Wow, what an intense week it’s been! I’m so glad it’s almost Friday – and a very GOOD one it will be at that! (Heh. See what I did there?)
I don’t want to be all “Team Lisa this, Team Lisa that” so I wasn’t going to post about tonight’s conference call with Wendy, the team trainer. The call is geared specifically toward anyone who wants to know more about Team Lisa and the possiblity of buying/selling Lisa Bearnson’s “Anthology” products that come out in late summer 2015.
But I just heard that Lisa Bearnson herself is going to be on the live call – and thought maybe you’d want the opportunity to hear from her yourself. So here are the details in case you’d like to listen:
TONIGHT (Thursday, 04-02-15) Lisa Bearnson will be on a LIVE TEAM LISA Business Opportunity call at 8 pm MT [make sure to adjust for your time zone].
If you’re interested in hearing about her new product line, Anthology, coming late Summer 2015 and how you can be apart of the success with Youngevity, join the call! There are so many people interested and many more to reach so we are trying to get the information out as fast as we can.
Here’s the information about tonight’s call which you can listen to live at 8 pm MT or call in anytime after and listen to it recorded:
TEAM LISA Business Opportunity Call, Thursday, April 2nd 8 pm MT
Call in: 1-712-775-7035 Pin: 370616#
24 Hour Recorded Call (will work after Thursday call)
Call in: 1-712-775-7039 Pin: 370616#
If you’re kinda’ shy like me and don’t want to be LIVE yourself or put on the spot in any way, don’t worry. They talk, we listen. You just dial the first number above, enter the Pin on your keypad, and you’ll be able to hear Wendy and Lisa talking. That’s it. If you’re busy at the time of the call or don’t want to burn your long distance, you can either call the 2nd number later or listen to it online. (I can provide a link if you need it).
You can also contact me if you’re interested in more information. Just leave a Comment below or email me: scrapbookobsession at gmail dot com.
Okay, I’ve calmed down a little bit now and I’m breathing normally again, LOL. Yeah, a tad bit excited yesterday when I posted HERE and a couple other places about my new position. Oh my gosh, you guys, this post ended up being soooooo looooonnnnngggg. You know me, Miss Verbose! But it’s the weekend so I hope you have time to grab a Diet Coke and take a read :)
So my great news is that I’ve joined up as a direct seller under the Youngevity brand as of 03-25-15; my official title is Independent Marketing Director. I want to tell you how it all came about and what it means for me and for this blog. I also want to offer you the opportunity to join me, if you’re so inclined :)
THE HISTORY
As I said HERE, there’s been a lot going on behind the scenes. I’m going to write a post about that this weekend, too. I won’t be giving away any secrets yet but will talk about the “why” of it all.
In the midst of all this – actually ever since Memory Works closed in 2013 – I’ve been missing selling scrapbook supplies, interacting with customers, and making some extra money to fund my scrapbook shopping addiction … erm, habit. However, of the few scrapbook-related direct sales companies remaining that I looked into, none of them blew my dress up, so to speak.
I also looked into having my own online shop, either adding it onto this site or starting an Etsy shop. Which still may happen in some form, some day in the future.
Then out of the blue, I was contacted by a fellow scrapbooker named Kim who asked some questions about Scrapbook Obsession Blog. We got to chatting and she told me that it was still hush-hush but she’d been chosen to be on Lisa Bearnson’s direct selling team for a new venture Lisa was starting with Youngevity/Heritage Makers. This was because Kim had been very successful with Leaving Prints in the past.
Well, you know me, I’ve been a Lisa Bearnson fan since Day One. I read her Creating Keepsakes magazine cover to cover every single month it was published. I took vacation days from work to watch Lisa and David on QVC Scrapbooking, and now I watch her on HSN Scrapbooking. I even had the pleasure of spending a week with her on a scrapbooking cruise in the Mediterranean years ago. The interactions I, my mom, and my friend had with her that week made me an even more loyal fan and admirer. Not only was she extremely kind and caring but a great teacher and patient organizer.
In 2007, I started my own transcribing and virtual assistant business around the same time I started with Memory Works. Becoming a business owner and a consultant only increased my admiration for women like Lisa Bearnson. There are so many moving parts, lots of missed sleep and deadlines and financial worry. She makes it look so easy – which is what I need in a mentor, right? But above all her business success, I’ve always seen that family and faith are her priorities. They’re what inspire her scrapbooking and it’s just another thing I love about Lisa because those are my life priorities, too.
So, all that to say, once my new friend Kim said that Lisa Bearnson was involved in this venture, I said, “I’m in!” even before I knew if I was ALLOWED in, LOL. And when she invited me to be a part of her team – I thought about it, looked into it, talked to DH about it, prayed on it – and said YES PLEASE!
HOW I DECIDED
As I found out, there are 2 options to join. For $10, you can be a Consultant with discounted purchasing for yourself and the ability to sell to others. I would consider it to be the so-called “hobbyist” option. And for only $10 (lifetime!), I can’t see any reason why we ALL wouldn’t join. I love me a no-brainer :) You could easily save $10 on your first order, I’m sure.
The other option is awesome but MUCH harder to decide on because it costs $500 to join at the CEO level. You get $500 in publishing points to spend on custom Heritage Maker products, traditional scrapbooking products, or other Youngevity products – your choice. (Mineral make-up, K-cups, essential oils … ruh roh, I may be in twuble here …). Or you can hold onto those points until late summer 2015 and use them to buy Lisa Bearnson’s “Anthology” products – which is what I’ll probably do.
So $500 a LOT of money to me and, I’m sure, to most people. I actually had that amount set aside from our tax return for something else. But, like I said, I thought and prayed and talked it over with my husband. I didn’t really need much convincing about the huge opportunity here. In the end, I couldn’t NOT sign up. Lisa Bearnson is not only creating new products that I know I and many others will want to buy; I want those for 30% off and I believe they’ll even be available on an auto-ship. Lisa says, “It will be a collection of fresh, fashion-forward designs founded on the principle that quality scrapbooking and memory keeping does not have to be difficult.”
