Inspired Blueprints

So, we were one of the sponsors for Inspired Blueprints this month and I managed to get two layouts done based on one of the sketches.  I have more in the works but these are done.  Based on sketch #31:

And some other random things 

I'm working on using some new products.

Still alive....

Just busy!

We're sponsoring Inspired Blueprints this month ON TOP OF the Online Shop Hop.  So to say life is crazy is an understatement.  

I have managed to get a little scrapping in - but that will be shared later.  I will have more things finished this weekend and then I can do the 'big reveal'.

What else?

Been sitting on the couch watching the Kings get off to an amazing start.  Currently waiting another 2 long days before the next game.  They're in New York this week and its killing me that I'm not there to see them.  One day, I'm going to plan a trip to New York around the Kings road trip.  Oh and the  last time they had a record this good?  1992-93.  The same year they went to the Finals.  Trying really hard not to get excited about it.  Its still early.

And this little guy.....

is my new Kings buddy.  He watches 'hawky' with mama.  'Wanna play hawky mama'.  I swear I didn't teach him that.  He said it on his own!!!

On a sidenote, it looks like my mother has already been researching Shattucks St. Marys for him.

More on that later too.  I have videos of my little All Star to share.

In other hockey news, 'my' goalie is doing well this season.  Looks like a change of scenery did him some good.  He has a decent coach and goaltending mentor.  So, if he gets to play more than 1 game this season, maybe he can claim that solid #2 position.  But I wouldn't put it past Dave Tippett to made him ride the bench all season long!  

Its that time of year again......

Most people are excited about fall, the kids going back to school or Christmas being less than 100 days away.Me?  I'm excited about this:

And this:

This season is different for me.  I finally let go of my season seats - something that ripped my little heart out.  As much as I'm going to miss this, I'm also relieved that I won't be functioning on minimal sleep and replaying the games in my head the next day as my head bobs up and down.

Don't worry, you'll still know where to find me on game nights - Row 1 Seat 1 - Couch City baby!

I have my Kings jersey (I have 7 to choose from), my Kings blanket and several other items of fashion interest that make it into rotation.

I have tickets to a handful of the important games - you know, like when Ph

oenix comes to town or the East Coast invades the West Coast.

I did not, however, purchase tickets to any games against the Ducks, Sharks etc.  We spend way too much time on the ice with them.  Besides, I'm not making the trek up to Staples Center when the Duck fans decide to attend.  And they claim the Kings fans are rude, crude and vapid.  Takes one to know one!

The only good thing to come out at those games is Duckhunter.  

I will however, make the trek up to Staples multiple times this year to see my Goaltender who the Kings traded last season.  My goaltender.  

If he and the rest of the Coyotes can overcome the ownership issues and put the Weak One, I mean Wayne Gretzky, behind them they have the potential to be a contender this season.  Scary words, I know.  Trust me, when the Kings fail horrifically every season, you have to have something to fall back on.  I have my 'other' teams.  My backups, my standbys.

Anyway, no more of this hot mess behind the Yotes bench this season.  Seriously, angry much?  I think he spent at least 55 of the 60 minutes in the game like this.  I really thought (read wished) his head would explode but it never did.  Yikes.

Since My Goalie plays for Phoenix now, I have to put them on my reserves list.  

Anyway, its been a long offseason and with the start of every new season comes new hope.  This could be the year.  Heck, I'd settle for making it into the first round of the playoffs.  Everything after that is frosting on the cupcake!

Summer Documented

I'm almost done with my summer mini album - Summer Documented.  Since we were sponsoring Elle's Studio in September I pulled out all of my Elle's tags and some of the new ones to work with.  She came up with the idea and I loved it!  It was a little easier than the December Daily by Ali Edwards.  This was nice and simple and I didn't feel bad if I didn't scrap every day!  I highlighted the summer events on either a simple one or two page layout in a mini album.

I've had one of the canvas albums by Prima and Donna Downy since they arrived in the store and I've been hoarding it.  I never know what to do with something like this but seeing June's idea, I ran with it!

