Month

July 2010

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“The Pink ATG”: 3M/Scotch Advanced Tape Glider

Many of you scrappers are already the proud owners of the “Big Red” ATG adhesive gun, right?

I’ve been hearing talk of these honkin’ big thangs for at least a couple of years now. I never bought one because for one, they were too expensive ($60-ish plus shipping) and two, I was happy with my longtime adhesive (Herma Vario tabs) which I could get at MICHAELS using a 40% off coupon whenever I ran out.

However, I’ve always heard how cool the red ATG was and that if you use one, you’ll want one. Fast forward to Summer 2010, and 3M/Scotch came out with a sleeker version of the ATG … and it’s PINK! Apparently, the original red ATG was made back in the day for art and photo framers (do I have that right?) so the fact that it was bulky didn’t really matter. However, once scrappers got wind of this amazing adhesive tool, there was a need for a smaller, easier to handle version.

Voila! “The Pink ATG”

I first heard about it on the message boards, of course, in posts like THIS and THIS and THIS. Check this out: If you do a Search for the last 3 months on the General Scrappin’ forum at 2peas, you get over 40 threads mentioning “ATG” in the title. Amazing! Talk about a Frenzy Item!

Through all this talk, I never intended to buy one. Well, not really. I mean, I considered it then talked myself back out of it. Once I heard it was going to be a Michaels, though, and you could use a coupon on it, I decided to give it a try … IF I could find one, that is. Apparently, each Michaels only got 2 pink ATGs to start with. If it’s popular, they’ll carry more. So I was prepared to have to go all Kung Fu Panda on someone if need be, to get 1 of the 2 pink ATG’s at my Mike’s.

I looked at one store with no luck. The hard part was not knowing where exactly TO look. SB message boarders were reporting finding it in all different places within the store – in the scrapbooking section, on an endcap, with the general adhesives, on a center island rack, up by the cash registers, etc. As usual, most Michaels’ employees had NO idea what customers were talking about when they asked after it.

Alas, I did find the pink ATG at my Michaels last weekend. It was on an endcap in the scrapbooking section with a bunch of other Scotch/3M adhesives. Yes, there were TWO! {Looking back, I should’ve bought the 2nd one and sold it on the black market for big profit. Drats!}

I did use my 40% off coupon which made it a mere $21 to purchase. I debated buying extra rolls of adhesive at the same time but they were $10. I decided to wait and use a future coupon to buy a refill. From what I hear, it takes quite a while to burn through a role of ATG adhesive (one of the other selling points … it’s cost effective for your adhesive budget). The only thing I’m afraid of is, in typical Michaels fashion, once they realize how popular and “coupon-worthy” ATGs and refill rolls are, they will outlaw coupons for them. Mark my words.

The thing that tipped me into deciding to buy the pink ATG was this press release I received last week:
===================

New Scotch Advanced Tape Glider from 3M Delivers Superior Usability and Value to Crafters
3M partners with Susan G. Komen for the Cure for special promotion – in pink!

St. Paul, Minn. – July 22, 2010 –3M announces the new Scotch® Advanced Tape Glider in pink for the serious crafter, featuring the quality and value of Scotch, the brand on which crafters, scrapbookers, and millions of consumers around the world have come to rely.

3M is also very pleased to announce a special partnership with an extraordinary organization –Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. For every Scotch glider purchased through July of 2011, 3M will donate $1.20 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, with a minimum donation of $25,000. The donation will help fund life-saving breast cancer research and community outreach projects. Crafters will easily spot the pink Scotch glider and packaging at their favorite supply stores.

With the touch of a finger, the new Scotch advanced tape glider from 3M applies a neat, accurate, and consistent line of adhesive for clean and professional-looking results. Applications include scrapbooking, card-making, invitations, school projects, package wrapping, and many, many more. Easy to use and refill, its uses are as unlimited as the user’s imagination.

For a limited time, the Scotch advanced tape glider comes packaged with two 108-foot-long rolls of ¼”, premium performance acid-free tape. Refills are available in two-packs of either acid-free or general purpose tape. The new larger glider holds up to 3 times more tape than traditional tape applicators, and the longer rolls mean fewer refills, resulting in greater convenience and value per foot.

In support of its launch, the Scotch glider will be prominently featured at the Craft & Hobby Association Summer Convention and Trade Show at the end of July.

