Month

November 2008

Showing: 1 - 20 of 21 Articles

A Scrapbook Room with Major Storage Options

THIS awesome room belongs to famous stamper/scrapbooker Jennifer McGuire (designer for Hero Arts, featured monthly in Creating Keepsakes magazine, etc). She is so talented. I was lucky enough to take a Hero Arts class from her at CKU many moons ago and still use a lot of the techniques she taught. But anyways, enjoy her awesome room. She is so very organized and I love the red/white/beige colors, which are warm enough to make you feel creative but it’s all clean enough to not be distracting. I think she’s very generous to take all those photos and video of her room to share, and taking the time to detail everything she has in there. What a resource ~ thanks Jennifer!

New Basic Grey Line: “Bittersweet” Ships in December 2008

First off, don’t miss the MIKE’s COUPONS BELOW…just scroll on down past this entry. K, thanks!

Crud! I was all ready to turn the computer off since we’re headed out of town at oh-dark-thirty tomorrow morning. But then I saw this new BG and I couldn’t wait until after the holiday to tell you about it!

HERE’s the link…

And here’s a peek….

SAMPLE PAGES/CARDS by KELLY GOREE for Basic Grey

The colors are much like BLUSH, don’t you think? I’m not a huge fan of this type of big, strong patterns. I like their more subtle designs better. I won’t be buying the whole pack of Bittersweet, maybe a sheet or two plus all of the solids. Can’t get enough BG solids. What do you think? Will you be rushing out to buy some Bittersweet?

But, yeah, this lovey-dovey stuff isn’t really my style anyway. I don’t do many of those mushygushy, oh how I love you honey layouts. Mine and DH’s relationship is better summed up by this quote from our man, HOMER SIMPSON:

“Marge, we’re gettin’ some drive thru and doin’ it twice!” Yeah, now THAT’s true romance…

Okay, I’m really leaving now…buh-bye.

Michaels Coupons and Sales for Black Friday and Beyond

HERE is 20% off your entire purchase and sale items for Thanksgiving night, 6 to 9pm…

and… BLADOW!

HERE is all kinda coupons for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, including 50% off one item. Read the fine print; there’s lots of it.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I am grateful every single day…for living in the most awesome country in the world, having my family’s well being, and for scrapbook shopping at a discount. Not sure if I’ll be posting until Monday, as we are headed over the river and through the woods to spend some time with my family. Let’s just say I went wine shopping today…

Have a wonderful holiday, ya’ll. Mwuah, mwuah, will miss you, lovies!

Are the Scrapbook Elves Messin Wit Me Again??

For some unknown reason, THIS old post was extremely popular today. Mind you, I usually get about 700-900 hits on my entire blog, per day. But today I had 1,141 total hits and the above post accounted for 392 of those. Huh. Usually I can account for “big days” by the fact that someone has posted a link to it on a popular message board (Haaayyy-ayyyy! Shout out to Split Coast Stampers, Willow Traders, CKMB, my PEAs, all you chatty girzzzzzzzz!!). But not today. No linkee I can find to account for it. Herm….maybe it’s gremlins….

Artful Blogging: Visually Inspiring Online Journals

Ain’t it purdy????

I saw this magazine/book but couldn’t afford to buy it (without a COUPON, LoL!), so I came home to my sweet MacBook so I could drool over it online. While I blog about the art OF scrapbooking, I don’t consider myself an artful blogger. I assume that term refers to those of you who share your wonderful creative and crafty talents on your blogs. I know there are many of you, and thought you’d want to check out this publication. So HERE is a link to their webpage. I found some other mentions of it HERE, HERE, and HERE. And HERE is a sneak peek of the current issue, Winter 2009. I’m sure you want to know how much this puppy costs, right? There are some past issues @ AMAZON. For new issues, looks like it’s about $15 per issue, with 4 issues published per year, and a 1-year subscription for $60. Now, I’ll admit I was just an English major, but if I’m doing the math correctly {462 minus the value of pie divided by the median, then the mean…} that’s still $15 per issue, and not a cost savings like when you subscribe to most magazines. What the hell, subscribe anyway. The shipping is free to the U.S. and you don’t have to get out of your jammies and schlep to Michaels to pick it up….where you CAN’T USE YOUR COUPON ANYWAY. But I’m not bitter….

