About The Author

avatar

Scrapbook Obsession

I am obsessed with scrapbooking and I know you are too! I think about it, talk about it, and do it any chance I get. I love to shop as much as I love to crop. My blog will have: product reviews, show reviews, scrapbook organization, my shopping finds, and just general scrapbook topics. There are so many scrap blogs out there where the author journals about their life and shares their pages. I wanted my blog to be a little different. Hope you enjoy!

Showing: 981 - 1000 of 1,321 Articles

The Slice by Making Memories: An Update

I’ve noticed from looking at my Blog Stats that a lot of readers come here by way of searching for information about the cool new tool by MAKING MEMORIES called THE SLICE. I haven’t blogged about it since April 2008, so my posts are a bit outdated, but if you’re interested, my first post is HERE. You can see it in it’s early form when it was still owned by Tinnus. This is what it looked like back then…what a different look, huh?

HERE is where I blogged about CHA-Winter 2008 and the Slice, with a couple demo videos, and the new look was revealed…

And HERE is a post from April 2008 with another demo video, and a release date of “Summer 2008.” Well, they ALMOST made that deadline, didn’t they? LOL

So, as requested by JANA in a comment on THIS post, I will attempt to post some updated info on The Slice. Okay, I’m off to explore internet land for some updates, BRB!
.
.
.
Okay, lots of info on the MM website linked above, so definitely go check that out. Lovin’ the cool accessories they have for it already.

And here are some facts from their website, including MSRPs:

“SLICE OVERVIEW
– Industry’s first cordless, digital design cutter
– Weighs less than two pounds
– 5” x 5” design fits in palm of the hand
– Non-fed cutter permits cuts to be placed on any size media, with no advance preparation
– Design cards in four themes offer thousands of fonts and shapes that coordinate with Making Memories’ most popular scrapbook programs
– Clearly organized and intuitive buttons offer simple navigation
– Graphical interface screen illustrates design shape prior to cutting
– Cuts shapes in up to eight sizes ranging from ¼” to 4”, in ½” increments
– MSRP: $149.00

SLICE DESIGN CARD FEATURES
– Design cards expand the Slice’s shape offerings many times over, and are currently available in four themes including Basic Shapes I, Basic Shapes II, Basic Shapes III, Noteworthy and Animal Crackers.
– MSRP: $35.00
– Includes equivalent of thousands of design cuts including:
• Upper & lower case alphabets
• Monograms
• Numbers
• Scrolls
• Flourishes
• Photo Corners
• Journaling Spots
• Frames
• Flowers
• … and more

SLICE CUTTING CAPABILITIES
The Slice is designed to cut through media in varying thicknesses including:
– Textured paper
– Cardstock
– Vellum
– Textured cardstock
– Photos (up to .5mm thick)
– Vinyl
– And Acetate

SLICE KIT INCLUDES
– Slice Digital Design Cutter
– Basic Shapes I Digital Design Card
– A/C Power Adapter
– 6” x 6” Tempered Glass Mat
– Repositionable Adhesive”

And check out this LINK to the Slice idea gallery. Lots of wonderful projects that will definitely make you want to own a Slice. I’m warning you, don’t go there if you’re trying to resist this thing :) Here’s one example, a layout made with the Noteworthy design card:

** LAYOUT FROM MAKING MEMORIES WEBSITE **, designer unknown.

There is also some great info and ideas on the MM BLOG.

If you’re going to purchase a Slice, please consider buying it from my friend Stacey at ALL MOMENTS REMEMBERED. She isn’t doing many pre-order items anymore, because vendors haven’t been keeping their commitments which makes it hard on her (she HATES disappointing her customers). But she’s making an exception for the Slice and you can order it HERE. Stacey played with the Slice at CHA, and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you called or e-mailed her to hear firsthand what it’s like. All her contact info is on the AMR site linked above. While you’re at AMR, join the message board. I guarantee, you will not find a nicer, more welcoming group of ladies anywhere on the net. Plus you will eventually earn your “Stacey Name” and that’s an experience you don’t want to miss!

I’ve been debating for a long time whether I want to get The Slice or not. On the one hand, I already have a baby Cricut and about 5 cartridges. I’ve invested a nice bit of money in that so do I really need a whole new system? On the other hand, Making Memories is one of my favorite brands now and it would be so cool to cut out their exclusive designs. Also, I’d rather pack up this little thing for crops instead of my Cricut. Oh, who am I kidding, I’d probably take both! You just never know what you’re going to NEED to cut out, right? Well, MM couldn’t have timed it better…any other time of the year, I’d have to pass and just say, “I can’t afford it.” But with Christmas almost here, and me being such a good girl and all….

