Scrapbook products, industry news, organization, and lots of enabling since 2007
Scrapbook products, industry news, organization, and lots of enabling since 2007
It’s by Eric at LOADOFSCRAP.COM
And because I’m never all pink unicorns and blowin’ sunshine up yo’ azz, come see what the Peas have to say about it (and I agree with, especially Shimelle, whom I adore!).
Ah, it was fun to reminisce about brighter days … and the video style and music made me smile. Here’s hoping at least a percentage of it is still true :) Great job, Eric!
The new products from CHA keep rolling in! Now available on my WEBSITE are items from:
Echo Park “Documented”
Echo Park “Tailored”
Echo Park “Chillingsworth Manor”
and
Echo Park “This & That Christmas”
And that’s just a tease of these 4 lines … plenty more where that came from!
You can see our Memory Works catalog pages for Echo Park HERE – it’s a .pdf with color photos so it may take a while to load.
Orders can be placed HERE and will ship directly to you from our Utah home office within 1-2 business days. I accept Paypal or we can arrange for payment by personal check. Questions? E-me,baby! scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com
Have a great day!
Our monthly kit, MEMORY WORKS EXPRESS, is now available for sale “a la carte” for a flat price, no joining required. I thought I would mention it because it contains 2 things that are very popular right now: Simple Stories TAKE A HIKE and wood veneer shapes. Aren’t those little wooden camera shapes by STUDIO CALICO flippin’ cute?
.jpg)
Here is a list of what you get in the kit:
Patterned Paper
{1} 12×12 Happy Trails – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Back to Nature – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Happy Camper– Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Adventure – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 4×6 Journal Cards – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 6×4 Vertical Journaling Cards – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Brown Wood/Map – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Orange Stripe/Ledger – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Green Dot/Prints– Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Yellow Chevron/Grid – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Navy/Icons – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Bingo Cards/Chevron – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)Embellishments
{1} 12×12 Take a Hike Fundamental Stickers (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Take a Hike Expressions Stickers (Simple Stories)
{1} Chipboard Acorn Coaster Book (Maya Road)
{3} Wood Twigs – Assorted Styles (Maya Road)
{4} Green Leaf Trinket Pins (Maya Road)
{5} Wood Veneer Cameras (Studio Calico)
{1} River Felt Layered Details (American Crafts)
{10} Campy Buttons – Assorted Sizes & Styles (MemoryWorks)
{1} ½ Yard Orange Dot Ribbon (Creative Impressions)
{1} ½ Yard Brown Dot Ribbon (Creative Impressions)
{1} ½ Yard Green Dot Ribbon (Creative Impressions)
The price is $36.00 plus tax and shipping. It’s shipped straight from our Utah home office to you within 1-2 business days. When you buy a la carte, it’s a little more expensive than the monthly Memory Works Express price ($29.95) but there is no joining, no commitment. Well, there’s no commitment for MWE either but you do have to proactively cancel if you no longer want to receive them.
Do you have some camping, park, or outdoor photos from this summer that would work well with it? We didn’t go camping this summer but I have stacks of photos from past trips that I need to do! And I love the look of the Simple Stories “Take a Hike” line.
You can get this awesome kit HERE.
How’s that for alliteration?!?! Or is it assonance? I always get those two mixed up.
But being a scrapbooker isn’t her claim to fame. Being on “The Facts of Life” is. Do you know who the mystery contestant is?
Yep, Lisa Whelchel! {There’s a funny scrapbooking story about her right HERE}.
Lisa Whelchel: Who I loved and wanted to BE when she was on The New Mickey Mouse Club. Well, it was NEW in the 70s anyway!
When I used to watch her as Blair Warner on “The Facts of Life,” she could be a snot but I would’ve killed for her hair.
Yeah, unfortunately, I’m THAT old :( If you’re not, I don’t want to hear about it. Srsly. No “what’s the New/Old Mickey Mouse Club?” or “who is Blair Warner?” If you ask me that, I will kick you.
So anywaaaaayyysss … HERE is an article about it and a video of Lisa. She is still stinkin’ adorable.
