The Crafty Scrapper

When Is Christmas?

2009-11-15T22:11:00.003-06:00

Back in late October, when we were putting out Christmas decorations and starting to get all of the Christmas products into the store, we had people-mainly children, ask us why we were putting Christmas out already. One eager youngster asked his mom "when is Christmas?" I think he was really counting on it being sooner than it was at that time.

Hopefully, you know that we decorate for Christmas and get those products in the store early so that our customers can get ready for the holiday. Making gifts and cards isn't as quick as just buying something pre-made and we want to give you plenty of time. Today I was counting the Christmas & Winter paper lines. I counted 25 different lines.

Aside from scrapbooks and cards, we have the pieces for making a yearly calendar, decorative trees, advent calendars, wreaths, planners, ornaments, recipe books, canvases, shadow boxes and many other items. If you need some ideas, come in and take a look around. The design team members are bringing in things every day. Also, take a look here for some ideas from past years.

(PS: it is 40 days til Christmas)

Hmmm, Food or Mist?

2009-11-13T18:46:00.006-06:00

Oh MY! Today we received an order of the newest Maya Road items. They JUST released some items this week and our order has made it already. It is sometimes really hard to work at the store, know that there are new releases coming, finally seeing them online and then waiting for them to come in. Ok, there are worse things, but you know what I mean... This time though, there was a quick delivery, so the worst part of it all now is what to buy....food or mist? Oh, you thought I'd say which MR thing to buy? ha, never a challenge...ALL of it is awesome.

Did you notice those cute little trinket pins? Heart shaped tops! Perfect for all occasions. Carolyn will have a few of them poking through flowers soon. Oh, look, new flowers to poke them through! Aren't these great colors?

Not enough colors of mist for you? Well, there are many more now. I have only included a few of them here. There is Carnation Pink, Mulberry Red, Fern Green, Hydrangea Blue, Dark Cornflower Blue, Silver Plated Metallic Sunflower Yellow.

We received samples of all of the mists, but the mists themselves won't be in the store until next week. You can reserve it though by calling or coming by the store and paying for what you want. We will put it back for you. Only limited numbers of the mists will be coming in, so we think it might go pretty fast!

Speaking of food. There is a new mini chipboard set of cooking utensils. Perfect to use in a class for January!

Later, Sherri

Writing Your Own Story

2009-11-12T17:44:00.005-06:00

A new line we received over the last week is one called Life Stories by My Mind's Eye. Many people scrapbook or craft to create books and other items for their children OR to do a heritage book of their own families. This line is created to make that process a little easier.

One of the ways they do this is with these daily dose cards. Each one has a different prompt for journaling--trips, pets, children, and many others.

The papers are also set up to allow an easy way to complete the books. About half of the papers are printed with designs such as flowers, plaids, etc. The other half (or so) are forms essentially. They are designed for fill in the blank information about a person's life.

The colors are muted and all of the line is on a kraft paper type background. This allows a person to individualize the style to themselves. Or so it seems to us. You can go as bright or as soft as you desire in the color scheme and as pop or vintage as desired in styles.

In January, we are going to offer a class that will cover several weeks to make a book "about me". This was done a couple of years ago with great success. Annette has come up with some wonderful ways to make this into one book. More information will come out about this later.

As you think about gifts this time of year, keep in mind how special something like a heritage album can be for your family. Later-

More Fun Things

2009-11-10T10:59:00.007-06:00

Let's take a break from the new products (at least on the blog) to look at some of the other fun going on here at the store.

Saturday, we had two classes going on.

One side of the store had a fun holiday card class going on. Annette was the teacher in this class. The group made five great cards. Well actually, they were gifts within cards. Each card had something additional, like an ornament, or a spot for gift card or a spot for photos, making them more than just a card.

They chalked, stamped, sewed, glued, sanded and did a lot of other fun stuff to the papers!

On the other side of the store was a class making book covers out of grungeboard. Many had not ever worked with grungeboard (or so they wanted us to believe). They made some great covers and each one turned out different. The project was easy to individualize with colors and words. Carolyn was the teacher of this class. She brought this class back from a workshop she went to that was created and led by Tim Holtz.

As you can see, they used their hands and inked, stickled, sanded, bent and poked holes in the grungeboard. This one of those products that can be folded, stapled and otherwise manipulated--well actually, that is how you use it!