This is all NEW but my understanding is that Lisa will be referring scrapbookers who express interest on her website down to us CEOs and Consultants. Hello?!? That’s amazing! I was curious just HOW popular her website is so I went to Alexa.com. For an example, Scrapbook Obsession Blog shows 951,266 rank in the US. LisaBearnson.com shows rank 365,074. Her bounce rate is 43% whereas mine is 86%. This means that most people come to my site and leave quickly (“the Pinterest effect”, lol) while at hers they stay and read. In other words, Lisa has an engaged audience and that is SO important! It’s what I strive for.
You may hear from Lisa haters once in a while but there are many, many more scrappers who respect her and are interested in what she offers and sells. So I have ZERO doubt that being a downline from her will lead to success. I have a goal to make back my $500 investment by the end of 2015 and I’m confident I’ll do that. (Although technically, it’s not even an investment since I get business supplies AND $500 to spend on products).
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR SCRAPBOOK OBSESSION BLOG
Now, don’t let all this scare you away. This is an MLM (multi-level marketing) business and Lordy do I know that some people become MLM’ers and become highly annoying – constantly barraging their family, friends, and acquaintances on Facebook and in person with their latest “amazing offer!” and “great deal!” and “you MUST try this!”.
Don’t worry, this blog won’t become a constant blast of Youngevity / Heritage Makers / Anthology posts. I expect the number of posts to be about the same amount as I did with Memory Works which I don’t think was too bothersome, was it? I always always always try to start blog post titles with the TOPIC so if it’s not your bag, you can keep on movin’, sister! I’ll continue doing that so you can just ignore the posts if they bug you. I’m also planning to start a mailing list specifically for people on my team who join Youngevity under me and those interested but not sure – to share information – but JUST to those who’ve expressed interest. Sound good?
MORE ABOUT THE NEW ADVENTURE
I signed up as a Youngevity CEO just a few days ago and there’s still much to learn. They’re a HUGE company with lots of arms, just 2 of which are scrapbook-related. Here is the structure, as I’ve figured it out so far:
Here’s the structure of people:
Youngevity – the Wallach family
Co-creator of Heritage Makers and Lisa’s Team Trainer – Wendy McGee
Creator of Anthology and Heritage Makers Brand Ambassador – Lisa Bearnson (eeee! she already has Anthology and Team Lisa links on her site!)
Under Lisa/Wendy, there are 2 downlines and then me :) If you’d like to join in – and I’d absolutely LOVE to have you – you’d be my downline. Just make sure to contact me and to sign up through my website so I get credit and you’re assigned to my team.
Even though I had a little heads up about Lisa Bearnson’s new venture, I had to keep quiet about it online until it was officially announced at the Youngevity conference in California this week. Then it was official and we could jabber about it, as of yesterday! There are 2 private Facebook groups to get up-to-the-minute information, including a new one for Team Lisa Bearnson. If you join up, we’ll get you added to those groups if you’d like.
Here’s the video they showed at the conference along with some photos:
Tip: Have a tissue handy. Sniffle.
That’s Wendy McGee on the left, Lisa Bearnson, and Jana Eubank on the right. Now there’s another name you might recognize from the scrapbooking industry! Check out her amazing resume HERE.
Lisa speaking at the conference
Did you know Rhonda Anderson, co-founder of Creative Memories, is also part of Heritage Makers? Which reminds me – I haven’t even told you much about the products yet! Tons of fun digital stuff that I need to learn about like photo books, business cards, gift items, etc. The current selection of paper scrapbooking products isn’t huge but it has a Creative Memories feel to it including their great albums, page refills, and tools – like my favorite, the Multi-Purpose Tool. I frantically searched for and bought one of these from out of state when CM went out of business because the tip of my original one from 2001 (!) broke – when it was used by someone who shall remain nameless (husband!) to unscrew something. I was afraid to be without one forever. Only $6 with Heritage Makers, whoo hoo!
Logos for Anthology consultants to use; you’ll be seeing these on my blog and social media soon :) They’re so cute. And now the recent redesign of Lisa’s blog makes TOTAL sense! Ohhhhh …..
Well, clearly I should’ve broken this up into about 20 entries because it’s so ding-dang long! Oh well. I want all the information in one place so there ya’ go, ha!
IN SUMMARY (Jeez, finally!)
If you want to join my team (Lisa’s team), the best thing to do is e-mail me. I’ll put you on my mailing list and send you information and links so you can learn more. I want you to feel totally comfortable, whether you’re spending $10 or $500. You can get off the mailing list at any time; just let me know. I’m happy to answer questions 24/7. You can call me, too :) Just leave a voice mail and I’ll call you back.
** Oops! Correction to the signup instructions (03-29-15) **
If you’re ready to sign up, please follow these instructions:
Go to my Youngevity website: https://erikafriday.youngevity.com
Click on “Join” in the upper right-hand corner.
Then click on “Distributor.”
Next, you will see a selection of kits that you can choose from.
To sign up as an Independent Marketing Director (CEO): You may choose from any of the CEO kits. I chose the Heritage Makers CEO kit and received some business materials. I’m saving my points for now.
To sign up as a Preferred Customer: Scroll all the way to the bottom and choose the “New Associate Adventure Pack.” You can upgrade at any time to CEO.
Sorry again for the super duper long post – but you know how I am ;) Hope to hear from you soon!
So this is one of the exciting things I’ve been dying to tell you about!!
Go read Lisa’s announcement HERE and come back quick!
I joined Lisa Bearnson’s team and will be privileged to sell her new line of scrapbooking products!
I’ll post more information soon; this is coming to you from my iPhone in the bank parking lot, LOL! I had to tell my peeps who would understand how excited I am!
If YOU have interest in being on Team Lisa, please email or call me ASAP! The sooner you get in, the better ;)
Scrapbookobsessionblog at gmail dot com (ETA: OOPS! There is no ‘blog’ in my email address, just scrapbookobsession at gmail dot com – sorry!)
