I can’t believe we already have it! Memory Works has the new Cosmo Cricket lines from CHA-Winter (just last month!). You can see them all HERE and place an order if you like. I take Paypal or check/money order; sorry, US orders only.
As many of you know who ordered Simple Stories recently, Memory Works has great customer service ~ your order is shipped within 1-2 business days of payment confirmation. Not to mention that I will be your consultant and I’ll treat you like a queen! The Scrapbooking Queen that you are.
Okay, get ready, ‘cuz I’m going to tease you with some previews of the Cosmo Cricket we have …
“GARDEN VARIETY” Theme Set
“GARDEN VARIETY” Cardstock Stickers
We also have the Elements, Chipboard, and Buttons. Cardmakers will be happy to know we have the “GARDEN VARIETY” 6×6 Mini Deck!
Oh! And these cool Paul Bunyan chipboard letters, that are so fun and different …
Now onto another line …
“MATERIAL GIRL” Theme Set
“MATERIAL GIRL” Cardstock Stickers
“MATERIAL GIRL” Journaling Cards
We also have the “Material Girl” Chipboard, Buttons, 6×6 Mini Deck, and the Flour Sack chipboard letters … oh, so cute!
The third line we have is called “Joy Ride” …
“JOY RIDE” THEME SET
Here are the “JOY RIDE” ELEMENTS
We also have the Cardstock Stickers, Buttons, 6×6 Mini Deck, Chipboard, and one of my picks, these “Blue Line” chipboard letters …
Last but not least, we have the TINY TYPE ALPHAS in Red, Blue, Brown, Green, Black, and Cream.
I will definitely be stocking up on these. I’ve always loved the similar alphas by Making Memories but I actually like this font better, plus you get those extra little stickers at the bottom. Besides, they’re only $1.50 each so why not?
MEMORY WORKS also has the new Three Bugs in a Rug that you can see HERE. We have Great Outdoors, Savannah, Little Chick, and Animal Stackers.
I’m always happy to answer your questions … just give me a shout at scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.
Ah, “clearance” … One of the most beautiful words in the English language. When I walked into Michaels last weekend, and was on the way to the scrapbook aisle, I ran right into a display of scrapbook CLEARANCE.
There were paper packs by K&Co. and Making Memories, …
… paper pads by GCD, and SEI.
There was this huge pack of 12×12 specialty papers by Prima … super pretty and romantic. If you have a wedding to scrap, I would check this one out!
Then over to the “Designer Showcase” or whatever the hell they call that “new scrapbooking stuff” section these days. Here are pics of all 4 sides of it:
Look at that lovely bling!
Bling titles this time, and lots of new Soft Spoken.
Some new My Minds Eye chipboard and vinyl. Wait, did I say vinyl? Yep, I did. How cool. You can use it on your walls OR your scrapbook pages.
Here’s a close-up of the MME “Home” journaling chipboard. The colors are really pretty in person.
Here’s a lotta new K & Company goodness.
Here are some items I’ll be back for with coupons in the future. It pained me to leave “my” things at the store, but I already had a few items and had to call it quits. For now. Are those cupcakes and sweets on the bottom right to DIE for??? Oh. My. Gah! And the branches that look real, and the cute little flowers with bling in the center??? Can you see the red car and cute blue trailer it’s towing in the travel set?
After Michaels, I went to Costco. I tell myself not to even bother looking for SBR stuff there anymore because they never have anything … or anything good. But I can never resist checking anyway, and this time I at least found a Purple Cow 2 in 1 paper trimmer. Is that a good price? I don’t know. I’ve been happy ~ infatuated really ~ with my Cutterpede trimmer for so long now, I’ve never even so much as glanced at another trimmer. When I’m happy, I’m loyal :)
Here are two reads I picked up at Barnes and Noble:
The latest from CK, Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks. Lots of organizational items in here. It’s thin, but I still think worth the $6 cover price.
Blogging for Bliss book ($15) by TARA FREY, a mucho successful craft blogger. HERE is Tara’s blog entry about her book. I skimmed through it once so far and I LOVE this book! Highly recommend it to anyone who wants to make the most of their craft-related blog.
I found it interesting that the large majority of craft bloggers featured use Typepad. Hmmm… I’ve been considering switching over there from WordPress, and this just adds another reason.
You may recognize this from the ‘Clearance table at Michaels’ photos. Yep, I couldn’t resist a pack of 12 speciality papers marked down from $10 to $2. Some of them are adhesive backed and will be fun to use in my Cricut. The glittery ones are gorgeous, too.
Got all 3 pieces Mike’s had of My Minds Eye “Home” in the pink set. Really, really pretty and only cost $2-$4 each for nice, thick chipboard. You can’t tell from the photo, but the frames one has 3 frames in it.
Here’s the MME chipboard journaling only, “Home” in blue. And some stinkin’ cute epoxy donut stickers by Recollections. They were only $1 and yet they INCLUDED sprinkles! Can you believe that? (“Bad cop. No donut.” Bwahahaha, my favorite bumper sticker EVER!).
And lastly, 2 packs of Prima flowers in Honeydew and Mango. They were $4 each but I used a 40% off coupon on one of the packs. They coordinate really well with Simple Stories “Life Documented,” as I’d hoped, and are the perfect size for my Project 365.
