More from the Wee small hours of the morning!

The Kaisercraft Lounge makes a lovely boudoir! I dozed a bit between 4 & 6am.

As dawn breaks, the first few letters go up!

Ta Da - there she is.

Needless to say, I'll be guzzling the caffine today! Anyone have an IV hook up?

Sonja

2 am

Good Morning -

If you are reading this, please go to bed. Someone around here needs some sleep and tonight, it won't be me.

If you ever wondered what I look like in the middle of the night, here it is...almost. We are starting the install at 2am. Isn't that lovely?

And here is the sign. It gives a whole new meaning to "Hey Baby, whats your sign?" (Ba dah bum). Obviously the lack of sleep has gone to the brain.

The next picture you see should be that of this lovely sign on the wall above my lovely window! I'll keep you posted. I'll have plenty of time!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sonja

Come crop this weekend

There are 4 spots available now for this week's crop. Grab a couple of the gals and come on out!

Music, Chocolate & Scrapping

Tonight is the beginning of the Summer Concert Series! Come visit me and I'll add another punch to your summer punch card! I'll be here until 9pm. A Free scrapbook will be raffled off during each of the concerts this summer.

The rumors are true! Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has re-opened. They'll have samples tonight as well as Ben & Jerry's. YUMMY!

Tonight's concert is classic swing and the dance floor is all set up!

Fan-Tag-Stic Make N Take

So our first designer Make N Take is scheduled for July 12th. Its with Mardy Baker & features elements from American Tag Co., which has some great basics for scrapbooking, card making & altered art projects. The photos above are samples of her work and our project will be along these lines.

Here's where I need your help. Please visit the polls on the right to vote for the day and the time. She's scheduled right now for July 12th, but I know with summer travel plans that it might be tough for everyone to make.

What on earth is the Yearbook Club?!?

The easiest way to descibe this is as a structured crop. My idea was to set aside an hour a month where we could committ to scrapbooking our month. 12 hours. 12 layouts. 1 year. It would help us all get "caught up" if there is such a thing, and get us scrapping again!

As I was describing the idea to Julia she mentioned she'd seen something in "Simple Scrapbooks" that was sort of the same idea. It was called 12 on 12. Of course, I can't link to the article but it was basically take 12 pictures on the 12th of each month and create a layout.

So that's what the yearbook club is all about. Simply scrapbooking your month. Its free to come in and work on your projects. I have a photo printer that you can use for a nominal charge so that you can rescue your photos for their digital chains! So stop by and visit the yearbook club!

New Kaisercraft

The new releases from Kaisercraft just came in!

Pearls in 23 different colors!

Rhinestone words - 2 colors and 12 different words

4 new colors of Rhinestones - Teal, Powder Blue, Black & Bronze

4 new lines of paper!

Stop by & check it out!

Time to do the Happy Dance!

Stickers are our friends in the world of Scrapbooking, but this little sticker from the city planning office has seriously been the bain of my existence for 3 months!!! But I have it now and the sign will be installed shortly.

Honestly, I wanted to dance in the city office this morning. As the inspectors & clerks checked things off their list one by one, I felt a small smile curl on my lips. Could it be? Could this really be happening? And then it was! They asked if I wanted to pull the permit today and I was like, heck yeah! And that was that!

Just thought I'd share my joy with you!

Guess what's on it's way....

Flocking from Doodlebug. The same company that brought you Sugar Coating (glitter, glitter brads & glitter paper) has come out with a corresponding line of Velvet flocking. We're getting the paper, brads and of course the flocking as well as more Sugar Coating glitter.

Used with the Sakura Glue Pen, the flocking and the glitter make awesome dimensional accents on your scrapbook pages or cards.

Can't wait!!! You know I'll be doing make n takes galore!

Sonja

Ahoy There...Ye Shop Hop DEADline be on yonder horizon

Be ye warn'd. Don't let Friday come 'round without picking up ye passport & treasure bag for our journ'y this August. There be a vast sea of scrapbook stores just a waiting to be plundered. But don't let the DEADline pass ye by. Aft'r Friday, ye be paying full price for ye treasure bag.

Ye passport be $5 & with it ye'll save 15% at all the stores. Ye bag & passport be $13.99 and ye'll save 20% at all the stores. But after Friday the cost goes up and ye'll pay $18.99.

Besides the treasure ye'll find, there be a motherload waiting for ya! These prizes have just been declared. If ye visit all 38 stores, ye'll be entered in to win:

• GRAND PRIZE #1 – a Scrapbook Retreat Weekend for 4 at San Diego Scrap Inn (value$1000)

• GRAND PRIZE #2 - A self service weekend at Crop Inn, good for either the Pine MountainClub or Palm Desert location (select from remaining 2008 dates or the fi rst month of 2009)(value $195)

If ye visit half of the stores - just 16, ye'll be entered it to win a $50 gift certificate from your Home Store and one of the First Prizes.