** If you’ve emailed me, will you please try again? My apologies :)
805-400-3261
In early February 2015, I attended a very fun scrapbooking event called “Play All Day” put on by Shelby at Embellish IT! Inc. I wanted to give you a review and share my day :)
BACKGROUND
I’ve shopped at Embellish It over the years for scrapbook supplies. They carry a lot of products from 2 of my favorite brands: Basic Grey and Simple Stories, and lots of others, too. But the best thing they have are packs of Bazzill cardstock with colors selected to match specific scrapbook product lines. It’s pretty dang cool, especially for Bazzill snob like myself :P
. . . coordinates with THIS line, Carta Bella “Hello Again”
So, I’m on the mailing list for Embellish It and have heard about their “Play All Day” events for years – always wanted to go. I decided to finally pull the trigger when I saw an event that was only 3 hours from me (yes, I live in the boonies; NOTHING is held close by) and it was close to my mom’s birthday. She’s also a scrapbooker so I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate.
Wait! Was this one of those “Oh, look what I got you (for me)!” type of gifts? Hmmm… Anyhoo, we signed up with an Early Bird coupon code that saved us $9 off the $79 price, made our hotel reservation with a special rate at the event hotel ($99 at a Sheraton), . . . and had to wait for several months, LOL. But, yes, the day finally did arrive!
THE PLAN
A few days prior to the event, we got an e-mail detailing the day:
*9am – midnight*
This will be a FUN day of scrapbooking & we will keep things low key.
* The event will officially end at 9pm BUT we have the room reserved until
midnight. Those who wish to continue scrapping are welcome to do so at *no
additional cost*
*The schedule for the day will be:*
*9am- Doors open *(i always try to open the door a little early but it is
all dependent on the hotel)
*11-1: Class #1 Layouts* – 2 double-page layouts
*1pm: Italian Buffet Lunch*
*3-5pm: Class #2 Cards* – 8 cards w/embellishments
I was excited about the layout class since scrappin’ is what I do (as opposed to project classes like banners, home dec, etc. that I’m not as interested in). I’m not a cardmaker so that was ‘meh’ but I figured I could make my mom’s birthday card, LOL!
THE BIG DAY
On the day of the event, I woke up at 4:45am (so excited! couldn’t sleep!), left the house at 6:30 in pouring rain, got there around 9:30am, got unloaded and unpacked, changed into dry clothes, and met my mom in the event room by 10:30. So I was bummed to miss out on that 1 1/2 to 2 hours of scrapping time before the first class but oh well. My mom had already met and been chatting with the nice ladies at our table for 4 and the ones at the next table, who were all friends.
Okay, I’m going to confess right now that I don’t have any photos to share of the day. I did have my phone aka my BFF. I guess I just felt awkward taking pics in that close of an environment with a roomful of people I didn’t know. Sorry! I’ll do such a good job of providing vivid descriptions with my words that you won’t miss the photos, LOL.
Back to the event . . .
CROP SPACE
It was basically a ballroom or huge conference room and it was pretty full. Regarding the tables, I don’t know the measurements but there was plenty of room to scrap for the day, complete the class layouts, etc. If I were at a retreat, I’d probably want a little more room but it was fine for Play All Day.
SHOPPING AT THE EVENT
At the front of the event room, there were tables with lots of collection kits, Bazzill packs (!), page kits, mini album kits, card kits, etc. I didn’t have time to shop before the first class began at 11:00 but was able to later. That was actually by design because I didn’t bring any paper to scrap with, knowing that Shelby would have plenty of paper for sale. I bought 2 collection kits and a Bazzill kit.
WHAT I PACKED
This was the lightest I’d traveled to a scrapbooking event in quite a while! Only 2 bags and here is what I brought:
– Tool kit in flat pack with adhesives, photo cleaning cloth, erasers, Undu, etc.
– Tool tote with pens, scissors, stapler, and other tools
– Photos, about 15 from 3 events. I had just printed them the morning of the event, of course, ha!
– Paper trimmer, my trusty old Cutterpede that I’ve had for years (that’s why she’s not that pretty but I love her!).
Things I always keep in my crop bag:
– Ott lite & extension cord
– Extra blade and cutting pad for Cutterpede
THE FOOD
The Italian buffet lunch was delish. Iced tea and coffee were provided throughout the event (although the hot coffee ran out and wasn’t replaced in the evening, when I really needed it, lol). We just ate snacks the rest of the time. I was there to scrap, baby!
SHOPPING NOT AT THE EVENT
I wrote a post about my little shopping adventure HERE.
CLASSES & PRODUCT
Remember how I said I was kinda’ ‘meh’ about doing the card class? Well, I lucked out. Majorly. It turned out that Shelby had just received new kits to do a Simple Stories “Life Documented” mini album or planner. So she offered us the option to do that instead of the card kit and most of us took her up on that. Duh. The value was crazy. The entire event cost $70 and that Simple Stories kit had probably $50 worth of product in it.
There was also the layout class and I enjoyed both of them. Shelby walked around the room, gave instructions and encouragement, but it was pretty relaxed. There were great instructions you could follow at your own pace, too. I’ve been to some classes that are so stressful that they’re not even fun but this wasn’t like that.
THE HOSTESS
Shelby is a dynamo. She had the loud voice needed to keep us rowdy scrappers in line (ha), was very upbeat and fun over the course of a long day, was organized, and what I loved most – very open and flexible. She asked several times what WE wanted to do (when to eat, the room temp, okay to substitute the planner project for the cards, etc.). I also chatted with her one-on-one and found her lovely. We had some “mom talk” and it was nice. Speaking of which, she had the cutest helper EVER, her little blondie cutie pie son. What a great sport he was!
SUMMARY
I’d give it 10/10 stars. I can’t think of anything that went wrong or that I didn’t like. I mean it was over a month ago and I’m old so there’s a possibility I forgot something but, no, I don’t think so. I’m not THAT old! If you get the chance to attend a Play All Day event, I recommend it!
ETA 04-12-15: Miss Shelby stopped by to say hi. Check out the Comments!
There has been a lot of chatter on the scrappy interwebs about these Heidi Swapp planners. Rumor has it that, although the entire line was supposed to have arrived at MICHAELS by now, many stores are getting none or just bits and peices because the boxes are caught up in the West Coast shipping strike debacle. The HS planners were a listed sale item at Michaels, I think it was last week, so stores may even have the pegs up and labeled, just not the full product line itself.
