Month

March 2009

Showing: 1 - 10 of 10 Articles

K&Company at Tuesday Morning

I was at Tuesday Morning on Monday Morning (bwahahahaha! I crack myself up!) – and I saw these 2 things from K&Company:

img_05191

They had the Brenda Walton stack for $4.99 (retail $14.99). It’s all Valentiney and hearts. Very pretty but not something I need at this particular juncture.

And this huge kit for $8.99. I guess it’s their Wild Saffron stuff but the colors seemed brighter, and the quality didn’t look as good, i.e. the die cuts and stickers looked thinner than their usual quality. Then again, it was all hard-core, hard plastic wrapped up like a Costco Heidi Swapp kit, so it’s not like I could actually check the quality or anything.

I debated about getting it. Even if I wouldn’t scrap with the thin-looking die cuts, the stuff I would use (chipboard letters, primas, and bling) would justify the cost. And I could use the die cuts and stickers on cards. In the end, I passed on this too. The Wild Saffron line happens to be one of my favorite lines evah! and I have a bunch of it. What, really, has this economy come to when I’m forced to pass up something that I know in my heart is an excellent deal, for the mere fact that I don’t need it? They really need to fix this economy thing, and fast, don’t you think?

A scrapper shouldn’t be forced into a Sophie’s Choice like that. For real.

Organization System for Acrylic and Rubber Stamps

There is a stamp storage product by STAMPENDOUS called “Storage Solutions.” They come in Thin ($2.49 retail), Thick ($2.99 retail), and Thicker ($3.49 retail). Here is a picture of the Thin one, so you can get an idea:

Here is a demo video that shows you the different sizes and how to use and store them.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IboLMWfLs3M]

What I like about these:
1. You don’t have to index your stamps – a time consuming process – because you can see right through the cases to your stamps
2. You can tie ribbons on the handles or otherwise color code the holders to see at a glance the type of item you want to grab, e.g. rubber stamps, greetings, or inks
3. They sell for an affordable price – I’ve seen many stamp storage systems that add up to be rather costly but these are reasonable

Seems like a great stamp storage system if you’re in the market for one. Huge shout out to KELLI for showing these to me!

Give us your review or thoughts!

New at Michaels? Rewards Programs

So, were you one of the lucky Michaels shoppers to receive an offer to join a rewards program? Yeah, me neither. What up?? I heard about it HERE, and here are samples I copied from the thread of offers being sent out:

Join the Michaels Rewards Program and get…

40% off any one regular price item every time you shop
20 points for every $1 you spend at M’s; once you reach 2000 points we’ll automatically send you a $10 M’s Gift Card
60% off custom framing all year long
An exclusive membership card
One full year of membership

Here’s How it works:
Save on all the things you love – join M’s Rewards for only $24.99 a year.
Save every time you shop, use your card and get 40% off any one regular price item, earn points and save 60% on custom framing.
Stay updated and track your points online.
Get rewarded, earn 2000 points and get a $10 M’s Gift Card
Continue shopping with your card to get your discounts and earn points.

Or this….

10% off your entire regular price purchase every time you shop
An exclusive membership card
One full year of membership
FREE membership

Or this…

$9.99 to join for one year
40% off one item everytime i shop
50% off all framing
5 points for every dollar spenr
2000 points=$10 gift card

As I said, these are just summarized from the 2peas thread. Theoretically, if I had gotten an e-mail offer, I would consider joining the rewards program. Geesh, for all the free publicity I give them, shouldn’t THEY be paying ME to give me a discount and rewards points? Yeah, yeah, that’s what I thought! Maybe it all has something to do with this NEW GUY, Mr. Experienced in Craft Sales Marketing.

Seriously though….did you get an offer, what did it entail, and are you going to join the Michaels Rewards Program?

Scrapbook Organization: Alphabet Storage

I have a sweet internet friend who always points out cool online things to me, and I usually snag her ideas and blog about them. We were messaging back and forth the other night about THIS post on typos (or typo’s, as you prefer) in scrapbooking magazines. She asked if I had seen a layout over at Pink Paislee with a typo or mistake in the title, and I hadn’t so I went looking for it.

And lookee lookee what I found on the PINK PAISLEE BLOG while I was lost….a stupendous Wall of Alphas!!!

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.


Once you get past the total Eye Candy aspect.
And then you quit hating the lucky bee-yotch that owns this yummy wall of scrap goodness.
Then – and only then – do you step back and say to yourself, “Wowee, that is one cool way to store alphas.”

Just thought I’d share.

I personally couldn’t get away with an Alphabet Wall. I’m more from the school of thought that says, “Hide and compact the stash as much as possible so husband has no clear idea how much money I have spent on said stash.” But that’s just me, LOL.