• A $150 gift basket from Tinkering Ink
• An A to Z Weekend Crop – Manhattan Beach, select from the remaining 2008 date or from five of the 2009 dates (value $300)
• A $150 Gift Certifi cate to Stamping Fools
• $150 off of a weekend to Scrap-N-Away Retreats
• A $130 Scrap-Fest Silver Package, sponsored by Strictly Scrapbooking (admission for 2, October 11, 2008)
• A Gift Certificate from Auntie Amyʼs
• A $100 Gift Certifi cate to Desert Scrapbook Retreats
• A $100 Gift Certifi cate to Desert Scrapbook Retreats
• A $100 Gift Certifi cate to Desert Scrapbook Retreats
• A $75 gift basket from Prism Papers

Ye'll also earn a Scraptacular Summer Punch from our store for joining the crew. And don't let the price of gas scare ye off. We'll be planning carpools to share the load. So stop by or call to sign up today!

Father's Day Ideas and another Mini

I had a lot of free time yesterday... I mean A LOT!!! And I was in no mood to do real work so I played instead. Here's what I came up with...

This layout features It's All Relative from Reminisce. I create a frame with chipboard and covered it with a collage of the father stickers. The frame measures 5x7 and the inset is 3x5. Then I cut a mat from Bazzill Bling which measures 6x8. I attached these to the Father paper from Reminisce. I cut 1/2 inch strips from the Bling and attached them to the edges of the paper, accenting with brads. Then I hand wrote "I love my dad" around the edges. With the remaining bits I created a simple card.

This layout features paper and embellishments from My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus collection. First I distress inked almost everything with the old stand by, Walnut Stain from Tim Holtz. With the paisley paper, I folded 2 inches on the bottom and right side to create the border in the lower right hand corner. At first I thought it would be a journaling pocket but I ended up fully adhering them. I added brad accents in the lower right hand corner. I adhered the flourish in the upper left hand corner, tucking bits under the paper mat. I pop dotted the title card, bridging between the flourish and the brown mat. Then I added the frame in the open space, keeping up with the diagonal flow of the page. I had a bit of fun with the journaling tag. I folded the transparency accent and attached it to the tag with a brad for a bit of pizazz.

Like I said, I had a lot of free time yesterday, so I created another mini with the mini paper from Jenni Bowlin. This is a variation on the matchbook album. The paper is 4x4" and the bingo card "Adore" is 7", so I folded it off center so that the back would be 4" and the front would be shorter, showing off the cute paper inside. I paired up paper and glued them back to back. Then I got the bright idea to add tags to the paper so I cut 2x2 squares and then separated the papers ever so slightly and added the tabs between the front & back sheet. (Have I lost you yet?!?) I used the Bazzill Institchz to sew the binding. I distressed everything with Colorbox Chalk ink. I added Bazzill ribbon tabs to the right edge of each page with staples. I accented with a couple Jenni Bowlin rub ons and some pearl pins (from the Bazzill Ribbon rolls).

Also, used a different adhesive than my usual and I was pleasantly surprised. I used the dots from Tombow's Mono adhesive line. It was great. Went on really well, was strong, but flexible enough to work with. I think I'll order some for the shop!

Friday's Class

Our Scraptacular Summer starts Friday night with the Scrap Easel Class. I had a bunch of easels from IKEA that I decided to not use for displays so I wondered what else I could do with them. I grabbed a package of rub-on from Kaisercraft and added them directly to the wood surface. Then I made a mini layout perfectly sized for the easel.

The class is Friday night from 6-8pm for only $15. Your class kit will include more than that in product so its really quite a deal. You can create a project with this color scheme, or in another one of your choosing.

Your class kit will include:

• 1 full package of Kaisercraft border rub-ons
• 1 full package of Kaisercraft foss felt (with plenty left over after your project)
• 2 full sheet of printed paper
• 1 full sheet of Bazzill Bling
• 1 full sheet of chipboard
• Diamond Glaze Glue (sample sizes)
• 1 easel
• Use of 3-D dots & Distress Ink

There are a couple spots left for this class, so give me a call and sign up today! 310-410-7272.

Sonja

PS - you'll earn a Scraptacular Summer punch for attending this or any other class & crop this summer!

I've been playing, but not posting...

I've been coming up lots of great ideas, and some of them are even coming to life, but between, email issues, credit card fraud issues & city of LA stupid sign permit issues, I haven't been blogging. I can only do so much.

So here are some fun ideas for quick mini books.

For this book, I used the Sassafrass Lass paper in the Pocket full of Posies line. I cut the paper in half, creating a 6x12" strips. I also cut off the extra tag part of the paper that Sassafrass has so creatively turned into the decorative strips. I folded the paper in half (the long way) and arranged them so that the owl paper was in the middle - sort as a focal point. I attatched the stickers and the decorative strips as tabs on the pages. I cut mats with the remaining cardstock. To finish it off with ribbon looped through the middle and tied into a bow. I'm sure there's a ton more you can do to it so if you've got a great idea, post it in the comments section!

With this project I used the "journaling cards" & "strip tease" from Cosmo Cricket's Fleurist collection. I cut the journaling cards which make perfect 4x6" pages. I arranged the cards together and stapled them at one end. I used folded one of the strips and glued it on the bound end. I cut other part of the strip and used them as tabs for the pages, again using staples. I used Distress Ink on all the edges. Still, it was missing something so I grabbed a pack of the rub-ons and added them as accents on all the pages. Better, but still needed something. So I lightly spritzed with Glimmer Mist Sandy Beach and it really started to pop. Still I think I'll add some burgundy ribbon when I find something.

So, in honor of this creative break and the start of our scraptacular summer, I'll give you a punch for any quantity of Sassafrass Lass or Fleuriste that you purchase between today and Friday, June 6th!