I’m still feeling guilty for buying something at Michaels for full price. I mean, what’s the point of that? Oh well.
One last thing: Here is a photo a friend posted of 2 of the new K&Co. ephemera chipboard packs she purchased, so you can have a closer look-see. Really cute and what a great value, especially if you use coupons like she did :)
Tune in again tomorrow for more shopping news: Tuesday Morning and Ross.
What are your latest shopping finds? Have I enabled you with any of mine?
I didn’t get one, but took some pics for ya’ when I was at Walmart the other day …
At my WM, they were on an endcap as you entered the crafting area. Each one looked like it had different contents, and it was hard to see exactly what was in there. They were shrink wrapped but I saw some Best Occasions and Autumn Leaves stuff. It was too much a leap of faith for me to buy one, but maybe you’ll be willing to take a chance?
THIS Pea bought one and was so happy with it, she went back for another. She posted this photo:
She’s right, that idea book alone sold for $20, so there’s your value. As it happens, I already have that book and tons of AUTUMN LEAVES stamps (including the ones pictured), so it’s probably good I didn’t get one of these scrapbook packs at Walmart. But wanted to share in case you “need” one …
I think it’s a brilliant idea: Package up a bunch of the scrapbooking supplies they’ve had forever, sell them at a great price, and get them outta the store … hopefully to make room for some new things … because it’s been a really long time since new stuff, at least at my Walmart.
Stay tuned: I have lots more scrap-shopping pictures to post from my weekend, but I had to work tonight so this is all I got to. But there will be more … oh yes, there will be more …
The SIMPLE STORIES “Life Documented” kit by MEMORY WORKS went on sale Friday, January 15, 2010 at 9am MST … and I ordered mine 1/15/10 at 9:01 MST :) I know, I know, I lagged for a whole minute! Here is what I ordered:
And the kiwi green WRMK 12×12 D-RING ALBUM ($30.00), which comes with (10) regular 12×12 page protectors
I received my package of goodies exactly one week later (the following Friday). Usually I get MW orders within 4-5 days but, understandably, it took longer this time because they were swamped with orders. That weekend, I set about getting started with my Simple Stories kit, which I’m using to complete my PROJECT 365 for 2010.
The kit is so detailed and nice-looking, that you can definitely “keep it simple” and use nothing but what comes in the kit, by cutting the cardstock elements apart, printing out and using the digital elements, etc. and just slipping them right into the page protector slots. Adding your photos and journaling would be the rest of the process, and you’d be DUNZO! Whoo hoo, love the simplicity and quickness of that.
But after seeing Simple Stories page samples from the Memory Works design team and guest designer BRENDA HURD, I decided to go a little more elaborate with mine. I really liked how they added flowers, ribbon, stamping, and other embellishments to dress it up and have a little fun with it.
So I went digging through my stash and began gathering things that I could use. I found lots of matching flowers and ribbons (Why, yes, I DO know that I have a ribbon issue! I’m on Step 7 of 12. I’ve humbly asked God to remove this shortcoming. I’m waiting to hear back) …
I decided to use one of the patterned, double-sided cardstock sheets to open my Project 365 album, with the title page/front page using one side, and then turning the page to an Introduction page on the left. {It has a bunch of personal info on it and with the nasty spammers I get on the blog, I can’t share the whole thing here, sorry … }. Here’s the bottom right of the Intro page, where I used a file tab sticker and alpha letters from the SS kit, and some light green glitter chipboard letters I had (thanks SSS SECRET SANTA!).
I printed out my photos and started popping them into the slots, along with strips, embellishment, and journaling cards from the kit. I also used one of the transparencies here, to give special honor to the photo of receiving my long-awaited Simple Stories shipment!
On the first page, I used the January month card. There’s a card for every month, which I love.
I kept the cover sheet from the kit and slipped it in a page protector, for when I take my Project 365 album {which will be my demo album} to Memory Works parties and crops.
I’m not sure why I took a photo of my WRMK album. I think because I’m in love with it and want to marry it …
I got all my P365 photos printed up to that point, which was the end of Week 3, and got them in the page protectors where I liked them. Some of the photos didn’t fit effortlessly into the slotted pages so rather than fight or force, I decided to make a front and back 12×12 layout using some of the Prism cardstock as a background.
At that point, I had a better feel for the colors and style of the kit, and went shopping in my stash again for things I could use to dress it up. I found chipboard numbers, journaling items, metal frames, and all kinds of bling. Hmmm … I’m getting so much stuff, I need a container of some kind to hold them on my desk. Shouldn’t be a problem, as I’m the Queen of Rubbermaid storage containers, LOL.
So that’s how things went on my first Simple Stories outing. Obviously, now that I’ve got the basic layout of my pages in place, it’s time to USE some of that fine stashness I’ve gathered.
I’ve never done Project 365 and I’ve never scrapbooked this way, with the divided page protectors. This is going to be a fun and growing experience for me and my scrapbooking, and I’m really looking forward to it.