I loved working on every page.   I challenged myself to try new techniques and even though some of them didn't come out as expected, I still LOVE this album.

Carrie made one too and we'll both be featured on Elle's blog this week!  I also emailed my album idea to Donna Downey when someone who works for her told me that she needed to see it.  So I emailed her. 

Want to see it?  Check out my gallery.

How I made the cover:

Prima Canvas Album

Paint

Stickles

Fiskars Boarder Punch

Sequin Flower

Fancy Pants

Circle Punch

Mists

First, I painted the cover a nice mint green.  The book comes in a plain canvas color with cream colored ribbon borders.  I covered those using Fabritac and Fancy Pants ribbon.  The book is bound with cream colored ribbon as well so I used some of the new Tattered Angels mists to color it.  It has a dark orange color with just a hint of glimmer.  

The letters I used are no longer available from Making Memories.  They were part of a limited release with their summer line.  I used Kaiser pearls but any will do. 

The Sequin flower is something I picked up for the Vintage Shoppe.  They come in 5 fun colors.  I thought the blue tied in nicely.  

To make the sun, I used a 2 inch circle punch and backed it with chipboard.  The 'rays' are the Fiskars border punch.  I Stickled the yellow ones.  

If you haven't played with this album yet, you need to get one.  They are a lot of fun to mist, paint, stamp - whatever!  And now we have refill pages.  This book holds a lot!  I added my own pages using chipboard.  It comes with 5 canvas pages and 5 clear plastic page protectors for a total of 10.  I added at least another 10 pages of my own and have plenty of room to add the few more pages I still need to complete.

I guess the loss of my favorite adhesive.....

caused me to disappear!

Sorry.

Its been very busy filling orders, entering new product and running contests.  Just crazy.  And then there's life.  Life gets in the way sometimes doesn't it?

 Just wanted to share a few layouts here. 

Tree Hugger - Crate Paper, Prima felt and K & Co alphabet.

Pony Rides - Bazzill Kraft and Collage Press
Little Talker - Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey papers and sticker letters.
A to Z book.  I used my Bind it All for the first time to bind together the cards from K & Co's A to Z line.  I ordered the cards from Studio Calico and used the ideas from their Design Team for the cover.  Nick loves this more than the light up talk toys we bought that are supposed to teach him letters.






You can see more of my layouts in my gallery.

I have a bunch of pictures to share from the past couple of weeks.

Death of an adhesive....

When you get an email saying a product is going to be discontinued, normally you probably feel sad for the first 30 seconds and then you move on with your life.  Now, if that were a scrapbook product, you'd probably find 10 other companies that make the same thing and have no problem finding a replacement.

When I got the email from my supplier saying Kokuyo was no longer manufacturing their fabulous adhesives, I was devastated.  I love this adhesive.  I've always had issues with adhesives and I was one of those people that would hit up Michaels or any other store looking for the perfect one.

I found 100 different kinds and none of them ever seemed to work.  Those Hermafix Squares - I fought with those stupid little squares.  My roller never seemed to work right so I had to peel them off by hand.  I'd find them in places they shouldn't be.  

Then there was another roller square product - can't think of the name.  They came in a box on a roll.  You peeled them off the backing and put them on your product.  Then there was another backing to pull off.  Unless you had some special tool to pry that second backing off, you were fighting with that too.

Then I tried Tombow.  If you want something to stay stuck, don't use the Tombow.  (I hear they have updated the adhesive and it actually works.  Not in the mood to test that theory.)

On and on, I went, plowing through at least 10 more adhesives including Glue Dots and Zots.  Man, do THOSE end up in places you never imagined.  Poor Rascal had them in his fur and I found one on my chest.  Yep, never scrap in a tank top when you're using Glue Dots.....

And then, while perusing blogs one day, I came across Ali Edwards blog where someone from Japan sent her a few of these new adhesive rollers.  Something Kookiyo.... Kookoy.....oh yeah - KOKUYO!

