4 days only! { November 8 through 11, 2009 }

Sounds like a good time to get some of those sought after Martha punches….or the cool MS peg stamps that my SSS bud, KELLI, showed us. She made this card with them….isn’t it GORGE!?!?!

Also, a $100 credit if you buy the Gypsy before 11/30/09

If you’re signed up for their coupon and weekly ad e-mails, you can get a 40% off AND a 50% off coupon to be used those 4 days also.

For the love of all that is scrappy….you have got to look at all the Mike’s eye candy HERE! OMG, so glad I saw this. Now I’m REALLY excited because… If all goes as planned, I’m headed to the Big City tomorrow for my monthly Costco run. Which also means Michaels, Tuesday Morning, Barnes and Noble (December CK is out!), and the craft store. For some reason, I LOVE Costco Run days :)

I became a convert to the Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife way back HERE in the day. I mean, ALI EDWARDS used it, so it must be cool, right?

And it is. With the fingertip knife, I have much better control when hand cutting things for my scrapbooking. It’s so much more comfortable to use and, being a FISKARS product, it’s great quality. What I use it for a lot is cutting off those little hanga majigger thingee pieces of paper that are left along the edge when you punch something out. I can’t stand those! Yeah, call me anal. Well, don’t really but….

Back when I bought the fingertip craft knife, it only came in one color: orange. So NOT my favorite color. But I was impatient and had to have one, so I bought one right away. Even though I figured, like the CROPADILE, BIG BITE and other tools, that it would first be issued in a fugly color but would eventually come out in cute colors like pink and purple.

Well, that’s what happened with the Fiskars fingertip knife….it eventually came out in cutie patootie pink and I sob a little every time I see that pink one at Target. I can’t justify buying a pink one, when my orange one is still working just fine, right?

Well, now I have found a good justification for buying a new fingertip craft knife…Fiskars has now come out with a version that is….

RETRACTABLE!!

Yep, the blade is now retractable. So if, like me, you suck in your breath a little every time your kids approach you working at your scrap desk, or you can be a bit clumsy and have nicked your fingertip a time or ten while putting the plastic cap on the blade, you are gonna’ be happy! And you now have permission to replace your old orange one. Well, at least I’m giving MYSELF permission. What you do with your life is up to you…

ISN’T SHE BEAUTIFUL???

Yes, black is not pink, purple, or green, I acknowledge that. Black is boring. Black is black. But Erika is impatient. Erika must have NOW. So Erika will have black.

Here’s what it looks like when the blade is retracted:

Here is the description of the FISKARS RETRACTABLE FINGERTIP CRAFT KNIFE, from the Fiskars website:

Features
The blade of this ergonomic fingertip knife retracts for cap-free storage. Insert your finger through the loop and let the natural motion and weight of you hand control your cutting.

• Slightly longer reach than original Fingertip Craft Knife positions hand away from project
• Includes hang clip for storage or to wear on a lanyard, and one standard No. 11 blade.
• Many uses including all crafts, school projects, household repairs and office tasks
• Ideal for cutting paper, cloth, balsa, acetate and other lightweight materials

The retail price according to the Fiskars site is $10.99 plus $6.95 shipping. HOWEVAH….I have a way to get these wholesale and would be happy to sell them for $10 each plus tax and shipping (which I’m pretty sure I can do for less than $6.95)…

If you think you MIGHT want to order one (no commitment necessary), please leave a comment here so I can get an idea how many to order. I’ll place the first order soon, so let me know :)

When I get them in stock, I’ll post something and let you know how to purchase…

Whether you might order from me or not…..you gonna get one of these babies???