The Advanced Tape Glider from 3M is available now. Call 800-328-6276 to locate a supplier, for pricing or other information.
===================

See, it’s a GREAT thing to go buy a pink ATG! You’re helping a very important cause: Breast cancer research. If that’s not justification to buy a new scrapbooking tool, I don’t know what is. Besides, did you hear me the first 10 times???? IT’S PINK!!! What’re you waiting for, Missy? Get over to your craft store and buy one already … before …. today! The end of July …

Do you have either version of the ATG? Do you plan to get one? If you have a red or pink ATG, what’s the best thing about it?

Memory Works: Taking Pre-Orders on the New Simple Stories Kit “ele.ment.ary”

HERE is where I showed you sneak peek of the new MEMORY WORKS line for SIMPLE STORIES called “ele.ment.ary.” HERE is where you can see ALL the many pieces to the kit itself and the accessories you can buy separately.

*** The anticipated release date is August 16, 2010 ***

As I said in that last entry, I’ll be taking pre-orders for the entire “ele.ment.ary” line, just as I did for LIFE DOCUMENTED. I was just waiting to hear from home office what the prices were going to be … and I have them now! So here we go …

The prices are as follows:

Ele.ment.ary Kit – $16.99
Paper Pack – $7.50
Alpha Stickers – $2.25
Expressions Sticker Sheet – $2.25
Journaling Jots – $4.50

A .pdf catalog should be out soon and when it is, I’ll post it here. In the meantime, you can see all of the items on the post I did HERE.

As mentioned before, Memory Works is only producing half as many “ele.ment.ary” kits as they did for “Life Documented.” Based on the huge popularity of Life Documented, I think it would be very smart to get in early on this one. That’s why I love pre-orders. Once the kit is released in mid-August, I’ll already have your payment in hand and can place the order as soon as it hits the website. Standby your e-mail though, because I’ll notify you when to place your actual order!

Here is how the pre-orders will work:
1. You decide which item(s) you want from the list above.
2. Add the appropriate tax for the city/county of the shipping address.
3. Add shipping/handling charges (see end of this post).
4. E-mail your request to me along with how you would like to pay (check, money order, or Paypal).

I’ll collect and process payments until the projected “ele.ment.ary” availability of Mid-August. When the kit and items become available, I’ll e-mail you with instructions on what to do then.

{Which will be to log into my Memory Works website, place the pre-paid for items in your shopping cart, enter your shipping address, and submit your order. I will automatically be notified that your order has been placed and, instead of having to wait for your payment to be received, I’ll be able to approve your order for processing immediately … assuming your payment has been received and processed already}.

{But don’t worry about that part right now, LOL}.

To place your pre-order now, e-mail me at scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com. Please include:

1. Item(s) requested and cost
2. Shipping address
3. Total due including items, tax*, and shipping/handling**
4. Payment method – check, money order, or Paypal
~ I prefer Paypal, and will e-mail a Paypal invoice to you ASAP
~ If paying by check or money order, I’ll e-mail you back with my address

* Sales tax amount is based on the tax rate for the address you’re shipping to. There is a really cool sales tax rate lookup and calculator HERE.

** Please see THIS post for information on Memory Works shipping/handling information and costs.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns :) If you know of anyone who plans to order Simple Stories “ele.ment.ary,” please send them my way!

I will leave you with one last bit of Memory Works gossip:

Wait for it …

Wait for it …

Word on the street is that Memory Works owners Kevin and Amber are already at work on a third Simple Stories kit! Anticipated release is October/November 2010. How cool is that?

Can I {Heart} Ali Edwards and Be Wicked Jealous of Her, Too?

It’s Tuesday night and I’m reclined in bed with my laptop. I had purposely saved THIS entry from ALI EDWARDS’ blog to read when I could sit down and savor it in the peace and quiet once everyone else had gone to bed, so here I am. I just finished reading it and now I’m all in a big Italy headspace.

Italy is my favorite place in the world. I’m part Italian on my mom’s side; our family is from UDINE (pronounced OOH-di-nuh), which is in Northern Italy. I cannot tell you how obsessed I am with Italy! I read books about it and I talk about it any chance I get. {Yes, I am THAT annoying}. I routinely use my DVR to Search “Italy” and “Rome,” and record shows about it. It’s mostly travel shows but I also have 3 episodes of EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND where they went to Italy {hee hee, a guilty pleasure}. I also see movies that are set in Italy, like “WHEN IN ROME” and, of course, “ROMAN HOLIDAY” is one of my favorite movies EVAH!

