Saturday, August 29, 2009

Fiskateers

www.fiskateers.com

I am a member of the Fiskateers. I haven't been a member very long but it's been a great experience. Everyone I've met online & in person has been so nice, friendly, helpful, enthusiastic, inspiring, creative, I could just go on forever with the adjectives....

I think people get intimidated about joining since it's not a type in your name & password then you're in kind of forum/group. I hesitated at first too. All you do have to email one of the 4 gals on the main page & reply back to their email to gain access & create an account. Yes it's a bit different but it's so worth it. The people really make the Fiskateers site a fantastic place.

I hope you will join in the fun over at Fiskateers. Click here to visit the site.
There is an online crop going on today so now is the perfect time to see what's going on.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Guest Blogger

It's my day to post on the Everything Scrapp'n Store Blog.

There's so much fantastic products coming in & it's really got my creative juices going.

Head on over to the blog & see my inspiration. Please leave me a comment over there too so I know you stopped by. Click here.

Remember all the new products are on sale the first week they are in inventory so buy early for best selection & price (you don't see that very often)...

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Grrr Still Having Internet & Phone Problems

After Charter Cable came out on Friday I was hoping it was finally fixed... I mean it's been over 3 weeks... Unfortunately that's not the case.

I'm up and down like a hiccup. It's so aggravating! I've gotten the most results from tweeting a snarky remark about one of the techs on Twitter. It cracks me up that that got more results & people stirred up then my hundred calls to customer service, cell phones of techs & supervisors, & even corporate. I guess they pay people to monitor the Twitter board because they don't want a bad name to get out for Charter. Oh well I just pray that it gets fixed once and for all this week I can't take another week of going to the library or Starbucks to use the internet. My cell phone minutes are already gone for the month. Since we have all three services with Charter TV/Phone/Internet it saves us money but also puts us in the dark ages when there is a problem. It seems we live in a famous outtage area according to the techs - isn't that wonderful....

Well I didn't want you to think I had forgotten about you or fallen off the face of the earth. Thanks so much for the email, PMs concerning my health. I'm fine thankfully it's just stupid Charter Cable keeping me from being a part of the creative community I love.

There's lots of new product coming in at Everything Scrapp'n. New Jenni Bowlin Bingo Cards, Letters & Buttons, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Limitted Edition Colors, Rusty Pickle line that even though it's beachy looking I can see being used for some of my guy layouts, & more. The huge Prima order should be in later next week & 2 of the Pink Paislee lines will be in early in the week. As always new product is on sale for 15% off so go over to the store & get the latest & greatest while they are in stock. Click HERE to shop.

Have a great day!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Great Weekend

It was so good to have my hubby back for a little over a day. Last week he was taking his mom to the doctors & came across a job he couldn't pass up. We have been praying for a long time for another job opportunity to open up. Charley is such a hard worker & he really gives his all to his employer. His dream is to own his own business again & he had hoped it would be a scaffolding store but that never came to be in his last position. I guess he was too valuable as just a general manager to the owner that he wouldn't allow him to purchase a store. Oh well it's his loss since Charley ran his company as if he owned it always putting the company first. It will be hard to have him gone during the week working in Alabama. He really seemed happy & relaxed for the first time in over a year with the stresses & paycuts of his prior job behind him. He's been going to church with his brother & dad. Which is a miracle as his family was never church goers - His dad & brother were even baptized yesterday! I'll have to stay over here in Georgia for a while until the housing market picks back up & we can get a little more money out of the house. Oh well I guess with my evenings alone the bright side is I'll have more "play" money to buy new products.

Did you all do the Cards For Heroes blog hop over the weekend? It was filled with inspiration. I hope you join in & make some cards for the troops.

So without further ado.....
the winner of the stamp set & rub-ons is.....

Dawn said...

First of all, this card is fantastic, I think it's my favorite card so far, it's just gorgeous. Your so talented. Your blog is great! I'll be checking you out again!

August 15, 2009 9:49 AM

Congratulations Dawn I left a comment on your blog. Email me at sgray110@gmail.com your address & I'll get them out to you this week.

