2 days? Well, a girl’s gotta know! Was it wrong of me to try and untape the butcher paper to get a teeny weeny peek inside the endcap shelves? Well, all the shoppers around me seemed to think so because I was getting some crazy looks. My eyes brightened as I saw the words “K-Ology” and “K&Co” on the packaging!! But that wasn’t enough information, so I decided to look at the little sign that describes the item. It was attached to the top shelf with magnets and I reached up on tippy toe to grab it – and it falls with a crashing sound, banging between the butcher paper and the metal shelves several times before it hit the ground. Red-faced, with everyone staring at me, I tried to stick it back on the top shelf…and it crashed down between the paper again. I set the sign on a nearby shelf and walked away. It’s embarrasing the lengths I’ll go to just to save money on scrapbooking items!
PS: Today being Thursday, the kits “have been revealed” but I haven’t had time to get back down there (color me sad).
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Lisa Bearnson + QVC + National Scrapbook Day = FUN!
National Scrapbook Day is coming up this Saturday, May 5, 2007. I wanted to share two things that are happening that day. First of all, QVC is celebrating NSD with some shows that air at various times starting Friday night. You can view the times here (these are Pacific times but you can change it to your timezone). The other event will take place on the message board for Creating Keepsakes magazine. To quote the website: “CROP WITH ALI – Join us for National Scrapbook Day, Saturday, May 5, as we crop the day away with Ali Edwards! We’ll have fun challenges, friends, giveaways and more from 12 to 4 p.m. ET. All you’ll need is your scrapping supplies and your computer. See you there!”. I think the place you check in is here. There was a kit you could buy ahead of time but I believe it’s sold out now. The word is that you can still participate in the ‘crop’ even without the kit. I’m hoping to have some friends over that day to crop. I’ll have QVC on the tellie, and CK on the laptop at the crop table. Don’t you just love how well electronics and scrapbooking go together! What are your plans for National Scrapbook Day?? You MUST celebrate!
Did Martha Just Insult Us??
There’s a Wall Street Journal article going around the scrapbook world, and we’re feeling a little insulted. It’s about Martha Stewart’s entry into the scrapbooking and paper crafting industry. Read the article here and come back to me…..I’ll wait…..(getting some coffee)…..(making a layout)…..(reading some scrap blogs)…..Oh, good, you’re back! Well, what did you think? I’m just really not sure how to take that. First of all, the writer Brooks Barnes says, “What does the domestic-arts maven see in a dowdy industry where merchandise is sold in cluttered stores stacked floor to ceiling with pipe cleaners, Styrofoam balls, glue sticks, beads and fake flowers?” Did you know we were DOWDY?? By that, I mean not you and me literally, but the industry that we love and support. I can only suppose this writer visited one craft store in one town, and arrived at this great generalization. I’m sure there are craft stores like those he described, but I highly doubt they are your “average” craft store. I’d bet dowdy stores are actually pretty rare these days, especially with the surge in general crafting which started after 9/11. As the article states, scrapbooking is now an almost $3 billion industry, and that is NOT being fueled by dusty little craft stores. In fact, scrapbooking products are now found in a variety of places: local scrapbook stores, chain craft stores like Joann’s and Hobby Lobby, Target, Walmart, Tuesday Morning, Dollar Tree, Mervyns, etc. I’ve scrapbook shopped in LOTS of places and I’ve been to only one craft store that I would describe as dowdy (the owner was in her 90s and has since sold the store to the younger generation).
On the other hand, I think we should take it as a compliment that Martha Stewart is looking to scrapbookers to save her financial hide. The article further states, “The rollout of Martha Stewart Crafts is part one of a planned merchandising blitz that the company hopes will return it to profitability and deliver long-term growth. Although Martha Stewart Living posted revenue of $288 million in 2006, up 36% from a year earlier, it had a loss of $17 million. It hasn’t turned a profit since 2002, the year Ms. Stewart became entangled in a securities-fraud investigation that resulted in her five-month imprisonment on an obstruction-of-justice charge.” It sounds like she’s really depending on internet sales to boost her numbers and I think that sounds like a smart idea. Haven’t you noticed all the LSS’s closing lately? I attribute that to the growing popularity of shopping for scrapbook supplies online. (I also think there has been a drastic decline in that $3 billion number from 2006, but that’s another discussion). Personally, I think her focus on internet sales is “a good thing”.
I also found this part very interesting: “To protect its brand, Ms. Marino sought an exclusive partnership with a specialty retailer. The company decided that two national chains — Jo-Ann Stores Inc. and Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. — were too downscale, according to two executives involved in the matter.” I’ve never been to a Hobby Lobby, but I’ve shopped at Joann’s and can’t really see a difference between Jo’s and Mike’s. It makes me wonder how factual Barnes’ quote from “two executives” is. I’m always skeptical of mass media and this is no different. Of the article overall, I’d say the reporter had a slant decided before (or if) he even started researching the scrapbook industry and quotes like this support that slant. Besides, this writer is no stranger to creating controversy and ticking people off.
There were some other interesting tidbits in the Wall Street Journal article, such as this: “Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in February said it would stop selling fabric by the yard in certain stores and begin offering crafts supplies.” I’ve heard talk of Walmart getting rid of the fabric section at many stores, but I had NOT heard that the space would be used to expand crafting (which I hope is another way of saying “scrapbooking”). I enjoy shopping at Walmart for scrapbook supplies because their prices are so good, and would love to see that section expand. Heck, you know me, I’d love to see any store expand their scrapbook section so I can expand my shopping!