Check out this cute, scrapbook-related COMIC for a good laugh. You gals who’ve been dealing with ice and snow storms will especially appreciate it :)
If you’ve been patiently waiting for a look at the Simple Stories kit I got last week and what I’m making with it, please hang in there and I’ll have something posted this weekend :)
I have to admit, I haven’t always been a huge fan of BO BUNNY. My first exposure to it was in 2005 when I went to CKU-San Jose (CKU is Creating Keepsakes University, a 3-day scrapbooking event with classes, crops, etc.). I went with a group of friends and, believe it or not, our CKU song was chosen as one of the top three submitted and we got to perform it on stage at a CKU crop.
For participating (which entailed completely embarrassing ourselves in front of total strangers, dressed as The 7 Scrapping Dwarfs and singing “Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s off to scrap we go!”), we got a huge pack of Bo Bunny papers and stickers. We excitedly divided everything up between us and it wasn’t until I got home and began to put my BB papers away did I realize … that I didn’t really care for it very much (gasp!). Matter of fact, I still have most of it, LOL! It’s called the Homespun Collection and it’s all autumn colors, burlap, fall stickers, etc. I think I’ve used them on one layout and that’s it.
I feel badly for saying that, I really do! Nothing personal, Mrs. Bo Bunny. We all have our tastes, our likes and dislikes, and we can’t be head over heels for every single thing, right? I tried to find some photos online to show you and was unsuccessful, but if I can get good photos in the light of day, I’ll post them. While researching Bo Bunny, I came across this 2008 ARTICLE about its founder and now-art director, Jan Lanoy. She seems like a super nice lady and I don’t want to hurt her feelings! So, Jan, if you read this, just promise me you’ll read it all the way to the end. Cool, thanks hon!
Anyway, the moral of the story is this: Sometimes things change for the better. Over time, my opinion of Bo Bunny has certainly changed. Now I’d put them in my Top 5 favorite scrapbooking manufacturers. Oh, if you’re curious, here it is:
Erika’s Top 5 Scrapbooking Companies* (in no particular order because I can’t choose a favorite)
1. My Minds Eye
2. Pink Paislee
3. Bo Bunny
4. K & Company
5. Fancy Pants
*Disclaimer: This is based on their entire offering, so I’m not including Bazzill or Thickers (American Crafts) because of that :)
These days, Bo Bunny’s stuff always catches my eye and I love a lot of what they do. But I have now reached a new level of love for them … I saw this new line the other day and about fell out of my chair. I just want it so dang much and would trample my best friend to get some. Well, maybe not “trample” per se. But definitely “walk very softly over” … I mean, if she’s really my best friend, she’ll understand right? It’s not just “Bros before hoes,” it’s “Pretty paper before friendship.” Am I right???
So, without further adieu … I give to you …
HERE is the link to their website, but this BLOG entry has larger and more photos.
Since we’re on a Top 5 kick, I’ll show you my top 5 favorites from Mama-razzi. Then you have to click those links to see the rest for yourself, K?
Here are the top 5 things I love about this line:
1. Colors ~ Teal, rust, sage, brown, and black look so good together and I can see them going with a lot of the photos I take.
2. Subject ~ I have so many “day to day” photos taken of my family around the house or whatever that are sometimes hard to come up with a layout “idea” for; this will make it easy … It’s just about the photos. And raise your hand if you have a picture or 10 of yourself taking a photo into a mirror? With your camera above, below, or blocking your face? Perfect!
3. Variety ~ I love that you have so much choice in embellishments … the gems, rub-ons, chipboard stickers, acrylic stamp, etc.
4. Cardstock matches ~ I’m sure it’ll coordinate perfectly with their rocking DOUBLE DOT CARDSTOCK that I love so much.
5. “It’s going to Hollywood!” ~ I’m going to assess the Mama-razzi line as if I were a judge on American Idol … “I like your mellowness, Dog. You have great personality but you’re not too flashy and you’re not trying to hard. I think America is going to like you. You’re one of my favorites yet. Let’s see what you can do.”
I ~ hope hope hope ~ that MEMORY WORKS carries this line, not only so I can buy a bunch of it (hey, I need to make projects to demo and sell it, right?). But also because I want to do THIS class kit:
As you can tell, my love for Bo Bunny was not at first sight, but I think it’s a more enduring and deep love, because it developed over time.
What do you think of Mama-razzi? Are any of the other Winter CHA 2010 releases by Bo Bunny calling out to you?
I came across THIS article and cool blog about green crafting, and realized I’ve never written about the subject of “green” scrapbooking. So I thought I’d share some resources, ideas, and articles I found. I have to go against Kermit the Frog here and say, “It IS easy being green.” (Oh man, that was SO bad, I can’t believe I wrote it … ugh… LOL).
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Here’s an online store called CREATIVELY GREEN. They carry eco-friendly crafting supplies, including 100% recycled textured cardstock that just might be a good option for this BAZZILL girl … hmmm …
HERE are some great tips on green scrapbooking by ALI EDWARDS.
THIS is kinda’ neat … an online store called TROPICAL SCRAPBOOKING has a whole page on their site listing the things they’re doing as a company to be green. Now that’s a good kinda’ business to support! Bravo to them :)
HERE is an article from SCRAPBOOK UPDATE that has a list of major scrapbook manufacturers who have gone green. Check out the links down at the bottom and in the comments section, too.
