This is my favorite. I love the fun colors, the photo frame, and the flower accent. I’ll probably never buy it, though. I’m a train wreck with embellished albums. I tend to shove my scrapbooks back on the shelf without care, and would probably shave that pretty flower off in 2 seconds flat. But it’s a pretty album to admire on the Michael’s shelf …
Some more cute scrapbooks but I think I had seen all of these before except for the blue/yellow one on the left. I really like that one, too …
At first, I thought these “Spellbound” letters by MAKING MEMORIES were stickers. When I saw the price of $4.99, I was like WTH? But I picked them up and realized they’re actually chipboard … so the 5 bucks is actually a pretty good deal.
A Halloween page kit by K&Company. I was going to use my 40% off coupon to get this kit, then decided against it. It’s a 2-page layout but had blanks for only 4 photos. Sorry, Charlie, I can’t remember the last time I scrapped only 4 photos on a 2-pager. Especially Halloween, with all those cute costumes, jack o’lanterns, and candy bucket photos. Puh-lease.
Here are some small, medium, and large canvases by K and Company. I propped up the project flyer that shows a way to use the 12×12 canvas. Great project idea and I love the different sizes and colors. The price seems kind of steep to me but what do I know? I’ve never bought a canvas before. Can you buy these over in the Michaels art section or at an art shop for less? Scrapbooking companies are notorious for packaging some common thing as a “scrapbooking product” and then jacking the price up to high Heaven. And I gotta’ admit, I fall for it most of the time. But I’m onto this canvas fraud. Yessiree Bob …
Look at these cute black epoxy punctuation stickers by SANDYLION. Yep, half price, from $2.99 down to $1.49. I got some of these.
K&Co. embellishments. Some of these I’ve seen before but there are also some new ones. Aren’t those butterflies gorgeous?
Sorry for the shadowy, bottom shelf look but, hey, what can I say? They were on a shadowy bottom shelf! An album kit and shadow box kit by K&Co. More butterflies. They remind me of that gorgeous line by Melody Ross for GCD STUDIOS called “ARTSY URBAN“. Here is the entire BLOSSOMWOOD collection by Tim Coffey if you’re interested …
Speaking of butterflies and tricks by scrapbooking companies … why, yes, we WERE speaking of that … keep up, lady, keep up! Here are some butterflies that were not in the scrapbooking aisle; instead, they were over by the home decor. I’m not sure what their intended use is, but I thought they would look grand on scrapbooking layouts. Only $4.99 for up to 12 flutter-bys. You know that if they were packaged and displayed as a scrapbooking item, they would be at least 7 or 8 bucks. Sheesh.
Now on to some Clearance items:
This little boy album kit was originally $24.99, marked down to $9.99 ~ what a deal. There was a similar girl album kit, too, for the same price.
Ooh, blurry, sorry! I must have hiccupped when I took the photo or something. Mr. iPhone has no image stabilization whatsoever. Anyhow, “skins” for the GYPSY were on the Clearance already. I don’t remember seeing them prior to this. Is that the equivalent to “straight to video” when a movie isn’t that great? Gypsy skins, “straight to clearance!”
A whole endcap over by the party supplies was full of this black, lavender, and blue line by COLORBOK. It was all on sale at 2 for $1.
Lastly, all these cute packs of chipboard shapes were also over by the giftwrap. The chipboard is already white, which is nice, although it’s kind of thin. I was thinking some of these could make great mini-albums. Just punch a hole in 1 or 2 corners with your CROP-A-DILE and use some binder rings. Or you could make some fun kids projects with these.
See the large circle on the bottom right? Those are HATS! Idn’t that key-yoot!?!?
This star shape would make a darling mini album. I think with cardstock or patterned paper and photos adhered to each side, it would be sturdy enough.
Hope you enjoyed the Michaels tour. I’m usually in such a rush, I only have time to browse the scrapbooking section. But Saturday I had some time to kill while waiting for a movie to start. It was fun to cruise the entire store at my leisure.
Later this week, I’ll post pics of what I bought. Have you done any Michaels shopping lately?
When I was at Michaels last week, I noticed this sign on one of the almost empty paper racks advertising “Themed Scrapbook Collections.”
I’m not sure what to make of it. About 6-8 months ago, I guess, both of the Mike’s I shop at introduced some new “theme” areas, including Travel, Baby Boy, and Baby Girl. Instead of grouping items by type (letters, papers, stickers, etc.) like they do throughout the rest of the scrapbook area, they pulled everything having to do with, say, travel, and displayed it all in one area. They even added some new travel items to the mix and did the same for baby boy and baby girl.
So, it this going to be more of that? I’m not sure. But inquiring minds want to know already! Bring it on, Mike’s.
I learned about another new thing upon checkout: Michaels is reinstating their Friday night crop nights. The flyer says …
——–
“Michaels crop nights, last Friday of the month*, 5pm-8:45pm. Do you and your friends need a place to get together and craft?
*Crop Nights will not be held in November & December and Michaels reserves the right to discontinue Crop Nights at any time.
Join us the last Friday of every month for Michaels crop night. Michaels provides the space and an assortment of tools.** The best part is that Michaels takes care of the cleanup.
**Available tools will vary. Please ask store associate at time of reservation about store-specific tools.
Reserve your spot today! Space is limited and must be reserved in advance. Reservations can be made by paying $5 or showing proof of $10 scrapbooking purchase in the last 30 days. Reservations are first come, first serve. Please see a Store Associate to reserve your spot to crop!”
——–
First, can I say … ? The dang flyer had several typos or just plain mistakes (I fixed them when I typed the wording above). They must’ve fired their flyer editor. Wow. Embarrassing.
Second, I’m glad to see the crop nights are back. I’m kind of confused … Are they having a crop night set up there every last Friday with a random group of people, or do you have to set it up yourself and bring your friends? Say you call them on Wednesday and you’d like to reserve your spot to crop Friday night … Is the crop happening and they’re taking other sign-ups, or is it more like your reserving the room for you and your friends?
Thirdly, why only 3.75 hours? That’s what most of the Peas said HERE and I have to agree. Hardly seems worth the time to pack up your stuff and drive there. Why not have it for longer? If they’re taking sign-ups (which I’m still confused about), they could do them in 4-hour slots like 1-5pm and 5-9pm. If you wanted to come for 8 hours, you take 2 slots so they don’t overbook the space. If you can only come after work in the evening, you sign up just for the 5-9pm slot. Better yet, why not do it on Saturdays? It’s almost like they want the idea to fail, don’t you think?