I heard about an Italian miniseries called “BEST OF YOUTH” and searched for months but it never came on TV, so I finally broke down and ordered it on DVD from Amazon.

Crap, I should start a blog called “Italy Obsession,” shouldn’t I? I read the last paragraphs and think I’m a Rome stalker. WOW.

Anyway, it’s been my dream to go to Europe ~ but especially Italy ~ since I was a teenager (and no you may NOT ask how very long ago that was!). When I was about 20 and in college, I had it all planned to study overseas for a year in France (in AIX-EN-PROVENCE), which would be my home base for exploring all of Europe. I had to cancel when I couldn’t save enough money. Then, when I was about 30, DH and I had a Europe trip planned and had to cancel because some of the places we were going were politically unstable and there were travel warnings.

So to say that I REALLY wanted to go to Europe/Italy was an understatement. Yes, I finally did get my chance in October of 2006. I was blessed enough to go on a Creating Keepsakes scrapbooking cruise in the Mediterranean, with LISA BEARNSON, no less! Some of the story is HERE. We basically circled the Med and went to places like Tunis, Tunisia (North Africa) ~ Barcelona, Spain ~ Palma de Majorca, Spain ~ and Valletta, Malta. All of those places were completely amazing and it was the trip of a lifetime. Who would’ve ever thought I would go to North Africa?

But by far, the best places we went were in Italy … Palermo, Sicily ~ Genova, Italy ~ and ROME! As soon as we touched down on Italian soil, I felt like I was HOME. I loved every single thing about being there … the churches, the people, the history, the language, the food, the energy … just everything. I couldn’t get enough of it. I wanted to learn everything I could and see everything I could.

My mom (who I traveled with, along with a friend) had done some online research before our trip and actually located a second cousin of hers! She was a doctor who lived in Rome, and we met up with her. It was just another thing that made me feel so comfortable there, so at home, like I belonged.

