This is the archive for Scrapbook Obsession Blog.com with posts from 2013-2017.

A Review: Cricut Solutions Shape Storage Binder

EMILIE AHERN {one of my fave bloggers and I adore her blog music} posted a review of the new CRICUT SOLUTIONS SHAPE STORAGE BINDER over HERE on the Craft Critique blog.

I really appreciate that she did, as I’m now convinced I DON’T need to spend my money on one. What do you think? Will you or have you? Love to hear some more reviews…

While you’re over at CRAFT CRITIQUE, I hope you’ll look around. It’s a wonderful blog if you need to find a review of a craft product. For instance, I enjoyed reading the review of one of my latest obsessions, STICKLES (which I buy, of course, at ALL MOMENTS REMEMBERED). Also, I found THIS review of the new flocking system by Doodlebug Designs. The company I’m a consultant for, MEMORY WORKS, recently started to carry this product and I can’t wait to get my hands on it! The review at Craft Critique just got me more excited :) So go take a browser over there at CC…good stuff.

Speaking of AMR, Stacey is adding a lot of new products recently. All that overdue CHA stuff must finally be hitting her doorstep, LOL! Check out these cool JOURNALING TICKETS by her boyfriend Timmy (aka TIM HOLTZ). I just love ’em, and lots of other new stuff at AMR so go check out the store! Stacey BLOGS about the new stuff as she adds it, and you just aren’t going to find better or sweeter customer service anywhere. If you order from Stacey, you’re a forever friend and will be treated like gold…

What’s @ Mike’s These Days…and a Coupon Too

HERE is the latest Mike’s coupon, good for 40% off any item (except Cricut) through June 28, 2008.

And speaking of Michaels, I wandered through there the other day and took some photos with my iPhone. Come on a tour with me, won’t you?

Ladies, it is a momentous day in scrapbooking history. My Mike’s got their first ever sets of acrylic stamps. Well, I mean large sets, not just the little dollar sets. These are pretty rockin’. I’ve heard others talking about them on CKMB and such but never thought I’d see them in my lifetime, but there they were. And $4.99 seems like a good price…

These are on my list…oh, the journaling possibilities!

And these too…wouldn’t they be fun to stamp in any different color, and then use Stickles in the dots??

One of my favorite words ever is in this pack…can you guess what it is?

These epoxy alphas with some bling were new; they come in black or silver. There were other sets that were patterned and brighter colors too. I’d never seen this brand at Mike’s before…wow, they’re living dangerously over there, aren’t they?

Next was a row and a half of new bling. Oh, what to choose, what to choose??

The border punches are multiplying but, nope, not a one of the ever popular FISKARS THREADING WATER PUNCH.

All kindza new Prima flower goodness…

I saw this bottle and immediately thought….”beach layouts”. The colors are so soft and ocean-y. I’ll be back with a coupon for these, oh yeah.

Still not a big Martha Stewart fan, but I thought these gift tags would make cool journaling spots.

My Mike’s still had plenty of Skittles, and on Clearance no less! They were in two different sections of the store so if you’re looking for some in your Mike’s, you might need to make the rounds of the entire store.

I went looking for “uh” foam sheet or three {cuz I’ve heard several places lately ~ including HERE ~ it makes your stamping sharper if you put some under your work}. but didn’t want to shell out 8 bucks when I only needed a few. Hmmmm…maybe I could sell them on E-Bay for a dollar a sheet, LOL. Nah….

Well, about the time I took my second photo of Skittles, store employees started giving me the stink eye. Did they think I was some kind of Skittle Spy? I dunno but the iPhone went back in my purse. I checked the mags and the dollar bins, with nothing new. You probably won’t believe me but I left the store empty-handed. Yes, I really really did! Um, no cash, no coupon, no want hubby to see another Mike’s charge on the debit card. Like any good member of the Scrapbook Obsessed, I took photos and made mental notes, all in preparation for future trips to Michaels.

