CHA - Day 1

Dawn & I spent our first day at the Craft & Hobby Trade Show (in CA - beautiful weather with 80 degrees!) finding all kinds of fun product for Memory Bound.  Our feet are tired but our minds are excited with INSPIRATION!  Here's a few things we saw today in the Canvas Corp booth. We hope to make a sample of this adorable Easter wall hanging. We also ordered all colors of their fabric flowers.  We're adding more pics to our FACE BOOK page, so check there later.

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Fun at the Memory Bound Staff Crop - Part 1

The Memory Bound gals had a staff crop last Sunday. As you might imagine, a good time was had by all! Of course, I came armed with my camera so that I could document the fun. In fact, I took so many pictures that I'll have to share the rest in Part 2 later this week!

You all know Diane, our store manager. But did you know she is one of the most productive scrapbookers you'll ever meet? Her new grandson was just born a week before the crop, and she had already finished one mini-album for him and was starting on a second! I'll share more about her mini-albums, as well as pictures of her Halloween book, in Part 2.

I sat next to Diane and Diana, hoping their extreme productivity would rub off on me. :)

Diana works in the store and also teaches our Scrappin' Kidz After School classes each month. She is also super-productive! This was her third straight day of scrapbooking, as she had attended our store crops on both Friday and Saturday.

Right now, Diana is making albums for her granddaughter's graduation. We all loved this page with the string "spaghetti"!

Here are two additional layouts she finished of Paige as a little girl. These will be so fun to share at her open house!

And here's Amanda with an adorable layout of her baby and husband.

Amanda was making several pages with this October Afternoon line. Love the flowers!

Dawn and Kellie ran the store that day so that the staff could crop. Thanks, Dawn and Kellie! But before the store could open, Dawn had to fix her apron! 

Voila!

Maggie brought card-making supplies to the crop. I immediately noticed her little accordion file of scraps and asked her about it. She told me she bought it at our recent garage sale. I burst out laughing -- because guess who sold it! ME! And prior to that, I had bought it from Sharon Willard, one of our long-time customers, at another garage sale! We all had a good laugh over that! This little accordion file has certainly made the rounds. We THINK it has now found a permanent home with Maggie, but keep your eye open for it at the next garage sale! LOL

Maggie made several cards that day and has already used a few of them!

Katie was working on her son's Kindergarten album. She uses an 8.5x11 binder and page protectors to house his school papers.

She sorted through a lot of papers and kept the really special ones.

I was intrigued by Katie's process because I have a hard time parting with school papers. I brought my daughter's old school papers to sort and Katie even had to help me throw a few things away. Thanks to Katie, everything fit in my accordion files! :)

Here are Bonnie and her daughter Brittany. Bonnie was working on a UNI layout and Brittany was making a decorated frame. Aren't they adorable?

And here's Betsy with a sneak peek of her Christmas album. I will share photos of this album in Part 2. It's beautiful!

And here is Mindy who was just finishing up her December album. I took several pictures of her wonderful mini-book which you will see in Part 2.

As you can see, we all had a great time working on projects, snacking, and sharing fun stories. We can't wait to do it again soon! Watch for more pictures coming later this week. :)

Janet

Got Farm Pictures?

I've been checking out the new products arriving at Memory Bound. The new Cock-A-Doodle-Doo line from Kaisercraft caught my eye right away!

Being from IOWA, many of us have farm or fair pictures to scrapbook. Do you have photos from the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit at the Iowa State Fair? This line would be great fun for those pages! Many of the papers would work well for your pumpkin patch pictures, too.

The barn is a large shaped element that could be used on a scrapbook page, or even for party decor or a classroom bulletin board. There are several patterned papers and die cut stickers, too. And of course TWINE is the perfect embellishment!

I love the stitched letter stickers! They are versatile enough to use on most any type of layout.

So grab your farm pictures and head on over to Memory Bound.  You'd best MOOO-ve it for the best selection! ;)

Janet

Staff Project: Diane's Christmas Journal

Last fall, I posted about the December Journals being made by many of our talented staff members. (If you missed the post, you can check it out here.) In a nutshell, a December Journal is a small album created to capture daily memories throughout the month of December. You prepare the album pages ahead of time, then add photos, memorabilia, and journaling throughout the month. At the end of December, you have a special holiday keepsake.

Our store manager Diane just finished her Christmas Journal for 2011. (Yes, you read that right. Diane has already finished her album, and I haven't even put away all of my Christmas decorations yet! LOL) Diane is one of the most productive scrapbookers I've ever met. She enjoys making projects like this with a vintage, eclectic style. Her album is amazing!

Diane used a Fancy Pants journal as the foundation of her album. She made the album back in October so that it was all ready to go for the holiday season.

Diane inked, stamped, and sewed on her album pages. This type of project is a great way to use up little bits of this and that!

I really like the small photos she added to her album pages. Printing small images allowed her to fit many on each page.

Diane added photo sleeves between a few of the pages. This is a great way to incorporate 4x6 photos into her framework. Notice how she wrote on the photos with a white pen!

I love the little bits of tinsel and bling! On this page, she created a diagonal pocket.

