This is part of a series about the scrapbooking booths I visited at CHA 2016. If you’d like to see all the posts in the series, please click HERE.
Here’s the Project Life booth – yes, that’s Becky hidden back there!
Becky was busy talking the whole time I was visiting so I didn’t bug her. I was lucky enough to speak with her when I was at CHA 2 years ago. She’s as lovely as you think she is.
I did get to talk with Molly who was amazing. She’s worked with Becky for I think less than a year and absolutely loves it. {I told her she has “our” dream job!}.
We joked about how we buy lots of the Project Life kits, then have been so busy with work it’s hard to find the time to use them up. I’ll bet we aren’t alone, are we girls?
Here’s a closer look at the “Inspire” Theme Kit with the rows of hearts {above, third from left}. Love the stitching!
I asked if they had any planner products other than the ones I’d bought way back when. She showed me some planner items that I wasn’t aware of, although they weren’t new for CHA.
She was most excited about their new Instax line with albums, page protectors, Instax lenses you can pop on, etc. {Look over her right shoulder!} Molly said that when someone asks her about planner supplies, she directs them toward the Instax line because the items can be used for both – little embellishments, washi tape strips, acrylic embellishments, etc.
I just realized Molly’s outfit totally matched the green with black and white polka dots planner in the photo above. Hmm, coincidence or savvy dressing?? Love it.
They had mostly Project Life core kits in the booth that had already been released except for this one called “Currently.”
“Explore” has been out for a bit.
All the products including the Instax page protectors, 6×8 album protectors, planner supplies – everything works in everything except for the tiny Instax album. Everything else is interchangable from album to album. See the tiny little Instax pink and blue albums up top? Stinkin’ cute.
I told Molly that my Project Life storage Pin is my most popular Pin of over 2,200 of ’em I have and she wanted to see it and to follow my Pinterest. She looked it up while we were talking; made me feel special :).
I leave you with more pretties from the Project Life booth.
I’ve been scrapbooking since 2001. I was a scrapbooking consultant for several years so I have “product.” And I’m a bargain shopper and a coupon queen so I’ve accumulated a LOT of scrapbooking stuff over the years. While shopping is super fun – I ain’t gonna’ lie – the sheer amount of supplies I have can get a little crazy.
It gets to the point where I’m so busy putting things away or moving this pile over there that not much scrapbooking gets done. Or I sit down to scrapbook an event KNOWING that I bought specific supplies for it but not being able to locate them. Blerg :P
I know this is a problem a lot of us have and when I was trying to think of ideas for what classes I could offer you, this was the first thing that came to mind. Not only do we need to ORGANIZE our supplies but we need to (oh my gosh, is she really going to say it!??!) (YES) pare down our supplies a bit.
I’m one of those scrapbookers who hears about others “purging” their supplies and I just cringe. “But I LOVE my supplies! How am I supposed to get rid of anything?” And that’s where I was stuck for years. I’d put things away, clear my desktop again, maybe implement a new organizational system like this one for my washi tape.
Then you know what happened, right? Two months, three shopping hauls, and a busy life later, I was right back where I started: trying to find new places to put things away and new ways to organize my supplies so I’ll actually use them and know where everything is. But it got to feeling kind of futile. Sigh.
Keepin’ It Real
This is how my scrapbook space looked as of November 2015. ‘Nother sigh.
I looked at this and just felt so . . . TIRED. Almost like a rock bottom, since this IS kind of an addiction. {If being a scrapbooking addict is wrong, I don’t wanna’ be right! ha ha}
Admittedly, author Marie Kondo says some wacky stuff in this book. But the overall message surely spoke to me: Only keep those things that SPARK JOY.
For me, this meant:
– Don’t keep things that you bought because they were on sale.
– Don’t keep things just because someone gave them to you.
– Don’t keep things for projects that you might do “someday” (but know you never really will)
– Don’t keep things because they’re worth money but you don’t have time to sell them
The common thread I see in my reasoning: GUILT. And isn’t that a shame? I’m keeping myself surrounded by too much stuff because I feel GUILTY. Is that bringing me joy? Is that allowing me to spend time doing the one activity I love the most, scrapbooking? Nope.
The Solution
So in November 2015, I decided to not only go through my scrapbook space using the KonMari method (the method described in the book above) but I documented my actions and created an online class from it. With the new year and all, it seems like the perfect time to share this with you.
Here’s a page with all the class information – please do yourself a favor and check it out:
Since I “KonMari’d” my scrapbook space, everything has been so much better. I got rid of a lot of things that, as much as I wanted to, I just wasn’t going to use. They were taking up storage space that became freed up for storing things I WILL use and DO use. I was able to remove things from my work desk that, no matter how “organized” I was before, didn’t have a good place.
How Does It Feel?
I can’t tell you what a relief it was to just LET GO. Let go of old supplies, things that were no longer my taste, projects I’d never do (photo cube anyone?), and all that guilt-inducing STUFF that was weighing me down. Now the supplies I have BRING ME JOY. I look forward to going into my scrapbook space instead of dreading it. I can find the exact supply I’m looking for and the guilt is gone.
