Inspired Blueprints

So, we were one of the sponsors for Inspired Blueprints this month and I managed to get two layouts done based on one of the sketches.  I have more in the works but these are done.  Based on sketch #31:

And some other random things 

I'm working on using some new products.

Still alive....

Just busy!

We're sponsoring Inspired Blueprints this month ON TOP OF the Online Shop Hop.  So to say life is crazy is an understatement.  

I have managed to get a little scrapping in - but that will be shared later.  I will have more things finished this weekend and then I can do the 'big reveal'.

What else?

Been sitting on the couch watching the Kings get off to an amazing start.  Currently waiting another 2 long days before the next game.  They're in New York this week and its killing me that I'm not there to see them.  One day, I'm going to plan a trip to New York around the Kings road trip.  Oh and the  last time they had a record this good?  1992-93.  The same year they went to the Finals.  Trying really hard not to get excited about it.  Its still early.

And this little guy.....

is my new Kings buddy.  He watches 'hawky' with mama.  'Wanna play hawky mama'.  I swear I didn't teach him that.  He said it on his own!!!

On a sidenote, it looks like my mother has already been researching Shattucks St. Marys for him.

More on that later too.  I have videos of my little All Star to share.

In other hockey news, 'my' goalie is doing well this season.  Looks like a change of scenery did him some good.  He has a decent coach and goaltending mentor.  So, if he gets to play more than 1 game this season, maybe he can claim that solid #2 position.  But I wouldn't put it past Dave Tippett to made him ride the bench all season long!  

Its that time of year again......

Most people are excited about fall, the kids going back to school or Christmas being less than 100 days away.Me?  I'm excited about this:

And this:

This season is different for me.  I finally let go of my season seats - something that ripped my little heart out.  As much as I'm going to miss this, I'm also relieved that I won't be functioning on minimal sleep and replaying the games in my head the next day as my head bobs up and down.

Don't worry, you'll still know where to find me on game nights - Row 1 Seat 1 - Couch City baby!

I have my Kings jersey (I have 7 to choose from), my Kings blanket and several other items of fashion interest that make it into rotation.

I have tickets to a handful of the important games - you know, like when Ph

oenix comes to town or the East Coast invades the West Coast.

I did not, however, purchase tickets to any games against the Ducks, Sharks etc.  We spend way too much time on the ice with them.  Besides, I'm not making the trek up to Staples Center when the Duck fans decide to attend.  And they claim the Kings fans are rude, crude and vapid.  Takes one to know one!

The only good thing to come out at those games is Duckhunter.  

I will however, make the trek up to Staples multiple times this year to see my Goaltender who the Kings traded last season.  My goaltender.  

If he and the rest of the Coyotes can overcome the ownership issues and put the Weak One, I mean Wayne Gretzky, behind them they have the potential to be a contender this season.  Scary words, I know.  Trust me, when the Kings fail horrifically every season, you have to have something to fall back on.  I have my 'other' teams.  My backups, my standbys.

Anyway, no more of this hot mess behind the Yotes bench this season.  Seriously, angry much?  I think he spent at least 55 of the 60 minutes in the game like this.  I really thought (read wished) his head would explode but it never did.  Yikes.

Since My Goalie plays for Phoenix now, I have to put them on my reserves list.  

Anyway, its been a long offseason and with the start of every new season comes new hope.  This could be the year.  Heck, I'd settle for making it into the first round of the playoffs.  Everything after that is frosting on the cupcake!

Summer Documented

I'm almost done with my summer mini album - Summer Documented.  Since we were sponsoring Elle's Studio in September I pulled out all of my Elle's tags and some of the new ones to work with.  She came up with the idea and I loved it!  It was a little easier than the December Daily by Ali Edwards.  This was nice and simple and I didn't feel bad if I didn't scrap every day!  I highlighted the summer events on either a simple one or two page layout in a mini album.

I've had one of the canvas albums by Prima and Donna Downy since they arrived in the store and I've been hoarding it.  I never know what to do with something like this but seeing June's idea, I ran with it!

I loved working on every page.   I challenged myself to try new techniques and even though some of them didn't come out as expected, I still LOVE this album.

Carrie made one too and we'll both be featured on Elle's blog this week!  I also emailed my album idea to Donna Downey when someone who works for her told me that she needed to see it.  So I emailed her. 

Want to see it?  Check out my gallery.

How I made the cover:

Prima Canvas Album

Paint

Stickles

Fiskars Boarder Punch

Sequin Flower

Fancy Pants

Circle Punch

Mists

First, I painted the cover a nice mint green.  The book comes in a plain canvas color with cream colored ribbon borders.  I covered those using Fabritac and Fancy Pants ribbon.  The book is bound with cream colored ribbon as well so I used some of the new Tattered Angels mists to color it.  It has a dark orange color with just a hint of glimmer.  

The letters I used are no longer available from Making Memories.  They were part of a limited release with their summer line.  I used Kaiser pearls but any will do. 

The Sequin flower is something I picked up for the Vintage Shoppe.  They come in 5 fun colors.  I thought the blue tied in nicely.  

To make the sun, I used a 2 inch circle punch and backed it with chipboard.  The 'rays' are the Fiskars border punch.  I Stickled the yellow ones.  

If you haven't played with this album yet, you need to get one.  They are a lot of fun to mist, paint, stamp - whatever!  And now we have refill pages.  This book holds a lot!  I added my own pages using chipboard.  It comes with 5 canvas pages and 5 clear plastic page protectors for a total of 10.  I added at least another 10 pages of my own and have plenty of room to add the few more pages I still need to complete.

I guess the loss of my favorite adhesive.....

caused me to disappear!

Sorry.

Its been very busy filling orders, entering new product and running contests.  Just crazy.  And then there's life.  Life gets in the way sometimes doesn't it?