Lisa Whelchel, best known for her role as Blair Warner on the ’80s television show “The Facts of Life,” headlines the cast of “Survivor: Philippines,” which premieres Wednesday, September 19 on CBS. The former teen actress will join 17 other castaways, including retired MLB player Jeff Kent and three returning players (to be revealed Wednesday), to compete for $1 million and the title of Sole Survivor.
“I’m a huge, huge fan and have been from Season 1. I haven’t missed an episode. I love the game and was born to play it,” Whelchel shared with Yahoo! TV while on location during filming. “I never wanted to do reality TV, but this doesn’t feel like reality TV. This feels like having an adventure that I’ve always wanted to have. Even if this weren’t filmed, I would want to do it. It just happened that it’s filmed and put on television and I use to be on television.”
When “The Facts of Life” ended in 1988, Whelchel married a pastor and has been a stay-at-home mom homeschooling her three children. After sending her youngest off to college, the devout Christian “went on a vision quest” to figure out what she wanted to do with her life after focusing all her energy on raising her children. With encouragement from a friend, Whelchel tweeted a video to host Jeff Probst proclaiming her desire to be a contestant on the show.
“Lisa is somebody that a lot of people will recognize from many years on television on ‘The Facts of Life.’ I think that’s going to appeal to a lot of people,” Probst told us. “But what made her really appealing to us from a casting point of view is she wanted to do ‘Survivor.’ She’s a superfan. She really knows the show, so it was great when we first met her. It was kind of a no-brainer to say ‘yes,’ and now to see her out here on a beach doing this is very exciting. I hope she lasts long enough so that she gets a real shot at playing this game that she loves.”
Despite her being a celebrity (of the 14 other contestants we spoke to, only one recognized the 49-year-old “Facts of Life” alum), both Whelchel and Probst agree that her greatest challenge in the game will be her age. “Lisa’s biggest obstacle is going to be her age, and it’s not like she’s that old, but she’s old for ‘Survivor.’ I don’t think Lisa’s celebrity will get in her way nearly as much as her age. If she can find a way to get the monkey off her back of people saying, ‘She’s the older woman, she’s not going to be good in challenges,’ She’ll be OK. How you do that, you’ve got to form a great alliance — strong and with the right people,” advises Probst. And being a “Survivor” fanatic, Whelchel plans on doing just that. “I will have to pay attention to where’s the majority alliance,” she shared. “It would be stupid to get on the minority alliance.”
Check out the following video in which Whelchel opens up to Yahoo! TV about her audition process, how she prepared herself mentally and physically for the game, and what she bought on eBay to give her a leg up in outlasting, outwitting, and outplaying her fellow castaways.
I am really rooting for her to win, and I haven’t even seen who the other players are yet. Well, except one: JEFF KENT, former 2nd baseman for the LA Dodgers – who I’ve seen play in person. I love me some MLB, too.
I will be hoping he comes in second :)
SCRAPBOOKERS RULE!!! GO LISA!!!
Do you watch “Survivor”? What do you think of Lisa being on there – will she Outwit, Outplay, and Outlast?
ETA 08/21/12: In researching (i.e., Googling … but “researching” sounds so much brainier, no?) Lisa Whelchel, I came across THIS post on THE BLOGGESS.COM. For the love of all that is holy, ONLY … I repeat, ONLY … click on that link if you 1. have a very broad sense of humor and B. enjoy profanity if used effectively. The Blogess, she ain’t for sissies. And I hope you aren’t drinking coffee while reading her blog. There. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Enjoy!
While perusing the interwebs for scrapbooking news – as I often do because it’s a CAPITAL way to avoid housework – I came across THIS blog post about a local scrapbook store in Minnesota that is closing.
Thanks for the Memories VIP!
Submitted by Kathy on Tue, 2012-08-14 03:25.
Big Change at VIP…
Thanks for the Memories!V.I.P. Scrapbook will be closing its doors on September 1st. We know everyone will be wondering why we have made this decision and to be honest, it is for a variety of reasons. The current staff has had a great 3 years building our store to where it is today. We are proud of how our store looks, the new product we have continued to get in and most importantly, the relationships we have built with many customers.
