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Memory Works: Smash Book by K & Company

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It seems the hot item of Spring 2011 (erm, now “Summer 2011”) is the “Smash Book” by K & Company. What in the heck is a Smash Book, you ask? Check this out:

{There is music so check your volume … fyi} …

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PFsArr4Z1s]

From the EK Success “brand buzz blog“:

Already a hit before it has even released (coming this spring!), SMASH is an exciting new program from K&Company that takes scrapbooking back to its roots. Simplistic, on-the-fly, and with no rules and no special crafting ability needed, you can Smash your everyday life between the pages of our contemporary-style Smash Books.

An ultra-convenient combo glue pen/journaling marker comes attached to each book so it’s always at hand when you need it. Now, how cool is that?!

So, what do you Smash? Well, it doesn’t have to be a life event, just the special little moments and mementos of your day—some of that stuff in your junk drawer, for example. A snapshot, a ticket stub from that movie you loved, a newspaper clipping, a magazine snippet, a cardboard coaster from a favorite restaurant, your child’s first crayon doodle…get the idea? Smash it, jot a note or add a caption sticker, and go!

Here is a video of the Smash Book set-up at CHA back in February 2011 from Noell Hyman at PAPERCLIPPING.COM:

{By the way, I’m listening to the latest Paperclipping broadcast while I blog. CHECK IT}.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7NfgfLLPDs&NR=1]

As you can see, this isn’t your traditional scrapbooking, but a cool twist, a fun new way of keeping your memories … unstructured, unfiltered, unencumbered by convention. For some of us, Smash Books may bring back memories of our childhood or teenage years when we kept books with doodles, ticket stubs, photos, quotes, and random writings.

One of the reasons these books are so eagerly anticipated … is that they were supposed to be available in April 2011, but K & Company had a manufacturing delay. They weren’t sure when the Smash Books would be ready to ship, then came out with projected dates in May … exact date dependent on when each retailer receives them.

On their awesome SMASH STORIES BLOG, they then did two things that somewhat appeased the masses: They did a giveaway of the mini-Smash Books (I was lucky enough to get one, thanks to my friend Abby tipping me off!), and they did weekly giveways of a full-size Smash Book each Monday.

I’ve heard comments on the message boards that, because of the delay, some people are “so over” the Smash Books. They got tired of waiting and lost enthusiasm, wanted them for grad gifts and it’s too late now, etc. I understand the frustration and wish the delay wouldn’t have happened. I do think it cost K & Company some sales … but think in the long run, this will still be a VERY popular product.

I plan to get one … or several. I don’t even know what I’m going to use Smash Books for yet … I just know that I must have them, LOL. The accessories are SO cute. Sure, you could make your own version of a Smash Book but I think this version is super cute and unique … also, I assume, archival safe … which a composition book, etc. you make on your own might not be.

A few ideas I have for my own Smash Books are:

Everyday stuff ~ Quotes, random photos, ticket stubs, grocery lists, sticky notes (I *live* for sticky notes!), observations, etc.

Kids book ~ Funny or interesting things my kids do or say, milestones, photos that won’t be scrapped with another event, etc.

Weight loss ~ I just started a weight loss journal, a plain lined notebook about the same size as a Smash Book. But if I get a Smash Book soon, I may re-start it and include photos, measurements, before/during/after photos, recipes, menus, etc. The cute stickers and add-ons could make a quite boring job a bit more fun. And when (not IF) I reach my weight loss goals, I’ll have a cool little book to look back on. A cool PRIVATE little book. Ahem.

What would you do with a Smash Book?

Here is a sample Smash Book from the Smash Blog:

I am SO happy that Memory Works will be carrying a bunch of the K & Company Smash Books line. You can find it on my website HERE and place an order soon. (As of this blog post, availability is expected on May 20, 2011!!!).

I’ve known for quite some time that Memory Works was going to carry Smash Books and contemplated taking pre-orders for them (like I’ve done for the very popular SIMPLE STORIES lines). But I was too nervous, given the delays they’d already had and unpredictability of when Memory Works would actually have them in stock.

According to our online Product Availability list, Smash Books are due at Memory Works on May 20, 2011 … a mere 2 days away. So *now* I feel comfortable posting about them. I hope you’ll consider ordering your Smash Books and accessories from me! To entice you, I’m going to post photos of the different colors available and a peek inside to some of the pages ~ so you can pick the best style for your project …

Do you have a favorite? I think I’m leaning toward the PINK if I could only choose one.

Okay, I’m going to shut up about the Smash Books now :P

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More Tutorials for EK Success & Fiskars Border Punches

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I’ve posted links to border punch tutorials in the past and know how much we all love them, so here’s another one. Check it out HERE. Thanks to ABBY aka ScrapbookFrenzy for pointing this out! It’s from the Studio Calico BLOG, which has lots of other yumminess. I confess to owning 2 of the punches she uses (Threading Water aka eyelet punch, and Leave it to Weaver, with the ribbon slots). Now, of course, I’ll be getting the 3rd one with the waves … if I can find it with a coupon.

I love the idea of threading ribbon through the THREADING WATER punch. That punch is so versatile. You can also put brads in the eyelet holes, or STICKLES, or SKITTLES.