Thanks everyone for the encouraging comments.

Have a great Monday & remember to do something creative.


Thursday, August 13, 2009

Blog Hop

My blog is a stop on 2 hops today...

So it's Everything Scrapp'n Design Team Reveal & Unity Hip Hop Hangover Day!

I used a Unity Stamps journaling block on my layout. They have become quite my go to supply lately. I love stamps because they can be used over and over again. They really are "green" & economical.

I had so much fun using the new Nikki Sivils "Sweet Cherry Pie" line on this page. I fell in love with these "bread tags" when I visited her booth. I thought now that's a unique embellishment! (inside joke... during the giveaways when I asked for comments on what you wanted to see in the ES shop so many of you said "unique embellishments" - hope we rose to the challenge & will be stocking them now and in the coming weeks). This line is in stock at the Everything Scrapp'n store & ready to ship.

We had an "interesting" walk to CHA convention center each morning & afternoon since our hotel wasn't on the shuttle bus route & the "trolley" we could ride was normally a no show. In the mornings these old joints were stiff so I was usually bringing up the rear & I shot a photo to remember this.


I used Stazon to stamp on the bread tag then stapled the ribbon thru it. Did you notice that I used Tim Holtz game spinners for the center of the flower... that is to symbolize how turned around I would get walking thru the multiple parking lots on our trek to & from the hotel each day.


Supplies:
Cardstock (Bazzill - Kraft, Bazzill - White OP, Bazzill - Cocoa); Paper (Nikki Sivils Cherry Cutie Cut-Ups/Cherry Sweet, ); Embellishments (Nikki Sivils - Bread Tag, Prima - Flowers, Tim Holtz - Spinners, Misc Stash - Buttons, American Crafts - Ribbon); Ink (Stazon); Stamps (Unity Stamp Company -USK-197-5 Scalloped Details & Dates & Hero Arts); Punch (EK Success); Letters (Making Memories - Tiny Alpha & American Crafts - Thickers)

I'm such a fan of Graphics 45 papers. So when I saw "Domestic Goddess" line with brighter colors I knew I had to have at least one piece of everything in the line. Heather has this all loaded in the store for preorder to ship ASAP when it comes in next week.

The geometric patterns are perfect for altered projects along with cards & layouts. I had this birdhouse that I picked up on clearance at Michaels a couple months ago & decided this was the time to take a crack at it.

Supplies:
Paper (Graphics 45 -Domestic Goddess Tags, Graphics 45 -My Pretty Garden, Graphics 45 - Yours Truly, Graphics 45 - Tea Time); Cardstock (Bo Bunny); Adhesive (Golden - Gel Medium Matte Finish); Ribbon (Misc Stash)

Remember all new product is on sale for 15% off when it comes into the store so hurry in for best selections. The new limited edition fall & Halloween colors of Glimmer Mist are available in the store for preorder. You will want to get these all are super yummy & on sale for short time. Click here to get yours.

If you'd like to start the blogs from the beginning go to here for Everything Scrapp'n's blog LEAVE A COMMENT THERE FOR A CHANCE AT A RAK OF GOODIES FROM CHA & here for Unity's blog. There sure is tons of inspiration along the way.

Thanks for visiting & remember the Cards For Heroes Holiday Mini Hop on Saturday. I'm participating & have a great new Christmas Card that will be going to CFH.

Cards For Heroes Blog Hop





Welcome to my stop on the Cards For Heroes Holiday Card Inspiration Mini Blog Hop. If you stumbled onto my blog without doing the hop & want to start from the beginning head on over to CFH Blog HERE. Along the way you will see many different styles of cards to inspire you.

Cards for Heroes is an amazing organization that gets blank homemade greeting cards into the hands of our soldiers on active duty all over the world. This really blesses the soldiers with something a little special to send back home to their loved ones. The blog is filled with many stories & thank yous from the soldiers who have recieved the cards. I love being involved in this organization because it is something I can do with my love of paper crafts & a way I can send a little thank you to those serving whom I so admire. I have a package ready to send next week with my 25+1 cards for the summer card making drive.