It is not a secret that many, many independent scrapbook stores have been closing. In today’s economy as well as the online sites and chain stores, the independent stores have a very difficult time competing. We would just like to remind everyone that if you value the individual attention, free advice, and personal service you can find in many independent stores, then we must all remember to help support them, whether it is a scrapbooking store or a small town grocery store…
When one door closes, another one opens… we, all the staff, are ready to start new chapters in our lives. Some of us have come to places in our lives where we are excited to pursue new opportunities. On behalf of all of us here at VIP, we would like to truly thank our customers that have supported us in a variety of ways. Thanks for all the wonderful memories!
The part that sticks out to me is this:
We would just like to remind everyone that if you value the individual attention, free advice, and personal service you can find in many independent stores, then we must all remember to help support them, whether it is a scrapbooking store or a small town grocery store…
I have seen or heard about statements like this in many a “goodbye” or “holy crap, I’m about to close and I need your help to save me!” posts and letters from local scrapbook stores around the country. I wonder what scrapbookers think about this kind of message being directed to them?
The feedback I’ve heard in the past has been really mixed. Some scrappers feel like it’s not their responsibility to keep LSS’s in business and others feel an obligation to them in varying degrees.
*Random LSS photo found online :)
Here are my feelings about it: As someone who lost 7 local scrapbook stores within a few years and has been relegated to shopping at Michael’s, Tuesday Morning, and one craft store 40 minutes from home, I do feel an obligation to support LSS’s. I don’t think scrapbookers SHOULD have to support their LSS financially by shopping there regularly, but I think they DO have to support them if they want them to stay open.
When times were good in the scrapbooking industry, I think manufacturers did very very well for themselves. But I don’t think LSS owners were ever getting rich, even in the best of times. {I’m sure there were exceptions but none of my 7 store owners were driving Lexi* and drinking martinis in St. Tropez}.
*That’s the plural for Lexus, right??
So when we were hit with the worst of times, LSS owners really struggled. Like I heard an owner say once, “I have to sell a LOT of sheets of scrapbook paper just to pay the light bill.” Then figure in rent, personnel costs, insurance, other utilities, minimum product orders, etc.
The markup on scrapbook products is typically about 50%. So for each $1 sheet of scrapbook paper sold, the owner is profiting only 50 cents. For those $4.99 Thickers you bought, they made a whopping $2.50. So, yeah, they gotta’ sell a lot of product to be viable. LSS’s don’t typically sell many big ticket items like electronic die cutters, larger tools, etc. {we get those for cheaper at big box stores with sales and coupons, right?}. They don’t tend to make a big profit on classes and crops. Those are “break even” events whose main purpose is to draw customers into the store, hoping they’ll buy product while there.
So tangent alert! I did it again (sheepish smile). But my point … and I do have one … is that I personally DO feel an obligation to support the local scrapbook store for almost purely selfish reasons: I want them to succeed so they stick around and I don’t have to keep schlepping to Michaels with my flippin’ coupon and spending it on Herma tab refills because I can’t find anything from this decade, much less the most recent CHA. Or walking into TJ Maxx with my fingers crossed that they have some 2-year-old Dear Lizzy stickers I missed the first time around. Ya feel me?
Two small LSS’s have opened within an hour of me recently. As soon as I heard about each store, I rushed over to support them! Well, okay, I rushed over to see what scrapbook swag they had and to sniff massive amounts of paper at once, but you know what I mean. Sheesh.
They are smaller stores, which I think is a smart way to start, and I will do my best to choose them over the big box stores as where to spend my scrapbooking budget. To me, it’s like picking up litter or letting the one-item gal go in front of me at the supermarket check-out: One person CAN make a difference in her own little way. If a lot of other “one persons” join in, we’re golden, people!
I would love to hear what you think – and please don’t hesitate to disagree. I can completely see both sides of this issue and would love to hear it all.
It’s a .pdf file of the Memory Works catalog pages for all the Simple Stories lines!
Take a Hike
Harvest Lane
Handmade Holiday
Summer Fresh
It can take a while to load because it’s full of colors and graphics. But it’s worth the wait, fer shure.
So after you fall in love with all of it (wink, wink), please come HERE to order!
YAYYY!! The long-awaited and much-anticipated new lines from Simple Stories are here!!! I’ve been so anxious for these to come in, because they were certainly the talk of the town after the last CHA show. I’ve seen Handmade Holiday and Take a Hike in person and they are gorgeous! {I’m sure Harvest Lane is as well}.