Hey, if you’ve seen Artful Blogging, give us a quick review. Is it worth the dough?

Scrapbooker Tattoos

Um, yeah, I said Scrapbooker Tattoos. Who knew? But they’re out there. And I’m going to share one with you.

Now, I got the idea from THIS POST at the 2peas message board. {OH! Let me warn you. That thread also has some kinda offensive photos of other tattoos so if you’re squeamish, DON’T click on that link!} Anyway, someone posted photos of these tattoos:

The first one is famous scrapbooker ELSIE FLANNIGAN. You know her, she designed the Love, Elsie line for KI MEMORIES. She was ‘famous’ way before that, and has had quite the following for several years. Her style of scrapbooking is quirky, doodley, fun, bright, sometimes vintage, just very unique. The second photo is of her friend RACHEL DENBOW, with the sewing machine tattoo. Not technically a Scrapbooker Tattoo, but a Scrapbooker’s Friend Tattoo, I guess, LOL. Sorry, I don’t sew nor do I follow Elsie’s blog {because, like LIZZY K, ALI E, et. al., she makes me feel old, boring, fat, and that I have a lame camera, no skills, and an ugly house}. So I don’t know anything about Rachel, but she appears to be a good friend of Elsie’s and they have a business together called….RED VELVET ART.

If you’d like to put a face with the tat, here ya go….

ELSIE

and RACHEL

I was intrigued by this idea of scrapbooker or other crafty tattoos and went in search of more. Here is what I found: NOTHING. All I could find was this ARTICLE regarding scrapbooking ABOUT getting a tattoo.

So, do you know of any other famous scrapbookers with tattoos? Do you know of any tattoos out there about scrapbooking or crafting? PLEASE show them to me! I know there has to be more out there…

And what do you think of all this? Would you ever get a Scrapbooker Tattoo?

No More Coupons on Books & Magazines at Michaels :(

I guess I heard about this a while back, but it didn’t really register in my scrapbrain because I wasn’t looking for any particular publication at the time. But now it has really hit me….You can’t use your Mike’s COUPON on books and magazines anymore. WTF?

Prediction: This will put a big hurt on the sales of scrapbooking idea books and magazines. A great number of us have been using our Mike’s coupons for years to purchase them at a price we can afford. And like I said HERE, I make a special trip to Mike’s when I hear that a new scrap mag issue or book has come out. While I’m there I always hit the scrapbooking aisle to grab 1 item…or 10. So, not only did they just lose my book/magazine purchase, but they lost all my extra trips into their store where I purchased other items every.single.time. Dumb, PEOPLE, just dumb. I have it on good authority {okay, it’s just the 2peas girlz, but pretend I have really good, TMZ-type underground connections}, that there is a rather large mark-up on books and magazines. So even if they’re selling them to us at 40% or 50% off with our coupons, they’re still making money. C’mon, Michaels, drop the stupid “no publications” policy. Just say “no returns” on the coupon instead (so we can’t color copy our favorite pages, then return them to the store for a refund) and everyone is happy.

God, who runs these companies anyway? I need a promotion. If ScrapbookObsession ran the world, it would be a MUCH better place, don’t you think? Let’s seeeeee….I would make EILEEN my Vice President because she is a rockin’ scrapper and appreciates fine MUSIC. I would make ALI EDWARDS my Secretary of State, because that chick could sell grungeboard to TIM HOLTZ. Anything she says or does….sells HUGE. Um, I would make KRISTINA CONTES my Chief of Staff because she takes shit from no one. It gets rowdy up in the hizzy sometimes, so I need someone with her huevos. And I would appoint STACY JULIAN as the Foreign Ambassador of Scrapbooking because she’s Altogether Too Happy; her sunny smile and cute shoes would spread the scrapbook joy across the world in record time. Yep, that’s a winning ticket!

{YES. It’s Friday night. NO. I have

    not

been drinking}.

What do you think…no, not about my Presidential cabinet, silly! About the stinky new Mike’s policy?