I want all of this for you, too <3
If you’re tired of fighting against your scrapbook supplies and just want a clear, peaceful place to create, THIS may be just the thing you need. I hope so because I want to be of service to you and I hope this is something we can have fun doing together :)
First of all, what is Notions? They’re “the world’s largest creative arts distributor.” Companies like Notions are kind of a “one stop shop” for scrapbook stores where they can order products from multiple companies at once – as opposed to placing a separate order with each manufacturer.
For instance, a scrapbook store could get the new lines from 4 different companies at one time as opposed to placing separate orders with those 4 companies.
Here are some of the scrapbooking items they carry.
I visited the booth and spoke to Jim Spicer, Sales Account Representative. He told me about Notions and how they’re a benefit to scrapbook retailers.
I asked him how business was going and he said that Notions is expanding their warehouse space. They’ve been in business for over 75 years and currently have over 150,000 products in stock. Keeping in mind that Notions serves all creative arts, not just scrapbooking, I think it still bodes well for our industry, don’t you?
Jim was kind enough to pose in front of another scrapbooking display :)
We had a great conversation about the crafting industry, including trends, diversification, etc. He said one of their most popular items for all markets is adult coloring books.
I asked Jim if he felt the scrapbooking industry was still declining or if it had leveled out. He said he doesn’t see the industry decreasing, just diversifying and spreading out into more areas – like coloring books, planners, art journaling, Bible journaling, etc. For example, we talked about the “Illustrated Faith” line by Bella Blvd.
It was great speaking with someone who has such a wide view of all the crafting industries and beyond.
This is one of my favorite scrapbooking companies so I was looking forward to visiting their booth.
I have the Carpe Diem planner (#TeamAqua) and some of the embellishments so I already knew I liked it. But seeing it in person was great.
I was also excited to see Simple Stories’ new travel line, the one Layle has been teasing us with. Looks great for tropical vacations, hangin’ by the pool layouts, etc.
With great timing for their own 5th birthday, Simple Stories came out with a new birthday line that’s so fun.
Loved this cute sample album to keep track of birthdays of family and friends.
Their existing winter/snow and love lines were even nicer in person.
One of Simple Stories’ brand new lines called “Hope.”
I’d hoped to say hi to Simple Stories’ owners Kevin and Amber who I got to meet at CHA 2 years ago. They also owned Memory Works where I was a scrapbooking consultant for several years. Unfortunately, they weren’t at the booth when I went by the first time {I’d seen them over talking to the My Minds Eye peeps a few minutes earlier}.
When I tried again, I spotted Layle Koncar and gabbed with her for a while – about planners, A5 punches, kit clubs, and other fun stuff. She’s such a neat person to talk to. Then Kevin and Amber came back but Kevin was with a customer and Amber was talking for quite a while to …. Cathy Zielske!
At one point, I kind of whispered to Layle, “That’s Cathy Z right behind you” ‘cuz I’m like freaking out but they’re old friends and have worked together a lot. It looked like Cathy was really digging the Carpe Diem planner items Amber was showing her :)
Then Vicki Boutin walked up and joined our conversation. She’s #TeamPlatinum. Another super nice person, easy to talk to.
So that was my visit to the Simple Stories booth at CHA 2016.
My favorite thing from from Heidi Swapp was the awesome Lightbox! You can personalize the message and design. Can’t wait to see these in person. Again, “C’monnnnn, Michaels. I’m counting on you!”
One thing you’ll always hear from professional organizers is that vertical storage is the way to go.
One thing you’ll always hear from scrapbookers is that the Ikea Raskog cart (and all it’s cute knock-offs) is the way to go.
One thing you’ll always here from me is OMG thisisSOcute let’s go shoppingggg!!!!
An online scrapbooker named Evi posted this today and I just had to share it with you.
As you can see from the tags in the photos below, she found it at Marshall’s. It’s made by Cynthia Rowley but there was no other information on the tags. The cost was $12.99.
Evi says:
“It’s aprox 13 inches tall, 11 inches wide, and 3 inches deep.
It comes in white on white, white with gold, and teal with gold.
I think they just put them out today – they had a dozen along with an entire shelf of matching storage pieces.”
I’m not a gold fan but I might deal with it to get that pretty blue color that I *do* love. Or the white on white would be good, too.
She’s still deciding how to fill it up but here are some early ideas . . .
Looks like a great size for holding washi tape. Wonder if I could fit my whole collection in there and make this a Washi Tower??
Thanks for sharing this fabulous find, Evi!
What do y’all think? Will you be stalking your Marshall’s for this item? What are some ideas for how to use it?
This is part of a series about the scrapbooking booths I visited at CHA 2016. If you’d like to see all the posts in the series, click HERE.
Disclaimer about my photos: The lighting at CHA is HORRIBLE for amateur phototaking. It’s held in a dimly lit and huge exhibit hall with spotlights here and there. If you don’t use your flash, you get what I got. If you DO use your flash, you get glare from all the packaging not to mention disturbing the crowd of people in the booth. I wish I had better photos but I did the best I could with editing them. I hope you can at least get an idea of what the products are like! (95% taken with Nikon Coolpix P100 and 5% with iPhone 6+)
Kaisercraft
My next stop was Kaisercraft where I didn’t really know what to expect. I don’t own but a few pieces, mainly because I haven’t been exposed to the brand very much. They’re based out of Australia and I’m in the US so . . .