You know the scrapbooking T-shirts at Michaels that I mentioned HERE? Well, sounds like the stores are starting to get them in stock. Some of the Peas alreadyHAVE THEM. One Pea said she used her 40% coupon and got her tee for $6. That’s a great price for any kind of tee, much less a scrapbooking one. I hope I get the chance to go by Mike’s tomorrow …
Just got an e-mail from Michaels (yes, we have a SPECIAL relationship and he e-mails me directly …). They are now carrying scrapbook tees for $9.99. It said: “New! Dress for your next crop event in style and make it a weekend to remember. Our Recollections™ scrap T-shirts are 100% cotton and come in pink, turquoise and black. Sizes M–XXL. *$12.49 in Alaska.”
That just made my day! I love to wear scrappy tees and have picked up a few over the years at Scrapbook EXPOS. Alas, the ones I have are well-worn and should be replaced. Sweet! Unfortunately, I couldn’t find these tees on the Michaels’ website to see if there are other designs.
I wonder if they’ll take coupons on them? Have you seen these at your Michaels? What styles were there ~ just the three shown, or were there others?
PS: This week’s ad also shows Cricut Solutions cartridges for $14.99 … another YIPPEE!
I was in Michaels last weekend, looking for something coupon-worthy, and also looking for the April issue ofSCRAPBOOK ETC. magazine, which the Peas had told me HERE is now available (bummer … most of the reviews are not favorable).
Darn if I couldn’t find SBE, but I did come across the gorgeous publication WHERE WOMEN CREATE. It’s a nice, thick, beautifully done magazine … well, more like a scrapbook idea book except that you get studio ideas instead of layout ideas.
At $14.95, it’s a bit rich for my blood considering it would be total eye candy for me, unlike a $15 idea book that I would actually use over and over. Anyhow, it comes out quarterly and I like to flip through it when I see it at Mike’s or BARNES AND NOBLE (they have the hardcover book of WWC, too!).
I’m always hoping to see a scrapbooker or at least a cardmaker and their studio featured, but so far I’ve come up empty. Hmmm … I wonder if they really haven’t chosen to profile a paper crafter, or if I’ve just missed it somehow. It’s entirely possible that I’ve missed it, which would be my fault since I’m too cheap to buy the magazine/book and “cheat” by flipping through it at the store. This issue did feature THE PAPER SOURCE, which is at least on the right track :)
Another thing I wish they would do is designate what type of artist each woman is, both in the Table of Contents and on the intro or title page to each artist. Again, if they DO do that and I’ve missed it, I apologize. But if I’m missing it every time, it can’t be that obvious, LOL! The cover gives the names of the artists inside and sometimes even the company they’re associated with, but just by a listing of names, I don’t know if any of them are scrapbookers/papercrafters. I mean, I’m pretty up on all the popular scrappers but I don’t know EVERYONE, sheesh.
One studio I flipped past was that of a knitter. I was stopped cold by a photo of her “Wall of Yarn.” It was all stacked by color in a large wall shelf, an Ikea EXPEDIT or similar. My first thought was, “But this magazine is about personal studios. Why do they have a photo of a store in here?” Then a second later, I realized, “Ah, that probably IS a personal studio!” But that lady had a shite-load of yarn!
Then I laughed so hard at myself (Bwahahaha! The other Mike’s customers were probably fittin’ to dial Mental Health for me … ), because I realized that that’s what people ~ non-scrappers, especially ~ must automatically think when they see MY scrap space. “Why does she have a scrapbook store in her house?” LOL Who could blame them? Instead of a Wall O’ Yarn, I have a Half Wall O’ Paper, a Bookcase O’ Idea Books, and Jars O’ Flowers, Ribbon, and Letters.
First, I was embarrassed. Oh. My Gosh. How embarrassing to realize that people who visit my home and peek into my office wonder why I have a scrapbook store. But then after I stopped internally blushing, I felt better. You know why? Because after flipping through Where Women Create all these times, I’ve seen some crazy, huge, awesome, expensive, fully-stocked, storelike studios of women who do all kinds of crafty and creative things … photography, art dolls, sewing, graphic arts, quilting, etc. And I realized something very comforting and very important.
We are not alone.
Scrapbookers aren’t the only ones so obsessed with supplies that it takes entire rooms to hold and organize them. We aren’t the only who live for Ikea and it’s plethora of crafty-friendly storage items. We aren’t the only women who find solace and comfort in our craft, who consider our creative spaces to be a haven, a place where we can go and truly be ourselves.
We are not alone. And that’s pretty great, isn’t it?
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?
Yep, time is money, people, and there’s a lot to cover!
Scrapbook Mail:
I love, love, LOVE getting scrapbook mail, don’t you? There is no better mail than that. Well, maybe if someone wanted to send me a bunch of money, that would be my favorite mail, but somehow, I don’t see that happening.
Over at the SCRAPBOOK SISTERS STUDIO message board, I joined a Secret Santa Swap. Well actually two. For one, you were to send an envelope of handmade or inexpensive scrapbook goodies to 5 other Sisters, and in return you would receive 5 different envelopes back. Here are the first two packages I received ~ aren’t they great? ~ and the only ones I’ve taken photos of so far. I’ve received others too and it’s always to fun to get the mail these days!
For the other one, you were to send $20 worth of scrapbook goodies to a Sister you were secretly matched up with. We each posted Wish Lists including scrapbook stuff and non-SBR stuff, too. I sent off my package on Monday and received the one from my Secret Santa yesterday. I was so lucky to have SCRAPPY GIRL for my SS. LOOKIE LOOKIE at all the bad-ass shizzle she sent me!
Love all the Inque stuff, the LYB stuff, just LURVE IT ALL! She even got me my favorite Dr. Pepper lip smackers lip gloss :) Thank you, Scrappy Girl! You rock big time, Sista!
Scrapbook Shopping:
I’m hella’ overdue posting these shopping pics. I can see by the date on the photos that they are 2+ weeks old. Time has flown…seems like a few days ago, LOL. Anyway, here are some things I found at TUESDAY MORNING:
Remember the HEIDI SWAPP TOTE? Well, here is a new version of that. For 20 bucks, you get the Tote-ally Cool Tote filled with HEIDI SWAPPgoodies.
Here is a close-up of the list so you can see exactly what the items are…
Some cute kits…
This was a kit that reminded me of the KI MEMORIES TINS that were at Target a while back. (Just to clarify, these ones are NOT KI Memories brand). Looks like a decent deal.
These “Thank You” stamps by EK SUCCESS have been around for quite awhile. I used to see them at an LSS that closed many moons ago. For only $5, they were hard to resist.
This was a huge pack of chipboard alphas for $8 by Memories Direct, that brand that’s often on HSN and they also have their own infomercials…at least they used to. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen one in a while. Maybe Cricut bought up all the allowable scrapbook infomercial time, LOL! Have you seen the CONSTANT Cricut informercials? Yikes.
