Happy Birthday, dear Tina!

Today is day one, (of which I hope is many to come) of me taking over blogging for Simply Scrapbooks.  When Laurie and Tina asked me to dust off the old keyboard, I have to admit, I was smiling and nodding as the words, “Sure!  I’d love too!” tumbled out of my mouth.  But inside, a small knot started growing in my gut.  A little voice inside my head said, “What are you doing!  No, you did not just say that!  You don’t know A THING about blogs!”

Well, after a couple of weeks of lame excuses, I finally decided to give it a try.    Sooooooo... please, please, please feel free to correct my spelling and punctuation as needed, (everyone needs a grammar drill sergeant in their life), and let me know if you love it, hate it, or think “Eh, I might read that on occasion.” 

Instead of the normal self-introduction, which I speculate is typically what you would expect from a new blogger, I’m going to tell you a little about the person whose birth I am celebrating today.  It’s my baby sister – Tina Crowder – who (whom?) you may or may not know from Simply Scrapbooks.    

Tina is the youngest of eight of us.  But, even though she’s the baby, she’s the one who really inspires me!  Not only with her wonderful creativity, which you have probably had a chance to experience if you are a regular at Simply, (If not, come take one of her card classes – you WILL NOT be disappointed!)  But I really admire the Wife, Mom, Sister, Friend and overall woman she is.  Unlike me, no matter what type of adversity she comes against, she fights it wholeheartedly.  Yes, she has her bad days, and gets depressed like the rest of us, but she really has the gift of seeing the overall picture, and not letting these things take her off course.   She’s supportive, easy to talk to, outgoing, fun, HILARIOUS, and beautiful – inside and out!  She is also very persuasive!  (I haven’t decided if that’s a good thing, or a bad thing!)

When I moved back to Bakersfield in 2005, one of the first things she said to me was, “Oh yay - now you can be in my monthly card club!  I get together with a really nice group of ladies, and we stamp and make cards!”  (Maybe she didn’t say “Oh, yay” … but I got the idea that she was excited about this card club!)  Again, out of my mouth came, “Sure, I’d love too!” – but, inside my head was – “She’s on crack!  I’m not stamping with a bunch of ladies!  I’m not creative and that sounds boring.”  FAMOUS.  LAST. WORDS.  From that moment on, she sucked me into this wonderful world of papercrafting, and for that, I am eternally grateful!

One of the fun projects we did in our club was to take a card home and decorate it with things about ourselves.  Our assignment was to make enough to exchange with each of the ladies in our club, so we could all have a little “Keyring of Friendship”.   Even though we did this over five years ago, I still have mine.  It’s a special treasure I keep hanging up in my crafting room.  Below, is the inside of Tina’s card.  Most of us had a few little things on ours, such as, “I love chocolate” and “Target is my favorite place to shop”.  Tina got detailed and personal, and I think that’s why hers is my favorite. 

If you already know her, come down and give her a big birthday hug!  That’s a present she will really appreciate!  If you haven’t been by in a while, or haven’t had a chance to meet this wonderful lady, take some time out of your busy schedule to pop in for a little ray of sunshine that is my sister, Tina Crowder.   

New Carolina Breeze Layout by Katie

This layout is brought together using the Carolina Breeze Collection by Teresa Collins available @ Simply Scrapbooks!

Design Team Spotlight: "Gone Fishing"

Gone Fishing by Simply Scrapbooks Design Team Member Juanita!

Layout: "Gone Fishing" 

Using Authentique "Loyal" Paper Collection Available @ Simply Scrapbooks!

Buahahahahaha

Dear simply scrapbook readers...
The blog has been bestowed to me! Katie! Be prepared for update randomness, design team updates, and step by step tutorials on the latest and greatest scrappy stuff.
Xo Katie!

Simply Scrapbooks Design Team Call

We are now accepting entries to become a member of the Simply Scrapbooks Design Team. The competition is open to everyone, all styles and skill levels are needed.