Boo hoo, sad scrappers :(
Here’s just a sample of the line. Isn’t it GORGE!!
You can see why scrappies are sooooo sad ….
If you’re a regular here, you know I love to complain about My Lame Michaels which is small and never gets the hot new products until usually weeks after everyone else does. Well, blow me down, they proved me wrong this time!!
BEHOLD.
Yes, it appears to be a bunch of Heidi Swapp Memory Planner products with both binder and product line versions. {If you want to see the whole thing, it’s HERE on Heidi’s site}.
Here are the fronts of both binders; you can see the $30 price point:
Here’s a peek of the insides:
I was under the influence of having just spent an amazing sunny day at the beach and was feeling quite full of myself, so I bought 3 – yes, THREE – items even though I only had ONE coupon. Slipping in my old age, I am.
Heidi Swapp Puffy Chat Stickers ($3)
Heidi Swapp Puffy Heart Stickers ($3)
Heidi Swapp Washi Shapes Booklet ($5 minus 40% coupon)
I paged through the albums a few times each and really, really considered getting one (using the 40% coupon on that instead of the washi, of course). My choice would be the green watercolor one; it’s soooo very pretty. But I just couldn’t justify it. I’ve used the same old boring Dayminder day planner for at least 10 years. Each year, I buy a new refill and file the old one neatly in one of my scrappy drawers for reference back to dates or journaling whenever I need them for scrapbooking.
As much as I want to be one those girls who makes a fun, artistic planner – like Amy Tan, OMG!
. . . I’m just not. Not right now, anyway. And if WERE going down the Planner Road, I’d need to use the Simple Stories “Life Documented” pack of stuff I received at a recent class (which reminds me, I need to post that class review, sheesh!). So, sadly no Heidi Swapp planner for me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t check some of those embellishments off my PINTEREST WISH LIST, now does it?!?! Certainly not :P
If you’re looking for the Heidi Swapp Memory Planner products, I hope they’ve arrived at your Michaels – or do soon. Go forth and use coupons, Scrap Sister.
I recently had the opportunity to go shopping at SCRAPBOOK ISLAND in Los Gatos, CA which is about 1 hour south of San Francisco. In October 2014, the store relocated here from their smaller storefront about 15 minutes away in San Jose.
The relocation must be a good sign, right? According to their blog, the new store has more classroom space. It was very generous, with the entire back of the store full of large tables with plenty of work room. Sorry, I didn’t get any photos of it because there were 2 scrappers working back there and I didn’t have permission to take their photo.
Here are some pictures I took with my new iPhone 6+. I hope they’re a bit better quality than the ones I’ve been posting for the last 3 years with my little ol’ iPhone 4! Although there’s only so much you can do with natural light indoors when you’re trying to be Surreptitious Scrapper and not use a flash ;)
Valentine’s display
St. Patrick’s Day display
Sale and Clearance table
Umm, what’s the camera equivalent of a butt dial?
Love how these products are displayed
WRMK albums in pretty colors!
Cardstock Row
Ribbons galore in ROYGBIV
Pretty, shabby chic, colorful store
Overall, I thought it was a great store. As I wandered around for about 20 minutes, near the end a salesperson stopped by to ask if I needed help finding anything. She smiled and looked me right in the eye, and didn’t kind of take off before I even answered (like some salespeople do). She seemed to genuinely care that I was finding what I needed, so that was nice.
It did get a little confusing at check-out because there were 2 checkers at 1 counter, and 1 took a person from the opposite line so I wasn’t really sure when it was my turn. The prices were pretty much retail as far as I could tell. The store was mostly organized by theme which, being a “sort by brand name” scrapper, isn’t my favorite. However, if I owned a store, I’d probably organize the same way as that’s how most scrappers probably shop.
There was a nice array of newer merchandise and I loved the way they showcased 2 upcoming holidays – Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day – in such pretty displays right by the front door. I’ll bet that’s wonderful for their “regulars” so they don’t have to go scoping out the entire store for new/current stuff. The overall look of the store was kind of shabby chic and you can tell they definitely took the time to decorate and give it a cohesive look.
As I left the store with friends and waited out front to meet up with some other friends, the owner (or who I assume was the owner) came out to chat with us. She was extremely friendly and shared a lot of details about their upcoming events and guests. Layle Koncar from Simple Stories is going to be there on February 21/22, 2015. I was so excited because I love me some Layle and she’s going to do a class on my favorite new line from the last CHA called “I Am”!
But when I checked my dayplanner, I realized I have can’t-break-em plans that weekend. SMH. Oh well, maybe she’ll come back another time (hint, hint, Layle!).
So, back to the store owner . . . she seemed really interested in our suggestions for who we’d like to see at her store – by overwhelming majority, it was Ali Edwards and I think she was going to reach out to her.
I really enjoyed Scrapbook Island LSS. I hope you get a chance to visit them sometime. I just heard that the Hobby Lobby in nearby Morgan Hill is closed {which I usually try to stop at when I’m in the area but I was driving through on Sunday when they’re closed}. While I hope they’re just relocating, if they did indeed close, I hope that means more business for Scrapbook Island. We need to keep our few great LSS’s in business!! Mama needs an in-person scrapbook supply fix once in a while other than Michaels, ya’ feel me?
Oh, did I forget to show you my spoils??!!?? What the hay?? Here you go:
My haul from Scrapbook Island LSS
I couldn’t believe I got out of there for around $30. It was a miracle; they had so many great things but I tried to be a good girl :)
Have a great week!
ETA 02-21-15: A sweet friend of this blog alerted the owner of Scrapbook Island to my blog post. Her name (the owner/lady we spoke to) is Laurie Jimenez and she was very happy about the review. Great job, Laurie!
While on Scrapbook Island’s Facebook page, I saw this photo of their classroom from a class they held last night:
Pretty cool, huh?
ETA 03-28-15: Make sure and check out Jessie’s AWESOME class review down in Comments! It’s full of great info about the Simple Stories “I Am” and “Say Cheese II” classes she took with LAYLE KONCAR. Thanks Jessie – you rock!
This is a VERY new release and it’s already being sold for 20% off – woot!