You can see all the new lines HERE and order them right now HERE.
Please let me know if you have any questions: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.
You can easily place your order from my Memory Works WEBSITE. I’ll send you a Paypal invoice (or you can arrange to pay by check). Once payment has cleared, your items will ship directly to you from our Utah home office within 1-2 business days. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!!
Also, now is a great time to check out my website because Memory Works is having a sale!
Out with the old…in with the new!
It’s that time again… to say good-bye to some of our old favorites as we say hello to our brand new product line up for Fall and Winter of 2012!
**Starting Wednesday, August 15, 2012 all items that will not be carried over into the next catalog will be discounted up to an additional 25% off**
This is good news for you! This is a great time for fantastic savings on some of your favorites from Bo Bunny, BasicGrey and My Minds Eye to Bella Blvd, Echo Park and even older Simple Stories collections.
And if you’re a MEMORY WORKS CONSULTANT like me, you get your usual 20% off PLUS the additional 25% from the warehouse sale. I’m no math major, but that sounds like a lot to me!!
So now would be a great time to sign up to be a consultant. Please check out my WEBSITE and see all the great products we carry, including SIMPLE STORIES, Basic Grey, My Minds Eye, Echo Park, and many more.
Just e-mail me and I can send you a worksheet that explains the 2 types of Memory Works Consultants. Both have very low sign-up fees, low or no minimums, and great flexibility with how you choose to run your business – from a hobbyist just buying for themselves to big business mogul :)
I checked with the home office at MEMORY WORKS to see when we consultants will have access to these lines and can start taking orders. Here is what I found out:
First week of August – Simple Stories Harvest Lane, Handmade Holiday, and Take a Hike
{any day now … eee!!!}
First week of October – Simple Stories Sn@p line
********* I am taking pre-orders on the “Sn@p” line *********** Please see the bottom of this post
In case you haven’t already been drooling over these 4 new lines, here they are :)
{ETA: Sorry, this post got too long so I only showed ya’ “3” new lines below. I’m going to do a separate post about Sn@p!}
SIMPLE STORIES “HANDMADE HOLIDAY”
The last 2 items are new to Simple Stories! We’ve added the Sn@p cards to *just* the Handmade Holiday line. The 3×4 tablet will retail for $3.99 and the 4×6 tablet for $4.99. This will make “Handmade Holiday” especially perfect to use for your DECEMBER DAILY projects, yeah? Keep the tablets handy in your purse, on your nightstand, or your scrap table and easily record your memories as you go. No pre-cutting required!
SIMPLE STORIES “HARVEST LANE”
SIMPLE STORIES “TAKE A HIKE”
Regarding prices for these 3 new Simple Stories lines ~ Handmade Holiday, Harvest Lane, and Take a Hike: If you are reading this blog post BEFORE the 3 new lines are released, please check out the SUMMER FRESH line to see what they’ll be. Prices will remain the same.
All images and layouts (not mine; I wish!) are courtesy of the SIMPLE STORIES BLOG.
If you would like to order any Simple Stories products, I would be happy to help! Just find them HERE on my website and place your order online. I will send you a Paypal invoice and your order will be processed upon receipt. It will be shipped directly to your US address from our home office in Utah within 1-2 business days.
As of this blog post, the 3 new lines are not yet available on my website. As soon as they become available (open, open, open!!), I will do a blog post. If you’re as anxious as I am, please sign up to receive my e-mails and you’ll be the first to know {okay, technically, the second …} when I have the lines available for order.
Don’t forget, we always carry the We R Memory Keepers (WRMK) 12×12 albums and divided page protectors that Simple Stories is designed to work with, including the hard-to-find Multi Pack of page protectors. Find ’em all HERE.
Questions? E-me!! scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com :)
PS: If you would like to pre-order Simple Stories “Sn@p” products, which will ship in early October, please see THIS blog post for details.
They both make cool signs!
My favorite version ever of the “Keep Calm and …” posters that have been so popular:
I saw Journey in concert for about the 10th time recently and saw someone wearing that on a t-shirt. I almost tackled her to find out where she got it. Luckily I only had 1 Red Bull on board at that point so I restrained myself ;)
And to keep this post scrapbook-related, here is my second favorite one:
I love how the crown is made of scissors. So clevah!!
