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Tuesday Morning

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Tuesday Morning: Basic Grey, Tim Holtz, 7 Gypsies, and More

I just heard from a scrappy friend in Southern Cal that her Tuesday Morning has a BUNCH of BASIC GREY! Lots of embellishments: brads, ephemera, toothpick flags, resins, stamp stickers, die cuts, journal pads, etc. Most are 99 cents. No paper though, boo! I haven’t bought much BG lately (most of my scrappy dough has been going to AMERICAN CRAFTS paper, storage items, and WRMK albums) – so now I have to make ANOTHER trip to Tuesday AM, darn! ;)

Sorry, I don’t have any photos of the Basic Grey to share but it reminded me that I never posted all these Tuesday Morning scrappy pics I took last month.

GLITTER, GLITTER GLUE, and PENS
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TIM HOLTZ and 7 GYPSIES
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SCRAPPY STORAGE BOXES
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EMBELLIES plus that cute little HEART BURLAP BOX caught my eye
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STICKERS and EMBELLISHMENTS
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SO MUCH PAPER that it was overwhelming. I couldn’t even look at it all!
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PAGE PROTECTORS and ALBUMS
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STUDIO CALICO and PEBBLES
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Don’t forget to look on the top shelf – all that PAPER and CARDSTOCK!
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Look in the other craft-y areas too. There are scrapbooking items mixed in.
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Great price on a set of WRMK PUNCHES
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The glare is terrible but those are American Crafts Flutterbys on the top left.
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Great items for SCRAPBOOK STORAGE
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Be careful. Lots of crooked embellishments! I wanted those wine ones but they were horrible! :(
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MORE STUFF
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And, just for my Peep friends, BIRDY BLANKETS!
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I have even MORE photos from Tuesday Morning from a more recent visit to their scrapbook section. I need to get them uploaded, then I’ll blog those too so stay tuned! Remember when I said that Tuesday Morning had a NEW CRAFTS BUYER? Well, I’d say she’s doing a great job, wouldn’t you?

Paris Hilton Scrapbooking at Tuesday Morning

I was at Tuesday Morning recently and you’ll never believe who I found: PARIS HILTON! Well, her line of scrapbooking supplies anyway.

Yes, I knew she had a scrapbooking line out there somewhere (I wrote about it way back HERE), but had never seen it online nor in stores. I began to think it didn’t truly exist.

But there is was at Tuesday AM, in all it’s sparkly, glittery glory. I have absolutely nothing against the girl but it didn’t surprise me in the least that her stuff was not my cup of tea. A bit much and OTT (over. the. top.). But, hey girl, more power to ya!

If the fact that Paris loves to scrapbook so much that she created her own line, and she gets one person scrapping, then it was all worth it. Wouldn’t you say?

Paris, honey … you just GO, gurl! Hollah!

Xyron Magic Sticker Maker at Tuesday Morning

I got a flyer today from Tuesday Morning showing their sales that start FRIDAY, OCTOBER, 2010 at 10AM and this sticker-maker was the only scrapbooking item, at least in the e-mail I received.

I’ve never heard of the Magic Sticker Maker but here is a link to it on the XYRON WEBSITE. It looks like it’s all sparkly and cute and geared towards kids? I’m not sure …

Xyron says it retails for $14.99. The Tuesday Morning ad says it’s “original retail” $19.99, and they sell it for $9.99 … starting tomorrow :) Just thought I’d share in case you were interested in a fun, cute sticker make for your kids … or you, LOL

The Slice at Tuesday Morning … and a Chance to Win One!

Not only is TUESDAY MORNING having a great special on a Slice die cutting machine bundle, but they’re also running a contest to give one away. I think you should enter the contest, win The Slice, and then give me full credit for telling you about it. Deal?

Here’s a tip: Don’t forget the little people. Cuz karma, she’s a bitch.

Okay, Chuck, now show them what they would win!

Bundle Includes:
– Slice Cordless Digital Designer
– Power cord
– Blade adjustment wrench
– 5 Replacement blades with tool
– 6 x 6 glass cutting mat
– Re-positionable adhesive
– Foam brush
– User manual
– Design card booklet
– Basic Elements & Seasons SD design card
– Spatula
– 3 Slice embossing tips
– Embossing mat
– 3 Slice drawing tips
– 20 sheets of 8 x 8 embellishment paper
– 12 project cards

{Photo and product description from Tuesday Morning website}.