Ribbon Storage on a Dress Form

How stinkin’ cute is this??

I found it on THIS post at 2PEAS from Kristie D. who was sharing her new ‘craft studio,’ as she insists it’s called (hee). If I had a darling room like that, I’d make ya’ll call it a ‘studio’ too! She says, “I ordered my dress form on ebay BUT Hobby Lobby has similar ones and you can get them half off!!” Also, that she “got the idea from a blog.. I think it was Donna D. but I am not sure.” If you’d like to see more photos of her room, go check out the 2peas post or her BLOG.

Do you like the ribbon on a dress form idea? I know you cat moms and toddler owners can’t implement this, but how about the rest of you?

Regarding Scrapbook Magazines

I’ve heard that the new issue of SCRAPBOOKS ETC. was out and, since I don’t subscribe because I’m impatient, I’ve been looking for it in whatever store I happen to be in…Barnes & Noble, Target, my craft store, etc. No go, couldn’t find it. Tonight on the way home from work, I had to grocery shop and even checked the magazine section at Vons with no luck. So I’m in the checkout line perusing the Us and People and Star…and laaaaaaa…there it is! Like a beacon among the darkness….the latest issue of Scrapbooks Etc. So I was happy. Nuff said.

Now to kinda change gears….

Prediction: At least one of the major scrapbooking magazines will either cease publication or reduce their number of issues produced within the next 6 months. Refer back to see if I told ya so…

N-N-N-N-Noteworthy at Mike’s????

My AMR friend Abby aka ScRaPbOoKfReNzY told me this tonight:

“They (Mike’s) have a whole endcap of the Noteworthy stuff (didn’t have the paper out yet) and they had all of the MM Fa La La stuff out including stamps and paper. They also are carrying 6×6, 8 1/2×11 and 12×12 American Crafts cardstock. They had new wooden $1 stamps. I got 3. Gonna post on my blog.”

Please go see Abby’s BLOG for her post about this.

I luuuuuurve all that NOTEWORTHY stuff from MAKING MEMORIES. When I’m done using my coupons on Jetmax cubes to re-do my scrap storage, I’ll be using them for Noteworthy. Glad to hear about the FA LA LA stuff and AMERICAN CRAFTS CARDSTOCK too. I’ll have to resist the FLL, as I have enough Christmas stuff in my stash for now. I might have to give the AC cardstock a try…I love how it comes in a box you can use for vertical storage. We’ll see if it can lure me away from my Bazzill…

Does your Mike’s have these new items, and have you bought any? Give us a review!

Blog Comments That Touch My Heart ;)

Here’s my all time favorite. It was left today on a year-old POST about the whole Kristina Contes controversy.

“you’re a loser to care so much about something so minimal in our world today. get a life. ”
From obsess on Kristina Contes: In the LA Times #

I guess there are a lot of us ‘losers’ out there, because my Kristina Contes posts are still often among the Top 10 most clicked on (that’s out of 338 total posts so far on my blog). Shame on us for caring so much! We need to get a life. I mean it. Off with you! Go get a life right now!

Scrapbook Shopping on Columbus Day

I was lucky enough to have the day off due to a State holiday…Columbus Day. Since I now work M-F 8 to 5, it was nice to have a weekday for errands. Went to get some labs done, met with our financial guy, met with the school principal, etc. Of course, I needed some retail therapy after all that! Got my 2 new scrap mags at Barnes & Noble…

I heard the November issue of Scrapbooks Etc is out but I haven’t been able to find it yet. Anyway, I’ve skimmed through the CK so far and it looks REALLY good! I’m so happy to see that BRENDA ARNALL is back with some EASY PATTERNS. This time, she incorporates some of those fun journaling stamps…of which I have more than plenty, and other great journaling ideas. HERE are the free downloads from the article (as of 10-13-08, they aren’t working but it says to keep trying back). LIZZY K talks about where you can turn your blog into a book, which is something I’d already planned to do, so I was happy to find a $10 discount code for CK readers! My girl NOEL is featured in an article on kids Thanksgiving projects. And there’s a fun scrap space featured that is geared towards having your friends in to scrap with you. I’m such a sucker for those Scrap Space features. I could read an entire book with nothing but ‘real people’ scrap spaces, couldn’t you?