Our tour is now over. You may return your seats to the upright position and please exit to the left over the wing. Thank you for flying Scrapbook Obsession…

OMG!!! Studio G Series 12 Stamps Just Fo’ Me!!

My Best Scrap Pal in the World” Gay sent to them to me for a belated birthday prezzie! I’m SO excited!! I’ve been wanting these MONTH stamps but my stupid Mike’s hasn’t carried them so far. Maybe we’ll get them in 2011 but I don’t want to wait that long, so thanks Gay! You totally rawk, girlie!

Oh, in case you were wonderin’ (yeah, I KNOW you were….), there are 4 more sets in this series: 3 sets of alphas and a random flowery one. Personally, I didn’t want those 4 other sets; don’t think I would use the alphas and I’ve heard they’re so small, they don’t stick to the acrylic block uh-TALL. And I have enough random flowery Studio G stamps already. I mean, if someone were standing on the street corner handing them out with a free Starbucks and a free large fries from McDonalds, I’d TAKE them, but here’s a pic of the complete Series 12 for those who would like to collect them all:


Okay, here’s the rest of my goodies from my Best Scrap Pal Ever…

She gots me sum MAMBI rub-ons and Soft Spoken with a Family/Faith theme, as we have vowed to both work on our Faithbooks. Along that line, Gay shared with me her favorite Bible study author, Beth Moore. Then some yummy brown Stickles, clear skittles, and a beautiful handmade card. I SO don’t have cardmaking talent, so I really appreciate it in those who do. It’s just so, so pretty.

THANK YOU SCRAP PAL!! Luv ya!! Mwuh, mwuh!! Watchie your mail for a lil thank ya…

A Father’s Day Challenge

A HUGE “thank you” to grammy-b/Bren on the AMR MESSAGE BOARD for hosting the FATHER’s DAY CHALLENGE. I was very scared to scrap about my dad, who died almost 15 years ago. Thanks to the challenge, and encouragement I received from my AMR friends {who truly ARE my friends!}, I did it.

WARNING: If extremely personal journaling makes you uncomfortable, don’t read this, LOL!

ETA: I see that when I enlarged the photo, it made it too blurry to read so here’s the journaling:

Daddy,

It’s Father’s Day 2008…almost a full 15 years since you passed away in July 1993. I’ve been scrapbooking for 7 years and yet this is the first time I’ve scrapped anything about you, such a huge part of my life. I finally did it because I was “challenged” to. And because it was time. Tears are streaming down my face as I scan this old photo to use on my layout, and as I write this journaling. This is SO hard! THIS is why I haven’t done this before. I don’t want to feel this pain. I want to go on with my happy life. And all I can think and feel as I remember you is…WHY AREN’T YOU HERE??

This photo of us at my wedding hangs on the hallway wall outside my bedroom door. I see you every single day, in the photo and in my mind. Sometimes, when no one is looking,I place a kiss on my finger, reach up and touch it to your mouth. When you died, I heard from others that “time heals.” I thought this would get easier. I thought, after 15 years without you, it wouldn’t still be so painful, hurt so much. But everyone lied. It does not get easier. In most ways it gets harder.

When I graduated from college after 13 years of part-time school/full-time jobs, you were not in the audience with your quiet smile. When I had my children, you were not there to touch a newborn’s cheek. When I’ve struggled through illnesses and hard times, you weren’t here to hug me, wipe my tears, and tell me I am the best and I’ll be okay. When my kids have done things that made me so proud I wanted to burst, you were not here to burst with me.

After you died, and some other things happened in my life, I became a Christian. That’s helped make sense of some things. That’s helped provide comfort and perspective. My relationship with Jesus Christ has helped me see things in a new light, and I know you are okay. But the fact is, you as a physical being, you as the Daddy that can hug and hold and speak in words that reach my ears…YOU are not here. There is nothing that will ever make that easy or fair or less painful. So, 15 years after you died, I just wanted you to know that I still love you and miss you with all of my heart, all of my soul.