You can buy the MAKING MEMORIES “Slice” Bundle Kit from Tuesday Morning online right HERE for about $125 (awesome price!). It also goes on sale in their stores today, August 3, 2010. Check their STORE LOCATOR to see if there’s a store near you.

HERE are the contest details. Yes, you have to work for this one but wouldn’t it be worth it?

{The link in this graphic is not active but the link to the contest is right above it, k?}

Contest Starts
August 02, 2010 @ 09:00 am (CDT)
Contest Ends
August 15, 2010 @ 11:59 pm (CDT)

You only have 13 more days, so get on it, bee-yotch!

Scrapbook Shopping: Michaels and Tuesday Morning

Here are some pics from recent trips to Michaels …

This is the new “Traveler” line by Me and My Big Ideas (MAMBI). I love the color combo of ocean-y blues and greens, peaches/yellows/oranges, and black/white. It has a vintage feel but modern at the same time, which made me think of my friend ABBY and the Seattle album she’s working on … Wonder if she’ll like this line?

I think I’ve shown you the Recollections and Prima on the left side of this photo, but the gorgeous butterflies and pretty flower packs on the right are new ….

All kinda’ bling bling … Please ignore any SALE signs, as these sales are no longer going.

This was a whole endcap of new Making Memories embellishments called “Design Shop” which reminded me so much of Jolee’s, I had to wonder if they’re owned and/or made by the same company.

Some cute things here … these were 2 of my favorites. It’s hard to tell, but many of them are 3-D

Here are some recent purchases of mine from Michaels. Aren’t the Recollections trims cute? The red hearts are felt, then the 2 ribbons, and the turquoise dingle balls … so fun! The Super Mom stuff from MAMBI is chipboard and really pretty shades of pink and green. That color combo always makes me happy :) The school stickers by MAMBI on the right are epoxy, and I love the circle shape where you can cluster 3 together, or use 1 on a card for your favorite teacher. I bought them to use on yearbook pages and teacher “thank you” cards.

The Making Memories “Passport” metal clips on the bottom are from Target. I just thought they were purdy.

That’s it for Mike’s.

Now you’re asking, “What in the heck do throw pillows have to do with scrapbooking?” Well, I found these at Costco for a great price and they’re for the couch in my scrapbook room. It doesn’t show up great in the photo, but the color is really pretty … it’s like a lighter or muted robin’s egg blue. It’ll go nicely with all the other blues and greens, pale yellow, and white in my space. Another great thing is that they are durable – made from a thick, linen-textured fabric that will hold up well to my kids piling on them and many years of me lying back on them to read my scrapbook magazines and idea books. So glad I found these …

Lastly, here are some recent finds from TUESDAY MORNING

These are all from Making Memories, the little flower jars and a metal tin of flowers. The jars are plastic and I’ll reuse them when I’m done for storage on my stamp shelf. I love that you get a length of green and white ribbon, too. The tin is deceiving so be careful if you buy them. I haven’t opened the tin yet, but I noticed in the store when I was deciding whether to buy them that – no – the tin is not FILLED with flowers. There is one layer of them pressed against the little window, then it’s all padding underneath. So be aware that you’re not getting very many flowers in this package. To me, it was worth it because I’m going to re-use the tin and because of the discounted price.

As you can see here, the jars and the tin cost $1.99 each.

My best find was this set of paper ribbons by K&Co.!! You get 4 packages in a variety of colors and styles for only $3.99. I believe these retail for $3.99 PER PACK, so to get 4 packs for that price is amazing. They are so pretty in person, especially the one on the far right with the distressed colors. But they’re all very nice.

So those are my latest shopping adventures! Did you see anything you like?

QVC Huge Cosmo Cricket Kit at Tuesday Morning

I’m very sad that QVC doesn’t do scrapbooking shows anymore. Very, VERY sad :( Okay, I had to get that off my chest first.