Man were they hard to find in the US at first.  But once Ali mentioned them, it only took a few weeks for them to start showing up everywhere!  I pounced.  If ALI said they worked, they were worth a try.  

My first roller arrived in the mail.  I only bought one.  No sense in stocking up on something that may NOT work.  It was like heaven.  The adhesive rolled on so easily, stayed on and oh my gosh!  My product was still adhered to the page when I got up the next morning.  (*cough*Tombow*cough*)  I did another page and oops!  I didn't like the picture where it was.  I gently lifted the picture and moved it.  The little bit of adhesive that was stuck to the paper just rubbed right off.  Like magic.  It just rubbed away.  No evidence found.  No Un Du, no Goo Be Gone, just a rub of the finger and it was gone.

Wow.  I had to have more.  On my eternal quest to find more, I noticed more stores were carrying it, including my local store.  Yeah!

Now imagine how excited I was when I opened my store and was able to purchase this stuff wholesale.  Can you see my gleaming smile through the internet?

My mother loves the Tape n Roller while I prefer the Dot n Roller.  So while stocking the store, I purchased a few cases of this stuff for us.  Nothing like having a nice back stock of adhesive right?

So when that fateful email arrived in my inbox, I shuddered.  'PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY'.  Those words jumped out at me.  I immediately logged into my account and tried to order some but they were already sold out.  I hit up 2 more suppliers and nothing.

I hit online stores.  Gone.  Word spread like wildfire and there were even posts on other message boards about it.  People helping others find this elusive adhesive.  People wondering what to do, what to use next.

Sure I have my trusty ATG gun but lugging around 6 pounds of military strength adhesive is not suitable for crops and such.  Its a bit hard to handle at times and a lot less savvy than my Kokuyo.  

My favorite color is blue.  Not pink, blue.  So when tools and things come out in pink, I shudder.  Why?  Just because every scrapper is a woman, does not mean every tool should come in pink.  Pink does not = Female.  We like other colors.  And my cool little BLUE Kokuyo was so cool.  It was like they were thinking of me when they made it.  My very own blue tool.

The refills were so easy to pop in.  Just pull the old one out and pop the new one in.  There was never an issue with goo buildup.  No clogging.  No tearing.  

I finally found a source.  They still had some left.  I quickly snapped up several (okay 100) refills.  I'm in a state of denial and will be until those last refills are used up.  I use less now, taking great care how much I apply.  I can't be quick to use it because its gone.  

No more Kokuyo.  It was even a cool name to say.  Kokuyo.  Kokuyo.  Kokuyo.

Its a sad day when a scrapper hugs a box of adhesives and my husband might be ready to commit me.  The thing of it is, this WAS a great adhesive.  I say 'was' because it is no more.  If you never tried it, you missed out.   If you own some, hoard it.  If you can find it anywhere, hoard it.

As word spreads, I'm reading more and more about the love for this adhesive online.  Personal blogs make up the vast obituary for this grand adhesive.

Kokuyo lovers, this is for you.  I'm printing out the blog posts that discuss the need and want for the product as well as the message board posts and sending them to Kokuyo.  They need to know what a great product they discontinued - all for some office supplies.

I'm off to hug my adhesive before I go to bed.

Making Memories

And then this is the one where I win.  I taped the first winner drawn and she didn't respond so they drew another number.  Mine.

I figured what I had recorded up to this point was good enough so halfway through this, I *thought* I had turned the Flip off.  But it was still recording.  So the second half of this video is all butts.  Sorry.

If you get motion sickness, I don't recommend watching.  Instead, just listen.  The crazy lady who screams at the end......is me.  

Tim Holtz Make n Take

My Minds Eye Booth

CHA VIdeo - October Afternoon Booth

A quick video of the OA booth and Make'n'Take.

CHA Day 3

By now, we know our way around.  We've figured out the parking and shuttle schedules.

Off to the show!

