Jamie Danford

Love Elsie...

Okay, you know what?  I love being ME!!!  I love getting to decide what incredibly cute, awesome and inspiring products to order!!!  So, ordering the ENTIRE 'Love Elsie' line by Elsie Flannigan for KI Memories was a total no brainer. DOn't worry, I had this stuff ordered BEFORE the trade show ever opened, so we'll be one of the first stores to carry it (in April.) If  you want to go to her blog to see even more of it then follow the link on the left hand side of my site.  There's stamps, ribbon, and tons a cool projects to check out, but for now here's some sneaky peekies...

Time to share...

Here ya go...I had a request from a customer (friend) today to post this layout so she can scraplift it.  Have at it sister!  And this brings up a good thing to note...everyone is always welcome to photograph the layouts we have in the store, so bring your camera for some instant inspiration!  :)

What a lovey~~~

After a long day workin' look what I came home to... Big Dave made a...um, 'gourmet' meal for me! (Meatballs and macaroni, lol) Miss Priss went to church with her friend, so we actually had a quiet dinner together...ah, that was really nice.  I'm so gonna make a page about this!  Haa!

Oh MY GAWSH!

Let me just say...I'm stunned...really...just don't know what to do with myself...  I got up this morning, came in here to my puter and started going through my emails, when what did I find??  An email from Quickutz debutting their brand spankin' new electronic cutting system!! Aaaaaaahhhhhh! You mean, it's true?  We can actually hook this little beauty up to our computer and tell it to cut any true type font in our system?  Klunk...that's me falling on the floor... So, I guess I'm gonna have to get me one of these. I resisted the Cricut, pondered the Wishblade, and now... the gods of Quickutz have spoken! :) 

This pup's gonna retail for $370, yep, it's a bunch of moolah, but it's a one time fee...no more adding on cartidges or buying alphabets...any of your true type fonts that you already  have on your pc will cut.  I'm gonna offer these as preorder only, b/c they cost too darned much for me to carry a bunch in stock.  Now, if that wasn't enough to digest, QK is also releasing a bunch of spring dies for the regular handtools, and some really cool stuff for the Revolution. So here's some pics of them... If you want them, let me know b/c once again, I'm not going to carry alot in stock since they cost so much, and I'd rather put my moolah into the kick ass Basic Grey papers I'm about to show you in the next! LOL!

So here we are...my dream come true...geez, I just LOVE Basic Grey! They never fail to amaze me!

Four new lines...I'm ordering three of them...Perhaps, Pheobe, and Stella Ruby.  I think the Scarlet's Letter line is kinda scary so I'm not gonna get it unless I'm convinced otherwise...  :)

Hhheeeeeeeellllllppppppp!!!!!!

Okay friends, I need your help...CHA, the biggest trade show of the year is coming up and I'm on the fence about some of these new products that are coming out...I need opinions! So, I'm gonna show you some of the stuff that I'm undecided about and I'm asking that you take two minutes to register (it's free) so you can leave me a comment...I think all you do is click the comment link at the bottom of the post and then fill out some blocks of info...nothing major.  As always, I want to bring in the stuff YOU want so here's your chance...this will probably span several posts, so you may wanna check back in later... I've tried to put my comments beside the lines of product, but it looks like they're a little above most of the stuff...so I'll put (below) under each section of text so you'll know which one to look at. :)

The first is Pizazzill...it's a patterned cardstock from Bazzill and Creative Imaginations...I have to buy all of it if we like it, they  won't let me pick and choose...there's a ton of colors, but they're all the same patterns...I'm scratching my head, wondering what I'd use it for, but there's a huge buzz about it already...whaddya think?

Then we have Daisy D's...this company's been hit or miss for me in the past...do you think we need more of this antique lookin' stuff? I like it, but I don't scrap alot of stuff like this, so it's up to you...  

Daisy D's

Then we have American Crafts...oh, I LOVE this stuff! So, are we ready for more geometric patterns?  Would you use this paper? (There's boyish colors too...I must've not copied them.)

Oh, and how about this one...from Imagination Project...too rad?  Would you really use this for yourself or your daughter? (Fashionista...below)

Of course, I'm always a fan of Cherry Arte...love these boyish paper! So bright and yummy! Like 'em? (blues and bold colors below)

Then there's this Daydreamer stuff...kinda cool... I'm loving the pink and brown, but that's the girl in me, I guess! :)

And what do we think...is this sneak peek of My Mind's Eye's collection tempting? Or are we scared of the swirlies along the sides?  It's called Tres Jolie and it's below...)

My Creative Companion 2

Okay, you've  probably never actually looked at my office at the store...aka, the room of doom...here's a quick pic of it to get us all on the same page...

