Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Life...it's busy!

After returning from a weekend of scrapbooking at Raspberry Ridge, I returned to a life of reality on Monday. Monday was the day to go see my oldest son's preschool. Matthew was wanting to go home the second we walked into the school. See, other than with family, he has not been away from me. He has never been in a day care, not even at the gym. He is scared to go to school. Understanably so. He will get used to it, this I know. It will take time, but he will. The question is, will I? For some reason I have been thinking about him going to school every since he was born. I love him to pieces and I can't imagine him out facing the big bad world by himself. Worried, yes. Selfish, maybe. It was hard for me to see him reacting the way he was when we went to see the school. "Mommy, I want to go home. Now. Can we go home and play? I don't want to go to school." These words brought tears to my eyes. But (those who know me know this already) the tears come easily when it comes to my boys.

So, the tour of the classroom didn't go well, but he does know how to open his locker and he wants "Matthew" left as the name on his mailbox. Not Matt. Time will tell how we both become with this school thing. I forgot my camera for this important milestone, but it will be plum full of pictures when he actually starts next week! :(

Tuesday was a beach day with our friends, Janel and her kiddos. May be the last one this year. Oh so sad that the cold weather is right around the corner! There is next summer to look forward too.

We had our first meeting for Scraploft after returning from the retreat. It went well. We made some decisions on roles and responsiblities. Now Sarah and I are going to focus on the marketing and advertising parts of the small business. Um, we all admit to not knowing a whole lot about this part. And this stuff is pretty crucial for our success, so we WILL be doing our homework. "Small Busines Marketing for Dummies" is my novel of choice this week. :)

Today I went to the great Minnesota get together-the State Fair. I went with my friend from high-school, Sarah. We had some good laughs and some good ole fair food. Actually LOTS of food. Like usual though. It was good to hang out with her, kid free. We don't do that much anymore. Lots of interesting people to see out there. One of my favorite things to do-people watch! Forgot the camera again. We are going again Friday, so I WILL remember it then.

New stuff is available on the Scraploft website now. Three Bugs in a Rug, Cosmo Cricket, MME, and Scenic Route to name some. We will continue to work hard to serve you, our customers! Have a great rest of the week. Slow down and cherish the moments of everyday in this world of the unexpected. Maybe life will seem a little less busy. Um, probably not! :)

Jenny

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Bonnie Wins!!

Bonnie -

I'll send the stuff out in tomorrow's mail. Please e-mail me your address and I'll get it out! Have a great day!

Monday, August 28, 2006

Recovering... and product...

As most of you know I am recovering from a "scrapbook" hangover as some of my friends call it. I was at a scrapbook retreat all weekend - Raspberry Ridge and had a great time - had to work late tonight... ewwww.. so I didn't get home until around 8.

The product is up on the site now - so go take a look. 3 Bugs is so cute - I especially love the new Tickled Pink line. Love the richness of the green and pink. Also - I now understand what all the hype is around Cosmo Cricket. It is BEAUTIFUL!

Okay - I would love to get your feedback on anything so... The 10th person to post a comment on this post (yes - you CAN post multiple times) will win a coordinating set of the New My Mind's Eye paper and embellishments.

The 1st person to put in an order after reading this post will also receive a coordinating set of My Mind's Eye as well. Just put a note when checking out and I'll throw it in for FREE!

Happy ordering and posting!!

It's here!

Cosmo Cricket has arrived - along with 3 bugs in a rug! I hope you enjoy it all. All 3 of us made it back to the cities from our scrapbook retreat in one piece. We had a great time and I'm not sure I have laughed as much as I did this weekend.

To all the ladies who went on the retreat - I had so much fun! Thanks for the great time. Even had a good time watching Rosita.

I'll post again when the new product gets up on the website. You will drool over this new paper! Create a GREAT day!

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

More and More Product...

So after a hard day at work - guess what I came home too? Boxes, boxes and boxes of product. It just made my day. Scenic Route, My Minds Eye, and Heidi Swapp is here. Scenic and MME is on the website. Heidi Swapp will go up as soon as we get the product image!

Just seeing all this beautiful paper and stuff is so much fun. Hmm.. My fave's. I love the Scenic Route. I am somewhat partial because I've always like the Scenic product. Always fun colors!

MME is so yummy. We got a ton of it and I will personally be buying alot of it. I especially like the front porch stuff.

Come check out all the new stuff and Create a beautiful day!

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Scraploft's Space





Scraploft now has a neat, organized, funtional (we think) office to call home. Saturday night we spent 6 hours putting up shelves, organizing our products, and rearranging the office. I would probably say that half of the battle was the darn bags we were using to hold the paper. They wouldn't fold down right and then the boxes looked messy. So we tried something different when we got to the cardstock. Speaking of, labeling 110 colors of bazzil cardstock was the highlight of my (jenn's) evening. But boy, did the colors look pretty once they were all sorted out!

It was a long process, but once all was said and done, it looked great! It looks like a business space now. Of course we had the camera out after everything was put in place. Us scrapbookers feel the need to document everything. Surprisingly, these are actually the first pictures we have taken along this business adventure. We should take more as we continue to move along on this Scraploft journey.

