The one picture I needed...

Matthew was suppose to bring a picture of him into school. The picture had to be between age 6 months and a year. The letter came home two weeks ago. I looked initially that night and didn't find too many between that age. Like two or three of them. I kept putting it off and decided to wait until the last second. Well, the picture was to be in today. Last night, I looked on the computer for a digital one and there were none to be found! What was I going to do? For a scrapbooker (1) and for a mom (2) of a first born (3), you would think I had tons of pictures of him.

Oh, wait the scrapbooker in me is the reason I didn't have any. See I first started scrapbooking 3 months after Matthew was born. I scrapbooked his ENTIRE first year. Like all of it. The day he was born, the first day home, first foods, sitting up, crying, laughing, talking, walking, etc. You name something he did in his first year, it's in his scrapbook. I remember doing this awful ugly page where I attempted to have pictures of Matthew with all of his grandparents AND great grandparents on ONE layout! Oh my gosh, it looks like a collage... anyway I was obsessed! I even took whatever was leftover from the year, and didn't fit into an "event" category, and put them all onto a layout and called it "Cute as a button".

Yes I am a freak! I felt the need to scrapbook every single picture I ever took of him that first year. This is EXACTLY why I could not find a picture of him for that specific age. They were all hermafixed down in an album. :)

My scrapbooking style has definitely changed over the 4 years I have been doing this wonderful hobby! I feel that I have developed into a more emotional scrapbooker. More of the everyday antics of my boys that touch me. I have a difficult time with event stuff now. I take too many darn pictures! One picture layouts are my favorite.

How has your scrapbooking style changed over the time you have been doing it? Tell us about it. Share with us any goals or aspirations you have for your scrapbooking. One of my goals is to try to do more mini albums and do more altering projects. We'll see. Share your stories...

Oh, I did find a picture of Matthew in a box which I went to in desperation. It actually is a favorite of mine of him. It made me smile when I found it. Kind of sad in a way too. He has grown up so fast...I actually remember taking that picture. I guess I didn't scrapbook that one. Darnit...I'll have to go back and fit it in some where! :)

~Jenny

Before and After

So as you all know I had a retreat this weekend. I had a great time. Anyway - while I was there I altered my Cosmo Cricket Plain Jane chipboard box.

Here is the before picture:

Here is the after picture

I covered the box with the Cosmo Cricket Jitterbug paper. I inked the edges to give the box alittle depth. I made a little button loop to finish the box.

This project was a lot of fun. I would love to see all the different items that you have altered!

My weekend away...

Sorry the blog hasn't been updated in a few days. Life has been busy. I am currently sitting at a scrapbooking retreat in Redwing. It is a wonderful old house - it's been updated with all that a scrapbook retreat should have. A 12x12 printer, Wishblade, punches, trimmers, xyron and lot's of fun projects.

I've been working on some fun items with the new Crate paper - so be on the outlook for some cards with Crate, and a jewelery box with the new Cosmo Cricket Jitterbug paper. It is super cute.

I helped my aunt do her first scrapbook page. She is working on a heritage album with pictures of my great grandmother and grandfather. It's amazing how much history she has gathered over the last five years which brings me to my last point. It's something that I struggle with frequently. Journal, Journal, Journal. It's often the last thing on my mind - and I tend to only leave space for "some" journaling. My grandmother kept a journal that is filled with poems and stories that she has written - all in her own handwriting. It is this type of thing that I've enjoyed most. So do your family a favor and jot down a few quotes, stories and ideas in your own handwriting. You could bring smiles to the faces of your future granddaughter.

Grandma - I miss you tons and wish you were still here to see your daughter (Jo) and your granddaughter enjoy reading your stories and poems - it made my day.

Oh. Lastly - if anybody needs any "special" items that are not on our website (Yes Bonnie - we are getting storage.) Let me know - we can add it to our list of items to be ordered from our distributor. We'll sell all items special ordered with our normal 10 to 15% below MSRP.

It's finally here!

Okay - so some exciting news! Crate paper is finally here. It's so pretty. I can't wait to use it. We splurged and bought the whole new fall line. Take a look and tell me what you think?

This paper is awesome and the texture is phenomenol. Everything matches and looks great.

Here are a couple of ideas from the Crate paper website of things you can alter or do. They are super duper cute.

remembering a name...