The Slice by Making Memories: Now @ Michaels

Did you know that Michaels now carries THE SLICE? Yep, I saw it there myself. No, I’m really not making it up. It was NOT some mirage I conjured up, it was really there. Uh huh. Oddly, it was not with the scrapbooking section. A whole stand alone display was kind of near the front of the store near some home dec stuff and candles. I didn’t look too closely since I’m not shopping for one, but all the accessories and cards were there, too. I don’t know how their prices compare. And, no, of course you cannot use your coupons on anything with the word “Slice” in it. If Mike’s is selling it for the same price as everywhere else and you can’t use a coupon on it, I’d just as soon buy it from an LSS or online store. Just sayin’…

There was also a mess of new patterned papers, by the sheet, although the prices were totally RIDONCULOUS. I saw Basic Grey, Making Memories, We R Memory Keepers, SEI, Creative Imaginations, and others. The Peas are talking about it HERE. The papers are on sale this week so it’s a good time to check out the new ones. Then again, even with the discount, your LSS may have it cheaper. A great place to online shop is at my friend Stacey’s store, ALL MOMENTS REMEMBERED. She’s been getting in a lot of new stuff lately and if you don’t see what you’re looking for, just ask and she will do her darndest to get it for you. She has the cutest warehouse guys, too!

Speaking of MAKING MEMORIES, read HERE for some sad news about one of their most popular designer/instructors. I know it’s another sign of the times but that doesn’t make it any less depressing, does it?

Typos in Published Scrapbooking Articles and Layouts :(

Okay, I’m gonna’ have to go off on a little rant here because this really bothers me. I’ve seen this over the years and kept my mouth shut but here we go….this mutha’ is ON now!

I’ve been reading through a special issue from SIMPLE SCRAPBOOKS called “Scrapbook Play with Photos”….

….and, not to pick on just them because I see it everywhere but this is just the most recent example. I’m not even through the entire issue yet and I’ve already found several typos in the magazine text, and typos on layouts. {Just so you know, I’m purposely not mentioning the name of the article writer or person who created the layouts, as my intention isn’t to embarrass any one person and, actually, I lay the blame at the foot of the magazine editors anyway}.

Page 11 – A soccer team layout – which is totally rockin’, by the way – with a glaring typo in the layout title, “We are the CHAMPOINS.” I read through the entire page, assuming there was some explanation for the mistake but there was none. I mean, really, how do you MISS that before the magazine goes to publication? It’s hugely noticeable from the second you look at the page.

Page 14 – A cute little boy with curly hair layout called “That Hair!” with journaling that includes, “End the end, we aren’t sure.”

Page 24 – In the text to explain how to “dress up a picture with a transparency sheet,” it says, “…it will subtle detail and design interest….”

And I’ve only read through page 44 of a 99-page issue!

Okay, I know I’m picky. When I was a program analyst for 9 years, I used to proudly say, “I put the ANAL in ANALyst.” I was an English major and I used to edit fellow students’ thesis papers and Senior Projects for fun. I’m a transcriptionist who gets tiny joy from fixing all the little errors doctors make when they dictate. Okay, yeah, yeah, I’m WAY pickier with this stuff than your average bear. I get it.

But are all these typos and mistakes acceptable? For me, when I see errors like this in a professionally published magazine, I loose truckloads of respect for all involved. I mean, if I were a scrapper lucky enough to get my work chosen for publication, you can bet your bippy I’d be proofing my title and journaling within an inch of their lives. And then I’d have every person I know proof it, too. Yet time and time again, I see published layouts that have misspellings, missing letters or words, or other mistakes in the journaling or title. I do remember a couple times – I think it was discussed on the CKMB so this must’ve happened to layouts that were published in one of their mags – that it wasn’t the scrappers fault; one time a layout was published with something turned the wrong way and another time an embellie had fallen down to the bottom of a layout during shipping and the magazine photographed it that way….much to the dismay of the scrapper, who saw her beautiful layout misrepresented to a huge audience. Okay, THAT kind of thing, I don’t blame the scrapper for. Maybe the sweet lady who made the “CHAMPOINS” layout assembled it correctly, then the letters fell off in shipping, and the magazine staff reassembled it incorrectly. Any way you slice it, the magazine is responsible for making such a huge mistake.

As for all the typos in articles, features, and such, I just don’t get it. I see them all the time in the scrapbooking magazines, and I’m not just talking about in recent months when magazines are cutting staff or their hours due to economic hard times. This has all been happening since the “rich heyday” when they all had full staffs. Honestly, I don’t pretend to know how FUH-REAKIN’ hard it must be to put out a monthly magazine. I know there are so many details upon details to be completed perfectly. I can see how a “their” that shoulda’ been a “there” could be missed on occasion. However, I’ve always been really stumped by the fact that SO many little errors, typos, and imperfections find their way into scrapbook magazines. I also read “People” and “Us” on a regular basis and very rarely catch typos or mistakes in those magazines. Funnily enough, they often print their own “corrections” in the next issue and I’ll scratch my head, going, “Hmmm, I missed that.” Guess I don’t know the names of all the celebrities’ kids as well as I thought, huh? It’s not really the same thing anyway, because it’s not typos they’re usually correcting, just incorrect information like saying it was Goldie Hawn in a photo caption when it was really Kate Hudson, LOL.