And lastly, teeny tiny little totes by All My Memories, which I believe is now defunct. They’re sitting on a 12×12 paper pack so you can see how small they are.
Assuming these ADIRONDACK ink pads aren’t all dried out, I would call this the Find of the Day. Yum, look at all that ink!
Here are the items I purchased from Tuesday Morning that fine day:
Cheapie dot glue runners for stocking stuffers…
3 Vintage Pop Top Ink Pads ($1.49 each) and 1 Adirondack ink pad ($1.99). So 4 ink pads, a mere $6.50 (a $16-20 value). Yes, they really do smell as advertised …
Next was Michaels:
It looked like there were a few new scrapbook idea books …
Then Barnes and Noble with the Starbucks inside, where I got another one of those PEPPERMINT CRUNCH BARS I’ve been craving since the last time I was there a month prior. This is the ONLY Starbucks I’ve been to that has them … what up? Hollah! Oh my, they are melt-in-your-mouth heaven…
And lastly a couple of scrapbooking magazines. I’ve been reading through these for the past couple of weeks, and can honestly say I prefer the British “Scrapbook Inspirations” to CK. I think our American magazines (what, all 2 of them?) could take some tips from the Brits. Oh Frick on a Stick! I just went to Scrapbook Inspirations’ website so I could link to it, and found THIS. Crap, crap, crap. That was their last monthly issue. They will be doing something in new format quarterly starting February 2010. Sigh…..
Scrapbook Space:
My Scrap Sister ANGIE just added an amazing scrapbook space to her bedroom. She has such great style … I think you’ll really enjoy looking at it. Here is a sneak peek:
She’s having a scrapbook RAK and there are ways to get your name in the hat up to 5 times, so go play!
I decided to go the easy route for Christmas cards this year, and buy a kit to make them come together more easily and cheaply. I found this kit at Michaels recently and, with my coupon, it only cost $8.50. You get 18 cards and envies, so only 47 cents per card is pretty dang good, I think.
The kit comes packaged very nicely, in this cute little box. It’s empty here….sorry, I forgot to take photos BEFORE I started..oops.
You get 6 sets/styles of cards, with 3 in each set. There are samples on the back of the box showing how you can assemble the cards, and everything is packaged to make that very easy to do….NO guesswork whatsover. Then again, you are free to mix and match or put the cards together your own way if you like.
I think the artwork is cute and unique. The messages are light-hearted and sweet. There are six different sentiments to go inside….here they are laid out on my desk. I added a quick dot of a coordinating color of Stickles glitter glue on the four corners of each one to give it a little pizzazz.
Okay, is it just me or whenever you say the word “pizzazz,” do you just want to break out some jazz hands right when you say it? Like, “Pizzazz” … jazz hands! I can’t help it. Both of my hands instantly starburst themselves into the air. “Pizzazz!” Wha? Oh, what is that you’re saying? … Oh, crap. You wouldn’t be caught dead doing something so “Glee”-ish, even in the privacy of your own home? And it IS just me? Wow. Major wake-up call, dude. Thanks.
Ah, okay, back to the Christmas cards….
One thing that’s really cool about these is almost every embellishment is pop-dotted already. So the cards have that 3-D look to them, and you didn’t even have to waste your own pop dots to get it. Sweeeeee-tuh!
I also inked the edges of a few of the elements…for instance…
and on the back of every card, it’s pre-printed with the “Handmade for you by…” thingee, so I stamped my name in a color-coordinated ink. I have 2 fairly new sets of Cats Eye CHALK INK queues from Michaels (love me some coupons!) so it was fun to use them on this…metallic blues, greens, reds from one set, and gold and copper from another set.
I got these cards about 90% done on Friday night…it took under 2 hours. I was running on fumes after a long week, so I was glad it was so easy-peasy. No brain cells required.
Here is the finished product, front and back, one of each of the 6 designs.
Just the fronts…
Pretty cute, huh? {Why, yes, I CAN say that! I’m not bragging, since I didn’t design them…I merely “assembled” them, much like one of Santa’s elves assembles toys….sheesh, don’t be a hater! I’m like an elf here, just trying to spread some goddamn Christmas joy!}
Since this kit only made 18 cards and I send out 40-50, I’m going to be on the lookout for another kit like this. I also got some “free” clear envelopes to re-use :)
What are you doing for Christmas cards this year? None, store bought, from a kit, digital/photo cards, or totally handmade? Would love to hear about what you’re doing and feel free to post a link if you’ve started them already :)
Now that I work from home, um, I’m home … A LOT. Like, I haven’t put gas in my car for two weeks. Like, my sweats get more wear than my favorite jeans. Like, I now know what my dog does all day. Yeah, like I said, I’m home a lot, LOL!
My very DH works “outside the home” so he’s gone all day for the most part. When he came home from work yesterday, the kids and I turned the lights out and yelled “AHHHH!!!” when he opened the door. He didn’t even flinch. He just yelled over us, “Why is the dog barking? Why isn’t someone making the dog stop barking?!?” Hee. NOT the effect we were hoping for. But as I explained to him, the neighbors were working on their fence in the dark and since the barking was only going to bother them, and since it was their fault Landry was barking, I was done yelling at him to stop. After the eleventy-millionth time.
I told DH that the “scaring” him was stress relief for all of us because, although I know he thinks I have a cush job at home and have a blast at home all day, it really IS hard sometimes. I was moody, the kids were moody and tired, I was tired of being nagged at, they were tired of me nagging back, we were ALL tired of the dog barking, yadda yadda.
He said, “Oh, I don’t think you have it easy AT ALL! I know it’s hard to be in the madness all day.” And then he said, “Hey, go shopping or something. Get out of the house.” {Swoon!} See why I love that man? He knows when I clearly need some Mommy Time, you betcha’. I wasn’t able to go out that night (as ordered) because I got a call to do some transcription work, plus I had signed up to work a few hours overtime.
But Thursday night was the night. I went to Michaels first because I had two 50% off coupons and one expired on Thursday. I was also on a mission to find this stamp/punch set….
…. for a friend at SCRAP SISTERS STUDIO (my favorite message board where all my Scrap Homegirls hang out). She said in a post about new stuff at Michaels that she really wanted it, but her Mike’s is 2 hours away (which should be a crime, in my opinion) and didn’t know when she could get there next. So I offered to pick up the punch and ship it to her if I could find it….and I did! It was even on sale for 30% off, so she only paid 9 dollah for it. I also found the December CK finally, which I plan to snuggle down on the couch with as soon as I finish writing this.
