Scrapbook Fun

The Survey Gift Certificate

Many of you wonderful people who completed our electronic survey in the past two days are wondering if they are entered to win the $50 gift certificate. And the answer is yes. All of you who responded are noted by email address. We'll pick one of those addresses next week and match it with a name and voila, one more happy camper with $50 bonus dollars to spend at the Clubhouse! So please, if you haven't completed the survey yet and can spare us 5 to 10 minutes, we'd be so grateful to hear your thoughts. Remember everything you tell us helps us help you!

Karen Russell's visit to the Clubhouse this weekend was not only everything I hoped it would be but ten times more. This gal just gives and gives, which is just about the best quality a teacher can possess. But giving isn't the whole story with Karen; she's also bright, clear, energetic, funny, and utterly unpretentious. Here's a few pix of Karen and the happy campers who took her classes:

Now when you see this next image, bear in mind that Karen's photography class ran over for a total of nine wonderful hours. One of our students brought her twelve-week-old baby who was a perfect ANGEL throughout the entire time. I only hope that he found me as fascinating as I found him!

If you'd like to know more about Karen, her classes, her kits, her products for Creative Imaginations, or her online photography classes, please check out her blog: www.karenrussell.typepad.com. You'll be glad you did!

She's Coming!

Karen Russell (pictured here at her recent wedding, which took place in one of my favorite places, Lithia Park in Ashland, Oregon) will be on her way to Connecticut in just a couple of days! We're so excited we can hardly stand it.

If you're among the happy folks who will be taking Karen's classes, please be sure that you've got everything you need to bring to the Clubhouse! (If you didn't get the class handouts from us in your email, holler!) Please don't count on us having any products here for you unless you've checked with us ahead of time. We don't want to disappoint you!

Jumpin' Jolees, Batman!

A couple of years after I started scrapbooking, the first Jolee's Boutique dimensional stickers were released by EK Success--and they've been going strong ever since. EK has just released an exciting new range of Jolee's, which you'll find in our theme sections in the Clubhouse. There's definitely something for everyone in this new crop, as this tiny sample will prove:

And even--at last--a cute one for Jewish weddings:

I don't use Jolee's much in my scrapbooks, but I DO use them on cards. There's nothing like a simple card with a nicely matted Jolee's dimensional sticker on the cover for a truly standout effect!

For Boys of ALL Ages

From the day my son Will (Tracie talking here) could say "truck" we've read about them, watched them from the car and stopped to see them at work at construction sites.  The same can be said for trains, planes and tractors.  And my Dad, raised on a farm in Iowa, has a deep affection for John Deere.  So imagine my delight at seeing these fabulous new 4x4 Revolution dies from QuicKutz.  They're in transit from Utah, and I can hardly wait to get my hands on them!

                               

                              

A Dream Come True

Know anyone with a baby on the way?  Wendy is ready to create the most beautiful baby cards and pages you've ever seen when she receives this new 4x4 Revolution carriage die.      

                               

And here's a sampling of what's coming for the princesses in our lives:

                                    

These and a host of other beauties are on the UPS truck as I type.  Call the store at 860-399-4443 or stop by to place your order.

Speaking of Karen Russell . . .

As you know, Karen is coming here at the end of the month to teach a weekend of classes. You also probably know that Karen is the designer of the Narratives line from Creative Imaginations, one of the most elegant product lines in the entire industry. But did you know that Karen is the designer of the No. 1 selling item at the Clubhouse? Yes, if you subtract staples like cardstock and adhesive, her Oceanside transparency has been our number one bestseller since we opened. Here's the transparency in its naked form:

And here's what Carol Buck, our Resident Teacher, did with the transparency more than three years ago when she first spotted it on our selves. Since then this layout has instantly convinced our customers of the value of the transparency. I do not kid you when I say this layout was arrived at with less than 20 minutes of work, thanks to Carol's quick eye. She took a sheet of background paper, laid her four photos on it, put the transparency on it, and voila, instant fabulosity. You, of course, can do the same, although you'll have to use a different patterned paper than Carol chose. Karen's transparency is still in production (thank heavens), but the other paper went out of print a long time ago!

Summer Passport for Savings!

Some of your favorite scrapbook stores have joined together to offer you a Summer Passport event!  With summer just around the corner we know your travels are just about to begin. Whether you journey near or far, a great scrapbook store could be on the way to one of your events. Stop in and visit a store in Connecticut and check out the unique things each store offers! 

Here's how the program works:

Stop into one of the 7 participating stores to register between June 15 and June 30. Your $15 registration gets you a 6x6 BoBunny album, coupons to all of the participating stores and your "Passport." Take your coupons and passport to the participating stores any time this summer between July 1 and September 2 .  Each store will stamp your passport and at the last store you can leave your completed passport for entry into a raffle to win a prize package filled with $75 worth of Scrapbooking & Paper Crafting Supplies! At each store you'll also receive a 20% discount off of your purchase and a summer-themed two page layout kit complete with instructions. By the end of the summer you could have a jumpstart on scrapping your summer trips and activities into a unique album.

Participating Stores:

• Inspiration Station, Stafford Springs
• Memory Lane, Marlborough
• Momento, Milford
• New England Scrapbook Company, Canton
• Scrapbook Clubhouse, Westbrook
• Stamp and Scrap Nest, Simsbury
• Wiggles & Giggles, Wethersfield

The Bo Bunny books won't be here until next week, but the promotion begins on Monday. If you're going to be visiting other areas of the state earlier this week, just stop by for your passport and coupons and pick up the album later. I might add that it's an event like this that makes me realize how different the scrapbooking world is from other retailers. Sensing that our lifeblood is in our community, it's easy for different stores to get together and come up with promotions like this one (for which, by the way, we are indebted to Wiggles & Giggles. They came up with the passport plan and have done most of the work of putting it into effect. Thanks, Darlene!)

My Husband the Train Man

I'm married to a train nut . . . er . . . man. Train landscapes are his subject as a painter. He is also a connoisseur of model railroad layouts and has visited exceptional ones all over the country. A couple of weeks ago he had what was for him the experience of a lifetime when he and a friend spent 10 hours in a diesel locomotive at work in coal country in Pennsylvania. (Don't pity me girls. He didn't even dare suggest I'd like to go along on this one.) One day he says he's even going to build a model railroad of his own. So can you imagine my excitement when Creative Imaginations brought us this brand-new line inspired and licensed by Lionel Trains?

Many of you have children who are passionate about trains (I know it started in childhood with Michael--in fact, I often think it must be in his genes it's so fundamental). They may not have model trains, but they feel the magic whenever they see a train. Maybe you've got the kind of little boy (or girl) who says ok, he'll go to the scrapbook store with you if you can drive by the Essex steam train on the way. Or one who can't stop talking about Thomas the Tank Engine. Whoever the train enthusiast is in your world, I don't think you'll ever find better, more delightful images than in this line. Stop in to see it soon!

Super Seal

When Cheryl Mezzetti taught here last month, she told us all about a fabulous product called SuperSeal, which we, of course, had to bring in immediately. Spray SuperSeal to help create a residue-free, water-resistant, UV blocking seal on all of your photos, paper crafts and ink-jet products that coats and preserves. Dries in less than two minutes without causing inks or chalks to run. Sprayed materials retain all their texture and flexibility, too. Cheryl discovered the beauty of this project when she returned home one winter night and dropped a mini-album she'd just made into the snow outside her house. She didn't discover it was missing for a few hours, but when she picked it out of the snow, it was absolutely undamaged. (No wonder she's so enthusiastic.) Get a can for yourself and start protecting all your memory art.