I love vintage things & that translates into my cardmaking & scrapbooking. Graphics 45 has some great vintage theme papers. This card was really easy to make but doesn't lack the little details that make it special. By adding simple machine stitching to the layers it adds texture & interest. Inking the edges of the papers with a little brown chalk ink ages the new paper instantly. A bit of ribbon tied in a knot brings the whole card together & adds more texture. I wanted the greeting to pop so I punched out a tag using inexpensive kraft paper & added my favorite sentiment from Unity Stamp Company.


Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzill, Paper Resources & The Paper Company); Paper (Graphics 45); Ribbon (Joann's Craft Essentials); Brad (The Paper Studio); Punch (McGill); Stamps (Unity Stamp Company & Inkadinkado); Ink (Ranger & Colorbox); Thread (Coats & Clarks)

When you are finished getting inspired on the blog hop I encourage you to make some holiday cards to send to Cards for Heroes. The deadline is November 1st so that there will be plenty of time for the soldiers to receive & send them on to their family & friends. They have some tips on the blog here. The only main rule that can't be broken is NO GLITTER. Because that will make the soldiers visible to the enemy at night with night vision goggles.

I am offering a RAK for all of my visitors today. Leave a comment & you will be entered to win a set of wooden stamps by Anna Griffin & some Me & My Big Ideas rub ons. Contest closes Sunday, August 16th at 11:59 pm.


The store I design for is also having a RAK drawing for some brand new prizes picked up at CHA (I bet there will be new Rock Candy Stickles in the box, along with some great other new products) a couple weeks ago head on over to the Everything Scrapp'n Online Scrapbook Store Blog & leave a comment for a chance to win.


Thanks so much for visiting & the next stop is the very talented Tammy. Her cards are so cute & filled with whimsy.


Monday, August 10, 2009

We Have a Winner....

The winner of the Making Memories Slice Apron is.....

Pamela said...

Love your projects! Great work!

August 7, 2009 5:08 PM

Congratulations Pamela. Send me your address at sgray110@gmail.com & I'll get it right out to you!

I also wanted to let you know of an upcoming Cards For Heroes Holiday Blog Hop this weekend.

Make plans to join in the hopping or create a card & be a stop on the hop. Check their blog for more details. It's an awesome way to support our troops

Have a wonderful day

Friday, August 7, 2009

Hip Hop Hangover & RAK

It's Unity Stamp Co Hip Hop Hangover day!

I completed this layout yesterday that I started at the CHA Supershow Crop World's Biggest Crop (that didn't quite make it but it was still a fun time) on Friday night using photos from my favorite bakery that was forced to close at the end of last month due to the economy. They were growing by leaps & bounds so it wasn't for lack of business but the fact that their bank cut their line of credit since they were a new business. The Laughing Elephant sure will be missed in our house & many other homes around Atlanta.


Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzill); Paper (Making Memories, Basic Grey, & Collage Press); Diecuts (Collage Press); Pins (Making Memories); Bling (K&Co); Ticket (Jenni Bowlin); Paperclip (Tim Holtz); Ribbon (misc from stash); Stamps (Unity Stamps May KOTM & Unity Stamps Confession I Love Unity); Canvas (misc from stash); Ink (Ranger)

I also made a quick card using my July KOTM & some new Graphics 45 Domestic Goddess paper.


Since I will get a lot of Unity people today I thought I would repost my photo with Angela & Brooke & the sneak peak of the upcoming stamp releases.



I also wanted to offer a RAK. I picked up an extra Making Memories Pink Slice Apron at the show. Just like the one I'm wearing in the photo above. It will go to one lucky reader. To enter just leave a comment. If you are or become a follower you will get 2 entries... just let me know in the comment. Contest closes at 11:59 pm eastern time on Sunday August 9th. I'll draw Monday morning.