Since I had been banished from the house, I knew they certainly didn’t want me back anytime soon so, for once, I was NOT in a rush and just took my time strolling through the aisles. I ran into a friend out front and we chatted. I looked at all the pretty Christmas ornaments and looked for a new tree angel (no luck). And I took the time to flip through each and every one of the new paper stacks they have. So wanna’ guess which one I ended up buying?
BLADOW!
* Picture courtesy of SCRAPBOOK.COM, who I hope some of you will link to and buy stuff (or at least click over there and increase their number of hits). Because the Cosmo Cricket website, which I would’ve PREFERRED to link you to, has some stupid “using our stupid images stupid policy.” Go Scrapbook.com! They know how to do business!
But I digress….Yes, I got the Cosmo Cricket “Earth Love/The Boyfriend” 12×12 double deck stack. You can see both lines HERE. Honestly, there is one pattern in Earth Love that kind of freaks my deak ~ they look like weird space mushrooms to me ~ so if anyone wants them, let me know (I can cut them into 6×6 and ship ’em to you in an envie). It’s the pattern under the birds.
I ADORE the entire Boyfriend line. Some really cute papers in there for school layouts, and they also make me want to find some photos of DH from junior high and high school to scrap. There are cassette tapes, Atari joysticks, banana seat bikes, etc. Totally kewl, dude….
Anyway, got that stack for 1/2 off ($10 instead of $20), and used my other 50% off coupon towards a Christmas card kit for which I paid $8.50 instead of $17. Comes out to about 47 cents per card. As my dear old grampy used to say, “It’s better than a sharp stick in the eye!” Okay, I didn’t really have a grampy… I just made that up. But, yeah, I just outed myself. I’m a scrapbooker who cheats on her Christmas cards. I actually did stamp and make my own cards last year but, man, that is for chumps! Or for people not as lazy and selfish as me. WhatEVER! But it was WAY too much work and at the busiest time of year. What was I thinking???? So this year, I’ll do the traditional boring family Christmas letter, a 2009 photo collage, and *gasp!* cards made from a kit. I hope Scrapbook Santa will forgive me :)
From the clearance section, I got some Martha Stewart “Memory Labels” (18 pack) which are self-adhesive, come in orange, pink, and green, and say “Who, What, Where, When.” They could be used to make some cute invitations but I’m going to use them for journaling, of course (I have a journaling spot fetish). They were $2 instead of $4.
I went on to enjoy some more “me” time shopping at Target. {Nothing new in the scrap aisle…yeah, of course I looked!}. Prescriptions, Christmas shopping, a new Maeve Binchy book, etc. It was a nice, relaxing evening … even if I was doing a mommy job while I was there. You can relate, right?
On my way home, I stopped at the Starbucks drive-thru to get a latte for re-heating in the morning (remember, I work from home….I never. leave. the house) and got a big shock. My venti-sugar free vanilla – quad – breve – latte….now costs SIX BUCKS! Seriously? For shizzle. My ever so charming barista told me that they just raised their shot prices. So I now drink a six dollar coffee. Am I insane?
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Last weekend I did some shopping. Well, mostly window shopping, as it is these days, but it’s always fun to look, right?
First stop was Tuesday Morning….
Lots of crafty storage, scrapbook embellies, and scrapbooks. MM Halloween paints, etc.
Those green rolling totes up top were cute, and I almost got that shoulder tote on the third shelf to use for a summer purse. It was a black/white print with some yellow and red…very cute.
They still had some of the HEIDI SWAPP TOTES, small Tote-ally Cool Totes, and lots more scrappy stuff. Even some blank canvases on the bottom shelf.
Tons of photo albums and scrapbooks…
Making Memories goodies like ribbon and clear frames…
These pre-done albums were SO tempting! Both by Making Memories, the red one was Fa La La and 8×8; the blue baby one was 8.5×11. Both were the nicely embellished inside. You could just pop in your photos, write some journaling, and be done.
I almost got this pack of KI Memories icicles for the little scalloped shapes and the heart. But the other packs that it came with were things I already had, so when it came time to narrow my purchases, these poor babies were cut… :(
This was interesting…a huge pack of the SAME Tigger cardstock stickers. I guess $2.69 is a great deal but WTH would you do with all those stickers, LOL!
More cute Icicles and KI Memories test tubes…
ADORABLE rubber embellishments and chipboard journal spots by KI Memories. Yes, these were in my hand, too, but didn’t make the final cut either….
So, overall Tuesday Morning was decent. I got a few things (see the end of this post) for great prices. They had a lot of scrapbooking stuff out.
Next I went to Michaels. I didn’t bother taking pictures this time with my stealth iPhone, since I linked to all those photos in my last post. Suffice to say, TONS of new holiday and Christmas stuff, so it’s worth your while to make a trip.
I did take a photo to show you that Martha Stewart peg stamp kit I talked about HERE. It’s normally $18 but everything MS was 30% off so I was tempted but didn’t get them….this time…
Again, see the end of this post to see what I got at Michaels….Oh, and apparently there is now a Halloween clearance SALE going on now.
Last was Costco, which hasn’t had much in the way of scrapbooking stuff in a while but I always check just in case….you never know….
They did have two scrapbooking kits, I assume because Christmas is coming up.
$37 and there were two choices….love the cute little holder it comes in.
That was the end of my scrappy shopping. I was in Costco, the reason for my trip to the Big City in the first place, so it was then down to bidness…It was a good free sample day :)
On my way home, I stopped at Barnes and Noble, planning to pick up the new December Creating Keepsakes magazine (the Peas said HERE that it had been out for a few days). Howevah! B&N did not have it, so I consoled myself with this British scrapping mag. The overseas magazines used to be much more expensive that US ones, but they cost about the same now, so why not? It’s fun to see their style and such across the pond. Plus, I love how they spell “colour”…..much more flair than plain old “color,” don’t you think?
While at B&N, I grabbed my usual latte and decided to splurge on something sweet from their bakery case since I hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch. I picked this thing called a Starbucks Peppermint Crunch Bar, which looked like a white cookie with some pink frosting and crushed peppermint on top. I’ve looked all over online for a photo to show you, but it’s not ANYWHERE, which almost makes me think I imagined it. But I have to tell you…. OH. MY. GAH!! That was THE YUMMIEST anything I’ve had in a long time. I shudder to think at the calorie content, but it was such melt-in-you-mouth goodness, it was worth it, whatever the cost :)
Here is what I ended up with from Tuesday Morning:
A pretty sage green structured cloth storage cube for $5 and….