I thought most of their lines looked like this, very antiqued with lots of browns:
When in fact, it’s quite varied with loads of beautiful colors and more modern designs than I imagined.
This line full of teals, whites, and greys was my absolute favorite. Swoon!
I like how they have the release date of each line on the shelving it’s housed on. Wicked smart.
I didn’t catch her name, sadly, but the person I spoke to in the Kaisercraft booth was supermodel beautiful and had that lovely Aussie accent.
I asked what their most popular items were and she said their line of adult coloring books (this becomes a theme) and this beach line. Which I love, and told her I live near the beach and we go there a lot, though it’s not summer. And she pointed out that it IS summer in Australia :D
Aren’t these projects beautiful?! I love the paper that looks like fishing net.
This album is going on my CHA 2016 Wish List for sure. I love the color and the quote!
These albums were pushed more back into the shelf so I slid them out to get a better photo. Unbeknownst to me, a woman was standing behind me waiting to also take a photo of them and I’m pretty sure it was Julie McGuffee from Scrapbook Soup!
As I turned around from pushing them back into the shelf, she said, “Aw, you put them back” and smiled. I immediately pulled them BACK out so she could take a photo and she told me I was sweet :) So that was a fun exchange.
You know that column in “Us” magazine called “Stars – They’re Just Like Us”? It reminded me of that. My mind is bumbling over this ‘scrapbook star’ and she’s just taking a photo like a normal person, LOL.
Kaisercraft has quite a line of mists!
Here’s one of their outer walls, which I assume alludes to their coloring book line. (I may be dumb but I’m not blonde!) (Ummm, wait a minute … I don’t think I said that right).
I asked if the majority of Kaisercraft’s market was in Australia and she estimated about 60% was, with about 20% in America and 20% elsewhere.
Thank you for enlightening me to your product lines, Kaisercraft! Loved your booth.
I took over 200 photos at CHA (in 5 hours, wow!). I couldn’t post close-ups of everything but if there are items you’d like a closer look at, please leave a Comment on this post and I’ll edit the photo(s) so you can see better :) Just another service provided by your friends at Scrapbook Obsession. Okay, well, it’s just me but I wanted to sound important.
This is part of a series about the scrapbooking booths I visited at CHA 2016. If you’d like to see all the posts in the series, click HERE.
Disclaimer about my photos: The lighting at CHA is HORRIBLE for amateur phototaking. It’s held in a dimly lit and huge exhibit hall with spotlights here and there. If you don’t use your flash, you get what I got. If you DO use your flash, you get glare from all the packaging not to mention disturbing the crowd of people in the booth. I wish I had better photos but I did the best I could with editing them. I hope you can at least get an idea of what the products are like! (95% taken with Nikon Coolpix P100 and 5% with iPhone 6+)
My first stop after checking in at the Craft and Hobby Association 2016 show was the MAMBI booth. They’re one of my favorite companies because of their fun colors, fabulous fonts, and everyday scrapbooking topics.
This was one of the outside display windows. Obviously, the Create 365 Happy Planners have been a BIG product for MAMBI this year!
Papercrafting, Embellishments, and MAMBI Makers, which are DIY projects like photo cubes and canvases.
I hope that pack with the star comes to Michaels ;)
The very nice Charon Thurman from MAMBI showed me around the booth. We got into a great discussion about the MAMBI planners. She said it’s been a huge seller for them. I was telling her how, in my online entrepreneur circles, it seems everyone is going back to using paper planners, even those of us who are considered techie and are on the computer all day. And that’s probably why …. ‘cuz we’re on the computer all day, LOL.
Charon said that planners make perfect sense for scrapbookers because we’re tactile people who like to interact with our surroundings. Well, actually, she said something really profound and beautiful along those lines and afterward I said, “I wish I’d been recording you because what you just said was AWESOME!” I totally see why they have Charon work the floor. She’s guuuuud.
This is an example of the add-ons they have like Wedding and this is Exercise. So you can extend the use of your planner beyond just work and home.
I opened the Wedding one on the left. I’m not planning a wedding (happily married for over 20 years) but pages like this made me see that it would be a fun place to memorialize all the details of your wedding (like what vendors you used). Maybe this is where I could finally slap down all the brochures and receipts I saved from our wedding too? Hmmm…
More planner goodies …
Me likee this washeeeee . . .
This punch caught my eye – would be great to have for inserting random pages, printables, etc.
And Charon was wearing one of these snazzy pen holders on her badge. The pink heart one is my fave.
See how it says $2.50? Scrapbook products are typically marked up 50% so this will probably retail for $4.99. On the one hand, you may think “50%!! We’re being robbed!” On the other hand, think about how many pen holders a scrapbook store has to sell just to pay the light bill each month. It’s a hard, hard biz, people.
Back to our scheduled programming. Here are some alphas.
You know how I’m always complaining about the scrapbooking industry having no love for us Silver Girls and that it’s always GOLD GOLD GOLD everywhere?
PROOF:
Five gold alphas and one stinkin’ silver one. The pain is real, yo’.
New Paper pads . . .
. . . with all the papers spread out and displayed here:
Say goodbye to the MAMBI booth – that’s it!
