An occasional burst of energy

leads to an occasional blog post.

I'm still adjusting to this full-time job thing. Can't say I like it - the amount of time I'm away from home/kids etc and the lack of time for just about anything else part but the job itself is pretty good and the paycheque's a big time bonus.

Have you popped in to check out the Deals each day. I've managed to stay awake in the evenings long enough to check and see what's offered. I've seen Summer Sassy Strands and a mini-album and some metal rim tags and a couple other things I can't remember off the top of my head. I've picked out a couple stamp sets I've been wanting and now I'm just waiting for the right deal to come along.

While I haven't had a chance in a long time to 'play with paper' as my friend Carrie and I call it, and it's been even longer since we played with paper together, we are making plans to do just that this Friday night in my dining room - complete with Chinese Appetizers just like we used to. I can't wait! I'm even all set with some inspiration taken straight from CTMH founder Jeanette Lynton's blog. Each Monday Jeanette posts a Colour Me Monday challenge and this weeks colours are too yummy to pass up. Sweet Leaf, Twillight, Tulip and White Daisy - Oh My!

If you get a chance this week to 'play with paper', give the colour challenge a try. I'd love to see what you create.

~K

It's a Deal-A-Day sale you won't want to miss!!!

Each day during the month of June, from 8am to 7am (central time) the following day there will be a different Deal available on my MyCTMH website http://kdann.myctmh.com (don't use www. or you will get an error message) There will be two different types of Deals and the Deal will change each day.

During most days in June the Deal will be to receive a specially-selected current product absolutely free when you purchase a My Acrylix® stamp set, size A, B, C, D, or E (excluding Stamp of the Month, customized or K-size sets, and Art & Soul featured stamp sets). The free product will change daily and shipping will be flat rate of $4.

On 6 randomly selected days in June, you can purchase a “mystery” box filled with “Great Goodies.” Contents will vary by box and include both current and retired favorite stamp sets, paper packs, embellishments, and other great products. The six “Great Goodies” boxes will all have different pricing of at least 50% off retail, with some at even deeper discounts! Shipping will be based on the price of each Great Goodies box, but will be deeply, deeply discounted and represent only a fraction of the value of the contents. Shipping pricing will be clearly posted at checkout on each day that a Great Goodies box is offered and are expected to range from $13-$22.

For the purpose of this sale, ONLY the stamp set and free product or the goodie box can be on your order to receive the discounted shipping rates. Adding any additional items to your order will cancel the special shipping and the cost of shipping will revert to that of a traditional order.

Stop by daily to check out what the Deal is for that Day.......you won't want to miss out on something fabulous. Oh and if you get yourself a "mystery box"....pop back in here once you receive it because I'd love to hear what was inside.

~K

It's really been almost 3 weeks since I posted?

Wow.

Time really does fly when life gets turned upside down doesn't it.

Seriously.....I think most of my stuff is still packed from the Weekend Crop it's been that crazy around here. I did take out a few things to quickly make Emily's birthday party invitations 2 weekends ago but I haven't touched a single scrapping goodie since then.

Actually the last 2 months have sort of passed me by in a blur. After almost 14 years in business my husband and I decided that it was time to close the doors so there has been alot of ups and downs associated with that and unemployment has made things a little stressful. We are slowly adjusting to life with my hubby working evenings and a week ago today I finally started my new job. Exhausted pretty much covers how we are both feeling especially with working opposite shifts.

The blog posts will probably continue to be few and far between for the next few weeks while I adjust to this new routine. It was much easier to write blog posts......and play with paper and stamps and ink during the day while the kids were all at school. Right now I'm just so tired by the time I get home in the evening that keeping my eyes open is a challenge nevermind trying to be creative or wordy.

I do have an announcement about the wonderful online sale CTMH has planned for June. I'll be sure to make the time (and stay awake long enough) tomorrow after work to tell you all about it.....I actually just found out about it while catching up on email from last week so I have to go figure out the details and then I can share them.

Hope your life isn't as crazy-busy as mine right now and you find time to scrap some memories.

~K

Weekend Recap Pt 3

Sunday's class featured a technique called Emerging Colour. This was my sample layout for the class. Using white cardstock as a base, images from the Connections stamp set were randomly stamped using Tulip, Juniper & Creme Brulee ink. The solid circle from the retired set Magic was stamped with versamark and clear embossed. After embossing I used the three ink colours and sponge daubers/tools to rub - in a scrubbing, circular motion - the ink overtop the embossed/stamped images. The clear embossed images resist the ink and the white base of the cardstock pops out through the colours. You end up with a tie-dyed effect.




Here are a couple layouts using the emerging colour cardstock that were made during the class. Elaine chose autumn colours - barn red, new ingland ivy and sunflower and I snapped a picture of this layout she was putting together.


and Heather used petal, vineyardberry, honey and sweetleaf and I took a picture of her layout in progress which includes a title using the Chalkboard technique too.




I didn't get pictures of anyone elses emerging colour projects but they all turned out great and a couple people even experimented with the technique. Here's a piece Heather made with stamped circles that were lear embossed to mask them and protect their colour. She then took an outdoor denim ink pad and dragged the ink across the embossed images instead of rubbing the colour on. Different end result using the same basic idea.





And that pretty much sums up our weekend. Good times and lots of scrapping fun had by all.

I think I have a few more layouts to share and I'll post those in the coming days.


If you want to check out even more beautiful artwork pop over to http://www.scrapbookandshare.com/ a website set up by Close To My Heart to celebrate National Scrapbook Month. Be sure to leave a comment or two on the layouts that are posted there. CTMH founder, Jeanette Lynton is giving away a Tickled Pink kit to one lucky person who posts a comment each day this month. Winners are posted on her blog http://www.jeanettelynton.com/

I also encourage you to check out the details of the layout contest - there are a few different catagories, and create a layout and enter to win $150 in Close To My Heart products!



~K

Weekend Recap Pt 2

I'm so impressed by the number of pages created throughout the weekend. Evelyn by far outscrapped us all and I think her final count (and she left early Sunday) was something like 35 pages. Wowser!




This is my favorite layout that Christine did. She announced she's now "finished Christmas". Geesh. I haven't even printed pictures from Christmas yet.






and this layout she did is by far the funniest. I plan to print a photo of this layout and make a page about it with the title....."I wonder if Sears knows what mom does with their catalogues?" You should see what she can do with a calendar too. I didn't take a picture of that page but we all agreed it looks pretty cool.



My fav that Marlene did was this one. I love the way she placed the alphabet stamps on a curve for her title. She thinks the page is too busy but I don't.