After B&N was the craft store I sometimes call my LSS…cuz they are pretty cool and get some recent stuff, unlike Mike’s. I got a few sheets of Bazzill, and this paper from Little Yellow Bicycle’s ‘Frightful’ collection. It’s meant to be Halloween paper, but I’m just going to use it on some boy pages. I think it’ll look great with a bright shade of blue or teal.

I only have around 25 sets of acrylic stamps and obviously need more, so I also got these (They were $25, but only $15 with my coupon):

Won’t they be fun to color in with marker or colored pencil?? I swear, half of the appeal of scrapbooking is that I can play and doodle and be artsy-craftsy like when I was a kid. So please don’t pee in my Wheaties and tell me I didn’t need these stamps, k? They are part of my regression therapy, part of my ‘live like there’s no tomorrow’, part of my ‘recapturing my youth.’ You support that, don’t you?

Lastly, I went to Mike’s and used a 50% off coupon to get another Jetmax 3-drawer cube (remember, I’m STOCKING UP). I threw in 2 sheets of Bazzill ‘cuz I’ve heard at some stores they’re including Bazzill in the 4 for $1 sale (which applies to 59 cent sheets and Bazzill is 69 cents, but some are doing it anyway). Well, the butthuggers at the Mike’s I went to charged me full price for them so I’m glad I only grabbed two.

Okay, fess up, what scrappy goods have you bought lately? And whatya think of the latest CK?

The Predictable Demise of Scrapbooking Magazines

Over the last year or so, I’ve noticed a recurring theme on the scrapbook message boards, a topic that keeps coming up for discussion: “The scrapbook magazines are really going downhill.” Here is a summary of the comments made on this and related subjects:

1. A year ago, the magazine had X number of pages and now it has less than half that.
2. This month, the magazine was comprised of 1/3 ads and only 2/3 content.
3. This issue is so thin! This magazine used to keep me interested for a couple hours, but now I get through it in a half-hour.
4. There are too many ads.
5. I LOVE to look at ads for new products; there aren’t enough ads.
6. I want to see more layouts, not articles and organizational ideas.
7. I want more articles and organizational ideas, not so many layouts.
8. Why is there so much digital?
9. How come there’s not more digital?
10. I love Ali Edwards, she’s amazing, so inspiring, wish they’d feature more of her!
11. I’m so tired of “life artists” and full-page photos of Scrap Celebs!
12. There is no such thing as a Scrap Celeb; we are all just scrapbookers.
13. I want nothing more in this world than to be published!
14. Why do they waste so many pages on store listings when we can get them off the internet?
15. What in the heck happened to all the store listings in the back?
16. I don’t buy magazines any more; I get plenty of layout ideas from blogs and galleries.
17. I don’t buy magazines any more; I’ve gone digital.
18. I don’t buy magazines any more; I can’t afford them.
19. I don’t subscribe to scrap magazines any more; I want them quicker so I buy them at the store.
20. I don’t buy that scrap mag anymore, ever since they changed the format.
21. I would buy that scrap mag if they would just change up their tired old format.
22. More of a ‘lifestyle magazine’? I want a scrapbooking magazine!
23. I love to read about scrapbooking, but can’t they ‘think outside the box,’ maybe tie in other subjects?
24. I’m so excited! A scrap magazine is going to publish the comment I submitted in answer to: “What signifies Spring to you?” OMG! I am SO excited. I can’t wait to get my copy!
25. I cannot BELIEVE they wasted 2 pages on “What signifies Spring to you?” I thought this was a scrapbooking magazine?
26. Only the best layouts belong on scrapbook magazine covers.
27. I get so mad when they use stock photos for the layouts on magazine covers!
28. Most of us are moms; they need to include family and event layouts.
29. I’m not a young mom; I’m a retired grandma; I’m a college student; I’m single with no kids; I’m male; I’m Jewish; I’m a breast cancer survivor; I travel a lot; I have a career…The magazines need to publish more pages for ME!
30. I like lumpy-bumpy pages; I like to alter things; scrapbooking is my art.
31. I prefer flat pages; I don’t alter, I just do layouts; scrapbooking is not art, it’s about preserving memories.
32. I love to see how they use all the new ‘product’ on layouts.
33. What’s with all the single photo layouts with all that ‘product’?
34. Lisa Bearnson is SO wonderful, I love her, I adore her, I look up to her, her family is adorable, she is so talented!
35. Lisa Bearnson is so fake, I met her and she was mean, she is so full of herself, why does she leave her stepdaughter out of her layouts?
36. I despise this magazine. I will not spend another red cent on it (posted on said magazine’s message board, that costs them loads of money to maintain, yet we can post there for free).
37. I can’t believe this magazine won’t let me advertise MY scrap business on their message board. That is so rude.
38. Magazine A sucks, I’ve switched to Magazine B (posted on Magazine A’s message board).
39. I shop for my scrapooking supplies at big box stores or online; who cares if the LSS’s go out of business? It’s not my job to support them.
40. What happened to all the LSS’s? They probably closed because of bad customer service.
41. How come so many scrapbooking companies are going out of business?
42. I love seeing layouts by Becky Higgins, Ali Edwards, Hall of Famers, Memory Makers Masters, Scrapbooker of the Year, Dream Team.
43. I’m so sick of seeing the same old ‘celebrity’ designers. They need to publish more newcomers.
44. I subscribe and got a great deal, only $2 per issue, and I should get my issue before the newsstands.
45. I pay newsstand price, so I should my copy before subscribers.

