Scrapbook products, industry news, organization, and lots of enabling since 2007
Scrapbook products, industry news, organization, and lots of enabling since 2007
This is the archive for Scrapbook Obsession Blog.com with posts from 2013-2017.
I’m going to be at an all day scrapbook crop on Saturday, from 9am to midnight. Yippie Kie Yay! Just wanted to let you know in case you came here looking for NSD winners. I’ll post them Sunday or Monday and contact the winners. Busy, busy weekend and I didn’t want to leave you hanging. Thanks for understanding.
Happy Mother’s Day to all you scrappin’ muthas out there! Hope you get to do something you really enjoy :)
I hope you had a wonderful National Scrapbooking Day! I know a lot of you made a weekend of it, which is awesome. If you haven’t already, please go HERE and play my NSD games. There are 3 games with 3 nice prizes. You can enter all 3, and you have until this Friday at midnight PST! Go play now, then come back and read about Michaels. This post ain’t going anywhere :)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In THIS POST from last week, I showed some photos that my friend had taken at HER Michaels. Well, I have since been to MY Michaels and have more photos to share. I was surprised to find that some of the changes to products and the way they’re displayed have actually reached my Mike’s.
Here are the spinny racks that I was so sure I would never see at my store. But there they were!
Personally, I don’t care for the Recollections paper line on this side ….
.
.
.
… but both of these lines are very pretty. I especially love that 2nd paper on the left with the Eiffel Tower.
.
.
.
So now to the whole “sorting by theme” thing. My Michaels has had two of these sections for a while now: Baby and Travel. Here is the Baby section; it’s in the same place as before but it looked like they had added some new things.
.
.
.
Obviously, here is the Travel section. More on this later …
.
.
.
These were new: “Fresh Glitter” and “Fresh Flocking” by STUDIO G. That’s the same company who makes the MIKE’s $1 STAMPS. These monochromatic packs are only $1 each, too. I’m not a huge glitter fan but I would like to try flock one of these days. I wonder if this stuff is good quality.
.
.
.
These plastic storage items were new, at least to my store.
.
.
.
As you can see, we’re still in transition, LOL! This will be the rack of new Jolee’s that I posted a pic of in that last entry I linked to.
.
.
.
Now that I’ve seen them closer, I can’t say as I like them a huge lot. For instance, these are super glittery which is not my fave.
.
.
.
There were also some new alphas including these puffy and glittery alphas by ATD. I really like the size, font, and colors of these letters. At $4.99, they qualify for future coupon usage, lol.
.
.
.
More on themes … Sorry the photos are blurry but I noticed that all the military, police, and fire embellies had been gathered here, regardless of manufacturer.
.
.
.
Same thing with Family stuff. Yes, we already had a few sections of family-related items before, but now ANYTHING that has to do with family is in one spot.
They had also divided everything else up into themes, like Christmas, Halloween, Fall, Sports, etc. I still don’t think I like it. For one thing, with all the different size and style of packages in one place, it looks messy. Also, it’s going to be hard to find when they’ve added something new and it’ll be impossible to search by manufacturer. Two of my favorite sections before were where they put all of the SOFT SPOKEN and the K&Co. embellishments. Now those will be all parceled out and displayed by theme instead. Again, how are we to tell if something new is added? That’s going to be a big ol’ PITA.
.
.
.
All of these 12×12 open stock papers were new to me.
.
.
.
Isn’t that white lace doily paper pretty?
.
.
.
Finally, just wanted to share these new Recollections for Kids stickers. I’m sure kids will love them. They are bright, colorful, and fun!
Love the pear, the lollipop, and the gum ball machine.
Don’t forget … go play my NSD games! Now, before you forget, LOL :)
I’m so glad we have a special day just for us, aren’t you? LOL I hope you’re turning this into National Scrapbook WEEKEND and having a blast gettin’ your craft on!
Thank you for stopping by. In celebration of this wonderful day, I’d like to invite you to play 2 games and enter a contest for some pretty nice prizes.
Now, I’ll admit that a set of 3 “somethings” that a vendor was going to send me ~ and I was going to RAK to you as prizes today ~ did not arrive as yet. But I’ve happily supplied some other prizes and we’ll just have to have another special giveaway day later, won’t we??? It’s a win/win for you, my sweet scrap buddy :)
So here we go … And please note these are open to US players only (rules at very bottom) …
GAME #1: SCAVENGER HUNT
1. Go to the SIMPLE STORIES ONLINE CATALOG (this is a .pdf that may take a bit to load).
a. Page 1 (after the title page) – If your party has $250-299 in total sales, how much does the Hostess get in free product?
b. Page 9 – How much do the We R Memory Keepers 12×12 D-Ring Linen Albums cost?
2. Go to the Memory Works SPRING 2010 CATALOG, Basic Essentials (again, it’s a .pdf file) and answer these questions:
a. What is the first product you see?
b. Page 46 – What is your favorite color of Stickles on this page? (There is no wrong answer, as long as the color you like is shown on this page)
c. Page 50 – How much does a Glue Glider Pro cost?
3. Go to MY MEMORY WORKS WEBSITE, and click on Shop Our Products:
a. Click Clearance Sale, then American Crafts. Two types of AC items are on Clearance … Thickers and ___________?
b. Click on New Art Tools and Metal Stamps. What is the brand name sold in this section?
c. Click on Fancy Pants. What color is the “My Family” alphabet?
d. Click on New Cardstock. Memory Works used to carry Prism cardstock. They now carry which brand?
