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I made this accordian book during my crop on January 12. It's based upon a kit designed by Brindy's Backyard. This is the front of the book

which is tied in the back with ribbon.
It opens up into three panels with the center panel holding envelopes that are adhered together to form an accordian
as you can see here.
Inside each envelope is a removable page which is topped with a large sticker. The sticker serves as a tab. I used We R Memory Keepers embossed, cardstock stickers,American Traditional cardstock for the pages, inside cover, and outside cover, and greeting card envelopes for the accordian section.

Weekend Crop
I attended a weekend crop hosted by The Cropper's Corner in Fredericksburg, Virginia. They were celebrating their 4th "birthday" in business. I had a blast with my friend EV. The store gave away door prizes every 30 minutes, gave 40% off products each attendee could carry or cart in 1 minute, fed us good food, and gave us a gift for attending. I'll definitely attend their Birthday Bash next year.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the "40% off run". Two women at a time were allowed to go through the store and pick as many products as they wanted to get 40% off the price. You could carry the products in your arms, use a hand basket, or push a cart. I was one of only a few who pushed a cart through the store. You could choose to walk, jog, or run. Many of the women walked. I chose to run. I also went through the store at least five times, prior to my turn, to scope out products and plan my route. I ended up getting a bunch of stuff whereas some women got only one or two products. During my run I put into my cart:


29 bottles of Ranger Ink Paint Dabbers,
2 Tim Holtz Paint Dabber Cases,


1 Jumbo Ranger Ink stamp pad,

6 bottles of Ranger Ink Stickles,
1 Making Memories embellishment jar,



1 StoneCreek Creations Krafter's Komfycush,
1 set of Art Warehouse Limited Edition background journaling stamps,




and, 8 Cropper Hopper Desktop Embellishment Organizers.
If I bought everything shown here I would have saved $111. However, I was on a budget and returned most of the products with the hope of getting some of these at another 40% off event at The Cropper's Corner. I joked with EV that the store may decide to change the rules of this event after seeing what I did.

I Love Mrs. Claus!
Guess what? There really is a Mrs. Claus and she gave me ALL of the bind-it-all products that were on my wish list! Is that amazing or what? I LOVE YOU Mrs. Claus!!! I can't wait to play with it.

Some great communities on the web

Today I want to share with you some of the wonderful scrapbooking communities that I've found on the web. Some are online bulletin boards. Some are email lists. All are full of information and people who love to share.

First up is Two Peas In A Bucket. This is an online community which houses a store, message board, member gallery, and online tutorials. Some nationally known scrapbookers such as Keisha Campbell, Ali Edwards, and Elsie Flanagan used to be regulars on this board. One thing to watch out for on Two Peas is that some of the women who post on the message board can be brutal. They have strong opinions and don't mind sharing what they think when things rub them the wrong way.

Another online community is Scrapjazz. They have the same benefits as Two Peas minus the brutality. Another thing I like about Scrapjazz is that you can sign up for free tutorials to be sent automatically by email.

If you like rubberstamping as well as scrapbooking as I do, then Splitcoaststampers is the place for you. This site focuses on using Stampin' Up! stamps in your projects. They don't sell a variety of products as the previous two communities but the learning resources are incredible.

Finally, if you like something with an ethnic spin to it, try Scraps of Color. This is a relatively new site that's growing and expanding with more participation. Check it out.

I subscribe to a few email groups that focus on various aspects of scrapbooking. These are groups where members can send messages and links to resources and all of the members of the list receive each message. You also have an option not to receive each message in your in box. You can opt to view messages on the web. Or, you can have the messages grouped into batches and then have the batch sent to you. This last option is called a digest. Most of my memberships are digests because some email groups produce hundreds of messages in a day!

I'm an organizational freak. I love to organize and re-organize my supplies and Scrapper's Challenge helps me do just that. This list focuses on organizational techniques for scrapbooking. But, beware this is a high volume list which sends hundreds of messages per day!

The next email group I recommend is ScrapBooking Classes. Members conduct online classes in real time or video. This is a great resource which also produces a lot of messages.

Finally, a specialty email list I like is called Cricutcutter. This list focuses on using the Cricut die cutting machine. By the way, the Cricut web site has a great online community as well.

I am a member of many more groups and online communities but this is just sampling of my favorites. If you have some sites to recommend, please let a message.

Later I'll share some of my favorite blogs.

Some of my favorite scrapbooking tools

I want to share with you some of my favorite scrapbooking tools. First, there's the 3M ATG 700 and 714 guns (TM). I use these for most of my adhesive needs. The tape is super sticky and can be used on most surfaces and the refills are VERY inexpensive compared to other tape runners. The biggest cost comes from purchasing the applicators. But considering these "guns" will last many years, maybe even your lifetime, the investment is worth it. I found that framingsupplies.com has the best price on the internet for these items. Shown here is the 714 model which has a 1/4" tape.
I like the Creative Memories power sort boxes for storing my photos, negatives, and photo CDs. Creative Memories has a mini sorter (shown here) and a large one which is four times the size of this one. I use both sizes.
Next up is the Creative Memories Custom Cutting System. They have several different shape sets which you use with their blades and cutting mat to quickly and easily cut out shaped paper and photos. The oval shapes are shown here. I use the ovals and circle shapes.
To trim my photos, I use the Creative Memories Personal Trimmer. I also like Stampin' Up's punches. They have a variety of punches, some of them in graduated sizes, so you can make a mat for certain shapes, easily.

The Cricut electronic die cutting system is also a favorite tool of mine.Well, that wraps up my list of favorite tools for now. I'll share my favorite supplies, companies, scrappers, and web sites in future posts.

