Boxer CHA Sneak Peeks!

Hooray! Lucky you get to see some Boxer products hot off the presses! They are releasing just a few things each day on their blog, so check there for the new papers, printed ribbons, and clear acrylic stamps! These use some of the new papers in the black/red line including the new ginghams. I'll post more later!

BlueMedia Seeking Digital Design Team!

Hey hey! This is the big time! All the details are at their site HERE.

Good luck all!

Another Digi Kit!

Mmm... I just love this kit. And it's chocked full of goodies. 70 pieces to be exact. A beautiful painted wood alpha, tags, journalblocks, little word strips with stitching, eyelets, and ribbons. You'll have plenty to play with! This kit is available at BlueMedia's new shopping cart. Go to the BlueMedia site and click "Online Shopping" or "Store" to see this and other great kits!

Happy Scrapping!

More Calls for Blueprints!

These will be due Feb 15th to bluemediasubs@gmail.com, so get a move on! Expect more later this month! We're kicking it into gear! Check the BlueMedia site for submission details (or see previous blueprint calls below)

Another Digital Kit!

This is my new Olympia Kit. Lots of fun goodies here! Embroidered patches and embellies and an embroidered fabric title with lots of fun papers to match. Enjoy!


This kit is available at BlueMedia's new shopping cart. Go to the BlueMedia site and click "Online Shopping" or "Store" to see this and other great kits!

Happy Scrapping!

Boxer Scrapbooks!

I'm very excited to announce that I will be joining the Boxer Scrapbooks 2007 Design Team! I'm just thrilled to be working with the folks at Boxer. So I'll probably post projects, sneak peeks and info here (IF and when I can).

Thanks "bunches" to the team at Boxer!

New Blueprints Calls!

Details and answers to Frequently Asked Questions can be found at the BlueMedia Forums

It's time again for a new Blueprint! YAY! This month, you get TWO! Double YAY! Watch for more later this month as well.

Please note that ALL themes and subjects will be accepted.

Use the Blueprint to create a one or two page layout, then send your pages to BlueMedia for our next Layout Blueprints book! Missed the first one? You can get it here: Layout Blueprints

For your convenience, there are both 12x12 and 8x11 versions of each of the Blueprints. Enjoy!


Mail your entries to :

bluemediasubs@gmail.com

Please make sure the files are no larger than 100Kb each so that they will be considered for publication. And mark your subject with "January Blueprint Challenge" so that we'll know to open it right away. If you'd like some tips directly from BlueMedia on submitting great layouts, check the "Publisher's Perspective" series on their blog at http://layoutblueprints.blogspot.com.

This call/challenge ends January 31st. Be sure to have your UNSEEN layouts in to BlueMedia by then!

Good luck!

NEW Digi Kit!

Hey look! It's my debut digi kit!



There are some fun papers and goodies in this, including nice felt accents. I'd love to see your creations using this kit, so please contact me and share your work.

This kit is available at BlueMedia's new shopping cart. Go to the BlueMedia site and click "Online Shopping" or "Store" to see this and other great kits!

Happy Scrapping!

A Recent Digi Page

Just wanted to share a recent page that I LOVE.

This is a photo I took at a friend's wedding last summer. The colors were so pretty. A detailed list of supplies can be found in my gallery.

Digital Fusion

I've been bitten by the bug! Yes, I have all the classic symptoms; wide reddened eyes from staring at the computer screen, enlarged mouse finger from clicking downloads incessantly, frequent mutterings of digi paper organization, and the obsessed crazed look of a woman in constant pursuit of pretty papers. I'm an aspiring digital scrapper.

I've been drawn to it for a while now, but discouraged so many times by feeling limited. But now, I've learned some new tricks, and downloaded a plethora of digi kits and am feeling more liberated. It appeals to the collector/organizer in me. I download stuff - instant gratification - I add it to my collection - collecting - and then I get to categorize, organize, and drool over it. Not to mention that you only get a little sneak preview of what is in this little package called a "zip file" which makes it seem more like a present when you finally open it and view the contents in their entirety. And I LOOOVE presents.

So I've been loving this new found pleasure. I've created several digital layouts this week. I am loving the whole new world of designer goodies that has opened to me. No more of the same ol' same ol'. And the best part is, I can get a lot of it for free. None of it ever gets used up either. It really appeals to my frugal side as well.

The best thing about all of this is that I am being inspired by things I never noticed before, and it's translating to my paper scrapping as well. I'm seeing things just a little bit different that I have before, and noticing details that I may not have noticed in the past. I'm able to see things a little clearer (not literally of course, I need to see my eye doctor about that!). In working on a few projects last night, I was completely inspired by a few things I noticed - minute little details I might add - in a fashion magazine {I never understood why my mother-in-law insisted I needed it. A subtle hint perhaps? But now I'm thankful} Ideas flowed, and I literally could not scrap fast enough. I finished 6 projects last night! {Those that know me know I'm a notoriously pokey scrapper. I spend hours, days even, on one page alone. For me to get 6 projects done in a weekend is a real feat.}

I guess it's true that learning something new can open your eyes in other areas of your life. I just never suspected this revelation in my scrapbooking would come simply from delving into another realm of it. I've found my muse and it came in the form of digital fusion.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like

Christmas!