The only tragic part of the whole trip was that we weren’t there long enough. Palermo and Genova were just cruise stops, so we had one daytime to do a tour, and in Palermo, we stayed in town after the tour and just walked around. After the cruise, we went to Rome and stayed only 2 nights before we had to catch our flight back to the United States. I was SO sad to leave. I mean, truth be told, I was extremely homesick for my family and I couldn’t wait to get home. But I definitely left my heart in Italy and am determined to go back someday.

~~~~

So back to tonight … That’s why I saved Ali’s blog entry about Italy to sit down and read when I had some time to savor it. She’s an awesome photographer and I knew she’d have some amazing photos to share (she did). I love the way she journals and is so good about capturing her feelings while they’re still immediate (she did). Ali was so smart to write down her “I Want to Remember” moments right now, before she gets caught up in daily life and those moments fade from memory. I wish I had done that.

At the end of her blog entry, she links to THIS trip ~ yep, she’s going to Italy again in October 2011 and we’re all invited this time :) I couldn’t possibly be more jealous. She’ll be in Tuscany, which is my DREAM place to go. I’ve read all of FRANCES MAYES’ books, wrote a poem inspired by her descriptions of Tuscany for my Senior Project in college, and have worn out my DVD of UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN.

Ali is also going to Rome, my favorite city in the world and where I’ve been dying to go back to. There’s no way I COULD actually go, as the trip would cost me upwards of $6,000 and we don’t make that kind of bank around this hizzy.

I couldn’t even make myself read through the entire trip itinerary because I, well, it kind of made me want to cry. I want to go SO BAD! This isn’t like a “Wow, it would be fun to go to CHA” or “Gosh, I’ve always wanted to see Mt. Rushmore.” This is like a yearning so deep in my soul that it hurts. {Holy hell, am I pathetic? Get a grip, girl!}

Anyway, if you’ve read this far, thanks for listening to me not only talk about my deep love for a foreign place (just like I subject my IRL friends and family too, the poor things), but for listening to me whine and be so jealous of another scrapper, ha.

And, Ali Edwards, if you were to ever read this, thank you for sharing your photos and experiences. I was able to dream through you for a bit, and to marvel about Italy with you for a bit, and that is a special thing.

My Order: Free Shipping and October Afternoon from Joanns.com

Other than MEMORY WORKS, I’m not much of an online scrapbook shopper. Actually, I don’t shop much online for anything except during Christmas (HULL-OH Amazon.com, and your sweet Super Saver Shipping deals!).

So I don’t shop online much, mainly because I hate to pay shipping on things … I’m just stingy like that, LOL! Plus, with my scrapbook stuff especially, I’m always trying to find deals, discounts, clearance, and use 40% or 50% off coupons. HOLLAH!

However, my enabling friend ABBY shared a deal that was going on at JOANN.COM for either free shipping or 40% off one item. I don’t have brick-and-mortar Joann stores here so I don’t get to shop there :( When Abby mentioned the discount, I thought about heading over there (virtually speaking, of course) but didn’t. I knew it could be dangerous territory, because they have a huge amount of stock and I don’t have a huge amount of money.

Then she said the magic words: “They have OCTOBER AFTERNOON in stock, and some of the paper packs are HALF OFF ….” See what a crafty little manx she is? The way she enables me, you’d think she was getting kickbacks from Miss Joann herself.

Yes, I did end up making a purchase, after having things in my shopping cart for a day or two. See, the thing is: I {heart} October Afternoon and yet (gasp!), I don’t own any. Waddup??? So I got a ROAD TRIP 12×12 Collection Pack and some extra Label Stickers …

HERE is a video showing the entire Road Map collection. I think it’s a good thing I didn’t see this video BEFORE I went shopping. Just sayin’…

CHERRY HILL 12×12 Collection Pack, extra Label Stickers, and extra Word Stickers.

This VIDEO shows some OA Collection Packs including Cherry Hill. Just keep watching until after the Pink Paislee kit ;-)

Mini Market Alphabet Stickers {from the VERY MERRY collection} in this pretty teal green. They look like the teeny little ALPHAS I like from MAKING MEMORIES but they’re slightly bigger.

I paid regular price for the 4 sets of extra stickers, but the 2 Collection packs are normally $23.99 and they were 1/2 off at $11.99 … and I saved about $8 in shipping for a total savings of about $32. My entire order was less than $38. Ya’ can’t beat that with a stick!

It’s a bummer the shipping takes 7-10 days, but I guess that’s what you get for “free”, huh? I’m officially infatuated with October Afternoon now. I can only hope that Memory Works starts carrying OA after this CHA, because I’m going to do some damage to their new lines, SEASIDE, HAPPY HOME, and most likely, whatever else they come up with.

Memory Works: New Simple Stories Kit … It’s “ele.ment.ary”

I told you HERE that MEMORY WORKS was giving sneak peeks of their new line on the SIMPLE STORIES BLOG last week. Did you check it out?!?! It’s pretty dang cool =)

My suspicions were right: It’s a school days kit and it’s called “ele.ment.ary.” {Forgive me now, but I may refer to it as “elementary” now and then … hee}. All of the sneak peeks were awesome and I really enjoyed going to the SS blog each day to see which cool new element would be released {or would that be “ele.ment”? ha}.

