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Is Lisa Bearnson Leaving QVC for HSN?

Read about the rumor HERE and HERE. The only comment I have so far, without personally seeing the HSN ad on the CK site, is that maybe CK doesn’t control and/or monitor specific ads that flash on their site. For instance, if you allow ads on your free website, blog or message board, my understanding is you can request that they pertain to a certain topic (in this case, crafts or scrapbooking) but you, the site owner, don’t get to approve the ads on a case by case basis. I assume ad placement is done by computers not humans, who wouldn’t know that it would be a big NO NO to put an HSN ad on the CK website…because it might start a rumor or sumthin’…

What do you think…could the rumor be true, and would you be glad or sad?

Another Blog Milestone & Uh RAK

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there! Well, it looks like I’m going to turn the meter on 200,000 blog views soon! Unfortunately, it will probably happen during the next few days when I’m not blogging. No, I’m not going to Beverly Hills for my plastic surgery touch up (again!). No, I’m not going to Bejing to see the Olympics in person (shoot, with both the Hamm brothers out of gymnastics, what would be the point?). I will be “busy”, that’s all you need to know…

But we’re going to have a little RAK here to celebrate. Here’s how to play. Leave a comment or comments on any post at Scrapbook Obsession (no limit). Whoever posts the last comment before I reach 200,000 views wins! I’ll be able to look at my Dashboard and Blog Stats to determine the winner. I probably can’t notify you until I’m online again so stay tuned. I’ll send you a little scrappy prize; make sure to leave some contact info like a link to your blog so I can find you afterwards or check back here later to see if you won.

Okay, I’m removing my Blog Stats counter from my sidebar, but as of the publishing of this post, it stands at……..198,678.

If you haven’t already joined the Message Board at All Moments Remembered, do so HERE because they’re having another fun crop tomorrow (Sat. 8-9-08) and you don’t want to miss it, do you????

Have a wicked weekend, dearies….

ETA: 8-14-08
YES, WE HAVE A WINNER! TBA LATER TODAY….

My First Online Scrapbooking Course: Back to Class

I am SO stinkin’ excited! I just signed up for my first online scrapbooking course. Well, okay, I confess, I once signed up for a free one at Stacey Julian’s BIG PICTURE SCRAPBOOKING. But it was free and I was too busy, so I failed to participate. THIS time, I mean business! Because 1. I paid $20 of my hard-earned cash, and 2. I really really really need to complete this project: my kids’ School Days albums. So, here is the class I just registered for…it runs AUGUST 25 through SEPTEMBER 14, 2008 (3 weeks):

BACK TO CLASS with TRISH TURRAY. I signed up for it at GET IT SCRAPPED! online classes by DEBBIE HODGE. Debbie wrote THIS BOOK {which is only $13.38 right now at AMAZON}, called Get It Scrapped!

She’s all about getting your pictures in scrapbooks. From what I’ve seen online so far, Debbie’s book and classes seem to help you do just that. I’m one of those that has been gathering the supplies for this type of album but haven’t followed through on actually com-PLEET-ing any. I have all the school shizzle: Report cards? Check. School and class photos? Check. Art and writing projects? Check. I just need one cool place to put it all. Sure, I’ve scrapped random school events and they’re mixed in with our annual family albums. But I’ve purposely NOT scrapped school photos and such because I knew I wanted to create an album like this someday. Well, baby, “someday” is here! Wahooooo! I can’t wait to get started.

On Trish’s blog, she shows this new school line from KI MEMORIES:

Is that the cutest?? I asked Stacey if she can get it in the AMR store and she said, sure, but she needs a couple weeks heads up. Anyhow, I think this is the line Trish uses to complete the project but she said you don’t need any particular line, you can use whatever you want to buy or have already been collecting. I have various school embellies, and recently bought the Autumn Leaves Back to School Collection at Target. It’s a paper pad with matching die cut shapes and an alphabet. I’m sure it will be more than enough once I supplement with cardstock and either Thickers or letters cut with my Cricut.