 Just wanted to share a few layouts here. 

Tree Hugger - Crate Paper, Prima felt and K & Co alphabet.

Pony Rides - Bazzill Kraft and Collage Press
Little Talker - Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey papers and sticker letters.
A to Z book.  I used my Bind it All for the first time to bind together the cards from K & Co's A to Z line.  I ordered the cards from Studio Calico and used the ideas from their Design Team for the cover.  Nick loves this more than the light up talk toys we bought that are supposed to teach him letters.






You can see more of my layouts in my gallery.

I have a bunch of pictures to share from the past couple of weeks.

Death of an adhesive....

When you get an email saying a product is going to be discontinued, normally you probably feel sad for the first 30 seconds and then you move on with your life.  Now, if that were a scrapbook product, you'd probably find 10 other companies that make the same thing and have no problem finding a replacement.

When I got the email from my supplier saying Kokuyo was no longer manufacturing their fabulous adhesives, I was devastated.  I love this adhesive.  I've always had issues with adhesives and I was one of those people that would hit up Michaels or any other store looking for the perfect one.

I found 100 different kinds and none of them ever seemed to work.  Those Hermafix Squares - I fought with those stupid little squares.  My roller never seemed to work right so I had to peel them off by hand.  I'd find them in places they shouldn't be.  

Then there was another roller square product - can't think of the name.  They came in a box on a roll.  You peeled them off the backing and put them on your product.  Then there was another backing to pull off.  Unless you had some special tool to pry that second backing off, you were fighting with that too.

Then I tried Tombow.  If you want something to stay stuck, don't use the Tombow.  (I hear they have updated the adhesive and it actually works.  Not in the mood to test that theory.)

On and on, I went, plowing through at least 10 more adhesives including Glue Dots and Zots.  Man, do THOSE end up in places you never imagined.  Poor Rascal had them in his fur and I found one on my chest.  Yep, never scrap in a tank top when you're using Glue Dots.....

And then, while perusing blogs one day, I came across Ali Edwards blog where someone from Japan sent her a few of these new adhesive rollers.  Something Kookiyo.... Kookoy.....oh yeah - KOKUYO!

Man were they hard to find in the US at first.  But once Ali mentioned them, it only took a few weeks for them to start showing up everywhere!  I pounced.  If ALI said they worked, they were worth a try.  

My first roller arrived in the mail.  I only bought one.  No sense in stocking up on something that may NOT work.  It was like heaven.  The adhesive rolled on so easily, stayed on and oh my gosh!  My product was still adhered to the page when I got up the next morning.  (*cough*Tombow*cough*)  I did another page and oops!  I didn't like the picture where it was.  I gently lifted the picture and moved it.  The little bit of adhesive that was stuck to the paper just rubbed right off.  Like magic.  It just rubbed away.  No evidence found.  No Un Du, no Goo Be Gone, just a rub of the finger and it was gone.

Wow.  I had to have more.  On my eternal quest to find more, I noticed more stores were carrying it, including my local store.  Yeah!

Now imagine how excited I was when I opened my store and was able to purchase this stuff wholesale.  Can you see my gleaming smile through the internet?

My mother loves the Tape n Roller while I prefer the Dot n Roller.  So while stocking the store, I purchased a few cases of this stuff for us.  Nothing like having a nice back stock of adhesive right?

So when that fateful email arrived in my inbox, I shuddered.  'PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY'.  Those words jumped out at me.  I immediately logged into my account and tried to order some but they were already sold out.  I hit up 2 more suppliers and nothing.

I hit online stores.  Gone.  Word spread like wildfire and there were even posts on other message boards about it.  People helping others find this elusive adhesive.  People wondering what to do, what to use next.

Sure I have my trusty ATG gun but lugging around 6 pounds of military strength adhesive is not suitable for crops and such.  Its a bit hard to handle at times and a lot less savvy than my Kokuyo.  

My favorite color is blue.  Not pink, blue.  So when tools and things come out in pink, I shudder.  Why?  Just because every scrapper is a woman, does not mean every tool should come in pink.  Pink does not = Female.  We like other colors.  And my cool little BLUE Kokuyo was so cool.  It was like they were thinking of me when they made it.  My very own blue tool.

The refills were so easy to pop in.  Just pull the old one out and pop the new one in.  There was never an issue with goo buildup.  No clogging.  No tearing.  

I finally found a source.  They still had some left.  I quickly snapped up several (okay 100) refills.  I'm in a state of denial and will be until those last refills are used up.  I use less now, taking great care how much I apply.  I can't be quick to use it because its gone.  

No more Kokuyo.  It was even a cool name to say.  Kokuyo.  Kokuyo.  Kokuyo.

Its a sad day when a scrapper hugs a box of adhesives and my husband might be ready to commit me.  The thing of it is, this WAS a great adhesive.  I say 'was' because it is no more.  If you never tried it, you missed out.   If you own some, hoard it.  If you can find it anywhere, hoard it.

As word spreads, I'm reading more and more about the love for this adhesive online.  Personal blogs make up the vast obituary for this grand adhesive.

Kokuyo lovers, this is for you.  I'm printing out the blog posts that discuss the need and want for the product as well as the message board posts and sending them to Kokuyo.  They need to know what a great product they discontinued - all for some office supplies.

I'm off to hug my adhesive before I go to bed.

Making Memories

And then this is the one where I win.  I taped the first winner drawn and she didn't respond so they drew another number.  Mine.

I figured what I had recorded up to this point was good enough so halfway through this, I *thought* I had turned the Flip off.  But it was still recording.  So the second half of this video is all butts.  Sorry.

If you get motion sickness, I don't recommend watching.  Instead, just listen.  The crazy lady who screams at the end......is me.