What is your favorite version of the “Keep Calm and …” signs?
Sherry is a fellow Pea and she posted on our daily blogger thread that she created a mini album using the MIX & MATCH 6×9 ALBUM by SIMPLE STORIES. I had to go check it out and, boy, did I fall in love with it.
With Sherry’s permission, HERE is a link to her amazing beach album and here is the title page to tease you … and make sure you go check the whole thing out!
Isn’t it gorgeous?!?! I love the subtle colors and how, with her use of embellishments and stamps, she made the neutral backgrounds so beach-y. Like she says, the pages start out gorgeous so they don’t really need a lot. There is something about that color scheme ~ beige, brown, and turquoise ~ that just makes my heart sing.
If you would like a Mix & Match Album of your own, please click HERE. The album and page protectors are in the Mix & Match Album section; additional 6×9 pages like Sherry used are listed under each of the Collections.
You can order from my website and it will be shipped directly to you from the Memory Works home office in Utah within 1-2 business days. Or e-mail me and I can place the order for you: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com. I take Paypal or check and can ship to US residents only.
Thanks Sherry for letting me share your gorgeous project!
This is always a great deal. Only $39 + shipping for $160 worth of PINK PAISLEE product! I’ve bought a PP box in the past and WAS VERY HAPPY. I’m skippin’ it this time because I didn’t have a lot of favorites in this year’s collections.
But if you did, I urge you to check this out! And if you order the box, please post some pictures and come here to link us up! I wanna’ see, I wanna’ see!!!
All the details to order a Pink Paislee “Warehouse Sale” grab box are RIGHT HERE. Hurry! You only have until 08-14-12!!
… what a disappointment!
As you may have heard me complain about before {ahem}, I live near very little scrapbook shopping. Within 1 hour of me, there is a MICHAELS and then whatever I can find once in a while at TUESDAY MORNING, TARGET, WALMART, and ROSS. The best scrapbook shopping I have is a BEVERLY’s CRAFTS 40 minutes away so I get there about once a month if I’m lucky. I did recently find a new little LSS about an hour away so that’s cool at least but, again, only a once-in-a-while thing.
What I’m tryin’ to tell ya’ is that I’m scrappy shopping deprived, people!! {Which is one of the reasons I become a MEMORY WORKS consultant several years ago, when we went from 7 LSS’s within an hour down to one and then NONE}.
So when I was recently out of town ~ a town with a Joann’s ~ pardon me for being a bit twitterpated about it ;) On the scrapbook message boards and from friends in other states, I hear about Joann’s this and Joann’s that. I’ve been to a Joann’s on various other trips and always found that a decent amount of scrapbook papers and embellishments had jumped into my cart and forced me to buy them.
I’m also familiar with JOANN.COM and occasionally shop online in that huge-amous store. They have coupons!!! Yeah, I like me some Joann.com + coupons. I have snapped up some OCTOBER AFTERNOON collection packs for 40% off and plenty o’ WRMK 12×12 D-ring albums for 1/2 off and free shipping. I mean, it just don’t get much better than that.
But I have to say my recent trip to the brick-and-mortar Joann’s was quite, quite disappointing :(
There were 4 kinda’ short aisles of scrapbooking stuff. Most of it I’ve already seen at Michaels. Or it’s already been in my stash. For years. Okay, maybe not YEARS but, like, for a WHILE. Jeez.
All the open stock 12×12 papers were boring and/or old. The paper pads were meh, nothing from any of the popular brands I like, nothing stark-raving new. It was all so boring, I can’t even really remember what there was.
The only thing I was even tempted to buy was an issue of ARTFUL BLOGGING because it had a feature on scrapbooker REBECCA COOPER, who I’ve always liked.
But I didn’t because at that point I was in “man, I’m so disappointed in this store so you can bite me” mode. {Sorry, I get that way sometimes … when you get me all built up and then dash my hopes}. Joann, can we talk?!?! If your scrapbooking section is going to be THAT lame, why even have one? Just let it go and get some more BEADS or something, mmm kay??? I might as well have been at Walmart 15 minutes and one less tank of gas from my house.