Hi everyone :) Sorry to have been MIA. Everything is fine, just sooper dooper busy in regular life. In scrappy life? Not so much. I haven’t scrapped a lick since a crop I went to in, um, September? Sad but true. My friend Abby challenged me today to complete at least one layout by midnight, so I’m going to, LOL! I’m way behind on the Book of Me challenge she’s hosting, so that’s what I plan to work on :)

The NEW MESSAGE BOARD ~ Scrap Sisters Studio ~ has been going great. I’ve been trying to post a lot over there, especially making sure to welcome all new members when they post an Intro. I’m holding my title as the #3 poster on SSS (just like on AMR), with 195 posts made since October 25 (what’s that, 11 days, eek). When I have extra moments, I’ve been posting “Message Board How To’s”, i.e. instructions on how to do common message board things like putting a photo or image in your post, or create a poll.

Just wanted to let you know that I’m alive and will start posting again more often. Thanks to those ladies who were checking on me…it’s nice to be missed :) Hope all is well in your scrappy world!

I wanted to apologize for being such a bad blogger of late but the reason is a good one. Ohhhhh, sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful….erm, message board?

You may have heard me mention, oh once or eleventy-billion times, that my message board home is a place called AMR, All Moments Remembered. It was a message board started by a sweet friend and online store owner named Stacey. At the time AMR began, I had been a fixture at the Creating Keepsakes Message Board (CKMB) for about a year or so. {Remember when I had all the CKMB girls’ blogs in my blog roll…until there were over 100 of them and I had to stop).

But, honestly, for all the fun friends and conversations I had there, it was such a HUGE place, that it never truly felt like home to me. I’m one of those gals that, if you and I are friends, I got ya back for life, sista. Don’t mess with my friends and we won’t have a problem. You know, like we did in the Old Country (I’m Italian, capice?). But I’ve only got so much love to go around, ya know? Ten-thousand “friends” on the CKMB is a lot to handle, even for someone like me, LOL!

Well, then God sent me Stacey. She joined CKMB with her little bubbly personality, enthusiasm for life, and love for scrapbooking. Like me, her dream was to open a scrapbook store. The difference between us was that I talked about it. She was actually gonna do it. We became fast friends, chatting on and off the CKMB board. She started a blog to promote her new online store which she called All Moments Remembered, and I loved reading each day what the developments were with her store, the excitement in her voice, and the positive outlook she had on everything.

Then came the day when Stacey got booted from CKMB. {This story is well-known folklore, so I’m not speaking out of school, k?}. The TOU at CKMB clearly said you could not have a business name as your message board name, nor anything in your message content or signature line that promoted another business. Because obviously, Creating Keepsakes is a business who wants to continue as such, and they want you to buy THEIR products, not some cute lady’s from Oregon who just started the best online scrap store in the world. Apparently, Stacey was *cough* unclear on those rules, or her glasses fogged up that day, or SOMETHING…because she changed her MB name from whatever it was (“scraphappy” or something like that) to “AllMomentsRemembered.”

Scandal. Just pure scandal.

So, CKMB powers-that-be sent her a nasty-gram and when she didn’t cease and desist, they booted her. In true Stacey spirit, what did she do? Oh, she just started her OWN message board, of course. And THAT, my friends, is how the All Moments Remembered Message Board was started. I signed up on the first day the AMR-MB was up, which was December 27, 2007. I was proud to be member #29. As of closing today, there were 826 members but I believe at times there were over 1,000 or more). Also, as of today, I was the #3 poster @ AMR, right behind those Chatty Cathy’s named JENNIFER/Jingle and ABBY/scrapbookfrenzy.

So, for almost 2 years now, I’ve been chatting pretty much daily with the AMR Girlz. I would never have thought you could be “true friends” with people you’ve never even met face-to-face, who live all over the country, most of whom you’ve never even spoken to. If you stop to think about it, it’s our computers, our technology, that is actually making the connection, so it’s kind of bizarre. The only way I know most of them is from words they’ve typed that I’m reading, kwim?

But I have to say, I love those gals and they are my TRUE, dear friends. AMR was a smaller board and it didn’t move that the speed of light, like CKMB, 2peas, or the Cricut board. Sometimes I get frustrated when I want to chat and no one is around. “I need some chat, people!” Sheesh. But I would trade “busy but impersonal” for “quieter but more meaningful” any day of the week.