The folks at Memory Works home office did such a good job of describing the entire kit, the separate pieces, and how they can be used, that I’m going to copy some text from their blog (it will be in italics) and put the pictures of the entire line in one post for easy reference.

*** NOTE: AS SOON AS I CONFIRM PRICING WITH MEMORY WORKS HOME OFFICE, I WILL BE TAKING PRE-ORDERS ON THE ele.ment.ary LINE.

THE ANTICIPATED RELEASE IS MID-AUGUST.

MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW. ***

Okay, here we go!

Our consultants and customers fell in love with our signature Life Documented kit, the introduction to our fabulous Simple Stories system. MemoryWorks has liberated scrapbookers everywhere with our simple and refreshing approach to scrapbooking. We’ve got you hooked on simple scrapbooking in a whole new way…are your ready for more?

It’s all ele.ment.ary!

We are beyond thrilled (and just a little giddy) to introduce our next collection in our Simple Stories series…ele.ment.ary! Our ele.ment.ary collection is all about scrapbooking school memories in a totally stylish, fun, and simple way…and it REALLY is as easy as ABC!

There are loads of school memories…and loads of school photos – after all school is a major event in nearly everyone’s life, spanning 12 years (or more) of an entire lifetime. That’s a lot of photos and a lot of memories. What better way to document all those school memories and photos than with our easy, simple, functional, efficient, and totally stylish system and school kit.

If you liked Life Documented….then you will LOVE ele.ment.ary!

Our new ele.ment.ary kit will include everything you need to create an entire album of school memories – Pre-school through 12th grade! We designed this kit to be as versatile and functional as possible…so whether you want to document a few favorite back to school memories or want to a complete and entire album highlighting each school year pre-school through graduation…this kit does it all!

Just like our signature Life Documented kit, the core of the new ele.ment.ary kit collection includes beautifully designed (and totally functional) innovative cut-apart element pieces in a variety of sizes, including 4×6 cards, 6×8 mats, 4×4 blocks, 6×12 page elements, 2×12 borders and 4×12 titles. Element pieces are printed on full size 12×12 double-sided cardstock sheets…and it’s as simple as trimming the pre-designed element pieces to size to create the individual element pieces.

Our Simple Stories elements are designed to insert into coordinating divided page protector sleeves, along with your 4×6 photos, for quick and easy scrapbooking. Completed album pages fit securely into coordinating 3-ring albums*, showcasing your memories in a simple, yet beautiful way!

*As with the Simple Stories “Life Documented” line, you’ll be able to purchase D-ring LEATHER or LINEN albums and regular and divided PAGE PROTECTORS by We R Memory Keepers to go with the “ele.ment.ary” line.


Guess what? These super cool, super ingenious 4×6 journaling cards included in our new Simple Stories ele.ment.ary school kit includes each and every school year, pre-school through 12th grade! How cool is that….we’ve created the perfect system to simply and easily scrapbook years of school memories! You’ll notice that the front side of the school year journaling cards feature the school year, with basic journaling prompts such as name, school, year, teacher and a few notes of the year. This allows you to easily include basic journaling for each school year, slip the card in a 4×6 divided page protector pocket, and add any number of photos for that year as you’d like.







Here are the other amazing elements that are so unique to our ele.ment.ary kit! Just like the 4×6 journaling cards, these elements also play a key role in the Simple Stories family. Perfect for trimming and tucking into all of the fun divided page pockets…4×4 quote cards, 6×8 photo mats, 6×12 page elements, 2×12 borders and 4×12 titles. Seriously so SIMPLE to share your story with these fun and totally functional elements! We LOVE the colors, designs, icons, images…can you just see how amazing your school albums and projects are going to be?


Don’t you just love the journaling page…remember the front side makes a great cover page for your album (if you’re choosing to use the kit for an album-type project) and the backside is the PERFECT area to add bits of information and journaling. We’ve kept the journaling prompts very general so you can use a journaling page for each year….or just one journaling page for the entire album!

This cardstock is high-quality, seriously thick paper that you can use to create full page layouts, customize your own elements, altered projects….the possibilities are endless!

Okay, here’s the remaining contents included in the kit.

…just like in our last Life Documented kit the transparancies are great for overlaying over 4×6 photos in the divided page protectors….but this time they’re in COLOR!!!!! How great is that….vivd, bright, vibrant colors to coordinate perfectly with all of the components of the kit. They are amazing…and look beautiful over any photo….colored, sepia, b/w! What’s even better is we’ve added the extra bonus of colored transparancies, but the retail price will remain the same as our Life Documented kit so there’s major value there!!

The Journaling Jots are Add-Ons and are … DOUBLE-SIDED with fun icons and phrases on the front side with blank journaling spots on the back side so it gives you the best of both options! How ingenious and super-cool is that! In fact, you’ll want to purchase 2 packs just so you can use all of the front side designs and the backsides too.