But the KI Memories school line is called my name. Will you please tell it to Shut the Hell Up??? Crap. I only have so much money, you know? Quit tempting me…I mean it! {Yeah, right….}

To flashback a bit….I tried to get some copies of that darn Becky Higgins School Days Kit awhile back but don’t get me started on how the (I say loosely) “customer service” at CK Media completely farkled that up. I was pretty ticked for awhile and didn’t even want to think about how I was going to complete school albums on my own. I dunno, I just feel like a need a guideline to follow, someone holding my hand and saying, ‘C’mon, just put this photo here, and that report card there, and before you know it, you’re done.’ I don’t want to overthink it. I want it simple but cohesive. I want it easily duplicated so I can make a copy for each kid. Heck, if it comes out cute, I’ll do my OWN school days album the same way. Yeah, unfortunately, my dear mother didn’t start scrapbooking until I was growed up with chiclets of my own. So my own school pictures and awards and such are in a box here somewhere. I don’t think we have enough of DH’s stuff to do an album for him, but I could ask the MIL and see if she’s got more school items of his.

Anyway, I heard about this class ~ everybody now! ~ “at AMR.” My scrap bud, ANNE MARIE, did a post about it because she’s on their e-mail list and was notified of this new class. I’m trying to recruit some other AMR girlz to take it with me, but no takers so far. I would feel more at home over at Get It Scrapped on the MB and such if there were some familiar faces. Debbie even said she’ll add blinkies in our siggies if a bunch of us come over from the same place. So we could spread the AMR love…

Disclaimer: As always, what I say here at S.O. is my own pure opinion from my own pure (ahem, cough!) heart. I’m in no way affiliated with Get It Scrapped or it’s subsidiaries. I did not receive any kind of payment or gift for this endorsement. Thank you.

No matter where you hail from in scrapbook world, I hope you’ll come take a look at the Back to Class….um, class. And maybe even join in with me. C’mon, you know you want to…

Crop-a-holic Rules!

Nicole aka Crop-a-holic is a dear online friend of mine, because she:

1. Has a wonderful and hilarious blog about her family life called HUMOR ME and I laugh so hard when I read her stuff that Diet Coke shoots out my nose. I told the girls on AMR MB that this girl should write a sitcom about her life and they all agreed.

2. Is SO generous with the RAK’s she constantly gives away, for the sole purpose of brightening someone’s day. Like, these showed up in my mailbox today…a card and ATC, just because every time she saw the “journey” stamps, she thought of me {my MB name is ‘journeyfan’ and maybe perhaps I go on a bit about Journey and Steve Perry sometimes}…

3. Is brave enough to start taking BELLY DANCING lessons.

4. Always gives me the heads up on important goings-on with all the gals we care about.

5. Is so talented with blogs and computers, and always helps computer dorks like me get things done.

She recently started a new blog to showcase her scrappy news and projects so go take a look at CROP-A-HOLIC’S CREATIONS, won’t you?

She is SO talented…just look at these cards that are posted on her new blog…they are GORGEOUS! Nicole needs to open an Etsy shop or sumthin.

I’ll be adding her link to my sidebar. You should put her in your feed, so you can go give her some blog love whenever you get the chance….

Pink Paislee: This Company is HOT!

I don’t have a crystal ball, and haven’t consulted JOHN EDWARD on this, but here is my prediction: PINK PAISLEE will be the next BASIC GREY of the scrapbook world. Yep, they are THAT good. I mean, just check out this yummy goodness on their home page:

Um, well, okay. Blogger girl foiled again! This is where I went and right clicked on the cool images on their home page, only to be told “Sorry, right-click is disabled. You are welcome to use our images, but we prefer you to use the right ones; Simply click the link for retailer resource page at the bottom of the page under Retailer Lounge.” Which I did HERE, and found a PDF file to click on for product images. Well, tell ya what, if the .pdf file is done downloading by the time I finish writing this, I’ll include their images. If not, sorry Charlie, your loss! {Can you tell this is a pet peeve of mine. Sheesh! I was really liking these Paislee girls until now….}. But a cool thing I did find on that page was a list of coordinating cardstock for their lines. Nice! Nice for the retailer, nice for the shopper.