They do still have lots of SCRAPBOOKING ITEMS on their website, like THIS huge lot of COSMO CRICKET goodies. I remember seeing this as a TSV (Today’s Special Value) a long time ago. I wanted to get it back then because I lurve me some CC, although I passed. Ah, the memories! Watching the great LISA BEARNSON do the presentation, showing us the fabulous projects we could make with it.

These days, you can find this same kit at TUESDAY MORNING. Instead of paying the retail cost of $48.50 plus $7.97 shipping, you can pick it up for a mere $14.99. There are two versions: pink and blue, plus a Christmas version. Some photos of the pink one are HERE.

I went to Tuesday Morning looking for this kit, because of course the Peas had been talking about it. I told myself that if and only if they had the blue version would I buy it. I searched the shelves high and low, pawing through their scrapbooking/craft section, and was unable to find it … at first. I did eventually find it and part of what took so long is that it comes in a brown cardboard box and I guess I was looking for something fancier, LOL. They only had one and guess what color it was??? UH HUH, it was blue. Suh-weet!

Here are some photos of mine:

If you’d like this Cosmo Cricket kit, too, I hope you’re able to find it at your Tuesday Morning! Or that you’ve beat me to it, and already have one ;-)

Memory Works: Simple Stories “Life Documented” Official Reveal on 12-28-09

Okay, yesterday MEMORY WORKS posted more news about the Simple Stories “Life Documented” line ~ yahoo! I am SO using this for my PROJECT 365! And probably lots of other stuff, too! It is super great looking, the price sounds right, and I love all the features of it.

Merry Christmas from me to you: HERE YA GO.

I’m so stinkin’ excited! I love the celery green album and how the products match with it (although there will be other album colors to choose from, or you can use one you already have or buy elsewhere). Love that the price is only $16.99 for 180 pieces of scrappy goodness. Love that they have married this line with the We R Memory Keepers scrapbook albums and pocket page protectors, with all their various configurations.

{Here is one sneek…there are more over there…}

There are also answers to some of our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)…

So go check out the Simple Stories SITE if you have a chance. You won’t be disappointed. And remember, they’re giving away a free kit every week until the launch if you post Simple Stories / Life Documented links or blinkies on blogs, Facebook, message boards, Twitter, etc. I’m going to enter each week and hope I win one :)
—–
On a different note…but I had to share… THIS Pea said there are Thickers for

    69 CENTS

at Tuesday Morning!!! Along with other scrappy stuff, and even more coming after Christmas. See, Scrap Santa is out there and he has your back. Let us know if you find any Thickers or other stuff at your Tuesday AM, k?

Scrapbook product salivating aside, I want to wish you a Very Merry Christmas. Please be safe, happy, and well. Enjoy your families and food and all of life’s blessings.

Scrapbook Mail, Scrapbook Shopping, and a Scrapbook Space

Yep, time is money, people, and there’s a lot to cover!

Scrapbook Mail:

I love, love, LOVE getting scrapbook mail, don’t you? There is no better mail than that. Well, maybe if someone wanted to send me a bunch of money, that would be my favorite mail, but somehow, I don’t see that happening.

Over at the SCRAPBOOK SISTERS STUDIO message board, I joined a Secret Santa Swap. Well actually two. For one, you were to send an envelope of handmade or inexpensive scrapbook goodies to 5 other Sisters, and in return you would receive 5 different envelopes back. Here are the first two packages I received ~ aren’t they great? ~ and the only ones I’ve taken photos of so far. I’ve received others too and it’s always to fun to get the mail these days!

For the other one, you were to send $20 worth of scrapbook goodies to a Sister you were secretly matched up with. We each posted Wish Lists including scrapbook stuff and non-SBR stuff, too. I sent off my package on Monday and received the one from my Secret Santa yesterday. I was so lucky to have SCRAPPY GIRL for my SS. LOOKIE LOOKIE at all the bad-ass shizzle she sent me!

Love all the Inque stuff, the LYB stuff, just LURVE IT ALL! She even got me my favorite Dr. Pepper lip smackers lip gloss :) Thank you, Scrappy Girl! You rock big time, Sista!