E-mail your answers to scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com by the deadline down below. Each entry that is 100% correct will be entered to win …. (drumroll please!) …
Your choice of a Simple Stories “LIFE DOCUMENTED” KIT ($16.99 value) or We R Memory Keepers PAGE PROTECTORS, 25-pack of 4×6 horizontal ($11.50 value)!!!
GAME #2: YOUR FAVORITE PRODUCTS
This game is SOOOOOO easy … and fun! Just go browse around MY MEMORY WORKS WEBSITE. Click on Shop Our Products and then click on each brand or category as you wish. Then come back and tell me in Comments (by the deadline below) what you would buy if you had $25 to spend @ Memory Works. The retail value MUST be $25.00 or less total. You know why? Because the prize for the lucky winner is … $25 worth* of Memory Works products! And I want you to receive exactly what you want. Just think of me as The Scrapbook Fairy … I want nothing but scrap happiness for you :)
*Retail value, not counting tax or shipping and handling (total prize worth upwards of $35!)
Please choose items that are in stock right now. If the item(s) you’ve chosen become unavailable by the time I place the order, I’ll contact the winner to negotiate another selection they are happy with :)
“INSPIRE US” CONTEST
Make a layout or card using ANY product shown on my MEMORY WORKS WEBSITE. Seriously, anything. There are tons and tons of products shown. Find a sheet of paper, a flower, a Stickles color, or use a tool that Memory Works currently sells and you happen to have in your stash. If you don’t have any products in your stash that qualify, use a product that’s similar and explain what you did (“I used black Thickers that are similar to the puffy ones that Memory Works carries.”)
Post your layout or card on your blog, to your Flicker, your Facebook, whatever. Then come here and leave a link in Comments. If you have nowhere to post it, e-mail it to me and I’ll post it on my blog; my e-mail: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com. All entries posted by the deadline below will be placed in a drawing for the prize of … a SKETCHES FOR SCRAPBOOKING or CARDMAKING book by SCRAPBOOK GENERATION ~ your choice! That’s a $12.99 value, my friend … {If for some crazy reason, you don’t want one of these fabulous sketch books, we can chat and I’ll send you something of equal value from Memory Works, K?}
I reserve the right to show off ALL entries on my blog. I hope you will inspire us!
PLEASE NOTE: For all games and contests, the deadline to enter is ****Friday, May 7 at 12 midnight PST****. One entry PER GAME per person (you can enter all 3). Open to scrappers with a United States mailing address only. If you win, you’ll need to provide a mailing address to me via e-mail. If you don’t leave a way to contact you, I will not enter you in the drawing(s).
When you leave entries via Comments, make sure it links back to you or I won’t be able to contact you if you win! If you don’t have a blog or website to link, e-mail me, K?
GOOD LUCK!!!!
NSD is coming up soon … this Saturday, May 1st! I hope you’ll stop by my blog to celebrate. I’ll have a contest, a game or two, and PRIZES! And I mean good ones :) So put this fine blog on your NSD “to visit” list and I’ll see you Saturday!
We’ve had GREEN AT HEART and KIOSHI for a while, and I showed you HERE the new line in stock called “BASICS.” Well, we also now have in stock “CAPPELLA” and “MAX & WHISKERS.” Yes! I’ve been waiting for these as I know many of you have. Today I’ll post about Cappella and next time will be about Max & Whiskers.
Without further adieu, let’s take a look at what you can order:
“Cappella” by Basic Grey
.
Okay, I’m going to make an embarrassing confession: When this line hit the Memory Works website yesterday, I quickly proceeded to order 2 of the theme sets and 1 of just about every other item in the line (I didn’t get the buttons, the rub-ons, or the card kit). Wanna’ know why I went so crazy? Because I’ve been looking for years ~ YEARS, I tell ya! ~ to find a line that is worthy of scrapbooking my wedding photos with. And I have found it … Basic Grey “Cappella.” I should’ve known it would be Basic Grey {swoon!}.
So I had to search no further for inspiration than the amazing blog of KELLY GOREE. Here is a wedding layout she did using “Cappella” which I just adore.
LAYOUT BY KELLY GOREE for BASIC GREY
Gosh, that’s so dang pretty! I think it’ll be perfect for my wedding photos. A few months ago, I got some of Basic Grey’s old line “BLACK TIE.” I wonder if these two lines will coordinate? Hmmm…
Anyway …. If you’d like to order any of the new Basic Grey lines, my Memory Works website is HERE. Instructions for how to order are HERE. My contact information is HERE if you have ANY questions or would like me to place your order for you.
I take Paypal or check/money order. The shipping is very quick and great customer service. (US residents only)
I have one of the best scrappy friends in the world. She lives in another part of the country and we’ve never met in person, but she always has my back. To that end, when she was at her Michaels today and saw all the new stuff and the new store layout … she KNEW I’d want to see pictures, and she knew I’d want to share them with you.
So, here are photos provided by “mah gurrrll” Abby …
This is new Jolee’s. Can you believe it?!?! Totally different packaging from their usual. I’ve never really been a Jolee’s girl, but there are some really cute things here. I might just become a convert …
Some pretty and unique Jolee’s border strips …
Finally! Some new THICKERS!! Suh-WEET! And those look like some pretty textured papers in nice colors.
Here’s one of the new “themed” sections: Christmas.
A wider view … This looks SO different from how my Michaels is set up. Mine has the really tall racks with shelves on top where they store extra stock. This store has lower racks and pretty little signs.
Here’s a new kit called “The Merry Days of Christmas” by MY MINDS EYE …
… and a new 8.5″ x 8.5″ paper pad called “Sleepy Tree” (I think) by K&COMPANY. I can’t read it perfectly in the photo, and there’s nothing called “Sleepy Tree” K&Co’s website … but that isn’t saying much. Sometimes the stores have things that aren’t on the manufacturer’s website.