So I left Joann’s empty-frickin’-handed. Totally harshed my mellow, dude.
SCRAPBOOK / SCRAPBOOKING SUPPLIES GARAGE SALE
07-21-12Two sisters clearing out an oversupply of scrapbook / scrapbooking material from a home business. They have a TON of scrapbooking supplies and finished products at GREAT prices!
A perfect place/resource for crafters, Girl Scout leaders, scrapbookers, church youth group leaders, etc.
Here you will find well-organized and AWESOME supplies, at REALLY LOW prices.Date and Time – 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, July 21 and 22
Location – (address redacted) Rochester Hills, MI
Scrapbookers welcomed – husbands are encouraged to bring a book.
I *so* would have camped out on their lawn Friday night, LOL! Sounds like some awesome shopping.
And I love the closing line … Scrapbookers are so awesome :D
Every season, Memory Works adds to a section on my website called “Trend Essentials.” These are up-to-the-moment products that are provided in limited quantity. They are HOT and once the items are gone, they’re gone.
They are not a part of our regular catalog but only appear on the website. The offerings for Summer Trend Essentials are:
Fancy Pants “Time for Spring”
Bo Bunny “Little Miss”, “Camp-a-Lot”, and “Hello Sunshine”
My Minds Eye “On the Sunny Side” and “Nostalgia”
Echo Park “So Happy Together”
Carta Bella “Beautiful Moments”
Crate Paper “Little Bo Peep” and “Little Boy Blue”
and my personal faves …
Basic Grey “Paper Cottage” and “Clippings”
I’ve just shared the papers here but we have embellishments for all the lines ~ from stickers to brads to even wood shapes ;)
HERE they are in .pdf catalog form.
HERE they are on my website. You can place an order straight from there, I’ll send you a Paypal invoice, and once cleared it will ship to you from our Utah home office in 1-2 business days.
Please let me know if you have questions or I can help with placing an order: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.
Which of the above “trendy” lines is your favorite?
I went to BEVERLY’s CRAFTS the other day and did a lil’ shopping …
The 8 papers on the left were in the bargain bin, 3 for $1. I paid full price for the ECHO PARK birthday paper. I like how you can cut it apart and make use of it on several pages. I used a 40% off coupon on the burlap Thickers … so stinkin’ cute.
Left the store for about $7. Just enough shopping therapy to make my day :) What’s the last good deal you got?
Some time in June, I got an e-mail from SCRAPBOOK GENERATION which is where I get the monthly SUPER SKETCH CLUB kit. It was advertising some new layout kits they had that you could purchase a la carte, without signing up for the club or anything. This was my favorite one: GOOD DAY SUNSHINE.
For only 18 bucks, you get enough papers to do 3 double-page layouts, plus instructions, sketches, and a photo of the completed layouts. SOLD! I only wish I could’ve bought more of their fab-o kits because they have a ton and all are cute and SO worth the price. For only an extra $1.99 in shipping, they held the kit and included it the box with my July Super Sketch Club kit, which was nice.
Anyway, as excited as I was to get working on layouts from Shimelle’s THE PERFECT COLLECTION online class, I spent all Friday night and most of Saturday organizing my scrapbook room (photos and deets to follow this week!). So I was too brain-fried to even attempt the class.
So instead I pulled out the package with my Good Day Sunshine kit and got to work. About an hour later, I had all this to show for myself :)
{Yeah, I see you eye-ballin’ that October Afternoon “Cakewalk” paper. It’s cute huh?? But totally unrelated to this post}.
Sorry, to fit it all in 1 pic, I had to tilt one layout on it’s side but you get the gist, yeah? As you can see, I also had enough paper and die cuts left to make an additional single page layout. We go to the beach a lot so I’ll be putting these pre-done layouts to good use. I think I’m going to use them for a beach overnighter we did last summer where our hotel was right on the beach. I figure I can use the single page layout like a cover page with the title and a bunch of journaling, maybe 1 photo. Then the other 2 beach-related layouts will follow with beach photos and the other stuff we did there.
Sometimes when you have no brain power but want to cut some paper and use pop dots, a kit like this is a very good thing ;) Did you accomplish anything scrappy last weekend?