So! Well, I was going to directly link you to their BLOG and their PRODUCT page and such like I usually do with products I like. But now I’m kind of pissed, so I’ll let you explore on your own if you like. Can you see the tee shirt I’m wearing? It says, “I don’t get mad, I get even.” Yeah, right, I know they don’t care about us bloggers but I’d say we DO send a little bitta biz their way, wouldn’t you? Wish these companies realized that and were a bit more ‘blog friendly.’ Maybe I’ll go write my Congressman….

Well, I still do love their products and think they’ll be taking over the industry. Their new lines are: Vintage Moon, Pop Fashion, Office Lingo, and Spring Fling. Wish I knew how to use THESE cool desktop calendars cuz theirs rock! Stacey at AMR has been teasing us with PP on her blog HERE, HERE and HERE. {While you’re there, check out THIS post about the new Jenni Bowlin…I have a BIG jones for anything Jenni}. HERE’s the store if you want to shop!

PS: That dang PDF product image file is STILL downloading, so no product pictures to share with ya’ here, but click on those links to Stacey’s blog, she has plenty {she must be gads more patient than me, LOL!}

Autumn Leaves Journaling Stamps

Went by the craft store on the way home from letterboxing the other day, and this is what I got:

Used my 40% off coupon on these awesome stamps, Stampology “Journal” (regularly $7.99, paid $4.49):

With me, Autumn Leaves can do no wrong with their stamps. I pretty much love them all. I haven’t had time to scrap with them yet, but I played around a bit this morning and stamped them out so you can see what they look like. I did the circle one with and without the journaling lines…the possibilities with that stamp and the scallop rectangle seem endless! I gotta say, the swirlie one that I stamped in green isn’t a fave. But, hey, at about one buck a stamp, I won’t cry too much if it never gets used.

I stamped them on white so you could see them best, but I plan to use them on lots of yummy colored paper. The thought of all the color combos I can make with my papers and chalk inks has me feeling all bubbly inside…hee! {Yep, it’s a sickness…}.

Speaking of scrapping diseases, the Fiskars Threading Water Punch malady seems to have hit everyone is scrap world….you know, I must have one or I will DIE! So if you still need one, Stacey at AMR has them in stock HERE.

She also has something I want need very badly…this Maya Road Calendar Turns stamp set. I love how you can spin it and change it, then stamp and circle the date. Kewl! You can pre-order it HERE.

What do you think of these products, or any other new ones you’re seeing around?

Milestones and Cricut Cartridge Storage

Wow, this is my 300th post to Scrapbook Obsession since I started it in January 2007! And I’m coming up on 200,000 Total Views. That is so super duper kewl!!! I noticed y’all aren’t leaving as many Comments as before. Are you mad at me for not posting as often as I used to? Sorry, life has been a bit hectic but I have a little summer break here so I hope to post more often again :) Would love to hear from YOU more….

I always look at my Blog Stats because I find it interesting to see where you have clicked here from, or what you Googled on that led you here. In a lot of ways, it guides me in what to write about. I’ve noticed that many of you found me by searching for Cricut information and, since that’s one of my favorite topics too, time for another Cricut post! And I have the perfect thing :) My Scrap Pal, Gay, from AMR posted this on the message board about a week ago and I’m so excited to share it with you (yeppers, I got her permission first, LOL). Here ya go – she said:

“I went to a class this week to learn more about using my Cricut… things that I didn’t know like changing the blade! Another thing she suggested was to tear out the other language instructions in the booklet that comes with each cartridge. I hate thumbing through French, German and Spanish to get to the ENGLISH instructions! I did tear the other pages out of each booklet and you wouldn’t believe how much room that saved… I must have torn out about 4 inches worth of paper!!!