Looks like some new kits and stacks, and down in the bottom left corner, did you see? BASIC GREY “Ambrosia” and “Eva” paper stacks! My Michaels has had these as open stock papers but not as a stack.
New Recollections single papers. I see some really pretty colors and designs there. Does your Mike’s have tall racks sitting out in the middle of the floor like this? Mine doesn’t. Gasp! That almost resembles and LSS!
Here’s the new MARTHA STEWART Scoring Board. Apparently, this is the hot new item to have. I’m plugging my ears and singing “la la la” because I don’t NEED another expensive tool in my life. I don’t, I don’t, I DON’T! {But it does look cool!}
Remember when I posted HERE and HERE about the themed sections that were “coming soon.” Well, they’re finally here, LOL! In THIS discussion at 2peas, there seems to be a general dissatisfaction with the whole “sorted by theme” idea. Some scrappers feel it’s being done to cater only to the beginning scrapbooker who wanders in to solely do a baby, wedding, Christmas, or travel scrapbook. The feeling is that more seasoned scrapbookers (get it? seasoned? Christmas? huh? huh?) like us shop not by theme but by brand name and/or by item type.
Now I know this is a selfish perspective but, wth, this is my blog and my opinion: I want Michaels sorted the way my scrapbook room is organized, which is to say, by brand name for the most popular brands, then by item type and color beyond that. But, no, Michaels Corporate did not ask ME, did they? Boy, they’d better not ever ask me stuff … ‘cuz I will tell them! Huh. They would rue the day, baby.
Okay, say Michaels corporate ever did ask me. Here are the top 5 things I would tell them:
1. Less Jolee’s, more Thickers.
2. Bring back coupons on books and magazines. At least on books, come ON!
3. Do NOT. Under any circumstances. Organize by theme. And keep all the alphas in one place.
4. Make “knowledge of scrapbooking” a condition of hire.
4a. Better yet, hire me. Make me Director of Scrapbook Buying, Merchandising, Publicity, and Employee Training.
I will make you millions and jillions of dollahs.
5. Anything that has been on your racks for more than 6 months … CLEARANCE. Then get new stuff.
I swear to G, they still have things in Michaels that were there when I first discovered it back in two-thousand-ought-two. Hello? Take the loss already and move on, Mike’s.
Okay, this was not meant to turn into a MIke’s Rant Post, so very sorry. This is actually a Happy Mike’s post. Yay! We are so happy they got some new stuff! We are happy we have new things to bust out our coupons on! We are so happy they are getting OCTOBER AFTERNOON! Rah rah, Mike’s!
Okay, now tell me about your Mike’s. Got all this new stuff yet? What have you bought recently? What new items are you most looking forward to if, like me, you still have the same old stuff?
Oh, and tell me your feelings on the whole “sort by theme” debate. Don’t be shy … yea or nay?
Basic Grey “Basics” in WHITE
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Basic Grey “Basics” in MANILA
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Basic Grey “Basics” in KRAFT
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Basic Grey “Basics” STAMPS
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Order all Basic Grey “Basics” HERE or e-mail me and I’ll get them ordered for you: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com!
PS: We also have Basic Grey “Max & Whiskers” and “Capella” that we’ve all been waiting for! I’ll blog about those tomorrow but you can order them as of NOW :)
The company I’m a consultant for, MEMORY WORKS, now has 4 very special promotional items in stock to celebrate the upcoming National Scrapbook Day.
Here, I’ll give you a hint:
We have 4 kits, all from the My Minds Eye “Laundry Line” collection and each one is only $18.75!
Considering they’re a $50 value, that’s an amazing price. It’s a savings of 63% …
Each kit includes:
18 glittered 12×12 papers
an assortment of rub-ons
adhesive chipboard borders
adhesive chipboard accessories
cardstock die cuts
chipboard die cuts
journaling cards
titles
Below are the 4 kits by My Minds Eye (MME).
~ The first photo of each kit is what actually comes in the MME kit sold by Memory Works for $18.75; this photo is from the Memory Works website.
~ Below that, I have added photos of each ENTIRE line from the MY MINDS EYE website, so you can have a closer look at the items.
*** TO CLARIFY:
The additional photos are merely to show what some of the items you’re getting look like. (Disclaimer? DONE!) For example, the MME-website photos might show “trims” and “stamps,” but the kit from Memory Works does NOT include those. The MW kit DOES include a lot of the papers, titles, die cuts, borders, etc. shown in the additional photos.
The MME-website photos are SO kewl, with their glittery, moving pictures, that I had to share them. I think they also give a better view of the products.
Okay, let’s go peep some awesome My Minds Eye, shall we?
My Minds Eye – Laundry Line – SUNDRESS KIT
ORDER HERE
Admire
Bloom
Heirloom
Life
Sweetness
.
.
.
My Minds Eye – Laundry Line – COASTAL KIT
Authentic
Celebrate
Comfort
Curious
Lucky
.
.
.
My Minds Eye – Laundry Line – FLIRTY KIT
Embrace
Fun Lovin’
Lil Girl
Play
Pure Joy
.
.
.
My Minds Eye – Laundry Line – NATURAL KIT
Aspire
Embark
Encourage
My Boy
Strength
Similar kits are being sold on Amazon.com for $29.99. Go ahead, click HERE if you don’t believe me!