Scrapbook Shopping:

I’m hella’ overdue posting these shopping pics. I can see by the date on the photos that they are 2+ weeks old. Time has flown…seems like a few days ago, LOL. Anyway, here are some things I found at TUESDAY MORNING:

Remember the HEIDI SWAPP TOTE? Well, here is a new version of that. For 20 bucks, you get the Tote-ally Cool Tote filled with HEIDI SWAPP goodies.

Here is a close-up of the list so you can see exactly what the items are…

Some cute kits…

This was a kit that reminded me of the KI MEMORIES TINS that were at Target a while back. (Just to clarify, these ones are NOT KI Memories brand). Looks like a decent deal.

These “Thank You” stamps by EK SUCCESS have been around for quite awhile. I used to see them at an LSS that closed many moons ago. For only $5, they were hard to resist.

This was a huge pack of chipboard alphas for $8 by Memories Direct, that brand that’s often on HSN and they also have their own infomercials…at least they used to. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen one in a while. Maybe Cricut bought up all the allowable scrapbook infomercial time, LOL! Have you seen the CONSTANT Cricut informercials? Yikes.

And lastly, teeny tiny little totes by All My Memories, which I believe is now defunct. They’re sitting on a 12×12 paper pack so you can see how small they are.

Assuming these ADIRONDACK ink pads aren’t all dried out, I would call this the Find of the Day. Yum, look at all that ink!

Here are the items I purchased from Tuesday Morning that fine day:

Cheapie dot glue runners for stocking stuffers…

3 Vintage Pop Top Ink Pads ($1.49 each) and 1 Adirondack ink pad ($1.99). So 4 ink pads, a mere $6.50 (a $16-20 value). Yes, they really do smell as advertised …

Next was Michaels:

It looked like there were a few new scrapbook idea books …

Then Barnes and Noble with the Starbucks inside, where I got another one of those PEPPERMINT CRUNCH BARS I’ve been craving since the last time I was there a month prior. This is the ONLY Starbucks I’ve been to that has them … what up? Hollah! Oh my, they are melt-in-your-mouth heaven…

And lastly a couple of scrapbooking magazines. I’ve been reading through these for the past couple of weeks, and can honestly say I prefer the British “Scrapbook Inspirations” to CK. I think our American magazines (what, all 2 of them?) could take some tips from the Brits. Oh Frick on a Stick! I just went to Scrapbook Inspirations’ website so I could link to it, and found THIS. Crap, crap, crap. That was their last monthly issue. They will be doing something in new format quarterly starting February 2010. Sigh…..

Scrapbook Space:

My Scrap Sister ANGIE just added an amazing scrapbook space to her bedroom. She has such great style … I think you’ll really enjoy looking at it. Here is a sneak peek:

She’s having a scrapbook RAK and there are ways to get your name in the hat up to 5 times, so go play!

That’s all I got … Peace out.

Shopping Report: Tuesday Morning, Michaels, and Costco

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Last weekend I did some shopping. Well, mostly window shopping, as it is these days, but it’s always fun to look, right?

First stop was Tuesday Morning….

Lots of crafty storage, scrapbook embellies, and scrapbooks. MM Halloween paints, etc.

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Those green rolling totes up top were cute, and I almost got that shoulder tote on the third shelf to use for a summer purse. It was a black/white print with some yellow and red…very cute.

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They still had some of the HEIDI SWAPP TOTES, small Tote-ally Cool Totes, and lots more scrappy stuff. Even some blank canvases on the bottom shelf.

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Tons of photo albums and scrapbooks…

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Making Memories goodies like ribbon and clear frames…

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These pre-done albums were SO tempting! Both by Making Memories, the red one was Fa La La and 8×8; the blue baby one was 8.5×11. Both were the nicely embellished inside. You could just pop in your photos, write some journaling, and be done.

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I almost got this pack of KI Memories icicles for the little scalloped shapes and the heart. But the other packs that it came with were things I already had, so when it came time to narrow my purchases, these poor babies were cut… :(

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This was interesting…a huge pack of the SAME Tigger cardstock stickers. I guess $2.69 is a great deal but WTH would you do with all those stickers, LOL!

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More cute Icicles and KI Memories test tubes…

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ADORABLE rubber embellishments and chipboard journal spots by KI Memories. Yes, these were in my hand, too, but didn’t make the final cut either….

