ScrapKit Club

It is that time again! Our next ScrapKit Club meeting is on Tuesday! Hope to see you there!

Let's try another contest...

If I was asked what one scrapbooking staple could I not live without, it would no doubt be CARDSTOCK! So for this contest, let's see what you can do with just photos and cardstock no patterned papers, no stickers, no ribbon - just photos and cardstock! Let's see how creative you can be! Feel free to use tools (punches, decorative scissors, crimpers and techniques such as tearing and quilling)! Be sure that I receive your submission (email me at tiffanylynpalm@hotmail.com) by September 13th to be counted!

Happy Scrapping!

Rub-Ons

Have you tried them? They have been around for a while and come in so many different forms, colors, shapes, you name it. I did a layout of my son's first t-ball season and I used rub-ons for the title, embellishments, and captions on the pictures. Yes, you can rub them right onto the pictures just as you would rub them on cardstock or pattered paper. You can even rub them onto glass (think candle holders, wine glasses, mirrors). There are lots of fun ways to use them and because there is such a variety, the possiblities are endless.

Raise your hand...

if you plan on attending the ScrapKit Club this coming Tuesday! We will meet at The Crafting Cottage (in East Corning) at 7pm. It will be the first night for our new set up - we will actually be working on the kits during the meeting. Bring along anything that you want to work with, paper trimmer, adhesive, photos, etc. First time scrapbooker? This is a perfect way to get started! The ladies in the group are great and will come up with great ideas to get you pointed in the right direction! Come and check it out!

And the winner is...

...Tarren! I will contact you soon so that you can pick up your paper!

Thank you to all of you who submitted! All of you are so talented! I think I will have to do more contests! You might want to check back often so you do not miss any great prizes!

Happy Scrapping!

Keep them coming...

The layouts that are coming in are great! I love seeing the wonderful designs! If anyone else still wants to submit, email me a photo this weekend!

Keep creating!

Tiffany

Paper anyone?

CHA is a huge sales floor - everyone wants you to walk into their booth, see their great products, and carry them in your store. Companies have many ways of trying to convince retailers to carry their products and one of my personal favorites is with give-aways! One company actually gave me a HUGE paper stack filled with brand new paper releases! I will have to check but it must be 100 papers or more. It is so yummy looking... I want to jump right in, tear sheets out and start scrapping. However, I have decided that I must restrain myself. Since I was the one who got to have the fun in Chicago, I thought I should let one of you have fun with the paper! So, I am going to give it away! But to who? Send me a picture of one of your favorite layouts and tell me why it is your favorite. I will select one lucky winner to come to the store and pick up the paper stack! Let's see...how about August 9th as a due date. You can email me (tiffanylynpalm@hotmail.com) a picture of your layout with your explanation of why it your favorite and I will announce the winner on August 10th here on my blog!

Happy scrapping!

Who knew?

I brought home a ton of catalogs from CHA - some of the companies we ordered from and some we did not. One of companies that I did order from was Glitz. You have to check them out at www.glitzitnow.com. Their stuff is very bold and edgy. I was not sure the girls back at the store were going to fall in love with it but I placed an order anyway because, well, I love it and I thought that other people out there would too! Well I was wrong! They loved it! I was floored! They were looking through the catalog, "Did you get this? What about this? Oh, this so cute!" So, needless to say, we will be placing another order! Check it out online and tell us what you think we should get!

Let's Go Clubbing!

Earlier this year I started a new club at The Crafting Cottage. I am happy to say that the ScrapKit Club really took off! The idea behind the club was that we would meet once a month, learn a technique, distribute kits, share what we made from the previous kit, chat, shop… it was nice, relaxed, and we shared tons of ideas. Most importantly, there are fabulous people! And who does not want to hang out with fabulous people who share the same passion for creating and getting our memories (while they are still fresh!) into beautifully decorated books?

That is a lot of fun to be had so why just ONCE a month? Here is what I am offering:

The ScrapKit Club (revised) – The way I see it even the best of ideas have room for improvement! So, after consulting my “advisors” (thank you L and S!), I have decided that rather than pick up the kits at the meeting, we will actually start working on them at the meeting. This will serve a couple of purposes – we can get to work right away while we are inspired and we can solicit the help of others. We can look through each other’s books and at magazines and get tons of ideas…this will give us the chance to get our layouts started, if not completed! We will still meet once a month and the prices of the kits will vary (up to $10) depending on what is included. This is basically a drop in club - no sign ups, no commitments. It is great to know who is coming so if you can, shoot me an email or give the store a call so I can have enough kits for everyone. 3rd Tuesday of each month from 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Next…