The Simply Scrapbooks Design Team is a select group of scrapbookers who are invited to create scrapbook layouts in their own personal style to be displayed in the store for the purposes of encouraging and inspiring other scrapbookers. Through their six month term members can select materials at no charge from a special collection of the newest products received at the store, combine them with their photographs and any other embellishments they choose to create 12” x 12” one or two page layouts. Members also receive a 15% discount off all purchases at Simply Scrapbooks throughout their term. All layouts are returned to the artist for their personal use after display.

A qualifying entry must consist of either two 1-page layouts or one 2-page layout, plus one other project such as a mini book or home décor project. All entries must be original designs and have been created by the person submitting the work within the past six months. Please be sure to print your name and phone number clearly on the back of all layouts and somewhere subtle on other projects.

Submissions will be on display in the store from June 22^nd through June 30^th during which time our customers may vote for their favorite entries. (One vote per customer per day.) Winners will be notified by phone on July 1. All submissions will be returned to the entrants.

Entries are being accepted now through store closing time on June 21. Don’t miss this opportunity!

Weekend Fun

The weekend was sooo much fun! I think everyone ate more then they scrapped. The weekend was filled with laughing, food, great friends and a wonderful time had by all. Everyday had fun make n takes with great gifts. The raffles were fun filled with anticipation. I can't wait for NSDB #2. Another great weekend to be had by all. This weekend to come has been sold out since January. We aim to please, starting with the theme based inviation that will be going out in the mail tomorrow. To Be Continued......

Store decorations for NSBD #1

This theme was super cute. I couldn't wait to see what everyone thought about the store. Here was a little glimpse into what they experienced.

Entering into Tuscany.

Simply Scrapbooks wine barrels of its own private reserve.

The table markers and name badges were too cute.

Everyone was very impressed and excited about the weekend fun.

Getting ready for NSBD #1

It was so fun setting up for NSBD #1.The store closed at 6pm on Thursday and not to open back up til 4 pm on Friday This weekend was a fun theme. Can you guess what it was?

Not really...huh? Well let's just say it does have wine involved....:-)

OMG one of the grapes fell and attacked Tina's neck......GROSS. But it did keep us laughing even though we were getting tired the later it was getting during set up. But wait....has anyone seen our fearless leader???

Oh here she was...setting up more vines. Be Careful Laurie, I would hate for you to get attacked too. It not only makes the employees really tired setting up but sometimes they get hurt.

Jana was taping up our window displays and The packing tape got out of control and landed on her lip. Did you know that if you pull packing tape hard it will rip the skin off your lip??? NO??? Neither did Jana until the damage was done. But she later was feeling better. But you never know what is gonna happen during set up of our big crops.....to be continued.........

Another fun Sunday

This last Sunday we had a store meeting to get ready for National Scrapbook Weekend coming up. But did anyone know that our fearless leader Laurie is getting a puppy? YEAH...... puppies are the best! So guess what showed up at our meeting??????.........You guessed it......PUPPIES

This is Beebe!

This is Rocky....who loved Karissa by the way.

This is Pepe......Laurie's new puppy. He is 1lb. 3 oz. Isn't he cute?

Needless to say it was hard to get work done, but when the puppies took a nap we were able to finish up. We are soooo excited about NSB weekend coming up. WHO knows???? Maybe the puppies will show up again. Please stand by for more updates.  Have fun creating!

March Classes

OMG.....who talked me into teaching two classes in March. But oh wait.....both on the same day. That Laurie.......I won't be taking suggestions from her again. HAHA........ I had two very fun classes on March 17th that I taught. Students had a great time. We did all walk away with finished products and a lot of laughing.

The First class in the morning was a lot of fun. It was a full class with a great group of women.

Our fearless leader concentrating on putting the book together,which is hard when you're a little OCD....SSSSSHHHH don't say you heard it here...lol

 '

What the heck Kristi.......REALLY....should you be posing, when you should be putting your book together??? Never missing an opportunity to be a ham :)

A few of my favorite people.....Lourie, Lauren, Debra and Kate. All were hard at work putting their masterpiece together.