Today is for Make 'n' Takes and more ordering.  I picked up more catalogs and placed more orders.  Oh, and more giveaways were collected today.....  (hint hint)

I check in on the blog to make sure the posts are looking good.  So far, the Design Team is really making you drool over the new stuff.  I'm so glad you guys are excited about the new releases!

More MNT's, more orders, stop for lunch, and repeat!

Then its time for the 2 pm Making Memories Slice giveaway.  I was so busy ordering product at the My Minds Eye booth (had to have it ALL) that we missed it the day before.  By the way, if you haven't seen the eye candy from MME, you'll need to look out for my video.  Not only are their products fun, but they send out the men to sell their products.  Men.  This booth is all male.  One of them even looks like Josh Hartnett.  So to say we were drooling in this booth would be an understandment.  We were drooling over the papers.  Yeah.  Thats it.

Anyway, back to the Slice.  So we headed over to the MM Booth to get our raffle tickets and get as close to the podium as possible for the raffle.  Its always a good time in the MM booth when they do this.  You can see some of the excitement on their blog.  I think the entire show floor heads to the MM booth for this.

Wouldn't you know, the film cameras are there filming for the CHA site.  

Lights, Camera, Action!

They are giving away 5 Slices and if we're loud enough, they'll give away more.  So the crowd goes WILD!

I'm taking video using my Flip camera (love this thing!)  I figure getting 2 or 3 of the winners on video is enough to give you an idea of the buzz, right?

Thinking I had turned off the camera, I focus on my raffle ticket.  As they get ready to call the next number, they kick over the bucket of tickets and they all fall on the floor.  Panic ensues as they gather the tickets and pick one.  613417.  Darn!  I'm 613419.  Michelle has 613418.  How close, right?

Last call for 613417.  No one claims it so they pull another ticket.  You can tell by the look on their faces that the next ticket is.....well....close to the first ticket.  So the crowd goes wild guessing the new number.  6.......1.........3..........4...........1...................

........9.

I still have no idea its me until Michelle says 'Thats you!'.  Then I scream like a little girl.  All of this is caught on video except that its just sound.  What you see in the video are peoples rear ends and chests.  I thought the camera was off all the while it was still taping as it dangled from my wrist.  So you can *hear* all of this going on in the background but you can't see it.  Which is probably a good thing because I screamed really loud and if the camera had caught that..... well, you might not like me very much.

So here is that lovely video footage from the Slice giveaway.

Oh and yes, the Slice WILL be given away - I'm still thinking of a promotion for it.  Its the brand new Pink Slice that retails for $180.  It comes with 2 cartridges.  If you are interested in purchasing the new Slice, new cards or any of the older cards, please email me.  I will be happy to special order any Slice supplies.

CHA Day 1 & 2

Monday I headed to the airport nice and early. I wanted to get to Orlando quick and if I had superpowers, I would have flown myself.

One stopover in Phoenix and then on to Orlando. I made it in early and waited for my cousin, Michelle. (Sadly, neither one of us got pictures of us together the entire time!)

When she got there, we headed to the resort. She's a Disney Vacation Club owner so I got treated to some Southern Disney hospitality. We stayed at the Old Key West Resort. All I can say is - awesome! This place had the feel of Key West and the grounds were gorgeous!

No plain jane hotel for me this year! I could live in this place!

Anyway, we had a late dinner and then headed off to bed to get ready for the next day. Michelle had never been to CHA so I was a little more excited than usual. I got a chance to show a newbie around. Usually, I'm squealing to myself since I'm alone at the Summer shows. This year, I got to share it all with another person who loves this hobby as much as I do.

The first day, we ran from booth to booth looking at new products, talking to the manufacturers, placing orders and doing Make'n'Takes.

I had a rolling bag full of catalogs and samples. Yes, I said SAMPLES!! New papers, new Distress Stickles, new Glimmer Mists...... New new new. Does that make you happy? There will be chances to win all of this stuff. I even have all 4 NEW Basic Grey lines that you can win, but you'll have to stay tuned for that!