How does one remember the name of someone or something? Do we remember it best if we see it in writing? or how about if we hear it? Just curious. We are working on advertising and marketing currently for Scraploft. Getting our name out there. Hoping that our fellow or new comer scrapbookers will hear or read our name somewhere. Remember us when they need ideas for scrapbooking. Remember us when they need product for their own scrapbooking journey.

It's hard to advertise. My assignment was to post our business cards or flyers in public places around town. So I made these cute little 9x9 pages to post. Little pockets to hold our business cards. Well a lot of places don't accept commercial advertising. I suppose they don't want hundreds of flyers covering their bulletin boards and making a mess. I understand that part, but I worked so hard on these! :) I've tried the grocery stores, library, community center, and laundromat. Any other ideas that are out there for places to post? We will be working on the internet and other ways of marketing, but posting flyers....where...post or comment if you have any suggestions. thanks...

P.S. Create a 9x9 page for your next photos using these pictures as sketches. Both pages feature Bazzil cardstock and American Crafts patterened paper. All papers are available to you at Scraploft!

Jenny

I did it...

Ok. So I was a little hesitant about doing my first order "fullfillment" on my own. But it went fine. I went to the Scraploft office after work which ended up being like 1:00 am on Friday morning. I printed off the detailed directions that Sarah wrote up for order processing. The fun part was pulling the product that was ordered. I got to revisit the pretty patterned paper we have! Who would have ever thought I would love paper so much!

Anyway...the product was pulled and then it came time to do the shipping portion. After finding the correct box for the items, the label was printed. Then came the money part. I walked through each step carefully because I didn't want to mess something up. I was successful, so I think, at the credit card stuff. After all was said and done, I left the office at 2:23 am. Wow, what a process. It will come easier with repetition I am sure.... oh I managed to make the tape dispenser dysfunctional too. Or maybe I was the dysfunctional one because all it needed was the tape pulled through. I didn't even know how to do THAT. I remembered to grab the package on my way out of the office this time too. Quite impressive for so early in the morning...or late at night in my case! I enjoyed the experience, so keep em' coming!

Jenny

Altered Items...

Today I attended a baby shower for a guy at work that just had a daughter. She was so cute. As a gift - I bought her some cute little clothes at Old Navy and altered an album for her. What do you think?

I think it turned out great. It's just a Kolo album decorated. I've never been one to alter items although I'm getting more and more into. I think I like doing these projects because they are "instant gratification" projects. I am a very slow scrapbooker. It takes me hours to finish a layout, but I enjoy the creative process - so it's worth it.

I also did another altered project. It is a journal for a friend of mine that is going to Ethiopia to adopt her little girl. It's just a covered composition book. It was my first sucessful attempt that doing one and I had a great time.

The composition book is covered with MME Signature Suite "Only You" Fun Floral paper, and the flowers come from the Prima Bitty Bag. E-mail Scraploft if you want directions for either of these projects.

Hope you all had a great day - can you believe that tomorrow is Thursday already? Time flies when you are having fun :-)

--Sarah

Sweet moments...

It has been awhile since my last entry and it's been another busy week. Highlights. Matthew made it through is first two days of preschool! He didn't have any problems saying good bye to me once he was there. He is a big boy now, you know! : ( Tyler cried when we left Matt at school. He wanted his brother home with him to play. Tyler crying is what made me cry. I got some tears when Matthew went into his classroom but even more came when Tyler started crying. Mom in me I suppose.

Today I went to THE craft fair in Little Falls, MN with my mom. I have never seen so many talented people in one place. There were people there bending barb wire, shaping records into bowls, making purses out of old album covers, and even making birthday cakes out of baby items (blankets, diapers, socks, and bottles). Talent, it's all around us. It is amazing to me.

One surprise at the craft fair today was seeing our friend, Bonnie! She was there with her husband who grew up around the area. She had this wonderful sign to show me. "Sweet Pea" it said. So perfect for those of us who are familiar with Two Peas. I found out where she got it, went to look for it, but there weren't any left! :( We ran into them again and I told her the signs were gone. She told me to enjoy the sign through her then. LOL... Well a few minutes later, Greg comes to find me and tells me to come with him. Lo and behold, Bonnie found another sign for me! She asked the lady at the booth if she had more! Such a sweetie, you are Bonnie. Going above and beyond again. Thank you.