…2 of these Cropper Hopper photo boxes ($3 each) to help with my scrapbook room MAKEOVER. I’m going to store a bunch of mini-album supplies in the green cube, keep all that stuff in one place, out of the dust, and looking neater. Not sure about the photo boxes but I already have a couple. I just know they won’t be used for photos, because I have another system in place for those.
This was probably my favorite buy of the day….some KI Memories school embellies. I’ve wanted some of this line since way back HERE. It was a great deal, too….all of this for only $4….WOW!
{{{{Speaking of them, KI Memories WEBSITE has some great SPECIAL DEALS right now! If you’re a fan, be sure to check them out.}}}}
Here is what I got at Michaels:
Two sheets of this gorgeous paper. The swirls are glittered gold. So pretty and I think they look nice with 2 side by side for the background to a double layout…
This paper is really pretty also. We’ve taken photos over the years of our kids in front of the oak tree in our yard. I might use this paper with those pictures somehow…
Here are 2 of the newer papers by Recollections that I mentioned before…finally got me some!
Gorgeous Rome paper for my Rome scrapbook…I was there at that same Coliseum, LOL!
ALL of the open stock paper was on sale for 30% off (not just their usual sale of only the 69 cent papers), so it was a great day to get some specialty papers.
It was also one of those days that so much was on sale, it was hard to use my dang 40% off coupon! I ended up being practical and using it on this…
Near the registers, they had a display of breast cancer awareness stuff, and this caught my eye right away. Aren’t these darling? I love the little winged heart, and the “SURVIVOR” in blue glitter. I’m going to send these to an online buddy who’s dealing with cancer. She is SO going to kick it’s ASS, it’s not even funny! She’s been a real inspiration to me, and to all the girls at SSS….just want to send her a tiny “thanks.”
So that was my latest shopping adventure! What have you found to buy lately?
Sounds like a good time to get some of those sought after Martha punches….or the cool MS peg stamps that my SSS bud, KELLI, showed us. She made this card with them….isn’t it GORGE!?!?!
Also, a $100 credit if you buy the Gypsy before 11/30/09
If you’re signed up for their coupon and weekly ad e-mails, you can get a 40% off AND a 50% off coupon to be used those 4 days also.
For the love of all that is scrappy….you have got to look at all the Mike’s eye candy HERE! OMG, so glad I saw this. Now I’m REALLY excited because… If all goes as planned, I’m headed to the Big City tomorrow for my monthly Costco run. Which also means Michaels, Tuesday Morning, Barnes and Noble (December CK is out!), and the craft store. For some reason, I LOVE Costco Run days :)
I picked these up at Walmart today. I don’t know if they’re old news there, but it was the first time I’d noticed them.
*This came out blurry because I took it after dark tonight. Will try to get a daylight pic and repost, but you get the idea :)
The packaging is different (more plain) and the name is different than when I see it at Michaels, like this, but it’s the same thing:
Instead of me trying to explain what it’s used for and why it’s so cool, I’ll let MICHAELS.COM do all the work:
Truly, a terrific double-sided tape in roll form! It’s industrial strength with an instant bond which increases over 24 hour period to maximum bond.
COMMONLY USED SURFACE-TO-SURFACE APPLICATIONS:
1. paper to paper
2. beads, glitter, etc. to paper or other surface
3. embellishments to ornamental fabric items
4. plastic or metal to paper
5. paper, plastic or metal to wood
DIRECTIONS & TIPS FOR USING TERRIFICALLY TACKY TAPE:
Apply tape to first surface.
Remove protective liner and apply second product (beads, glitter, etc.) or second surface.
SPECIAL TIPS: Use at room temperature. Surfaces must be dry, and grease free. Do not expose to air until ready to use as curing will commence.
You can see HERE what a wide range of prices it usually sells for, although when I click on a lot of those links, they don’t carry it anymore. I got the 1/4 and 1/2 inch sizes for $3.00 and $3.50 respectively. Seems like a decent deal, especially since no shipping charges :)
I’ve used this product since way back in 2005 when I discovered it in a CKU class. It indeed has a very strong bond, and it’s easy to use. I like it for attaching ribbon strips to my layouts just because it’s in a strip form and holds so well, but it’s also great for attaching heavier items. It looks red, but that’s just the backing. When you peel that off, it’s clear. Just a great adhesive, so I thought I’d share!
We were visiting friends in another city last weekend and I was able to go to a Michaels other than my own. As my friend and I were leaving to go shopping, DH said, “Go ahead and ‘have fun shopping’ (spend money),” so I did, LOL! This other Mike’s had so many things mine doesn’t! On the one hand, it pizzled me off. Like, why is her Mike’s more special than my Mike’s? So. Not. Fair. On the other hand, I decided to take advantage of these extra products and pick up some of the goods in case my store never gets them. Perfect shopper’s logic, right?
First, peep my new alphas. I’ve loved me some K & Company “Wild Saffron” since way back HERE. It’s one of my Top 10 Favorite Lines of All Scrappy Time and, therefore, I own just about the entire line. Well, I did not have these chipboard alphas; had never seen them in fact. So I got two @ $5 each :) Soooo spendy….
Also got these apple green felt letter stickers ($5) by Making Memories…so cute! And some journaling transparencies by Recollections. You get 6 ($3). I love the scallops on the edges, and that these will go with just about any layout. Since they’re see-through, they’ll take on whatever color ya put behind ’em.
Here’s some more Making Memories…the “Autumn Splendor” glitter spiral journaling notebook ($5). Those leaf-shaped pages are my favorite. The yellow sheets say “I am thankful for…” and have some cute pears on them; I noticed pears on a lot of products so it must be a new trend. I’m thinking of scrapping with the yellow “thankful” pages at TG this year, having each family member write what they are thankful for in their own handwriting and collecting them on a layout or in a mini-album.
Keeping with the Autumn theme, we have some brown velvet chipboard alphas by Recollections (only $2 so I got two sets). I took a few out of the package so you can see the cute mixed font. The layered chipboard stickers are from the Colorbok “XY&Z” line; they’re called All Occasion. I love the happy color palette and the “create” sticker the bestest.
These are Travel chipboard borders by Making Memories ($3). Super cute, love the glitter and shiny blingy-ness. I have another set of these in a different theme and love them. I like to cut them up and layer or stack them on a layout. They’re hard to see in the package … I wanted to lay them out so you could see them.
Last but not least, “Just the Edge” by Bazzill Basics ($3). They had several colors but I chose white because then I can chalk, ink, paint, or ‘whatever’ them to match the look I want. Or even keep them white, lol. So many possibilities, right? There are 20 pieces, 2 of each style and, again, I spread them out so you can see each one.
