Brought to you by the letter "C"...

PHEW!!!!!!!!
(A VERY BIG sign of relief! LOL!!)

The letter "C" as in Coffee & Cupcake party for LoveMemo #9 Release Party in Chicago is now over! LoveMemo is short for "Love My Memories" - Japan's first scrapbooking magazine and its editor, Emi Kume, is credited to have started this crafty trend in Japan. As I mentioned previously, I was interviewed for their design team article in this issue! So excited to bring this magazine to the Japanese scrappers' attention in Chicago!

After days of preparation and cleaning, it turned out to be a very nice event :0) Thank you to those who attended, purchased and basically, played with us!

I am very lucky to say that all the magazines sold out before the day of the event...I have a handful that would like to order the issue (oh, Emi! LOL!!) which is a good thing!

The best part? Having new people come and see what scrapbooking is all about and leave home with excitement of finding a new craft! YEAH! What a great feeling!

Everyone had a great time with the party's make'n take...making a mini album out of one 12x12" paper. This technique was featured in issue #9 and for those who had ordered the magazine got a special gift from the editor - a fun patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket, a journal box and cardstock to make the outside cover. How cool is that?! BUT I didn't want them to make a mistake on their first try so I gave out patterned papers in my inventory and let them try it! A lot of ohhs & ahhs...for many, it was their first try at scrapbooking - how cool is that?!

I hope to see the end results from them soon!

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For my Japanese scrappers:

お忙しい中、「ラブメモ9号リリースパーティ　in　シカゴ！」のイベントに参加していただいた方、又は、雑誌を注文いただいた方、本当にありがとうございました！

とてもいい思い出と楽しい時間でした！

＊３月のクラス＆ワークショップ　スケジュール：

　４日（水）　　１０：００ＡＭ－１３：００ＰＭ
スクラップブッキング & etc.　＠　シャンバーグ自宅
クラス・ワークショップ代金：$5　+　material
持ち物：　ベーシックツールキット＊

　６日（金）　　１０：００ＡＭ－１３：００ＰＭ
スクラップブッキング & etc.　＠　シャンバーグ自宅
クラス・ワークショップ代金：$5　+　material
持ち物：　ベーシックツールキット＊

　９日（月）　　１０：００ＡＭ－１３：００ＰＭ
スクラップブッキング & etc.　＠　シャンバーグ自宅
クラス・ワークショップ代金：$5　+　material
持ち物：　ベーシックツールキット＊

13日（金）　　　０９：３０ＡＭ－１３：００ＰＭ
スクラップブッキング & etc.　＠　ミツワCommunity Room
クラス・ワークショップ代金：$6　+　material
持ち物：　ベーシックツールキット＊

１８日（水）　　１０：００ＡＭ－１３：００ＰＭ
スクラップブッキング & etc.　＠　シャンバーグ自宅
クラス・ワークショップ代金：$5　+　material
持ち物：　ベーシックツールキット＊

３１日（火）　１０：００ＡＭ－１３：００ＰＭ
スクラップブッキング & etc.　＠　シャンバーグ自宅
クラス・ワークショップ代金：$5　+　material
持ち物：　ベーシックツールキット＊

＊ベーシックツールキットは、12" paper trimmer; scissors, black pen/marker, pencil, eraser, ruler, exacto knife, and adhesive (dry=テープのり & wet＝液体)です。無い方は、私から借りて下さい。

参加ご希望の方は、ミツワ、私の自宅とも私宛にＥメールして下さい。もし、上記に都合の良い日が見当たらない場合でもご連絡下さい。

よろしくお願いします！

Spellbinders....

Kinda late with the news but by now you've seen the list of 20+ finalists for Spellbinders Wizard design team and my name is no where to be found.

Of course, I'm disappointed but you can't expect everyone to be selected...which would be great in an ideal world! LOL!! But hey, with many years of submission experience, it's OK! LOL!!

SO what I can do is finally share what I had sent with the exception of two items (card & altered item)...they got picked up by Scrapbook News & Review magazine so there's a bright spot in all this!