If you'd like to start the blog hop from the beginning head on over to the Unity blog. They are having a great sale 30% off everything in the store. Discount code "ENJOY"

Look at the new August Kit of the Month. I'll be stalking the mailman next week. Filled with fantastic images perfect for cardmakers & scrapbookers alike. New customers get a new release bonus set of stamps free with sign up. The KOTM are the best value around at $24 plus shipping. The only kit I can't give up. Quality, cuteness, value, & usefullness all wrapped up in one must have kit that gets better each & every month.


Thanks for visiting & have a wonderful weekend.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

I Was Lucky at CHA

Making Memories & Cricut would give out tickets for the chance to win Slice machines, Cricut Gypsies or other Provo merchandise. I won a bag at the Provo booth on Wednesday filled with 3M adhesives & the new Cricut Post it Note Paper.

On Thursday we had about given up winning any of the Slice machines or Cricut Gypsy. We never got our photo taken for the Making Memories board. Denise, my room mate, came up with a plan to use the Slice buttons they were giving out as earrings (she hung them off her hoops). We went to the booth & they took her photo. Within 30 minutes she was on the winner board & was picking up her pink limited edition breast cancer Slice & cartridge. I asked them to take my photo & they did. We then went back around to the Provo Craft booth to do the make n takes & get more of the tickets for the giveaway at 4pm. Betsy (a fellow Fiskateer I met the night before at the Paperclipping Newsbreak taping) came up behind me & said that my photo was on the winner board & that I had won the Slice too! I was already in line for the make n take so finished it up then went over to see if it really was me & IT WAS! I really did win a Slice too.

Here's the photos they took before & after receiving my prize.

We then heard some hoopin & hollaring so we went over to the Quickutz booth just in time for the giveaways there. Denise put our business cards in the bucket & I rubbed her arm (like a budah for luck) and I was the next name called winning all the Halloween cookie cutter dies & a Miss Muffet alphabet die set! I nearly fell over. I don't usually win anything but left that day with a tote bag filled with prizes.

I had this photo taken at the Cricut booth to get another ticket for their giveaways.

Well neither of us won a Gypsy - sure would have been nice... but I'm sure not complaining I left with way more than I came with.


Great Giveaway I stumbled on


Nilla has a super giveaway going on click here for your chance to win all this stuff.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

More CHA Photos

I did a guest post over at the Everything Scrapp'n Blog yesterday so you can head over & look at more photos by clicking here.

I also wanted to remind you that Noell Hyman has some fantastic videos of the show & new products on the Paperclipping site at Paperclipping.com. I just watched the new one with Donna Downey doing a make n take in the Prima Booth.

Since I'm talking about Paperclipping I wanted to remind you of the live show tonight at 9:30 pm eastern time. Noell broadcasts on ustream. We learn a lot & get to chat with online friends too. It's always a fun highlight of my week. Hope to see you there http://www.ustream.tv/channel/paperclipping-live

I was in the audience when Nancy Nally & Noell Hyman taped Paperclipping Newsbreak last Wednesday evening. If you didn't listen to that broadcast it is packed with scrapbooking industry & publishing information. That was a special episode with guests Lain Ehman, Angie Lucas (both formally of Simple Scrapbooks are starting a new company called Ella Publishing) , and Ana Cabrera of Scrapbook Trends Magazine.



The best part of CHA is meeting people who you talk to all the time online. Stacey Michaud is one of the nicest people I've gotten to know on 2peas. She is a designer for My Scrapbook Nook & has a monthly column in the ezine Scrapstreet. She is so talented I hope you visit her blog - I know you'll become a follower


You all know how I'm a Unity Stamp addict & hang out on their stites every Thursday so I had to meet Angela the owner. Brooke heads up the Monthly Kit so I've gotten to talk to her on the phone a couple times when setting up my account. They were sweet enough to take a photo with me.



Tim Holtz is quite popular so whenever he was in the booth there was a big crowd around his table. The last day late in the afternoon he was finishing up & ALONE in the booth so he was gracious enough to allow a photo op with a big fan.



The "Tattered Angels Guy" James walked around the show with his goodie bag & if he saw you with a Tattered Angels button he would let you guess to win one of their products. I won a package of Christmas Glimmer Chips. I had to get a photo with him - such a sweetheart...