Stacey really set the tone for that board to be encouraging, friendly, supportive, and fun. We joked, we laughed, we shared our work, and our scrap shopping finds. There was a Chit Chat board for discussing TV shows, family stuff, you name it. There was a Spiritual forum where we could ask for prayers, and where a special lady named MISTY/snowlady posted daily quotes from Scripture. And we can’t forget the Recipe forum, where you could share or request yummy recipes from your AMR friends.

Another cool thing Stacey did was to give us “Stacey names.” Under your message board name and above your avatar photo, sometime when you weren’t looking and maybe didn’t even notice for a while, Stacey would add a special name chosen just for you, based on her getting to know you over time and finding out what phrase really represented you, be it funny, sweet, or serious. For instance, MARILYN/Melonscraps was christened “Stickles Queen” for her amazing love of and collection of Stickles; ANGIE/craftyscrapr became “Miss Pretty Toes” because she loves the beach and her flip flops with painted toenails; and I was given the Stacey name “Director of Advertising.” Which was funny because some people may have thought it was an actual title I held with the AMR store, and that I was a paid employee, but nope, lol. I just loved AMR so much, I talked about it and steered people towards her store any time I could. Stacey was living my dream and I did whatever I could to support her.

Which reminds me of a story….Remember that crazy scrapbook product frenzy, the THREADING WATERS punch by Fiskars? The first time I saw that thing, I knew it was going to be a hugely popular tool so I tipped Stacey off about it, and she had faith that I knew what I was talking about. So she right away ordered a whole bunch of them from Fiskars. And when they flew off the shelves at Michaels, Target, and all the online scrapbook stores, no one had them in stock anymore….except Stacey. For a while there, AMR was one of the only places you could buy that darn punch, and not on backorder, but actually get it right then. Stacey never forgot I had told her about it. She never tried to take credit for it or anything. She told everyone else, “Erika is the one who told me to get those!” And she sent me the most generous gift box of supplies from her store, just as a way to say thank you. Actually, that’s another thing Stacey was known for was being very generous in giving away her products as RAKS, crop prizes, and you always got extra items with your order, things she had handpicked for you, knowing what each of us liked. I don’t know how she did it, honestly.

Well, fast forward to the economic collapse last year, and long story short, the AMR online store eventually was closed. However, in the meantime, Stacey had realized her other dream of opening an actual brick-and-mortar store in her hometown. Over time, Stacey has had to move on from the AMR MB and the inmates have taken over the asylum, LOL! Stacey could no longer support the MB so several months ago, she offered to let members take it over, and DENISE/denisewalks stepped up to the plate. Denise has been running AMR since then, with a little bit of admin support from me, and lots of help from lots of other members. We’ve managed to keep AMR MB going and as fun and wonderful as it ever was.

But the time had come for a fresh start, where Denise and the loyal board members could be more in control of the mechanics of the board. Also, with Stacey no longer associated with the board, a new name for our gathering place was in order. A new domain name was procured by Denise (at her personal expense, but we’re going to find a creative way to make the board pay for itself and/or many generous members have offered to chip in so Denise doesn’t have to absorb the cost herself).

So today, October 27, 2009….Scrap Sisters Studio was born.

We had a Scrap Chat Hour tonight to kind of kick off the new site, and help get the word out to everyone that we’ve officially moved. I can’t think of a more perfect name for our board, because the ladies there are truly like family. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not perfect. Like any family in the world, we occasionally have scuffles and squabbles, hurt feelings and unspoken hurts, frustrations and unfairness. I mean, we’re women after all, LOL! But it always works itself out and the family bond is as tight as ever. New members are welcomed from Day One like they’ve been there the entire time.

It felt weird writing all those things above about the way AMR “was,” in the past tense. Because those things still apply to the way Scrap Sisters Studio “is” and “will always be.” It’s a warm, fun, friendly home away from home and even if they try to kick me out, I’m never leaving. Seriously. Don’t even try ‘cuz I grew up in The Hood and can kick serious ass.

Capice?