Here’s the part you will NOT believe. Are you sitting down? You sure? Okay. I bought all of this stuff…and none of it was on sale…and I did NOT have a coupon. No. Coupon. I know!!! I truly did not think it was possible for me shop for scrappy goodies at full retail price. I did get a little case of the shakes and I almost couldn’t do it. But then I did. Spent a sickening $40, too. I could barely stand it…that’s just not how I roll.
I also found some new open stock paper at this particular Michaels. It’s by Recollections (the Michaels brand) and you can see it all HERE. I think the Garage Sale line was my favorite; here are a couple sheets from that collection…
I had this sheet from the Birdwatching line in my hand and was ready to pick up more Recollections papers…
…when I realized I was traveling and would have to somehow get 12×12 papers home in a packed-to-the-gills car. So I put the paper back, and hope to someday find this stuff at my own Mike’s where I can buy some later.
Have you seen these items at your Mike’s? Do you have or want any of them? What’s your best find at Michaels lately?
Reminder: Read HERE about how to try and win some blog candy…just over 2,000 hits to go until we hit 500,000!
I usually love my iPhone dearly. It has changed my life for the better. It’s pretty. It fits perfectly in the palm of my hand. It has all the tools I need to get through the day.
But right now, I wanna’ kick it to the curb. (Hollah!)
My iPhone won’t sync to my computer. Hasn’t for 3 days now. Why is that a problem and why should you care?? Because, my scrappy friends, Mr. iPhone holds photos of:
– The progress I made last weekend on my scrapbook makeover PROJECT.
– New scrappy stuff at Target.
– New scrappy stuff at Michaels.
THAT. Is why you should care. You feeling me now? Good. We can suffer together.
I have tried all the fixes. The last time this happened, it was right after a software upgrade. I did all the fixes and nothing worked. After a day or two, it worked again. Apparently, iPhones are like women…don’t tell them when to do something. They’ll decide their DAMN selves, thankyouverymuch!
But it’s been threeeeeee daaaaayyyyssss…..How much longer must I wait? How much more can I take??? (Sing it with me! “No, you can’t hurry love…).
Yes, I DO love my iPhone. But right now? Not so much….
ETA 10-08-09: Okay, I tried again late lastnight and it worked! I have all my photos downloaded now. I have a zillion other things to do but will get those entries up as soon as I can :)
I’m slowly making progress on the big overhaul of my scrapbook room. If you’re not caught up, you can read the PROLOGUE and PART ONE, if you like :) But the Prologue is important reading; it’s where I tell you what happens if you make a smart ass comment about how much crap….erm, STUFF I have. Yes, I have a lot of paper. No, you can’t shop here. Yes, I have a life. Blah blah blah….
So, I’ve done lots of furniture moving. This is going to take awhile, so get comfy…
1. Unloaded everything from the desk – underneath, off the top, and in the drawers – and moved it about 2 feet closer to the sliding glass door. I didn’t repack the office supply and computer-related stuff I had in the desk cupboards; need to find a new home for all that. It’s in a pile here somewhere…
2. Unloaded all the DVDs, videos, and board games from the oak cabinet and moved them into a cabinet in the guest room/new play room. Moved a bunch of toys that were along the wall into the new play room. Moved the oak cabinet to the wall where the toys had been. Moved the Scrap Rack to the oak cabinet (temporarily, I think…). Moved office supplies, and office machines (fax machine, transcription machine, etc.) from guest room to bottom of oak cabinet (where movies and games had been). This cabinet is going to be Office Stuff Central…unless I change my mind.
3. Emptied out the legal filing cabinet, moved it from a back wall to align with one edge of the L-shaped desk, and refilled it with the same stuff I had in there before, which are greeting cards, school supplies, and more home office stuff. I gathered scrap magazines and idea books from various places around the house and piled ’em up.
As you can see, it’s time to purge these again. I usually do this about once a year but, yeah, it’s been awhile. A friend that I scrap with recently finished her project of pulling pages and ideas from her magazines and organizing them into page protectors in a binder. I’m so jealous….it was great! So I’m deciding now if I have the time, patience, and devotion to do the same thing. Purge or make “the perfect idea binder,” THAT is the question.
As for all those idea books….I don’t think I’ve EVER gotten rid of an idea book. Something about throwing away a book that I paid $15 to $40 for is much harder than a $5 magazine. But I should look through all my idea books and maybe toss some older ones. I’ll bet I don’t even “scrap like that anymore” for some of them, huh?
4. Moved the table that I’d been using for scrappy stuff (okay, to dump things on…) over to the area by the storage cubes. This will be the famous Homework Table.
5. Moved the couch and coffee table from in front of the desk to behind the desk by the back window. The original plan was to put it flush against the wall and lined up directly under the window (I’m all about symmetry, baby!). But once I got it there, the couch seemed kind of squished over into the corner and the coffee table was somewhat blocking the walkway to the back part of the room. So I tried the couch at an angle, and I liked it. Bonus: It creates a hidey space behind it for ugly stuff, lol. And I felt so “HGTV” about it, too.
6. Unloaded just about everything from 10 Store in Style cubes (see couch pic above), moved the cubes to the opposite end of the room, and reloaded them pretty much the same way. The SIS cubes are now on the wall that the oak TV cabinet used to be on. This is the area I talked about where I have to keep a walkway to get to the slider, so the cubes are a good thing to put here. They fit nicely and I can stack more on top someday if need be (God forbid!).
I first thought about configuring them like this, with a kind of “turn the corner” at one end….
…but decided not to. The positives were that it would be a little different-looking, and it would create a handy little empty space back there in the corner to store crop totes or something. But the negatives were that it made the walking path a bit too slim, and put the cubes right next to the cord for the blinds. And when I put embellishment jars on top of the one by the door, they would block the light switch. No super big deal, but I just decided to go with putting them all flush against the wall, like this…
All this furniture moving happened way back on 9/10 (it’s now 9/27!), so when I say “making slow progress,” I’m not exaggerating. It took me awhile to remember and write all this down, the order I did things in. It was quite the feat of engineering to move things AROUND the room while still having everything IN the room. I apologize for any dark photos but most of my madness occurs late at night after everyone has gone to bed. Man, you should’ve seen the wide eyes of my husband and kids when they came out the morning after all this! They were like, “You moved ALL that by yourself!?!? The couch???” and I’m all, like, “Desperate organizers take desperate measures.” (Like, totally…I did all that “like” stuff just to annoy you). Then the daytime photos are overly bright because of the sun coming in all the windows, so I can’t win, lol.
Once the furniture was in place, I’ve just been slowly putting things away, whether within this room or the other parts of the house where they belong, and below is what the room looks like as of today.