2009 Calendar by Basic Grey

Just a quick post about this, because it’s a HOT TOPIC over at 2peas. It’s what I used my 40% COUPON on the other night.

I think it’s so cool that KELLY GOREE (from Basic Grey) is a Pea, and I admire how she handles herself over there. HERE’s a blog post where she talks about how important PEA-ing has been to her. You’re a talented designer and a class act, Miss Kelly…

OMG! OMG! OMG!

Has this happened to you? You sit there, writing your little blog, and one day…someone you totally admire visits and leaves a Comment! Here was my latest “moment” – a comment left on THIS post, about Creative Memories’ parent company filing Chapter 11 (you know, the post that has hundreds per day clicking on my blog, as they try to figure out what in the hay is going on with CM???):

Wes Thomsen
scrappedmovie.com |

Love ‘em or not, there are many factors in play between the economy, the leveling off of interest in scrapbooking ( less of a fad now and more of a passion for the dedicated ) and my personal opinion is that CM brought scrapbooking to an unprecedented level. I’ve met many great people at the corporate office and know that many people in the company ( like Rhonda Anderson for example ) will be teaching, encouraging and informing until their dying day regardless of who they’re affiliated with.

Wes Thomsen is someone I have admired ever since I saw the documentary film he made about scrapbooking and scrapbookers. It’s called “Scrapped” and you can learn all about it HERE. If you’ve seen the movie, you know why I like him so much, right? He’s this filmmaker who has a gal friend who scrapbooks. He’s intrigued about the whole “culture” of it, and decides to make a movie about it. Oh, did I mention he’s a biker dude? Anyways, Wes knows so much about CM because, for the movie, he toured their factory, interviewed Rhonda, got Scrap Hooked Up by a CM Consultant, etc.

If you’ve seen the movie, didn’t you love the part where he studs out his black CM tote and then goes strolling into a huge crop with his black leather jacket….and scrap tote?!?!? Just too awesomely funny for words….

If you haven’t seen “Scrapped,” whats a matta you? Go buy it HERE. Go read his BLOG and hear how he got screwed out of a scrapbooking cruise he won at CHA. Sad, sad story.

And thanks, Wes, for stopping by my little blog and taking the time to leave your thoughts. Rock on, Scrapper Dude…

DYMO Caption Maker for Scrapbooking…and a Contest!

A nice lady named Beth contacted me recently. She wanted to share information with me and my readers about a new product, and a CONTEST. {Guess she could tell we’re a little Scrapbook Obsessed ’round here…}. I copied this from the link she provided:

“Your scrapbook could be featured in our next ad!
To help introduce the NEW DYMO® Caption Maker, we’re giving one lucky scrapbooker a chance to have their artwork featured in a future DYMO® Caption Maker magazine ad. Use unique and inspiring personalized captions, borders, and fonts on your next scrapbook, submit it and you could WIN! Winning has never been more fun! Get started today and you could be the talk of the town when your scrapbook is featured in your favorite scrapbooking magazine. Be sure to check back and vote among the 5 scrapbook finalists.”

Here is some 4-1-1 about the DYMO Caption Maker that Beth shared in her e-mail:

“The new DYMO Caption Maker is an easy to use embossing tool that enables creative captioning, journaling and bordering through a variety of symbols, letters and fonts. It includes three interchangeable wheels – one for lowercase, one for uppercase and one with a script font.”

And here is a photo of this new scrapbooking/cardmaking tool…I’m digging the pink!

THE DEADLINE IS 12/31/08 SO GET ON IT, GIRLFRIEND!!

All the details are HERE. Good luck and let me know if you win! Would be pretty stylin’ to see your layout in a magazine ad….