This post is just my way of memorializing AMR, Stacey’s store, everything that brought this group of sweet scrapbookers together and still bind them. I wanted to honor Stacey because it was her personality and efforts that set us up to be the way we are now. And for that, we owe her a debt of gratitude. {Stacey, if you’re out there, MWUH! Love ya, girl}.

And this post was a way to celebrate, and document on my own blog, this day being the start of something new and fun for me and my scrappy girlfriends.

We always welcome new members. HERE is where you would sign up. (ETA: When you register, you will NOT get an e-mail confirmation. Sorry, this new board doesn’t have that feature. We’re approving new members as quickly as we can, so please give it a little wait, then try to log in until it works :). We’ve got some fun plans for the Scrap Sisters Studio website as a whole, so this is going to be a great new adventure! Thank you for letting me talk about my buds…I {heart} them like sisters.

I picked these up at Walmart today. I don’t know if they’re old news there, but it was the first time I’d noticed them.

*This came out blurry because I took it after dark tonight. Will try to get a daylight pic and repost, but you get the idea :)

The packaging is different (more plain) and the name is different than when I see it at Michaels, like this, but it’s the same thing:

Instead of me trying to explain what it’s used for and why it’s so cool, I’ll let MICHAELS.COM do all the work:

Truly, a terrific double-sided tape in roll form! It’s industrial strength with an instant bond which increases over 24 hour period to maximum bond.

Apply tape to first surface.
Remove protective liner and apply second product (beads, glitter, etc.) or second surface.
SPECIAL TIPS: Use at room temperature. Surfaces must be dry, and grease free. Do not expose to air until ready to use as curing will commence.

You can see HERE what a wide range of prices it usually sells for, although when I click on a lot of those links, they don’t carry it anymore. I got the 1/4 and 1/2 inch sizes for $3.00 and $3.50 respectively. Seems like a decent deal, especially since no shipping charges :)

I’ve used this product since way back in 2005 when I discovered it in a CKU class. It indeed has a very strong bond, and it’s easy to use. I like it for attaching ribbon strips to my layouts just because it’s in a strip form and holds so well, but it’s also great for attaching heavier items. It looks red, but that’s just the backing. When you peel that off, it’s clear. Just a great adhesive, so I thought I’d share!

Happy Weekend to you!
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Remember the new line by Melody Ross for GCD I showed you HERE? It’s only being released at 100 Michaels stores and, as predicted, it’s not at mine. But my buddy ABBY who lives down South (or is that DAY-own SAY-outh? Sorry, Abby, don’t hit me!) found the line at her store. She recently became an iPhone convert and has been taking stealth photos in scrapbook stores! Why I never! Oh, wait, I do that, too. Anyway, she sent me these photos….I’m so jealous.

But the true scrappy friend that she is, she said if my Mike’s never gets “Artsy Urban,” she will send some to me :)
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Have you seen the Nov/Dec issue of SCRAPBOOKS ETC yet?

As you may know {and I wrote about HERE}, they decided to change the magazine a bit and this was the second issue with the new format. It’s not getting rave reviews HERE at all… I was actually relieved to see that thread because I was quite underwhelmed by this issue also, but thought it must just be me…cuz I’m so pissy about their format change and all. And it’s humid here. And I’m so disappointed that WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, the movie I was going to take my kids to this weekend, is being reviewed as doomy, gloomy, mature, and boring {ASTRO BOY it is!}. And I’m tired, cranky, and generally vindictive….. But no. That wasn’t it. The issue sux. It’s not just me. {What a relief, ‘cuz it’s usually just me}.

My discontent started when I found the issue at Walmart the other day and that new title font just rubs me the wrong way. It reminds me of those cheapie supermarket magazines at the checkstand, the ones that look to be worth about 50 cents. The logo looks….cheap, I guess. I am a classy woman. I prefer to look at a classy logo. Nay, I DESERVE a classy logo! To sum up the rest of my issue with the issue (ha!), it just wasn’t a page-corner-turner-downer, kwim? Few layouts I wanted to steal…erm, scrapjack. Few articles I was excited to read. And some non-scrappy advertising, too. Yuck. {Yeah, yeah, I know beggars can’t be choosers…SBE is taking the advertisers it can get, but do I have to be happy about it?}.