Okay, should I stop now? ‘Cuz I could go on like this for quite awhile.

My question is: Do you see what I see?

How in holy heck could the scrapbook magazines continue to stay profitable, continue to stay thick and full of content, continue to pay staff writers, continue to remain in business, and continue to attract advertisers…with customers like us? How can they be all things for all people? We are demanding, we’re fickle, we’re budget conscious, we’re going digital, we’re using 40% off coupons, we’re blogging, we’re sharing our own projects and writing our own articles, we’re trashing magazines on message boards…and we’re making it impossible for anything to happen but what IS happening. The scrapbook magazines are going downhill. I don’t question it, and I don’t find it shocking in the least bit.

I am not innocent. I’ve posted comments like above several times on various boards. I’ve cancelled all my scrapbook magazine subscriptions because I’m impatient to get my issues, realizing that subscriptions are the bread and butter of any scrapbooking magazine. I don’t only point the finger at “us,” I point the finger at ME.

I suggest we try to enjoy the remaining scrapbooking magazines while we can, for unless something changes, they will all be gone soon….

Your thoughts?

Where You Been, Girl?

My buddy, EILEEN, left a fun comment on my UPDATES post the other day. I wanted to respond to it by way of writing this new post. What’s weird was, I went to go copy/paste her comment into this post….and it was GONE! Snikees! Wassup with that noise??!? See, this happened about a month ago too, when my girl DREA left a fun comment on a post and then **poof** it disappeared. I think she didn’t believe me (L☺L), but she was kind enough to leave another comment to replace the poofed one. And now this with Eileen’s comment. Not only am I wonderin’ what happened to those two comments, I’m wonderin’ if other comments have disappeared too?? So, if you’ve ever left a comment here (which wasn’t p*rn spam, LOL), and it disappeared, please don’t think I deleted it. I very rarely delete comments. I even keep most of the ones that are mean or make me look stoopid (NOT a difficult thang to do). I figure if I can dish it out, I’d better be able to take it…

Luckily, I have my blog set up to e-mail all comments to me so I don’t really think I’ve missed any. I was able to restore Eileen’s comment to the proper post. And here is the part I wanted to quote from it:

“I love it when you get wordy. I need the updates…otherwise I think you’re bored with us and I couldn’t stand it if you quit posting! I think I’ll go get wordy myself! {{{hugs}}}”

So, Eileen (and all you dear readers), I wanted to assure you that I could NEVER EVER get bored with you, nor could I EVER quit posting. Shutting me up would be as impossible as getting Nicole Richie to eat a Subway sandwich! Just NOT…GONNA…HAPPEN. I’m far too opinionated and far too obsessed with scrapbooking to be silent. Viva la Scrapbook Obsession!

My favorite part of writing the blog, other than venting and enabling, is reading the comments you all leave. Speaking of “obsessions,” it’s quite embarrassing to realize the number of times per day I check my Dashboard to see if any new comments have been left on my posts! Yep, my favorite addictions: Diet Coke, Starbucks, scrapbooking, and Checking Blog Comments. So, PLEASE keep them coming and know how much you’re making my day whenever you stop by and say Hey.

The reason for the longer pauses between my posts lately? Well, beginning September 1, I went back to work full-time. Kicking and screaming, but I did it. And, in the ultimate display of rudeness ever witnessed, my new employer does not let me use the internet at work – to surf, to post, or to contribute to time suckage in any way. I’m left to surf on my iPhone during my lunch hour and after work at the gym (recumbent bikes are one of the greatest inventions ever!). In other words, I lurk in and out all day, but just don’t have the time to post like I used to. I try to log on at night, but most nights, these dogs are barkin’ and it’s all I can do to watch some Reality TV before falling asleep.