I put one of each in my shopping cart for now, so they don’t sell out before I have a chance to look at each kit more closely and decide which one(s) I want :) If you’re interested in a kit or two, I’d do the same thing. Something tells me these kits ~ for this price ~ will go fast.
Yes, these scrapbook kits are in honor of National Scrapbook Day, which is May 1st, 2010, but they are available NOW! If you have any questions, or I can help you place your order, please contact me: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.
Are you tempted in the least?
Yep, it’s Spring, time for a new beginning! I’m going to try out this new theme, just released by WordPress, called “Under the Influence.” Love it. The name is so cool.
So far, there are several things I like about it – the wider columns, ability to control column and photo width, the font, and the cleaner look. The only thing I don’t like so far is that my coolio Scrapbook Obsession header (graciously designed and provided by my homegirl CHRISPEA) won’t fit. I need to figure out how to resize it and get it back up there. In the meantime, I do enjoy being able to have a tagline … yeah, I’m sarcastic and I OWN it, sista!
Please forgive me while I work on things around here. I figured out how to add the widgets I wanted to the right margin but now I can’t figure out how to delete the duplicate ones down at the bottom/footer. They’re waaaaayyyy down there … just pretend you don’t see them, K? Yeah, yeah, just keep your eyes up here, buddy! No need to look down. {Now watch me use my “V” fingers to point at my eyes, then your eyes, then my eyes}. Are we clear?
Regarding my Blog Roll, it was pure nostalgia trying to update it just now. If you were on the Creating Keepsakes Message Board (CKMB) back in the day, you might remember that I compiled and housed a list of CKMB members’ blogs here in my Blog Roll. CKMB’ers would come over here and click away, reading the blogs of all their buds. Can you believe I had almost 200 … yes, 200 … CKMB blog links? Amazing, huh? CKMB no longer exists, per se, but there is the new Club CK board where I occasionally see some old familiar faces, and meet new ones too. Alas, I deleted most of the CKMB Blog Roll tonight and it was bittersweet.
You know how on Survivor when it’s down to the final players, they take a walk, stopping at a torch to represent each of the eliminated players, and they pause to say some kind words and remember that player? That’s how I felt while going through the list of CKMB bloggers … I kept stopping to say, “Aw, I remember her blog. It’s where I got the peppermint bark recipe I still use every Christmas,” or “Aw, Daisydo! She always kept the board rolling. She and Leslie/luv2 talk were always such a hoot.” Ah, Camelot! I miss those dog days of CKMB. They hold a super special place in my heart, but we all must let go some time …
So … Spring. 2010. Time to update and move on and let go and welcome the new in, right? If you absolutely hate this new theme and will stop coming to visit me because of it, please let me know. Howevah! If you range from “I really like it” to “Meh. I can tolerate it,” then you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. Well, okay, tell me if you really, really, Sally Field like it! And if you’re “meh” … keep it to yourself. I’m having a spring, a rebirth, a new start. I don’t need you bringing me down. Got it?
Now go plant some flowers or something … Sheesh.
I went to a crop with friends last Saturday and had a blast. I took my laptop, little Epson Picturemate PRINTER, and all my SIMPLE STORIES stuff so I could try and get caught up with my PROJECT 365. I’ve been seriously lagging, gurl … mmm hmmm! I’ve continued to take photos every day (well, I thought I had, ha) but I hadn’t scrapped or journaled anything since (gulp) early February.
At the crop, I spent the better part of 7 hours just choosing, editing, and printing 10 weeks worth of photos … yep, 70 photos! Yike, that was intense. As I went along, I realized that I hadn’t been taking an actual “photo a day” like I thought I had. There were definitely 7+ photos per week but some days I had none, other days I had 10, kwim? So printing out my photos took WAY more time than it should have, because I had to first print out photos that had for each actual date, then try to find “filler” pics that weren’t day/date-specific to fill in the blanks with.
I thought about just switching my project from “photo a day” to “7 photos per week” but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Yet in a weird way, I hated the “fibbing” that I had to do in order to have a photo to print for each day. Isn’t that psycho weird? I know. I can’t help it. I also hated that it took so much extra time and effort … It made something that should’ve been fun into a chore, a hassle, and that’s SO not what I want this project to be.
So I came away from that little nightmare experience recommitted to taking, literally, a photo per day. I put a Post It note on my kitchen cupboard that I’ll see every day to remind me. I definitely have no shortage of photo subjects, I just get so busy, I forget to take the photo sometimes. My photo today was of all the (non-perishable) stuff that was still sitting on the kitchen counter from my Costco trip yesterday. I HAYTE putting Costo groceries away. They’re even worse than regular groceries. Can I get an “amen”?!?!?
That might seem a silly thing to take a photo of, and pre-Project 365, I never would have taken that photo. But I think it will be a fun thing to look back on in years to come … “The things we used to buy at Costco and how mom hated putting them away so much, they would stay on the counter for a day or two.” Cuz that’s real life around here, folks! And that’s what my Project 365 is all about.
I’m sorry to say that I don’t have any completed pages to share. Since I was SO far behind, I decided the best way to get caught up was to use a “one step at a time” approach. Instead of printing the photos for a week, choosing the papers, embellishing, and journaling, I got ALL the photos printed and put in the page protector slots (or at least an approximation of where they will go). Then I chose the Simple Stories paper/strip/cards I would use as the base for each open slot. And that’s as far as I got.
Now I need to embellish and journal 10 weeks worth and I’ll be caught up. Well, let me rephrase that: I’ll be caught up through April 11, 2010. And then I’ll be only a week ~ no, make that two ~ behind, LOL! Wish me luck that I can get caught up by this weekend … that’s the goal.