Here are a few of the book covers. See the great differences?

Makes you want to get your fingers inky doesn't it? Both of these classes are being held again. The holiday card class is Thursday November 12 at 10:30 am and is only $30.00. The Grungeboard class is being held again on Thursday November 19 at 6:30 in the evening and December 12 at 10:30 in the morning. Check out the Events Page of the website for other classes as well.

More New Things

2009-11-08T11:49:00.009-06:00

Another new line that we have picked up is the JUSTRITE stamps. These are stamps that allow personalization easily among other functions. There are stamp holders of different sizes, then these can be adapted with sets to make about any combination you might like.

Here is a picture of a starter set. As you see, there are sayings, monograms and borders shown. Notice the wording "completely interchangeable".

We have several of the kits that can be purchased separately of this company. On November 21 at 3:00 in the afternoon, there will be a class to play and learn about these stamps. In that class you will receive one of these starter sets (pictured above). If that isn't enough, here are the three cards that you will create!

AND, the class is being conducted by Christy Gilbreath. She is an excellent card maker and some of you may know her from her store that she had in Fort Worth in the past.

You'll notice that on these, there are shapes from Nestabilities used. The store is also starting to stock some of those as well. This is a new addition for the store, as you know.

Switching gears, here are some more new papers that will be out on the floor Monday. Very cute stuff!!

My Mind's Eye, Abbey Road. Within this line are three groups of paper and embellishments.

First here is Round & Round: Cute papers for a little traveler

Next is Stomp: Dinosaur themed and Buddies Items

And then Whirlybird: Just the Girls and Best Friends-- for little or big girls.

More FUN, NEW stuff in the next post too!

What's New?

2009-11-06T15:51:00.007-06:00

This week has been a little quieter as far as new items coming in, however, today the UPS guy dropped off around 15 boxes. I guess this made up for a quiet week.

In those boxes we have received and now have out on the shelves:

-- KI Memories Christmas. Very Cute Papers, reminds me of folk or dutch styles. It has glitter snowflake paper and glitter Christmas tree papers and some great embellishments. As always, these papers are better looking in real life than in pictures. These are three of the papers.

-- Anna Griffin Christmas. Pretty in brown, silver and reds. Nice 3 D stickers, vellum quotes and other embellishments. Sorry I don't have pics.

-- My Mind's Eye. 2 lines of Christmas. One is called Colorful Christmas and the other is The Merry Days of Christmas. The pictures are of the scrapbook kit, but you get the idea, right?

-- Making Memories Mistletoe line came in earlier in the week and was out Monday, but since many of you haven't been in yet, here is a peek of it.

-- American Crafts Merrymint (Christmas line) came in at the end of last week. In case you haven't seen them, here is a peek at them. These are two of the heavily patterned paper, there are others not quite so busy. I think they'd look great for holiday recipes too.

Basic Grey Nook and Pantry is here, Debbie Mumm holiday papers, some cute project pieces from BE and if that isn't enough....we also got more of those cute little suitcases, restock of Simply Swank, Ten Seconds Studio, Zip Dry and other standard supplies too.

I'll post later about the JustRite stamps that have come in....That will be a long enough post on its own. Whew...and I got it posted before 6 pm. Later!

Halloween Follow Up

2009-11-04T20:38:00.005-06:00

Finally, a few of the pictures from the Trick or Treat Day on the Square. We were visited by kids in many types of costumes. Accompanied by parents, hundreds of children came by to get a treat. With merchants all around the square handing out candy, each child could get quite a bag full!

How cute are they?

This princess is a special part of our design team (as a model)-Ask her grandma.

another super special model:

and you may also know this guy! He has been in a few layouts and books over the years.

In case you didn't recognize the last one, that's Carolyn's son. He came up with the costume on his own and was quite an actor, portraying a much older man.

Wanna know what items are new in the store? You'll have to check back on Friday's post!

Friday....

2009-10-30T23:35:00.003-05:00

Today was Trick or Treat on the Square. Each year, the merchants in downtown provide a place to trick or treat safely for children. We had hundreds of kids on our block. We took lots of pics, but will have to post them on another post.