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Just to give you an update on my scrapbook room makeover…there isn’t one. I’ve been working a lot and just generally busy. And I’m at the point with it that some decisions have to be made about how/where to store things. I want it all to make sense and be user-friendly. I go in there sometimes, look around, try to wrap my brain around some kind of concept….and usually walk back out without accomplishing anything. I think I need to complete two things before I can really move on: Paint THIS shelf so I can decide where to hang it and what to put on it, and put my 2 remaining JETMAX cubes together so I can decide what to store in them. Both of these things involve manual labor which, like “exercise,” are words I try not to utter much less DO. Hollah! Okay, okay, you’ve nagged me enough! {Oh yes, I can read your mind, sista!}. I will do these two things so this makeover can move forward. But when I get paint under my fingernails and hurt my hand with that tiny screwdriver, I will curse YOU, damn it!
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My scrappy and ever-so-talented online friend JULIE is having a RAK to celebrate her 10,000th hit! Please go say hi to her. Once you see her blog, you’ll be hooked. She takes great photos, has beautiful kids, and makes riDONKulously gorgeous layouts. And she’s such a huge JASON MICHAEL CARROLL fan, that she makes me feel better about my own STEVE PERRY crush. Swoon!

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Upcoming in November 2009, there is a “Blogging for Scrapbookers” class by SHIMELLE … isn’t she pretty? And she is wicked talented, I tell ya….

– learn about it and sign up HERE.

What a wonderful idea for a class. Unique but very pertinent, since so many of us scrappers love to blog. If you sign up, let me know :) I’m thinking about doing it…but if some people that I know signed up, that would tip me over the edge… {hint, hint, wink, wink}.
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Okay, mah chickies….Peace out!

This is a public service announcement for AMR Girlz: The message board is down. Please join us on the backup board HERE. Spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, your blog, etc. Share the link, please…a lot of members don’t know it. Thanks a bunch!

ETA: Eileen, did you get approved yet? I don’t see you online over there. I e-mailed ya…
ETA #2: The original AMR board is now back up and fully loaded! But please save the “back-up board” link in your Favorites….just in case ;-)

MELODY ROSS joins GCD. HERE is a link to Artsy Urban papers on GCD. And here is a lot more of this gorgeous line…

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You can see the rest of the line HERE ~ There’s a page kit, mat pad (HERE is a link to individual sheets), 8×8 pad, 12×12 paper pad, and 12×12 page kit.

I just love, love, love this line. It’s actually not my normal style, all vintage pretty and stuff. But I’m hoping to buy some (lots?) of Artsy Chic {see the reason for my hesitation below}. I love the colors, designs, and overall feel of it. I think it’ll be great to use on Book of Me layouts, for one thing. Even the packaging is beautiful. You GO, GCD! I was checking out their website and they have lots of cute stuff. For instance, check out these GLITTER LETTERS…

…and TRANSPARENCIES…

But back to Artsy Chic. Melody mentions on her blog that her lines will be carried by Michaels, but only in limited stores apparently…as I found this on the GCD blog: “Michael’s is carrying Artsy Urban today, but only at a 100 locations.” I can pretty much bet my Mike’s is not one of the 100 :(. I was in Michaels tonight and didn’t see any… GCD blog also says the Artsy Chic line will be in scrapbook stores and kit clubs, so unless it makes it into the Memory Works kit, I still won’t have access to it in person…but online shopping is fine :) Anyway, the GCD BLOG has been hyping this while for a while with all kinds of reveals and giveaways, so cruise on over there if you’d like to see more.

Melody has always been a favorite of mine, as a scrapper, designer, and just plain “woman I look up to.” I wish her all the luck with her new line at Michaels, “Artsy Urban,” and her upcoming line for Michaels called “Homespun Chic.”