If you’re doing Project 365 this year, how’s it going for you? Please tell me you’re not in the same dire straits as I am! And if you’re not doing Project 365, doesn’t my post make you happy that you’re not?!?!? Yeah, that’s me, a cautionary tale for Project 365.
DON’T. Let this happen. To you.
Okay, time for some scrappy randomness!
~ You know how for the last many months on my blog, I’ve been torturing you with lame photos I’ve taken with my iPhone because my camera bit the big one? Well, I’m happy to report that I FINALLY got a new camera! It’s nothing super fancy, but it takes WAY better photos than my phone, LOL.
Here is the lovely I got:
It’s a Kodak Easyshare Z915 and the feature I love the most if the 10x zoom! It’s basically the updated version of the camera I used to have, the Kodak Easyshare DX6490, which I luh-huh-huved. My new camera retails for $200 but I found it at WALMART.COM for $121 and a few dollars shipping.
Happy happy joy joy!
~ NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY is coming up: Saturday, May 1st! I’m going to have something going on here at the Scrapbook Obsession blog that day, including a contest and a game, with PRIZES! I hope you’ll put that on your calendar and stop by on May 1st, or soon after :)
~ I was contacted recently by someone with a cool scrapbook-related product. They’re supposed to send me several free items to give away to you, my lovely readers. I don’t want to say too much until the package arrives, but consider yourself teased!
~ Word on the street is that MICHAELS will soon be resetting their scrapbook aisles and the reset will include OCTOBER AFTERNOON and SASSAFRASS! A rumor could be just a rumor, but it would make sense given all the things they had on clearance lately, the empty racks, and the fact that products from CHA-Winter 2010 are hitting the market as we speak. I hope Mike’s really does get the October Afternoon. Without an LSS, I don’t have anywhere locally to get any and I love their new lines (samples below), THE THRIFT SHOP and FLY A KITE, respectively:
~ Speaking of new products hitting the market, I haven’t given you an update of what MEMORY WORKS has new in stock … but I will soon. However, I do want to point out right now – since so many people are looking for these – is that we do have a bunch of the CHIP ART TOOLS AND METAL STAMPS by GCD and MELODY ROSS!!! Here’s a peek at just one of the many items we carry:
I saw these demo’d recently and think this will be the new “frenzy” item, aka the hot thing that everyone wants. Check out the GCD BLOG to see some projects the Chip Art products have been used on. I would love to help you get these GCD items! My website is HERE. Directions on how to place an order and how to contact me with questions are HERE.
Check it out … Go to the Colorbok BLOG, click on THIS LINK in the lefthand sidebar, and add some cute color to your computer and/or phone!
I haven’t done my iPhone yet, but I chose the “sweets” heart for my Mac desktop background. It’s so yummy looking, I could eat it.
Very “sweet” of you to share, COLORBOK!! Love ya, mwuh, mwuh!
Yay! The scrapbooking/cardmaking sketch books I talked about HERE arrived last week!
I spent some time today taking the Peas’ suggestion and compiling them all into one binder. In other words, I’m disassembling the books and putting each page into a binder sorted by the number of photos in the sketch. Well, when I’m done I’ll tell you more about it and show some pics.
I also did some scrapping Saturday at the online crop I talked about HERE. Well, kinda. I did a layout for a monthly Sketch challenge posted by JULIE. It was to make a layout inspired by this sketch (it’s from Jana Eubanks):
And here’s what I came up with.
All the papers are “vintage” Scenic Route, lol. Three of the four circles are pop-dotted for dimension. I was hoping all the circles I used were reminiscent of … um … baseball? The “OMG” are chipboard Thickers, and the apostrophe and exclamation point are from that Sandylion epoxy sticker pack I showed you HERE.
For those non-baseball fans … well, first of all, whatsa matta you? You don’t love BASEBALL?!?! You should. It rawks. Anyway, we’re LA Dodger fans and were lucky enough to see a Spring Training game – Dodgers vs. Angels – on our trip to Phoenix last month. It was very exciting to see superstar MATT KEMP so close. He warmed up on the corner of the field closest to where we were sitting and we got all kinds of photos.
How was your weekend? Do anything scrappy? If you did any layouts, leave me a link to go check ’em out, pretty please!
I KNOW! How long has it been !?!?! Ages, I tell ya’ …
The monthly online crop is going on at Scrap Sisters Studio message board. It started today at 8am and goes through Sunday at midnight. Members have already posted 8 challenges and there may be more. I’m actually working on an April monthly challenge from our Challenges board. It’s a sketch challenge, and I’m using this layout to get myself jump-started on a vacation album from our trip to Phoenix last month. Feels SO good to be scrapbooking again! I also have an all-day crop with friends next Saturday when I hope to get caught up on my Project 365, which is so far behind it’s not even freakin’ funny.
So for this vacation album, I broke out some Old School shizzle … Scenic Route … Yeah, baby! I’m so sad they’re out of business ~ they were one of my favorite scrapbooking companies ~ but at least my SR stash is going to a good cause … a vacation album that will get looked at a lot :)
Hope you’re having a scrappy weekend! We always welcome new members at Scrap Sisters Studio (“The nicest place in the internet”), so e-mail me if you’d like to join us for the crop, or just to chat any ol’ time: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.
As I mentioned HERE, the new Memory Works catalog is out for Spring 2010, along with a lot of the new scrapbooking items from CHA-Winter 2010. As soon as I heard the catalogs were out, I placed an order right away and, as always, it arrived within just a few days.
I’m gonna share pics of everything I ordered so you can see what it REALLY looks like, K?