And I wish you were here.

At first, I thought I’d just post it over at AMR because those girls make me feel so secure. I know they won’t take it lightly, won’t criticize or see the imperfections. But then I figured, what the hey, let’s post it to the blog too. Scrappers are nice people and it’s OKAY to share parts of yourself, right? So thanks for looking and maybe I can Pay It Forward by inspiring YOU to scrap about something you’ve been avoiding because it’s too painful…

My Scrappy Weekend…

Sorry I’m just getting to this..it’s Friday, for Gosh Sakes. But I wanted to tell you about my scrappy weekend. Last Saturday, I held a one-day crop at a local hotel. There were 10 ladies and myself and we scrapped from 10am to 10pm. I was ready to go til midnight but everyone started packing up around 9:30. I think with summer here and the kids out of school, all us moms are just exhausted. Cuz I’ve NEVER had everyone leave a crop before the last dying breath of time, LOL.

Anyway, it’s 10pm, almost everyone is gone except one sweet friend and her teenage daughter who came to scrap with her. They are the cutest pair…just scrapping and bickering and laughing and encouraging each other whole time. They seem to think with the same brain, kwim? I kept telling them they sounded more like sisters than mom and daughter. Anyways, they helped me pack up the last of my ‘for sale’ stuff and the food and drinks, and I was going to stay there by myself with just my own crop stuff. I’m figuring, everyone at home is in bed so who cares if I’m home at 10:30 or 1am, yaknow? I had my scrap crap spread out on a big table all to myself, there was no laundry room or kitchen or kids or phone ringing…why not take advantage of the sitchee-ation and SCRAP! Besides, I was so hopped up on Starbucks and Diet Coke, I mean, why waste a good buzz?

I finally convinced my friend and her daughter to go on home, I’d be fine, it was a safe hotel in a safe area and I could pack the rest of my things and be fine getting home. THEN! We start hearing all this commotion in the lobby of the hotel, which is just down the hall from the event room we were in. Turns out a wedding reception had just broken up and all the drunk, er, um…HAPPY people were arriving back at the hotel. Groups of people are lingering in the lobby, walking up and down past the crop room, stumbling, being loud and obnoxious. My friend is then like, “You’re not staying here. Let’s pack up your stuff.” Shizzle! I was so bummed. As we’re packing, this little cutie patootie young guy (he’s about 23 or so) comes in, looks around, says, “Wuz thish?” and my friend tells him, “Scrapbooking,” and he says, “Oh, am I in wrong plashe? Cuz I jush love shcrap-booking.” It was all we could do not to bust out laughing right there! Talk about ROFLMAO! Anyhow, so ended my dream of a few hours of quiet, non-interrupted scrapbooking time…

On Sunday, I slept in, unpacked the car, got my scrap area back to some semblance of organized, and then decided to do what any decent scrapbook consultant would…I went shopping with my profits from the previous day. I mean, duh, isn’t that why I do it? So we can shop without guilt! First went to Tuesday Morning and that was a bust. They had nothing worth standing in line for, LOL. Next was the Dollar Tree and I found these:

One lone pack of Fake Thickers. And some adhesive back-ups. Not bad, only 3 bucks. Then on to Michaels with my 50% off coupon in hand. I found this:

I’m addicted to those Prima flowers with the text printed on them. It’s so nice to find something that’s unique and different at Michaels for once. There went the 50% coupon. All those little bitty sticker packs were $1 each and I’ll use them for crop goody bags. I got duplicates of the ones I wanted for myself, all the flowers :) The AHOY title sticker from Just Jinger was only $2 on Clearance. I’d been eyeing that for awhile for my cruise pages, so I’m glad it was on sale. Brads, eyelets and snaps were on sale @ 3 for $5 so I stocked up on those. What a great price; they’re normally $3 each I think, so that’s $18 worth of brads for 10 bucks {see how good I am at the justifying things? I’m not SPENDING money, I’m SAVING money!}. I mean, we all need brads right? They’re a scrapping staple, like adhesive and cardstock. Whaddya mean, no?