Heather got quite a few pages done which is surprising considering she took apart her layouts (and one of her cards) more times than we could count.





and she reprinted her journalling a couple times when she didn't get the paper cut straight enough. We may have teased her about her perfectionism but the final results were amazing.





There's more photos to share but I'm saving them for next post.

~K

Weekend Recap Pt 1

I've finally recovered from the busy weekend and 'tomorrow' turned into a few days but I'm finally getting a chance to upload photos (slowly) from the weekend and share a recap of our crop weekend.

On Friday we got into the hall just before 5pm (not for lack of trying to get there earlier....I'm sure my mother-in-law would have started at noon if I'd have let her) and we scrapped the night away until shortly after midnight. Saturday morning I was there just before 9 and when I walked in I had a few moments to myself to snap a few pictures of the hall....all set up and ready for a day of scrapping. Everyone agreed that being able to just stop what we were doing, go home, sleep and come back the next day and keep on working was wonderful. No need to pack and unpack.....just continue on where you left off the night before. Originally, when we'd talked about this weekend, the idea was we'd scrap till 2am on the Saturday night but that didn't happen. Didn't even come close. By 10pm most of us were getting tired and by 11:30 some had left. The rest of us thought for sure we'd keep scrapping a while longer but I'm sure it wasn't 20minutes later that we called it a night.

Included in everyone's goodie bag was a bingo card and each square contained a specific product or technique idea. When you used that item or idea on a layout you got to cross it off your card. For each square crossed off I added another ticket into the door-prize bucket and I gave out prizes throughout the weekend. I think everyone got something....and some people should go buy a lottery ticket because their name came out of that bucket alot. :o)



Aunty Hazel said she loved the bingo card because it made her try things that she wouldn't have otherwise done and that it sure added variety to her pages. On this page she stamped the image of the girl and hand painted the image using ink from stamp pads and a paint brush. Of course that was the whole point to the bingo card - to try new things (or use old things you'd hadn't in awhile). I know for myself I get into a rut and sometimes my pages all start looking the same because I'm using the same techniques or ideas over and over. A few people also added to the challenge of the bingo card by seeing how many of the "squares" they could get onto one page. I wish I'd taken a picture of Evelyn's page that she did using as many of the 'squares' as she could. It turned out great!

Sadly nobody completed the whole card.....nobody wanted to use staples. Oh well. I'll make them use them next time. It will be my challenge to show them the possibilities.



One of the great things about getting together like this to scrapbook is that you are almost certain to learn something from those around you. Everyone has a different way of doing things --- such as how to cover chipboard with paper.......... or how to print journalling and titles. Heather brought her printer and a (quirky) laptop and spent quite a bit of time helping out with that.


I demonstrated a couple new techniques over the weekend and I think everyone enjoyed learning them. I know I spotted a few of them being used in pages over the weekend. Elaine used faux leather crumpled paper as journalling mats on one layout and I heard the phrase "I'm waiting for my paper to dry" a few times Saturday afternoon. Heather used the chalkboard title idea quite a few times including on a double page layout she made twice...two copies of the same layout...one for her album and a 2nd copy as a gift for my son. I'm pretty sure she took the layout apart more than twice too - trying to get everything perfectly straight.

On Sunday I taught everyone how to make patterned cardstock using a technique called Emerging Colour. This technique is a step up from random stamping and involves using clear embossing powder to "mask" stamped images so that when you add colours ontop of the embossed images using sponge daubers, the masked images remain untouched by the added colour. I'll share my samples as well as some of the ones made during the class but for now, my internet connection is being very picky and since I'm uploading images one at a time and keep loosing my connection and having to start over....I'm beyond frusterated so the rest of the pictures will have to wait till part 2 of this weekend recap. I also took pictures of some of my favorite layouts made this weekend (or ones I found in everyones albums) and I'll share a few of those as my patience and internet allows.

~K

Exhausted!

I don't think the word exhausted begins to describe how I feel tonight. I'm sooooo tired. I'm glad the weekend is over but sad too because we had so much fun and it went by too quickly. Everyone agreed that while we were tired, we weren't quite ready for it to be over.

I took lots of pictures to share and I have many tales to tell but I had family things to tend to when I got home from my weekend ---- the kids couldn't wait any longer for their birthday presents and someone needed help with a science project that is due tomorrow so I was right back into mom mode the minute I walked in the door. Everyone is finally in bed and I'm falling alseep at the computer so the photos and story telling will have to wait until tomorrow.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

~K

Today's the Day

The National Scrapbooking Month Weekend Crop starts tonight at 5pm!

Three days of paper, ink, stamps and fun.

I'm exhausted and it hasn't started yet.

There's still much to do today. I've been finishing up some last minute things to that means all my basic scrapping stuff......and alot of extras are scattered in various 'work stations' throughout the house. I'll work on one thing for awhile then move to another, then another, then back to the first. This week has gone sort of like this. Work on a demo layout for a bit then go sort give-away goodies for a bit, then back to my layout, then make a card, then cut veggies for the soup I'm making for Saturday's lunch then do some laundry and fold it but never put it away. Then there was more goodie sorting - which are now perched atop the folded laundry and I finished another card and......well..... my house is a mess. Creativity run amuck.

No weekend challenge to post today. This weekend is a challenge in itself so I'm out of ideas. Please spend the weekend celebrating this wonderful thing we love - Scrapbooking.

Since today is May 1st, the Summer '09 Idea Book goes live today. You can check out an online version of the book here. When you have taken a peek through the book, leave a comment telling me what your favorite new item(s) in the Summer '09 Idea Book is/are. I will make a random draw of all participants for a little give-away prize pack.


Back to packing. It's almost time to head over to the hall and get this party started!

~K

How many days till crop?

Not enough!

I'm excited but freaked all at the same time.

My list of last minute things to do seems to keep getting longer instead of shorter.

I've been working on my class projects which even though they've been planned for weeks now, I haven't been able to put together until now because I was waiting for product to be delivered. It finally arrived last night so I've been assembling things today. For the most part it's been going well ---- except for the fact that one key item for one class seems to be awol. I cannot find my 4 boxes of chalks anywhere. I know I had them a few months ago but I must have taken them out of my tote while packing for a crop one day (in an effort to pack lightly and not take everything but the kitchen sink with me). Can't find them anywhere and this little glitch has forced me to rework the sample layout I was working on.

Here' s a peek at one layout that will be used as a sample for a class on titles and journalling. The title is done with a technique called "Chalk Board" (it doesn't look much like chalkboard on the sample because of the colour of cardstock I used but when done on black cardstock it does look like someone smacked a dusty eraser on a chalk board). To accomplish this effect I've placed chipboard letters on my versamat with a piece of white core cardstock overtop the chipboard letters and then sanded the paper. The raised letters underneath the cardstock act like an embossing plate and their images appear as if by magic. Cool! The journalling is another focus of this class - and since I've misplaced my chalk which I'd intended to use to highlight certain words in the journalling, I improvised and cut out corresponding cardstock pieces and printed the words I wanted to highlight on them.


