About Memories & More

My Favorite Christmas Song

Merry Christmas, everyone!

An easier way to read your favorite blogs

Recently, I was introduced to google reader.  I actually didn't want to do it.  I thought that clicking to my favorite blogs through my website favorite list was just as easy.  I was wrong.  google reader lets you put all your blogs in one place & you can see when they've updated.  It's really made my online time more effective.  And I visit SO many more places now.

I found this very short video on YouTube about google reader.  It's a quick watch & I think if you give it a try, you'll enjoy it too.

And the winner is...

Consistantly, today, I have to go with Basic Grey.

Posted by: Nancy I | December 23, 2009 at 05:01

Nancy wins one of each sheet of the Cupid line from Pink Paislee.  Congratulations!

Last Minute Card Ideas

I saw these on the Jillibean website today & thought they just might be the answer to your last minute card needs:

Take the to & from off & you have a great holiday card!

No time to make your own?  We have lots of handmade cards, tags & small treat boxes for sale...stop on in & check 'em out!

My Favorite Paper Company...Today

Told you it changes.  I was reading the blogs I follow in Google Reader (that's another favorite...you should use this awesome tool!) and came across this layout from Pink Paislee:

Click here for the details.

This line is called Cupid from Pink Paislee and I LOVE it!  It's so much more than a Valentine line.  (we have it in the store & it's AMAZING!)  Now I just need to grab Audra & go have our coffee so we can stage this photo.  Seriously.  I'm all about using the photos we have...but I want a layout just like this one.  I even love the perspective of the photo.  And check out the chipboard flourishes as the steam from the coffee cups...oh my!  This layout just makes me happy!

Do you have a favorite paper line?  Are you fickle like me & it changes every time a new arrival comes in?  What company do you wish we had each & every paper from?  Post a comment by midnight tonight & on Christmas Eve I'll randomly select a winner to win one of each of the sheets of paper in the Cupid line.  Could that be any sweeter? 

My Favorite Scrapbook...ever!

We R Memory Keepers.  They make my favorite scrapbook album...ever!  As a matter of fact, I have over 40 at home.  And they're filled.  I use the 12x12 Silverstone Linen Ring Albums.

And I fill them full of these:

Each book holds approximately 2 packs of photo sleeves (that's 50 sheets x 12 photos each=600 photos per book!) Then I'll go back & scrapbook one or two photos from an event that I love, and mix it with the photo sleeves.  Mostly, I do single page layouts now...but not always.  And they merge really nicely with the photo sleeves.  I even add 8 1/2 x 11 pages to the same books.  You can read all about my photo project here.  It's something I'm really passionate about & it's really helped me put my scrapbooking in perspective.  I'm also passionate about ring albums because you are able to insert things & move them around so easily. 

Now, We R Memory Keepers makes other albums, too. My favorites are the Ring Albums, so that's what we're talking about today.  The Classic Leather 12x12 Ring Albums are one of the most popular albums that we sell.  And they come in a rainbow of colors.

 

But I only have a photo of the black one :) 

And here's the best part...UPS delivered 8 great big boxes filled with albums yesterday.  Woohoo!  Tons of page protectors came, too!  Just in time for Christmas!  Honestly, this is the best present someone could give a scrapbooker....or you can give yourself.  Stop in & I'll tell you all about it...and show you an album or two of my own. 

My Favorite Binding Machines

I have two favorite binding machines.  They are very, very different from one another...both are just cool!

The first is the Zutter Bind-It-All.

This machine punches the holes & binds your books.  It punches through paper, chipboard, acrylic, cd's, metal...really, if you can get it in the slot, it will likely punch it.  Then you slip the O wires into the holes & put it into the front of the machine & it uniformly closes the wires.  The Zutter Bind-It-All is great for those of you that make lots of mini books & calendars. 

My other favorite binding machine is the Unibind Photobook Creator.

Unibind is the company that makes the albums you order pre-done from on line mass market retailers.  Now you can make them yourself...at home...in a little under 3 minutes.  The covers are sold individually, so you can pick the cover that fits your project.  They are made of sturdy book cloth & have steel spines that are filled with resin.  Insert your pages...and here's the best part...you can use your regular scrapbooking papers & pages or create pages digitally to insert into your book.  (I have samples of both styles at the store that I made for you to see).  Ok, so you inserted your pages into the spine & then you set the spine in this machine.  The light turns red.  About 90 seconds later, the light turns green & you pull your book out.  Give it a minute to cool & your book is done!  The resin can be re-heated so you can add/remove pages.  And when the resin is cooled, you can pull on the pages & they won't come out.  Seriously, this thing is cool!