Okay, moving on to Beverlys which is like my version of an LSS; it’s a local chain craft store with about 4 aisles of scrap stuff and it’s got some pretty cool stuff. Check out my loot from Bev’s:

Abacus, by Reminisce. For last day of school pages:

My Guy/Wisdom, by KI Memories. To cut up for all the cool phrases and quotes:

Green, by Deja Views. This one’s so stinkin pretty, I won’t be able to use it. I want to just frame it as is, and hang it on the wall. The photo doesn’t do it justice. There are pretty, delicate little butterflies and flowers, the color is gorgeous and the cut out edges are too die for.

Honeycomb and Yellow Circles, by Sandylion. I don’t know what I’ll use these for, they just reached out to me. I got 2 sheets of the more subtle pattern for the background and can cut up the sheet with all the circles. Maybe for a funky boy skateboarding page or something. You like, or is it too weird?

Around the Corner, by Kelly Panacci for Sandylion. Love, love, LOVE! So bright and colorful and happy! Who CARES what I use it on, it’ll be fun!

For Rome photos of The Forum, etc. It’s 7 Gypsies…whooda thought?

Tropical Stripes by Stemma. Again, no idea how I’ll use it, but the colors are my faves ~blue and green~ and it’s got a shiny texture to the darker teal flower part. You just have to see this paper in person to appreciate it.

Sweet! Some WeRMemory Keepers chipboard stickers to go with some of this line I already have. It’s called White Out, and I scrapped some county fair and Rascal Flatts photos with the paper at my crop. I was just needing the finishing touch and found these. Got ’em for 40% off with a coupon.

As for the K&Co. journaling boxes…I am powerless to stop buying these. So pretty, so versatile, so useful. I’m journaling box challenged so these make it easy peasy for me. Beverlys had this entire new line of K&Co, called Sea Glass, and it’s all just gorgeous. So instead of saying something like, “Wow, Erika, you really filled your cart, didn’t you!,” admire my restraint in that all of the Sea Glass line stayed at the store except these cute little guys.

So lots of scrappy goodness there, and most of the paper was 2 for $1 except the 2 fancy sheets; the school paper and the KI were 20 cents on Clearance.

Finally, to finish my spree and general Heavenly day, I went to Barnes and Noble. One of my favorite rituals is this: Skim the New Release hardcovers and pick which books I’ll buy when they hit Costco in paperback (LOL); skim the New Release paperbacks, maybe buy one or two; skim the craft books section and look in vain for something on scrapbooking that I haven’t already read; skim the mystery section for a new Laura Childs scrapbooking mystery; and finally hit the magazine section and then get a Starbucks. As you can see, I hit B&N on the perfect day cuz lookie what I came home with, and you’re gonna be jealous if you’re a scrap mag ho like me…

{Actually, the CTMH cattie came from a friend at my crop but it was easier to take em all in one pic}. Every night, I’ve been curling up with my mags after the house is quiet. I perused them lazily today by the pool with a sun tea while the kids swam. I looked at one while waiting for an appointment the other day. I just lurve my scrap mags. And I have to give some props this time…they were really good. I’ll try to do a review in a future post cuz there’s some good stuff.

Okay, that post took so long to write, the ice melted in my drink! If you’re still here, thanks for reading! Peace out.

SO Not Scrapbook Related…

Oprah, I luv ya, but if I have to hear about this book….

…or listen to this weird little man…

…ONE MORE TIME, I think I’ll throw my tivo out the window! I mean, move ON already. Let’s talk about home decor or school bullying or scrapbooking or interview some SAHM’s who spend too much time on message boards and maintaining their blogs (here! here! pick me!).