This is my friends little guy. He's so darn cute I can't resist scrapbooking pictures of him.

~K

Final Sunday Sneak-Peak

The last paper pack to make it's debut later this week when the Summer Idea Book goes live on May 1st is called Tinkerin and you will want to check out this pack in full detail if you have a little guy or big guy who is into robots and mechanical gizmos with gears and wheels and cogs. The paper pack, with it's basic geometric shapes, won't just be limited to the Tinkerin crowd though. The possibilities are endless.

And that brings us to the end of our Sneak-Peak Series for the Summer Idea Book. Stop by my website www.kdann.myctmh.com starting May 1st to view these and all the new products using the live catalogue feature in the Products section or browse through the products while you Shop Online.

~K

Count Down To Crop - 8 Days!

Another day closer to crop and one day away from our 3-day weekend away.

I'm still focussing on packing today - for this weekend.

Costumes are packed (except one slip that needs a slight alteration....so glad I made her try it on) and almost all laundry is done and I'm soon ready to pack the suitcase(s). I'm making my last minute shopping list which mostly consists of groceries. Snack foods and picnic lunch/finger food type things to keep hunger at bay on the road, in the hotel and at the competion to hopefully help avoid high priced gas station & consession stand purchases.

I keep getting sidetracked by our road-trip food requirements with thoughs of crop food requirements and I've realized they are much the same. Scrapping snacks are similar to road trip snacks. Simple munchies that provide hunger relief but are quick and easy to eat.....because you are 'in the zone' for scrapping and don't want to stop for too long and loose your mojo. Some of my fav scrapping yummies are chineese appetizers - bite sized pork, potstickers, spring rolls, chicken nuggets etc with dipping sauces. Cheese & crackers and fruit and dip are also good.

What are your fav scrapping snacks?

Sorry....I know I said no questions today but again....I'm curious about your scrapping habbits and couldn't help myself.

~K

9 days!

Only 9 days till the crop.


Besides all the goodies, prizes, food and such I'll be hauling over to the hall for the weekend of fun, I've been thinking of what else I need to pack for a weekend of scrapbooking. The last time I was away from home for an entire weekend of scrapbooking I had to pack all my necessities into two suitcases (clothes included) with airline weight restrictions in mind. I went away to Calgary with my sister-in-law for a consultants weekend --- that was 2 years ago. I overpacked because I was so sure I would leave something behind that I'd need. I'm also a last minute packer and I will probably still be thinking of things to bring along on Friday morning.

I was talking to my mother-in-law this morning and she's all excited for next weekend. She sent in a batch of pictures for printing and picked them up yesterday so now that she has new photos to scrapbook she says she is all packed and ready to go.

I've got packing on my mind today and now I'm curious about everyone's packing and scrapping habbits.

When you head out to scrapbook, whether it is for the evening, a day or a whole weekend are you like me and overpack and aren't really sure what you are going to work on so you bring everything but the kitchen sink or are you like my mother-in-law, packed and ready to go ahead of time and know exactly what you are going to work on.

When you scrapbook whether it is at home or at a friends or at a crop are you a pre-planner or do you just wing it and see where your creativity takes you? I know some people who pre-plan their pages ahead of time, gathering together paper, photos, journalling, sketches etc and then assemble them. Others know what pictures they are going to use and have an idea in mind before they start. Then there are others (like me) who will flip through pictures until something jumps out and says 'scrap me!'

What inspires you most. Do you start with photos first or a layout idea first? If you use sketch books, idea books or magazines as your inspiration do you find a sketch or sample and then find your own photos to go with that idea or are you the scrapper who chooses a sketch or sample layout to go with the photos you want to use.


Bet you weren't expecting the third degree were ya. No pressure to answer but if you'd like to share with the rest of the class, leave a comment.

Come back tomorrow.....as the count down to crop continues. I promise, I won't ask a whole bunch of questions.


~K

Officially in panic mode - Less than 2 weeks!

National Scrapbook Celebration Weekend Crop is in less than 2 weeks. Oh My !

The past few months have flown by. Even with all brainstorming and planning I still feel like I won't be ready. Yikes!

My dining room is looking like a storm blew through as I sort through product and prepare goodie bags and prize packs and prep items for projects and demos. Added to the scrapbook related chaos in the dining room are dance costumes and suitcases and various other 'weekend away, living in a hotel with 4 kids' related items.....including a portable DVD player we won at a fundraiser last night. Whooo hooo - 3hour car trip just got a whole lot easier! I can't find the bathing suits that were put away for the winter and one kid has lost their dance shoes.....I wonder if I included them in a goodie bag by mistake.

Tacked to my kitchen wall are large sheets of paper with "To Do" lists for both dance competition weekend and scrapbook weekend. Yikes!

And I look at my dining room and think.....geee it's too bad I can't see my table because I'd so love to sit and scrapbook for a couple hours tonight. Actually what I need to do (other than prep stuff for crop) is make birthday cards because even though I thought of this a week - or probably two weeks ago, I forgot that I have a massive pile of birthdays in May and I have NINE birthday cards to make. At the very least I think I should make cards for 3 of my 4 kids......one of them has their birthday on the Sunday of crop weekend too so maybe I should start with an 'I'm sorry I went scrapbooking on your birthday....again' card.

One of the new items in the Summer '09 Idea Book is the next How-To book by Jeanette Lynton. "Wishes" contains 109 new card patterns and Jeanette has posted a more detailed description of this book on her blog at jeanettelynton.com She even provides the pdf link to one of those new patterns and I can't wait to use it for one (or two) of the many cards I need to make then next couple week. Why don't you check out the pattern and share with me what you create. I'd love to see your cards.



~K

Another Sunday Sneak-Peak

Drumroll Please


Presenting the fouth paper pack from the Summer Idea Book.


A fun little summer number named Moon Doggie.

Surf's Up! Now bring on Summer.

~K

TGIF - Weekend Challenge #7

I am forever looking for inspiration not only for scrapbook pages but as part of life in general. This scrapbook page was done quite a few years ago (no ctmh product on it....except maybe the ink around the edges) but I wanted to share it because it is of a couple of women who inspire me. The metal tile in the bottom left corner says Sisters by Chance Friends by Choice and that couldn't be more true. I love these women!

For this Weekend Challenge, use this layout as your inspiration - the colours, the design, the elements (three sets of ribbon, three strips of paper) or the theme of someone who inspires you. As an added challenge print your photo(s) on cardstock. I love the effect a photo printed on cardstock gives rather than on photo paper.