Down there is the new back half of the room, with my cool slanty couch, and my corner of chaos. The couch was my dad’s before he passed away so it’s sentimental. Luckily, it’s also functional so I have an excuse to keep it always and forever. That big tub is all the paperwork from my two scrapbook businesses, MEMORY WORKS and Calla Memories. I can get rid of most of it. I just need to go through it and save some paperwork for tax records and such.
The white shelving unit has all my mini album stuff – supplies and some completed albums – but I want to get rid of that shelf and find another way to store my mini album kingdom. That’s actually a shoe shelf so I’m hoping to then move it into my closet and use for, oh, I don’t know…..SHOES???
The basket on top of the white shelves contains letter stickers, which were all nicely sorted by color at one time, and easy to thumb through when I scrapped. Then….I discovered THICKERS. Dun dun dun dunnnnnnnn! I use Thickers lots and I buy Thickers lots. I have a Thicker addiction and I hope there ain’t no cure! But, yeah, I need to go through that basket and purge some old alphas I’ll never use. Like the first major set I bought oh so many years ago, of punch out alphas (I think they were by COLORBOK) in every color and pattern known to man (including plaid and leopard!), in a bubble font, a lollipop font, etc. Eek. Perfect for the kids to use on school projects but NOT for my scrapbooks).
The black boxes are POWER SORT BOXES from CREATIVE MEMORIES and that’s where most of my printed photos are. But photo and memorabilia organization is an ever-changing and never-ending project/battle for me. I’m not even gonna’ GO there right now. The white cubes they’re in are ITSO brand from TARGET. As you can see, I had more photo boxes than Itso cubes, so I bought another Itso from Target when they were on sale recently. (If I remember right, I paid $12 instead of $20). You can see it on my desk in the next photo.
Below is my mess of a desk, and my flooded floor (flooded with scrap crap, that is). There’s the new Itso cube, and one of my new 3-drawerJET MAX cubes. Actually, “new” is relative since I’ve collected 3 of these units over time from MICHAELS using 50% off coupons. I’ve just never put them together, knowing I had this big re-org project coming up. Recently I assembled one and, man, are they a pain in the asset! Don’t get me started. If you’ve put these together, you know what I mean. (I feel sorry for THIS poor scrapper!) I’m dreading the assembly of the remaining 2 but I shall do it, I shall.
I’ve done a little more work on the Wall of Cubes and this is how they look as of now…
The cubes themselves were already pretty organized before I started this crazy project, as they contain the staples of my scrapbook world: Bazzill cardstock sorted by color, die cut/shaped papers, extra page protectors, scrapbook projects, etc. Most of the vertical files by CROPPER HOPPER are sorted by manufacturer and include patterned paper and all embellishments from that company. They could use some tidying but for the most part, the vertical files are good as they are. The gingerbread jars on top, however, are another story. When I first got them way back when on Craigslist (read about it HERE), I had them organized pretty well, but over time I lost control and just started throwing new things in with no rhyme or reason. I’m going to do a post soon about using 2 of the jars for my chipboard letters. There’s one full of flowers, and the rest I plan to use for random embellishments by color. I also put my ribbon jars back on my cubes…ribbons are sorted by color. I love my cubes and jars…they’re my favorite part of my scrapbook room. Can’t wait til I get this part totally done! My pretties, LOL…
So, that’s where I’m at for now. Thanks for sticking with me. I promise I’ll get done eventually, but real life has to come first, so it’ll continue to be slow progress. But progress is progress, right?
I saw this when I was at Michaels the other day, but forgot to take a photo. I borrowed this one from another Pea named BENITA, an inspirational lady with a sister dealing with cancer, who she talks about HERE.
Benita says 50 cents of each purchase goes to breast cancer research. I already have the orange “X” Xyron. It was actually one of my first ever scrapbooking purchases, lo those many years ago. I use it all the time for getting adhesive on the back of those tricky Cricut letters. But even though I don’t “need” a pink one, I’ve decided to get one the next time I’m at Mike’s. It’s for a wonderful cause, right?
I’m hearing good reviews of them, too. I noticed the slot on top is smaller and I thought that would be a bad thing, but apparently not….just listen to what the Peas say HERE and HERE. One poster said that it’s exclusive to Mike’s for one month, then will be available wherever Xyron products are sold. Even though this pink “X” just showed up at my Michaels, it has been seen at other ones since early August (so start looking for it in other stores, too).
I was “oot and uh-boot” Friday evening and did some fun shopping in between the grocery shopping and getting gas drudgery. Here is a report on my adventures, as far as scrappy stuff I found….
Target: Nothing. Same old stuff they’ve had for a while. Nothing on sale. Nothing to report. Oh, except I got the new CK there.
Been chillaxin’ around the house this weekend with it, and am LOVING IT! Such a great issue, chock full of layouts and techniques, as a SCRAPBOOKING magazine should be (unlike….cough, cough….SCRAPBOOKS ETC…..traitor….cough, cough)…
Walmart: Still have a lot of stuff on Clearance. The Cricut carts for $30 each were pretty tempting but I resisted. Not that flush right now. But this is what I bought there on clearance a couple weeks ago and they still have pretty much the same stuff as when I shopped then….
Michaels: So I had two coupons in hand: a 40% off that expired that day, and a 50% off that expires Monday (which is odd, but who am I to complain?). I cruised the aisles quite a bit trying to find something coupon worthy.
There was some new (to me, at least) bling kits, the I-Top brad maker by Imaginesce, and some metal embellishments by Making Memories.
I had the metal snowflakes with bling in my hand, but put them back. Maybe another time, another coupon…
As much as I loved all these new acrylic stamps,….
… and they weren’t on sale so I could’ve gotten a set for 1/2 off, I resisted their magnetic pull with some motivating self-talk…”Just snap some quick photos for the blog. Remain objective. You do NOT like acrylic stamps. You do not NEED acrylic stamps. They hold no meaning for you. No, Erika, not even that adorable set with the butterfly. And, no, you don’t need any more alpha stamps….the 170 sets you have at home are quite enough. Okay, you took the photos, now keep walking. No, don’t pet them. ERIKA!! Hand off the pretty stamps. Good. Now walk away. Dit! Don’t look back over your shoulder. Look! Pretty bling! Let’s go over there!” See, my friends, THAT … is how it’s done.
I found this endcap full of cute, 12×12 postbound albums by Recollections (the Michaels brand).