You can find it at SCRAPBOOK STEALS.COM. It looks like they have all if not the majority of the new line and it’s all 20% off retail. There are 12×12 paper kits, card sets, enamel dots, photo overlays, etc.
I love deals like this because the discount basically covers the shipping (or even more). So cost-wise it’s almost like shopping at a local scrapbook store – which I don’t have access to anymore, boo hoo.
*Image via the Simple Stories blog
If you remember, Simple Stories “Life Documented” is the line that got delayed for so long because of a union dispute at the LA docks. I feel so badly for Simple Stories because the focus of this line is the new year and I’m sure they lost a lot of sales because it wasn’t available at the end of 2014 as intended.
Instead, they couldn’t provide it to vendors until 2015 had already begun and I’m sure lots of scrappers and planner junkies who PLANNED (see what I did there? eh? eh?) to use this line for their 2015 scrapping and planning had to buy another line so they could get started.
Here’s a cool video by Simple Stories showing the planner in action and a quick glimpse at the end of using it for pocket page scrapping.
I wish Simple Stories well and hope they’re able to sell a buncha’ Life Documented via SCRAPBOOK STEALS.COM and other vendors!
PS: Remember that SS just released an e-book for inspiration in using this fun line!
I know it’s Super Bowl Sunday* but what I’ve got for you is scrapbooking-related, LOL. Speaking of which, I hope all you football wives and moms are taking lots of pics and making some rad scrapbooks after this! Super Bowl times make for some great memories.
Here are some fun finds and bits of news from around the scrappy interwebs this week . . .
– I know a lot of overseas folks will be so happy to hear that BeckyHiggins.com NOW SHIPS INTERNATIONALLY!! Although in reading the comments on the blog post, it seems that many aren’t happy with the cost. I personally agree with the comments that point out Becky doesn’t set the shipping costs. She was asked to make international shipping available and she did. She doesn’t control the price and can’t take a loss on each order by lowering that. What do you think?
– One of these is gone but there are still three left . . .
– Simple Stories has another Simple Inspiration ebook out, this one for their new “Life Documented” line. It’s free and you can see it HERE.
– I absolutely love this page, both the idea and the execution!
– I’ll close with a little blog milestone: This weekend, I reached 700 subscribers to my blog posts! I’m so excited and grateful! I appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to read and to support my blog. It truly means the world to me :) If you would like to subscribe, just enter your email address in the box at the top right of this site. You will ONLY receive an email when a new post is published. Promise. I do plan to start another mailing list but it will be separate from this one which is basically an RSS feed.
* Whoops! I had a busy weekend and thought I’d scheduled this post to go up late Sunday night but apparently not, LOL. Sorry ’bout that. To further apologize, I’ll add 2 more tidbits you might like:
Crafty Steals has a bundle today of October Afternoon Mini Market alpha stickers – only $12.99 for 18 packs! If you’ve never used these alphas, I highly recommend them. The rectangle ones especially are the perfect size for so many projects.
And Simple Stories released some free printables to go with their new “Life Documented” line!
They are made to be used with their planner line specifically but you can use them in your own planner, pocket page scrapping, or regular scrapbooking. Enjoy!
Here’s a round-up of some cool scrappy things I saw this week and want to share with you!
– If you’re thinking about downsizing your scrapbooking in 2015 – like, literally, to 6×8 or 8×8 – check out Blackbird Darlin’s POST. She does a great job of explaining how she’ll be doing it this year and what she learned from last year.
– I got to meet Nancy Nalley last year at CHA. She’s super nice and wicked smart, just like you’d expect. Anyhow, she goes to every CHA then writes great recaps. You can check them out on SCRAPBOOK UPDATE, including her Top 10 Picks from CHA.
– If you’ve been one of the many waiting for the Simple Stories “Life Documented” line to finally clear customs, you’re in luck!
From Simple Stories:
After 7 weeks sitting on the dock in Southern California due to union/labor issues, we are SO EXCITED to announce that the container carrying our Life Documented Planner & Scrapbook collections has arrived in our warehouse! We are working as quickly as possible to ship product to our distributors and retailers. Watch for the Life Documented Planner & Scrapbook collections to hit your favorite retailer soon!
Phew!
– Remember when I talked about Create and Craft USA? I was watching Bravo this weekend and on comes a Create and Craft commercial! It was so cool. It was a cute, crafty bit and at the end it advertised how they’re live online 24/7 and on DISH Channel 221 11-5 ET. (We have DISH so that’s what it mentioned, but they’re also on DirecTV at the same time, Channel 85/222). I think I have yet to catch any presentations that are specifically scrapbooking but I keep holding out hope :)
I think C and C were very smart to advertise on Bravo network, don’t you? There’s a lot of overlap between “Scrapbookers” and “Real Housewives Fans”, LOL. Count me in! Every city, every season . . .
– Yeah, I’m mostly into pocket page scrapbooking these days but when time allows, I still bust out some 2-pagers. I’m always on the hunt for inspiration, especially layouts that use a lot of photos. Check out this BEAUTIFUL layout from the EVALICIOUS BLOG:
Isn’t it lovely? I’m on a scrapbooking forum with the lovely Rona who created this layout. She recently became the Design Team Coordinator for Evalicious and just prior to that, she’d organized an Evalicous puffy sticker group buy for us. Which reminds me . . . I still need to post my pics from that. You can see lots more pics and some close-ups of Rona’s layout at the link above.
If you’ve been around here for a while, you know that I adore Amazon. I’ve been a Prime member for a few years now and absolutely love it. I do a lot of my regular shopping there and for scrapbook/Project Life scrapping, it’s awesome! They run deals all the time on things like page protectors, albums, Project Life sets, and scrapbook kits.
And y’know when you’re online scrapbook shopping and you find something you really want but the shipping (especially on bulky items like albums, protectors, and 12×12 paper) puts you off the purchase? With Amazon, I never worry about that. Not only will the shipping be free but it’ll arrive within a few days. That’s saved me a few times when I needed something before a crop or for a specific project I was gung-ho to finish.
When I first joined, Amazon Prime cost $75/year but it now costs $99/year. Well, for TODAY ONLY, new members can sign up for AMAZON PRIME for only $72!!