I took over 200 photos at CHA (in 5 hours, wow!). I couldn’t post close-ups of everything but if there are items you’d like a closer look at, please leave a Comment on this post and I’ll edit the photo(s) so you can see better :) Just another service provided by your friends at Scrapbook Obsession. Okay, well, it’s just me but I wanted to sound important.
As a working wife and mama, I never get my heart set on doing things that are just for fun. Like actually scrapbooking (not just writing about it), blogging (har har), or attending CHA in Anaheim each January. I was able to attend for the first time 2 years ago, then last year something else came up and I couldn’t go.
So it wasn’t until I was actually in the car at 6:30 am driving south for 4 hours that I let myself believe I was attending CHA! Trippy dude.
Just me, the open road, some jackrabbits, and Adele.
For part of the ride, I was in the middle of a military convoy, out in the middle of the lost hills. But I felt safe.
Signs, Signs, Everywhere There’s Signs
Do you believe in signs? I do. And 88 is one of my lucky numbers. Well, what should I see when I sat down at Carls Jr. for a quick bite (3 chicken taquitos, if you must know) before attacking 6 hours of scrapbook vendor booth stalking (SVBS):
Not only was my total $3.88 but my table number was 88. “I saw the sign. And it opened up my eyes. I saw the sign.” Anyhoo, it made me feel good about how the day would go.
And the taquitos were YUM so there’s that.
The Anaheim Convention Center is literally right next door to Disneyland so parking is, shall we say, challenging. And the parking entrance had changed since 2 years ago so I was LATE. I lost a precious 20 minutes on the show floor and I think only YOU can understand how upset I was.
So much for 88.
It’s Time for the Show
I parked, walked (what seemed like) a mile, checked in at the press counter, and got my free tote full of catalogs, the show catalog, and a schmancy lanyard!
Lanyard. Lanyard. Lanyard. That’s going on my list of fun words to say, along with bubbly, specious, and helicopter (which one of my kids used to say as “heelio-co-bobter” and therefore how I actually say it now). Yes, out loud. Yes, in front of other people. Sheesh. They know what I mean.
Where I walked in to the show floor, I soon came across this cool chalkboard.
Take your time. Take it in. It’s magical.
I’m Just a Blogger
Attending CHA as media vs as a vendor, I always feel like I’m kind of tiptoeing around the ‘real’ attendees, the scrapbook stores. “No, it’s okay. I’m media.” “No worries. I’m just a blogger.”
I know the purpose of the vendors being at CHA is to get orders. It’s their bread and butter. The fact that they’re all so gracious, taking time to speak with me and letting me take so many photos is lovely. Not once in 2 CHAs has anyone made me feel “less than” and for that I’m grateful.
So that was getting to CHA. The first scrapbooking booth I stopped into was MAMBI. More on that next time :)
There was some really cute stuff in the Target Dollar Spot when I was there yesterday. I took some quick pics with my phone :)
They had the usual mailboxes but this was the first time I’d seen the USPS style ones (red). So cute!
The tags on the botton left are black with glitter on the bottom which doesn’t show very well here but they were very nice.
The only thing I ended up buying were the kraft tags with sequins on the bottom.
Lots of cute clothespins including those arrow ones with the pink felt. Also washi tape, wood veneers, cork, and more.
I didn’t take photos of every single thing; there are more! Go check out Target if you’re a love or Valentine’s girl <3
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Yahoo!! I finished my scrapbook space organization today!
Of course, I’ll be telling and showing you lots more about it but for now, here’s a quick preview of just one big improvement = my desk top.
Before
After
Not only is there space to scrapbook again but there’s a little more elbow room overall.
I’m so excited to tell you more about this big project!
Have a great weekend :)
PS: If you’re fittin’ to do a major transformation of your scrapbook space like I just did, stay tuned. I’m offering a 10-week organization class starting on Monday 01-18-16. More details to follow . . .
I’ve been so busy with the holidays and work, I haven’t gotten over to Michaels in weeks. I don’t feel guilty about that until they start calling me at home. They’re all, “Erika, you have to come shop. Our scrapbook sales have seriously dipped and we’re considering closing down those aisles” and “We haven’t been able to pay our light bill!” Which I think are just high-pressure tactics and I ignore them at first. But then they call back and call back and then I feel horrible :(
Although I haven’t been to Mike’s in a while, my scrappy friend Alison took these photos and is letting me share them – cuz I knew you’d want to know! The details are from Alison too :)
BRAND NEW LINE Crate Paper “Hello Love” and new Craftsmith “Soho Tropical”
WRMK “Wildflowers” (prettier in person than online) and Dear Lizzie “Documentary”
New Craftsmith “Melon Patch” and “Seaglass” (am I reading those right from the photos? Halp!)
New Craftsmith “Words to Live By”
They had a ton of new solid cardstock packs. And here’s something different – a pad that’s made to look like paint chips! On some pages, they are small 2×2 squares, others there are 3-4 colors per page.
So what do you think? See any Must Haves? I’m eyeing the “Words to Live By” and “Paint Chip” pads. Maybe if I can find them for $5-6 at some point.
Speaking of which, there are varying reports about the price of these Hot Buy pads. They’re regularly $19.99. The ad apparently says they’re $10 this week or you may have to use the 40% off coupon to bring the cost down, i.e., Word on the Street is jumbled :)
Happy Shopping!
