Sale and Ramblings!

Good morning all you early-Saturday-risers!  My hubby was up early to go to work, so I've already started a load of laundry, washed dishes from company last night, and am now blogging!  I really love getting things done!

Ok, first of all, I wanted to announce that I'm having a Christmas in July Sale in my Etsy store!  You get a whopping 25% off your purchases now through July 31!  How exciting is that??

 Just use the coupon code 'JULY25' to get your discount!  Feel free to order as often as you like in the next week and a half!  I just added tons of new ribbons!

In addition to these ribbons, there are several more along with my 7 colors of Baker's Twine!  Come see what I have and what you can't live without! :)

* * * Warning: Ramblings ahead! * * *

Ok, you have been warned. . . . .

Yes, it is time for the Random Ramblings!  Brought to you by Kristin and Katiebird Studio!  HAHAHA!!

Seriously, I've been doing some thinking this week.  For the last several years, I've mainly been a stamper.  I make cards or other paper creations, but I haven't really scrapbooked seriously in about 7 years!  I just stamped.

Well, about two months ago, I was looking into Project Life.  I liked the look of Project Life for a variety of different scrapbooking-type projects I wanted to complete: wedding reception, Disney World, etc.  I decided to try Project Life as a weekly documentation as well.  Well, I shot pictures all the time, but I never got them in an album.  However, in my research of PL on Pintrest, I stumbled upon this pin:

I was fascinated with her journal cards, and the fact that she stamped them all.  I thought that was a fabulous way to create the journal cards for PL since I really couldn't afford a real PL kit!  I LOVED her stamps, and on her blog I found she had listed all of the stamps (with links) that she used.  She had a great deal of stamps from a company called Studio Calico.  Ironically, I had only once heard of this company because they along with Hero Arts made a stamp I was trying to find for card making! I decided to investigate their site.

I was amazed!  I was drawn in like a moth to a flame!  What amazing products!  Oh, I was hooked.  I next discovered their Community and blog which had weekly challenges for scrapbooking.  I immediately signed up to receive their feed emails!  I lurked for a while, but one post caught my eye.

The whole post was about this mini album their guest designer (Nina Ostermann) created.  I was so amazed and so inspired!  This weekly challenge completed on June 25th.  I thought about the challenge all week.  Finally, that Monday, at work, I decided I was going to do it!   I came straight home from work, and started.  I spent about 4-5 hours creating a mini album for the weekly challenge.  I shot pictures with my phone and uploaded it on from my phone (I love technology!). Then I waited.  All I had to do was participate to have a chance of winning a small gift card to Studio Calico!  The winner was announced Thursday, I believe.  I realized then that I was supposed to link my creation to the blog post for a chance to win!  DUH!  Ok, I was frustrated, but I knew what to do next time!  When the next challenge came out, I tried again to join the fun.

As the weeks have progressed, I find myself slipping back into the scrapbooking world, and I'm loving it.  This past week was CHA- the semi-annual (I think) show for paper crafting companies to show their newest lines!  I was all over the SC community boards as well as the internet looking for all the fun new items!  I found myself feeling the same as I had about 9 years ago when I worked for Magic Scraps and was able to attend CHA then (which had a different name, I can't remember!)  I was blown away then by the energy and neat projects available then.  I recalled the companies I was fond of then: KI Memories, Die Cuts with a View, SEI, American Crafts, etc.  I started looking up all those companies to see if they still existed and what their new lines were.  I also found a slew of new companies that have been created since I stopped scrapbooking.  I feel like I've found an old friend and a new hobby all at the same time!  It is great!

My style has changed, but also remains similar!  I'm so excited to be a part of the scrapbooking world again, but, rest assured, I WILL NOT be leaving the stamping world.  I will just make them all work together!

This post has made me so excited!  I forgot how incredible scrapbooking/stamping can make you feel and the high it can give you.  Sure, go ahead, call me crazy, but that's fine!  I know it, and anyone who truly knows me, knows it, too!

I'm off to 'play' now!