We have both machines in stock.  Stop by for a quick demo today!  These machines are SO cool!

So excited....

Did you notice what's different about the windows?  I'm so excited over a little bit of vinyl...but I love that our windows have great big signs that tell people exactly what we do.  I hope you can see it from Safeway :)  I'm pretty sure you can see the LED sign above the store from the moon.  Unfortunately, it's hard to see from the parking lot.

Here are some things in the works for 2010:

• Featured Scrapbooker of the Month.  I have January & February lined up...are you who I'm looking to feature for the other months?  Here's what's in it for you:  I'll give you a bag filled with scrapbook goodies at least 1 month in advance.  You make whatever you want from what I gave you...pages, cards, boxes, wall art, whatever.  We display your creations in the store & a on the blog with a photo of you & your bio.  And the month of your "feature" you can come to every Midnight Madness for free.  How cool is that?
• Page of the Week.  I'm really excited for this!  It's kinda like the 30/30 project where I posted a page & the instructions to make it every day for 30 days.  But this will be one page per week.  52 pages in a year.  Totally do-able, right?  And if you're consistently participating in the Page of the Week, you'll be invited to free crops throughout the year!  I'll make a check off sheet where you can bring your page in & we'll mark it off.  I'm thinking 4 free crops a year.  What do you think?  Keep an eye out for the final details of this free class!
• Card of the Week.  Can you imagine making 52 cards?  Now think about one card per week...much easier to consider, don't you think?  Again, a free class!
• The Polka Dot Pixie is coming to teach more paper clay projects...oh my gosh, I love her classes!  She's going to be teaching us love birds for Valentine's day on Saturday, January 23rd.  As soon as I have photos, I'll post 'em.
• Sonja London-Hall will be teaching pendant making techniques on Thursday nights.  Each class will build on the techniques learned in the last class.  I think you'll enjoy these!
• Caroline Miller will be here making a Valentine's Day book on Saturday, February 6th.  Prices & photos to come, but you know Caroline's work...the Halloween & Christmas books were to die for!  The Valentine's Day book is sure to be awesome!
• Make-n-take Saturdays.  One Saturday a month, we'll be having a make-n-take day featuring different techniques.  Each technique will be $5 and will take 30 minutes or so.  You can take the techniques you want...and we'll have at least 4 for you to choose from.  I have some planned, but if there's a technique you've been dying to learn, please post a comment or email me & we'll see what we can do!  The first make-n-take day is set for Saturday, January 16th.
• A Year in Review.  This is my new monthly class.  Each month we'll feature a different manufacturer & make two great pages that incorporate photos you've taken the previous month.  January's class will be 2009 in Review.  February will be January in review, etc.  As soon as I have the first couple of pages ready for you to see, I'll post the details, but I'm certain that if you take all 12 classes, you'll get a free scrapbook to put your creations in.  So cool.
• Coffee Club.  This has been fun & we'll continue to have it on two Tuesday mornings a month.  But the time will change to 10 am.  Projects will continue to be $5.
• Make-n-Take Wednesday's will continue with $1 make-n-takes.  These are so fun!

There's even more, but my dog is nudging my hand, making it difficult to type.  She wants a walk.  And the last time I ignored her she ate my hat.  But I'll keep you posted on what we have coming up.

 

Epic 6

Just in time for Christmas, the new & improved QuicKutz Epic 6 Personal Die Cutting machines are in!  These new machines were engineered to cut every die that QuicKutz makes...as well as many other manufacturer dies!  And it embosses like a dream!  It has a 6x12 inch platform, so it holds a whole lotta dies at one time.

The Epic 6 is just $89.99...get yours today!

(a little note:  I've used my new Epic 6 & it cuts really, really well.  Some of the dies I've had troubles with in the past are no longer a problem.  I'm VERY happy with this new & improved Epic 6!  Stop by the store & try it for yourself!)

Make-n-Take's All Week Long

Join us for one of these two great make-n-takes this week!  We'll be doing them Monday thru Thursday...just in time for Christmas & so very useful!  They're just $1 each.

Both projects use embossing...which is fun & it looks very elegant.

Sorry, but the make-n-take doesn't come with my mini bottle of champagne.  It's just too cute to part with.  It's even too cute to drink.  But trust me, this tag would look perfect on a regular size bottle of wine, champagne or sparkling cider.

Oh, and did I mention, we'll be having a different special every day this week...you won't want to miss out!  But you do have to come into the store to see what it is!