One of the girls at the class showed us this darling tote that she picked up at Michaels. I’ve seen them before, but didn’t realize that it would be just the right thing to organize my Cricut carts. It’s made by Scrap Paper Scissors. It is $16.95, but would be something great to use a Mike’s 40% off coupon! Here’s how I have my cartridges organized… (and yes, I have a bunch of carts!) ”

And HERE is the entire thread if you want to click over and read it. But don’t forget to come back and tell me what you think of Gay’s wonderful tips and her storage idea. I’ll be here waiting for you, passing the time by ripping apart all my Cricut instruction books…

(Almost) All Cricut Cartridges at Michaels 50% Off

Let me say this another way…all Cricut cartridges at Michaels are only $40, through August 2, 2008! Yep, you heard me right! Here’s the deets, as copy/pasted from the e-mail I just got:

“Expand the realm of possibilities for your scrapbooking and paper crafting endeavors!

All Cricut® Cartridges —
Only $40 Each

Create one-of-a-kind layouts and cards, and even help your children with their school projects. Cricut cartridges are designed to work exclusively with any Cricut personal electronic cutter, and now you can save 50%. This special price is a limited-time offer, so make sure you get to Michaels by August 2, 2008.

To give you an even bigger advantage, if you buy any three Cricut cartridges at Michaels, receive a free DesignStudioTM from Cricut. The Cricut DesignStudioTM software lets you bring creativity to a new and exciting level.”

Wow, so for $120 you can get 3 cartridges and DesignStudio. Sounds like a ravin’ deal. Who’s gonna’ take them up on it? I may get a cartridge or two, but I’m pretty happy with the ones I have. I got a few when they went on sale for $40 at Walmart awhile back, so I have 5 or 6 now. How about you?

Oh, and HERE is the link for the coupon for 20% off your entire regularly priced purchase through 8-2-08. Excludes Cricut products but not Martha Stewart. Me, I never find anything to spend those on that seems worth it – do you?

ETA 7/28/08: Look at Kristi’s comment below. I took her suggestion and changed the title of this post, LOL!

Scrap Blog Awards

Finally, my belated acknowledgment and appreciation for a blog award I was offered by more than one special scrap friend!

From Rachel aka *SunnyNColorado* ~ she said:
Scrapbook Obsession -Is always giving the low down on something scrappy

From Marilyn aka Melonscraps ~ she said:
Scrapbook Obsession, Always full of great information.

From Candace at Paper Paradise ~ she said:
I really don’t have 7 blog friends I choose these…(including ‘scrapbookobsession’)

Here are the rules for this award:
1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you’ve nominated.

I’m going to give it right back to these gals, and then a few more:

1. To Rachel at ONE LIFE, ONE CHANCE because she is one of the most genuine girls I “know,” because she is kind and helpful and fun, and because the look of her blog and the music are wicked cool.

2. To Marilyn at MELONSCRAPS because she is a wonderful scrapper with a great heart and I love how she shares all her organizing ideas. This girl just moved and the first thing she set up in her new home was her scrap space. Gotta love her!

3. To Candace at PAPER PARADISE because, yes, she does have scrap friends (me me me!), and because I admire her talent and her chutzpah in doing her Etsy store.

4. To Eileen aka CKreader at LIFE IN THE SAND PIT because she has the same warped sense of humor that I do. When I read her blog, I enjoy her projects, her kindness and acknowledgment of others, her jokes, and her descriptions of life in the desert.

5. To Katie at KATIE THE SCRAPBOOK LADY because she linked to me awhile back and I never thanked her, LOL! But I’m glad she did because it’s how I found her blog, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since. She put me in the same list as Ali Edwards and Cathy Zielske, two of my favorites, the only time my blog will ever be anywhere near theirs!

6. To Julie aka Scrapperdays at SCRAPPERDAYS because I enjoy her layouts and hearing about her family, and she is such a positive presence at AMR and she always leaves comments on my blog, LOL!

7. To Christina aka Inara at INARASCRAPS because I love her smiling avatar, her sunny disposition, and her sweet posts whether here, at AMR, or on her blog. She is faithful and positive and an artist with mad talent (look at the drawings at the bottom of her blog).