For now, thought we'd share a few lines that came in today. As usual, the UPS man was loaded down with boxes for us. Most of the boxes were items needing restocked and were items for classes coming up, but there were also a few boxes with brand new product.

Here are four new collections that are out in the store as of this afternoon.

First is this Fab birthday collection. Although the stickers with the set seem to point to young birthdays - 1st, 2nd and 3rd, this collection is perfect for any age. I think it is great for teens, adults or the young kids. VERY bright colors and great designs.
This Chivalry collection is very neat as well. Marah Johnson's swirls and signature designs are on this paper and embellishments. The pages have foil and are great for boys and men. Rub-ons and paper indicate honor, hero and other words describing the great guys in our lives.

This birthday collection is also great. It is soft in color with a circus theme (would have been good for the party earlier in the year, huh?) Very cute items. This joins 2 other CI lines in the birthday section of the store.

And over on the Sports wall is this great line. Great sayings on the stickers and some awesome papers--great for many pages - not just sports.

More later. Have a great weekend.

Its Almost Halloween

2009-10-26T20:08:00.006-05:00

Just a few short days until Halloween. All the Halloween items in the store are 30% off right now. A perfect time to pick up those papers or embellishments you need. This adorable book was made by Isla. The cover has many unique items which add to the fabulousness of the book.

She took one of the house books by Maya Road and decorated it for Halloween pictures.

As usual, she put a lot of detail into the book. Each page has a layered scalloped roof as you can see in the pictures.

She has prima crystals throughout. Swirls and spiderwebs. Notice the flowers too. Really fits great don't they?

It is just a fantastic book. When you come by the store, make sure you take a look at it. Pictures never do things justice it seems.

Hope to see you soon!

UPS, FED EX & The Post Office

2009-10-24T22:33:00.011-05:00

These delivery services visit us daily. Some companies ship by one, some by another, but we get boxes daily from at least two of these services per day. In the last couple of days, here is a list of some, not all, just some of the product they have delivered to us. I wish I could get pictures out here too. I'm sure we got more new stuff that I just can't think of and of course, there is all the restocking items, which is continual.

*Bo Bunny: Persuasion line, Love Bandit and Snowy Serenade Lines. Each of these have wonderful papers, cards to cut out, buttons, flowers, brads, rub-ons and stickers. Here is a sheet from Love Bandit. A couple of Snowy Serenade peeks are at the bottom of the post.

*Prima Inc.: Wonderful paper line with a retro fall look. New leaves and flowers. The leaves are jeweled and glittery. There are some new gold birds as well. This is the set with Faberge' colors.

*Making Memories Findings the cute little packets of ephemera type embellishments and 2 papers. Here is a small example.

*Diamond Dust (2 new sizes)

*Metal Leaf Pens: Gold, Copper, Bronze, Silver

*Colorbox Ink Pads: Bronze, Copper, Silver, Gold

*Spica pens: wonderful glittery inks made by Copic

*Braggables: Very cute key chains with a window for your favorite picture. Here is a picture of the heart shape ones.

*American Craft: Ribbons, Boy paper line, Sports paper line, with stickers, flair and rub-ons

*Webster's Petite Pads for the Christmas lines (we already had the lines, just not these pads)

*New Thickers, New rhinestone & pearls and New embellishments/stickers from misc lines as well.

Needless to say, they know us by names and we know them by names for the most part. Thankfully, they are cheerful in their jobs and don't seem to mind dropping 8 boxes off to us on any given day.

Miles and Miles ...

2009-10-19T22:14:00.016-05:00

... of Texas. Well, that may be how the song goes, but today, it was miles of Dew Drops & Tear Drops.

I am not sure whether Carolyn ordered EVERY color, but it has got to be close!

Along with the cool drops, Tim Holtz ideology, Memory Makers Glass, Memory Capsules and metal tape have also been restocked. Rock Candy Stickles is back in stock, although as fast as it has been selling, we're not sure how long it will be here.

We are proud to be one of the stores to bring in papers from a brand new company. Nikki Sivils is a Texas designer who has opened her own company. We have four lines of this brand which came in today as well. The paper is double sided. Each line comes with a 6 x 6 "mini paddie", strips and images that can be cut out. Our pictures cannot do the colors justice, but to give you an idea of the papers, here you go...