Here are the benefits:
FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items
Unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs
Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with Prime Instant Video
Free unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive
Read free books each month through Kindle First and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
I haven’t tried out the free photo storage yet but it seems like another great selling point for scrapbookers. The more places you can have your photos backed up, the better, right?
What I’ve found is that – with the money I save on shipping and Kindle books alone – the membership more than pays for itself (that’s how I justify my Costco Executive Membership, too).
This is a unique offer from Amazon, one that I’ve not see before, so I wanted to share in case you’ve been thinking about trying out Prime. Here’s a great incentive to try it.
Enjoy your Saturday :)
PS: If you’re an EXISTING Prime member like me, try contacting Amazon to ask if you can receive a renewal for $72. Word on the street is that they may tell you no but then credit your account for the $27 difference just for asking. Let me know how it goes!
In case you missed THE FIRST ROUND, Lain Ehmann has put her popular “True Scrap 6” classes on sale again.
In short, the classes are $9.99 each on sale versus their regular price of $14.99, saving you 5 bucks per class. You can see all the classes available HERE.
From Lain:
Now through the end of January, you can save BIG on a huge
assortment of visual delights and inspiration from all NINE classes
from True Scrap 6.
If you aren’t sure what to start with, may I suggest these classes, for
only $9.99 each:
“Layering: Punch It, Roll It, Make It Yours” from Tracy Banks. The
inimitable Mercy Tiara, as she’s known to her legions of fans,
breaks down the layering process using die-cut and punched shapes.
Not only will she teach you the basics of creating lovely layers,
she’ll also have you breaking out those scores of punches and dies
you’ve been squirreling away!
“Saw This, Made That” from Kelli Crowe. Need someone to help
justify your Pinterest addiction? Kelli’s your gal! In this class,
she shares how she turns her tens of thousands (yeah, you read that
right) of pins into usable inspiration for her crafting.
“Capture Your Celebrations: Photographing Food, Family, and Fun”
from Katrina Kennedy. True Scrap mainstay KK is back with the
perfect photography class to aid your holiday photo-taking. In
easy-to-understand language, she’ll teach you the skills you need
to capture your holiday festivities.
Don’t forget to check out the other classes from instructors like
Noell Hyman, Donna Salazar, Nichol Magouirk, Layle Koncar, and more!
The sale goes through 01-31-15 but go shop right now before you forget :)
I haven’t been able to take any of the True Scrap classes this time around but I would always recommend anything by Layle Koncar. She’s with SIMPLE STORIES and her POCKET SCRAPPING 101 was my favorite class from another True Scrap I attended. I got to meet her at CHA last year and she’s SUPER nice and funny (in class, too!). You know me, I like a little humor mixed in with my scrapbooking, hollah!
I know you love Thickers so I wanted to make sure you know that Scrapbook Steals has them on sale today! Check it out here.
If I didn’t already own 4,698 packs of Thickers (okay, that’s an exaggeration. kind of), I’d get these:
and these – so cute!
How do you store your Thickers? I keep mine on their sides in a bin. Or bins. Whatever I feel like admitting to at the moment.
If you don’t have a good system yet, check out the storage created by American Crafts, which is all 25% off today:
After seeing the video on their site, I’m considering switching to this binder system. It would be so much easier to take to crops and retreats. And would look pretty on my shelf, which is an important consideration, don’t you agree?
If you’re interested, get a move on. Sale expires in 8 hours and things are already selling out!
So I was on Amazon yesterday looking at one of THESE . . . hmmm, why would I need one? Something SBO Membership-related, perhaps? ;) Anyhow, while I was there, I looked around at scrapbook supplies and here are some fun things I found:
Wowza! What a pretty line! I hadn’t seen this before so I’m glad I browsed around a little bit. MME puts out so many lines, they can start to look same-same to me – but this one is unique and I love it!
There are other sets for the $2.20 price as well – if you ordered some other stuff, you could get all 4 sets for under $9 with free shipping:
I love the MAMBI cards for pocket page scrapping. They use such fun colors and fonts, all their stuff looks great together, and I can always find a saying that works with my photos.
If you don’t have this line yet, I recommend it. It has such a unique and pretty look to it, and it kinda’ forces you to do pages about YOU – something scrapbookers need to do more of :)
I have Raskog Envy. Yes, that’s the official diagnosis. I went to a doctor and everything ;) And made a Pinterest board.
Ever since they came out years ago, I’ve wanted a Raskog cart from Ikea to use in my scrapbook room. I think I could totally rock my Project Life organization in one of these babies!
Although it comes in a few colors . . .
. . . and many even spray paint it . . .
. . . I reallyreallyreally want that Robin’s Egg Blue one.
Sigh.
I don’t live near an Ikea and it hasn’t been in the budget yet to get it online. The cart is $50 and shipping to me is another $14.
Sigh.
Now, in what may be great news for you if you’re in the same boat: A Raskog cart knock-off has appeared at Sam’s Club!!! In a pretty light blue – check it out:
I have a sweet online scrappy friend (Hollah Ann!) who happens to have BOTH versions of this cute cart. She was kind enough to take photos of them next to each other so we can see how they compare.
From what I’m hearing, the Raskog trays are 3/4″ wider and 1/2″ deeper. And the Raskog is a little sturdier with heavier metal – especially the bottoms of the trays. That last photo really shows the color difference. At around $35, the Sam’s cart is about $15 less than the Raskog (around $50) – plus shipping if you don’t have an Ikea nearby. So this may be a good bet!
Scrappers are reporting finding the Raskog knock-off carts in various places in their Sam’s Club stores – including near the front by the patio furniture (sometimes still in box and not assembled/obvious) and even still on pallets above the breakfast food section. Here, let me make this easier for you: Item Number 930442. Just give that to a Sam’s employee and they can check the computer to find the location in the store, if they have any :)
Personally, I’m holding out for the Ikea Raskog version. The light blue of the Sam’s cart is pretty but the aqua of the Ikea cart is my favorite color. Plus, I’m willing to pay extra for bigger and stronger trays.
Happy Shopping and Storing!