I just want to give a shout out to Camille for being the one person I know of who actually reads my blog. Thanks Camille! You've motivated me to keep my entries updated.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well, how was your Christmas holidays? I love Christmas but I try to keep it low key and stress free. I don't decorate a ton. I don't do/go to a bunch of parties. I don't shop a lot. I try to keep it simple and focused. One way I do this is by giving each child only one or two gifts. If the gifts are really expensive (like they were this year) then each child only gets one gift. They don't suffer because they have grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who give them gifts as well. They end up with a bunch of gifts in the end.

Here's what the children got from us. Smartie Pants got this:
Miss Diva got this:
Little Miss got this:


I have a technology-loving family. We are all decked out in hand held technology. And, although I wanted a Bind-it-all for Christmas I got this:
Which I needed SO MUCH. I'm hoping that I'll become more organized, less stressed, more focused so I can save time, money, and effort in order to be able to scrap and stamp more. At least that's my hope.

Check this out:
This is called the Ghetto Pint Glass available online at the Urban Outfitters. What's up with that?

More Christmas gifts, cards, and calendar to share

I've been into making calendars for myself and as gifts. This is a calendar I made using a Junkitz base board and calendar grid. The base board is made of masonite, I think. The grid is blank except for the month. I used stamps for the numbers and embellished with stickers, doodles, and chalk. Across the bottom is a phrase on vellum that says, "Live Well Laugh Often Love Much".

I tried to decorate each month differently. I like a dimensional look so I used foam dots to mount some of the stickers. Here's February.
I'm not sure if this calendar will stay in my studio or go in my office. I'm also making small desktop calendars for colleagues. Originally I made them as to fit into CD cases. This idea changed when I discovered that the pages were too fat to fit into the case. Instead, I made hard covers from leftover chipboard and bound them with book rings. Here are some examples.
If you want the month template, just send me an email (see side bar) and I'll be happy to send it to you for the years 2008 and 2009.

At yesterday's crop, I focused on making Christmas cards. This is a criss cross card design which I got from the Splitcoaststampers web site. This is an amazing site full of ideas, tutorials, and samples of things made with Stampin' Up stamps.

I used these materials to make this card:

Stampin' Up -- flower from In the Spotlight stamp set, Christmas sentiment from Star-Studded Season stamp set, Round Tab punch, Pink Passion craft ink, Hologram Highlights embossing powder
Autumn Leaves -- swirl from the Swirls stamp set
Whispers -- green ink
Die Cut With A View -- green and pink card stock
Bazzill -- white card stock
Creative Memories -- circle punches
Michael's -- ribbon
Staples -- gold brad

Here are some more cards I made after lifting the designs from Splitcoaststampers as well.
Again, I used Stampin' Up and Autumn Leaves stamp sets. I'll just keep making these designs over and over again until I run out of supplies. Then, I'll create a different design. I'm trying to use the hoard of supplies I have now instead of going out and buying new things. Also, making the calendars are a great way to use your cut paper and odds and ends.

I'm hoping Santa will bring me this

as well as this

and this


and finally this

so I can make my own books. This would have been handy for binding my desktop calendars. Maybe I can do this next year.

Well, I'm off to make some more Christmas cards. I've got a ton to make and only a few weeks left.

Holiday special -- get a free gift!

When you submit a net retail order of $150* or more December 7 - December 25, you will receive an exclusive Ribbon Iron Kit from Pebbles, Inc. valued at over $30.00 - absolutely FREE!! Each Ribbon Iron Kit includes one innovative ribbon iron perfect for ironing out all of those pesky ribbon wrinkles, plus two assorted ribbon packages featuring 10 yards of vibrant grosgrain ribbon! This fabulous Ribbon Iron Kit is only available to consultants and customers during the holiday promotional period - this item will not be available for purchase through MemoryWorks. Take advantage of this great value to purchase your favorite scrapbook supplies and receive a free holiday gift for yourself!!

To place an order, please email me (see the sidebar).

Christmas gifts, crops, and monthly kit.

I'm working on Christmas gifts for colleagues and teachers. I'll post some pictures a little later. I've decided on giving calendars. I have 10 co-workers and 5 teachers on my list. If I'm really feeling motivated, I could make some for a couple of local friends as well which would bring my total to around 20.

I had another great time at the Scrap Diva crop in Bowie. They are such wonderful people. If you're in the area, I recommend you attend one of their crops. But, you'll have to book it early because they sell out fast.

I've noticed that a couple of crops in the area have made changes for 2008. The most obvious change has been a price increase. I'll have to save more pennies to go to those crops. I've decided to make a change at my crops as well. No, it's not a price increase -- it'll be the same price of $30 for 8 hours. To make my crops more unique, I'm going to give prizes that are one-of-the-kind items. For example, my grand prize will be an album created by me. I love to make specialty albums that come in different formats such as accordian, canvas, or mini album. I don't get to use all of them and hate to see them unused. This would be a perfect solution. I still get to create and someone will get to enjoy. I invite you to join us on the second Saturday of each month for an 8 hour crop. Email me for more information (see the sidebar).

Memory Works offers a monthly kit of coordinated products to help make scrapbooking easier and quicker. I recommend using coordinated kits to get your projects done fast. You don't have to spend time worrying whether or not colors and patterns go together. With a coordinated kit you know everything matches perfectly! Here is December's kit.

This month's kit includes a bare explosion box which would hold layers of pictures and memorabilia in a clever little package. All you would do is use the coordinated papers in the kit (or those you have on hand) to finish the project. This would be a wonderful gift for someone special or to have around the house. Here's an example, made by a Memory Works designer, of what you can make using the papers in December's kit.
You can buy kits by the month, after seeing a preview. Or, you can subscribe and receive each kit automatically. For more information, please email me (see the sidebar).