Henry's Brilliance:

Victoria''s House:
North Pole Nights:

My Sweet Cherry Pie:

There are some unique embellishments and chipboard books too. Here are a couple of them:
The perfect crown for a prince or princess!

We also put out some new chipboard books from Heart of Texas. This Big Texas Book and the add-on kit is sure to be a really popular one. We also received 'Our Home', the Megaphone and others.

Leather and chipboard pieces to make one great Texas book. Wow, the store just keeps getting more and more great stuff!

Yee Haw! (Texan for "how exciting") Later---Sherri

Happenings at the Store

2009-10-18T02:33:00.012-05:00

Saturday was our 5th annual Halloween Crop. The store was filled with scrappers from all over the metroplex. Most were dressed in costumes. Lunch was catered by The Dove's Nest and Dinner was catered by College Street Pub. The food was excellent according to the "yums" we heard.

Instead of the usual make and take this year, a kit was provided with all the pieces needed and instructions to complete a great little pumpkin book. We have started making kits instead of having actual make and takes because so many croppers have projects they want to complete and we don't want to take too much of their time. With the kits, they can decide when and where they want to complete them.

If you didn't get in on this crop, the next crop is in November. The Saturday after Thanksgiving we have a "pot-luck crop". Pay $10.00 to hold your space-the $10.00 will be returned to you as store credit. Bring a food dish to the crop to share with the other croppers. Won't you need a break from all the festivities? Sign up, the crop is about 1/2 full right now.
We have a few staffing changes to update you about. Heidi is no longer working with us. She is going back to the mortgage industry and has moved to the far north (of the metroplex). She'll likely still visit us, but it is a little too far to commute. Good Luck Heidi!

We have a new person who you may have already met. Her name is Kerri. She will be helping us out on weekends, and crops and whenever we need some extra help. She worked at Bennett's previously, and you may know her from there. Sherri is now working at the store full time. Despite Carolyn's statements that Sherri will run the store and Carolyn will just do classes...Carolyn is still in charge and also, happily, is teaching lots of classes. Mary Lou is still here too, although she had to miss the Halloween crop this year. :(

We have many new projects and classes to put out over the next week, so keep an eye on the blog and the website. Hope your week is great.

Now for all the crazy pictures from the Halloween Crop......

Carolyn, Kerri (our new member of the Crafty Scrapper), and Sherri.....we decided Sherri was a scrapbook layout that blew up! The rub-ons on the face were priceless.

Joan

Annette

The Crafty Scrapper Witch

Debbie aka Maxine

Patty, Ginger, Isla and Ruthe

Ruthe and Isla

Isla and our sweet Natalie

Teresa, Michelle, Jackie, Lisa and Sissy

Alisa, Leslie, Zoe and Cindy

Patty and Ginger

Dina and Alex

Brenda and Sherri

Shelley and Kelly

Frank

Trae

Linda and Brigette

Candy and Brenda

Laura and Natalie

Kathy

Gail

I Took Classes!

2009-10-07T12:34:00.004-05:00

Oh My Goodness you guys...I got to take fifteen classes last weekend! Can you believe it? I am so excited. One of the groups that rep a lot of the product we have at the store held classes for store owners to do and take back to their stores. I have so many HOT classes to share with you.

We updated the events page with a couple of them already. You need to take a look anyway to see if you want to do any of the other classes we have listed. I will be teaching classes along with Annette, Dee Dee and Sherri. Some classes will include product, starter kits and more. I am putting some sneak peeks here for you. Keep watching the blog and events page for more.

Today my baby turns "8"!

2009-09-29T09:02:00.005-05:00

Last week was crazy, we had 2 birthdays at the shop, my sons birthday, Cheryl Mezzetti came in from Boston to teach and now I am getting ready to leave for the Fall show in Houston.

I use to make my sons invites, but life just doesn't seem to give me enough time these days. I am so blessed to have such a talented friend, MarieQ, who creates the most awesome invites...along with everything else she photographs.

Among my talented friends, is Heidi Perkins, who is the best kept secret in Waxahachie. She creates the most beautiful cookies and cakes, not to mention how great they taste too! She took his invite and the suggestions from the birthday boy and created this yummy cake...thanks Heidi!

It seems like it was just yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital. Most of you know that he is our miracle baby, after 10 years of trying everything, God blessed us with this most wonderful child.