Thank you for understanding, for putting me in your feed or stopping by once in a while, and for taking the time to leave comments. Unless I win the Lotto, tip a Brinks truck, or become a highly-paid surrogate mother anytime soon, my full-time job is here to stay. But don’t worry, Eileen, I can still get wordy with the best of ‘em! Wait until you see my next post….

Bazzill On Sale at Michaels!!

There could be no finer 5 words in the English language, am I right?? My flyer says they have Bazzill on sale at 2 for $1, which is definitely cheaper than the usual 69 cents/sheet. Not a super great deal, but a deal nonetheless. My closest LSS (45 minutes away) sells Bazzill for 75 cents/sheet and $1/sheet for Bling. So paying 50 cents/sheet for regular OR Bling at Mike’s is something to be happy about…Will you be heading to Mikes for some Bazzill?

Some Updates….

It’s Sunday night, and I just got done watching Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters. That Sally and Calista, they had me a-booin’ and a-hooin’ again tonight. When Nora is telling Kitty how she thought she finally saw her as more than just the mom who drove her to ballet lessons, and Kitty shows her the book dedication…all to Nora, who she couldn’t have written the book without. {Sniff, sniff}. Mother/daughter relationships are so complex and deep…that show really knows how to capture it all.

Okay, well, just wanted to give an update on some of my past posts….

The RUMMAGE SALE: It was Saturday morning and, wouldn’t you know it, not a drop of rain here in months but when does it decide to rain???? Saturday morning, and only Saturday morning. Not a drop of rain except during those rummage sale hours. But it went okay anyway, I guess. It was a community rummage sale, where you pay for your space and that money goes as a fundraiser. I was stationed next to a friend of mine, so we gabbed all day between making sales. I’d say I sold about 1/3 to 1/2 of what I took out there, even some of the scrapbooking stuff. One gal came back three times, LOL! The biggest sale from SB stuff was an SEI 8×8 album in a box, it was from a CKU class, and was all pre-done, just pop in your photos and add the journaling. I sold it for $12, although just the materials were worth more than that. But the color scheme was something I was never going to use so why not? It went to a happy home, a young high school or college age scrapper who said she would scrap more if she had time. I hope the purchase helps her get a quick album done :)

Another success story {follow me on this, I promise, it will make sense}: So, on the other side of my space was a lady selling homemade chicken taquitos and pork and chicken tamales. OMG. That was just cruel to make me smell that yumminess all day! {Mexican food is my ATF, All Time Fave}. About half way through the morning, I ate my little Tillamoo cheese and non-fat Yoplait yogurt. Fighting like a real warrior against giving in to that Mexican food. Then DH says, “I’m taking off, there’s a game on so I’m heading home. Please bring a mess of those taquitos home for me.” At first, I’m like “WTF??”….then I realized hey, there’s my excuse to buy ME some taquitos, too, LOL! So I ask the lady, “Are you going to be here til the end, because I want to buy some taquitos to take home?” and she says, “Yes.” So at the end of the day, I still had about 2/3 of the clothing I had put out for sale and was dreading bagging it all up and taking it to AmVets. The lady from the taquito place comes over and is looking through all the clothes (they were kids clothes) and I can tell she’d like to have many of them but is only setting aside a few. So I said, “You know, you can just have all those clothes if you want them,” and her face totally lights up. Then she says, “I’ll give you food in exchange.” I mean, was that the Deal of the Century or what? Too funny….

So, all in all, it was a good day. The kids ran around and played with their friends, I got to chat with a friend, offload some things I didn’t need, and I got to eat taquitos! And we were blessed by God’s rain which, even if you’re trying to hold a rummage sale, is a beautiful, blessed thing.