Right now … and I don’t know for how long … you can get a copy of A SWEETHAVEN SUMMER for your Kindle for 99 cents! I know, right? And even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the Kindle app for free to your iPhone, Droid, iPad, computer, etc. In other words, you have NO excuse not to get and read this book. If you refuse to, I’d like a written note of explanation, please. I’m totally serial.
This book was written by the lovely COURTNEY WALSH, who happens to be a sweet Pea :) {a member of the TWO PEAS IN A BUCKET scrapbook message board … who is actually a very sweet person}.
I paid full price for this book WHEN IT FIRST CAME OUT and really enjoyed it. It gets a thumbs up from me. It’s the kind of book that makes you want to keep reading because you want to find out “the secret.” Yeah, do I have your attention now? Hollah.
Get this book! Support great writers! Support scrapbook novels! And it only cost ya’ 99 cents! Rah rah go! {And I’m really not kidding about the excuse note. Srsly.}
Two Peas has some great new stuff for summer. Hope you get a chance to check it out and take advantage of that free shipping! Usually the free shipping threshold is $50 so having it at only $40 is a treat :)
Happy shopping!
Sorry, I seem to have this class on the brain but, well, I have this class on my brain! And I posted on the Two Peas Message Board that I would write a review of “The Perfect Collection” by Shimelle Laine. … so here I am. I know many scrappers out there are contemplating taking the class but want to hear more about it before committing.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here is my post about TRUE SCRAP 3 CLASSES becoming available individually. And here is where I contemplate taking SHIMELLE LAINE’s CLASS, “The Perfect Collection”, with some details about it.
K, great. Now you’re all caught up!
I did sign up for the class this past weekend and was able to watch the video over a few sittings when I had time on Sunday {just love that about video classes ‘cuz I am a bizzy woman!}. The video is over 40 minutes long which I think is a great value for the mere $9.99 that the class costs. Included in the price, you also get a printable .pdf (or save it to your computer) that gives paper cutting diagrams and photos of all the layouts Shimelle created for this project.
This is my first {but I’m sure not last} class I’ve taken by Shimelle and I really enjoyed her. She has a very polished but casual presentation style. There are few “uhms” and “uhs” like some other instructors do. {Being in Britain, I do love how she says “ehm” instead of “uhm” anyway}. She wasn’t distracted, you could hear everything perfectly, and the video quality was great.
As for the information presented in the class itself, I found it super useful. She walks you through how to the get the most from your collection kits, using as much of the papers as possible and hopefully leaving just a few scraps when you’re all done. For “Collection Pack Queen” over here, I was loving it. I do tend to scrap by manufacturer because I like how everything coordinates and saves time. I also have many a collection kit. So this class was definitely made for me!
The layouts she assembles in the video are 12×12, both 1-pagers and 2-pagers. She completes 16 total pages, basically an album of 1 event in her life. However, you can also do them as individual layouts. It’s very flexible and easy to use no matter what you want to use the layouts for. It’s also flexible as to the size of layouts. I can see how this technique would be easily adapted for use with 8 1/2 x 11 and 8×8 layouts.
Not only does she tell you how to get tons of layouts without leaving much of your collection pack behind, she also shares techniques and principles from her scrapbooking style. She explains why she lays the pages out the way she does along with some inking, embellishment arrangement, “white space,” etc. I found this to be a nice surprise!
Once you’ve seen the video and downloaded the cheat sheet with cutting diagrams and sketches, you won’t be able to contain yourself! You’ll want to grab a collection pack, monthly kit, or handful of coordinating papers and get to work creating a stack of layouts. She makes it all very easy and accessible. Unlike some classes which show you how to complete one specific project, this is something I will use over and over and over again. For that alone, it was cost effective.
Another selling point: All True Scrap 3 classes once purchased are available for your viewing forever and always. Once your kids have grown and left you, your dog has died, and you’re living in the home with a roommate you can’t stand, you’ll STILL be able to watch eternally-youthful Shimelle showing you how to use up those collection kits … that you will still be working your way through when you’re 93, I promise.
I don’t want to give away any more about the class. Suffice it to say, I give this class a huge YES. As in, “Should I take this class?” YES!