Need more inspiration. Click on the button. Close To My Heart has set up a special website especially for National Scrapbooking Month in May. They are hosting a layout contest with wonderful prizes. Check out the catagories and start planning your layouts.

Happy Scrapbooking & have a wonderful weekend!

Ready For Another Sunday Sneak-Peak

Here's the third paper pack making it's debut in the Summer Idea Book.

I give to you a small taste of Animal Cookies.

I'm loving this pack. The subtle patterns and the funky animals. Too cute. Now, if I could only get this silly Animal Crackers song out of my head.

~K

THREE WEEKS

Three weeks! Only three weeks till the weekend crop!

Are you getting excited?

The National Scrapbook Weekend Celebration Crop is going to be so much fun - not as well attended as I'd hoped but that won't stop us from scrapbooking the weekend away!

Friday night is open crop night - nothing much planned. Perfect starter for a weekend of scrapbooking, card making and fun.

I've got two fabulous scrapbook page classes planned for Saturday

Emerging Colour Class - a stamping/heat embossing technique

Say it in Style Class - add some wow to your titles and journalling with a few easy ideas.

Sunday's class will focus on cards

One sketch - Three Ways Card Class - using the same card sketch we will create
three distinctly different cards with a variety of different stamping and embellishment techniques.

Scattered through out the weekend are a few challenges and games. I have some prizes to give away too.

Three days set aside for scrapbooking, spending time with family and friends and having a great time - what could be better.


I Can't Wait!!!!



~K

TGIF - Weekend Challenge #6 ***edited***

I hope you enjoyed the Sunday sneak-peek of some of the upcoming product. If you pop over to Jeanette's blog you might get another peek at some new things.

Blog posts have been few and far between lately because life has me spinning in a few uncomfortable directions lately and I'm getting a little dizzy. It's like being on an amusement park ride that you can't wait to get off of because it's just not what you thought it would be. The merri-go-round is more my speed these days.

For this weekends challenge

***edited to add the actual challenge --- Sorry about that ***

Apparently I didn't double check that the WHOLE post had saved and posted before I stepped away from my computer for a day of scrapbooking with my gals (I do not wish to discuss how many pages I finished. I blame the head cold entirely and that's my story and I'm sticking to it)

Since I mentioned amusement park rides let's use that as a starting point for this challenge and make a page about a fun activity or event that you enjoy or have memories of as a child. An additional challenge would be to combine the two and make a page about an activity/event you participate in now that you also have memories of as a child.

An example: We take our children each year to the midway rides & carnival games at an annual festival in our town and I have pictures of them riding the same rides year after year (it's cool to see how much they've grown over the years) and each year while we play a couple carnival games I remember, as a child, going to an annual community festival called Hi-Neighbour in our neighbourhood of the city I grew up in.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a summer activity, that's just where my frame of mind is right now. Wishful thinking for warmer weather.

Again - sorry for the half post this morning. At least I didn't manage to loose the entire thing (which I've done more than once lately).

Happy scrapping.

~K

Sunday Sneak-Peak

Since there are four Sundays between now and the actual release of the new Summer 2009 Idea Book and Catalogue and there are five new paper packs making their debut I'm going to share with you a sneak-peak of two of them today and one more each Sunday until the end of the month. I know. How evil of me not to just give em to you all at once.....but where would the fun be in that.


We'll start the viewing with Backcountry. Remember these are just quick samples and don't give you the full idea of what the complete paper pack is like but it will give you a peek at what the colour schemes & possible themes are.

Backcountry also happens to be the featured paper pack on the cover of the Summer Idea Book.

Next up we have what, at first glance (remember I haven't seen a book yet either), is shaping up to be one of my favs of the season. Here's a little look at Bella

As usual CTMH has done a brilliant job creating new paper packs, coordinating stamp sets and accents to make scrapbooking faster, simpler, easier and oh so much fun. I can't wait to share the remaining paper packs with you.


~K

TGIF - Weekend Challenge #5

We are cleaning the house today....actually it's more of a reorganizing & rearranging rooms project (and I'm bored with it already but am committed to it) which leads to deep cleaning of the corners as we move furniture.

All this cleaning is very uninspiring scrapbooking wise but in the process of moving furniture I've found a few treasures I'd forgotten I'd saved for the purpose of scrapbooking. One of the items found is a theatre ticket to a play, Munch on the Prairie, that my sister-in-law took the younger kids to during Christmas break.

My challenge for you this weekend is to create a scrapbook page using a momento - an invitiation, a letter or card from someone, a ticket stub, a play bill, a tourist map or attraction pamphlet, any little 'treasure' saved for the purpose of preserving the memory of that time or place.

Hopefully this little BIG project doesn't take all weekend and I can get some scrapping done too.

Stop by later this weekend. I may just have a sneak peak picture or two of what's coming in the new summer catalogue.


~K

More Tickled Pink

I just can't get enough of this kit and I have another picture to share.

Tickled Pink is available April 15th until May 31st *while supplies last*
Purchase at full price or you can get it at a discount or even free with minimum purchases.
Full details are available on the flyer posted here .

It's April 1st but this is no joke

With the massive amounts of snow falling today I find it hard to believe I'm thinking about summer but that's what is on my mind today.

Why? Because the Summer catalogues are on their way!

I should have them early next week unless the weather slows them down.

I can't wait to see them......can you?


~K

Pictures of Tickled Pink

A lot of people have stopped by looking for pictures of the CTMH Tickled Pink Kit this weekend and here is what you've been waiting for.


Third try's a charm and now clicking the photo will open it up in a larger format. Sorry it's a little pixelated but the picture is nice and big so you can get a good look at it.

***Reminder that the information/prices etc quoted in this flyer are in Canadian funds.

~K

TGIF - Weekend Challenge #4

Let's do some scrapping this weekend with a little inspiration from this ad I found tucked in a file on my computer. I have no idea where it came from (or how long it's been hiding amongst my pictures). I believe I stashed it away because I loved the cabinetry - I'm always dreaming of having a kitchen that looks like that but the page design is great too. Clean, simple lines with room for 3 or more pictures and plenty of journalling.

And since this ad was originally filed because I was dreaming of pretty kitchen cupboards how about we use dreams as an optional theme for this challenge too. Here is a quote to go along with it. Bonus points if you include the quote.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their
dreams ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Happy Scrapping Everyone! Have a great weekend.