Anyway, scraploft now has a space of our own. There is even more new stuff on it's way to us, so the office space will look even better! The new product is all for our customers, so come back often to see what our new arrivals are!

Saturday, August 19, 2006

So we are off...

So - we are live and have told our family and friends. For those that have ordered from us - Thanks, we appreciate the business.

It is going to be a busy few days. Next week all three of us will be gone to Raspberry Ridge a scrapbooking retreat "up north" in Minnesota.

It should be a great break from the hustle and bussle of work and the store. Can't wait. Now what to do for packing... For those who know me personally - you know that I am a packrat. I love to shop and buy scrapbooking supplies.

I've always liked patterned paper - so I have tons. When I mean tons I mean tons. I tend to buy by the line.

My current favorite things to buy are chipboard. I love these - especially the letters. Not sure when I became obsessed, but if I see a alpha chipboard set. I must have it. Can't tell you why but I just do.

Do you have a favorite thing you are currently into? Leave me a comment. I would love to hear what your must have item is! :-)

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Psstt..

We are live. The website is up and running. We'll send e-mails to all of our friends and family tomorrow, but for right now - we are up and running.

Niki totally rocks! She chatted with me all night - when I would find a little something that I wanted changed or something quirky she was completely patient and worked with me on it.

Niki - thanks for putting up with everything tonight. I know I used all my question cards up pretty early in the evening, so thanks for continuing to give them to me.

Okay - I'm off to finish up announcement e-mails and such!!

Come check us out! Scraploft

Late nights, my work time.

This is me, Jenny. It is now 12:41 am. The kids are in bed and my husband is snoring away. This is my time to get my stuff done for Scraploft. Yesterday (Tuesday) was a day for me and the kids. We went to swim and just hang out with grandma (my mom). It was nice. The boys were well behaved and listened quite well. They had a great time. I did too. It felt good to focus on time with them for an entire day. It's been awhile.

I just finished looking at our website. It is looking great! You wouldn't believe how many feelings are going through me as I look at the site on a daily basis. Excitement is the biggest, but also nervous. Nervous to see how things play out. Nervous to see how the world responds to Scraploft. It will be fine, I know. But it is in me to be a worrier. No one around me would expect anything different from me than a worry or two. That's just me. Anyway, back to the late night thing. Yes, the boys (Matthew-4 and Tyler-2 1/2) keep me busy and away from the computer during the day. We have yet to get another laptop so my computer time is usually after 10:30 pm, when they are in bed and I have watched the news. I am a late night person anyway so this hasn't been a huge deal. Not yet anyway. Too many nights of lacking in sleep can get to a person eventually though.

I brought my camera with to capture some pictures of Matthew in the pool at grandma's. Well he didn't go in the pool much because Tyler wouldn't go in there with him. So the only pictures I got for a scrapbook page are of the boys eating subs at the breakfast nook. Oh well. Their goofy faces in the pictures will be cute enough to make one page at least!

I'm excited about the new stuff we received today. I have been waiting for the Sassafraslass paper. I can't wait to see it. Niki will be a busy lady the next few days with the finishing touches on the site. Her hard work will pay off on Friday... just 2, count them, 2 days from now! The night is just getting later here, so that's all for now. Come back often...

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

New Products!!

So the basement is filled to the brim. We receive more product today - which of course makes me supremely happy, but I think sometimes Niki cringes. She is the one who is responsible for the updating to the website and everytime we get something in she loads all the data around the order - all pictures, descriptions, prices, and quantities.

She's got her work cut out for her today - we received our SassaFrasLass, American Crafts, and the rest of our AMM order. It was so much fun going through the pretty papers.

So that means we are waiting for a few more things, MME (My Minds Eye)
was a huge order, Cosmo Cricket (which is shipping tomorrow), Heidi Grace, Crate paper and a few others.

Is there anything that you need? What would YOU like us to carry? Be sure to leave a comment - and we'll look into it.

ETA on live date is approx 48 hours. YIKES!!

For those who have e-mailed us with encouraging words - thanks so much!!

That's it for now! Have a great night!

Monday, August 14, 2006

Destiny awaits us in 4 days...

Scraploft. It started out with just the name and now in 4 days it will become a reality to us. We are going to be real life business partners. What will August 18th be to us in the future? It will be remembered as the day that all of our planning, discussing, laughing, crying, mistake making, money spending, and decision making came together for the world to see! How exciting is this. We are sharing our passion for such a wonderful hobby with everyone who comes to visit our site. We are putting ourselves out there for everyone to see. Only four short months since this adventure began and now we are headed into a new part of our destiny. This is the test we have been awaiting. Yes, there will be stressful times. But what I am looking forward to most is the good times. The people we meet a long the way. I am so excited for this, girls! We are paving our path now. Let's continue to work hard and have tons of fun!

Sunday, August 13, 2006

In the beginning

In beginning there were 3 crazy ladies who had a dream to open their own scrapbook store. Money was tight, but creativity was high! We hemmed and hawed about all the risks - and Scraploft was born.

Come join us as we walk through all the adventures of 3 friends opening up their e-commerce website.