I think the main issue of the piece is whether scrapbookers will support Martha Stewart in her efforts – will we boycott her, rally behind her, or treat her the same as every other scrapbook retailer? That is the most interesting question to me. Is she too East Coast glam for us soccer moms, college students, and grandmas out here in middle America? Are we angry at her for past indiscretions and current ‘Bossy Betty’ attitudes? Or do we feel like, “Who cares?? If it’s cute, I’m buyin’ it!”? How do you feel about this article and about Ms. Stewart? And did you feel insulted? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Photos of Martha at Mike’s Products
In my last post, I was frustrated at being unable to find ANY photo of ANY Martha Stewart scrapbooking product. Well, here’s something I just found posted on the 2peas message board. It’s a little peek at some of her products. What do you think? I like the packaging; very Martha! I assume the rotary tool and blade are to cut her huge 18×18 inch paper since it won’t fit in your average paper trimmer. I wish the poster had listed the prices. Also, my curiosity got the best of me and I had to go by Michaels today. There were employees on ladders and clogging the aisle so I could only get a brief look. They had about half of the aisle done. When I walked up, the employees were saying they should boycott her stuff. Intrigued, I eavesdropped…. Then they said they should notify the manager, NO!, they should notify corporate. I innocently asked what was wrong and one employee explained they just found out that employees cannot use their discount on Martha Stewart products. They were NOT happy. One suggested installing the merchandise bar across her face in the display. So I browsed best I could and – I guess it was a surprise to me – I actually liked a lot of it. Now, the 18×18 paper is truly ridiculous. Maybe for wrapping paper or to cut up into pieces but how do you even store paper that large much less use it full-paged in a scrapbook? But there were some very pretty white lace paper borders, nice paper packs, cute stickers and pretty rub-ons. Oh! That reminds me, I just heard from an LSS owner who was at CHA that, in her keynote speech, Martha called them “rub downs”. You can tell she scrapbooks everyday, huh? Well, not everyone can be as Scrapbook Obsessed as me! I even made a Martha purchase: 2 packs of memorabilia envelopes that are very cute (I will post a photo when my gallery is back up). In each pack are 3 little envelopes in cute solid colors (1 set has white trim) that have clear fronts so you can see your item through them. They will be good for souveniers from my trip to Europe and the colors will go nicely with that album. They were $3 each which I thought was a fair price. The price I couldn’t go for was $9 for a paper pack with 12 sheets. Granted, it was crepe paper and very unique. I will probably get it another time :) The packaging on Martha Stewart products is very nice, with a metal rod hanger, thick stock, and hard-to-get-into packages. They spent some money there, for sure. I wish I could’ve seen more and you know I’ll be going back soon…
Martha Stewart at Michaels – An Early Review
As you probably know by now unless you live under a 12×12 patterned paper rock, Martha Stewart is introducing a line of scrapbooking and paper crafting products. It will be exclusive to Michaels Craft Stores for 1 year and is in partnership with EK Success. This has caused quite the uproar in the scrapbooking world, at least the one I live in. On every message board, at every crop, every scrapper, even the Michael’s employees are talking about it. But I guess that’s no surprise since they’ve been working like dogs reorganizing their stores to make room for Martha. Although Martha’s products won’t be officially introduced until later this month, many of the Mike’s stores have already started putting out the products. This is according to reports from scrapbookers on message boards I read, who are giving their early reviews.
And so far they are not great. I’m going to generalize here (and I know there are exceptions), but most comments I’ve heard are along these lines:
An 18×18 scrapbook is too big. You wouldn’t be able to lift it, hold it, or even open it on the coffee table. At $80 for the scrapbook and $2-3 per sheet of paper, who can afford it anyway? Maybe for an extra special wedding album…
Her decorating items are nice but her scrapbooking is too simple for my taste. Color reviews have been mixed: some likey, some don’t likey.
Her line is getting one or two separate aisles at Mike’s which takes space away from other products that are more beloved.
The word is that no coupons will be allowed EVER on Martha Stewart scrapbooking items. That irks many devoted Mike’s shoppers and leads them to wonder, “Why is she so special?” and “Ok, her stuff is going to be way more expensive”. (The only other items Michaels has refused coupons on were the expensive die cutting machines/accessories, the Sizzix and the Cricut). I also heard a rumor that Michaels employees can’t even use their discounts on her products.
Martha Stewart items have special aisle tags that are different from the entire store. I believe Martha’s tags are a tasteful creme color. Again, “what makes her so special?”
If she wants to be part of the scrapbooking world, why didn’t she introduce anything at CHA? (and why can’t I, an investigative blogger, find ANYTHING online that show pictures or gives price points of her products??).
Many still appear resentful of Martha Stewart over making us feel so imperfect during the 90s; her general condescending attitude; and her jail time.
I’m not saying I agree with any of these comments, I’m just reporting. I’ve also heard some positive things like:
Her scrapbooking products are beautiful and classy, and no more expensive than products at the local scrapbook stores.
Martha can do no wrong and is loved and respected by many.
She is a pro at organization so, if she has any scrapbooking organizational products, they will undoubtedly be good.
So, as you can see, this is quite the controversial issue in Scrap World! I for one am enjoying the ride. If nothing else, I like the attention it’s bringing to scrapbooking even if it’s fleeting. I’m sure there will be more to come as Michaels stores officially release her products, her contest winner is announced, and she does the week of scrapbooking on her tv show. And I will continue to enjoy hearing what everyone thinks, and sharing my own review when I finally get to see the Martha Stewart line for myself!
We Have A Winner…
…and her name is Becca! She is the person who entered a Comment closest to the time that my blog rolled over to 3,000 hits. Whoo hoo, GO BECCA! She has been notified and will have a cute goodie coming her way. Thanks everyone who played!