Scrapaholics – Some women join book clubs, some may even have poker nights – I scrapbook - but it isn’t really social and it gets kind of lonely! Also, it just never turns out that I have enough time or when there is some spare time I think of a million other things that I could/should do. I sometimes find it easier to leave my house to get anything done! Anyone relate? Scrapaholics would basically give us the time and space we need. This is your night to work on what you want! We will have the coffee brewing and there is sure to be great conversation, inspiration, and creativity galore as you use the die cut machines, stamps, and other fun tools to add that special something to your layouts! Scrapbooking is of course very personal but why can’t it be social too? Come and meet some great people and get some scrapbooking done while you are at it! Cost: $20 up front and $5 each night you attend or $10 drop in fee. 1st Thursday of each month – September 2008 to May 2009 from 5:00pm – 10:00pm

Finally…

Calendar Club – Have you ever taken your calendar down in December and found yourself flipping through the pages reliving some of the events and happenings of the past year? “Oh, remember in April when we went to Chicago and saw our cousins?” Or, looking back at pictures from the past year and realizing how much your kids have grown? I actually did a calendar scrapbook of a year and my family loves it! It is really neat to see everything laid out and remember all the fun (and ear infections)! This club will meet once a month starting at the end of January and will continue for an entire year. We will create scrapbook pages each month. It will be a great way to “keep up” (if there is such a thing) and will really give each person a feeling of accomplishment, and completion. I will bring my scrapbook to the store so that you can all get an idea of what your finished product may look like. Cost: $20 up front fee and $3 each month OR $50 for the full year and a coupon for 25% off any scrapbook. Last Thursday of every month - January 2009 to December 2009 from 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Post a comment, email me...let me know what you think!

Digital anyone?

I admit it, if you had asked me exactly 9 days ago if I was interested in scrapbooking digitally, I would have said, "No, thank you." (Just ask Georgiana!) Then I went to CHA. And although the industry has been telling retailers for years that digital was here to stay, we at The Crafting Cottage just could not get our heads or hands around it. What about the "touchy feely" aspect? Well, I am here to say that I have tried it, and this is good stuff! Take it from me, this is something you really have to see and try with your own hands before you decide either way. Luckily for you, I will be setting something up at East Corning so you can try it out, create a layout, play around. It is seriously addicting. During CHA I went to the Lasting Impressions booth to order brass stencils for the store. I left buying digital software and, sorry Cheryl, no brass stencils! When I brought my husband by the booth to get his "technological opinion" he was impressed. He even fooled around with it a little and added buttons and stitching to a layout! If any of you are wary of digital because you just are not comfortable around computers or just feel like it is too overwhelming to learn (that was me) have no fear. I will let you know as soon as we are set up and invite all of you to come and play with me! Just be prepared, it is addicting!

Happy Scrapping!

I'm back...

posting again and back from Chicago where I attended CHA! Almost 350 vendors and so much fun stuff! I placed plenty of orders and I am happy to say that I only placed 2 orders with companies that we already do business with... the rest are new! Check out Glitz, Dream Street Papers, and Cosmo Cricket to start out! And for those of you who love the die cuts that we make using our Pazzle machine, wait until you see what Pazzle has to offer you in terms of a great machine that you can have hooked up to your computer at home! My husband and I will debrief the gang back at the store and then you will not want to miss Pazzle Night that we will have in August! Amazing stuff! This is not just a scrapbookers tool! More later!

It's gone...

The felt made it's way to the Market Street store before I got my hands on it! So, instead I filled some of the space on my son's birthday layout with stamped images (of the number 5 - From a Hero Arts Clear Set). I really like how it turned out. With the hats that I made and the bright colors of the kid's clothes, I had a hard time finding a paper that included all of the colors and did not make the layout too busy - so I opted for a simple polka dot here and there, but otherwise, the background paper is white. I also used some of the sute tickets from Jenni Bowlin and chipboard letters from Scenic Route.

Not Quite....

I was working on a layout ofmy son's birthday party and it was just missing something...Then this morning I walked into the store and the Queen and Company FELT had arrived! I am so excited! I will try to post the layout when I finish it. The felt is so cute and self-adhesive! Yeah!

It's official...

no one has been able to leave the store without a new paper in hand! And now the new HERO ARTS stamps have arrived! I made tons of samples when I was in Boston using the stamps so you will have to stop by and see them! Along with the clear and wood mount stamps, we also received clear note cards, flowers (very cute!) and acrylic tags. If you have seen a Hero Arts stamp that you just love and have to have, but we do not have it, stop by the store on Saturday morning... we are going to take special orders for Hero Arts stamps! This will be on Saturday, April 26th only! And you may want to come early as we have a bus load of ladies from Binghamton invading our store in the afternoon! See you soon!

Bo Bunny is Here...

Yes, it arrived today and I already sense the need to re-order... we received 3 of the new word chipboard books: Friends, Family, and Love. I decorated one the other day and they are so much fun.

And look at the papers...

They are hard to see well in the picture but the top row is from the Star Struck Collection, the second row is the Organic Collection, then of course the Gone Wild papers and a little birthday one thrown in, and the bottom row is from the Double Dot Collection. I ordered a few new colors and then realized when I came back to the store that most of the first shipment that we had was sold out. Like I said...RE-ORDER!

