FUN TIMES......with PersonalScrapper!!

What a week..... I have really been reflecting on my business lately. There have definitely been ups and downs with it! Besides the scrapbooking, my FAVORITE part has been to get to know other scrapbookers all over the world and build friendships through our message board. It is the pen pals of TODAY!

Yesterday I got the chance to meet with 2 PersonalScrapper members (Mel and Lindsey) and their children! We had so much fun even in the short time we were together. After a trip to Burger King, we went to our local park to play. Both of them were driving through on their way to visit family/friends! It was surreal to have our kids playing together after we have watched each other's kids grow up through scrapbook pages!!! Lindsey took pictures of our kiddos. Although we didn't one of the 3 of us at the park, we did with Mel's camera at BK.

For those of you on the message board, you will recognize our 9 children!!

Friday night I scrapbooked with Addie, Dawn and Wendy. We had a great time (wish we would have got a photo of us scrapbooking!) It was fun to see their "process" and to see them using our kits. They have all been long-time PersonalScrapper members!

Last weekend, we went to CKC in Portland. It is a scrapbook show and we attend the night crops to represent Personalscrapper.com. Friday night I worked with Paige and Jenny & Saturday night I worked with Heidi and Carmen. We all had a GREAT time and so much fun meeting new and old members!! Now if we can only get them on the message board! Carly - It was great to see you too :)

There are still lots of members I want to meet - Amy, Sheila, Kelly, Lydia, Janine, Lynette, Emma, Lisa, Wendy, Joni, Kim, Melanie, Karen, Genevieve, Debbie, Barbara, Teresa, Christia, Marisa, Missy, Jessica, April, Star, Angela..... just to name a few (I just rattled some off the top of my head - but I want to meet everyone!!)

ah February is here! The month of LOVE! I Loved this kit! We used a combination of Pink Paislee and Making Memories with lots of fun little embellishments. Here are a few of my layouts with it! I have done 6 and have plenty left to make more!
This was one of the fastest layouts but it is my favorite! After completing the other layouts I had plenty of scraps! I took my circle punch and punched 7 circles. I double matted the photo and wrote on the Pink Paislee journaling card. On the circles I added a few tiny details like buttons, stickers and even the top off of one of the clips!

We got a chance to go out with my sister-in-law (which is rare since we live 3 hours apart), so we took some pictures. I thought this was a fun layout to go a little more girly with it! I covered the bracketts with paper and created a photo mat with 2 papers, stickers and pink paislee details!

Last year during my son's Valentine's party the class treated their teacher to the red carpet treatment! I thought this kit was perfect for these pictures! I cut the flowers out of the paper and popped them up, added a button and that was my favorite embellishment on the page!

For this large photo, i wanted a die cut background so I used another sheet of paper to cut the schallop circle. I hand drew a heart and fit 9 small bittons inside of it to make an accent. This layout was simple but I like it!

I wanted to scrap these pictures of Ezra and his big cousin Devin for awhile. I thought the colors in the kit were perfect. I cut clouds out of the back of one of the Pink Paislee papers. I layered a few strips of the other papers and computer printed journaling on the Pink Paislee journaling card.

Love this sweet photo of my now 9 1/2 year old :) I just used a lot of the little accents in the kit (clips, pink paislee die-cuts, stickers, papers) to make a little collage in the corner.

CHA CHA CHA

Wow - CHA has come to a close.... I was amazed at all of the new products. You never know with the economy!!! I had a great time on my trip!!! We always make sure we have time to play on our trip and we did that!! We hit California Adventure and Disneyland too :)

I thought i would highlight some companies (in alphabetical order):

American Crafts - They had a few things I liked (besides their thickers which I always love). They came out with a few paperlines that were nice - Letterbox and the Heat Wave line http://americancrafts.typepad.com/studio/2010/01/cha-sneak-peek-heat-wave.html (perfect for summer pictures). they have gorgeous embroidered albums that are set at a great price! I also loved some of the embellishments of the Dear Lizzy line. American Crafts now owns Pebbles inc and there were a few cute alphabets and embellishments there too! I thought the I do line was boring :)

Basic Grey - Basic Grey is a great company but to be honest there have been a lot of lines over the past few years that I have NOT liked! As i walked around with Layle at the booth, I realized what a huge release of produc this was! There were definitely a few lines that I liked (and a few I didn't). I also liked their new Basics collection. I know they will come in handy for future kits! They also have studs (bling for boys). One thing that Basic Grey had was GORGEOUS sample layouts - makes you like all of the lines!

Bella Boulevard - I really liked the lines "All Inclusive" and "Man of the House". There are only 4 papers per collection so they are pretty small. I was surprised at their prices - definitely on the high end! I would love to maybe use them as add-on sometime!

Bo Bunny - Bo Bunny had a huge realease this show. Nothing absolutely jumped out at me but I could see scrapbooking with several of the lines. They have a fun and bright summer one.