PS: Have you signed up for the Scrapbook Obsession Free Newsletter yet? Doing so gets you access to our Secret Facebook Group. And there’s some fun new stuff coming in 2016 that you don’t want to miss!
Just enter your name and email in the top right sidebar :)
PSS: (Or is it PPS? I’ve been confused about that since grade school). You can also Like the Scrapbook Obsession Facebook Page HERE. It’s a great way to get pinged when I post a new blog entry. I also share links to sales and stuff. Not that you’d be interested in great prices on scrapbook supplies or anything but just in case ;) Tip: The more you interact with the Page, the more it’ll show up in your feed. So please Like, Share, and Comment!
It’s January 2nd and I’m already starting to scrapbook the holidays. The ones that just passed.
I know, RIGHT?
Today I downloaded all the holiday photos from my digital camera and iPhone, created an album in iPhoto, made some deletions, and edited all the photos I kept.
Now I’m printing them out. It’s positively freaky.
Later tonight, I’m going to put my holiday photos in pocket pages, maybe even get crazy and add the Project Life cards I’m using {from THIS set}.
Or I might go REALLY crazy and make actual layouts with THIS.
By the end of next week, the goal is have my journaling done – while all the memories are still fresh in my mind.
I’m only so amazed at my own progress because I think my last 5 or so Christmas’s haven’t been scrapped yet. They got stuck in the iPhoto album stage :(
Some of My Holiday Photos
Nothing says “fall + winter” like a Pumpkin Spice Latte … yummm!
The nicest Christmas tree I saw this year . . . at the movie theater! Yes, I was the goober standing there in the lobby taking a photo :P
Over the mountains and through the snow to grandmother’s house we go!
Pretty snow pictures . . .
Christmas dinner with the extended fam.
Pizza reheated on the campfire grill and a glass of red wine – now that’s what I call Glamping! Erm, I mean CAMPING.
Hiking in the California Redwoods, praying the train doesn’t come while we’re crossing the tracks across that bridge!
Yep, this is how my box arrived for a recent shipment of {2} WRMK Kiwi 12×12 albums from Amazon. I’m an Amazon Associate which means I recommend them and their products to you on this blog. It means I believe in their company and their products. So, man, this was disappointing!
Just because I’m an affiliate doesn’t mean I’m not going to share this with you. Gotta’ be real, yo’s.
So a full-on hole in the corner. Gee, do ya’ suppose my albums are gonna’ be dirty or damaged?
Here’s the overall condition of the box. I took a ton of photos as I opened it because I figured I’d need documentation for the return.
Yeah, two large albums in a larger box with nothing except this pathetic excuse for padding.
They weren’t individually wrapped so all the dirt that got into the box did things like stick to the labels . . .
. . . and get alllll over the 2 albums.
The page protectors inside were ruined.
There were gouges on the surfaces . . .
. . . and a bunged up corner.
Sigh.
I flippin’ HATE returning things. Contact Amazon, fill out the return, find a new box (in this particular case), haul it to the post office, etc. So I told myself if I could get the dirt off the albums, I’d just keep them. Luckily, I was able to with just baby wipes. That didn’t take care of the gouges and dings but whatever. I decided to just keep them. I will, however, be letting Amazon know about the horrible shipping practice on this box.
A day later, the other {4} WRMK Kiwi albums I ordered from Amazon also arrived.
Ahhhhh, much better!
Lots of air pillows!
Individually wrapped!
Now THAT is the Amazon I know and love. Thank goodness they restored my faith in them so quickly. I’ve ordered from Amazon probably 60-70 times by now and never, ever had a bad experience like this.
So I do still recommend them wholeheartedly. No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. I know that if I’d wanted to pursue a return, they would’ve accepted it, no problem.
I think the bottom line is that they should only let scrapbookers pack up their scrapbook supply orders. Any scrapper would know that you have to pack WRMK albums with care, right?
Have you had any crazy or bad Amazon experiences? Do tell.
My brain is fried right now. This is what December does to me. In the interest of getting a blog post up, I’m going to share 8 things I’ve learned this month – some are scrappy, some are not.
I learned that putting twinkle lights all around your house makes every gray day and every cold night better.
While doing my scrapbook organization class, I had to go through my Project Life, MAMBI, Simple Stories, etc. 3×4 and 4×6 cards and I have “too many.” I mean, jeez, FOUR shoeboxes. It’s insane, right?
But I learned that I DON’T CARE. I let go of some duplicates where I had 3 or 4 of each card and instead kept 1 or 2. But beyond that, I’m not getting rid of any more. They’re not hurting anyone. I’m not hurting anyone. They bring me joy. The money has already been spent. And I’ll use most – okay, a lot – of them someday. So there.
I learned that I’m a sucker for any online sappy video there is. Apparently, I love to cry because I do it a lot. The one where the people in the British shopping mall run up and give gifts to random people got me today. Sniff.
I’ve learned that looking at other people’s planners and lists (#ListersGottaList) on a constant rotation can make you feel very inadequate and like you’re not good enough to do your own version.
While organizing my stamps, I decided to purge a bunch of them, including ones I used to share at crops during my Memory Works Consultant days. To get my name and phone number off of them, I learned that rubbing alcohol does the trick!