A Scrapbook Blog to Check Out

When readers leave me a Comment, I most usually click on the link to check out THEIR blog. I love to support other scrap bloggers….plus, I’m just nosy. But that’s how I found SCRAPPER PEPPER. I love the little description she has posted of her blog: “Spices up your creativity! Adds flavour to your scrapbooking, tang to your stamping, seasons to your card making! So, come on, add some Scrapper’s Pepper to your creativity!” Cute, huh? I’ve cruised around over there a few times, and always have a little laugh. She has the funnest (yeah, it’s a word I made up) way of writing about her scrap opinions and adventures. One thing I find really interesting about her is that she’s from Santiago, Chile. Isn’t it cool how scrappers from all over the world can meet up on the internet? I’ve learned some things about her country from reading her blog posts. And there is something else really special about Antonia, but you have to go read her blog to figure it out for yourself. I’ll admit I didn’t notice it at first, but when it truly hit me, I was floored. So please go say Hey to Miss Pepper, maybe leave her some blog love, and see if you can figure out that other little thing I’m talking about…

Okay, So I Lied…

I didn’t meanta, I swear.

Actually, I guess what I did was break a promise to myself. I said I wouldn’t do any scrapping until I had my scrap space totally organized. This ‘project’ as I so lovingly call it has been going on for over a month. And I just. couldn’t. stand it.

I broke down and made a mini-album last week. It took me this long to make my confession. A co-worker had mentioned that I should bring in some pictures of my kids after Halloween. Well, I really slacked as a Paparazzi Mom this Halloween and the few photos I did take came out pretty badly. There were the dark blurry ones of the kids with their cousins and costumes. And the few of the pumpkins glowing in the dark. And the back of my kids’ heads while they bobbed for apples. Just nothing really great. I mean, I’ll still scrap them cuz I’m anal like that.

But instead of taking those crummy pics to show my co-workers, I decided to make a 6×6 album of our trip to the pumpkin patch this year. We went to a new place and the photos, which I printed on my NEW EPSON PICTUREMATE DASH!!!!…..

…came out really, really great. The colors were gorgeous…all those bright oranges, yellows, reds, and greens. The sky was super blue, and I actually posed some family pix and got a good candid or two of each kid. So when I was off work for the Veteran’s Day holiday, I whipped up a quick mini. I felt like I had to sneak over to my scrap desk and pretend I wasn’t really there. See, I’ve gotten a LOT organized but still have much to do. I’m probably 75% finished and that’s my problem….I always get about this far and I get bored and impatient and, WELL, I get such a freakin’ Scrap Jones that I can’t help it!! Do you feel my pain? The problem is, I start scrapping or card making and before I know it, the place is a mess again and I never really finished it in the first place. I was determined to break that cycle this time.

That’s why I made the rule: I will NOT scrap or craft a single sliver of paper until I get my space totally and completely organized. Then I blew it. I gave in to the call. I scrapped… What can I say, paper junkie needed a fix.

And, by the way, the girls at work loved the album and seeing the photos. It made me feel good and I have low self-esteem, so this helped ;-)

Okay, so I need to regroup. I need to slap the back of my hand and say, “Bad girl! No scrappy!” and get back to work. They say the first step is admitting you have a problem, right? So I’m good now…

Creative Memories and Chapter 11

Maybe you never thought those two things would be in the same sentence! But, yes, you can read about HERE, HERE, and HERE. I’ll copy one of the shorter articles so you get the gist of it:

“Creative Memories parent company files for bankruptcy protection
BY BRITT JOHNSEN • BLJOHNSEN@STCLOUDTIMES.COM • NOVEMBER 13, 2008

The owner of Creative Memories has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has reached an agreement with its lenders to restructure its debt, according to a company statement. The Antioch Co. and six of its subsidiaries today filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Ohio. Chapter 11 allows a company to stay in business while it reorganizes its finances.

The company said it will continue operating and doesn’t anticipate “any reduction in employee headcount or changes in operating facility locations,” according to a statement released through a New York-based public relations agency. Calls made to Creative Memories today were not immediately returned.”

And here’s just a portion of one article I’d like to share with you:

“After completing a comprehensive strategic review of the business, The Antioch Company, with the guidance of industry experts and turnaround specialists, determined that a pre-packaged filing was in the best interest of the future of Creative Memories,” said Asha Morgan Moran, global president of Creative Memories.

Can I just get a little “tee hee” about her name?