Crap, even an in-depth discussion on gas prices would be more interesting…

Michael’s Coupon: Valid Through June 14, 2008

If you didn’t get the ad in your paper, HERE‘s the link to the latest Mike’s coupon. Heck, even if you did get the ad, why not print off a couple extra? You can’t beat 50% off! The fine print says one coupon per customer per day (shucks!) and that it excludes all Cricut products. Sounds like you’re in the clear to use it on those Martha Stewart PUNCHES you’ve been wanting.

Thank you to NICOLE from the AMR MESSAGE BOARD for sharing the link. I didn’t get my usual e-mail this time from Michaels. Maybe they heard I was sharing the coupon with my peeps and blacklisted me, LOL. I used (one of) my 50% coupons yesterday and will blog about it later. Happy shopping! Let us know what YOU use it on…

A Belated Thank You…

to my online pal, CHRIS (aka Chrispea on CKMB and AMR).

She posted THIS on her blog the other day. Besides the fact that it’s a very cool tutorial on how to make that “I ripped it out of a spiral notebook” look, she also wished me happy birthday there at the end. Her kindness to me comes as no surprise, as she’s one of the most generous MB friends around. Not to mention talented, funny, and extremely computer and graphic design savvy. So, thanks again, Chris!

Also, please give THIS POST I wrote the other day another look-see. I had to eat some words (yum!).

And a heads up to any AMR girlz who might happen to read this…after I survive the crop I’m holding this Saturday, I will be posting a big “thank y’all” for 30+ birthday cards I received…

Okay, buh-bye…

Making Memories Magazine: July/August 2008

Just got my copy in the mail and it’s noticeably “skinny.” Wow, only 90 pages including both covers. I’m sure you’ve noticed how thin CK has been in recent months and Scrapbooks Etc, although thicker than the others if i remember right, is still not as fat as it used to be. I don’t imagine these scrap mags will be in business much longer at this rate. How can they maintain subscribers with that many pages; how can they maintain profits with that few ads? We’ll be sad to see them go, but it will be {at least partly} our own fault, I’m afraid…I know many of us now get our scrap-fill (page ideas, articles, etc.) from the internet, but it just won’t be the same without magazines. You can’t lie on a lounger, the couch or in bed with your computer (well, we laptop-ers can but yuck, uncomfortable and impractical). And the pics in a magazine are much more fun and easy to look at than those on a screen. I for one will truly miss the scrapbook magazines when they’re gone and, at only 90 pages this issue, Memory Makers appears to be sliding on out…

What are your thoughts about this issue, or scrapbooking magazines in general, these days?

Making Memories “Garden Party” on Clearance at Target

I was at the Big Red Bullseye yesterday and saw that my Target had everything from the Making Memories “Garden Party” line on clearance. It was in the regular scrapbooking section, but had bright orange tags on it and the prices were pretty good.

{HERE is where I would insert a photo of said Garden Party, but Making Memories in all it’s wisdom, does not let you copy images from their website. HERE is where I would’ve put a link to their page and given them all kinds of free publicity but, alas, I shan’t. Because their website sucks lemons}.

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ETA 6/5/08: Yay, I’m happy to say I rescind my earlier “sucks lemons” comments about the MM website, because I got this nice note from Kelly @ Making Memories in the Comments for this post:

“Hi! I saw your mention about MM’s product images, and I thought you would like to know that we do have all of our images available for you to use anytime you want! Please visit our web site at https://www.makingmemories.com. Click on “About Us” and go to “Media Info.” You’ll see the link there to all of our images in hi-res format. Hope that helps! Thanks so much and take care!”

I’m the first to admit when I’m wrong, and I’m very sorry to Making Memories for uttering a disparaging word about their site. Mea culpa (gulp). I didn’t realize I was an important, hotsy totsy media person but I guess I am (put THAT in your pipe and smoke it). SO…without further ado…here are some pics of MM Garden Party. Bladow!!