From the terminal cancer of a fellow scrapper and the sudden death by brain aneurysm of a 48-year-old friend, I learned – once again – that life is very short and very precious. I’ve tried to be continually kind to myself when things don’t go as I want them to.
I learned that Michaels has really cute Christmas doilies and snowflakes.
I learned that tickets for Adele’s US tour go on sale this Thursday!
Here’s a round-up of some cool scrappy things I saw on the scrappy interwebs and want to share with you!
– Lisa Bearnson and the Anthology crew hit the Pinners Conference in Utah last month. Here is a quick Project Life layout Lisa shared:
– Can you believe they found a copy of the flippin’ Magna Carta IN A SCRAPBOOK?!? It just doesn’t get much cooler than that. Talk about archival, LOL. Or not very, in this case. Too bad they didn’t have scrapbookers on staff back then.
– Stephanie Howell‘s version of the Simple Stories “Carpe Diem” planner made it into a Buzzfeed article. Fun! {Warning: Title and article itself contain foul language}.
– More cute free printables from Simple Stories for November.
– Want to get a jump start on your Valentine’s and springtime wedding cards? Maybe you have some time off during the holidays, don’t want to drag out ALL your supplies, but still want to get your craft on. This is a great project for that. Hey, get the kids involved too! You know how bored they get after several days of Christmas break, LOL.
To order, please go to my Anthology site HERE. Easy peasy, just like ordering online from any other site :) Less than $2.50 per card, which you can barely buy cards for anymore, and these are much nicer anyway.
Technically, I only talk about scrapbooking books or novels here. I mean, it’s called Scrapbook Obsession after all :P
But I broke from tradition not long ago to write this post and now I’m about to do it again. This time I’m talking about “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear” by Elizabeth Gilbert. We’re going to take a mainstream non-fiction book and make it scrapbook-related (SBR).
She’s the author who wrote “Eat, Pray, Love” that you may have read; it was quite the bestseller.
She’s been writing for most of her life, has wrestled with creativity, and won. I mean, for one thing, she wrote another book immediately AFTER “Eat, Pray, Love.” Given all the attention, all the praise, all the criticism – about her book and her life – that was a brave feat in itself.
Elizabeth Gilbert has been on a speaking tour promoting her book this year and I was supposed to see her on one of the stops. But my plans fell through and I wasn’t able to travel the 3 hours. I did still get my signed copy of “Big Magic” though:
I first became interested in this book because all my creative entrepreneur contacts were talking about it. These are my clients, potential clients, their friends, etc. I don’t make a living from being “a creative” but I’ve always been a writer, as a hobby and pulling it into my work whenever I can (blogging, copywriting, and editing for clients). So I intended to read the book straight-on, from the perspective of a writer.
As I started reading it, I found that I was able to apply almost every single point to being an entrepreneur as well. The author talks a lot about ideas, how we get them and use them (or don’t); not going into huge debt to learn how to be an artist because there are so may free/cheap ways to do so; no whining when publishers and patrons don’t seek you out; etc. Well, all the same things could be said for starting and nurturing a small business. So I was psyched – this book was applicable to TWO distinct parts of my life! Pretty dang cool.
Um, yeah, make that THREE: How about applying her ideas and wisdom to scrapbooking? It doesn’t get much more creative than this wonderful hobby. Now that I’m about 90% done with the book, I’m feeling the need to read it all again. There’s so much good stuff in here and I’m going to share a few important ideas of Elizabeth’s as they might apply to scrapbookers.
Here’s one of my favorite passages from early in the book (starts on page 88 … ooh, magical number!):
Are you considering becoming a creative person? Too late, you already are one. To even call somebody “a creative person” is almost laughably redundent; creativity is the hallmark of our species. We have the senses for it; we have the curiosity for it; we have the opposable thumbs for it; we have the rhythm for it; we have the language and the excitement and the innate connection to divinity for it.
If you’re alive, you’re a creative person. You and I and everyone you know are descended from tens of thousands of years of makers. Decorators, tinkerers, storytellers, dancers, explorers, fiddlers, drummers, builders, growers, problem-solvers, and embellishers – these are our common ancestors.
The guardians of high culture [and scrapbooking] will try to convince you that the arts belong only to a chosen few, but they are wrong and they are also annoying. We are all the chosen few. We are all makers by design. Even if you grew up watching cartoons in a sugar stupor from dawn to dusk, creativity still lurks within you. …
All of which is to say: You do not need a permission slip from the principal’s office to live a creative life. Or if you do worry that you need a permission slip — THERE, I just gave it to you. I just wrote it on the back of an old shopping list. Consider yourself fully accredited.
Now go make something.
I want to scream this to all those people who, upon hearing that I love to scrapbook, say, “Oh, I can’t do that. I’m not creative.” Bull puckey! (as my mama said as I was growing up, because she didn’t curse in front of minors). YOU are creative and YOU are creative and YOU are creative. Every single person. It’s in all of us. Granted, some might be shy about letting out their creativity, feel it’s a waste of time, or feel their efforts are lackluster. But no one can say they truly aren’t creative. It’s just IN us.
I also want to share that passage with you scrapbookers who feel your pages are too plain, you don’t do all the techniques, you don’t have $80 per page to spend on supplies, or you’re “just a pocket page scrapper.” I’ve been guilty of thinking and saying these things about myself. So I needed to hear this. No matter what form our scrapbooking takes, we are creating layouts, writing down memories, choosing pleasing colors and themes, and making our own version of art. We are creative, just as creative as those “creative scrapbookers”!