PS: If you’d like a silver knock-off, more shelves, or are just dying to pay MORE than the Raskog, check out the Jayden Metal Shelf Units from Cost Plus World Market :)
Becky Higgins revealed on her blog today that she has a new kit coming out called “Southern Weddings”. It’s made in partnership with a company called – and I think it’s no coincidence! – Southern Weddings. The new line has an expected arrival of February 2015, just in time for wedding season.
From Becky’s blog entry:
Not only will there be a Core Kit, but we’ve also created an Album, 6×6 Paper Pad, Chipboard Stickers, Photo Overlays, Embossing Folders, 4×4 Cards, and 2 sets of Specialty Cards … one that is specific to Southern brides!
I wasn’t nor will I ever be (ha ha) a Southern Bride but it’s pretty cool that there’ll be a card set just for them.
There are photos on her blog but they weren’t big enough on my screen to get a very good look – and I have a huge iMac. So I enlarged the photos and posted them here, just in case anyone was having the same problem. Just an aside: That’s why I don’t prefer blogs that are set up like Becky’s with such a narrow body. I find that it’s often hard to see photos on her new set-up :( Scrapbookers are, by nature, VISUAL! LOL On the flip side, the photos here may load slowly for you so that’s the trade-off, I guess.
Okay, y’all, here ya’ go! {<- Did you catch the Southern reference, hardy har har}.
Wow, so dreamy and lovely! The soft colors are gorgeous and I love their choice of fonts, card topics, etc.
At the last wedding I went to, I took my usual photos {in between dancing and drinking shots; OOPS! Did I say that in my ‘out loud’ voice?}. That night, I printed them in our hotel room (yes, I got a ride home from a non-drinker, Nosy Nancy!), put them in a pre-assembled 8×8 scrapbook, and presented it to the bride and groom the following morning at brunch. They said it was one of their favorite gifts and loved having photos and a rememberance they could take on their honeymoon, as the professional photos wouldn’t arrive for some time. My point – and I do have one – is that THIS KIT would be SO SO SO perfect for projects like that, don’t you think? ‘Cuz I think. Surely I do.
Alas, my own wedding (over 20 years ago and yet to be scrapped – because I can’t find just the right line) had darker colors and no pastels so I’m thinking my photos won’t look good with this line. However, I’ll reserve judgment until I see it in person or see more of the cards online. If nothing else, I have at least one family member’s wedding to scrap and their colors were perfect for “Southern Weddings” by Project Life. {<- Didja' see how I just enabled myself to buy a kit I can't use for my own wedding?? Huh? Huh? Dang, I'm good!}
Okay, now I have some questions for you:
1. If you're married, how long ago was your wedding and have you scrapped the photos yet?
2. If you're not married, can you see yourself designing your future wedding around these colors just so you can use Project Life "Southern Weddings" to scrap it?
3. Are you willing to divorce your current spouse and find someone else to marry just so you can use this kit?
Just curious ;)
Have a great week!
PS: I had to laugh a bit at the message I got when I intially tried to comment on Becky's "Southern Weddings" blog post:
ERROR: Your comment appears to be spam. We don’t really appreciate spam here.
“Erika @ Scrapbook Obsession Blog” appears to be spam. Please enter a different value in the Name field.
Please go back and try to say something useful.
Granted, I did put an @ symbol in the “name” field so it must’ve set off their spam detectors – even though I’ve commented on her old blog and lots of other blogs as “Erika @ Scrabook Obsession Blog” with no problems ever. And I *have* several blogs so I can appreciate not wanting spam but 1. there are spam detector plug-ins that are amazing and what they don’t catch, you can moderate with little effort, and 2. I thought the wording was a little hurtful (sniff). In practice, I bet more “silly, oops, that was a mistake” scrappers like me see the message than spam bots (who, by the way, can’t read). Still love ya’, Becky! Like I said, it just made me chuckle.
Now, go on, leave already! Go plan a wedding or something.
Back in the fall, they had a big sale and I got all of this for $10 including shipping.
Puffy stickers and washi! The stars are glitter even though you probably can’t tell that from the photo. The labels tape I didn’t like as much in person as I did on the website. Oh well.
This online store is pretty much always having sales and coupon codes so they’re one of the first places I look for a new “must have” line. Sometimes they only have bits and pieces but then other times, I luck out and they have the exact pieces I want. This is Amy Tangerine’s recent line, “Stitched.” I got all this for $24 including shipping.
Here are all the gorgeous papers from the paper pack, including my favorite paper – the map with hearts. You may know that I have deep love for ombre & watercolor and hearts. I hit the jackpot with this line!
Bad news: One corner on all of the 12×12 papers was badly bent.
Good news: I contacted Your Scrapbook Supply and they didn’t have the paper pack in stock anymore and couldn’t order it, so they sent me this as a replacement – the entire paper pad. Granted, the papers are single- not double-sided but I got more of them so it’s all good.
If you decide to order from Your Scrapbook Supply, please tell them I sent you :)
This is the closest thing I have to an LSS within 2 hours of me so I shop there whenever I can. Gotta’ support them, right?!?! I got “Celebrate” Thickers, My Minds Eye “Sleigh Bells” tiny type letter stickers, and some cute Bella Blvd, Pebbles, and Bo Bunny papers – everything for $24. I used a 40% off coupon for the MME alphas, bringing them from $5 down to $3 . . .
. . . and what a great deal. Look how many sheets of letters you get!
Here are the other sides of the papers from above:
I’m going to use that teal paper from Pebbles to make a perpetual birthday calendar.
Here’s my haul from Michaels right before Christmas when they had a huge sale. Yep, I took a photo of my whole cart because I cracked myself up! I don’t EVER buy this many things at once and actually felt guilty even though I got great deals.
I’m in scrapbook space organization mode again and I NEED these things, right? All albums were Buy One, Get One Free. I’ve already put the Project Life chevron albums to good use {holding divided and plain page protectors, as I talked about HERE}. The jar candle, 8.5 x 11 kraft paper, wrapping paper, ombre paper pad, and 12×12 Iris cases were all on sale, too. I wasn’t able to use my coupon because it was all on sale already, LOL. Don’t you hate it when that happens?