Now, to update my SCRAPBOOK STORAGE post: Gosh, this is me at my most indecisive. I measured my room and figured out how many more Store In Style cubes, doors, shelves, etc. I would need to make the perfect set-up. Let’s just say the number of cubes was in the double digits, but still cheaper than buying an Ikea Expedit and having it shipped (since I don’t live anywhere near an Ikea), or any other scrap storage options I could find. I found a great online site to order them from since Mike’s no longer carries them. And there they’ve sat in my Shopping Cart for over a week. I finally got over the price tag, but then started imagining the day 4 jillion boxes were dropped by UPS on my doorstep. I truly think DH would bust a gut, maybe even an aneurysm, over that one. I know this from experience, that he doesn’t care about the what’s and why’s and ‘but honey, I got such a great deal on it!’. All he knows is his wife went mad buying scrap stuff and he would be none too happy. So then I thought, what if I just buy a few at a time? But, no, it’s still UPS dropping packages here, still busting guts, still aneurysms, still not good. So my latest idea hit me when I was at Mike’s last week trying to spend my 40% coupon on something I actually needed. Duh, storage cubes, nimrod! I bought one of the cubes that they now carry, I think the brand name is Jetmax. I got the 3-drawer one like in this picture:

They are regularly $30, only $18 with the coupon. Now I’m going to see if I can make it work with collecting a bunch of these babies to create my Scrap Storage Nirvana. They are slightly smaller than the SIS cubes and since I have an odd number…well, it’s hard to explain without drawing a diagram, but I’d still need to buy a few SIS cubes. Then hopefully I can fill in the rest of my wall with the Mike’s ones. I’ll just buy one a week with my coupon, and spend actually less money than buying the SIS cubes online. I have a little windfall cash set aside just for this project and I need to get going on this before the vacuum cleaner or washing machine breaks (that would be SO my luck). Just remember, my well-made decisions can spin on a dime, but that’s the plan…for now!

Finally, to update my QVC post, I did watch most of the QVC scrapbooking shows and no, I didn’t buy a single thing. Not because I didn’t want anything, merely because….no money, no shop-ee. Times like this, I wish I were Katie Holmes…{wink}.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Did you do anything scrappy?

Scrapbooking Items in a Rummage Sale?

I don’t know how well this will go over, but we’re having a neighborhood rummage sale this weekend and I’m going to try and sell some scrappy stuff. Just tools I bought and never used, paper and embellies I don’t need, and all that non-Bazzill cardstock LOL! {I’ve told you I’m a Bazzill Snob now, right?}.

I’m going to sell other items too, so I’m roaming the entire house and cleaning out closets – clothes, toys, books, home deco, that kind of stuff. Out of one bedroom alone, I got 1 garbage sack of clothes to toss and 3 sacks of clothes to try and sell. No big items to sell except we have a set of French doors we bought and never installed (then we got a new slider to match the other new slider, and well, you know…). Um, we’re just going to print out a flyer and take it to the rummage sale…I ain’t lugging those thangs all the way there, LOL!

If I have time, I’d like to batch up my scrapbook stuff into larger ‘kits’ or ‘lots,’ price it really well, and just get rid of it all. Whatever of the household stuff/clothing that doesn’t sell, I will load it back into the car and take it straight to AmVets for donation. But the scrappy stuff, I just can’t do that, LOL. Will have to find a way to work it back into my stash (NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!), or find a worthy local cause to donate it to.

Have you ever tried to sell scrapbook stuff at a regular ol’ rummage sale? How’d it go?

Katie Holmes, A Scrapbooker?

Read all about it HERE. I heard this first from A POST on 2peas, then I posted it at AMR.


*Photo and story are from www.CELEBITCHY.com…cool gossip site…

If it’s true, I think it’s pretty cool. I would really envy her. She doesn’t seem to be working much these days so time is plentiful. She has unlimited money and, apparently, a fancy scrapbook room. She has a gorgeous family and fabulous trips and famous friends to scrapbook about. I’d say she has the ideal life for a scrapper! You GO, Katie!

Shopping for Some Scrapbook Storage

I’m the first to admit my scrapping area is a full-on disaster. I’ve never had enough storage so, even when the rare mood strikes when I want to organize it all, there is just nowhere to put all my crap…er, um, scrap stash. My main pieces are: a large L-shaped office desk with minimal drawers (I even hide some things underneath, using those wire cubes from Target/Walmart)…

…2 of the 5 bookshelves that line the main wall of the room I share with my kids’ TV/play room…kinda like these….

and some Store in Style cubes like these…

I have 7.5 all together ~ 5 open cubes, 1 file drawer cube, 1 cube w/a door, and a 1-drawer cube (which is 1/2 the height of a regular SIS cube). I used to buy these one at a time when Michaels sold them…with a 50% coupon, of course…but they don’t sell this brand anymore. They totally harshed my mellow, man…

I won’t go into detail about all my various storage systems but I largely make use of the Vertical Paper Holders by Crop in Style….