Another passage that spoke to me was this one, starting on page 179:
I firmly beleive that we all need to find something to do in our lives that stops us from eating the couch. Whether we make a profession out of it or not, we all need an activity that is beyond the mundane and that takes us out of our established and limiting roles in society (mother, employee, neighbor, brother, boss, etc.). We all need something that helps us to forget ourselves for a while – to momentarily forget our age, our gender, our socioeconomic background, our duties, our failures, and all that we have lost and screwed up. We need something that takes us so far out of ourselves that we forget to eat, forget to pee, forget to mow the lawn, forget to resent our enemies, forget to brood over our insecurities. …
Perhaps creativity’s greatest mercy is this: By completely absorbing our attention for a short and magical spell, it can relieve us temporarily from the dreadful burden of being who we are. Best of all, at the end of your creative adventure, you have a souvenir – something that you made, something to remind you forever of your brief but transformative encounter with inspiration.
Can I get an AMEN?? For those of us scrapbook obsessed, this is the wonderful, magical, amazing thing that keeps us sane. Scrapbooking allows us that time and space to escape the real world and all its obligations and crushing blows and just be creative. I don’t know about you but I can’t think of a single moment scrapbooking that hasn’t been enjoyable (well, except for editing and printing photos but let’s not count that).
How many times have you been so consumed by paper, photos, embellishments, and adhesive that you forgot to pee? Or eat or drink or pay the light bill? Yeah, that’s a magical escape my friends and aren’t we lucky to have found the key to the portal.
We are all creative and creativity keeps us sane. Those are just two of the scrapbook-y takeaways I got from this book. I’d love to hear your thoughts on these ideas and your scrapbooking creativity in general.
Hey there! I haven’t been posting as much because I’ve been doing a complete purge and organization of my scrapbook space AND giving a class simultaneously called “Simplify Your Scrapbook Space” … you can join us anytime HERE!
While purging for Module 3 (Paper and Cards), I went through my coughfourshoeboxescough of Project Life cards and thinned them out a bit. Also, I still have 2 partial WRMK card sets (see THIS old post which I just bumped because it has images of those cards).
So this is what I currently have for sale:
Project Life Slate (47) 3×4 cards $3 plus shipping
Project Life Coral (48) 3×4 cards $3 plus shipping
Project Life Honey (81) 3×4 cards $5 plus shipping
Project Life/Heidi Swapp Picturesque (90) 3×4 cards $5 plus shipping
Project Life/Heidi Swapp Dreamy (93) 3×4 cards $5 plus shipping
Project Life Kiwi (134) 3×4 cards* $7 plus shipping
*3 each of most Kiwi cards; willing to break up into smaller sets
You can see complete Project Life sets on Becky’s site HERE; keep in mind I’m selling only partial sets.
WRMK Hip Hip Hooray! $4 plus shipping
WRMK Chalkboard $4 plus shipping
each WRMK set contains:
{12} 4×6 cards
{24} 3×4 cards
{12} 3×4 die cut cards
{1} 3×4 craft paper envelopes
Volume discounts :)
Pet-free and smoke-free home. Paypal only, please.
If interested, please leave a Comment or e-mail me: erika(at)scrapbookobsession(dot)com.
Hey there! I recently bought 4 sets of WMRK Albums Made Easy card sets. They come with 4 of each card and who needs that many? Not me! So I’d like to sell 1/2 of each set. Images below are from the internet but these are the 4 sets I have (UPDATE: 2 sets are now sold, 2 still available):
HIP HIP HOORAY! is perfect for ALLLLL those birthday photos you know you have to scrap ;)
JET SET is travel-themed with non-traditional but great colors ETA 09-23-15: SOLD!
CHALKBOARD would be great for wedding photos or just everyday, “gosh, I love you” photos
GAME DAY covers all the major sports and many would be great for school pages, too ETA 12-03-14: SOLD!
Each half-set includes:
{12} 4×6 cards
{24} 3×4 cards
{12} 3×4 die cut cards
{1} 3×4 craft paper envelopes
Almost all of the cards are double-sided. Some of the die cut cards are reversible where both sides are useable, then some of them, like one that has the word “FAMILY” cut out, wouldn’t look right from the back side :) But I plan to layer those with another 3×4 card or put some matching cardstock or even a photo behind them.
These sets retail for $8.99 so half of a set would be about $4.50. I’m selling them for $4.00 per half-set or $10 for all 3 remaining half-sets. Shipping is $1 per set in the US; outside the US is actual shipping cost.
They’re from a pet-free and smoke-free home. Paypal only, please.
If interested, please e-mail me: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.
The full course title is: “Simplify Your Scrapbook Space: Declutter and Organize So You Can Scrapbook Stress-Free.” Catchy, eh?
The Short Version
If you don’t have time to read this long post, let me cut to the chase for you: The class is on sale NOW. You should sign up NOW because there’s a group of us starting on Monday together (but it can be self-paced too). It’s only $39 for 8 weeks of content, encouragement and accountability in a Facebook secret group and the classroom message board, not to mention a shared Pinterest board, and lots of free bonuses! You can learn more HERE and sign up HERE.