My favorite part … opening the box … it’s so fun! Here are the catalogs right on top, and a peek at the embellies I ordered.
In case you’d like to order a catalog (how to do that is HERE), I thought I’d show you some sample pages of what it looks like inside.
Here are the pages for DEAR LIZZY by AMERICAN CRAFTS, and a company that’s new to Memory Works called GIRLS PAPERIE. I’m so excited to have them on board. Their products are very cute. I’ll have to do a separate post about them later.
Here’s two of the pages showing our new SIMPLE STORIES products that have been amazingly popular.
Here’s a line that’s going to BE very popular, I’m sure: BASICS* by BASIC GREY.
*Basics is not released yet so it will currently show Out of Stock at the above link, but it’ll show as available as soon as it’s in stock. Not too much longer, I think!
Okay, now the fun goodies. Here’s the Dear Lizzy premium RIBBON including that adorable rose ribbon that I’ve been dying to have.
These are the front and back sides of the “Dear Lizzy” THEME SET.
I got these “Flower Child” FLOWERS by BO BUNNY to use with my Simple Stories album; the colors will coordinate very well. I ordered an extra to sell at crops. I love how they’re embossed which kind of gives them a rounded petal, and the dark red large flower is such a deep red, it’s gorgeous.
Here are the “Green at Heart” RUB-ONS by BASIC GREY. They are definitely prettier in person; the colors are bright but not super, blind your eyes bright, kwim?
These are “DELIGHT LEAF” Thickers by American Crafts, and they’re made of fabric.
I tried to take a closer photo with my iPhone to show you the texture, but it doesn’t look like I succeeded. {I finally ordered my new camera and should have it in a week or so. I can’t WAIT!}
Here is the “Kioshi” THEME SET by Basic Grey. The colors are SO amazing in person! This reminds me of the Old School BG that I knew and loved. {Front and back sides}.
Finally, the piece de resistance, all the MAMA-RAZZI line by BO BUNNY!!! I’ve been talking about Mama-razzi since way back HERE, so you can imagine how excited I was to get all this.
I got two packs of the LAYERED STICKERS; one for me, one to sell. Also, the iCandy glazed BRADS.
The stickers are 3-D … :)
Here are both sides of the CUT-OUTS. I can’t believe they’re only $1. Think of all the mileage you can get out of this one sheet. I’m going to order another one, so I can use both sides. I can’t see any parts that I don’t want to use.
These are the COMBO STICKERS, where you get border stickers, regular stickers, AND an alpha. Pretty kewl.
Here is the ADHESIVE CHIPBOARD. I love me some dimension like this.
Could this sheet of die-cut paper BE any prettier!?!? I don’t think so. Love it.
It comes from the THEME SET, the rest of which is below (front and back sides).
Oh, and just ‘cuz I love Bo Bunny, I got these “Roughin’ It” CUT-OUTS. Won’t they be cute for camping layouts? This is the front and back …
Okay, I hope you enjoyed the tour inside my Memory Works shipping box, LOL! I’m so excited to get all of it.
If you’d like to order anything from Memory Works, HERE is my website and HERE are some instructions. If you have any questions, please e-mail me at scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.
ETA 4/9/10: Article deleted – please go see Scrapbook Update.com
======
Another great update by Nancy Nalley ~ love that girl! She writes about it in a way that even this techno-challenged scrapper can understand and remains objective in her reporting.
Since my FIRST POST on this issue last night, I’ve been thinking about and changing my opinion slightly thanks to discussions at 2PEAS and SCRAP SISTERS. Also, check out the comments on each of Nancy’s posts. There is WAY more to this than I could imagine!
Basically, what I’ve learned is that I don’t know enough about the technicalities and legalities to have an informed opinion, LOL! But I still feel, at a gut level, that what Make the Cut did was morally wrong and possibly illegal. I’ve been set straight on SCAL (thank you, Nancy!) and it sounds like a whole different set of circumstances.
Any comments from you?
ETA 4/9/10: Article deleted – please go see Scrapbook Update.com
====
This is why I ultimately never bought or promoted Sure Cuts a Lot (SCAL) or Make the Cut … just felt it was icky and probably illegal (not to use the products, but the products themselves). That’s just my own personal feeling on it … I have no judgment on those who have bought either product, and I know there are tons. I see these two products talked about all the time on scrapbook message boards. If you’re unfamiliar: SURE CUTS A LOT (SCAL) and MAKE THE CUT. From the beginning of both products, I just felt like a lawsuit was a MOT*.
*Translation: A MOT is a Matter of Time. I learned that from my high school bud, Nate, who had really bad tires on his car one time and the other guys were teasing him about it. He said, “Hey, it’s just a MOT.” I’ve found that term highly useful in my life since then. Thanks, Nate!
I’m no lawyer, that’s for sure, and I don’t know if this lawsuit will go anywhere. But right when I saw the headline from Nancy’s article, I was like, “Yeah, it’s about time.” I don’t understand why it’s taken them this long to file suit and why they haven’t gone after SCAL (at least, I don’t think they have). It seems pretty obvious that if a product that’s not sanctioned by Provo Craft is using the Cricut logo (with the little copyright “R” and everything!), and selling a product that bypasses Provo Craft’s, something has got to be wrong.
But what do I know? I’m just a blond scrapbooker, not no stinkin’ attorney. I wish both companies luck in coming to a peaceful resolution :)
What are your thoughts??
Okay, first I’m gonna post pics I took at Michaels on Monday night. I got out of there pretty cheap ~ without a coupon, even ~ because they had all this 99 cent stuff.