Yes, it was as crazy as it looks. Taking 25 kids to the movies was nuts, but everyone had a blast and we did survive!

Sunday morning Cheryl Mezzetti from CI came to teach two awesome classes. This was my first time meeting Cheryl, and I will say she is a blast, great teacher and got the hang of the Texas lingo really fast......

The Fall Leaf class was my favorite, I even learn some new things.......

Hope everyone has a great week!

Cheryl Darrow, my crazy friend from Ten Seconds Studio, and I are leaving Friday for the Fall Trade show in Houston.....I cannot wait! I am taking 6 classes, 3 with Tim Holtz, a Bazzill class, Graphic 45 and Just Rite stamps. Sunday the trade show and helping Cheryl teach her workshop and Monday is a all day, lots of classes with CI. I will try and post pictures while I am gone.

Round Up The Cure......

2009-09-15T07:58:00.008-05:00

Each lady was greeted with all these goodies at their seats. We want to Say a BIG thank you to all our sponsors, Maya Road, Prima Marketing, Creative Imaginations, Imaginisce, Bazzill, Technique Tuesday, Isla Jones and many individuals that donated.

We honored our Breast Cancer Survivors with a charm bracelet from Brighton.......
Cheryl Darrow and her friend Karen from Ten Second Studio came down to do make-n-takes....Thanks girls!

We had LOTS of great prizes for the raffle...Coach purse, Michael Korr purse, cuttlebug, cricut machine and many more goodies!
Ruthe with all her raffle tickets, dreaming of winning those purses.....
Becky was very excited to win the Coach purse....
Shelly won the Michael Korr purse.....

We had some awesome name tags this year, the prize was a Crafty Scrapper class!

Brook took home the prize with here bingo cowgirl name tag.

Thank you ladies for helping us raise money for the Susan Komen Foundation!

Classes by Cheryl Mezzetti

2009-09-08T13:15:00.004-05:00

We have opened sign up for Cheryl's classes!
Sign up for both classes $75 and a box lunch is included.

The Beautiful
Colors of Fall
Designed by Cheryl Mezzetti

Sunday September 27th 11am $40
Description: Every Autumn nature puts on a brilliant show of color – from bright yellows to vibrant reds, the leaves transform, displaying their rich and vibrant hues. Join Cheryl as she incorporates a few fun techniques to transform this unique book into a work of Art! The finished project will provide the perfect place to showcase your favorite photos of the Season!

25 Days of Christmas
Designed by Cheryl Mezzetti

Sunday September 27th 3:30pm $40

Description: Counting down the days until Christmas morning is always filled with such excitement and anticipation! The 25 days of Christmas altered project features the new Art Warehouse Journaling book that boasts 16 different die cut pages as the base of the project. Cheryl will guide you in altering the book to also include Accucut chipboard inserts, embellishments and techniques that add that perfect amount of holiday sparkle. Your finished project will truly be one of a kind.

Canvas....I love making them!

2009-09-07T19:24:00.004-05:00

I know its hard to believe I have found time to scrapbook. I have been working on organizing my scraproom, and bring home all my supplies. Plus I just stocked up at this great store called Crafty Scrapper!

This one was for my friends birthday, she is my fishing buddy, as you can see she is a better fisher(women). The second one was for my sons teach teacher.

Banners..........

2009-09-03T07:47:00.004-05:00

Looking for a cute gift for your childs teacher or something to spook up your house for Halloween? These new banners from Maya Road, bingo cards from Jenni Bowlin and some fun embellishments will do the trick.

CHERYL MEZZETTI from Creative Imaginations is coming to the Crafty Scrapper......