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So, overall Tuesday Morning was decent. I got a few things (see the end of this post) for great prices. They had a lot of scrapbooking stuff out.

Next I went to Michaels. I didn’t bother taking pictures this time with my stealth iPhone, since I linked to all those photos in my last post. Suffice to say, TONS of new holiday and Christmas stuff, so it’s worth your while to make a trip.

I did take a photo to show you that Martha Stewart peg stamp kit I talked about HERE. It’s normally $18 but everything MS was 30% off so I was tempted but didn’t get them….this time…

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Again, see the end of this post to see what I got at Michaels….Oh, and apparently there is now a Halloween clearance SALE going on now.

Last was Costco, which hasn’t had much in the way of scrapbooking stuff in a while but I always check just in case….you never know….

They did have two scrapbooking kits, I assume because Christmas is coming up.

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$37 and there were two choices….love the cute little holder it comes in.

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That was the end of my scrappy shopping. I was in Costco, the reason for my trip to the Big City in the first place, so it was then down to bidness…It was a good free sample day :)

On my way home, I stopped at Barnes and Noble, planning to pick up the new December Creating Keepsakes magazine (the Peas said HERE that it had been out for a few days). Howevah! B&N did not have it, so I consoled myself with this British scrapping mag. The overseas magazines used to be much more expensive that US ones, but they cost about the same now, so why not? It’s fun to see their style and such across the pond. Plus, I love how they spell “colour”…..much more flair than plain old “color,” don’t you think?

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While at B&N, I grabbed my usual latte and decided to splurge on something sweet from their bakery case since I hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch. I picked this thing called a Starbucks Peppermint Crunch Bar, which looked like a white cookie with some pink frosting and crushed peppermint on top. I’ve looked all over online for a photo to show you, but it’s not ANYWHERE, which almost makes me think I imagined it. But I have to tell you…. OH. MY. GAH!! That was THE YUMMIEST anything I’ve had in a long time. I shudder to think at the calorie content, but it was such melt-in-you-mouth goodness, it was worth it, whatever the cost :)

Here is what I ended up with from Tuesday Morning:

A pretty sage green structured cloth storage cube for $5 and….

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…2 of these Cropper Hopper photo boxes ($3 each) to help with my scrapbook room MAKEOVER. I’m going to store a bunch of mini-album supplies in the green cube, keep all that stuff in one place, out of the dust, and looking neater. Not sure about the photo boxes but I already have a couple. I just know they won’t be used for photos, because I have another system in place for those.

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This was probably my favorite buy of the day….some KI Memories school embellies. I’ve wanted some of this line since way back HERE. It was a great deal, too….all of this for only $4….WOW!

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{{{{Speaking of them, KI Memories WEBSITE has some great SPECIAL DEALS right now! If you’re a fan, be sure to check them out.}}}}

Here is what I got at Michaels:

Two sheets of this gorgeous paper. The swirls are glittered gold. So pretty and I think they look nice with 2 side by side for the background to a double layout…

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This paper is really pretty also. We’ve taken photos over the years of our kids in front of the oak tree in our yard. I might use this paper with those pictures somehow…

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Here are 2 of the newer papers by Recollections that I mentioned before…finally got me some!

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Gorgeous Rome paper for my Rome scrapbook…I was there at that same Coliseum, LOL!

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ALL of the open stock paper was on sale for 30% off (not just their usual sale of only the 69 cent papers), so it was a great day to get some specialty papers.

It was also one of those days that so much was on sale, it was hard to use my dang 40% off coupon! I ended up being practical and using it on this…

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Near the registers, they had a display of breast cancer awareness stuff, and this caught my eye right away. Aren’t these darling? I love the little winged heart, and the “SURVIVOR” in blue glitter. I’m going to send these to an online buddy who’s dealing with cancer. She is SO going to kick it’s ASS, it’s not even funny! She’s been a real inspiration to me, and to all the girls at SSS….just want to send her a tiny “thanks.”

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So that was my latest shopping adventure! What have you found to buy lately?