Cosmo Cricket - Always fun to visit their booth :) I liked the colors in Garden Variety and Material Girl. I was disappointed in JoyRide. The patterns are really fun but I didn't like the color palette. They have some new chipboard alphabets and i would love to try the little letters sometime.

Crate Paper - I really liked Brook and Paper Doll in person. As usual they have super cute embellishments to match! Be on the look out for some future add-ons :)

Fancy Pants - Fancy Pants had a great release too. Rusted Sun is gorgeous and perfect for summer! The Family line is a great one too. I can see being able to easily scrapbook with these papers. I also like that they now have an alphabet to match each line :)

My Minds Eye - My Minds Eye had gorgeous papers. I like several of the lines and they have some new fun embellishments. I even liked their Robot line. Their booth is always fun too - friendly! Be on the lookout for some My Minds Eye.

October Afternoon - Unfortunately they did not have all the new papers in their booth when i stopped by (twice). They have 2 new lines and they are nice but feel like the same thing that they have done before. I was slightly disappointed.

Pink Paislee - I really liked their new lines! Especialyly 365 - fun colors and easy patterns to scrap with! They have a cute little magazine now too.

SEI - They had a cute birthday line with cupcakes that was fun! Overall nothing usually jumps out at me to use in a kit but there are always a few papers I like :)

This is just a quick preview off the top of my head. Overall, there was lots of good stuff!! I wish embellishments were cheaper!!! There are some awesome (but expensive) ones!

January Kit Guest Designer...

Welcome 2010!

We are so excited to have Melanie C. guest design for us this month! She does a fanastic job on her layouts! I am always inspired after seeing her work! Thank you Mel (and you are on the front page of PersonalScrapper this month!). Here is a little bio from her:

I am so excited to be the guest designer for January! I loved this kit! I even pulled out a photo with my sisters and I as kids because I loved the pink snowflake paper and had to use it.


I joined PS in December 2006, right after my oldest son was born, but I didn't join the message board until over a year ago. I wish I joined sooner....I love hearing what my online friends are doing, all the challenges, and page ideas. I love the kits and can't wait for them each month!


I married my high school sweetie 11 years ago...it was the classic high school love story. I was leaving dance class, he was on his way to art class, we walked passed each other, I smiled, he said hi, and the rest is history. We have the most adorable and funny two little boys...I'm not biased at all :). I work part time as a pharmacist...I loved chemistry in college...doesn't everyone??? For fun, I like watching warm and fuzzy chick flicks, quilting, taking photos of my boys, and scrapbooking of course!


Melanie

Amy

Hi!

I asked Amy (amyinky) to Guest Design for the last kit of 2009. She has been a HUGE part of our PersonalScrapper.com Message Board! Not only does she post countless layouts with every single kit (i think she can stretch a kit out farther than anyone i know), she takes the time to make comments on other people's layouts, posts questions of the day and always participates in crops! Thank you Amy for being such a big part of PersonalScrapper.com!!

Here is a bio from Amy and her layouts with this kit:

Hello! I'm Amy Wheeler/AmyInKy ("Amy In Kentucky") - mom of two great, sports-loving boys; wife; avid reader; and obsessed scrapbooker. I love baseball, catchy tunes, food, a good laugh and new scrapbook supplies (not so much in that order!).

I have been scrapbooking for almost ten years and a Personal Scrapper member for almost four. I joined the message board at PS when I saw an online crop announcement in my kit in September '06 and was introduced to a wonderful group of fellow scrappers. In addition sharing layouts in online magazines, I have also contributed to PageMaps and in May 2009 had a 2-page layout included in the Creating Keepsakes idea book Easier Than Ever Scrapbooking 2. This is my third time as a guest designer for Personal Scrapper.

I would say that my style is ever-changing and very influenced by the products I am using. I am inspired by new product and use that as a jumping off point to select which photos to scrap. From there, I let my photos and stories take center stage. I mainly scrap multi-photo layouts and love working with two-page spreads. I also enjoy using challenges and sketches for inspiration.

If I'm not doing something scrap-related every day, I'm at least thinking about it! After being a stay at home mom for the past 5-1/2 years, I recently returned to work in late October. I am currently the library media clerk and volunteer coordinator for our local high school.

DECEMBER KIT REVEAL!!!

December kit is revealed with the new Fancy Pants Christmas Magic line! They do a great job of coming up with new and different paperlines. We also got to use the new American Crafts Tinsel thickers! The font and color was so fun to work with!

November kit revealed.... Bo Bunny Delilah and Kitchen Spice

November is here! Hard to believe it is already time to plan Thanksgiving and Christmas. Ezra can't wait to get our Christmas tree this year!

This month we used Bo Bunny Delilah and Kitchen Spice. I found this kit VERY EASY to work with! We have 2 different alphabets to go with it also.