And another side track: THIS link has nothing to do with their current situation, but I came across this book preview when I was searching for info for this post. Just some interesting reading, if ya have the time…As someone who has been in the scrapbooking business here and there, I would enjoy reading about how those ladies built such a successful company. Think I’ll put this book on my Christmas list…

After I wrote this post, I saw that THE PEAS are already talking about it, too. Nothing escapes those gals!

I assume this development doesn’t surprise anyone? Creative Memories has had it’s share of ups and downs lately, and this devastating economy is being kind to no one. For the sake of their remaining employees, dedicated consultants, and loyal customers, I hope the restructuring plan is approved and goes well for all involved. Good luck, CM!

And your thoughts?

Basic Grey ‘Mistletoe and Pears’ at Michaels Only

Here is a better photo of it, than the blurry one in my LAST POST

And Kelly Goree with Basic Grey just posted this over at 2peas:

“Mistletoe and Pear is an exclusive line to M’s. It will only be available in a paper pack and there will be no embellishments (chipboard, buttons, brads, stickers, etc.) available for this line. From what I understood, this line wasn’t to be displayed at M’s until their Thanksgiving sale. That might explain why some of you are finding it and some are not. Technically, no one should have it just yet.”

So I guess, technically, I was very lucky my Mike’s doesn’t read their corporate memos very closely, LOL. {Actually, the manager there is a MAN and we know they don’t cotton much to reading directions}. But I wanted you to know that if you aren’t finding it in your store, that’s why. Hang in there for their Thanksgiving sale…see the amazing ad HERE and HERE. Supposedly, Michaels will be open from 6-9pm on Thanksgiving night. In the meantime, maybe THIS coupon will make you feel better?

Christmas, Basic Grey, and Scrap Calendars at Michaels

I’m notorious for complaining about the lack of “new stuff” at Michaels, right? Yeah, I know, whine and complain, it’s what I do. Mama always told me, “If you’re good at something, stick with it.” But blow me down, I have to actually give Mike some props for all the new shizzle they got goin’ on these days. It was to the point where I wasn’t even !GASP! spending my coupons there every week because there just. wasn’t. anything. But my fine friends over at 2peas started posting about spying new stuff at Mike’s HERE.

So Friday night after work, I went by the Mike’s in my town to see what I could see. I was Stealth Girl for ya again and took some pix with my iPhone {sorry for the poor quality…it was the best I could do}.

In that Designer Scrapbooking section in the front of the scrapbook area, here is what I found….buncha new K&Co. and MAMBI Christmas stuff. This is 2 sides of the carousel; the other end and opposite side had all the Christmas stuff by Martha Stewart. I don’t like her stuff, so I’m not showing you, nanner nanner. If you must, you can see some of it HERE.

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Sorry, those hugamic glitter snowflakes do absolutely nothing for me. But the rest of it was pretty dang cool. I restrained myself from buying yet another pack of shaped/die cut papers, tho’ the K&Co. Christmas ones were mighty tempting. I was so very well-behaved…I used my 40% coupon on one of these:

And I got the K&Co. rub-ons with the Christmas tree in the top left of the top photo. Also, the MAMBI green word JOLLY in the third photo.

Yep, that was all. Even though I had just sold my Clip It Up and all my non-Bazzill cardstock on Craigslist, and had a buttload of cash in my pocket. No, don’t be too proud of me. I knew I was doing more shopping on Sunday, so I wanted to save some of it. My friend, ABBY aka ScrapbookFrenzy, told me about some bargains she found at TUESDAY MORNING which just happens to be in The Big City where I do my Costco shopping, and right next door to another Michaels, the one that usually has all the new stuff when my Mike’s has just a taste of it. So today I hit those two mamma jammas. At Tuesday Morning, they had as promised a bunch of Making Memories stuff. All I got were two 12×12 K&Co. albums for $7 each (I get two of any albums I will use for our yearly family album, as I feel the need to scrap every single photo ever taken, and therefore need two albums per year). Again, I didn’t SPEND $14, I SAVED over $25 {stick with me, kid, I’ll show you how it’s done…}. They are really pretty, with embossed covers, subtle colors, the raised frame window on the cover, and a space where you can spell out your family name or whatever you want. If anyone wants to see a photo, leave me a comment and I’ll get one posted. But it’s almost 1am and I have to get up at 6 o’clock. Who invented mornings and jobs anyway?