Heidi Swapp Tote-Ally Cool Tote at Tuesday Morning

I got this a couple weeks ago but wasn’t able to load the photos to my computer until now. I heard these are still at some TUESDAY MORNING stores so I thought I’d show you what a great deal they are.

Here’s what the tote looks like. I chose this blue pattern but there were others, too.

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A close up of the price tag, so you can see what a mega deal this is….and a list of what’s in it (hope it’s readable, though blurry…sorry).

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And here are all the contents…

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Honestly, I bought this for the bag more than anything. I’ve been looking for a large and cute tote to carry all my MEMORY WORKS stuff in, including catalogs and products. This will be perfect because it zips closed so my things won’t get damaged or dusty; it holds the heaviness of the catalogs because it’s sturdy; and it even has lots of cool pockets inside and out to hold my calculator, pens, scissors, blank price tags, etc. The tote alone would sell for about $30.

And I love HEIDI SWAPP embellies, so that’s just icing on the cake.

Go to YouTube and Search “Scrapbook Haul”

You will find videos like THIS, THIS, and THIS. I love it. This is a girl totally after my own heart, LOL! There are other videos on scrapper’s “hauls,” too. After you search “scrapbook haul” and get your list of results, then use the drop down menu in the top middle to Sort by Newest. Just so you get the more recent ones….don’t want to get all excited about rushing down to Tuesday Morning for a great deal you saw….only to find out it was posted in August 2007, LOL.

Happy watching! And thanks ABBY for the first two linkees…you know me too well :)

And I shall leave you with a LAUGH….

Are You Disloyal to the LSS If You Shop Big Box or Discount?

There is an older post on my blog where I told you about some cool items that were new to Michaels. Here is a comment I recently received on that entry:

—————–
A few posts ago you lamented the possible closing of your LSS. Yet it’s posts like this — and all your “look at the mass deals at big box stores and HSN” and “buy from me @ Scrapworks so I can break even” posts — that are helping put the independent LSSs out of business.

I’m not saying that nobody’s entitled to a bargain. But you can’t have it both ways.
——————

When she said, “A few posts ago you lamented the possible closing of your LSS,” she was referring to THIS post. Her reference to HSN is HERE (well, one of my many, LOL) and “. . . buy from me @ Scrapworks so I can break even,” is referring to, I guess, THIS post about my affiliation with MEMORY WORKS, because I don’t recall ever asking you to buy from me so I can break even (?).

Anyway, I was not surprised or insulted by her comment, as its one that I expected to hear, I guess. But, as I e-mailed to the poster of the comment, I think it brings up a very interesting point. I mean, the state of this industry – the scrapbooking industry – does cause quite a dilemma for those of us who would like to support it and keep it alive. For real. How do we reconcile the endless message board posts and blog entries about the great deals to be found at big box stores, et al? How do we explain our online orders to “peachy cheap” sites and the like? How do we defend our copious use of 40% and 50% off coupons at stores like Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and the like? (The commenter didn’t even call me out on that one….but my conscience forced me to confess it, yeah).

Well, here is my story, and I’m stickin’ to it….

{I’m going to repeat things I’ve said again and again on this blog, so you lovely Regular Readers, please forgive me the repetition. But here goes…}

I live in a rural area. A few years ago, there were 7…count ’em, SEVEN…local scrapbook stores within one hour of me. There were 2 LSSs in the town next to me (15 minutes away), 3 stores that were 30 minutes away, and 2 more that were a good one-hour drive. To many, you wouldn’t even call 5 of those stores an “LSS”…how “local” is it, if you have to drive for 30 minutes to one hour to get there? But I considered them my local stores. I choose to live in the boondocks, so I understand shopping here is not at a premium and though someone in LA might have crazy access to the stores of their choice, I don’t. Just the way it is.

But here’s the point: When there were 7 LSSs within driving distance of me, I shopped ’em, baby! That was back when I worked my high-powered job and made excellent money. Scrapbooking was new to me and I had some serious product collection to do, ya know what I mean? I didn’t limit my spending to LSS’s either….I shopped at Scrapbook Expo twice a year (which is made up of manufacturers, and of scrapbook stores from far and wide). I shopped at CKU. When I traveled for business, I found LSSs in the towns I went to and I shopped them Bad Boys, too. Looking back, it was an unhealthy obsession but my point….my point again was? Oh, that’s right! That no one has been a better Supporter of the LSS than me! Seriously.

