Today's Sale Item of the Day

Here's today's sale item of the day over at Delovely Scrapbooks. The regular price for this item is $15.99. The sale price (today only) is $8.99!!!

SALE, SALE, SALE!!!

In an attempt to clear out the "old" and start with my new business venture, I am going to have a huge SALE!!! On my regular scrapbooking website Delovely Scrapbooks I will announce a new sale item or kit of the day EVERY DAY until everything is gone! This special sale starts tomorrow at 9:00am EST.

Sugar & Spice

I just love these jumbo clothespins. I am making two to give as gifts to a childhood friend of mine to display pictures of her two daughters. She recently had a baby boy and for that occasion, I am making a paper bag album. Having two boys of my own, I must have enough boy scrapbooking supplies on hand to make 50 boy scrapbook albums.


Supplies used: K & Co. (paper, stickers), Bazzill Basics (flower), Prima (flower)

Ribbon Mess

My messy craft room has been driving me crazy for weeks. The other night, I finally decided to tackle the first tiny project (while watching recorded episodes of General Hospital)...my ribbon mess! It had gotten completely out of control.


What did I learn from this experience? That I cannot buy more new ribbon! Oh, I have two other small baskets (like the white one on the right) full of other ribbons and fibers in addition to what is pictured here. I use ribbon all of the time, but I have to stop randomly picking up spools of ribbon every time I go into a craft store.


I'm pretty darn close to having the rest of my craft room organized...finally. I definitely need a few more storage pieces because right now I have stacks (well-organized stacks) of items that have no home.

Oh, and I fell in love with a fabric at Joann's the other day so I purchased a yard to act as my color inspiration for the room. I cannot wait to coerce my husband into painting my craft room for me. I wonder if I will have to fill the keg finally or if I can bribe him with just a 6-pack or two.

Disbelief

Last night I returned home from a scrapbooking crop in a pretty cheerful mood. Then I checked my email. I Remember When has closed up shop. What!?! I've been a fan of this company since attending the big scrapbook convention held in Bellevue, WA back in 2003 (the Making Memories box of buttons is the item that specifically hooked me that year). Not to mention that I've actually been an instructor with the company for the past 2+ years...and loving every second of my "job"!

So, what do I do now? My instinct is to just return to running my own individual business--wholesale accounts with a few vendors, focus on pre-made items, classes and kits. There are a number of other direct sales companies out there, but none of them speak to me the way IRW always has. I may like the products carried by one, but not the company structure. What to do, what to do...

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Oh, a BIG thank you to IRW/Xyron for not going the Scrap In A Snap route of going out of business. I'd much prefer that everything shut down on excellent terms. Yay!

Happy Day

I issued a card challenge in my Meetup group and felt compelled to participate as well. It was a simple challenge: make a new card using ribbon. One of my good friends has a birthday coming up so I wanted to make her a card. Let's hope I remember to mail it to her...I am awful at mailing things on time.

Do you like the ruffled ribbon? Originally, I was going to staple it to create this look. However, two things bothered me: 1. I didn't want to see the staples on the inside of the card and 2. I would have to go find the stapler. Instead, I used my Xyron tape runner on the back of the ribbon and then folded the ribbon to make it look like this.


Supplies used: Memory Box (card), Inkadinkado (cupcake stamp), American Crafts (patterned paper, stripe ribbon), Stampin' Up (rub-ons), Ranger Ink (glitter glue)

Camera Straps

It's the little things that make me smile. These camera straps most definitely make me smile!

I found this one here for $18.50.


This one is reversible. Woo hoo! Here's the link.

1900

1,900...that's the number of pictures sitting on my external hard drive waiting to be edited, uploaded to Shutterfly or Mpix, waiting to be printed. Oh, dear. Can you say overwhelmed??? That's most certainly what I'm feeling right now. Do I need to mention the 2,000 photos in photo albums or boxes that need to be organized and scrapbooked? I might as well give up now.

Thank goodness I am not someone who believes that every single photo must be in the scrapbook. I do think that they all need to be edited and printed, however. It is going to take me FOREVER to edit these photos. Maybe my boys will be especially "un-cute" this month and I won't feel the need to take a few hundred photos to add to our collection. Maybe we'll just stay home and potty train my stubborn little Nathan. How many photos can we take of him sitting on the potty, right? (That's where he is right now)

Leave me a comment telling me how many photos you have just waiting for your attention...especially if you have tons. Misery loves company.

A Funny Thing Happened

When I go into a scrapbooking store or to a convention, I always love it when the product displays include at least a few completed samples. My favorite scrapbook store in Washington (which went out of business--tax evasion, I think, but that's a different story) had handmade layouts displayed everywhere! They weren't the crazy, expensive layouts you see in magazines today, but layouts made with real pictures and supplies we can all afford.

For my display on Saturday, I made sure to bring a handful of completed samples. The picture below is a sample I made when we lived in Florida--18 months ago, maybe longer. I always had it on display near my Cosmo Cricket chipboard and occasionally I would sell an item or two. I loved making this project and always assumed others would as well. It wasn't until Saturday that my assumption rang true. I sold it all!

I Survived!!!

The 12-hour crop was a blast! I completed a whopping 2 pages for my 2006 Christmas album. Mind you, I was there as a vendor and demonstrator so I'm happy I had the chance to make anything. I sold a decent amount of I Remember When items and generated a lot of interest in my upcoming workshops. Success! Overall, I was disappointed by the number of no-shows, but since I was not the organizer I didn't really have any control over this. I can't wait for the next opportunity to show off IRW and our excellent line of products! I'll post a few pictures later tonight once my kids are sleeping.

Oh, today my husband officially became an old man...he turned 30 and is very depressed by this. I just reminded him how hot Brad Pitt looked in Troy and he was 40 at the time. I'm not so sure this made him feel better. :)