~K

Well Hello There - So Glad You Stopped By

My very first blog was titled Chaos, Confusion and an Occasional Burst of Creativity. It was, and still is, heavy on the Chaos and Confusion part of my crazy-busy life with 4 kids and there was very little Creativity going on. Then I started a blog dedicated to my scrapbooking and also focussing on my life as a CTMH consultant. I don't know why I didn't think of the name An Occasional Burst of Creativity for my scrapping blog to begin with but since I'm only occasionally creative I guess I just wasn't having a good day....plus I was so excited to be starting a new blog.

Anyway. Welcome to the new version of my scrap room. As the title says - grab a coffee and ignore the mess. Everything from the old blog has been transfered over so all links/pictures should be intact (if you notice anything missing let me know). I hope you stop by often. The Timmies is always on - if you're from a part of the world that doesn't know what "Timmies" is.....you are sure missing out on the best cuppa coffee evah!


~K

Are You Ready To Be TICKLED PINK ?

The National Scrapbooking Month CTMH Campaign details have been released. Are you ready? Here it is!

You’re gonna love our Tickled Pink scrapbooking kit designed exclusively for National Scrapbooking Month in May.

PUT A LITTLE MORE “YOU” IN YOUR SCRAPBOOKS AND YOU’LL BE
Tickled Pink this spring! Our newest scrapbooking kit puts you front and center—with everything you need to create two beautiful two-page layouts all about the things that you love and that make you shine. And speaking of shine, you’ll also be tickled by the kiss of glitter on these fabulous papers!

To get your very own Tickled Pink scrapbooking kit:
• Place a minimum order of $75 in stamp sets (excluding K-size and Stamp of the Month) between April 15-May 31 to receive a Tickled Pink scrapbooking kit FREE! (limit one free kit per order.)
• Purchase the Tickled Pink kit at just $43.50—well below retail value!
•Sign up as a new Consultant between May 1-May 31 and receive a kit
FREE.
• Host a Home Gathering between April 15-May 31 with minimum sales of $500 and receive a kit FREE.

Celebrate spring, bling, and everything you love—you’ll be so happy,
you’ll be Tickled Pink! *Tax and shipping/handling may apply. Available for a limited time while supplies last.

This kit features the colours Blush, Crystal Blue, Twilight, Hollyhock, Sweet Leaf and includes a D-size stamp set called I Am, 4 sheets of B&T Duos papers (2 of them with glitter), 6 sheets of Textured Cardstock (1Blush, 1Crystal Blue, 4 White Daisy), 1 sheet of White Daisy Textured Cardstock die-cuts, 1 foam tool, 1 White Daisy Mini-Medley Collection and an instruction brochure to create 2 double page layouts with this fabulous set. **pictures coming as soon as I can find some useable ones. A PDF file will be included with the next newsletter this Friday. If you are not on my newsletter email list and would like to be, leave a message in the comment section.

I will be placing an order on April 15th for anyone that would like to receive this kit in time for the NSD Celebration Crop in May. That date is firm to allow for shipping time so please place your order prior to that date.

If you would like to host a gathering during this campaign, contact me soon for open dates. This is a time sensitive, while supplies last offer so the earlier the better.

A Blogger Puzzle

I'm puzzled. Blogger has me flusterated.

Why is it that sometimes when I upload photos they become clickable links that open up in larger formats but othertimes (like the 3 pages I posted Sunday night and the card Saturday morning) they do not become clickable links to bigger pictures. WTH! I'm not doing anything different each time I post pictures (aside from the amount of grumbling I do when my dial-up is being particularly finicky).

Grrrrr

Any thoughts from experienced 'Bloggers'? Please leave a comment if you know what the heck the deal is with this.


~K

Crop Highlights

While there weren't a lot of us at crop on Saturday we sure had a lot of fun. Yummy food - and tons of baking. Lots of chatting. Many pots of coffee. NO visiters - usually someone stops in for coffee. Oh wait. Heather stopped in TWICE. I think she wished she hadn't been curling and could have come to play with us. We played many rounds of 'when was this picture taken' and quite a few of 'what was happening here'. I'm embarassed to admit I actually asked who the pictures were in one page my mother in law was working on. Turns out it was my youngest SON! Boy did he need a haircut!


Speaking of my mother-in-law....you should see her idea book. WOW! She has a 3ring binder notebook (actually it's an old Reflections Program binder) and it is FULL of inspiration. She has of course a set each of Reflections and Originals pages but also sheets of paper that she has sketched ideas from magazines that have inspired her. She's also cut out images from all her old catalogues of her favorite cards and layouts and examples of various uses for different materials such as buttons, ribbon, safetypins, flowers etc. It's the most amazing thing. I'll have to take pictures of it and post them.


I got out-scrapped by everyone and did NOT come anywhere near getting 8 (or more) pages done like some people but I did manage to complete* three. And by complete I mean, for the most part they are done and if I'm lucky I'll get some journalling onto a couple of them. Journalling is not what I do best some days.

This first one was from Weekend Challenge #2 and the inspiration came from that $20 platter I loved and the sketch I posted. It turned out better than I expected and I think I did a pretty good job of getting what was 'in my head' translated out onto paper. My sister-in-law gets credit for the beautiful photo of my youngest daughter.



All supplies are ctmh unless otherwise stated: Sunkissed Yellow Textured CS; Sweet Leaf CS; Dutch Blue Textured CS; Bubble Gum CS; Chocolate Ink; the square is the back side of a stamp from the Solo E set; Just Blooms - White Daisies & Summer Posies; Bubblegum brads and White Daisy Bigger Brads, the leaves are wired silk leaves - source unknown; EK Success Corner rounder with the guard removed to make the scalloped border & a regular office hole punch for the holes.



The second layout of the day was inspired by the Weekend Challenge #3 (this weekends) to make a monochromatic layout with 3 rows - title, picture, journalling. Of course the journalling hasn't been done yet and I added an extra picture into the 'journalling row' plus you will notice that one of the 4 pictures on the left side is on there twice. That's because I didn't have a wallet sized school picture of my oldest daughter (lots of 8x10s though) so I either need to find the disk that came with her photos and hopefully print a wallet sized picture or I'm just going to removed the top photo, draw an outline where the picture would be and add the words 'photo not available' in it and depending on which way this goes will determine what the journalling says.





All supplies ctmh unless otherwise stated: Autumn Terracotta Textured CS - the back side for the background and the front for the photo & journalling mats; Parchment CS; Autumn Terracotta Ink Pad & Fine Tip Pen; Classic Caps & Classic Numbers Stamp Sets (both discontinued); Ribbon from Autumn Terracotta Collection (also discontinued); and the safety pin was part of an accent package from a special a couple years ago.