My afternoon class was full as well. This class was full of techniques and comedians.....:)

It was a lot of fun to have our Ashley in the class.

Kathleen was a friendly face to have in class....or at least it normally would be, but put her next to Laurie and forget it.....lol

This class would not have been complete without these party animals, OH and Laurie

Overall, the day was filled with fun, laughter, scrap booking and time with good friends.

Exciting Experiences

Hello all...as I promised I'm back to catch you up on what has been going on while I was moving. One day while working Tina and I decided to go to lunch with Katie. We decided to go to Chinese and then all of a sudden we both thought...NO WAIT...Japanese food sounds good. Then our little Katie states that she has never experienced Japanese. I MUST share these pics..............

Katie is soooo excited to use her cheater chopsticks!

Katie screamed when the chef made a big flame,,,,,She startled everyone in the restaurant.

Katie was amazed by this mound of butter. So much so that she made me take a picture....lol


It was definitely a lunch to remember. I just had to share with you all. We have fun no matter where we go.

Hello all you scrappers....It's Cat! I'm sooo sorry I have been out of commission lately. I have been moving houses and it has been hectic. This is also why you haven't seen much of me lately at the store either. But I'm back and ready to post some really cute pictures of things that have been going on for the last few weeks....I promise. Definitely come back to check them out.
But for now.....EXCITING NEWS!!! I'm attending this weekends NSBD! Yep you heard it. I will get to play with you all. If you are not signed up...we do have 3 spots left I believe. It is soooooo much fun. It starts Friday when the store opens up at 4pm. It's all weekend long. There is going to be gifts, prizes, make n takes, and wonderful food, and laughing, laughing, laughing. Oh yeah, and probably some scrapping as well...lol.Come play with us! Call today and request to sit by me. I can't wait to share all the fun I will be having. See you soon. Have FUN Creating!

National Scrapbook Days Celebration Nearly Here!

Have you heard the excited buzz around the store lately? We can barely contain ourselves as we have been busy-busy-busy planing another legendary NSBD Celebration for you, our guests! We can't wait to share the wonderful things we have in store for you! We still have a very few seats available if were thinking you might want to join us, you won't regret it! The fun starts Friday April 20 4:00pm till midnight, continues all day Saturday 8:00am till midnight and runs through Sunday April 22 10:00am till 6:00pm. Fabulous food, wildly creative make-n-takes, 32 hours of cropping with your friends, gifts and prizes all included in the $150 ticket price. Sign up today!

Here Comes Santa

(sing it)...Here comes Santa Claus,,,Here comes Santa Claus.. right down scrapbook lane...........................wait.....wrong season. But it sure felt like that today. We got in Pink Paislee, Heidi Swapp, New Smash, and a few lines from Echo Park. I just couldn't help myself. It felt like Christmas, except the stuff in my bags weren't gift s:-( I had to pay for them myself. But I was definitely like a kid in a candy store. I WANT them all! But I wasn't the only one.... I shall remain nameless but there were others that had the same problem that I had. The store was a buzz with hectic shoppers today. All a bussel to get their new stuff.I was amazed to see how much was sold and out the door. So when will Santa's sleigh (or UPS truck) pull up to the store again??? Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Class Kick Off

Come one, come all...... this weekend is class kickoff. There are some absolutely adorable classes this month. We have some very cute copic classes, cards, inking and mini albums and even a cute decorative box. I'm so excited for class kick off! I can't wait to hear feedback on all the classes. OOOOOOH, did I mention that 2 of the classes are mine...lol. I do have to say mine turned out very cute, but I might be a lil partial. :-) See you peeps tonight or tomorrow morning...peace out.

Exployees havin fun

OMG........SSSHHHHH.... don't tell anybody but employees at Simply Scrapbooks blow off steam sometimes on Sundays while we are closed. You would think there is a lot of creative juices flowing and some amazing things beings created.........NOT!!

Go Katie...Go.....

They were playing the Wii.....I know it looks like Katie should be blowing Karisa out of the water...but that is inacurate .....YEAH Karisa. She beat everyone that competed against her.