ETA 10/20/09: Great minds think alike. THE SCRAP REVIEW has posted about this new line today also. They have wonderful page ideas from scrappers like NOEL CULBERTSON ( <- one of my favorite scrappers and the sweetest lady ever) and honest reviews of the line. Did they give it a thumbs up or thumbs down? Go check it out!

This is unbelievable. HERE is the 2peas post, and HERE is the thread from the Cricut message board it references. What a raw deal. That is one website I’ll steer clear of, unless they do the right thing and give her a GYPSY! How disappointing, to think you’d won…and then be let down so harshly.

ETA 10/19/09: Well, I just looked around their site and I guess they can’t be put out of business because I don’t see where they sell anything. I don’t even see where they make money from ads. They just provide all this scrapbook cutter info for free? If anyone is familiar with this site, will you fill me in?

Either way, I hope they get a ration from scrappers. So unfair… If you made a mistake, just admit it but don’t lie to the poor girl. And when you have such a big ticket item to give away and can’t afford to buy another one, don’t make a mistake in the first place :(

Oh, and if I were the second “winner,” I’d forfeit my prize to the first one. But that’s just me…No “prize” is worth perpetuating bad behavior like that.

ETA #2 10/19/09: Apparently, the second winner has offered the Gypsy to the rightful winner…classy. Good for her!

Also….Okay, I see now, it’s Ebay! I clicked on several links where this site helpfully sends you to the place “with the best price” and it appears they all go Ebay listings for Cricut products. Nice.

Bleck. Is this run by the same people who post those annoying and plentiful ads on Craiglist around the country….clearly against Craigslist’s TOU? Wouldn’t surprise me…

So what if it’s Sunday Night when I’m finally getting around to publishing my Friday Night Randoms? Who wants to be on schedule? Not me. That is so cliche and expected….and I’m anything but cliche and expected. For shizzle.

~~ Speaking of shizzle….if you ever need a translator for when I speak Snoop Dog, HERE YA GO. Bladizzle.

~~ A bunch of (22!) First Day of School scrapbook page ideas are HERE, provided by Scrapbooks Etc. I think this one is my fave, but I loved them all…

~~ There is a wonderful discussion of why the Peas think the scrapbook industry has tanked HERE. And a related ARTICLE on SCRAPBOOK UPDATE called “Is Scrapbooking Fading….Or not?,” is asking for your thoughts so go chime in, why don’t ya? I think many “industry folks” read that website so let them hear from you. I scored the first Comment ~ yeah! Guess sometimes it pays to be up blogging in the middle of the night, lol. Anyway, if you’d like to read my ever so humble opinion on the whole thing, click on over to the Scrapbook Update article … I wrote a novel … or at least a chapter ;)

~~ Remember when I said that my Michaels wasn’t going to be putting ads in Sunday paper flyers anymore? {It was HERE}. The cashier had given me a flyer and everything, saying that Sunday flyers would be no more, and that I could get my flyers and coupons online from now on. But here it is 6 weeks later….and I’m still getting Michaels ads in my paper on Sunday. What up with that? I dunno’, you got me. Guess they changed their minds…

~~ According to the GOLLYG at 2peas, ROSS has some scrapbooking stuff again: “Enabling Alert! I stopped by Ross today and they have tons of new scrapbook stuff. They had Making Memories paper kits for $2.99, American Crafts paper pads $5.99, K&Company Stuff, and lots more!” Also, rumors of Disney scrapbooks….read the thread HERE. I used to find 12×12 postbound albums there all the time, but nothing scrappy in ages. But what do you know, there is a Ross store smack dab between my Target and my Michaels. I happen to be headed to Target for prescriptions tomorrow, so I’ll check out Ross and let you know if I find anything.

~~ “I’m so far behind!” Have you ever said that about your scrapbooking? Well, read my blog friend Susan’s great article HERE and you’ll feel better soon :)

~~MEMORY WORKS now has Basic Grey “Nook and Pantry” in stock. Here’s a peek…

Please let me know if I can get some for you. Order it HERE, or contact me HERE.