Please, don’t make me tell you how many I have. It would embarrass both you and me….well, okay, mostly me, but you would be embarrassed FOR me and I wouldn’t want to put you through that. So don’t go there…

I will tell you that I have more than this…

But less than this…

I also have a ScrapRack….


NOTE: THIS IS NOT MY PERSONAL SCRAPRACK. I GOT THIS PICTURE FROM THE SCRAPRACK WEBSITE. MATTERUHFACK, NONE OF THESE PHOTOS ARE FROM MY OWN SPACE…YEP, ALL FROM OTHER WEBSITES. THANK YOU.

….which takes up most of one of my desk extensions, and I adore that contraption more than any other piece I have. But it is full. Organized and lovely, but full.

The end of the room I’m in has 2 large windows, which makes it impossible to add a desk hutch or more tall shelves or even the much-dreamed-about Expedit shelf from Ikea…

I actually want to buy 10 of these in various colors and put one in every room in the house. I know, I know, not everyone’s taste, I’m sure. But I never told you I was freakin’ normal, did I???

So I’ve come to the decision that I will buy a bunch more Store In Style cubes. I’m going to take the ones I already have, add some more, get some doors and drawers, and make a ton of new storage on one of the window-walls. I love their versatility, in that you can stack them 1, 2, 3 or even 4 high to fit your particular space. Looking ahead, this will be a helpful thing if we ever move to another home, or I have to move my scrap area within this house (which could happen someday if any of the kids decide they want their own room….then again, we could always just put Greg in the attic or in Mike’s den…*).

*Did you catch the Brady Bunch reference?? Good girl…

Now that The Decision has been made, I’ll be shopping for a great deal on some cubes. Maybe I can find some on Craigslist or I’ve heard of some good online sources. Here’s to hoping the shipping charges don’t kill me. Even so, a bunch of cubes will still be cheaper than the other things I was considering, like the Expedit, or the Mini Scrap Box…

If I ever get them ordered, put together, and get my scrap area reorganized, I’ll be sure to post photos so you can praise me…

QVC Scrapbooking…Almost Here Again (Finally!)

So I guess, so far, the rumors of CK relocating to HSN are not true. They do indeed have a QVC day coming up. Above is the TSV (Today’s Special Value) and it comes in 2 color ways (color ways…impressive huh?…I picked that up from watching QVC…). You can order it now if you don’t want to miss out, or can’t watch when it airs. Lisa Bearnson shows this and other QVC items on her BLOG, and HERE is the link to the TSV on the Creating Keepsakes site.

Tim Holtz will also be THERE. I know several ladies who are already dreaming about seeing their Timmy, LOL. I liked the advice on the AMR message board…watch Timmy on QVC and see what he does with the stuff, then order all your Timmy products from Stacey at AMR.

Stephanie Barnard from Inque Boutique will also be on QVC…here is where she BLOGS about it. They will offer 2 sets of stamps (with 90 stamps in the main set!). One will be on-air and one will be off-air (you can order from the website) and she says quantities are limited. Ya might wanna pre-order if you’re interested. Thanks ANNE MARIE for the heads up!

So, about the TSV…I love SEI but I’m not a hybrid/digital girl, so I’ll be passing on this one. Will you be snatching it up??

Basic Grey ‘Granola’ and ‘Urban Prairie’

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…

Winner of the Joanna Slan Scrapbook Mystery Novel

We have a winner!!
*********************************************
13 | Gina O
September 8th, 2008 at 6:32 pm | edit

My relaxation favs are
Taking a walk on a secluded beach
curling up on a rainy day with my pups, a cup of cocoa and a good book
playin bingo with my gals (even better if I win! lol!)
locking myself in my scrap space and getting creative!
Thanks for the opportunity! The book sounds great!
*********************************************

Congratulations Gina! You win the free copy of Joanna Campbell Slan’s new scrapbooking mystery, Paper Scissors Death. OMG, you are going to LOVE it! I’m about halfway through, and mad that I have to go to work because I want to read, LOL.

Gina, I e-mailed you for your address and posted on your BLOG…and I’ll get the book mailed out to you this weekend. Thanks for playing everyone!

My Crazy Experience at the Photo Place

Okay, I admit it, I’m an old-fashioned girl. I still take my digi card to the drugstore and use the photo machine to print my photos. There’s a drugstore here that really takes their time with color adjustment, etc. and my photos are never so beautiful as when they develop them. Bright colors, gorgeous shading, they lighten anything that’s too dark, etc. They never have that “digital” look which is my biggest pet peeve.