Thanks and congratulations to you all :)

Bazzill Basics Cardstock at Michaels

So maybe all my griping about what a crap selection of papers they carry has finally gotten through to Michaels (insert eye roll here). Because what to my wondering eyes did appear…while at Michaels today?? Was it…could it be….Nah, that would mean they’d joined the 1990’s. But, yes, I really truly did see at Michaels today…BAZZILL CARDSTOCK. I swear to you, I was so excited, I let out an “eek!” and almost peed my ever lovin’ pants right there in Aisle 4. It was in one of those “Do not look at this, do not touch this, don’t even think about it” baskets, you know, the ones they tease you with, of scrapbooking items they HAVE but just won’t SELL to you yet because of some lame technicality about, “We haven’t unpacked it and put a price sticker on the rack yet.” I mean, blah blah blah, you know? I’m a scrapper, I see it, I want it. Don’t tease me, don’t make me beg, just hand it over and no one gets hurt. Throw in a Butterfinger and it’s all good. But don’t put it there right in the middle of aisle and ask me to pretend I don’t see it.

Because Bazzill is the goddess of all cardstocks. Okay, let me tell you about Bazzill. When I first started scrapbooking (like, 80 something years ago), I bought the Creative Memories 10×12 cardstock. Now whoever’s bright idea 10×12 cardstock was, they should be fired. Makes NO sense for a 12×12 album, just absoludicrous. So then I ventured into Michaels and started buying those no-name packs of smooth cardstock in pastels, black and white, brights, neons, you name it. All was fine, I was content, I was a happy scrapper. But that’s because I was naive. I was ignorant. I was clueless. At some point, probably at a CKU or Scrapbook Expo, I was introduced to…everyone say it with me now…Bazzill Basics linen-textured cardstock. We scrappers just call it “Bazzill” like a code word that only we know. But we know, don’t we? Oh yes, we know! We know that there is no other brand of cardstock with such a wonderful thickness, a rockin texture, a wicked array of colors to choose from, and a high price tag that is Oh So Worth It. Since then, I’ve tried Prism cardstock and, I have to say, it runs a close second to Bazzill. But I’m a Bazzill girl through and through. And that’s why I’m so slappin’ happy that Michaels is now carrying it.

From what I could see from digging through the basket ~ and you guys owe me big time, ‘cuz the Wilton Cake Lady was mad doggin’ me the entire time ~ there were some nice colors, nothing too bright (remember the famous QVC pack? ack!), mostly the Grasscloth texture but some linen and some Smoothies, but best of all…BLING! Yep, I saw blue Bling and green Bling. I’m curious to see what price they will sell for. What, like it really matters, right? Who am I kidding? There is no mention at Michaels.com that they even carry Bazzill. I know, shocking…Btw, HERE’s a link to Bazzill’s new stuff for summer 2008. Hmmm, Michaels should get ahold this stuff in, oh, about 2014…

So, whazzup with Bazzill at your Michaels? Am I the last one to get it?

ETA: Went by again yesterday because I had to exchange something at Target in the same mall. No sign of the Bazzill anywhere. They’re just playing games with me now…

Photo Freedom by Stacy Julian

I picked up Photo Freedom by Stacy Julian on Thursday with a 40% off coupon at my local craft store, BEVERLY’s.

I’ve been interested in reading both of Stacy’s photo organization books because, as I’ve talked about HERE, I’m in a constant struggle with how to best organize my photos. I wish I could’ve found her first book ~ The Big Picture: Scrapbook Your Life ~ and read it first.

But…que sera, I found Photo Freedom first and wasn’t going to pass it up. I’ve heard so much discussion about these books and her non-traditional approach to photo organization, that I grabbed the book when I saw it, LOL!

I went into reading it knowing I probably wouldn’t agree with much of what she advocates. Yes, I’m a chronological scrapper. Not in the sense that I use strap-hinge albums and MUST scrap in order since pages aren’t moveable, but in the sense that I use post albums with drop in pages but I keep my albums in chronological order. I’ve converted most of my albums to this cool SNAP LOAD system by Pioneer, so I can add and move pages as quickly as can those braggy 3-ring-album girls! {And my 2-page layouts aren’t split in the middle with 3-rings…to quote Stacy herself…”So there!”).