To go back even further, I discovered scrapbooking in 2001 by attending a CREATIVE MEMORIES party (yeah, fess up, so did you!). I took one trip to MICHAELS way back then, didn’t really care for what I saw, and stayed away for years. I mean, I might go for the basics like adhesive and such but, for the most part, the LSS owned my heart. They had the helpful people, the latest products that I saw in CREATING KEEPSAKES magazine, and I didn’t know from a discount…I happily paid full retail price. Well, until I filled up my “frequent flyer” card at the LSS and got some free product. Shizzle, I was so happy each time, you wooda’ thought I won the freakin’ lottery!

Fast forward to 2007 and…welcome to my world…my income has shrunk considerably and 6 of the 7 LSSs in my area have closed. Now, to digress for a minute…sure the economy played a part in these store closures, and that is reflected in the mass amount of LSS closures nationwide. But to be fair, I would blame at least 5 of the 7 LSS closures on things OTHER THAN the failing economy/industry. MY dream was to open an LSS so, believe you me, I was paying close attention, I was running the numbers, and I was privy to “insider information” on several of these stores. The last thing I wanted was for these stores to fail. It truly. broke. my heart. I WANTED them to succeed. I rah rah’d them every chance I got. I took out of town visitors there. I had them sponsor my crops. I was a hugely loyal customer. I did not criticize them to anyone (in my out loud voice). I just shopped and supported and cropped. So you can imagine my sadness when, one by one, these local scrapbook stores closed their doors.

Okay, so after the closure of 6 of “my” 7 stores, where did that leave me to shop? You guessed it…Walmart. Target. Michaels. Eventually, Tuesday Morning opened 30 minutes from me where, quite by accident while looking for pillowcases one day, I discovered they carried scrapbooking supplies. And, lucky them, they are close to Costco where I shop once a month. Walmart has the basics. I have probably spent $20 on scrapbook supplies there in the past year. Target has slowly rotating stock, discounted prices that have slowly morphed thisclose to retail prices, and the occasional clearance endcap worth shopping. That leaves Michaels and Tuesday Morning, where I do utilize my coupons (for the few items they’re still allowed on, LOL) and I take advantage of the occasional good deal. My point is that (and there IS a point here, somewhere, I swear!), for those of us in less populated areas with no LSS within 30 minutes, do we have much of a choice? Am I not to shop at all, except for the few times per year I can justify driving 45 minutes to a town I have no other business in? My answer, the one I’m completely comfortable with, would be no.

I’m sure there will be those who disagree, and that’s groovy. What is America if not a place where we can agree to disagree, right? But I think I’m doing more of a service toward keeping the scrapbooking industry alive – even if I can’t personally support LSSs the way that I used to – by shopping at the likes of Michaels and Tuesday Morning, than if I did not shop for scrapbooking supplies at all. Let’s face it…in this horrible economy, scrapbook spending of any kind is a luxury. If I can, in my small bloggy way, entice people to spend ANY money on ANY scrapbooking materials, well then, I call myself a winner, damn it! I blog about items and deals at Michaels because that is my mainline to supplies (yeah, that drug reference was intentional). If I had LSSs to publicize, I would. Damn straight. Before the blog redesign (and you loyal readers will vouch for this), I had about a bazillion links to ALL MOMENTS REMEMBERED, my favorite online store, all over my blog. I linked to STACEY and her store every chance I got. Well, now even the AMR online store has fallen victim to these times and, although Stacey still sells supplies online through her ETSY store, there is no longer an AMR online store to link to. {Happy side note: Stacey opened a brick-and-mortar AMR in her town in Oregon and, at last report, it was doing great!}

Bottom line, what I’m trying to say in my as always verbose way is this: I’m doing the best I can. I shop my 45-minutes-away-LSS as often as I can. I shop at Michaels to the point where they yell “Norm!” when I walk in the door. If I see something I like at Tuesday Morning or Costco, I shop and I share. I sell Memory Works so I can make a little mo’ money to…guess what?…spend on scrapbook supplies. I don’t mind if people question my motives or my method, because I know I’m just doing my thang.