My last page of the day is for my mom's album. She has a collection of photos of my nephew on her fridge and some of them are starting to discolour so I figured I'd better get them into albums. No pre-conceived inspiration for this one. I just picked out a piece of b&t paper and the wavey stitched lines provided all the inspiration I needed - that plus the huge grin on my nephews face.

All supplies are CTMH unless otherwise stated: Dutch Blue Textured CS (the reverse side...I LOVE that it has different colours on each side!) and the B&T is from last January's Heart Of Winter Special; Cranberry CS; Outdoor Denim Ink; the alpha stamp was a hostess/customer special from last year - I don't even know if the set has a name. DE Chipboard hearts were part of the DieCut special last fall - one is backed with Cranberry CS the other stamped with Holiday Red Ink and Spot On Background; Sparkles. The photoclip & brad are Queen & Co brand.

So those are the highlights from March Crop Day. Small group but Big Fun!

The next crop isn't until the BIG National Scrapbook Celebration Weekend Crop on May 1st, 2nd & 3rd. There is still plenty of room and registration is still open. I'll be booking upcoming dates in the coming weeks so if there are any requests for a particular weekend get them to me asap. I also have an order going in early this week if anyone needs anything.

~K

You Rock

I'm heading out for a day of scrapping at Minerva Hall but wanted to share a little something something with you before I left.

Here's a card I started as a '10-minute technique' post that my 8yr old daughter tried to confiscate to use as a base for birthday card for a birthday party this weekend. I told her I would finish it up just for her friend and she could have it.

The base is Bubblegum Textured Cardstock and a little bit of B&T paper from a Sweet Harmony L2 paper pack. The White Daisy cs is randomly 'smooshed' with Blush & Petal ink using crumpled up pieces of stretch/cling wrap (saran wrap). You could use any thin plastic for this.

The sentiment and the guitar are from D1346 - You Rock. The guitar is stamped in Blush and then I used a sponge dauber to add Petal ink in places, matted with Petal Textured CS and 3 Bubblegum brads. It is attached to the base using Foam Squares for dimention. The sentiment is stamped in Petal and then I ran tape runner over top and added Prisma Glitter ---- because what 9yr old girl doesn't like glitter, and matted on Petal Textured CS.

~K

TGIF - Weekend Challenge #3

I'm still working on last weekend's challenge. It looks great....at least the picture of it in my head does. I'm still struggling with how to get the stuff in my head OUT and onto paper.



I was digging through a file of old layouts I have scanned onto my computer. I'd been talking to my niece last week about my experience with babies & sign language and I was looking for a layout I did quite a few years ago, in 2003, about Emily's signs. I absolutely LOVE this layout. It's so clean and simple with it's three rows - a title, a panoramic photo and a narrow block of journalling plus a few simple accent pieces for balance. I'm also a big fan of monochromatic layouts (using a single colour in various shades such as the pink/red used in this layout)


Use this layout as your inspiration for this weekend's challenge. Three rows - a title, a photo or series of photos and journalling and also try a monochromatic colour scheme.


Happy Scrapping Everyone!

Have a great weekend.


~K

Thursday already?

It amazes me how a week can be gone.....just like that.

I've been torn between playing with paper - the good kind...the scrapping/cardmaking kind, and the not so good kind - accounting and finances. Neither is winning though because well.... laundry and dishes speak louder than paper. Especially when there are 5 other people in the house who think that clean items of either are much more important. I don't know why. They are just going to make them all dirty again.

I'm also finding it difficult to think - which is necessary for both scrapping paper use and accounting paper use and this is because I have a knot between my shoulder blades that goes straight up my neck. It's a recurring issue which thankfully hasn't been so 'recurring' lately but yesterday it necessitated the taking of a prescription muscle-relaxer that I adore for it's ability to eventually make me mobile. Unfortunately it makes me less than productive on all levels be it creativity, financial planning or manual labour. In my looped state last night I actually thought....hey, I could work on last weekends challenge. My better judgement overruled that idea. Friends don't let friends play with ink and stamps and sharp scissors and whatnot while under the influence. I'm certain the results would have looked nothing like what I've been sketching and planning for days.....but I bet it would have been interesting.

Tomorrow is Friday - Time for another challenge. I'll be sure to have it posted bright and early in the morning. Hope you will have a chance to participate at some point this weekend (or next week....or whenever the mood strikes).

Also here's a reminder: We are scrapping the day away on Saturday at Minerva Hall if anyone wants to come out and play - even for just a few hours. I only have a few people confirmed to attend so there is plenty of room.

A couple reminders

This coming Saturday - March 21st is Crop Day at Minerva Hall 10am till 10pm for $10.

AND

There are only 7 weeks until the National Scrapbook Weekend Crop the first weekend in May.

TGIF - Weekend Challenge #2

You ready for this weekend's challenge?

I'd planned to have this posted much earlier today but I ran into a snag. I've been wracking my brain trying to think of something fun for this and I wanted something that said "spring" because quite frankly, all that snow - and it's fresh, clean beauty....I'm so over it.

What says "spring" to you? Is it puddles and rain boots? Flowers and green grass? Open toes shoes (with no sock...oh i so can't wait!) and pretty painted toes?



I found this really sweet serving tray yesterday while shopping that shouted "spring" at me. It inspired me with it's brown and green checker board pattern and big white daisy flowers and bright yellow, blue and pink colours. I went back today thining I'd buy that sweet bit of inspiration but I couldn't bring myself to pay $20 for it. I just couldn't do it. Only thing is, I'm stuck on that serving tray now. It's all I can think about and can't seem to come up with any other bits of inspiration. See - it happens to all of us - this creative block.



I popped around the net a bit and came up with a sketch from http://www.pagemaps.com/



This is one of their March 09 sketches.






Use it as your inspiration to be creative this weekend......and if you already have spring where you are - send me some because I'm done with winter.




Happy Scrappin Weekend





Oh.....wait, before you go. I know this is last minute but I forgot to mention it earlier in the week - there is an online crop going this weekend. It startes tonight, Friday - March 13th at 7pm cst. Check out my friend Kat's blog for details and a link to the festivities. Kat's the events coordinator for an online scrapping site & I'm sure she's got some sweet challenges lined up for us tonight. For those who've never heard of an online crop, it's held in an online forum and there are challenges posted, often there are games, chances of winning a prize or two and lots of chatting back and forth between the online participants. Check it out if you have a chance. It will be a lot of fun!

~K

Key To My Heart Contest - Winning Artwork

Back in December / January the CTMH special was in celebration of National Papercrafting Month (January) and along with the amazing paperpack/stamp set, CTMH also hosted a contest.

I had a project in mind. I am way creative --- in my mind --- but entering things into contests that are only figments of my imagination doesn't work well and I just couldn't get it successfully out of my mind and translated into a reality in time.