So I hadn’t developed any photos since Jan. or Feb. of this year and I had a ton to do. The first night after work, I went in and downloaded about half of my digi card. Now this is the pain part…you have to touch screen each photo you want, hit it twice for two copies, skip over the ones you don’t want, etc. It took me about 15-20 mins and when I thought I was done, I pulled my digi card out so I wouldn’t forget it. Well, whammo, the machine goes blank and I say to the cutie guy behind the counter, “OH NO! Do I have to start all over??” and he’s like, “Yeah, sorry, you do.”

The next night I go by to pick up my first set of photos and download the second set. He hands me the first set and says, “All your CD’s are in there but the day crew left me a note and it says an error code came up. I’m not sure if all your photos made it onto the CD so please check them before you delete your card.” Which I thought was nice of him to tell me….how many places would’ve dropped the ball on that one? Then he gave me 25% off my entire order *in case* the CD’s had to be re-done.

The third night, I go in to pick up my second set. It’s a long story but there was another photo customer there who was VERY unhappy and yelling at this poor manager guy. Another employee had supposedly told her a coupon would apply to her order and it didn’t. He explained to her calmly that there was no discount code he could use in the computer to cover her, and he’d get in trouble if he did. She demanded he write down HIS manager’s name and really made a scene. “I’ve been a customer here for TWELVE YEARS but I will NEVER come back into this place AGAIN!!” Don’t get me wrong, if I’m getting screwed over I’ll be the first to speak up. But this was an honest mistake and no way to fix it…what is yelling and name calling and making a scene going to gain you?” (Later, the manager told me that he was going to offer her some other kind of compensation but once she started calling him names and demanding things, he changed his mind). Me and the lady at the other photo kiosk were just rolling our eyes about her and the other lady says to me, “You know, yesterday was 9/11 and she’s gonna yell at some poor guy about saving 20 bucks?” Later, with a straight face, she says to one of the photo girls, “You know, I’m going to need some kind of discount.” And the girl goes, “(sigh) How much?” And me and the other lady start busting up! She was totally kidding but the girl didn’t get it at first.

Okay, so the guy brings me photos and said, “I thought you had a really large order? There’s only 40 pictures here.” Oh no! He brought me behind the counter and showed me the computer where it had my order and only Quantity 40, even though my receipt showed MANY more photos than that. So, yeah, there I go back to the photo machine AGAIN. Now, I could’ve been irate and made a scene, I guess. But he showed me the computer, it wasn’t human error (that I could tell) and they couldn’t magically make the photos appear, so I just shrugged and re-loaded my photos. I mean, pick your battles in life, right?

When I’m checking out, the guy asks what kind of digi photo card I use and I tell him a 1 gig SD card. He goes over, grabs one off the shelf and puts it in my bag for free. Which you know, those aren’t cheap. He thanked me for my patience and understanding. Considering he just got screamed at in front of the whole store, I was impressed with his calmness. They don’t pay retail managers enough!

Anyway, I’ll keep going there. No one develops photos like they do so it’s all worth it to me cuz I’m picky on how my photos look. The bad news is he’s getting married in a month and moving to AZ for nursing school. Darn! Hope the next manager is just as cool.

A New Theme for Scrapbook Obsession

WordPress is offering a new theme called Albeo and I had to grab it! I hope you love it as much as I do. That black and white was a bit BO-RING for moi. I’ve had so much trouble in the past with themes I love but they cut off my photos on the right side edge. But I scrolled down through a lot of entries with photos and *fingers crossed* this new theme seems to keep the photos intact. The photos are a bit smaller because the right column is wider than my old theme, but I hope it keeps everything large enough for ya’ll to see and read. I have a widescreen laptop, so it’s hard for me to judge what YOU see vs. what I see.

So please leave me a vote in Comments: You like? You no like-y? Grazi, bellas!

WordPress also added a new feature called a Sticky Post, which operates similar to a Sticky on a message board. It’s a post you can designate to stay at the top of your blog for as long as you want. When you’re done, you uncheck a box and it falls back into chronological order on your blog. How kewl is that??

Oh! I got my book in the mail today from Joanna…can’t wait to sink my teeth into her scrapbooking mystery….if you don’t hear from me for a couple days, it’s cuz I’ve got my nose glued to the book, LOL! I’ll post reviews along the way, and announce the lucky girl who also gets a copy….soon…

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...