On a side note, don’t even THINK of pointing all all the typos and mistakes in this blog, for the following reasons: 1. I am not read by millions, 2. I am a staff of one, 3. I’m usually working on 3 hours of sleep and no coffee, 4. Sometimes I put them in just for fun and to see if you’re paying attention, and most importantly, 5. I am not paid. At the jobs where I’m actually paid, I work my tail off to make sure there are never typos. But here on the blog, see, it’s a whole different ball a’ wax…

So, what do you think? Do you notice all the mistakes in the scrapbooking magazines? Does it bug you? Why do you think it happens? I’d be really interested to know your thoughts.

Target Scrapbook Aisle

I was a Target today for Landry food, picked up the most recent Scrapbooks Etc. (yeah!), and of course stopped by the Scrapbooking aisle. Behold! It was full of employees diligently working. They were unpacking boxes, which I took as a sure sign of new goodies.

Um. WRONG.

They were rearranging the whole aisle but I didn’t see anything new. Shizzle. They put all the stamps and inks together and had the tools better organized. They had all the Making Memories stuff together, instead of scattered everywhere and that looked really nice. Woulda’ been nicer to see some new MM items, but no….The 12×12 accordian paper holders with the stripes were on the clearance and there was a new version in the SB aisle. But that is literally the only new thing I saw in there. My hope is that they were reorganizing the “old” stuff before they started unpacking oodles and oodles of new stuff.

Yeah, a girl can dream, can’t she?

Anything going on at your Target? New stuff or same old, same old?

Sassafrass Lass, Studio G, and a Sweet Story

Just a quick post….nothing much going on here. I’m waiting for the Mike’s ad tomorrow (Sunday), hoping there’s a 40% coupon and that scrapbook stacks are NOT on sale so I can go and use a coupon on one – okay, maybe two – of those Sass Lass stacks from my last post.

I’m also on the lookout for this $1 Studio G stamp for MISS KELLI, who is LOOKING. Wish me luck in the hunt for both!

To close, here is a short and sweet ARTICLE about finding an old friend through scrapbooking.

New Paper Stacks at Michaels

If you haven’t already heard the news, ‘the stacks have landed’ at Mike’s. Here are some lame-ish photos I took there this week. As you can see, this plethora of new scrapbook paper stacks are on their own display rack in the middle of the aisle. At mine, they were in the back part of the store, a place where scrappy supplies are not usually found. Oh, and all stacks are 25% off this week!

Here’s the view from one side of the stack rack. You will see a variety of manufacturers…

img_0485

My eyes zoomed right to these lovelies. I’m from Podunk, USA and have never even seen Sassafrass Lass supplies in person! One would assume that I grabbed me some Sass Lass like it was a warm sugar cookie! They had the ‘Whale of a Tale’ and ‘Hog Heaven’ lines. I flipped through them and fell in immediate crushing love with both. Then I saw the price….$24.99. Even at 25% off, I figured I’d better wait until they go off sale and I can use a 40% off coupon. Then at least I’m paying $15 instead of $18.75. {Please tell me I did that math right! Or wait, no, tell me I did it wrong so I can go back and buy my Sass Lass NOW!}.

img_0486

This is some We R Memory Keepers, gcd, SEI, and Die Cuts with a View. After the Sass Lass, the DCWV Nanna’s Kitchen is next on my shopping list.

img_0487

Here you can see the American Crafts patterned paper and cardstock varieties, and ‘Garden Party.’

img_04882

Here’s some more SEI, a pack of chipboard sheets, and some new Bazzill packs. What I ended up buying on this trip was the Bazzill ‘Swiss Dot’ pack. It has 24 sheets, 2 each of 12 colors. If you need the price, let me know and I’ll find my receipt. But I can tell you, the Swiss Dot is GORE-JUS and a must have for any true scrapper’s collection.

img_0489

Here’s the other side of the stack rack. Mostly gcd which wasn’t blowing my dress up really…

img_0490

Except I really liked the ‘Chic Bebe’ line. It’s a fun twist on baby album goodness, with cool colors and patterns that aren’t the norm, sissy la la baby stuff.

img_0491

I pulled out the K & Company ‘Cut ‘N Paste’ because I’d heard so many raves about it. It’s very cute/cool vintage stuff but I guess that’s just not my style because I only really loved a few of the sheets. But if vintage is your thang, check it out fo’ sho.

img_0492

So, not the best pictures. I saw on someone’s blog recently where they took each item off the rack, laid it out all nice a pretty, and got a full frontal shot of each thing. Wow. I mean, I love you guys but I’m usually doing a power shop during my lunch hour, ya know? This is the best I can do, LOL. Hope it’s enough of a sneak peek to make you happy. ‘Cuz I need your constant approval and reassurance….

Whaddya’ think? See any stack you gotta have?