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Apparently, this is a heavily covered topic ‘cuz I found loads of links about it. If you’re interested in reading more, just Google “green scrapbooking” and see what you can find!
I have to admit this is not a topic I’ve thought or done a lot about (don’t shoot me, JINGLE!). But I’m generally a frugal/practical person, so I don’t go out of my way to be wasteful and have always done things like saving my paper scraps for other uses (cards, journaling spots, Cricut letters). I also save and re-use most of the packaging and boxes from my MEMORY WORKS orders, and I’ve been known to cut designs (like cute hearts or something) from scrapbook packaging and use it on my pages.
The one thing I refuse to do under pressure of being green is converting to digital scrapbooking. Ain’t. Gonna. Happen. But now that I see it in writing, I guess I’m doing pretty good with my scrappy green-ness and will just keep doing what I’m doing. I should also make an effort to consciously BE a green scrapper and see what else I can do better.
Is green scrapbooking important to you? Have you changed any scrapping habits or purchasing in an effort to be more green? Or is it not even on your scrappy radar?
Green at Heart
Kioshi
Cappella
Max & Whiskers
Sugar Rush
Origins
Basics
Release dates, as far as I can tell, are:
Sugar Rush and Origins ~ Already available (MEMORY WORKS has them HERE)
Green at Heart and Kioshi ~ Shipping very soon
Basics, Cappella, and Max & Whiskers ~ Shipping in April 2010
It figures that the 2 lines that I like the best ~ Basics and Cappella ~ are available last :( I’m really liking Basics with all the graph and lined papers. Cappella is sure pretty and I love the colors. The only one I really don’t care for is Origins and I finally figured out why, now that I’ve seen the entire line together in the catalog … it’s the emerald green … which actually happens to be one of my favorite colors, it just doesn’t mix well here for me.
THIS is where the Peas are talking about it. Like with every new line by every company, there are lovers and haters, and some that just say “meh.”
If you’re looking for layouts and inspiration for these new lines, check out blogs by KELLY GOREE, LAYLE KONCAR, and the January BG NEWSLETTER.
For all you fellow BG LUVAHS out there … did you know there’s a Basic Grey Challenges BLOG? Check it, home slice!
What do you think of the Basic Grey new releases? Do you have any Origins or Sugar Rush yet? Do you plan to buy any of the remaining lines?
As you probably know by now (LOL!), I’m a consultant for MEMORY WORKS, and SIMPLE STORIESis their hot new product (the very 1st product of their own!). It’s been very popular with scrappers doing PROJECT 365, or those who just want to get some fast scrapping done … while keeping it cute and stylish :) I have an online friend who wants to use this kit to get a quick scrapbook done for her 2009 family album, as she was busy with kids and craziness, and didn’t get many of her photos scrapped.
Anyway, I placed this order ~ which was #1 of 2 ~ the second that Simple Stories products went live on my Memory Works website last Friday (1-15-10). Memory Works said to expect a longer shipping time than usual because this was so popular and they have a small staff. Usually my orders ship to me within 1 business day; they said to allow 4-7 business days for Simple Stories, and that was accurate since it shipped on Day 5 and arrived here on Day 7.
As you can see, I ordered my own stuff and a bunch of extras to sell at my next crop and to friends. (I’m already holding a few things, wink). There’s my gorgeous Kiwi green album by We R Memory Keepers, the Simple Stories kits, coordinating cardstock packs, and 2 kinds of page protector packs.
My 2nd order is due here Monday … more of the same. I decided to get extras with the profits I made from the first round of selling (it sold VERY well!). Like they say, a good businesswoman reinvests her profits in her business :) I heard … and it may just be a rumor … that this could be the only run of this version of “Life Documented” kits. I mean, Memory Works will probably issue future Simple Stories kits along these same lines that coordinate and everything, but I like THIS particular kit so much, I wanted to get lots of extras while I could. You know, once they’re gone, they’re gone, kind of a thang.
I’ll be playing with Simple Stories all weekend, getting my Project 365 all caught up (Weeks 1 through 3). I’ll post close-ups of the kit contents themselves, probably on Monday because I have a very busy weekend.
Did you order Simple Stories? Didja get it yet? What do you think?
Found this cute survey while I was blurfing (aka blog surfing), and thought I would fill it out, maybe use it on an All About Me layout. I copied the survey from LISA WARREN, who got it from CASSIE.
ABC’s of me
A – Age: Wouldn’t you like to know?
B – Bed size: A Select Comfort King
C – Chore you hate: Putting anything away … dishes, laundry, scrap supplies
D – Dog’s name: Landry Timber
E – Essential “start your day” item: COFFEE. Duh.
F – Favorite color: Muted teal … the color of Pacific Ocean water … just to give you a visual, since there technically is no Crayola name for my color
G – Gold or Silver: Silver. Other than my wedding/engagement rings, I don’t wear gold anymore.
H – Height: 5’7″
I – Instruments you play(ed): Zero. Zip. Zilch.
J – Job title: Medical Transcriptionist and Scrapbook Consultant to the Stars!
K – Kid(s): Yep, I’ve got me some.