There were some really cute styles to choose from. They were jam-packed on the shelves like 20 circus clowns in a Mini Cooper. It was hard to get a good look at them all without a struggle, pulling out the first 2 or 3 in each row to see what was behind them. {I tried to peek in the sides but there were other racks blocking my access…hmph}. Many albums that I pulled out had bent corners on either the album itself or the pages (I assume, the result of beingsotightlyshelved….poor babies couldn’t breathe…). I made sure to pick out two unbent ones :) {I get doubles to use as yearly family albums because I scrap too much to get everything into one}. As you can see, the shelf stickers said $9.99 and a sign up top said 40% off. I asked myself, “Self, does that mean they are 40% off of $10, making them a mere $6 each?” And then I answered myself with, “Oh, Self, no! That would be too good to be true. Even Michaels wouldn’t run a deal THAT good!” But I, myself, was …. WRONG! Cuz they rang up at the register as 6 bucks, baby! Did my everlovin’, deal seakin’, penny pinchin’ heart good, it did.
Right inside the front door, they had the rack that usually says “Designer Scrapbooking” but it was full of Clearance items.
From there, I got these Making Memories “Black Tie” white pearlized letter stickers for $2 marked down from $4. For full coupon maximization, I grabbed these Martha Stewart chalk inks from Clearance (for the 50% off) and some Herma tab refills (for the 40% off). However, the register wouldn’t allow the coupon to be used on the inks because they were already on sale. I said, “I thought you just couldn’t use coupons on weekly sale items, but it’s okay if they’re Clearance or Reduced or whatever?” and she thought so too, so she read the coupon. Yep, there in the teensy weensy fine print it said something like, “Not for use on previously marked down items.” Crud. Oh well, I took the inks anyway…they were still 30% off. And the 40% off coupon worked on the Herma tabs.
So, I got two 12×12 albums, Herma tab refills, a stack of chalk inks, and two sets of letter stickers for $30, which I could’ve paid for just one album. Happy me.
Big Lots: Happy? Not so much. When I first turned into the scrapbooking aisle, my eyes lit up because I immediately noticed that the inventory of Thickers had gotten much larger. Yippie skip! (HERE is where I talked about my bad luck with Thickers @ BL). But I was to be disappointed again. There were tons of the shapes ones, one pack of red felt and tons of the naked chipboard ones (which I already got last time), and that was it. They had the K&Co embellishment stickers that the Peas were talking about HERE, but none I had to have.
I thought some of you might be interested in these, so I took a pic for ya….
Great deal and very cute! I love the prints on the inside, don’t you?
Well, those were my latest shopping/window shopping adventures. What kinda scrappy stuff have you found lately at Target, Walmart, Michaels, and Big Lots? Would love to hear in Comments, and feel free to link to your blog if you’ve posted about ’em.
Here is where they are talking about it on 2PEAS and AMR
I notice that is says, “Exclusively at your local independent store.” I guess that means they won’t carry it @ Michaels, like they do the green one? I don’t know. Either way, I won’t be buying one but I thought you PINK LUVAHS would want to know, LOL! I finally came to peace with the fact that the Baby Bug (Cricut) is enough and I should be grateful I have it :)
Will you be shopping for a pretty pink Slice?
PS: It’s prolly too late now since this is tomorrow (!), but I just remembered this from my Michaels e-mail…
FREE Making Memories®
SliceTM Machine Demo
Saturday, July 18, 1pm–3pm
Watch the SliceTM die cutting machine in action. This cordless, portable cutter creates hundreds of shapes with Making Memories® exclusive design cards.
As always, THE PEAS are the ones who told me about it, LOL! There have been sightings! Report yours in Comments, please. I’ll take some pix and post them later if there’s any new stuff at mine.
You will find videos like THIS, THIS, and THIS. I love it. This is a girl totally after my own heart, LOL! There are other videos on scrapper’s “hauls,” too. After you search “scrapbook haul” and get your list of results, then use the drop down menu in the top middle to Sort by Newest. Just so you get the more recent ones….don’t want to get all excited about rushing down to Tuesday Morning for a great deal you saw….only to find out it was posted in August 2007, LOL.
Happy watching! And thanks ABBY for the first two linkees…you know me too well :)
I first heard talk of this line in THIS post at 2peas. So, I popped over HERE to check it out. I was quite confused because so much of it looks to me EXACTLY like something JENNI BOWLIN already has or something she would design. I assumed Jenni partnered with MAKING MEMORIES to design this line, but I searched around their website and blog and could find no mention of such. So, yeah, kinda’ weird to me that MM would be allowed to make a line that looks SO similar to another designer/company but that’s just me, I guess. No one else on the thread commented on it being a concern to them (but one Pea told me that Jenni does not work for MM, which I knew).
Anyhoo, the rumor is {this has not been confirmed, as far as I know} that MICHAELS has an exclusive deal with MM to sell Vintage Findings now (June 2009), then the line will be released to the LSSs in the fall. Which, if I were an LSS, would tick me off and make me not order it because by the time the LSSs receive it, it will be “old news” to scrapbook shoppers. That’s probably all by design and I know companies like Making Memories are doing whatever they can to survive in this economy but it still makes you feel kinda’ icky, doesn’t it?
This issue came up before when BASIC GREY did exclusives with Michaels and the paper stacks for lines like Urban Prairie (one of my favorite BG lines evah!). You can read about it HERE. I know that many LSS owners, and LSS supporters like myself, were pretty upset by the BG development because “How dare they dis the LSS like that ?!?!?” I guess I finally came to peace with it for these reasons: 1. Those of us without LSS’s anymore can still easily buy it, and 2. If it comes down to it, I believe in whatever measures it takes to keep the SB companies in business. But I know it ain’t pretty, folks. One positive I can point out is that, to my knowledge, this kind of thing doesn’t happen all that often. I can only think of these 2 instances in the past year or so. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
Anyway, here are a couple quick photos of the items they had at my Mike’s. They were taken with a stealth iPhone, so as usual, please forgive the quality. At least at you get the idea, right?
See those little crystal-topped stick pins in the top photo ?? {HERE’s a link….stupid MM website won’t let me copy the photo}. Those reminded me of an online AMR friend, so I bought them and she’ll be receiving them in the mail soon. I love scrap friends!
Okay, all that said and please don’t shoot! But I’m not a fan of this line. Some of the papers are cute ~ I like the map ones ~ but I guess I’m not a true vintage girl because I can’t see myself using these things on my pages to a large enough degree that I’d buy a whole pack of the findings. A few of them were cute – the labels and stick pins come to mind – but overall, my review is … Eh. I thought things like tickets and simple labels were overpriced (you could make them or buy them on Etsy or at an office supply store for a lot less). But I know there are a lot of you true Vintage Girls out there who will really like it. There were many on that 2peas thread who were totally in love and buying it up like crazy. That’s the beauty part…to each their own in scrapbooking. There’s something for everyone.
What do you think of the Vintage Findings line by Making Memories? And what do you make of the Michaels exclusive on it?
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