This is how the sticker sheet looks, but the letters look thicker here than they really are …

This is what the letters look like once they’re pulled off the sticker sheet … they are narrower.

Yay– we have extra stickers!! I wanted to add an extra alphabet in addition to the sticker sheet included in the kit…we love that it pops with color. The colors on our sample look extra bold – that’s just extra coloring around the die lines…but this alphabet is very sleek and is sure to be one of your favorite letter stickers.

Oops – our mistake :) The mock up image of our Expression Stickers includes a misspelled word “Field Trip”…we inadvertantly uploaded the incorrect image for our sneak peek post. Please rest assure that this HAS BEEN FIXED prior to the printing and spelling will be correct on the actual stickers.Thanks for your understanding :)**

Okay – you asked and we listened. We now offer individual sets of the designer cardstock paper for purchase in addition to the main kit. This was our most requested item…and it makes perfect sense. It’s always handy to have extra sheets of paper for those extra layouts, customized elements, altered projects, etc. This set gives you 8 sheets, 2 of each included in the kit!

Below are just two samples provided by Memory Works {disclaimer: I did NOT design these pages; they’re from the Simple Stories blog}. Anyhoo, it gives you an idea of how great your pages can look with this kit and how easy they are to do … There are more photos and ideas on the Simple Stories blog.


Please check out the SIMPLE STORIES BLOG all this week as they show a new idea every day to help you get the most from this amazing kit. They got a bit of a head start HERE. Also, if you’re a fan of STACY JULIAN and her LIBRARY OF MEMORIES method of scrapbooking, you’ll want to check out that post, too. Memory Works owner Amber shows how she has used Stacy’s “School of Life” method to start an album for her child that will run from Preschool through Senior year, in an easy and manageable way. SIMPLE.

One little tidbit I picked up by reading through all of the Simple Stories blog sneak peeks was this:

… I think you’ll be excited about our FREE downloadable elements (coming soon) that will help you identify school years throughout your album!

Awesome! So glad to hear that, just like with the Life Documented line, ele.ment.ary will include some digital downloads. They’re so great because you can make as many as your heart desires, and cut out or punch them out in whatever size or shape you like.

Here’s what the actual “ele.ment.ary” kit package looks like, and what exactly you get in it:

The kit will sell for $16.99. Any add-ons, albums, or pages will need to be purchased separately.

As I said, as soon as I confirm prices for all the Add-Ons, I will begin taking pre-orders on the “ele.ment.ary” kit, et al. Please watch my blog for news on pre-orders and/or e-mail me and I’ll contact you when pre-orders begin: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.

One last thing from the Simple Stories blog:

We printed only half as many kits as we did with our first Life Documented release – so if you love this collection and don’t want to miss out be sure to snatch it when you can…just in case!

SO!

What do you think of Simple Stories “ele.ment.ary” by Memory Works? Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or e-mail me with any questions =)

Friday Night Scrapbook Randoms #9

This Friday night I have for you three scrapbooking articles … and something else to make you smile when you’re done with all that reading. Enjoy!

~ This is an awesome story called “SAVED BY SCRAPBOOKING.” I hope you can take the time to read it. It will make you feel really good about your craft and how meaningful it can be.

~ Here’s a fun little article called, “HE KNOWS WHY WOMEN SCRAPBOOK.” A nice love story, along with a man’s perspective of the hobby.

~ THIS ARTICLE just made me feel really stupid. This is what I “heard” when I read it: “Blah blah blah scrapbooks blah blah. Artsy fartsy highbrow conversation scrapbooks blah. You graduated college but you can’t make sense of this article, can you? You are one dumb bunny, blondie. Stick to scrapbooking articles with pictures and fifth-grade level words, and this won’t happen to you again. Better yet, stick to the scrapbooking comics. Blah blah blah, these people are so much smarter than you. Don’t even bother reading this whole thing because it will never make sense to you. The end.”

What did you get from it? Maybe you can translate for me …

And just because I love you … I found this in a Journey/Steve Perry forum and just had to share. I hope it makes you smile as it did me :)

Walmart Scrapbooking Section

There has been much talk recently on the scrapbook message boards about what in the heck is going on with the scrapbooking section at Walmart? HERE is one such thread. Scrappers are reporting some variety of the following:

It has shrunk.
It has disappeared.
It has been moved somewhere else in the store.
There are lots of clearance items.
There are the same old things being restocked.
There are new items being stocked.

I’d pretty much given up on the Walmart scrapbooking section at my store years ago because the inventory hardly ever changed. Also, while it originally was a good place to get basics like adhesives and tools for a good price, their prices over time became pretty much retail. So why bother walking ALLLLLL the way to the back corner of my Walmart, behind the tire and automotive section where I had no other reason to go, right?