M – Mum’s name: Um, I call her “Mom.” Again … DUH.
N – Nicknames: Recka.
O – Overnight hospital stay other than childbirth: Gallbladder-ectomy
P – Pet Peeve: Um, you might want to sit down and get comfortable for this. I have a list …
Q – Quote from a movie: “One question: do you need… someone, or do you need me?… Forget it, I don’t really care.” Lloyd Dobler in SAY ANYTHING
R – Right- or left-handed: Right, because Left is Wrong (had to throw that in there, cuz DH is a Lefty)
S – Siblings: Yes, but it doesn’t matter ‘cuz my mom loves ME best.
T – Time you wake up: Approximately 3 minutes before I have to be somewhere. Give or take.
U- Underwear: That is SO nunya, I can’t even believe you asked.
V – Vegetable you dislike: Hominy. Only kidding. I just like to say that word. “Hominy, hominy, hominy.” (Is that even a vegetable?)
W – Ways you drink your coffee: In my pajamas, at crops, in the car, alone or with people, on airplanes, at sporting events, while walking my dog, …
X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, gall bladder
Y – Yummy food you make: Enchilada casserole, mushroom chicken, Tollhouse cookies, teeter totter casserole, and tacos. Oh! And are martinis food? Cuz if so, then I make yummy of those, too.
Z – Zoo favorite : Flamingos
Now it’s your turn. Post the ABC of YOU in comments, or link us to your blog. C’mon, you know you want to!
The first one was for the Bracket Challenge by CHRIS aka Chrispea. She provided this sketch …
… and here is my layout:
It will be perfect for my BOOK OF ME album. Just wanted to capture the little material things that are making mama happy right now.
The second layout I did was based on my own 2-Page, Multi-Photo layout challenge. I included some inspiration layouts for my challenge, including this one by LISA WARREN which I found on the GOT SKETCH? blog …
****** ^^^^^^ THIS IS LISA’S LAYOUT, NOT MINE ^^^^^^ ******
I scraplifted Lisa’s layout and here is what I came up with:
I smudged charcoal grey chalk ink on these letters to go along with the dirt/digging theme, and this is also to show that there’s actually yellow in that patterned paper in case you were wondering why in the heck did I use YELLOW letters, LOL …
And the journaling which I’m not happy with … used a transparency and the ink smudged (even though I used the right kind of pen) and I couldn’t find a good way to adhere it totally flat without glue showing through.
Lisa’s layout is way cuter than mine because she has a cute girlie AND a cute dog, while I only have uh … dog. Nah, really, hers is cuter because she has more talent in her right pinky than I have in my whole body. So thank you for sharing the inspiration, Lisa! You RAWK.
And thank you to all the Scrap Sisters who participated in my challenge. I sent all 11 of ’em a little prize in the mail. Nothing big, just a small “thank you.” Here’s a photo when I was getting the prizes ready to send:
So, that was the first time I’ve scrapped in months. It felt really good. I even cleaned up when I was done. {I know, I can be annoying like that sometimes}. But seriously, I want to keep scrapbooking when I can carve out the time, so I need my space to be ready.
This question was posed by Carole aka carole2k at my message board home, SCRAP SISTERS STUDIO, and boy was it fun to hear THE ANSWERS. Here was mine:
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Books ~ Have to check the book aisle every time I’m in Target or Walmart. One of my favorite chillaxin’ things to do is go to Barnes and Noble, grab a Starbucks, and stroll the aisles. I usually find about 20 books I’d like to buy but have to limit it to 1 (or sometimes none, depending on my budget ). I love books!
Even if I get a Kindle or other e-reader, I’ll still need my bookstore days…It’s like being in a scrapbook store. I love the smell, the atmosphere, being with other people who love books (or scrap supplies, lol), and being able to hold things in my hands.
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Then I posted a picture to prove it:
I organized this bookshelf two weekends ago and it felt really good. I go through it about once a year to get rid of some books and alphabetize the ones I’ve added over time. Not only do I buy a book or two a month on my “book days,” but sometimes people leave their old books up at our post office and they’re free for the taking. Our own little version of PAPERBACK SWAP, but with no shipping charges and instant gratification, LOL! I leave my unwanted books up there, too.
There must be a local woman with the same taste in books as me because I often find titles I’ve been wanting to read … I walk up and there they are! I hope she’s gotten some of my books in return :) For instance, I’ve been wanting to read FIREFLY LANE but it’s a big novel (496 pages) and costs $15 new so I keep passing on it. But I got it for free from the post office the other day, yeah!
Turns out, this is a terrific thing to cover in my PROJECT 365 album, so one or two photos of my books will be my picture(s) of the day. {If you have more than one photo you’d like to share for a day, just print 2 photos in 2×3 or 4 photos on a contact sheet}.
So, I was brave enough to post about my other big weakness. Now it’s your turn … Do tell!
I feel like BECKY HIGGINS today! You know how everyone gets so excited over her scrapbook kits, like the school days one, and more recently, PROJECT LIFE??? Well, today is the day that theSIMPLE STORIES “Life Documented” line and accessories went on sale … 1-15-10 at 9am MST, to be exact.