I got the lavender velvet alphas, Halloween ribbon, chipboard travel stickers, and journaling stickers by MAKING MEMORIES …
Also got the cute baby journaling spiral book by Making Memories. Don’t ask me why those funny hats are down there. I have no freakin’ idea …
They had these large bundles of MAMBI stickers for $9.99 …
… and even larger bundles of Sandylion stickers for $19.99. I resisted both, so my only spending was the $5 worth of dollar items.
I had to laugh at this sign, now all kindsa’ crooked, STILL promising that Themed Scrapbook Collections are “coming soon,” yet the sign has been there SINCE MARCH 7th, which is a month ago. I think even the sign is getting tired of hanging there, and it’s trying to escape, one tie-down at a time, hee hee …
Here are some new Primas I hadn’t seen before. Or if I did, I don’t remember. And that happens sometimes. I have Mommy Brain so that’s my excuse.
.
.
.
These photos are from about 2 weeks ago.
YES! I finally found the scrapbook t-shirts I’ve been LOOKING FOR.
I got the turquoise one that says “Certified Scrapaholic for Life” … yeah, that’s pretty accurate, I’d say. Used a 40% off coupon and got it for 6 buckeroonies. That’s cheaper than a screen printed shirt you’ll find anywhere else.
.
.
.
I found this interesting … these albums were on clearance at my other Mike’s store but here they’re full price …
.
.
.
Same with the Gypsy skins … full price here, on clearance at my other store.
I forgot to post pictures from THIS TRIP, so here they are …
.
.
.
Iris clamshell case, on sale for 40% off. I use these to store projects so I can keep everything together, even the album I’m using. I try to buy 1 whenever they’re on that good of a sale.
.
.
.
Recollections Christmas light glitter sticker borders, the Sandylion epoxy punctuation stickers I talked about, and an “I love my teacher” sticker to use on the school yearbook. I always give a shout out to the teachers on the pages I do for the yearbook.
.
.
.
Finally, this awesome cool iron on transfer. I think it was about $6.50 and I used a 40% coupon on it. This manufacturer had some really neat designs, both Christian themed and non. I thought this was a pretty design and “inspired” like a scrapbooker is. I’m kind of nervous to use it for fear of messing it up. Have you used iron-ons? Please tell me it went well, LOL!
I took this photo of a neat KI MEMORIES paper stack way back on March 12, but I just saw this stack … it’s still in my Mike’s. Great price and cute, versatile, happy patterns … would be great with the spring and summer layouts we have coming up.
Okay, I think I’m caught up with all my Michaels updates. I shall sleep well tonight, because Scrapper Babes, you have been informed!
ALLISON DAVIS has always been one of my favorite scrapbookers. Ali was a member of the 2008 and 2009 Dream Teams for CREATING KEEPSAKES magazine. I always enjoy her layouts in CK and my eye immediately goes to them because she scraps like I scrap. In fact, when she was a guest BLOGGER for CK in July 2009 and described the way she scraps, I could have written the exact same thing about myself:
“I am a two-page, multiphoto kinda gal. Mostly because I take too many pictures and have way too much to say for any other format. I try to fit lots of pictures on my layouts. This can be blamed on my complete lack of control over the photo selection process. It’s just so hard to narrow it down to only a few!”
Her books are called “Sketches for Scrapbooking” and here is more about them, from Alison’s website:
“Each volume of “Sketches for Scrapbooking” contains 30 exclusive sketches designed by Scrapbook Generation’s Debbie Sanders and Allison Davis. All sketches have a key that indicates which areas are stripes, small patterns, large patterns, contrasting cardstock, etc to make paper selection super easy. Photo sizes and paper measurements are included on each sketch.”
You can purchase them HERE. As of now, there are Scrapbooking sketch books, volumes 1 through 5 ($12.99 each) and even a sketchbook for cardmaking ($12.99). The sketchbooks are by Allison Davis and Debbie Sanders, and the cardmaking book is by Stacey Atchley, all from the SCRAPBOOK GENERATION store.
What finally reminded/convinced me to purchase some of these books was THIS thread at 2peas. I love the idea several Peas have posted about how they tear the books apart and sort them in binders by the number of photos per sketch. And here are a couple reviews that really sold me:
“Not only does she give photo dimensions, but also the dimensions for the various paper pieces that are used on the layout along with positioning information.”
“I so love these sketch books! I think I have almost every sketch book made these are the easiest to use and the layouts are so good when completed. They are also the quickest to finish, I have probably finished about 40 pages in the last 6 weeks which is alot for me.”
Holy scrapbooking, Batman! Forty pages in 6 weeks!?!?! That totally rocks. These books remind me of my beloved EASY PATTERNS for SCRAPBOOKING by BRENDA ARNALL that I’ve mentioned MANY TIMES. Of course, I admire and adore the work of those scrappers who can spend hours on one layout and create an artistic masterpiece, but that’s just not how I scrap. I might look at their layout and take one element to use on mine, like a paper flower, a photo arrangement, or a color scheme. But I take so many photos and have so many events, vacations, and other projects I want to scrap, I need to keep it moving. It sounds like these sketch books will be perfect for me.
You can see a preview of her upcoming DVD “Scrapbooking with Allison Davis” HERE and PRE-purchase it HERE ($19.99).
The shipping is ONLY $2.99 no matter how many books you order, so why not order several at once? I just purchased all 5 of the sketchbooks, and plan to get the cardmaking book and DVD in the future. How about you? Do you have these books already or plan to get them?
ETA 4/5/10: I noticed that Melissa/Scrappy Jedi, who left a comment on this entry, has also written a review of these books. Go check it out HERE.