But with all this talk, I decided to see what the status of my WM scrap section was and this is it:

~ It has shrunk.
~ There are lots of clearance items.
~ There are new items being stocked.

There used to be about a side and a half (not quite a full aisle) at my WM of scrappy stuff. Now there is just one side of that, so we lost about 1/2 of one side. Well, technically, since they have clearance items in other places in the crafts area, I guess it’s not a net loss … yet. There is a cart of clearance items and some in the regular section also. There are a bunch of new Colorbox items and some new K&Co. and Jolees.

So here are the pictures to prove it {would I lie to you?} …

Colorbox paper pads including cardstock, patterned paper, and along the bottom row are theme kits. I think they were all about $5.

Matching Colorbox 12×12 post albums for $10

Jolee’s bling and other color-coded embellishments, along with some new things by K&Co. Everything is $3. This is the entire thing …

Top half only …

and bottom half only.

A closer look at the red blingetty bling.

CLEARANCE!!! MARTHA STEWART punches and other tools, stamps, adhesives, etc.

A closer look at the punches. See any you want/need? Good prices :)

And I know you won’t believe this so I hope you have your Big Girl Panties on while I break the news to you …. Walmart still has: THE WALL OF JOLEES!!! In fact, I think they added some new packs. Check it out, in all its glory.

On the Cart o’ Clearance, there were lotsa the cheaper CRICUT cartridges. I really wanted to snag this one for only $24, but resisted. And was glad. I came home and Googled that cart to find out that $24 isn’t even a good price. Sheesh.

Clearance 12×12 albums on the bottom of the cart.

End of tour.

“Thank you, Ladies and Gentleman, for keeping your hands and feet inside the ride at all times. That ends our tour of the scrapbooking section at Walmart. We hope you enjoyed the tour and will come to visit us again sometime soon.”

Oh! So here is the only thing I bought that day: A new bone folder by Martha, Martha, Martha! As you can see, my existing PC bone folder was quite gucky with adhesive and the tip broke years ago. I think I was due for a new one, don’t you? I paid $6; retail was $12.

I don’t really know what to say about the changes at my Walmart. I mean, “I love clearance.” There. I said something nice. I think it’s interesting that they went the more generic, color-coded route with their papers and embellishments. Colorbok is a good company as far as I can tell, and the prices are good. I reeeaaaalllyyy wish they’d use all that Jolee’s real estate for something else. I just don’t use those 3D Jolee’s stickers … at all … ever.

Okay, that’s all I got.

So what do you think of the changes at my Walmart? Good, bad, or who cares? What’s going on at yours? Have you bought anything there recently?

Memory Works: Time for Another Simple Stories Kit!!!

With the amazing success of the first Simple Stories kit by Memory Works – LIFE DOCUMENTED ~ it’s now time for the next Simple Stories kit. Woot woot!

MEMORY WORKS will be giving sneak peeks all this week on the SIMPLE STORIES BLOG, so if anyone is looking for me, I’ll be over there, LOL.

Now, I don’t know if THIS is a sneak peek in itself – what do you think?

I was thinking maybe the colors and school-lined paper here were some hints to what the new line will look like. Hmmm … I mean, I don’t have any insider info or anything, so that’s total speculation on my part. I’m just glad reveal time is almost here and that I finally get to see the next kit in the SIMPLE STORIES line. Hallelujah!

Check Out My Scrapbook Mini-Haul @ 70% Off!

Okay, before I get all giddy about my awesome purchase, I need to be serious for a moment. Come ON! It’s just a MOMENT. That’s all I ask. You can do it.

Sooooo…..

I hate it when online or brick-and-mortar scrapbook stores close, don’t you? I mean, if the person is happily moving on to something else, that’s great. But if the reason is because business isn’t good, then it makes me sad :(

I’m not sure what the case was here, but a friend mentioned that an online store she had DT’d for in the past was closing … and the ENTIRE STORE was 70% off!! Oh, and that day she mentioned it was the LAST day to order. {Otherwise, I would’ve told you about it, I swear!}

Well, you KNOW I hauled my virtual butt right over there and started shopping! I hate that scrapbook store owners have to let their remaining products go for such a huge discount but I guess we can feel good about “taking it off their hands”, right? If we didn’t shop there, they’d be stuck with the merch when all they probably want to do is move on.

Anyway, as usual, I have digressed. You just want to see what goodies I got, don’t you?!?! You cheeky monkeys!

The store was Serendipity Scrapbooks, which I guess there is no reason to link :( I ended up getting $33 worth of scrapbook supplies for $15 INCLUDING shipping, which was about $6 of that.

Ah, I love scrappy mail, don’t you!?!?! Here is the package, my invoice, and a nice note from owner Kristen.


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(3) 12×12 pages of BASIC GREY letter stickers – Euphoria, Phoebe, and Scarlet’s letter


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One sheet each of some “Cogsmo” (COSMO CRICKET) and “Tiffany’s Collection” (WRMK) paper. Love the Cogsmo vibrant colors and cool design, and the leaves that were cut-outs from the Tiffany’s paper (see where the black is showing through? Cool, huh?)


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2 sheets of “Splendid” paper from FANCY PANTS (these are the front and back sides)