At The Big City Michaels, here is what I found…

The American Crafts cardstock I’ve been hearing so much about. It comes in the cool cardboard vertical holders, so you don’t even have to unpack it when you get home, just throw on the shelf. But be careful and pick one from the bottom of the pile…I noticed the ones on top had had their corners rifled through so many times, they were looking a bit shabby.

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Here is a crappy, blurry picture of the Basic Grey Christmas paper pad (got me summa that) and a gorgeous Christmas pad by My Minds Eye. I already have several of those papers from page kits I bought last year, so I passed. But it was very pretty. If you’re looking for something classy and subtle to make your Christmas cards with, I would recommend the MME stack.

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Here are the calendar kits by MAMBI (left) and Basic Grey (right). I so wanted both of them. I literally picked up and put down the BG kit THREE times. It is so freakin’ adorable. Oh, I {heart} Basic Grey! I liked the smaller size too. The MAMBI one was cool because it’s 12×12 spiral bound so it could be kept on your shelf kind of like an album when the year is over. The colors are bright and cheerful, a calendar project I’m sure your kids would enjoy doing with you or making for Gramma and Grampa..

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There was a Bazzill cardstock pack in Christmas colors that I also had in my hot little hands, but when I compared the price to the AC cardstock, it was much more expensive (if I’m remembering right, it was the same price but you got half as much??). The quality of the AC seemed comparable, so I got it instead. If you’ve tried both AC and Bazzill cardstock, let me know how you think they compare, okay? I used my 50% off newspaper coupon and my 50% receipt coupon, so I didn’t spend $20, I SAVED $20. That’s what I told DH anyways…

And of course, while in The Big City, I went to Barnes and Noble…got my December CK and a cool mag about making scrapbook photo albums. I skimmed through it tonight while watching Kung Fu Panda with the fam, and I really liked it. Read more about it HERE {psst…but don’t order it from CK; their customer service *sux*…}.

So those were my shopping adventures. If you’ve been avoiding Mike’s lately like I have, you should go check it out…you’ll be pleasantly surprised :)

Scrapbook Room: Organization Sneak Peek

Yes, I’m at it uh-GEN! I’m doing a major reorganization of my scrap area. And I’m serious this time. I even moved furniture and stuff. On the one hand, it’s driving me crazy because I vowed I would not engage in any way, shape, or form of scrapbooking (or papercrafting or card making or whatever you try to call it other than scrapbooking…) until my room was 100% organized. Well, make that 90% organized because I think I’ll be dead and buried before my photos are in labeled, chronological boxes. So I haven’t been able to scrap a dang thing in, like, weeks. On the other hand, it feels really good to make the progress I’ve been making and envisioning how nice it will be when it’s all done.

Thought I would post some sneak peek photos so you don’t think I’m fulll of sCRAP…{Sorry, the photos are dark…it’s 10:30 p.m. here…hope you can see them okay}

MY CRICUT IS FINALLY OUT ON MY DESK WHERE I’LL USE IT MORE, AND THE SPINNING STORAGE THINGEE FROM TARGET IS PERFECT TO HOLD MY CARTRIDGES AND STUFF…

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FINALLY HAVE THOSE GINGERBREAD JARS ALL FILLED UP WITH GOODIES…HERE’S MY JOURNALING CARDS (CAN YOU TELL I HAVE A FETISH?)…

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JUST A PEEK AT MY CRANKIN’ STEREO, STORE IN STYLE 1/2 DRAWER, AND PRIZED POSSESSION…MY BAZZILL COLLECTION….

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PRETTY IDEA BOOKS ALL IN A ROW…

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UGH…ANOTHER PILE TO FILE….

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FLAT RATE BOXES FULL OF PAST ISSUES OF CK, MM, SS, AND SB ETC. ABOUT TO BE SENT TO AMR FRIENDS….