Late lastnight, the CATALOG of Simple Stories items was released to consultants and boy is it purdy. It’s a .PDF file that I can e-mail to customers, and the whole line in is in there, including the much anticipated matching Prism cardstock, along with How To’s and samples. Very well done, I thought.
I was was up super late lastnight (too embarrassed to tell you HOW late….), getting all my ducks in a row with my pre-orders. I tallied down who had pre-ordered what, the amount due, and whether their Paypal payment had been received. I made sure my Memory Works WEBSITE was pulled up, that all my billing and address info was correct, and that I was logged in. Then I went to bed for a few hours (ahem…) and was up by 7am to be ready for the 8am (my time) launch.
Once the Simple Stories items were showing on my MW website, I placed my very own order for an album, kit, a Prism cardstock pack, and some page protector packs. I added extras of everything (except the album; oh, I got that cool Kiwi green color, btw!) so I have some stock to sell at my next crop. I hit Send and sang Hallelujah! Did a little happy dance. Whoo hoo, I GOT ME MINES!
Then I went to my e-mail … and felt like Becky :)
The order invoices starting coming in, right from the beginning! I checked each one to make sure the correct items were ordered that they had requested, then verified payment had been received, and hit “Order Fulfillment” on my MW website. Questions were coming in pretty regularly, and new orders that hadn’t been pre-paid, so I typed up Paypal invoices, sent them right off, received payment SO quickly (these girls are excited!…well, that or they had to leave for work, sheesh). More Order Fulfillments and lots of happy customers!
Yeah, I felt like about 1% of the stress that Becky Higgins must feel the day her new kits go on sale to the general public. Gah! It’s fun, exhilarating, exciting, and stressful, all rolled into one. I know I’ve gone on and on about this kit/line, and I thank you for your patience if you normally come here just to read sarcastic scrapbook commentary and see what’s in stock at Michaels, LOL! I’ll get back to that good stuff soon, I promise. In fact, I have a VERY good article coming up that you’re going to want to read. It applies to a scrapbook industry controversy, so should be interesting, eh?
Anyway, I’m so happy today is here, excited to keep selling Simple Stories products in the future, and SO appreciative of my lovely customers and understanding SBO readers who have been nothing but wonderful to me :) Hollah!
The best part is going to be seeing what people DO with this kit. I’ve seen (MW owner) Amber’s samples on the simple stories blog, and I know the MW Design Team got the kit a day or two early and are busy creating with it. But I really want to see what the everyday scrapper like me does with it, and hear their feedback. I hope it turns out to be a good solution for Project 365’ers, for busy moms who want to get some photos in an album BEFORE their kids are grown and gone, and for new scrappers who maybe have been intimidated by traditional scrapping and might feel like this is something they can do to get started.
Again, just feelin’ the love today. Thanks to all! Have a WONDERFUL day!
ETA 1-15-10: Holy cow, the Prism Cardstock Pack (it matches with Life Documented kit) has already sold out! I hope they’ll get more soon. You get (7) pieces of pebbled, 12×12 cardstock for $3.75 …
ETA 1-18-10: It’s back! The Prism cardstock that matches Simple Stories “Life Documented” is back in stock :)
For all the details on this kit, please scroll down through my blog and see the past 7 updates. Or you can do a Search on Simple Stories and the entries will come up ~ thanks :)
Since my last update, there have been 2 new posts on the Simple Stories blog:
ALMOST HERE! (01-08-10) ~ More photos of what the kit looks like in action
RELEASE DATE (01-12-10) ~ Release date moved from January 18 to January 15
Just wanted to let you know that the planned release date has been changed from Monday, January 18, 2010 … to this Friday, January 15! For those of you who have placed pre-orders through me, make sure you go to my website ASAP on Friday and order the items you’ve pre-paid for. I don’t want you to miss out … these are going to be VERY popular kits.
The time of release is 9am MST, so figure out what time that means for your time zone if you want to be one of the first, LOL! It’ll be 8am my time (PST) and I’m going to order the kit, album, and page protectors for myself and then some extras to have in stock and sell at crops. I can’t wait to get the goods so I can start scrapping my Project 365!
Okay, I know those of you who could care less about Simple Stories are getting tired of these dang posts, so I’ll keep it short, LOL! Those who ARE interested, please post any questions here in Comments or e-mail me at scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.
I spent most of the weekend working on my scrapbook room. Ugh! I know . . . AGAIN! I’m NOT considering this part of the whole MAKEOVER thing, just the clean-up to get back to where I left off. If you look back at those last “makeover” photos from 10-15-09, I haven’t really made much overall progress since then anyway.
What I did do, however, was perform a major backslide over the holidays. My scrap space became the activity center, the holiday gift-hiding and wrapping hub, and the dumping ground afterward for gifts to be put away, Christmas cards to sort and scrap, school and personal papers, etc. Everything had gotten WAY-HAY-HAY out of hand to the point that I couldn’t do ANYTHING on my desk or in my scrap space, much less scrapbook!
While the ONLINE CROP happened this weekend, I spent some time sorting, purging, putting away, and cleaning my space, taking breaks to chat with the Scrap Sisters and keep my enthusiasm going.