I've got my house all decorated. Most of my presents are wrapped. And soon we'll be on our way to Montana for Christmas. Hooray!

I just love the snow. Especially on Christmas. It wasn't that long ago that I left it because I was tired of it. But now, I miss it and I love it. Of course, that's probably because I left it, but oh well.

I'm looking forward to cozy evenings with the family gathered in the living room around the "Vegas Tree" as it's come to be known for the number of bright lights. The annual Christmas party will be the day we arrive and promises to be as big and fun as ever. We'll have enough food left over from the party and my mother's tendency to over do it, to last all six of us through the following week. And she won't stop there! No sireee. She'll make a beautiful Christmas Eve dinner where we'll sit and talk and sip wine. Then we'll load up the 4-wheel drive family sleigh and hit the streets to see all the pretty lights. Silly headgear* is required for this trip. No one is admitted without it.

Upon our return home, exhausted from laughing and dazed from all the light seeing, we will open just one present of our choosing. The choosing of the present is an art in itself. When my brother and I were young, and had time to be home alone with the presents, we would scope them out, guessing, shaking, and fondling each package. By Christmas Eve we knew good and well which one had us the most curious, and therefore, which one we would open that night.

It's my favorite time of the year. There's no doubt about it. And Christmas Eve is my very favorite part of it because of all the fun traditions we've developed over the years, and the great memories that go along with them.

*Silly headgear; (n) an object, usually a hat or headband, worn on the head that is so ridiculous or silly that you cannot possibly take one seriously while wearing it, nor be serious yourself. Christmas silly headgear should either flash, blink, jingle, or at the very least, look utterly ridiculous.

Take a Break

This month, I'm taking a break, and in turn, giving all of you a break. There's enough stress this time of year without thinking about getting a layout in for consideration. I won't be calling for a new Blueprint this month.

So watch for big things to come in January! *wink wink*

Happy Holidays!

New Message Board!

YAY! BlueMedia has started a message board for discussion about calls, contests, idea books, and upcomging events all in ONE PLACE! Hooray! Here is the link:

BlueMedia Forum

BlueMedia Launches New Site!

BlueMedia has launched a new website, with all the information you want in one spot!

See the cover of the NEW Scrapbooking: Styles Defined book!

Join Blue in the Forums and chat, share, ask questions, and enjoy contests and calls!

Check it out! BlueMedia Site

November Blueprint Calls

It's time again for a new Blueprint! YAY! This month, you get TWO! Double YAY!

Please note that ALL themes and subjects will be accepted. Just because it's November, doesn't mean it has to be fall, Thanksgiving, or Christmas related.

I'll post a brand new Blueprint once a month for you to interpret as you choose. Use the Blueprint, then send your pages to BlueMedia for their next Layout Blueprints book! Missed the first one? You can get it here: Layout Blueprints

For your convenience, I've made both a 12x12 and an 8x11 version of the Blueprints. Enjoy!



Mail your entries to :

bluemediasubs@gmail.com

Please make sure the files are no larger than 100Kb each so that they will be considered for publication. And mark your subject with "November Blueprint Challenge" so that they'll know to open it right away. If you'd like some tips directly from BlueMedia on submitting great layouts, check the "Publisher's Perspective" series on their blog at layoutblueprints.blogspot.com.

This call/challenge ends November 30th. Be sure to have your UNSEEN layouts in to BlueMedia by then! Good luck!

A Sad Case of the LSS Blues

I just visited one of the LSS a while back that had moved to a new, bigger location, and seemed to be doing quite well. I was excited about the new location, and their super duper scrapping room. I went back the other night to pick up a few things, and when I pulled up, the store was completely empty.

What's going on people? Are we not supporting our LSSs enough? Are we purchasing too much online where the overhead and operating expenses are less? Is the industry shifting?

I think it's all of the above. In the past five years, the industry has seen a shift. Five to ten years ago one could open a store on the notion of "If you build it they will come." And come they did! For years. Scrapbookers are resourceful by nature, and will seek out stores to supply their habit. However, in the past few years, the market has become saturated. Saturated with product, with stores, with online venues, and magazines.

The major downfall of these small local stores is that they have only focused on people who already scrap. Unfortunately, people fall out of the hobby, they themselves get saturated with product and decide not to buy more, or they just flat out don't make the time anymore. Stores and the industry in general failed to recognize this, and worse, failed to react fast enough. They did not start pulling in new blood. Any industry cannot live on their current market alone. No, they must expand, grow, gain a new audience.