Are you ready to sign up for Shimelle’s class? {C’mon, you know you want to …}. Or do you want to learn about all the other amazing True Scrap 3 classes? Just click here to view more details. You’ll have access to the class almost immediately. I think when I ordered it, it took a whole 3 minutes to arrive. I was like, “Jeez! Are they standing there with their finger on the button or what?” {I know, I know, it’s some automatic computer thing but let me be impressed anyway, mmm kay?}.
Don’t forget that you need to sign up ASAP. The price for True Scrap 3 classes is only $9.99 — for a limited time. On 7/7 the price will increase to $12.95 per class. Which is still a great price for what you get … but who wants to spend $3 extra? That’s money that can be spent on a package of bling or some scrappy paper, for gosh sakes. Get your priorities straight, gurl!
Would love to hear your reviews of this or any other True Scrap 3 classes!
Yay, July 1 and payday is here!! I get to sign up for some True Scrap 3 classes :) {If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, here is where I explained True Scrap 3 individual classes}.
I know you may have questions about what exactly is included in these classes before you fork over the dough for them. I’ve been wondering the same thing. So I did some research into the class I’m MOST interested in – Shimelle Laine’s “The Perfect Collection” – and here is what I found out.
First of all, in all True Scrap 3 classes you get PERMANENT (as in … forevah!) access to the class video. Just make sure to bookmark the page after you purchase so you can always find it. I have a folder in my bookmarks for Online Classes like the SKETCH SUPPORT one I took from Allison Davis and can refer back to them whenever I need to. The videos with True Scrap 3 are usually 30-40 minutes long and then you also get a .pdf file that you can keep forever … and ever :)
Here is what Shimelle says on her blog about “The Perfect Collection” class:
Last spring I shared my workshop for getting the most out of a collection pack with the crowd at True Scrap 3 – which is always great fun and a sort of online scrapbooking convention with so many different classes and ideas to take in. I know the whole shebang is a rather big purchase and not everyone’s style, so if you really fancied just a few classes, then now is the time for you! All the True Scrap 3 classes are now available individually.
My workshop, The Perfect Collection, is all about taking one collection pack and using it until it’s all gone – and I walk you through my process for making a full album from a collection pack. The video is just shy of forty minutes, plus there is a PDF with cutting guide diagrams and pictures of how those pieces of paper became the finished scrapbook pages. Other workshops available cover all sorts of topics, from embellishment and page design to writing, photography, creativity, stamping, symbolism, Project Life, digital and hybrid crafting and mixed media art techniques. You can sign up for any number of classes you like.
OMG, I get so excited reading that description! I know exactly which collection I’m going to start with … and you’re SO going to laugh at me because I’ve been hoarding this for a loooooong time. YEARS, I tell ya’! Have you been around the scrapbooking world long enough to remember the “WILD SAFFRON” collection by K&Company?
HA! I fell in love with this collection right off the bat and gobbled pieces of it up whenever I could. I would say a stack of 40% Michaels coupons were spent on it for sure. I would buy the paper pad, a set of letter stickers, or an embellishment pack each week until I had virtually every piece. Yes, I love it THAT much.
To see how many years I’ve been hoarding this stuff, look at these old entries and note the date they were posted: Hating the Scrap Lull and Michaels Finds. EEK! How embaraskin’. The only time I ever used any of it was to make an EXPLOSION BOX for my mother-in-law … but she’s pretty dang special :)
I’ve always thought that Wild Saffron would be perfect to make an entire album with. The theme is so open and easy to use, and the colors go with the kinds of photos I tend to take – lots of primary colors mixed with browns and aquas. So … I *NEED* to take Shimelle’s class, don’t you think? My mind is just spinning with the possibilities ~ vacation albums, a year in review, a series of sports season layouts, etc. Do you have any kits or packs you’ve been wanting to use, either as a whole album or for a variety of layouts … so you just USE it? Instead of admiring it time after time in it’s clear plastic wrapper? LOL
From what I’m reading on the message boards, Shimelle’s class is VERY popular and people are loving it. They’re pulling out the paper packs, monthly kits, and theme sets THEY’VE been hoarding, cutting ’em up, and making tons of layouts! That, to me, is the best recommendation you can get!
If you’d like to join me in Shimelle’s class or any sign up for any of the other fabulous True Scrap 3 classes, click here to view more details.
