My life...just not on the road I expected (but it's still dang good).

ScrapbookPictures.com

All of the new borders are up at ScrapbookPictures.com.

I think there's more than 50 new ones.

And they're on sale through the entire month of February ($.29 each).

Don't forget that there is a color swatch tool, so you can make these borders just about any color you can think of.

And answering some more questions:

1. I do not have full catalogs to mail out, I only have PDF files of my CHAW release (which I can send via email). 

2. I do not sell any of my products retail other than my class kits.  All orders need to be placed direct with Creative Imaginations 800 942 6487 (they won't be taking orders for my new line until CHAW).

3. Some of the word designs in the rub-on swatchbooks are definitely similar to some of the new Technique Tuesday stamps.  This is just one of those things that happens in the industry.  They didn't do anything wrong and I didn't do anything wrong, we just both purchased and unknowingly chose to work with the same font.  It happens all the time.

4. I haven't had a chance to see too many CHAW sneak peaks, but as a scrapbooker, I am always excited to see all the new stuff (so I'll be sure to mention my favorites when I get back from CHA).

Ok, back to work (all my artwork for the CHA Summer show is due in a couple of weeks and I'm really struggling with it)...

Swatchbooks.

Ok, this is the last of my CHAW stuff.

These are rub-on swatchbooks (28 pages in each swatchbook).

These ones are called Florals & Frames:

And these ones are called Labels & Letters:

I'm a sucker for black rub-ons (I just love their versatility).

CHA Winter 2008 (part 2).

I know I've said it before, but I am going to keep adding to this Black & Cream collection until you are all absolutely, positively sick of it (because I really love this line)...

Everything is due to ship in May (Creative Imaginations staggers its releases so that stores can continually receive new product throughout the year...hence the long wait).

Again, if you are a retailer and would like me to email you the Narratives catalog pages, please shoot me off an email at karencrussell@charter.net (I only have PDF files of the Narratives catalog pages, I do not have physical catalogs to mail but you can contact Creative Imaginations at 800 942 6487 to request a catalog by mail).

More die-cut papers.

Transparencies, punch-out cardstock alphabet and another easel album.

Cardstock stickers, a 12x12 album, epoxy brads, epoxy stickers and die-cut felt ribbon.

Heart shaped Journaler's Notebook and a new paper pack.

I've got a bunch of new rub-ons too that I will post here in the next day or so.

Sorry to anyone who is waiting on an email from me (I am swamped right now).

 

CHA Winter 2008

The CHA Winter show is in Anaheim in a couple of weeks.

I'm going (I usually only make it to one show a year and this is the one).

Lot's of new stuff coming out, so I'll share it all over the next couple of days.

If you are a retailer and would like me to email you a copy of the Narratives catalog pages, feel free to email me at karencrussell@charter.net.

Here's the Narratives Bloom collection (available in May):

All the papers are die-cut (and I love how all the colors look together).

The 12x12 transparencies are meant to be cut up to use as borders and frames.

The stickers are cardstock.

The felt ribbon is die-cut.

Heart shaped Journaler's Notebook and punch-out cardstock alphabet.

And a couple of easel albums (really excited about these). 

I had the idea to turn this into a product after I designed the album for Snapshots of a Good Life.

A rub-on swatchbook, epoxy brads and epoxy stickers.

Will post the Cream & Black collection soon.

The Grand Plan.

I'm a bit of a homebody.

But Josh goes crazy if he's stuck at the house for too long, so he was trying to come up with a game plan early Saturday morning.

Sledding was (obviously) out of the question.

Josh proposed a trip to the beach, which I quickly vetoed (the weather is terrible over there, so really, it would have just been six hours trapped inside the car with all the kids...no thanks).

We finally decided on lunch and the Jacksonville museum.

We went to La Fiesta (only because I had Bella for lunch the day before).

and then headed over to the Jacksonville Museum...

Which is apparently, closed for the entire month of January.

So we goofed off for awhile.

And then headed home.

I shot most of these with a wide angle lens (Canon 16-35mm). 

I think that I'm starting to use my 50mm lens as a "security blanket" (I love it and I use it all the time), so I am trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and to experiment more with some of the other lenses in my bag.

And answering a few more questions:

1. The Tooth Fairy box is actually just a little necklace box that my Grandfather (who passed away last year) sent to Annie when she was born (it had a little gold cross and chain inside it).  A buck or two worth of quarters from the Tooth Fairy fit perfectly inside it.

2. I print the vast majority of my photos at scrapbookpictures.com.  If I am scrapbooking and need a photo in a hurry, I will print it up at home (I've got an old dinosaur printer - Epson 2200 - which I still love).  The thing is, I've never seen a home printer that can match the print quality of Scrapbookpictures.com and I find it cheaper to order prints from them than to print them myself.

3. I do print most of my photos as 4x6's, with a plain, white border (which is free) from Scrapbookpictures.com.  I just think that the white border adds kind of a classic, timeless appeal to a photo.

4. The albums that I got for the kids the other day were just inexpensive little albums from Target (the kind with plastic sleeves).

5.  I'm still on the mend (it's going slow).

6. School was canceled, so I've got a house full of kiddos.

7. I'm still shooting to start my online photography classes in April.

8.  I'll post some of my new CHA Winter 08 products here tomorrow.

Snowing.

It's snowing like crazy here.

Annie and I are in the house staying warm (I'm boycotting the snow since my sledding injury), but Josh and Coley are outside throwing snowballs at our window.

She lost her first tooth today.

And she's sound asleep right now with it inside that little box underneath her pillow, waiting for the tooth fairy.

Moonbubble.

She called it a "bubble".

I corrected her and said it was the "moon".

So now she calls is a "moonbubble".

Sorting through old photos.

The kids spent the other night sorting through hundreds of photos, filling up some new albums I got for them.

It was fun watching the expressions and the giggles and the stories every time they added a new photo to their collection.

I even filled up a little album for Annie.

Shot this with a 24mm lens at f2.5 and 1/100th of a second (hence the blurriness of Cole's hand and the photo in his hand - which I kind of like).  Had my ISO at 1000 since it was dark.

And answering a couple of questions:

1. I'm on the mend.  Working at the computer hurts a lot though (perhaps that is why the chiropractor told me not to work on the computer).

2. Scraplifting is not an issue to me, so feel free to use any or all of the ideas in the layout I posted yesterday.

3. I printed out all of the journaling strips on that layout with a size 12 Times New Roman font (they are not stickers).

Ok, better get off the computer now.

A layout.

I have to admit that I am not in high demand in the publishing world these days.

But this one is in the current Memory Makers and I love the topic they asked me to work on (scrapbooking your mistakes).

There's a typo on it.

I know some people lose their minds over typos.

I proof and I hit spell-check, but in the end, typos don't really bother me all that much.

I've got a long list of imperfections...and an occasional typo just isn't high on my list of things to beat myself up over.