It’s now back to a decent level so I can scrapbook again (I have until Wednesday at midnight PST to complete some of those crop challenges!). Thought I’d share a few Before and After photos. The Before pix were taken Friday night so they’re dark, sorry. The Afters were taken Sunday afternoon.
LEFT SIDE OF DESK – BEFORE
LEFT SIDE OF DESK – AFTER
There’s my new Daisy tool caddy by Creative Memories. I moved all my acrylic stamps and inks from 2 Crop in Style flat packs into the tool caddy. What I realized is that … I need another one, LOL. I have my current stash in there, just barely, but my Secret Santa sent me a bunch more stamps for Christmas (they’re stacked under that pile of embellies, 5 full sets!). See all those punches and tools behind the tool caddy? I want to get one for those, too. I don’t like how they get dusty sitting out on my desk, even when they’re in heavy use … which admittedly, they haven’t been lately. The Cropper Hopper vertical file is for my newest acquisitions that I hope to scrap with soon. My Inspiration File, if you will. The rest is Secret Santa stuff that I left out on purpose. No, really! One of the crop challenges is to create a layout using products you received from Secret Santas. See, I wasn’t lying.
Yes! I can see my Basic Grey magnetic mats again! The envelope has some CTMH “My Acrylix” (empty) envelopes that I offered to RAK on the Scrap Sisters Studio message board; as it happens, my Scrap Pal was the first to speak up so they’re being mailed to her … along with a little gift that I forgot to include in her Christmas gift mailing.
RIGHT SIDE OF DESK – BEFORE
Oh lookie! Some books that are now neatly filed on my bookshelf, which I also reorganized this weekend. My Green Tangerines bag and stuff I bought there, Christmas card leftovers and stamps, etc.
RIGHT SIDE OF DESK – AFTER
All my most-used tools, stereo, RAK bag, and carousel I use to store Cricut stuff.
Cricut, Epson Picturemate printer, and I moved my little lamp over here. The paper, embellies, and envelopes are hand-me-downs from my mom (she’s the one who always gives me free scrap stuff she doesn’t want … I know, I’d be jealous if I were you, too). Anyway, I found the box they were in at the end of the day and that’s as far as they got :( Out of the box and onto my desk … for now.
COUCH/COFFEE TABLE – BEFORE
Yep, there’s really a couch and table under all that disgusting mess, I swear! CM photo storage boxes (like my fancy labels made out of sticky notes? i made new ones finally), an old printer I need to get rid of, and my basket of alphas. Also, 2 bins of past MEMORY WORKS kits that I need to either use or separate out and put away.
COUCH/COFFEE TABLE – AFTER
The kits are still there, and I stashed some things under the table, but at least I can see part of the couch and all of the table again, right? And there’s my new CROP BAGS. They make me happy :)
So, there’s what I did this weekend. How about you? Anything scrappy or organize-y? Or did you just watch football? Whatever you did, hope it was a great one.
Check out THIS recent 2Peas thread. Interesting, huh?
So this scrapper enters a blog contest, she wins, and then never receives the prize. Seems to be a common occurrence in the scrappy blog world these days. When I read about Connie’s plight with FLOWER SOFT, I wasn’t sure what to think. As I’ve gotten older (ahem…), one thing I’ve realized is that I should try to give people the benefit of the doubt more often. Instead of jumping right to the conclusion that these blog-prize-failing companies are super lame and suck big lemons, let’s back up and see if it wasn’t just a misunderstanding, a miscommunication, or something like that.
Luckily, this incident did have a happy ending, a contrite company who accepted full responsibility and fault, and a scrapper who got an even bigger prize than she originally won. Score!
As someone who has given blog RAKs away myself, I also have to be more understanding because I’ve been known to lag for quite some time before getting prizes in the mail to their deserving recipient. My excuse is that I get just plain get busy and either forget or honest-to-God don’t have the time. In the grand scheme of my life (3 jobs, mom, wife, scrapbook consultant, puppy owner, etc.), sometimes buying a prize and something to mail it in, and getting myself to the post office during their business hours ~ which happen to be the same as my work hours, darn it ~ isn’t higher on the priority list than working for pay, feeding my kids, and hassling my husband…erm, I mean…making life for my husband heaven on earth (good save, good save…right?).
Anyhoo, I do see a difference between me, lowly mom blogger who makes no money for this blog, and a company who is selling their product and therefore their image, customer service, and reputation. They have a VERY vested interest in keeping their prize winner (and all her scrappy friends) happy. If I piss you off, what’re you gonna’ do, quit reading my blog? NO NO NO! Don’t leave, Pissy Miss. I’m just sayin’. It’s apples and oranges.
But I do understand that life sometimes gets in the way. Sometimes mistakes are made. Now, sometimes people are buh-twipes too, you just never know. The point is ~ and I DO have a point ~ that if you’re a scrapbooking company, you DO NOT want to piss off a scrapbooker if you care to stay in business past this coming Friday. On the 2peas board, they call it the “Power of the Peas.” What that means is that 2peas is a FEE-YOU-JUS message board community and if a scrapper posts on there that they were somehow cheated or mistreated, the Peas (once they verify the story and that this isn’t some troll) are going to Back a Sister Up.