We stopped for a quick bite to eat and then back to the show. While it was smaller this year, it was nicer. I got a chance to really meet with the manufacturers without feeling pressured to move on and let someone else have a chance. I got more video this time around too.

By the way, videos and pictures will be posted sometime this weekend. I have almost 800 pictures that I need to edit and videos I need to edit. Working on those in between filling your orders! Man, you ladies love to shop!

With a full day of shopping behind us, we headed out to dinner and hit a local scrapbook store.

Now, I'm a sucker for restaurants so I love to eat at places I can't find at home. So when I'm in the area, Cracker Barrel and Steak n Shake are two of my faves.

This is where the internet just failed on me. After dinner, I uploaded all of the days photos to the laptop and the internet connection just wasn't enough for me to upload them! Grrrrrr.......

Off to bed. Another long day tomorrow.

Stay tuned for Day 2 updates.

July Recap

I keep meaning to post and then I forget or something else comes along to hold my attention. Now the month is practically over.....

Its been a busy month for the store as I try to clear out the old product to make room for the new.

4th of July - came and went. Took Nick to see his first fireworks show. Loved it. Can't wait for next year.

And had homemade ice cream.

And Sparklers.

Then we took him to the Lego Store in Ontario to help a Master Builder build and 8 foot pirate model. Sounds like fun right? Poor guy was being run over by the bigger kids in their frenzy to build build build. One kid was building three sets at once and he did them all in under a minute. He'd run over, deliver the three bricks and then run back to the table for more. I'm sure there wasn't much enjoyment in it for him. Seriously, it wasn't a competition.

We got a certificate and a $5 gift card to use in the store so we treked back over there to look for a Duplo set for him. He's in love with the plain blocks and the Zoo sets right now so we got a couple of those to hold him over until his birthday.

They have this cool wall where you can buy single legos. You pay a flat fee for the bucket and fill it. You can get plain blocks or all the cool specialty ones. I bought a bunch of trees, flowers and picket fences for my next Lego project.

And on the way back to the Lego store, Nick caught sight of the fish tank in the Rainforest Cafe. I though we'd never get out of there!! We had to drag him away, kicking and screaming. Leaving fish is not his favorite thing. I'm sure he could sit and stare at them all day.

Then we did Goofys Kitchen this weekend for his birthday party. He enjoyed every second of that brunch. The food was excellent and the entertainment just the right pace. About every half hour, they announce something is going on in Goofys Kitchen and the kids all race to the buffet area. Some song and dance routine and then back to the tables.

The buffet was delish! Everything you could imagine. An entire breakfast and lunch selection laid out. And the odd thing was shaped like Mickey. Who doesn't love Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes and waffles?

Some characters come around and sit at your table while you eat. Nick seemed to get a kick out of everyone that stopped by and I think he was the only kid under 5 who wasn't afraid of them. He was fascinated.

Today is his real birthday and I can't wait for him to wake up. He's the special boy today and the family will be spoiling him rotten.

Heather?

Are you out there?  You won my RAK.  Get back to me before Friday at 5 pm to claim your prize.  If not, I'll pick another winner.  I know there were a lot of you who wanted it.

Aw man, its been such a busy month.  July hates me.

I overbooked myself as usual.  As if I didn't already have enough to do, I booked crops for almost every weekend.  Throw in the holiday, birthdays and CHA and you have one busy month.

I'm excited though.  August is pretty much empty except for the new product that starts rolling in.

Really excited about CHA.  I'm starting to search the blogs and sites for Sneak Peeks for everyone.  I'm hoping there are a few more in the coming weeks.  I'm really happy with the new lines from Pink Paislee.  They always outdo themselves and I love that.

Just got an update from Making Memories.  Lots of goodies in the newsletter but I'll wait to share that later.  One of the sneaks is already on their blog but its gets better!