This was under the layout category - "First Love."
I'm sure my son will not be too happy for sharing this but I just love this picture. He was in kindergarten (Englewood Cliffs NJ) and they were constantly holding hands. She went back to Japan and unfortunately haven't kept in touch. Wanted to use the scalloped hearts and nested birds (Spellbinders) for this layout. Using the smaller heart with the bigger one, I was able to make an open heart die and make a chain of them running along the edge of the paper.

This was under the stamped category - "Be Mine."
I made foam stamps out of the Timeless Heritage (Spellbinders) pieces to make my hubby a vintage Valentine's Day card. Then used the foam stamp as an accent in the card. Kinda corny but loved how the foam stamp picked up the details on the die's embossed design! Granted not my best card but I liked the technique and that was what I was going for and a card for my hubby! LOL!!

Design team or not, I truly enjoy this Company....good people and good products! So if you're looking for a die cut machine (a manuel one), you should look at Spellbinders :0)

Valentine's Day...

Well, I'm not big on Valentine's Day other than getting stuff for my boys' classes. I also tell my husband not to do anything Valentine-y because everything cost double! OY!

I usually get myself a HUGE bouquet the day after and they are just as beautiful...maybe too budget conscious?! LOL!! My way of thinking is that everyday is Valentine's Day...we express appreciation for each other many, many times :0)

So this year he and the boys surprised me with a bouquet of flowers and one of those cards that records a message...that was cool! Oh, what cracked me up was my oldest DS' note to me "Happy Valentine's Day, mom! Thanks for giving birth to me!" What a character that one! LOL!!



Oh, my DH also bought a pair of beautiful red wine glasses from Crate'n Barrel (one of my favorite stores) and I am to pick the red wine up tomorrow from Wine Styles - they are some AWESOME selection! Can't wait!


Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day xoxoxo

Do you know how much I love Teresa Collins?!

A TON!!! LOL!

Just now, I was surfing the blogs that I bookmarked - paper crafters who I love & get inspiration from. What a SUPER SUPRISE to see my Valentine Wreath on Teresa Collins' blog!!!! WOW!

Totally made my day! I privately emailed her about how much I loved her CRUSH line and how it inspired me to make a wreath. My friends @ Craft Fancy really loved it so we decided to offer a class!

Here's the pictures that I "stole" from Craft Fancy...













Can't really tell from the pictures but had used a lot of foam tape to give it a 3D effect. Really loved how this turned out...thanks to Miss Teresa's design!! LOL!!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend :0)

Love is in the air and...

it's February?!

Where did the time go?

Hope everyone had a great time watching the Super Bowl - congrats to Pittsburgh! Although I am not a football fan, it's exciting to see all the half-time activities and the (expensive) commercials!

What did I do? Well, I was busy making final touches on a design team call for Spellbinder Wizard...or should I say I was driving myself & family crazy over this! LOL!! Let's just say I am happy with the end result of my submissions and hope they are too! This Company has such great products and I enjoy "playing" with it all! So wish me luck!


This wasn't part of the submission but really loved how it turned out. An altered item was part of the submission. At first, I thought I would do a place setting but decided it wasn't "altered" enough! LOL!! I used the StampinUp Top Note die as the base...wouldn't you know that Spellbinders just released Labels Four that would be perfect for this base! Need to add that on my wish list...among many...sigh...LOL!! A total of 4 dies were used for this card :0)



Love in the air? Well, it is Valentine's in a couple of weeks :0) Do you have anything special to give? I happen to have a class at Craft Fancy (Arlington Hts IL) that might fill your need! I'll be using one of my (good friend &) favorite designer's product line, Teresa Collins' CRUSH, sprinkled along with chipboards from Maya Road & Scenic Route to make a Valentine's wreath!! Class will be offered tomorrow AM (11am-1pm/Feb 3rd) and Sunday, Feb 8th. (1pm-3pm) ~ so get your spot reserved! Class fee is $20.