The Long Version
Here’s My History. What’s Yours?
I’ve been scrapbooking since 2001. Since that time, my scrapbook space has become so overrun with supplies and clutter that I often dread spending time in there and I sadly don’t scrapbook at home very much. {I mostly scrapbook at crops and retreats}. Periodically, I spend a day or two putting away purchases, sorting through my piles (yeah, I’m a piler), and rejoicing over seeing my desktop again.
Yet 2 months later, I’m back in the exact same boat. My scrap desk is piled high, I can’t put my hands on that favorite supply I wanted to use, and I end up just walking out of my scrap space without doing much because I don’t want to deal with it yet AGAIN. Can you relate to this at all?
Proof of the Crazy That Was My Scrapbook Space
BEFORE photos of my desk and file cabinet … yuck :(
This class will be different from other scrapbook space organization classes. Instead of focusing on the smartest or coolest ways to organize and store your supplies, we’re going to focus on paring down what you have, mentally and physically clearing away all the scrapbook clutter that is blocking your creativity and causing stress, and only keeping those scrapbooking items that bring you joy. THEN we’ll talk about how to store everything.
A Scary Concept
Now I realize these thoughts are very scary for some. They sure are for me. Pare down? Clear away? Simplify? Does that mean I have to get rid of most of the supplies I love? NOPE. It just means that we’re going to be brutally honest with ourselves about what amount of scrapbook supplies we truly need, which ones “bring us joy” vs. which ones feel kind of heavy or obligatory, and what level of simplifying will allow us maximum creativity.
For example, I’ve been stubbornly holding on to MANY 12×12 postbound albums which take up most of my storage cubes. It’s crazy. I switched over to D-ring albums years ago and the likelihood that any of these albums will ever be used is very small. Why am I holding onto them? I’m letting them take up valuable closed storage space that could be better used for other supplies that are cluttering up my desktop – and making me feel too crowded to scrapbook there? I mean, come ON!
Deep Breaths!
Don’t worry. If you take my class, I’m not going to “make you” do anything you don’t want to do, PROMISE. I’m just going to give you ideas on how to simplify your stash, encouragement if you need it, and let you know that it’s okay to let go of things in your scrapbook space that aren’t bringing you joy and aren’t enhancing your creativity.
In the past, I’ve purged good amounts of stuff (for example, HERE and HERE) but I’ve come to the realization after all these years and all these attempts at organization that I’ve held on too tightly to too much. Not to mention that I keep buying cute new stuff while not purging or using equal amounts of it.
Months or years after a purge and organization attempt (which never seem to be completely finished because I get distracted before I’m truly done), there are items I’m still holding onto that, honestly, will probably never be used.
What if Someday Never Comes?
And you know what? That’s okay. What the Konmari method made me see is that I don’t have to feel guilty about letting go of things “because I spent good money on that” or because “I have a project I want to do with it” SOMEDAY. Yeah, always someday, right?
Another thing I’m okay with is just packing some things away for a while and revisiting them later. If there are supplies I’m not sure I’m ready to let go of, there’s no harm in putting them in a box in the attic or a closet and revisiting them in a year or so. Because in the meantime, I cleared some space! I made room for creativity! And that’s an awesome feeling.
I want you to have that feeling too. I want you to feel refreshed, unburdened, and free in your scrapbook space not dreading the chaos that currently exists. Maybe you’re already awesomely simplified and organized; if so, good for you! But if you feel like it’s time to make some changes in your level of supplies or just in how they’re organized, I hope you’ll join me for this class.
More About “Simplify Your Scrapbook Space”
The sales page is HERE and the purchase page is HERE. It’s only $39 for this beta class which will unfold over 8 weeks, no matter when you purchase it. (Only $5 a week?? Whaaaaat?) But if you want to roll along with a group of us doing the class together, please sign up by tonight – we’re starting THIS Monday 11/16/15! {Signing up any time after Monday is totally fine! You’ll receive the initial module right way and the following 7 modules week by week. You’ll have full access to the Facebook group, message board, Pinterest board, etc.}.
I plan to offer an expanded version of the class in January 2016. I know that the current time of year is tough for taking on a project. But if you can swing it, do the class with us now so you’re able to enjoy any holiday down-time or vacation days in your newly organized space :) Also, the price for the January class will be higher so now is the time to get in for less.
Whether you sign up for my class or not, I urge you to take a look around at your scrapbook space and REALLY examine if it’s serving you well. Does it contain only things that bring you joy? Does it allow space for making layouts, sorting photos, and using your die-cutting machine? Do you feel invited to enter your space or do you dread approaching it? If the answers to these questions aren’t positive ones, consider making a change, either now or in the new year so 2016 can be an amazing year of creativity for you!
She was most excited about their new Instax line with albums, page protectors, Instax lenses you can pop on, etc. {Look over her right shoulder!} Molly said that when someone asks her about planner supplies, she directs them toward the Instax line because the items can be used for both – little embellishments, washi tape strips, acrylic embellishments, etc.
All the products including the Instax page protectors, 6×8 album protectors, planner supplies – everything works in everything except for the tiny Instax album. Everything else is interchangable from album to album. See the tiny little Instax pink and blue albums up top? Stinkin’ cute.