ETAA 4/5/10: I started a THREAD on 2peas to let the girls know they totally enabled me to buy these 5 sketchbooks, and one of the Scrapbook Generation girls posted this: “Is this a good time to tell you that we’ll have volume 6 ready for sale on July 1?” So there’s a heads up for you Allison David sketchbook fans!
ETAA 7/12/12: The plans for the DVD were “scrapped” {bwahahaha … scrapped!} but they have added lotsa’ more sketch books. There are now:
Sketches for Scrapbooking (all two-page layouts): Volumes 1 through 8
Sketches for Scrapbooking: One Page Sketches: Volumes 1 and 2
Sketches for Scrapbook: Travel Sketches
Sketches for Cardmaking: Volumes 1 and 2
Now instead of $12.99, each sketch book is $15.99. They’re still very popular and very much a part of my own scrapbooking. Here is an update from one of the Scrapbook Generation team, who posted it at 2 Peas on 06/17/12:
Several of you are right!
— Of the “regular” Sketches for Scrapbooking double-page books, volume eight is the most current.
— The most recent books are volume one of travel and volume two of Allison’s one-page series, both of which came out in January of 2012.
Our schedule in the past has been to do at least one book every six months, coming out with new books in January and July. We will not be publishing new books this July because we are working on a huge project involving sketches that requires every bit of our time and energy right now. That’s why we’re cutting back on some other time-consuming activities like retreats.
I’m actually dying to tell what the newest project is, but we have to pass a few more hurdles before we do a big announcement. (We learned our lesson with the DVD disaster a couple of years ago!)
When we do finally get to let you in on the secret, I think it will have been worth the wait!
Sounds exciting!
Troy left this comment lastnight on another post, and I wanted to make sure you saw it, so I got his permission to make it a separate blog entry. He said I was just looking for excuses not to write a blog entry, LOL.
Without further adieu…
Hello Scrapbook Princess!
Gosh my name pops up on this blog enough to make me feel like we are family! :-) I sure do appreciate the support you give me.
I have TWO scrapbook stories to share with you and your readers:
First of all, my crew knows how much I appreciate scrapbooking (No, I am not good at doing it, but LOVE to get scrapbooks as gifts!!)
So at the end of each year, they present me with a scrapbook of the previous season. I just got my season 3 scrapbook from the crew and it is AMAZING! They secretly gather stuff from each city I travel to in the show, take pics I never see them take, and then it all comes together in the scrapbook they gift to me. For me, it is an emotional journey flipping thru the pages (each weighing like a pound each!) and revisiting the extraordinary families and towns I have been blessed to meet and pass thru. When guests visit my home, the table in the livingroom has these magical scrapbooks proudly displayed, and everyone sits with them and flips slowly thru their memory-packed pages, asking questions with every page turn. it is such a great way to share my journey with others.
My second scrapbooking story just occured a couple of hours ago. As I type this, I am sitting in the Sky Club at LAX airport, having just taped another appearance on Bonnie Hunt Show. Off camera, she and I were talking about how much we love our tv crews, how they are like family, etc and she told me how so many people on the crew are scrapbookers that are capturing precious moments from the show, backstage experiences and candid shots of every loved crew member. Of course I share with her the story above about how my crew gifts me with scrapbooks and we both just sat and marveled at how much power is contained between the covers of a simple scrapbook. We agreed that if our offices or homes ever caught fire, our scrapbooks would be the first things we grabbed! (Other than family members and pets of course).
Remember, scrapbooks never forget anything! So ‘tell’ them everything important!
My best wishes and respect to all of you gifted scrapbookers, AKA the historians of our families.
troy
“The Locator”
{Sigh!} Do you see why I love him so?? Erm, I mean, LIKE him so …
I wrote back to Troy and told him that I’m also a HUGE fan of BONNIE HUNT‘s and I watch her show every day. She is one rockin’ chick. I love her sense of humor and she has great guests on her show. Did you know she used to be an oncology nurse? Gawd, anyone who can do THAT for a living deserves a special place in Heaven, imho. Anyhow, I really enjoyed the story Troy shared about how they both love scrapbooks and scrapbookers. For all the times we’ve been maligned and made fun of and HATED ON, hearing those nice thoughts from Troy and Bonnie erases all that bad juju from before, don’t you think?
I have to thank one of my favorite readers, “Jill T.”, who left this comment prior to Troy’s:
Not on topic BUT I watched “The Locator” for the first time last night. We don’t get the channel it is normally on but last night there was some special marathon thingy on the Style Network (which obviously we do get). I think I made it through 3 epis before falling asleep. After seeing the show and seeing him on Oprah, I understand your obsession! Neat show and he seems to be a really nice guy.
I think Troy must’ve Googled “Locator” and found my blog again, thanks to Jill leaving that comment. I sent Jill a big ol’ THANK YOU e-mail, LOL. She always leaves great comments here, so I owed her a big ol’ thank you anyway.
Just in case there is anyone left out there who hasn’t read about Troy and his amazing show, “The Locator,” I’ve written about them before a time or ten: HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. See why he feels like family??
The new season of THE LOCATOR is running right now, and there are past shows re-run all the time on WeTV so check ’em out. Again, I stress, bring the tissues. If you don’t cry at least once per episode, you are lacking a heart, my friend.
I don’t see Troy Dunn on the Bonnie Hunt show schedule yet, but keep an eye out for him there. I record her show every day and will try to give a heads up if I see when he’ll be on.
Thanks Jill! Thanks Troy!
I hope everyone has a meaningful Good Friday and a Blessed Easter …