2009-08-25T10:33:00.003-05:00

Save the date, Sunday September 27th. Two awesome classes designed and taught by Cheryl Mezzetti from CI. We will send out a email soon with details and prices, for now here's a little about Cheryl and a pictures of one of the classes she will be teaching. Cheryl Mezzetti is an accomplished designer and artist who has been working in the paper arts industry for several years. She has been frequently published in scrapbooking and paper crafting magazines including Scrapbook Trends, Paper Trends, Correspondence Art, Scrapbooking & Beyond, Paper Creations, Paper Works, Better Homes & Gardens and Paper Art. Her designs have also been featured in idea books from Making Memories and Paperhouse Productions. She is the current Design Team Coordinator for Creative Imaginations and a former design team member for Scenic Route Paper Company and Paperhouse Productions. Cheryl is currently working on a book showcasing her artwork that is scheduled to release in 2010. As in instructor, she has taught at many conventions and scrapbook stores throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

Cheryl is a versatile crafter who has made a name for herself as an altered artist. She turns flea market finds into breathtaking works of art using a variety of media, but often incorporating patterned papers and scrapbooking embellishments. Says Cheryl: “I believe that each of us has a passion and dream that is unique and the best way to succeed is to discover what we love and share it with others. My dream is to inspire those around me through teaching and designing using the art of scrapbooking and paper crafting”.

Cheryl and her husband Stephen live in Massachusetts and have four sons. Keep up with Cheryl’s work, adventures and travels on her blog: http://www.cherylmezzetti.typepad.com/

Ancestry Box

2009-08-20T21:39:00.004-05:00

Here's another class we will be offering. This adorable box made with the new Graphic 45 paper, inside is an accordion album made with grunge paper, lots of little trinkets and mini vintage layouts.

More classes.......

2009-08-15T16:56:00.003-05:00

Heidi will be teaching this adorable blessing book. Lots of inking, stamping, embossing and the "NEW" SEI fall collection.

Blessing Class $35
September 19th 10:30am
September 22nd 6:30pm

Wait until you guys see the AMAZING Christmas memory book Sherri has created. We are going to pre-view it later this week. More classes will be revealed this week, so stay tuned!

New Classes.............

2009-08-13T08:50:00.006-05:00

We have several new classes in the works, here's one I just finished. Its a vintage mini calendar full of trinkets, metal, ribbon, chipboard and techniques, with our favorite paper Graphic 45. Stay tuned this week, we will post more fun classes.

This class is $35 and scheduled for;
September 17th 6pm
October 10th 10:30am

The HOTTEST thing these days..................

2009-07-23T14:14:00.004-05:00

............besides living in Texas, are Tina Wright's soldering classes. I wanted to share a couple of sneak peeks with you lucky girls that are taking the bracelet class this Saturday.

If you were unable to get into this class, we have scheduled another one for September 19th @ 10:30am.

Here is a sneak peek of the sweet and sinister necklace class she is teaching in September too. Soldering 101classes are offered several times each month, so be sure and check out the events page on the website. It's a treat to take a class from her.

Maya Road Sneak Peeks........

2009-07-22T09:51:00.004-05:00

They have done it again, look at all the goodies. I love the new kraft! Everyone has been asking what are they coming out with, so here it is. Now you will be asking when can I get me hands on it? It is sooner than you think, I will email you the day it arrives, so be looking for the newsletter its coming SOON!

Happy 4th of July Weekend......

2009-07-05T14:15:00.005-05:00

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. We started by making our family tradition, rice krispie treats, with the help of our crafty girl Alysia. Friends and family came over for a BBQ and then we took the kids to the cliffs to watch all the fire works along the beaches. Sorry the pictures didn't come out!
Brother-n-laws bonding while BBQ..........
Saturday morning the guys took the boys, Antonio and Denton fishing. Little did my sister know she had to drive them out on the warf, not her favorite place to drive a car, LOL!
Denton's first fish, maybe now he will go fishing with Michelle and me.
They also caught a star fish and a crab. These two guys did get to go back to the ocean.
After lunch on the water front, us girls met the guys on the warf.

Later, my sister said it was a MUST to go visit the toe ring guy. Everyone that comes to Capitola has to get fitted for a toe ring. If your ever here go by and visit them, Capitola Reef Script Craft Jewelry.

Friday we went to the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. We were so busy with the kids, I didn't get many pictures.

Thursday Pedro planned a trip out to sea to go whale watching. OMG it was amazing, we saw 4 whales. Two of them were very playful and jumped all the way out of the water. Unfortunately my pictures were too far away.
The sea lions were all so friendly, they just lay around everywhere. I was amazed at how many we saw out at sea.

Towards the end we came across 13 dolphins swimming along the boat. The water was so clear you could see them under the water.
We are heading to the beach for our last day, then back to HOT Texas tomorrow.
Have a great weekend!