All that being said, unless I’m again missing something (entirely possible, yes)…the MM site is still not a great situation for bloggers like me. Defined as: In a hurry, and not terribly photo-resizing savvy. First, I had to quite hunt around to find the Garden Party stuff because I didn’t know which show it had been released from. Second, the initial small image is too small (what you see above), but if you click on it, it’s way too large for a blog. Yeah, maybe I’m not as “media” as I thought. Thirdly, it was too time consuming to navigate…I mean, I have 2 paying jobs and a family…I gotta get in, BLOG, get out, ya know? I prefer to poach from the front page of a manufacturer’s blog or after a quick search from their home page. And I always try to link right from the manufacturer, btw, as opposed to an online store or another blog (if I can, and there’s not some other reason I’m referring you to a non-manufacturer). So there, my usual frightfully truthful review of something scrappy. We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post.
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None of it ended up in my cart, although it’s very cute and summer-y. My scrap budget has gotten a bit tighter lately with these crazy gas prices and such. It cost $55 to fill up my Honda Accord yesterday! I almost dropped my ever-lovin’ ATM card when I saw that stupid receipt come out. This car used to cost about $20-25 to fill. Mama mia! Doesn’t OPEC know they’re affecting my scrapbook shopping?!? ‘Cuz they don’t wanna’ mess with the Scrapbook Obsessed…

“Scrapbook Obsession” Miniature Store

You are not going to believe THIS! On the Jordan Paper Arts site, a miniaturist named Gale Evans made a teeny tiny scrapbook store. She calls it her Scrapbook Obsession store so, of course, I had to tell you about it here. There are several close up photos on the link, and here is a picture of the entire store.

Thank you to ScrappinNotNappin from the AMR message board for posting THIS thread and showing me this wonderful little store!

Cosmo Cricket: Hello Sunshine

I have a new scrapbooking line on my wish list. It’s called Hello Sunshine by Cosmo Cricket and I found it on my friend STACEY’s store website, where she is taking PRE-ORDERS on it.

Okay, are you ready for this?? Here is a peek:

My Fave:

I found the entire line on Cosmo Cricket’s BLOG, in this ENTRY. That’s also where I got these awesome pages made with CC Hello Sunshine.

I assume they were designed by blog author, Julie???

Honestly, I don’t know what’s more fun, the scrapbook products or those stinkin’ cute kids!

JULIE tells a great story HERE about the inspiration for Hello Sunshine, and about her creative process. Not being artistic myself, I’m fascinated by the process artistic and creative people go through. That’s one reason I love Christine Middlecamp’s BLOG, because she shares that kind of detail and I consider her a true artist. She finds inspiration in magazines, fabric, everywhere. Ah, to have such an artistic eye…

Well, do you like this new release from Cosmo Cricket? For me, it’s the happy colors and how versatile it’ll be for summer. What do you think?

Sketches for 4×6 Photos

Via a POST on 2peas, I found this wonderful PLACE called “4×6 Photo Sketch Blog.” The blog writer, Amy Alvis, wrote a 2peas post showing people how to convert the sketches in Becky Fleck’s PAGE MAPS BOOK to accomodate 4×6 photos. Apparently, some scrappers have stated they’re passing on the book because she doesn’t include enough sketches using 4×6 photos.

Okay, as a side note, I’ll say that I passed on the book when I saw it in the store the other day AND had my hot little 40% coupon in my hand…because as I flipped through, I didn’t see enough MULTI-photo pages. I gotta’ tell ya, I’m tired of all the 1-photo and 2-photo “page ideas.” I’m sorry, but MOST of (yes, I’m generalizing here, not saying it’s true for the entire world) the scrappers in Scrapper World don’t scrap that way. MOST of us like to scrap the majority of our pics and not leave them sitting in boxes. I mean, c’mon, now we’ve even got digital, and digital SLR’s for gosh sake. Can you say, “Dear Lord, I just took 4,200 pictures at my daughter’s soccer game?” {While wine tasting last weekend – oh yes, dahling, I lurvvvve to wine taste – my digital-SLR scrapper friend confessed that she has 58,000 photos on her computer…and she’s only had that camera for 2 years}. So, you can’t tell me that MOST of us are really scrapping 1 or 2 photos at a time. I mean, don’t even TRY because I just won’t stinkin’ believe you, okay? There might be a skewed vision of how we all scrap, because MOST designer’s pages contain 1 or 2 photos…but they are scrapping because they are showcasing their artistry or they are showcasing “product.” Which is fine and dandy because I’m the first to say, “Show me some product!” However…oh, crap, I should’ve just done a whole separate post about single-photo vs. multi-photo scrapping, shouldn’t I of?? {<- hee, luv my bad grammar, dontcha?}