 Wow....our fearless leader concentrating hard on her project. What can I say....when she is focusing, she focuses but she makes a HUGE mess taking up 4 tables...lol.

So the next time you drive by on Sunday and you think " Awe it's closed....We might be inside having a Wii workout :-)

So much stuff.........

I'm at work today and I feel soooo overwhelmed. I want to spend, spend, spend!!! It's crazy all the new product that's around me. There's Graphic 45, Echo Park, Authentique, Prima.......Oh MY! I want to play, play, play. Can anyone out there call in to the store and get me sent home for the day, so I can play with ALL my new scrap stuff?????? I need HELP.... Is there a scrapers anonmous???? I probably need to admit myself soon. The only thing is....I know there are a bunch of you out there who need to be admitted along with me. Should I name names?????? Lol....no...You know who you are.......

February's Scrappy Birthday

Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you.....I had soooo much fun friday night at the Scrappy Birthday Crop! We had 15 or so people celebrating the month's birthdays. We did have two very special ladies celebrating that night, Tracie Hulson and Connie Gallardo. A very Happy Birthday to both of them! We laughed and laughed all night and  oh yeah, I think we scrapped a lil too. :-) Can't wait to celebrate next month's birthdays........................

We Love our Customers!!

OMG Laurie is feelin the LOVE!! She is running a sale all week til Saturday the 18th. 30% off all stamps, ribbon by the yard and spool, Doodle Bug card bases and accessories, valentine's stuff, punches and flowers. Whew........... and 40% off 12x12 paper pads and layout and card kits. But WAIT....that's not ALL..... 50 % off I-top tools and accessories and Epiphany Craft tools and accessories. Hurry...Hurry....Hurry.... before it's all gone. I'm picking my stuff out tonight when I get off work...or maybe at my lunch break because I can't wait til tonight...lol. Peace Out!

New Product Mania

Calling ALL Collectors........We are getting in soooo much cute new product it's out of control! We have 4 new lines from My Minds Eye, 4 lines from Theresa Collins, and 2 new Authentique lines. I'm soooo excited I can't stand it. I feel as if I don't want to work, clean, do laundry....just scrap and play all day. Wouldn't life be so much easier if this were true??? Oh well, I'm working today on this glorious Valentine's Day, come down and play at the store with me. See you soon!

CHA-Day 3

OMG...the computer crashed and wouldn't let me continue to post. So anyways, I also went to Greeting Farm boothe. They had some absolutely adorable stamps. I loved the journal they had on display. I can't wait for the new stmaps to come in.

I also got to meet Donna Salazar. I did a quick ATC card with her. Then went over and won a prize from the Silhouette bothe...YEAH! Now, all I need is a Silhoutte, oh and $300.00 to buy one...lol.
We ended the day at My Mind's Eye boothe. Their new lines are totally cute. Did I tell you the men working at the boothe weren't bad to look at either....:-) Then headed back to look to see what else needed to be ordered for the store with the girls.
Peace out......

CHA-Day 3

Day 3....Started the day out by instead of being excited I'm starting my day a lil tired. I forgot my cell phone back at the place we were staying. My first thought was of panic. I will be disconnected from everyone the whole day......uuuugh. Wait, no one can bother me or interupt me or say no to anything. YEAH! today is my day to do all the things I WANT to do.  I went to Theresa Collings boothe and did her make in take. Her new lines are beautiful. I hope Lauries orders it ALL!!

I went to LaLa Land to do their make in Take. It was so cute. Did any of you know it is extremely hard to color while 10 women stand over you watching and waiting for you to finish so it can be their turn????.....I Do!!!......lol.

LaLa Land Stamps

CHA.....End of Day 2

After lunch, went to Graphics 45. Their new lines are amazing. The boothe was so cutely decorated, so much so I felt like I had been zapped back into the 1920's. Ladies, I CAN NOT wait for you to see the new lines, they will be coming into the store very soon! Just wait til you see what the Graphics 45 design team has done now.
Look at this cute flower made from zipper ribbon at the Maya Road boothe. They had such cute ribbon..... I WANT it ALL!!!! But I have been known to have a ribbon addiction (lol). Any other addicts out there????