When I saw the card she added the border to…

…I started to feel like there was an online conspiracy against me. I want that new line from Cosmo Cricket called EARLY BIRD soooo bad, and I keep seeing projects all over the place where it’s used but I don’t have mine….yet! I will be ordering it from MEMORY WORKS, like, pronto. I can’t take it anymore.

These border punches by EK Success and Fiskars are so popular. HERE is a thread on 2peas asking, “How many border punches do you have?” I was glad to see I’m not alone in having quite a few.

Confession time: I have …… um, let’s see …… 3 Martha Stewart ……. plus 2 Fiskars ……. plus 2 EK Success ……. equals 7! That’s not TOOO embarrasing, is it? What’s embarrassing is how many more of them I want.

You’re turn to ‘fess up…How many border punches do YOU have?

scrapbook blogs scrapbook shopping scrapbook websites

New at Michaels

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Part 2 of my Big City Shopping day, and now we proceed to Michaels. It must’ve been ANNA GRIFFIN day, because just like TUESDAY MORNING, Mike’s had some new Anna stuff. The line is called “Darcey” and the colors are bright and look better in person than they do in my blurry iPhone photo.

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I love this scalloped acrylic album! It has 5 pages and 2 binder rings. I didn’t get one because, as you can see from the signage in the first photo, all the “Designer Corner” stuff was on sale for 25% off. I’ll wait for a 50% coupon and get this album for 10 buckeroonies.

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These chipboard letters are cute, too. I use a lot of bright colors AND black, so these may be a future purchase (with coupon, of course…).

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This is a new line by PRIMA. It’s a departure from their usual pretty-pretty stuff. The skulls and guitars – I don’t know if you can tell from the photo – are made from tiny bling. Very cute! I think this line is very cool but I don’t have anything I would use it on.

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Here is the Making Memories “Black Tie” line that I talked about HERE.

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And this was my favorite of the new stuff: The “Vacation” line by Me and My Big Ideas (aka MAMBI). I’m a sucker for bright, tropical colors for all those upcoming summer layouts. We have a swimming pool so I end up doing lots of layouts with turquoise being the main color. This line will be a perfect fit.

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This was interesting…a new line by K&Co…darnit, I can’t remember the name of the designer, maybe someone can help me out or I’ll try to find it online. Anyway, the focus seems to be “green” with those tote bags and recycled packaging, similar to the K&CO/Amy Butler “Lotus” line they recently carried. Not my style, but cute.

ETA 5/21/09: Thanks to a comment left by ALESK…..it’s Carolyn Gavin. Thank you! Love my girls who comment! *U Rawk*

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Closer look at MAMBI travel and summer stuff…

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Cute new EK SUCCESS punches! Flowers and fruit…so summery.

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Here are some photos from after I got home. On top are the MAMBI journal spots and “Vacation” title I got…yum! (Both for 25% off). The Making Memories “Well Worn Tags” were sold as a pack at Tuesday Morning. Normally, they would’ve cost about $12 ($4 each), but I got all three for $4. That’s, like, 66% off, am I right? What a steal…

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This is the coupon (20% off entire purchase from 9 to 1 on Memorial Day), and June coupon book they put in my bag at checkout. Kewl.

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Just an example – the discounts from the first page. Good stuff, yeah?

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My favorite purchase of the day, a scallop square Giga Punch. I used my 50% off coupon and got it for around $9. Schwing!

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So that’s the haps at Michaels these days, and my fun purchases. At Mike’s, what have you gotten lately or what are you planning to buy?

Memory Works scrapbook blogs scrapbook organization scrapbook shopping scrapbook websites

Cropper Hopper Organization at Tuesday Morning

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Made my monthly trip to The Big City and here is what I found at Tuesday Morning…

There were a lot of ANNA GRIFFIN packs – huge ones with 12×12 paper and tons of embellies to mini album kits.

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Here were some fun EK SUCCESS punches that were very tempting (but I resisted…can you?). These ones are a pacifier, arrow, and speech bubble. There were a few other shapes, too.

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For me, this is where I hit the motherlode….CROPPER HOPPER STORAGE !!! I had always wanting these when they first came out because I love vertical bookshelf storage for my scrappy stuff. I own stock in CH VERTICAL PAPER HOLDERS, ya know. But these items were out of my budget (because I am super cheap, yeah).

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But I picked up the 2-drawer/4-pocket binder ($8.99) which I plan to use to organize my card-making supplies. I don’t have a ton but right now they’re in some Iris drawers and not very well organized. The 3×3 embellishment drawer ($2.99) will be the perfect way to organize my Mike’s stamps finally! I’m really excited about that one. They’ve also been stacked in an Iris drawer…til now, LOL!

Here you can see the retail prices, and what a great deal Tuesday Morning has on them…

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Here is what the inside of the pocket binder looks like.

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When I get some schtuff inside my new storage, I’ll post pics and see what you think. Have you found any good deals at TM lately?

PS: Stay tuned for the next episode of Shopaholic Obsession….er, I mean….Scrapbook Obsession….when I’ll show you what’s new at Mike’s and what I picked up there….