But back to my point, I didn’t buy the Page Maps book because I wanted to see more multi-photo layouts, and many must be passing because they want to see 4×6 photo layouts. And now I’m back to the real point of this post…check out Amy’s sketch blog, K? It’s a very, very, supremely wicked blog. She just started it but I hope to send her some traffic and encourage her to keep posting those great sketches. For instance, check out this coolio sketch and the layout that goes with it:

***** SKETCH AND LAYOUT BY AMY ALVIS *****

See, she got all those photos on there, some great journaling, and she rocked those embellishments. You CAN have it all…

Coffee and Scrapbooking…

…They just seem to go together, don’t they? Like tonight, I knew I’d be up late scrapping, so I grabbed my triple latte from Starbucks on the way home from work. It’s not just the way the caffeine buzz allows me to keep my eyes open longer, but it increases my focus and concentration. Like I’m less likely to paper pierce my finger, or drop 20 teeny tiny eyelets on the floor. I also find it comforting to have a hot cuppa Joe on my scrap table next to me. I even keep a coaster right next to my oft-used tools so I can easily grab it for scrap sustenance. I don’t know about you, but when Mr. Mojo is visiting and I’m immersed in a wicked cool project, the last thing I want to do is stop and eat. So that yummy brown liquid keeps my tummy satisfied so I don’t have to bother with eating.

Just to show more of the relationship between coffee and scrapbooking, here are some things I’ve found online:

From Cathy Z’s BLOG; read this particular entry HERE:

THIS entry from MRS. MOGUL actually has very little to do with coffee and scrapbooking but hey, a fun read nonetheless. And the picture is cute…

It’s a good thing a place like THIS doesn’t exist in my town, or my kids would go without food and my DH would go without…um, yeah, I’d be gone from home a lot, is what I’m sayin.’

Curiously, their website only had pictures of the coffee shop part of the store, not the scrapbooking part, but I was fine with that, really. And I love their tagline: “Coffee and creativity like you’ve never experienced before.” While you’re over at Scraps Coffee Shop dreaming about the smell of espresso beans while you crop, check out their BLOG…there are some cool layouts within.

My girl Tasra over at REAL WOMEN SCRAP gets the connection too. Lookie HERE.

This HUH-larious blog, SCRAPBOOK WIDOWER, is all about a scrapbook wife/coffee obsessed hubby team. In fact, it’s a good blog to read each morning while you drink your coffee.

Two of my favorite scrappers, NOEL and JOSCIE, live in coffee towns and routinely RAK coffee to their scrapper friends. See HERE where Joscie RAK’d some coffee goodness to CRISPEA? Wowzers, I need to start drinking that coffee!

My uncle happens to live in the same place as Noel, and he sends me a bag of CAMANO ISLAND COFFEE for Christmas each year. I keep the beans in the refrigerator, grinding only a bit at a time, so I can make the bag last all year. The rest of the time, I’m keepin’ STARBUCKS in bidness. Here’s a wonderful layout Noel did about her Camano addiction, and a cute cartoonie to go with.