Here's another pocket to hold special cards received.

Throughout the month, she kept track of wish lists, invitations, and more...everything that made the holiday season special for her family.

She even kept her shopping lists!

I'm so impressed with all that Diane packed into a small journal. What a treasure this will be in years to come! If you have any questions about creating a December Journal, please ask us at Memory Bound. We would love to help you get started! It's not too early to create your journal for next Christmas!

Thanks, Diane, for inspiring us with your amazing project!
Janet

Next Up: Valentine's Day!

 May this Valentine’s Day be filled with love, understanding, and contentment as you journey through life with those you hold dear.

 I love the sentiment expressed by this quote. Life is enriched by those who travel with us on life's journey. What better time than Valentine's Day to tell them how much they mean to us!


At Memory Bound, we love Valentine's Day and everything it represents. And we have everything you need to share the holiday with those you love.

The store is filled with all kinds of products for your Valentine's Day projects. I've never seen so many wonderful products for this holiday! Take a look at just a few of the goodies I saw at Memory Bound a couple of days ago -- too many to share in a single blog post!

This display includes a variety of papers, embellishments, punches, and stamps which will make your holiday crafting a breeze.

And on this end cap you'll find the latest lines by Echo Park and We R Memory Keepers: Yours Truly and Love Struck. I'm using the adorable Love Struck line for my February mini-album class.

We also have all kinds of card samples to inspire your Valentine's Day crafting.

In addition to all the products you'll find at Memory Bound, we have several Valentine-themed events and activities over the next few weeks:

* January 9 -- Diana's Scrappin' Kidz class features an adorable Valentine Portfolio project just for kids!

* January 26 and 31 -- Katie will be teaching a fabulous Valentine Copic Card class.

* February 3 -- I'll be teaching a mini-album class featuring the new WRMK Love Struck line.

* Wednesday Make-N-Takes in January -- We'll be making adorable Valentines each week featuring a new technique.

 * February 4 -- We'll have a special Valentine Bag Topper Make-N-Take.

See the calendar for more details on all of these events and watch for more details throughout the month on our blog!

Happy Valentine's Day crafting!
Janet

Our Scrapping Resolutions for 2012

Happy New Year to all of our Memory Bound friends! We hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable celebration. We're looking forward to all that 2012 has to bring!

A new year gives us all the opportunity to set new goals. With that in mind, I asked our Memory Bound staff to share a few of their scrapping resolutions for 2012. There is something about publicly stating your goals that makes you more likely to achieve them -- so now we'll have to hold each other accountable and make sure that all of these great goals turn into reality!

Diana:

* My daughter and I need to get my granddaughter's books done for graduation! 

* I want to once again purge and reorganize my SB room. (I noticed my cardstock is all out of color order!)  

* I want to do some serious scrapbooking of all things.

* I also want to come up with some really fun kids' class ideas and maybe some other class ideas, too.  

(Diana recently retired from her nursing job, so we know she'll have plenty of time to accomplish these goals and MORE!) 

Maggie:

* I will finish my granddaughter's 1st year album in time for her birthday in July. 

* I will organize a card/tag making station that will allow me to sit down and create beautiful cards and tags without spending time looking for everything.

Janet:

 * I will finish organizing and decorating my crafting space. (Special note: Janet will be teaching a Get Organized class on January 28. See the newsletter for details!)

* I will edit and print my backlog of digital photos.

* I will schedule scrapbooking time for myself each week to "catch up" on pages and big projects.

* I will finish the Disney/Harry Potter album I started last summer.  

Tess:

* I want to scrap our Disney trip from two years ago... before I forget more than I already have... and so we can enjoy the pictures more readily than on the computer! 

Dawn: 

* I plan to make a junk binder of fun things our family does throughout the year.

Katie: 

* I will use what I already have...I have so much that I forget what I have!! 

* I am going to get organized and the items at I am not using or plan on using will go the the Memory Bound garage sale. I need more space!
* My "big" resolution is to participate in Becky Higgins' Project Life. This will help me to scrap my favorite moments through the year, while keeping track of the of other things going on in our lives.

Mindy: 

* My Scrapping Resolution is to get back to scrapping and try to become a paper user instead of just a paper collector.  My kids are 5 and 1 in real life but in their albums they are 3 and just born so I have some catching up to do! 

Amanda:

* I plan to get Brady's first album done by his first birthday. 

* I will finish 2 pages a week.

* I try not to be so hung up on one page!

Kellie: 

* My 2012 goal is to keep a monthly junk binder album of things that happen through the year.  I did this in 2010 and love looking back at the movies & restaurants we went to, what we did for holidays, news stories, trips, etc.  It’s a great way to journal a year in your life.  

* I would also like to finish some of the projects I have started.

Pat:

* My goal is to get all my old photos filed and organized and then organize all my digital photos stored on my computer so I'm not always looking through hundreds of photos to find what I want. 

* * * * * 

What are your Scrapping Resolutions for 2012? Whatever they are -- be it organizing your space or making a vacation album -- we can help you meet your goals. We look forward helping you be successful in the new year! 

Janet