Many people were able to do this though and the winners have been announced.

Pop on over to Jeanette Lynton's blog and check out the amazing creations of the 15 semi-finalists.


~K

Weekend Challenge Artwork

Yipee! I'm so happy. My sweet sis out in Hamilton (hi Yo....miss you!!!!) emailed me Friday night with a scrapbook page she completed from this challenge. I've almost forgiven her for rubbing it in that she was out in her garden in short sleeves while we were getting dumped with snow. Here's her page. Isn't it awesome!


I was really worried that I wouldn't get a chance to even participate in my own challenge this weekend, but I managed to find a peaceful hour Sunday afternoon - while watching the Princess Diaries 2 and everyone else was out of the house (blissful). This layout is absolutely nothing like what I had in mind when I posted the challenge but this is what evolved once I found this picture of my son. CTMH : White Daisy Textured & Plain Cardstock; Grey Wool Cardstock & Ink; Sweet Leaf Cardstock & Ink; Priceless Love Word Puzzle Stamp Set; Black Marker.

TGIF - it's Challenge Time!

My world is looking a whole lot WHITE today. I cannot believe all the snow that fell from the sky yesterday afternoon. It actually looks kinda pretty. I wanted to go outside and take pictures as it was falling but I had such a huge migraine and it was way too bright out there. I could not wait for the sun to go down (which I noticed is getting to be quite late these days......and on that note don't forget it's daylight-saving-time. Turn your clock ahead an hour on Saturday night/Sunday morning)



This morning I went for a walk in the yard (brrrr...it got cold overnight) and took a few pics of all the heavy, wet snow on the trees down by the creek. My yard looks so nice covered in snow. If it weren't for it being ....well....snow....I'd wish it would stay like this all year around. What's underneath all that pretty is anything but pretty.






After a long, stressful week I know I could use a little bit of time to relax. I wish I could take my coffee outside and sit in my chair but look at all the snow piled on it. I think I'll have to stay inside and play with paper instead.



But doesn't all that white snow looks so fresh and clean and beautiful? Using that as inspiration, I'm putting forth a little challenge to get you in a creative mood and encourage you to have some fun this weekend. Set aside a little scrapping time and make a layout.....or a card.......


Keep it fresh and clean and simple - just a few bits of colour against a white blanket of snow...um I mean paper. Use:

• white cardstock as the background
• one neutral/earthy colour (ie: black, brown, cream, beige)
• one other colour - something bright and cheerful to give your layout or card a small bit of *pop*

Are you up for this challenge?

Even if you just take 20minutes - give it a try.



Post a comment to let me know how you did. I'd love to see your work too - if you are able to share.




Happy Scrappin Weekend!





~K

March '09 Newsletter

National Scrapbooking Weekend

3-Day Crop

May 1st, 2nd & 3rd 2009

Friday: 5pm to Midnight

Saturday: 9am to 2am

Sunday: 9am to 5pm

Early Registration Deadline is March 7th.

That's only a few days away!

Contact me for more information.

**********

March Specials:

• A small selection of stamp sets have been added to the discounted section of my shopping cart with a savings of 40% off regular retail price. What a deal! a. Wisdom (B1199)b. Groovy Celebration (C1232)c. Love of My Life (C1258)d. Card Sentiments (D1111)e. Memories (D1127)f. Follow Your Dreams (D1152)g. Steep and Deep (D1175)h. My One & Only (D1197)i. Friendship's Garden (D1202)j. My Farm (D1219).
• CTMH is offering new consultants a signing bonus during the month of March. New consultants will receive 50% off the retail price of up to two select organizational products (Rolling Tote, Inks Organizer etc). If you are interested being a CTMH consultant, contact me for more information and full details of this signing bonus.
• Stamp of the Month - Butterfly Wings is available until March 31st

Crop Day - Saturday March 21st

• Minerva Hall --- 10am to 10pm
• cost $10 potluck supper ( I'm making veggie soup)
• includes coffee and a few snacks, scrapping goodies, use of stamps/tools etc.
• this month's product demo: extreme makeover-chipboard edition

RSVP via email or phone by at least the Wednesday before each crop day. (contact info is on my website if you do not have it). If I do not have a minimum number of attendees, crop day will be cancelled.

Each month, anyone that places an order during crop is entered into a draw to receive Mystery Hostess Rewards. (number of entries/amount of rewards/number of hostesses depends on total sales) Who will earn free product this month? If you cannot attend crop but would like to place an order (through myself or online) please contact me to be eligible for the Mystery Hostess draw.

Happy Scrapping! Hope to see you at crop day this month. Remember registration is due soon for National Scrapbook Month - 3 Day Crop.

~K

And now for some artwork......

Everyone was busy or out of town for February's crop and even my mother-in-law bailed on me but I spent the whole day scrapping - in my dining room. I had a great time. I didn't get much more done that I usually do during crop at the hall but I did manage to finish up a few layouts that I'd started recently plus a couple more. I love the way these turned out!


First - a couple layouts of Carrie's son, Linden. I'd taken my camera to her place and spent some time rolling around on the floor with the newly mobile little guy (who's now way mobile only a couple months later).

*That's How I Roll* The title is a spin-off of something that's said at his mom's work. I thought it made a perfect title for these pictures. I just noticed I forgot to use my new calendar stamp - the Jan'09 SOTM to put the date in the bottom right corner of this layout.




all items are CTMH: It's a Guy Thing Level 2 PaperPack; Textured Cardstock-New England Ivy; Dimensional Elements Fresh Shapes; Ink: White Daisy Pigment, Desert Sand, Cocoa & Garden Green; Classic Caps stamp set (discontinued) & DE Classic Alphabet (discontinued); Coluzzle Circle & knife (also used a large dinner plate as a circle template for the larger circles); Clear Inspirations - buttons; white hemp;
cutting knife; liquid glass - as adhesive for the chipboard elements and button...very impressed with it's holding power.



*Big Boy*

















* CTMH items: It's a Guy Thing Level 2 PaperPack; liquid glass
*other: scrap chipboard from coasters


I'd taken my camera to the bowling centre to do a photo-shoot of Aarica to be used for a Special Olympics Bowling article in the local paper (don't think the article was ever published). I was still in the process of getting to know my camera and this photo was one of the better pictures in the bunch.

Love the quote: Write on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

















CTMH items: Evensong Level 2 PaperPack; Heart Throb (dec'08sotm); Sparkles; Tulip Ink.
CM: vellum quote

Some of the pictures I had printed last month included shots from the kids first day of school in September '07. This was Owen's very first - first day of school.