And I will wrap up my coffee/scrapbook correlation post with THIS entry from Stacey’s BLOG, featuring this amazing coffee scrapbook by ANNE MARIE. I saw this mini-book when she first posted it months ago, and it still sticks in my mind. I love how Anne Marie highlighted the connections with her family and coffee. The journaling is really worth a read. Here’s the LINK to each separate page, and here’s a photo of my favorite page:

Here’s a toast to coffee and scrapbooking!

Wonderful Scrapbook Rooms

The girls on AMR have been posting links to some great eye candy lately…awesome scrapbook studios that we can all drool over and be inspired by. I also love to look at them for storage and decorating ideas. Here’s a list of some we’ve looked at recently:

WYSCRAPPER/DEBBIE picked JENNY F’s ROOM and a here’s a Sneak Peek…

CHRISPEA/CHRIS led us to GEMM’s ROOM and here’s a peek…

KELLIANNIE/KELLI has been especially good at finding these cool rooms. She showed us THIS one posted by “christmasnotebook” (?) on Flickr with all those white cabinets. This is my kinda dream room, with all that closed storage so it looks neat all the time and you can do cool things like decorate for Christmas!

Kelli also shared Masonpaige’s room HERE; get a peek below of all the pink and green goodness:

They got me going, so I went and found these on 2PEAS (just Search All Forums for Scrapbook Rooms and you’ll find plenty). THIS ONE belongs to scrappindiva55 and lookie here at one pic:

And I love THIS ROOM belonging to peainthepod – just one view below…

News from Top Line Creations (TLC)

These days, if you click on the TLC WEBSITE, this is the message ya get:

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(Quoted directly from the TLC website; just saving you from linking over there..)

“The management and staff of Top Line Creations (“TLC”) wish to thank Consultants worldwide for their support and association during the last four years. It has been determined that inasmuch as (1) TLC has always been a multi-level, direct sales organization; (2) the name TLC and Top Line Creations, LC are associated with the same; and (3) the multi-level, direct sales structure has proven to be unsuccessful in marketing the TLC product line, TLC is no longer a viable enterprise and will be dissolved effective immediately.

Fayette Terlouw and Annette Ward (the “Ettes”) previously employed by TLC, will continue to share their talents as designers for a new organization — Breezy Design, LC (“Breezy”).

Breezy has negotiated with TLC’s secured creditors to acquire all TLC inventory, outstanding orders, equipment, copyrights, etc. Breezy will process and ship all outstanding TLC orders, and will honor the current subscriptions and referral group memberships previously established by TLC. Breezy assumes no liability for any unused TLC Credits or unused TLC Event Vouchers. Breezy will, however, honor all unused Member’s Choice and/or Consultant Choice Coupons.

Breezy welcomes all TLC Members and TLC customers to join them in this new enterprise.

www.BreezyDesign.com
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I’m not really familiar with the TLC situation, except that they were a multi-level seller of scrapbook supplies, with many consultants who are now pretty disappointed and, if I were them, angry? I don’t know how much warning they got about all of this, although I have heard people referencing it online for some time. Maybe a TLC-er can leave a Comment here and educate us all (PLEEZ!).

I guess it’s good that they have somewhere to transfer their business energies to (aka Breezy Design), assuming these two ladies, “The Ettes,” are people they feel confident in dealing with. I’m not making any judgments here, as again, I know NOTHING of this company of the situation. I just came across the TLC website and thought I’d pass along this industry news. I also take personal interest because I’m a consultant for a scrapbook company, Memory Works, which is NOT multi-level and I think that’s one of the reasons MW is so successful. I’m sure the bad economy is hurting Memory Works somewhat right now, but I don’t see any signs of them failing. To the contrary, they seem to be gearing things up slowly (which is wise) and I’ve heard they/we are taking on many former TLC consultants. Memory Works is very different than TLC but I hope, in spite of (or because of) that, they have wild success!

Now, you computer types, I need your help. When you click on BreezyDesign.com, on the bottom right of the home page is a free Desktop Layout download. Please walk this computer dork through saving that to my Mac desktop and putting photos in it.

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