They will hunt you down and … well, okay, not really … but they will use the power of the internet to spread the word about your lousy company and you will rue the day ~ yes, I said RUE! ~ that you messed with a Pea. The best example I can give is the DONNA DOWNEY boycott. That happened 8 months ago and “we” are STILL boycotting everything she has a part in. I’ll just bet Donna is full of rue, don’t you think?
So just some ‘food for thought’ for you scrapbook company owners, bloggers, etc. out there in Scrap Land. If you promise a prize and you don’t deliver, we will patiently wait and politely pursue you. But if you ignore us or lie to us (don’t bother, we know how to take screen shots), we will take you down. Yes, we will take you down to China Town. (Oh, chill! I’m not being un-PC, I’m just quoting DeNiro in Meet the Parents…sheesh).
Or like my Italians say: “You messa with me, I messa with you. Capice?”
Capisco. Loud and clear, Vindictive Scrappy Girl, loud and clear…
Just a quick post to say that if you requested to be on my e-mail list for Simple Stories “Life Documented” kit updates, I sent one out yesterday. If I inadvertently missed you, please let me know :)
Also, there is an online crop this weekend at SCRAP SISTERS STUDIO. Please come join us for lots of fun! I think it’s going to be a busy and fun crop, because everyone is back in the mood to scrap after the holidays. Also, lots of the country is snowbound and very cold right now, so staying inside to crop, drink some coffee or hot tea, and chat with friends sounds perfect, don’t you think? I posted my first layout challenge ever and I’m sending a small RAK to everyone who submits a layout, so come check it out. HERE is where the crop is, and HERE is where you register if you’re not a member yet. Hope to see you there!
The excitement over the Simple Stories “Life Documented” kit by MEMORY WORKS continues to build. Since my last update, there have been 2 more posts on the Simple Stories BLOG:
Q&A (1-4-10) ~ Some FAQs are answered More Elements (1-6-10) ~ Digital elements are revealed & see who the special guest designer will be
Speaking of digital elements, that’s what my TEASE was about earlier. The detailed info is in the “More Elements” post I linked to above, but here are the basics:
You print these on your choice of cardstock:
Then punch them out with this:
Fiskars 2″ Round and Round Scallop Punch
Or this:
Fiskars 2″ Round and Round Circle Punch
You print these…
… on sticker labels like this:
Avery 8167
As coincidence would have it, Memory Works currently carries both of the squeeze punches. If you would like to order either/both now, e-mail me at scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com or place your order on my WEBSITE. They’re each $17.50 and I have a feeling once the kit goes on sale, a lot of people will be ordering these so I can’t guarantee how long they’ll stay in stock.
I’m ordering the scalloped one for myself tomorrow and will be scouting out those Avery labels at Staples next time I’m there :)
Man, when I saw those scallop date tags, I literally gasped! I LURVE circle date labels like that and the fact that they were scalloped on top of it just sent me over the moon. They remind me of JILLIBEAN SOUP who makes all those cute and fresh-looking journaling spots.
I think all the free digital downloads are going to be so fun to play with, personalize, and use the heck out of.
In other Simple Stories news …
The latest date given for release of the “Life Documented” kit is January 18, a mere 11 days away! This is also from the Simple Stories blog:
——— The complete Simple Stories product line and Life Documented kit is estimated to arrive by January 18 – it may be a little earlier or a little later – but that’s our shipping estimate as of today. We will continue to keep you updated – and AS SOON as our products are available we will have them available for purchase. So let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope all goes well – that’s only 2 WEEKS away….woo hoo!!
———
One last piece of news I’d like to share is this: According to an e-mail conversation I had with the home office, depending on the interest level (that means buy a kit please so they’ll keep making them, LOL!), Memory Works plans to continue releasing Simple Stories kits. These would be in 3-month intervals and have different themes. I’m so stinkin’ excited. I hope the first kit does really, really well and it encourages them to keep making more.
So, if you’re interested in Simple Stories “Life Documented” kit and the accessories that go with it, please see:
HERE about being on my mailing list HERE for shipping information
and HERE to learn about placing a pre-order
I’ve already received several pre-orders, which means once the kit become available, waiting for payment verification isn’t going to hold these girls up from getting their kit, album, and/or page protectors ordered. Very exciting!
So keep those pre-orders coming…and don’t hesitate to post here or e-mail me with any questions :)
ANDREA aka scrapcrazed at 2PEAS posted a thread about these cute storage boxes she found at DOLLAR TREE and she’s got the girls quite abuzz…
Aren’t they adorable? I think we could all find plenty of uses for these around our houses or in our scrap spaces. If you don’t have time to read through the whole thread, here’s a synopsis:
~ They measure “approx. 5.5″ wide, and 9.25″ long from front to back. And they are 5.25″ deep,” and are made out of plastic.
~ They reportedly come in “solids in white, pink, kiwi and light blue. The prints are the kiwi with the ovals and kind of a turquoise with squares. The prints are sort of retro.”
~ Some are having trouble getting the bottom snaps to line up. I don’t know if they are packaged up but if not, maybe try and make sure they snap together BEFORE you buy them. The Peas are saying something about Dollar Tree having a no return policy although you can exchange.
Let us know if you get any of these cuties, and how you’re going to use them!