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OH YEAH, THAT’S WHAT MY WORK SPACE LOOKS LIKE! I HAD FORGOTTEN…

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MY POOR CLIP IT UP, ALL DISMANTLED BECAUSE I’M SELLING IT (details are HERE)…

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THIS IS ONE OF THOSE CUTE STACKABLE ORGANIZERS FROM COSTCO. WHEN I WAS SELLING SCRAPBOOK SUPPLIES AT MY CROPS, ALL 3 LEVELS WERE PACKED WITH EMBELLIES, RIBBONS, TOOLS, ETC. OH DARN, WHATEVER I DIDN’T SELL AT MY LAST CROP, I HAD TO KEEP. YIPPEE, IT’S ALL EMPTIED OUT AND NOW A PART OF MY EVER LOVIN’ PERSONAL STASH…

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So I’m making progress, slowly but surely. Oh, I should’ve posted a pic of the boxful of trash I’ve purged! (Lots :) See, I really am organizing…am I doing good so far?

Rock-a-Block Acrylic Blocks by Crafter’s Companion

I first heard about this new item when I saw it demonstrated on HSN a week or two ago. Here is a photo of them, and the LINK from the HSN presentation:

As you can see on the HSN link, the HSN price is $19.95 and the Event Price was $17.95 for all 4 blocks. You can also see that they SOLD OUT. Which is kind of rude, since I was thinking of buying some…but whatevs…

Anywizzle, I decided to do some research and see if I truly need these thangs. I’ve become quite an avid acrylic stamper, using them both in my scrapbooks and to make cards. Lawd knows I can’t afford a Slice right now, but maybe this new goody could tide me over til I can open a secret credit card and sneak a Slice into the house without hubby noticing.

So based on the HSN demonstration, I was really impressed. They made it look so easy to just “Rock….Your Block!” The male, un-scrapper host even tried it and, wowzers, if he didn’t make the perfect stamped image on his first try! But I wasn’t born yesterday, or even the day before. I know they have a way of making those TV demos look like it’s so super dooper easy to use something, then you buy it, get it home, and can’t repeat their success. I mean, how do you think EK Success sold so many Blade Runners and those stupid plastic templates?

Shee-ite! You ever try to actually work one of those things? They made it cut like butta’ on TV, but you try it at home and all you have is a bunch if ripped, fuzzy, crumpled paper. And a Blade Runner sticking out of your scrap room wall after you hurled it across the room. You understand why I’m skeptical, no?

Off to do some research. First stop, the home of the British company who manufactures the Rock-a-Block, the Crafter’s Companion WEBSITE. Here’s their pic of the RaB:

And here is kinda how you use them (photo also taken from the Crafter’s Companion website):

Here is their blurb about the product (yep, again from the CC website):

“Brand new from Crafter’s Companion – an innovative and unique stamp mounting system designed to make stamping easy and to ensure you get perfect results every time.

The new Rock-a-blocks are designed to work using a combination of the rocking action, coupled with the innovative depth gauge (the ‘runners’) to give even pressure to the application of ink to the surface to give you perfect stamped impressions every time.

The new Rock-a-blocks come packaged in a set of four including 6”x4”, 6” x 1½” , 4”x3” and 1”x1” so they will work with all of your different stamp sizes.”

The price shown on the Crafter’s Companion website for the same 4 blocks is £14.99. Color me Not British (except I like to say “Mum” and “water closet” and “pram” just to piss off my friends; they say, “Who’re you, Madonna?” and we all have a bit of a laugh….ahem, I digress…). Color me Not British, but I don’t know what the hell that price translates to. Anybody??

In search of reviews and discussions, I found THIS, THIS, THIS, and THIS. Oh yeah, and THIS and THIS too. I went to my trusty source for craft product reviews, CRAFT CRITIQUE, but couldn’t find a review of the Rock-a-Block. They say you can e-mail them with review requests, so I e-mailed them of course, cuz I’m a pest that way. If you would also like them to review this system, feel free to drop them a line (psstt! maybe if they hear from more than one person, and from someone other than a blogger with “obsession” in her name, they will take the request more seriously…thanks!).

And you’re going to be so happy with me, you’ll put me on your Christmas card list, ‘cuz I found a demo video for ya’! It’s from HSN (a different presentation than the one I saw), with that cutie Todd Newton who used to be on E! channel. Here is the LINK.

So, whadya think? You likee?

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