I’ve admitted before to being somewhat….er, um….extremely anal in most aspects of my life. {All those years I worked as a governmental budget and program analyst, I told people ‘I put the ANAL in ANALyst.’}. So, nope, even Miss STACEY JULIAN isn’t going to convince me to scrap out of order or to slap photos from different events onto one page. Maybe once in a while on a tribute page or something, but not as regular practice. But I’ve also always believed that you have to look at all sides of a story, to be willing to research other options, before you give a firm NO. Hence, me seeking out Stacey’s photo organization books.

I’m about halfway through Photo Freedom now and here’s where I stand so far. 1. Nope, I’m staying with chronological scrapping and, therefore, I don’t see myself putting all of her ideas into practice. 2. Her system is intense! But I mean that in a good way. She has really thought it all through, has found the best storage items (and suggested alternates to the reader) for each component of her system, and she obviously walks the walk, i.e. really USES her system. 3. I agree with her that ‘the kids aren’t walking out of here someday with all my albums,’ so she has a School of Life album for each child that they can abscond with someday. It’s a good compromise. 4. I love how, when she set up her system, she ‘pre-flighted’ tabs, boxes and such for upcoming months/years. You think ‘that time’ will never come, but then it’s actually here and you’re not prepared, have nowhere to sort your photos and memorabilia, and so it just stacks up. I’m with Stacy…pre-label your shizzle! 5. I love the way she does her school files for each child and will probably implement that idea (sorry, you have to read the book to see what I’m talking about).

So there’s my review so far. I’ll probably finish the book this weekend and will post more thoughts if I remember to (remember….ooh, look, sparklies….I’m easily distracted).

Do you have either of these books? What did you think? Have you implemented her system or any of her ideas? Are your photos organized and how? I want to know it all! Feel free to link to a blog post of yours if you’ve outlined your system on your blog already…

New Basic Grey for CHA 2008 Chicago

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

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

New Dress Code at Michael’s??

I couldn’t find an official press release, but the rumor is that Michael’s Craft Store will soon be implementing a uniform for it’s employees. Now, with Michael’s being a hub of creativity (yeah, right!), wouldn’t you expect something kind of jazzy? Well, not to be, my friends. The uniform will consist of a black shirt and khaki pants. Creative expression aside, let me speak up here for the wide of hip like myself. You couldn’t PUT me a more unflattering pair of pants than khakis. I mean, not even if you got the dorky guy with the weird haircut from Design Star to make me sumthin’. Just….ewwwww! So, to my sistas who work in the trenches of retail craftdom that is Mike’s, God Bless ya. Now, some message boarders are finding this a welcome concept, as they are tired of seeing all manner of skin, tattoos, and general unprofessional-ness by Mike’s employees. Read all about those and other issues HERE and HERE. Well, I have to say, I’ve never paid attention to what my Mike’s gals are wearing. Guess I’m more worried about what percentage my coupon is, or how much cash I have in my wallet to cover the rad clearance item I just found. I hope they don’t do away with the red aprons, though. Now, THOSE are jazzy!

Online Crop Today @ All Moments Remembered

If you’re not already a member, you needta’ go register at RIGHT NOW!! Tell Stacey that Erika from Scrapbook Obsession sent you. Yeah, I’ll vouch for ya’, just don’t embarrass me, K? HERE’s the link. And here are some details about the crop, taken from THIS post at AMR:

It’s on July 12th from 4pm-12am EST {for you other PST girlz, that’s 1-9pm}.

Our Guest Designer – Danielle Flanders will join us at 9pm EST {6pm PST} for a Q & A – we will contain the questions in one thread.

Crop supplies (taken from THIS post) needed to do all the challenges are:

Christmas paper or stickers, etc.
glitter
glue
chipboard
non-scrappy magazine {I’m intrigued by this one, aren’t you?}
paint

I think THIS is the forum where the crop will be set up, but if I’m wrong (entirely possible!), just look for a forum that says July Crop or similar. Hope you can join us! Like with all AMR online crops, you can jump in anytime, complete any or all challenges, and we usually have until Monday to post our layouts (or a link) to the challenge thread(s). Online crops are so fun, and will definitely get you scrapping outside your comfort zone. If you’re a DANIELLE FLANDERS fan, you also have the chance to chat with her. How kewl is that?