Man, they are just plain EVIL with the OCTOBER AFTERNOON kits they keep offering up! {This one is called “Girl Talk Collection Kit” and is still available in the Archives; just click the link above}. All of this for only $15, retailing for twice that. How is an OA addict to resist? Well, don’t ask me! I wouldn’t know. APPARENTLY.
The washi is absolutely beautiful in person and I love the Tin Pins, especially the one that looks like an old rotary phone dial. {For you youngsters: Back in the day before push buttons then touch pads, we had to actually D-I-A-L a phone and it took so stinkin’ long, you just prayed you didn’t have to call anyone with lots of 8s, 9s, or 0s in their phone number}.
Okay, I suppose by now you’re either a). totally disgusted that anyone could spend so much money on scrapbook supplies, b). drowning in drool, or c). feeling kinship because you’ve done a similar amount of shopping this fall and winter. That’s okay, you don’t have to tell me which one. Or two. We’re Scrap Sisters and I understand. Totes.
I have an order from Evalicious and also some Pebbles that Santa left in my stocking but I haven’t taken pics yet so those will have to wait. What have been your favorite purchases lately?
The next Craft and Hobby Association 2015 Mega Show is coming up soon: January 9-13, 2015 in Anaheim, CA! The sneak peeks are out there if you’re interested.
Nancy at SCRAPBOOK UPDATE has a great list of new releases. I love that her list is sortable by date or by manufacturer; just click the arrow at the top of the column you want to put in order. She also has a great “what trends to expect” article HERE.
YOURSCRAPBOOKSUPPLY.COM has lots of sneaks on her store blog. She consistently posts sneaks throughout the year and is a great resource.
You can also go straight to the blogs of your favorite manufacturers to see what they’re coming out with. For instance, SIMPLE STORIES is starting their full reveal on Monday morning 8am MST 01-05-14. Here is a sneak peek:
I’ve seen the whole catalog of new Simple Stories and can tell you that “I Am” is absolutely amazing. I’ll have to own it all! So pretty and unique. Lots of other winners there, too.
Hope you’re getting caught up in the CHA excitement! We need to support this industry – did you know 2 more online shops that sell scrapbook supplies closed recently? Yep, ToAdorn.com and FlowerstoFlourishes.com. Buy more supplies and do your part!! heeeee heeeeee . . .
I can’t reveal my sources ;) But I’m hearing reports of cheap enamel dots to be had at both Michaels and Dollar Tree!
Here are some pics of the Dollar Tree ones:
The brand is “Do It Yourself” and they’re apparently flatter than average enamel dots {which I find to be a plus}. They can reportedly be found in the stationary section of Dollar Tree.
I also hear there are enamel dots to be found in the Michaels “dollar bins” though they’re $1.50. I can’t find any photos online – have you seen any? Please share a link! I was JUST at Mike’s 2 days ago but didn’t think to check the dollar bins by the checkout as I was on another mission, LOL.
Happy shopping! Please let me know if you find these at your Michaels or Dollar Tree!
ETA 01-04-15: A sweet reader named Kelly found the dots at her Michaels and was kind enough to share a photo!
She says there were 4 sets total, these 3 plus 1 with purples that she didn’t get. Thanks so much, Kelly!
I’ve been blogging now for 8 full years! WOW. I’ve done a total of 1,173 posts, with 383,000 total views* and 1,298 comments. It’s cray-cray.
*This is the amount currently showing but several years ago, when I changed this site from wordpress.com to just .com, I lost over 1 million views. I was heartbroken but apparently there’s no way to restore that number. But I’m very proud of the fact that this site has almost 1.4 million views :)
At the end of each December, WordPress (my blog platform) sends a report of my stats for the year and they’re fun to look at. I thought I’d start the new year by sharing some fun facts:
– Scrapbook Obsession Blog had 100,000 visitors in 2014.
I owe that #1 post to Pinterest because photos of my Project Life card storage were Pinned a lot.
And I wasn’t surprised to see 2 of the top 5 posts had to do with the closure of long-time scrapbooking institution, Two Peas in a Bucket.
I *was* surprised that a review of a scrapbook store in Arizona was #4! It has me thinking I should post more LSS reviews; what do you think? I don’t have any scrapbook stores locally anymore but do visit them when I travel and always take photos.
Speaking of Pinterest, I also got this in an email from them: “More than 46,773 people saw Pins from Scrapbook Obsession on Pinterest in 2014.” Pretty kewl, huh? Especially considering I just started using Pinterest fairly recently in the scheme of things, in October 2013. I absolutely love playing around on Pinterest and the fact that it brings some more people to my blog {it was the #2 referrer of traffic} is just icing on the cake.
Is this post boring the heck out of you or do you enjoy hearing about blogging, the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff about having a blog, How To’s for blogging, etc.? It’s a topic I’m thinking of incorporating into Scrapbook Obsession Blog in 2015 so let me know what you think.
I need to close with a very important part of my WordPress report / year in review: The Top Commenters!
Thank you, ladies, from the bottom of my ever-lovin’ scrapbooking heart <3 I really, truly appreciate ALL who comment which is why I installed CommentLuv (which gives a link to a commenters' most recent blog post, if they like) and Top Commenters in the right sidebar, to recognize the top 5 commenters each month. I wish there was more that I could do to show my appreciation. When you spend so many hours writing a blog, you sometimes wonder: "Does anybody really care?" And by taking the time to comment, you make me feel better, like I'm not just talking to myself, hee hee! It's like getting Christmas presents all throughout the year. So thank you :)
Okay, kids! That's a wrap on 2014. I know 2015 is going to be awesome with lots of scrappy fun to be had. I'll keep enabling, you'll keep shopping. I'll keep saying stoopid things, you'll try not to nose-spit Diet Coke on your screen. I'll share some new things I've got up my sleeve, and you'll hopefully join in and love it all!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
for only $72!!
. . . hmmm, why would I need one? Something SBO Membership-related, perhaps? ;) Anyhow, while I was there, I looked around at scrapbook supplies and here are some fun things I found:
$5.99 with free shipping on orders over $35
$11.98 with free shipping over $35
$6.80 with free shipping on orders over $35
only $2.20 as an Add-On item over $25 or free ship over $35
$19.99 with free shipping over $35
