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Urban Prairie

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New Line @ Michaels: Vintage Findings by Making Memories

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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?

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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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American Crafts at Tuesday Morning and More

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Isn’t this a fun paper pack?? I picked it up at Tuesday Morning….retails for $19.99, I paid $5.99.

“CELEBRATION” by American Crafts

Then I used last week’s 40% Michaels coupon on this:

“URBAN PRAIRIE” by BASIC GREY

And I got the D-RING ALBUM on the far right in 12×12 navy leather from Beverly’s Craft Store with a 40% off coupon….

I needed it for a School Days album. I was pretty pleased with myself…got $65 worth of schwag for about $38, I don’t usually spend this much in one day on such big items. It’s usually more like 40% off a $3.99 embellie pack but hey. So, do you think the employees of these stores see me coming? Miss Won’t Shop Without a Coupon, Sale, or Discounted Price? I wonder if I’m their worst nightmare or their sweetest dream? Do you shop {stingy} like me? Ha! I’m laughing all the way to the Scrap Bank.

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Basic Grey ‘Granola’ and ‘Urban Prairie’

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You’ve probably heard me say a million or so times how much I love BASIC GREY. And I recently did THIS POST about their Granola and Urban Prairie paper pads being carried exclusively at Michaels. Well, after reading THIS post at 2peas and other MB posts, I caved and bought them both. I’ve actually been scrapping a lot lately (vs. my usual ‘scrapbook supply collecting,’ an activity I’ve perfected), so I didn’t feel too awful guilty about buying yet more patterned paper. Yeah, that’s me, the PAPER SLUT…

So, I bought the BG paper pads the other day and love them both; one has such a pretty color combo (pink, black, white, yellow and teal) and the other will be great for men/boy layouts (blues and browns). They retail for $20; I used my 50% off coupon for one and paid full price for the other (gawd, when was the last time I paid full price for a big ticket item….nopers, can’t remember! but there were only 3 of each and I couldn’t bear to miss out). Of course, this week all Mike’s paper pads went on sale for 40% off. I heard through the scrapvine that you could take your receipt in and get reimbursed for the difference. That’s like, what?, 8 bucks. Yep, worth it. I went in to Mike’s tonight with THIS WEEK’s 50% off coupon, browsed the store, and ended up with some Archival Mist. You know, one of those “you need it and it’s very expensive, so a coupon is great, but you’d rather spend it on something more sexy” kind of item. I also got some ‘sexy’ ceramic glue to repair my little green ceramic cross that broke (that’s some kinda really bad sign, right?). I looked at the Cricut cartridges that are on such a great sale this week, but didn’t want any of them badly enough to justify the bucks.

At the register, I asked about the refund and the manager told me, yes, they would refund the difference but I needed to bring the item in with me. Which I hadn’t. She was very apologetic and said she was sorry I had to come all the way back, and I’m like, “Oh yeah, I really hate coming here, it’s my least favorite store in the whole world. Oh…No….Please don’t make me come back again!” and she and checker boy (yes, a boy!) laughed at me. Just another positive customer service exchange for me…or turning lemons into lemonade, however you wanna look at it.

One last story before I go….I delivered a couple orders tonight after work (I’m a consultant for MEMORY WORKS). One delivery entailed dropping something at the office of my friend *J*, who happens to be a doctor. She had ordered a Basic Grey MAGNETIC MAT.

Her office was just closing as I arrived…I assume it was one of her nurses that was putting down the window blinds, etc. So I start handing her this kinda large, black item with a metal ruler, all encased in hard plastic and she kind of backs up and is hesitant to grab it. Then she slowly reached for it, turned it all around and studying it like I had just handed her an instrument of medieval torture or something. I said, “This is for *J*. She ordered it from me,” and she goes, “Uhhhhh…..okaaayyyy.” Gosh I wish I knew what verbage was running through her mind! Suffice to say, she couldn’t have been a scrapbooker and I’m sure she thought I was some crazy lady. It all made me wonder if *J* has not come out of he closet and told her employees that she’s a {GASP!} scrapbooker? I just thought that was a funny little moment. I live in this scrapper vacuum and think everyone ‘gets’ it, because I spend most of my online and IRL time with friends who are scrappers (um, yeah, sad but true). Sometimes I need to be reminded that the entire cotton pickin’ world is not inhabited with scrapbookers; instead, most have no idea what in the heck we are doing…

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Basic Grey at Michaels – A Bittersweet Thang

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First BAZZILL, and now this! Yep, I heard from my ever-reliable 2Peas girlz that Michaels is now carrying a limited stock of the new Basic Grey. You can read about it HERE. Apparently, they will carry paper pads of Urban Prairie and Granola. I’d say the majority of the gals who posted, especially those who love to support their LSS’s, were a bit dismayed at this development. Like, why should Michaels get the new BG before the LSS’s even have it? Why were LSS owners apparently NOT told at CHA that Michaels would have these 2 lines? Kelly Goree from Basic Grey responded like this:

“…I was just writing to let you know that out of our recent release, M’s is only going to be carrying the UP and Granola and only in paper packs. This is an exclusive to them item and can only be found in that format there. However, they will NOT be getting any of the collection packs, chipboard, brads, etc. that coordinate with these lines.

Please know that UP and Granola are both slated to ship very soon so all the goodies, complete with all the extras should be showing up in your LSS very soon.”

I’m not sure how I feel about it. I’ve always been a huge LSS supporter, but I shop at Mike’s a lot merely because that’s all I have access to where I live. We have no Joann’s or Archivers or Hobby Lobby. All my close-by LSS’s have closed; the remaining one is 45 minutes away and it’s hard to get there much. But when I do, I fully support them, LOL! So I’m torn. I’m excited that ANY Basic Grey is at Michaels {!!!!!!}. But I’m sad that LSS’s are getting it AFTER Michaels did and that they apparently weren’t told this would happen when they placed their CHA orders. Was the info purposely withheld? I dunno. But as you can read in the 2Peas post, it sure puts the LSS owners in an awkward and probably costly position. If “one of our own” (i.e. Basic Grey) can’t support our LSS’s, who will? Maybe big companies like BG see the writing on the wall…the demise of most LSS’s and only selling to BBS’s and online stores? I guess I’d rather have some BG somewhere, than have them go out of business because the few LSS’s that are left aren’t buying enough product to keep them afloat. Not blaming the LSS’s in ANY way…it’s just the economy, the downward trend, and what THEY can afford to stock right now.

So, Basic Grey at Mike’s…it’s a bittersweet thang, ain’t it? What are your thoughts on the issue?

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New Basic Grey for CHA 2008 Chicago

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Please bear with me…I know the posts have been lagging lately. I’ve finally been in the mood to write again, but now work is slammin’…a mixed blessing :) While you patiently wait for me to get my act together, please enjoy the NEW BASIC GREY {click on Products; in the drop down, click on everything that says *New*}. I have to say I’m loving all of it. Not as much as I did in the days of Lucky and Baby Boy and Lollipop Shoppe, etc. But, yes, loving BG again. Like any long-term relationship, you love them, you hate them, you love them, you go lukewarm…You love them again. Like I said in THIS POST on AMR, I have to put Basic Grey on my Hot Tamale Train!! Whoo hoo!

What do you think…are you in a love or hate mode with BG with this new release?

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