Maya Road zipper ribbon

A few of the girls and I had fun at the Jillibean boothe. While an order was being made we made mustache flyers and were being silly.

Karisa

Katie



Cat

I think these pictures speak for themselves. (Talking in a deep voice)....We are ready for a shoot out.....(lol).
Til tomorrow...Peace out

CHA....Day 2

I'm starting this off with an apology. I got so excited with all the new ideas and techniques that I saw at CHA and I got lost in my scrap room and didn't get back to the blog :-). Back to business, my adventures continue. Day 2 and I'm a little tired but still very excited. We got in the doors early due to meeting one of our sales reps. to order new products. That was exciting in itself because I missed all the rolling bags. Well except for our very own Katie(lol). When you enter the doors it's just so overwhelming. There are soooo many boothes and not enough time. It's like you have to schedule your day in advance. There are make n takes at certain times, drawings at certain times, special appearances at designated times, this is not including potty breaks, lunch breaks and smoke breaks for you know who.(thought to myself, is this my day off???) I'm more exhausted now and we just entered the building...WHEW!!! First off to Prima to see my new best friend, Donna Downey. I love her! She inspires me. She was doing a make n take at Prima with gelatos. Not ice-cream but just as yummy. She is a mixed media guru. Her new products you will LOVE. SSHHH.....don't say anything but I heard that she might be coming to the store to teach a class...HOLLLLA....let's keep our fingers crossed.



Donna Downey at Prima

Next I went to Ranger and as promised.......here's the MAN!!!

Tim Holtz at Ranger

I'm surprised this poor man could breathe. Every time I went by he was surrounded by people trying to get close to him. Good thing he is not claustrophobic......just sayin.
Then met up with the girls to see what they were up to. They had gone to DCW without me. That wasn't so bad but then they took a picture without Kristie and I......HOW RUDE (just sayin). See below, in my opinion it might of been even cuter if we were in it as well......

Katie, Karisa and Tina at DCW boothe

Well Everyone, need to get some things done and I will be back with more adventures soon.....
Peace Out.

CHA...Day1

Ok Ladies, I have been so excited to share my adventures at CHA. I had no idea what to expect. I was like a child the night before Christmas. When we walked in, my mind was goin crazy. So much to see, so much to touch, soooo much to do! But the first lesson I learned was to be careful not to get run over by all the rolling bags people were pulling around with them in their hustle and bustle. But the worst offender was our very own Katie. I can't tell you how many times she ran over me, bumped into me, or simply kept dropping her bag in front of me...... I love Katie :-). That first morning was systems overload. I saw Tim Holtz at Ranger and he is so adorable. That day I couldn't get too close to him due to all the groupies. Really I was jealous and wanted to be a front row groupie as well. Then I went to see what was all the commotion at the Ideology booth and they were doing a watch piece make n take. It was super cute but the line was gianormous. I stood in line for 45 minutes and it never moved. Heck no... too much stuff to see, had to move on to something else. But don't worry ladies, I did go back another day and was able to complete it to have a sample for the store. Next was lunch time. Another lesson that was fun to learn. I stood in the lunch line and got a yummy baked potato and a soda. As I went to the cashier, who was super friendly as she smiled and said, that will be $18.25. WHAT THE HECK!!!! Are we on a potato shortage??? ( I thought to myself, No time like the present to start a diet.....just kidding.) The rest of the day was collecting catalogs at all the different booths to see what we should order for the store. I was so pleased that my new shoes were comfy cause that first day i put a lot of miles on them.
Check back this afternoon for continued adventures at CHA......Peace out!

Look who's blogging

Oh no they didn't...... let Cat have access to the blog!!!! Watch out scrapbooking world, here she comes. "I'm coming out....I want the world to know.....That I'm a *&x^% (singing to the music). Cat here, and I am SOOOOO excited to start blogging!!! Please stand by everyone and check back to hear about my experiences at CHA..... Peace Out!!!!