Well that's all I have time for today. Gotta clean up the house - my hubby & son were making me pay for being gone all week... they were more piggy than normal (Andrew is usually the neat freak & even he was slobby in the living room & kitchen)... and I have all my "loot" from CHA to put away 5 shopping bags full. I'll be offering some prizes on Friday so check back.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

I Survived CHA Summer 2009

What an amazing time I had. But it is so good to be home. I don't even know where to start telling you of the adventure of my first CHA... I feel like I've been cut off from the world without my laptop & the internet for nearly a week. That will be a must next time - I can't leave the online world behind. With anything the first time you do it it's a learning experience....

It's been so much fun seeing the new products,
winning prizes, meeting online friends & artists that I've been following, & just being with the girls.... The one thing I want to let you know if you don't want to read all about our adventures is that Everything Scrapp'n will be carrying the latest & greatest products. So if you've visited the store in the past but didn't order you will have to give us another chance.... When new products come in they are always on sale for the first couple days, there is the customer reward program, and super fast shipping. I'll be keeping you posted of all the dates that new product will be arriving. I have to say I'm on my dream store design team!

We listened to your wish list suggestions & some lines we will be carrying are: Basic Grey, Webster's Pages, Cosmo Cricket, Graphics 45, Nikki Silvis, Pink Paislee, Tattered Angels, Tim Holtz, 7 Gypsies, Maya Road, Little Yellow Bicycle, all the Prima you could want & many more .....

If you haven't seen the videos that Noell Hyman of Paperclipping posted Check out Paperclipping here.

Nancy Nally of Scrapbook Update also has some great articles about the show here.

Monday, July 27th:
9 AM:
My dad & mom drove me to Heather's house (owner of Everything Scrappn) 2 hours south of where I live in Atlanta area & I rode to Orlando with her. My dad was "worried to death" about leaving the laptop in the hotel room during the day so I listened to him & left it in the car. I guess you can tell I'm not a "seasoned traveler". I figured I would just use Heather's laptop if I wanted to sneak in a quick post in the evenings. LESSON 1 LEARNED: TAKE LAPTOP

Noon:
Arrived at Heather's - First time meeting in person. We loaded all my luggage & totes in her SUV. It seems we are both directionally challenged people so it was going to be interesting if we would manage to get to the hotel without any wrong turns. With her trusty Tomtom GPS in the console we had more confidence. The GPS is named "Bo" short for Bosephus because he has a habit of getting them lost & speaks in an Australian accent. So he kept telling us to "Keep right to stay left on the motorway". We thought it would take about 5-1/2 hours from her house to get to Orlando but it took almost an hour and a half longer.... we learned the lesson to say we wanted to use toll roads.... LESSON 2 LEARNED - ALWAYS SAY USE TOLL ROADS ON GPS

The Quality Inn by the convention center was huge. Just walking to the front desk from the room in the back of the complex was quite a stroll. The rooms were all newly renovated. The ES design team coordinator Denise didn't drive down with us an was coming in for the show on Tues on her own leaving at 3 am so the first night I had the room to myself. We checked in & dragged the luggage up to room 3411 just in time for me to click on the TV & see Ed propose to Jillian on the Bachelorette (I'll have to catch up this week watching the rerun on abc.com). From the first show it was Ed, Kipton, or Jake as my favorites. Sorry back to CHA .....

Tuesday, July 28th

We weren't a hotel on the shuttle route but we were supposed to be able to take a trolley to the convention center. Those trolleys sure didn't run on a regular schedule so we decided to just walk to CHA hall. Being on the back side of the hotel it didn't make sense to walk way out of the way to get onto the sidewalk on International Blvd so we cut our way thru multiple hotel parking lots making our way to the convention center. It sure was creative & saved walking but dragging the rolling carts over planting beds & between cars was funny. The walk in the morning was fine. It wasn't too hot & the humidity was still not to heavy and neither were our totes.... it was the walk back to the room in the afternoon that was a killer. The first morning we got there early at 8 am. The badge check in was super easy since we had preregistered & you just scanned your printout from home & they had your badge by the time you walked to to table.