This is SO pretty and classy-looking in person. The colors are rich and gorgeous.


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2 sheets of “Fakie Green” paper from the now-closed SCENIC ROUTE (these are the front and back sides)

SR has always been a favorite company. I love their simple, fresh designs. I’m scrapping our Phoenix trip with mostly Scenic Route that I’ve hoarded over the years, and this will be added to the collection.


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Speaking of Scenic Route, here’s some green twill. It’s thinner/narrower than I thought it was going to be but it’s still nice :) Also, my first-ever purchase of anything CHERRY ARTE – some cute summer rub-ons. I like their style.


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Here was my favorite deal of the day: A ton of chipboard shapes called “All Fall” by Fancy Pants. They retailed for $12.99 which, while totally worth that price, I probably wouldn’t have ever spent. Gah, I’m such a cheapwad that I have a really hard time spending that much on a scrapbooking embellishment. Tool? Yeah, sure, but not on a consumable like chipboard.

But yee-haw! With the 70% discount, I could totally justify spending $3.90!

Isn’t it neat how it comes in this cute window box with the slide-out drawer?


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Now check out ALL the pieces that come with! Yowzers. I have School Days albums for my kids but the pages so far have been pretty basic, made mostly of patterned paper, cardstock, and some basic accents. I’m going to go through the albums and add some of these cute accents to liven up the pages. Can’t wait!


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Isn’t that paperclip cute? Just to put it in perspective, the chipboard totally covers one of my Basic Grey MAGNETIC MATS, which are about 15″x15″. You get a LOT.


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Also love the grad cap, and all the sayings and titles. What a great package. So happy I purchased this :)

So that’s my scrapbook mini-haul! Not bad for $15, huh?

Stay tuned … I just got a box today from MEMORY WORKS with some amazing stuff to show you!

Memory Works: Free Cosmo Cricket, and Discounts on Simple Stories and Patriotic Products!

I got this e-mail from MEMORY WORKS today, who I’m a consultant for. We’re always having cool promotions and I don’t want to flood my blog with them, but there are so many great things going on right now, I had to share. Just in case you want to do some shopping to celebrate July {wink} …

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We’re blasting off the Independence Day holiday with 3 firecracker promotions:

1 ~ 10% off select Patriotic Themed Products
2 ~ Free Snorkel Collection with $150 purchase
3 ~ 15% off Simple Stories Life Documented Kit

NOTE: Click on anything shown in bold and it will take you to a photo of the item :)

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PROMOTION #1

Show your patriotic pride…Save 10%

To show our pride for all things patriotic, we’re offering an additional 10% off our best selling patriotic themed collections and embellishments, including Creative Imaginations “Liberty” THEME SET, Pink Paislee’s “Starlight” THEME SETand STICKERS, and Bo Bunny’s complete “Block Party” COLLECTION! Shop now for best selection – sale ends July 5th!

“Freedom” 12×12 Layout by Sue Kendall featuring “Liberty” Theme Set from Creative Imaginations

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PROMOTION #2

When you spend $150 or more you’ll receive a 50-piece Cosmo Cricket Snorkel COLLECTION PACK (a $14.99 value)….absolutely FREE!

We’re continuing our 100 days of summer celebration. Now through July 31st 2010 (while supplies last, so hurry!), we will be offering this fabulous Snorkel papercrafting pack from COSMO CRICKET. Anyone – yes we mean anyone – placing an order of $150.00 or more will recieve this popular, best-selling kit that includes over 50 pieces of summer scrapping goodness. So whether it’s a party order, customer order or even consultant order…if it’s over $150 you qualify for the FREE* kit! But remember this kit will be available only while supplies last so swim on over and get yours today!

*FREE kit includes: 12 double-sided design paper, 18 cardstock stickers, 18 double-sided cut apart element cards, and 18 double-sided cut apart borders. Offer good only while supplies last. One free kit per order. Offer is not retroactive. Offer good on all party, customer or consultant orders of $150 net retail or more (excludes tax and shipping).

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PROMOTION #3

Sale Extended through July 5th!
Simple Stories Kit – 15% Off

If you haven’t treated your self to the goodness of our first Simple Stories release – now’s you’re chance. We’re extending our sale for just a few more days, offering an additional 15% discount off our popular “Life Documented” kit – grab yours before the low price melts away…

Life Documented Kit
Regular Price – $16.99
NOW 15% Off
Customer Sale Price – $14.44

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While you’re shopping, check out our SUMMER SAVINGS SALE with various items at great discounts – Maya mist, Xyron adhesive products, American Crafts including THICKERS, 7 Gypsies, Basic Grey, Bo Bunny, Crate Paper, Fancy Pants, Pink Paislee, and more.

Please let me know if you have ANY questions. You can leave a comment on this post, or e-mail me at scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com. Happy shopping!

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