Just check out this girl’s mad talent – some work using the AMR July monthly kit:

Yeah, you gotta come to the crop today…

So Much To Say…So Little Time…

I have SO much to tell you! I went *shopping* today and have pics of my great finds at Mike’s and Target. I have some blog awards to accept. There’s a couple new scrap scandals brewing. I have some friends to congratulate for being pubbed. Some MB friend to thank. Lotsa exciting stuff. Alas, it’s 11pm here and I need to grab my Memory Makers Idea Gallery ’08 mag and hit the sack. DH got the day off (schweet!) and we’re all headed to the water park tomorrow!!! Yahooey! I’m sure I’ll come home sunburned, tired, and much, much poorer. TTFN…

Target…and Scrapbooking a New Hobby

In THIS recent post, I talked about the new storage system coming to Tar-jay called ITSO. Well, I just got around to checking my Target ad from last Sunday and there ITSO was! It’s on sale this week, so guess where I’m going tomorrow?? WALMART! Just kidding. It works out well, I have a prescription sitting @ Target that they’re about to put back because I haven’t picked it up. And I’m going to try out their photo developing kiosk. Someone told me you can do the 2×3 photos on there, of two different shots. When I tried it at Longs Drugs, you had to do 2 of the same shot which was mucho aggravating. Luckily, it was a school event so I gave the extra photos to the school. It’s seriously way past time to develop all these photos on my digital card. We went letterboxing yesterday (more about that later), and I actually *GASP!* ran out of room on my memory card. Shizzle! Luckily, I had my little Kodak Advantix in the car, but just not the same, ya know? Tonight I’ve been squinting at the tiny window on my digi cam, going through and deleting unneeded photos {weirdly, there were tons of pix of scrapbooking supplies…hrmmm}. So I feel better now, I reduced my number of photos on my card (taken from Feb. til now) from 1145 to 993 (deleted 152, whoo! See, while a good effort, that deserves just a whoo, not a full whoo hoo}. SO…now I can take pix tomorrow of all the stuff I want/need to Craigslist for my own Get Rid of Your Crap…I mean, Cool Scrap Stuff challenge on AMR. Speaking of which {sorry folks, my mind is like a hamster’s…I’m running along on the wheel then all of a sudden…ooh, look, shiny stuff!}, NICOLE started a cool scrapbook garage sale BLOG for everyone to advertise their wares. Whether you’re shopping or selling, go give it a peep. Yeah, so I need to take my photos, get them posted to Craigslist, and to that blog. I’m vending my Memory Works things at a crop on August 8 & 9, so maybe I’ll sell some stuff there. But like a dummy, I made the deadline for my Challenge 8-8-08. Dork.

Now, for letterboxing…have you done this??? How come no one told me?!??! Sheesh, I thought I could count on you girls. I give you the scrappin gossip and enabling, you give me the latest trends and fun stuff in the rest of the world. Thanks to Janis/JANOBEAN, I first heard of letterboxing from THIS post on AMR. I’m home with the kids all week so what better time to get them out of the house and try this thang? In a nutshell, you go to www.letterboxing.org, find your region or community, and find out where letterboxes have been hidden. Then grab a map and go find ’em! A lot of them have a story that goes along with the box, so it’s fun to read that and it gets the kids more involved. I printed out 6 from a beach town near us, since it was so hot here and the coast sounded lovely. Most of them are outdoors, but our first try was to begin inside a business establishment. However, when we got there, it had closed for the day. Strike Out #1. We found the next one, tied to the exposed roots of a tree at the water line. We opened the waterproof box, found all the messages from other letterbox-ers, and ~ oopsie ~ apparently, we were supposed to have our own special stamp to leave with our message. Ah well, we’ll bring one next time. We wrote our message, put the box back where it was, and high fives all around. Success #1!