Back to talent. Scrapbooking is the talent that I am claiming at this point in my life. I don't really have any other talents per say. What would you say your talent is? Scrapbooking, card making, perhaps sitting around eating bons bons all day while watching soap operas (wink, Sarah!). Let us know. We would like to know more about you, our fellow bloggers and customers.

Sarah, Niki, and I have continued to work on Scraploft stuff this week. We have a weekly meeting still. Why do we need a weekly meeting? It keeps us in check. Keeps us busy with what we need to do to build a successful business. Tuesday is the next one. Stay tuned for new ideas posted in the gallery at www.scraploft.com too. Keep on reading and posting...

Later,

Jenny

Friends...

It's Friday! Yay! I think that Friday's are my favorite days. I love the anticipation for the weekend. Tonight I got home from work and "accidently" took an hour nap on the couch. It felt oh so good. Todd was kind enough to clean up the kitchen and go to the grocery store - and while he was gone I just konked out on the couch.

It has been a tough week. It was made so much better yesterday though... Our friend Bonnie sent us Scraploft gals a little care package. It consisted of these great MM monograms.
All three of us got our initial - so cute. But more than the actual gift - Bonnie personalized each one with a litte note and instructions on how to decorate them - it meant so much to me. Just the thought that someone was thinking about us - gave me warm fuzzies. It made my day. Thanks Bonnie - it means alot to me that you would go out of your way and do something like this!

Okay - back to the Scraploft stuff. Heidi Swapp is entered and is on the website. I think my fave item(s) are the chipboard letters. As you know (from previous posts) that I love chipboard. Come'on you can't tell me that these don't ROCK!
We have them in Red, Brown, Black, White, Pink and Blue.

I'll be working on getting more images posted on the Gallery so check back often.

Have a great weekend!
Sarah

Simplify...

I had Chinese for lunch today - which in its self not a big deal - but with Chinese comes the fortune cookie. Today's fortune cookie was very profound to me today.

"You will reap rewards by simplifying your lifestyle."

Such a simple sentence. 7 little words. That's all. It's amazing how easily I can complicate my life. It seems like everything is difficult and takes many steps. Why does it need to be like that? Well - as it turns out it doesn't have to be like that. It is me who makes it difficult. I am the one who is causing the difficulty. Does anyone else feel like this? Anyone make life more difficult than it really should be?

On the note of simplifying... Is there anything that we at Scraploft can do to make your lives less difficult? We all live busy complicated lives and many of us wear a lot of different hats. We are wives, friends, aunts, employees, scrapbookers, teachers, sisters, mothers and some of us are even grandmothers.

None of us needs scrapbook supplies - most of us purchase on wants, so what can we do to make it easier to shop?

Anything we need to do to "simplify" the buying experience? Do we need to offer kits or sets, send out more/less newsletters, sort or categorize differently. Do we need to be more personable, send different invoices, change the way we ship? Anything at all?

This is an open forum - so feel free to comment. I know we don't usually get a lot of comments, but just this once - place a comment - tell us what we can do for YOU!

--Sarah

A couple of layouts...

I've updated the gallery with a couple of layouts that I did at Raspberry Ridge. Here's one using the super duper cute SassafrassLass paper. This paper just screams cute little kid pages.

This is my little niece Katie - isn't she cute? Anyway - I loved the Li'l Davis Tinseltown letters. The sparkles add a little something.

I also did a page of Jack (my pup) and my nephew (Katie's brother). I'm sure you don't care about the relation - but thought I would tell you anyway. This one is done with the Scenic Route Paper. I've always LOVED Scenic Route. Their color schemes are right up my ally. Primary colors have always been my first love - and so going back to it is always fun!

Well this is it for now. I'll upload some more layouts soon :-)

Some of my favorite things...

So I was putting orders together last night {which by the way is funner than you might think} and was pulling product and all the sudden I got this incredible urge to buy - so what did I do? I went shopping in the basement. Here are a couple of my favorites that I can't wait to use!

MME - You and ME

Just look at these two items. They are so beautiful! I am thinking about altering a mini album and putting picture of my husband and I in it. I think a 6 x 6 album would look the cutest! You could cut the paper in half and in half again and still get to use all the awesome scroll work on either side. Plus their is also a transparency flower with this set that I can't wait to use. Take a look at the whole collection - you'll absolutely love the coordinating mini flowers that go with this set.

Now if I could only find time to do it. :-) I hope everyone has a GREAT long holiday weekend. I wish you all great times with friends and family!

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

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!

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!

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!

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!

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! :-)

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