And I know that I do it out of the love I have for this craft and my true, heartfelt desire to play a part in keeping it on life support through these crushing times. I hope in my own small way, I inspire and support you in doing the same. Of course, support your LSS! But don’t feel badly if you show your financial support in other ways, too.

Shop on, Sistas!

PS: I would dearly love to hear your thoughts on this issue, but please, keep it nice. No harshing on the nice lady who left the comment that generated this post, or I will edit/delete posts as necessary. If you would like to harsh on me, that’s fine….

Cropper Hopper to Organize Mike’s $1 Stamps

Okay, part 2 of getting organized with the Cropper Hopper goodies I recently bought at Tuesday Morning. Here is what I started with…a bunch of Michael’s $1 acrylic stamps in baggies, kinda sorted by Series, in a 12×12 Iris drawer. NOT a good arrangement. Again, every time I opened the drawer, it got jammed up. As anal as I was about keeping the sets together when I first started “collecting” them, now I don’t care and would rather have them sorted by topic.

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And how easy was that? I cut index cards down a bit to act as dividers. Nothing fancy, just wrote ’em in by hand. I cut the tops off of each stamp package to allow for easy use. I had originally planned to take them out of the package altogether but when I tried that, the stamps alone were so little, it seemed like they sunk way far down in the drawer. Man, I was SO ready to throw more packaging away, LOL!

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Here’s what it looks like with the drawer closed. Nice. Compact. Dust free. Love it. I’m hoping I’ll use them more now that they are so nicely organized.

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That drawer is pretty packed though, so now the question is, “Do I buy more storage drawers…or quit buying Mike’s stamps?”

If you know anything about me, you know the answer to that question…{wink}

Cropper Hopper Organization at Tuesday Morning

Made my monthly trip to The Big City and here is what I found at Tuesday Morning…

There were a lot of ANNA GRIFFIN packs – huge ones with 12×12 paper and tons of embellies to mini album kits.

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Here were some fun EK SUCCESS punches that were very tempting (but I resisted…can you?). These ones are a pacifier, arrow, and speech bubble. There were a few other shapes, too.

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For me, this is where I hit the motherlode….CROPPER HOPPER STORAGE !!! I had always wanting these when they first came out because I love vertical bookshelf storage for my scrappy stuff. I own stock in CH VERTICAL PAPER HOLDERS, ya know. But these items were out of my budget (because I am super cheap, yeah).

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But I picked up the 2-drawer/4-pocket binder ($8.99) which I plan to use to organize my card-making supplies. I don’t have a ton but right now they’re in some Iris drawers and not very well organized. The 3×3 embellishment drawer ($2.99) will be the perfect way to organize my Mike’s stamps finally! I’m really excited about that one. They’ve also been stacked in an Iris drawer…til now, LOL!

Here you can see the retail prices, and what a great deal Tuesday Morning has on them…

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Here is what the inside of the pocket binder looks like.

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When I get some schtuff inside my new storage, I’ll post pics and see what you think. Have you found any good deals at TM lately?

PS: Stay tuned for the next episode of Shopaholic Obsession….er, I mean….Scrapbook Obsession….when I’ll show you what’s new at Mike’s and what I picked up there….

AMR Online Crop: Monochromatic Challenge

Here was the challenge from Joscie:
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My challenge is pretty simple:
I find that using a monochromatic color scheme can have a strong impact, so I challenge you to create a layout, card or project in a monochromatic color scheme. You may choose any color in all its values (tints and shades) plus white, black or kraft.

here is the layout i created in shades of brown…. it’s called those eyes.

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“THOSE EYES” layout by Joscie Cutchens
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I’ve always wanted to do a single-color layout but probably wouldn’t have done it without this challenge. Here’s mine:

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Materials: Bazzill cardstock; thickers-type letters from Dollar Tree/Miss Elizabeth; unknown ribbon; everything else from Heidi Grace kit I got at Tuesday Morning ($25 retail for $10).

I never do 2-photo layouts either, but these were 2 random photos I had taken in our front yard last summer & now they are scrapped!

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