*Kindergarden* September 5, 2007 Owen is ready for Ms Lewis' kindergarden class.

















ctmh items: NEW Stardust Level2 PaperPack, Stickease & Flexi Labels; The Works alphabet stamp set; White Daisy Pigment Ink; sanding block from distressing kit.
other: sparkle gel pen unknown brand...from my girls' stash.


My girls even got in on the action on Sunday for a little while and had fun playing in my stash of Level 1 Kits. Here are a couple of each of their pages. The kits are oldies but goodies.

Emily's pages are on the 1st and 3rd and Aarica's are the 2nd and 4th (darn formating is being difficult so i hope that's the correct order). Em is learning how to properly mat a photo and is getting more creative in her titles. She did her pages with only a little guidance from me. She then helped her sister with her pages.










~K

Scrapping Goals '09......update

Goal making is not for the faint of heart.....or the scatterbrained.

While I wouldn't say I'm a total failure since any result at all from making goals is a good thing, I wouldn't exactly say I'm having great success with achieving my goals either.

1) taking daily pictures - so not happening BUT I am making a more conscious effort to use my camera and I have been taking pictures (including one of the shipping label on my latest CTMH parcel....and Carrie called me a freak for taking it - whatever! I was excited...and it IS a picture from my daily life) Anyway, some of my recent pictures are pretty cool. I've been spending some time getting to know some of the more advanced features of my new camera and the results rock. I'd post a picture or two but my camera has been loaned out to a camera-less Carrie so she can take pics of that cute kid of hers while her own camera is touring worlds down-under for a month. My latest experiments are still on my camera but I'm hoping to have it back in a few days to retrieve them.

2) one layout a week - hahaha. Oh I make myself laugh. I've managed to start 4 layouts this year (not counting the one I "started" for the January demo). Started as in, they aren't quite finished - they either need journalling done, or I messed up an accent and need to redo it, or I didn't have something I wanted to use with me at the crop Carrie and I went to last week. I did manage to finish a layout I started 4 years ago though. Does that count? Anyway, scrapping at home just isn't happening lately. I blame massive doses of cold medication, plague-carrying children, a teen drama queen hell bent on making me into a raving lunatic and a stack of accounting paperwork I need to do for the government before they lock me up for reasons other than insanity. Oh and planning for the May Crop has been high on my priority list too so sitting down to scrap hasn't been.

3) printing pictures once a month ---- oh oh oh! I did this one! I had about 50 pictures printed this month! Awesome pictures - some recent, some from a couple years ago. So excited to have new material to help inspire me to scrap.

4) and I am having a scrapping good year so far. Even if I'm not getting actual pages done, I've been sketching and journalling and planning future pages.....and shopping. Heehee. How can all that not make for a good scrapping year.

Anyone else make any goals this year? How are you doing on them?

Celebrate Good Times!!!

Celebrating CTMH's 25th Anniversary with a gift for YOU!

Receive the Good Times stamp set Free with the minimum purchase of $31.25 in stamp sets until February 28th.

Doing the Happy Dance!

I'm celebrating today!

I used to wait anxiously for a new box of CTMH goodies that was enroute with so much excitement but the past 9months it's been a different kind of anxious because there have been issues with lost, missing, misdirected or just plain forgotten about packages traveling through the system. Seriously, I still don't understand why it took 5 business days for that last package to get here from Winnipeg -45mins away! I know a few of you had to wait extra long for orders lately and it frusterated me that I could do nothing to improve the situation except repeatedly call UPS and CloseToMyHeart and stay on top of where packages were at all times.

Well, today I'm doing a Happy Dance! The order I submitted last week was put on a trial run of a new shipping method and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the feedback CTMH receives on this trial from other consultants is as good as what I had to say about it. With this new shipping method, the order took one week to get here from the time I submitted it to CTMH. A week! 2days to pack and ship out and then only 4 sweet little business days for it to get through customs and arrive HERE....in town....and be IN MY HANDS! Now that is amazing! I'm going to think positive and hope like crazy that this is the new norm. After this, I don't think I could go back to waiting 7-8 business days.....and especially not 15+days!

We missed you on the 31st

Crop Day at Minerva Hall on January 31st was tons of fun! Everyone (except moi) got so much done although I'm sure my SIL Heather would argue that point - she worked on one 2page layout almost all day...but it was SO worth it.

Thank you to everyone for your "January" orders. This month...well last month actually, 5 lucky people received rewards in one form or another. Congratulations Heather, Christine, Anita, Leanne and Judi. How this worked was for each $25 spent, I added one ticket into the draw and the number of tickets drawn out was determined by total sales for the day. I am going to continue on with this format for a few months and see how it goes. I am also accumulating all tickets each month into another draw and at the end of the year someone will win a super prize basket of goodies.

A post with artwork and the product demos/instructions from January's crop day are coming. Last week was another week of sick kiddos & tempermental computers around here but I am working on that post.

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Here's the news you've been waiting for. Details for the upcoming crop weekend are now available. Here is the *reader's digest version* Leave a comment on this post if you did not receive the email with attached registration form and would like to receive one.


National Scrapbooking Weekend
3-Day Crop

May 1st, 2nd & 3rd 2009


The first Saturday in May is officially “National Scrapbooking Day” and to celebrate this fabulous event, join us for a weekend of pure scrapping fun with games, prizes, challenges and classes galore at Minerva Hall – 1 mile south of Gimli on Hwy 8.

Friday: 5pm to Midnight
Saturday: 9am to 2am
Sunday: 9am to 5pm

The hall has great lighting and plenty of space. Tables will be grouped together and will seat 5 scrappers with ample floor space around the tables for your crop totes etc.

Get a head start on the weekend with Friday night’s crop complete with an early-bird door prize and an evening snack. Saturday / Sunday registration includes a Welcome Pack, door prize entry, make ‘n’ take classes and snacks through out the day. Early Registration Deadline -- March 7th. Prices after March 7th are listed in brackets. Final Registration Deadline -- April 4th

3-day crop -- Friday, Saturday & Sunday
$55 ($65 after March 7th) *includes Welcome Pack,
snacks, 3 classes & door prize entries.

An optional meal package is available for
Saturday & Sunday $10/day

Can't get away for the entire weekend?
Join us for a little while

Friday ONLY 5pm to Midnight
$10 *includes evening snack &
early-bird door prize entry

Saturday ONLY 9am to 2am
$35 ( $45 after March 7th) * includes Welcome Pack,
snacks 2 classes & door prize entry

Sunday ONLY 9am to 5pm
$25 ($35 after March 7th) *includes Welcome Pack,
snacks, 1 class & door prize entry


So.......who's coming to the May Crop???? More details on contests, activities and fun fun fun will be posted here in the coming weeks. Let the count-down continue.........12 weeks!!!