Yep, it's bad...horrible...terrible...my mother would call it a monstrosity! I've cleaned it, Amber's cleaned it, I've even paid someone to clean it, but alas, it's just part of who I am...it's a reflection of what goes on inside my brain. Crap EVERYWHERE! LOL!  So you can understand why I appreciate a book like the new My Creative Companion 2.  This spiral bound idea book is a nice neat compilation of organized ideas...ah, organized! Here's how the Creating Keepsakes website describes it:

Ever feel like your creativity well has gone dry? My Creative Companion 2 is the ultimate collection of ideas for everything from the smallest accent to complete layout designs. Packed with colorful illustrations and simple explanations, it will become a constant source of instant inspiration.

Sections include:

Accents

Borders

Journaling & Titles

Layout Design

Photo Mats

Odds & Ends

My Ideas

Inside, you'll find:

More than 825 full-color illustrations of innovative accents, borders, photo mats, and journaling and title treatments that can be easily duplicated or customized.

Over 135 layout sketches for single and multiple photos you can use today.

Quick-and-easy color combination, background and texture ideas.

60 never-before-seen layouts that showcase the sketches' adaptability and flexibility.

A cool ruler to customize your own sketches.

$29.95. 250 pages.

Foreword by Becky Higgins
Imagine someone going through every scrapbook magazine and idea book and compiling a collection of really great ideas for you to have every time you scrapbook. Imagine no longer! We've gone through the past few years' worth of Creating Keepsakes magazines and special issues and found the most innovative and unique ideas to include in this book.

Simply gather the pictures you want to use and flip through this book to find just the perfect touch for your page. Switch up the colors, change the materials you use—do whatever you'd like to make it your own.

Enjoy the all-new layouts showing the illustrations and sketches in use. And let this guide be a jump-start for your creativity as you continue in your scrapbooking endeavors.
-Becky Higgins

Lots of photos!

So, I had a problem, you see... we had a really great evening at Kristine's house back in June...played horseshoes, acted like idiots, sat around and laughed, ya da ya da ya da.  Problem?  WAY too many photos!  Thirty one, to be exact!  So, after some weeding out, and narrowing down, I successfully got TWENTY FOUR of them on a two page layout! Phew, that took some serious work...and looky, I even got to use the cute Junkitz paper I've been saving just for this occasion!

So, since I was on a roll, I went ahead and tackled another problem layout...once again, too many photos! So I tinkered, snipped, and somewhat creatively got 13 photos on this two page spread...Hallelujah! It's done!

And then just to celebrate my victory over all these photos, I did this little quickie...gotta love these new Junkitz newspaperz flowerz!

I CANNOT WAIT!!!!

Let  us all salivate in unison...

Holy COW!!! We're down to less than 48 hours until the new American Idol series!  WOOOOOHOOO! Do you watch it?  If not, tune in this season...root for the underdog, and give yourself a lift. Sure, I'm a reality show junkie, but American Idol is much more than that...it's an opportunity to watch someone live the dream...cool! Last season I found my new future husband...Chris Daughtry..sure Big Dave doesn't know, and well...Chris' wife doesn't know either, but one day, I'm gonna marry this man!  (Kristine's gonna marry him too..and half my customers as well... ha!) If you don't know, he's got a new album out, called 'Daughtry', I've downloaded his new single on Itunes, and it ROCKS! So, go listen...he's the MAN! http://mp.aol.com/video.index.adp?mode=2&pmmsid=1810326

I cannot get enough of this woman!

Who? You ask?  Cathy Zielske, I answer!  Lynn turned me onto her blog nearly a year ago, but alas, she shut it down this past Fall.  Needed a break, I guess...after all, she's some sorta fancy schmancy editor for Simple Scrapbooks, and travels all over creation teaching sbing classes for Creating Keepsakes.  Oh, but wait...is it true?  Has she reopened her blog?  Oh...yes?...yES?...YES!!!!! This woman freakin' rocks! I don't love her sbing style...a little to minimalist for me, but her WRITING...her wonderful, expressive writing and her wit, make her an absolute pleasure to my blogging senses.  So, if you've got some time to kill, and want to add another blog to your stalker list, then add this one  www.cathyzielske.typepad.com  and enjoy!

Goodbye to Roxie Poo!

We had entirely too much fun last night saying farewell to our beautiful Roxann.  Geez, did we laugh our honkies off or what???  I'm sure that Amber will have some pretty 'real' photos on her blog later, but I'm trying to keep this place...um...respectable (ha!)... just 'cause a girl gets all wigged out on rum and refried beans doesn't mean she's bad right? So, I'm gonna post this pic here, but the rest are going in a separate album on the right hand side of the blog for anyone who dares go there...  :)  If you wanna keep in touch with Roxie you can check out her blog too, it's www.therealroxann.blogspot.com.