The next one began at a coastal hotel, took us on a walk near a bird sanctuary, looking for “stars” on the ends of tree trunks, and finally digging through eucalyptus leaves under a fallen tree. I don’t know if the box wasn’t there, or if there were just too many leaves to find it, but no luck. A family walked by, saw us digging around and reading the instructions, and said, “Are you guys letterboxing?” I’m like, “WTF??? EVERYone knew about this but me???” I swear. Anyhow, Strike #2. Our next endeavor took us traipsing through a misty golf course, hiking through a field, only to discover we’d parked in the wrong “lot with the Dogs on Leash sign.” Asked some directions, began climbing a rocky trail, got passed by a goth couple and their pit bull (given my recent experience with Pits, you know I nutted up big time!), huffed and puffed my fat a** all the way to the top, was jealous of the 4 ladies having a sunset wine and cheese picnic at the top, found the geo land marker, dug around under a boulder, and….no letterbox! We were bummed, but wait, lift your head up silly! The view was 360 degrees of AB-solutely Breathtaking. It was too foggy to see the ocean, but the landscape around there was beautiful and, with the sun going down, everything was golden. Wow, that’s what it’s all about, ya know?

However, back to Letterboxing Reality, that was Strike #3. We hiked back down the hill to our car, then it was on to the marina, past the cafe, up the wooden steps, then the stone steps, look for the geo-whatever marker, take 18 paces at 105 degrees, find a loaf sized rock under a lichen-covered boulder leaning against a eucalyptus tree. After checking every ding-dang tree at the top of that hill, we ended up finding it back near the first tree we looked at (yeah, figures). The loaf-sized rock had been moved but we found the letterbox anyway – whoo hoo, we got to leave another message and savor the feelings of Sweet Success (Success #2, that is). By then, we were starvin’, Marvin. We found a cool seafood place to eat at 8:30, gobbled our dinner, grabbed Momma a coffee for the drive home, and let’s just say I was the only one awake by the time our car drove in the driveway. So, if you haven’t tried Letterboxing, I highly, highly, highly recommend it. At one point, one of my kids looked at me with a huge smile on their face and said, “THANK YOU! Thank you, mom, for bringing us letterboxing!” They’ve been bugging me all day to print out some more and asking, “When can we go again??” And you bet I’m scrappin’ these memories…

HSN Scrapbooking and a Mega 3 Birds Special

Hey, whadyaknow? I’m back. Well, I’ll try to be back and see how it goes. If you read THIS post, you know I lost my buddy Dallas a week ago Friday. I have to say, times like this make ya understand clinical depression. I’ve been lethargic and spacey and severely sad. I’ve slept a lot to try and avoid the sadness. I’ve been “flat” and weepy and angry and you name it. It’s one thing to lose a pet you’ve loved and snuggled for 11 years, but to lose him the way we did, it’s just too much to deal with sometimes. I appreciate SO much the well wishes I’ve received here on the blog, and from my sistas on CKMB and AMR. I’ve found out what a strength “all these ladies I don’t even know” truly are. So, time to dip a toe back in the water, and write a quick post. About what else? Scrapbook shopping…

It’s time for some HSN Scrapbooking {and forgive me for not giving you the proper “heads up”}. Here’s the sked:

Tuesday 7-8-08
12am, 1am, 5am, 8am, 10am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 6pm, and 9pm
*These times are EST; adjust for your time zone

The 2peas girls are talking about the TODAY’s SPECIAL HERE – too much of a good thing, perhaps? CKMB’ers are chatting about HSN too…HERE. And HERE the question is, “Is she preggers, or just wearing an unfortunate blouse?”

Here’s the Today’s Special in all it’s glory:

3 Birds Exscrapaganza All-in-One Craft Kit Item: 319-918

Contents:
Storage box
48 sheets of printed pattern paper 12×12
24 sheets of solid cardstock with linen-textured paper 12×12
Mini goodie box
1,799 cardstock stickers
330 chipboard shapes (many with glitter)
343 chipboard die-cuts (many with glitter)
24 buttons
24 jumbo brads
51 glittered felt die-cut

What do you think of that megalopolis of a scrapbook kit?