In addition we also got a few chipboard shapes that I cannot wait to play with. I am really loving the chipboard. It is a fun element on scrapbook pages and cards! I am off to scrapbook a little bit for myself. With all the planning and creating we have been doing for the Windmill, I have not had any time. Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Check out my Slide Show!

ScrapKit Club Meeting on Tuesday

If you have not checked this out yet, now is the time! We have a great meeting coming up on Tuesday! Not only will people be sharing what they have done with their kits from last month, but we will be learning a technique, SEWING on our layouts, and picking up our new kits which consists of some very fun stuff! And, everyone that comes will be getting a special coupon and will get to see some of the new products that just came in! If you cannot make it this month but want to come in May, I will make up some extra kits. Just stop by the store to pick one up!

Ideas?

Okay, I need your help... as most of you know we have a Pazzles Creative Cutter machine at the store that we us to create various titles and shapes that people can use for their cards and scrapbook pages. I am in the process of coming up with more designs and I am wondering...what should I do? Please post your comments if you have ideas on what I should create and what colors I should use. I know what I like and what I would use, but I need to know what YOU are looking for!

They're here.....

Some of the new products have started to arrive! Wait until you see the new papers from SEI - absolutely stunning! They have mother's day written all over them! Pink and brown, butterflies and hearts, glitter and foil... Yummy!

We also go new stamps in from Technique Tuesday and Verses! Hope you stop in soon to check it all out!

Here are Barb and I just before beginning our all day Ranger workshop. Notice that we are still clean! We did end up getting a little messy that day but hey, we played hard, what do you expect! We really learned a lot about so many Ranger products! My personal favorite was the paint dabbers. http://www.rangerink.com/products/prod_paint_adirondackdab.htm

We used them to stamp with, we created backgounds by blending colors, we even "splatted" with them (hence, the aprons!) ... they are so versitile! I have used them to paint on the canvases and they work beautifully. The colors are fantastic!

The workshop was so fantastic, I cannot wait to share more with all of you. Please feel free to ask me any questions about the products and I will do my best to help you out.

Before I sign out, take a look at the box of goodie I got for the workshop...

New Products Ordered

Check out the adorable chipboard albums that we ordered from BoBunny...

http://bobunny.com/word%20book%20web%20pages/family.htm

I cannot wait to embellish one of these!

We also ordered the "Organic" and "Star Struck" papers that were just released. The Organic papers are so feminine yet vibrant and the Star Struck collection really gets me thinking about fun pages - school, birthdays, playground...

http://bobunny.com/word%20book%20web%20pages/papers.htm

Of course, I could not leave without adding to our Polka Dot collection! These papers are just as versatile as regular cardstock - the colors are fantastic anyway you combine them! I cannot wait to see what the members of my ScrapKit Club came up with!

And wait til you see the Chololat collection from SEI! (The name says it all, right!) You can check the papers out on the web-site although it does not do them justice! They are foiled and glittered and shimmery...a mother's day project for sure with this paper! If you liked SEI's Holly Lane collection that we carried at Christmas, you will love this!

New kit

Just yesterday I put up a new canvas sample at the store. I am offering it as a class but I also decided to make a kit so that people would have the option of taking it home and making it. It is kind of hard to tell from the picture but I used the back side of the canvas so that the picture hangs freely in the middle. I think it would make a fantastic mother's day gift. You could even replace the one big picture with a few smaller ones all grouped together. I am anxious to find out what people think of it...

A Little More...

about what I did...

One of the things that I love about going to this wholesale show is that a lot of the owners of the companies are actually there, teaching you about their products, sharing ideas, giving you tips, etc.

I was lucky enough to work with Stacy, of Stacy stamps, for not just one but TWO classes. In the first class we learned about coloring stamped images with 2 different colored pencil techniques. I cannot wait to teach you all what I have learned! And because she designs her images to be colored, they look phenomenal! In the second class we created boxes of coordinating cards. The cards are simple and stunning and the box was so fun to make - I even got to use memory mist for the first time and loved the results! Another class you will just have to check out!

Jenni Bowlin of Jenni Bowlin Studios was another designer I was lucky enough to take a class with. She has designed for a number of companies including Autumn Leaves (one of my favorite companies!). She shared with us a lot of ideas and we got to play with some of her new products!

I will try to get some pictures posted soon of some of the projects that I made.

We're back!

Barb and I have just returned back from Boston! What a fun (and exhausting) time it was! Between the two of us we took almost 20 classes (wow!) and one ALL DAY CLASS with Ranger! That was a blast! We truly feel like we played all weekend! However, we did work - worked hard on placing orders! We left Boston with about 10 orders placed with companies such as Magenta, SEI, My Favorite Things, Stacy Stamps, Technique Tuesday, Serendipity, BoBunny, Creative Impressions, Hero Arts, Hampton Art... We just cannot wait to get those boxes open!