The successful stores are offering classes at the beginner level, as well as intermediate and advanced. They are keeping people coming back time and again. And we all know that once a scrapbooker sets foot in a scrapbook store, they are not getting out of there empty handed. It's a matter of getting to those new scrapbookers. Introducing it to people on a simpler level.

How many times have you heard from a non-scrapper, "It just looks like so much work!" It's true. How would you feel today to pick up a magazine, having never scrapped a day in your life, and see the work therein? Wow. Just imagine how intimidated you'd be. Would you honestly feel like jumping right in? Would you really feel like, "Hey, I can do THIS!" Probably not.

It's discouraging to see it going on, and to know that people who really want to scrap and be a part of the community we share are feeling this way. It's time to reassess and bring the industry back to it's roots. Remember what it was like to start out, and try to assist new scrappers where you can. This community was based on friendship, the preserving of our family memories and heritage, and supporting eachother in our own processes. Let's start at the beginning and introduce people to scrapbooking on a less intimidating level. Or offer to teach a beginners class at your LSS.

Support your local Scrapbook Stores!

Scrapbook Answers Closes It's Doors

It's a sad sad day in the industry. If you have not heard yet, it was announced this week that Scrapbook Answers magazine will close it's doors. November will be their last issue.

I am so saddened by this huge loss in our industry. The magazine was phenomenal. Truly. I saw it as the new industry leader that would set the standard for other magazines within the industry. Thank you to all the staff at SA, for bringing such an amazing, in-depth, honest magazine to our mailboxes every month. I can only hope that other mags will catch on and see what the scrapbookers really want. We don't want just oodles of slick pages with showy scrapbook layouts, we want facts, tips, how-tos, real reviews (Not just lipservice to your advertisers), and honest writing.

What a hole this will leave in my monthly magazine stack. It was the only one I rushed to open and read every month because I knew I'd be rewarded with more than just pretty pages. I knew I'd refer to it time and again for the articles. I still refer to my March issue (I beleive it's March 06) with the fantastic photography lessons. PAGES of them! I was floored when I read them. It has been a real saviour to me every month. A refreshing breath of air.

And now I'm out of breath.

Blueprint Challenge: Oct 2006

Welcome to my new Blueprint Challenge series. I'll post a brand new Blueprint once a month for you to interpret as you choose. Use the Blueprint, then send your pages to BlueMedia for their next Layout Blueprints book! Missed the first one? You can get it here: Layout Blueprints

Mail your entries to :

bluemediasubs@gmail.com

Please make sure the files are no larger than 100Kb each so that they will be considered for publication. And mark your subject with "October Blueprint Challenge" so that they'll know to open it right away. If you'd like some tips directly from BlueMedia on submitting great layouts, check the "Publisher's Perspective" series on their blog at layoutblueprints.blogspot.com.

This call/challenge ends October 31st. Be sure to have your UNSEEN layouts in to BlueMedia by then! Good luck!

For your convenience, I've made both a 12x12 and an 8x11 version of the Blueprint. Enjoy!

Blueprint Challenge: Sept 2006

Welcome to my new Blueprint Challenge series. I'll post a brand new Blueprint once a month for you to interpret as you choose. Use the Blueprint, then send your pages to BlueMedia for their next Layout Blueprints book! Keep watching their website for updates: Layout Blueprints Mail your entries to :

bluemediasubs@gmail.com

Please make sure the files are no larger than 100Kb each so that they will be considered for publication. And mark your subject with "September Blueprint Challenge" so that they'll know to open it right away. If you'd like some tips directly from BlueMedia on submitting great layouts, check their blog at layoutblueprints.blogspot.com.

Without further ado, here is your September Blueprint. I know it's a bit late, but spread the word, and don't forget to check out the first book, Layout Blueprints, at LayoutBlueprints.com!



**Please read the rules and clarifications on the Blueprints blog**

Submit never-before-seen LOs only! Due by Oct. 1st

I Love My ZOOM!

I am still completely infatuated with my Canon DRebel XT. I used to try to take photos of my husband wakeboarding and always ended up with these pictures of a dot out in the water attached to a line. Nice. I really wanted some close, action photos of him and the faces he makes when he's concentrating so hard.

I bought a Samsung 70/300 lens for my Rebel and it's just the thing! I absolutely love it! I can get right in close on his face, see the beads of sweat and water, and the sport mode on the camera allows me to get the perfect shot of his acrobatics. It also allows me to be "Super Stealth Photographer" at gatherings and events and get great shots of people when they don't know you're there. Gotta love the candids.

This is a layout I did using one of my favorite shots of him wakeboarding. I like the juxtaposition of the lines in the photo vs the lines on the paper.

A little bit closer still. He must be preparing for a trick, judging by the concentration in his face.