Entering the show floor & seeing all the vendors was overwhelming. I was "beaming" like a kid in a toy store. Heather & I walked around the show floor for a little before Denise arrived & since we had her badge I went outside the hall to wait for her. While I was there I saw Carol Duvall from TV. She was very sweet & I spoke to her for a moment. I had left my tote with Heather so didn't have my camera.

Our first booth on the show floor was Pink Paislee. All of the new lines were awesome so Heather will be stocking complete lines of each as they are released. Don't you love the colors this time around? I really love the fabric tags that go along with each line. Check out the Pink Paislee blog for photos of each & every piece of paper & embellishment in each line here.

Pink Paislee gave everyone a clip on piece of pink hair & if one of their workers saw you walking the show floor wearing it & chose you you would win a prize. (I never got picked for that & my pink hair turned into a pink rats nest of knots so I didn't wear it but 2 days).

Their make n takes were also amazing. I'll be posting them next week.




7 Gypsies had some beautiful new products. Heather was pointing.... this one, this one, this one... glad the rep could keep up with her.....



Many of the booths had great giveaways. Making Memories was giving away the Slice Machine. Everyone who was wearing an apron had the opportunity to get their picture taken & then throughout the show you could be chosen to win a special edition pink Slice machine & extra cartridge. They also did 2 giveaways with tickets each day. That drew quite the rowdy crowd (which was told to quiet down or else by CHA officials lol). The MM blog has video of the drawings you have to see to believe so click here and scroll down to see the different videos of the week... They have some great new products to add to the Vintage Findings Line. Everything Scrapp'n will not be carrying Making Memories but I couldn't resist sharing with you a peek of new product wall.


Heather works with sales reps & they make the buying from multi companies a breeze. That is sure the way to go.

Webster's Pages is one of my favorite companies. Not only do I love their papers & embellishments but the online community is so inspiring & encouraging..... We will now be stocking their 2 newest lines including the vellum paper & many of their yummy ribbons/trims.

It was wonderful to meet both Brandin O'Neill & Terri Hayes. They both knew me by the posts I made on the community. I had to have a photo taken with them. Brandin was working with a customer so I was tickled that Terri posed with me. I had told them we would order tomorrow with our rep but then Heather came up & was so excited about the paper that she ordered right then & there lol


Here's some photos of new paper & a layout Terri did. I just loved the look of the vellum flowers. I've never been super big on the cheapo vellum but Webster's Pages vellum is a just amazing in quality & richness of color.



At the end of the first day our last stop was Scrapblog. They have some really great quality books & photo cards that you can make on line. The books are super heavy & seem like they would last a long time. They made us each pretty name badges. I chose one with Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday papers. I sure was tired & I didn't eat anything that day so I was out of "juice". LESSON 3 LEARNED - EAT TO KEEP UP ENERGY EVEN IF IT'S NOT APPETIZING & IS SUPER EXPENSIVE....


Tuesday night we ate in downtown Disney at the Rainforest Cafe. It's a very fun admosphere with loads of animated animals. The chocolate lava dessert was so huge that even the 4 of us hardly put a dent in it.

DAY 2 - Wednesday, July 26
We had an appointment to meet the sales rep at 7:30 am. Our little hike across the parking lots to the convention center usually took us 20 -30 minutes. It was wonderful getting on the show floor when it was empty & making selections.

You know how I love my Tiny Alpha from Making Memories & My Little Shoebox. Well Jenni Bowlin now has some & ES will be carrying them. JB Halloween & School Bingo Cards are so cute & I have so many great ideas how to use them.


Lots of great Tim Holtz stuff to choose from. We will be carrying the Grunge Paper - it's thinner than grungeboard & sold in 12x12 sheets. It was a customer request so we got you covered. I can't wait to run that thru the Cricut & make some flowers. The New Rock Candy Distressed Stickles really are pretty. The other new Distressed Stickles have a new formulation & colors we love in the distressed line.


Well that's all I can manage to post today..... I'll continue day 2 tomorrow after some much needed sleep.