American Crafts too.  Their paper doesn't usually sell for me but there are some really cute patterns out this time around.  I'll have to see what they look like in person.  Very excited about the new Thickers.  I might have to do a Thickers RAK soon to clear out some of the excess Thickers I have on my Clip It Up.  That poor thing is overflowing with Thickers.  Every time I make an effort to use a bunch of them, AC comes out with more!  Ack!  I told my husband that if I die he must bury me with my Thickers and Glossy Accents.  

What else is exciting me?  Oh, I figured out the reason my Flip videos weren't posting last time around so there WILL be videos from the show when I get back.  Stupid Windows OS.  Worthless.

Replaced my missing planner with a sleek new one that goes through December of next year.  But with the abuse this one is taking, I'm not sure its going to make it that long. But I love it!  Every day is filled with blog post ideas, sale dates and other tidbits of store info.  But it keeps me organized.

After a very busy week, I plan on taking Saturday and Sunday off to crop with my good friend Cori.  (HI!)  We're pulling an all-nighter.  Or an as late as we can go nighter.  There will be frosty, fruity alcoholic beverages involved so look for layouts with crooked pictures, possibly some funny pictures and who knows what else.  I'm sending the man and little man away for the weekend.  Don't want to keep them up with our antics....

And maybe I'll get around to taking pictures of the stack of layouts I finished at a crop last week.  Too much going on.  

So, Heather, send me an email - bmw1367@gmail.com to claim your Lil Davis RAK.  If not, some other lucky person wins it.

RAK Winner

And the winner is....

 heather said...

Hi! I would love to share the product. My 7 year old daughter and I split up everything we get so she can scrapbook too.

7/01/2009 7:22 AM

Heather, email me at bmw1367 (at) gmail dot com with your mailing address and I will get your goodies in the mail.

I was laughing reading some of your comments.

Living close to a manufacturer - yes, its tough.  Especially when they do warehouse sales and everything is a buck!!  I was totally into the OLD Lil Davis.  They had a lot of chipboard, canvas and fun stuff.  Totally miss it.  BUT, I have too much of it. 

I am cleaning out for the new CHA stuff.  Cleaning out the store and my personal stash.  I've been pretty good about using the new stuff when I get it but the poor older stuff is cramping my style.  I have a new RAK coming this weekend so stay tuned.  :)  

Looks like I'm now a....

Habs fan....

Cammy signs with the Habs.  At least when he was with Calgary I got to see more of him.  Now that he's in Montreal - I'm going to need to renew my Center Ice account.

Oh well, he got a raise!!

Just waiting for the dust to settle on free agency before I freak out anymore.

See the post below for the giveaway.

RAK

So, like many of you, I've been purging and cleaning out my room.  I've been collecting for almost 10 years and I still find drawers with miscellaneous items from a class or kit and I wonder why I kept them....

I also found that my scrap room has drifted out of the room, into the hallway and then the spare bedroom.

I have a lot of stuff and no matter how much I clean, it seems to multiply.

So in an ongoing effort to clean out drawers and such, I have a RAK.

Does anyone remember the good ol' product from Lil Davis?  I still miss the old Jenni Bowlin products....

Their warehouse was located way too close to me and when they'd have their warehouse sales, I took advantage of them.  I LOVED stocking up on some of the vintage stuff.

I have 2 drawers full of LDD items.  I just sorted them into 2 piles.  One of things I want to use right away and another for the RAK.

It includes some really cool vinyl letters, labels, metal frames, epoxy letters and a few other odds and ends.  Just a bunch of vintage LDD items that need a good home.

Anyone interested?

Leave a comment here and I'll pick a winner next Monday.

Random pics from this weekend.....

So we celebrate Fathers Day and my Birthday last week. Somewhere in there, we found time to attend a BBQ at my aunts house.

Nick got to go in a big pool for the first time in a year. So different for him than the pathetic little blowup Target special currently gracing my back yard. Its also killing my grass but hey? What wouldn't a parent do for their kid, right? Plus, mom and dad like to take advantage of the water now and then.

And I bought some strings of beads last weekend to finish some projects. Used my new Slice to cut some fun things for some mobiles. Once I finish stringing them up, I'll post pictures.