Simple Scrapbooks magazine

Sep/Oct Behind the Scenes

As I sit down to write this, I'm watching Olympic Group Rhythmic Gymnastics. Wow. I can't even hula hoop...these chicks are incredible. I'm pulling for Italy to win. Okay, ready to explore the Sep/Oct issue? Let's go.

cover photo and layout by the talented Tina Cockburn ("CO-burn")
p.6 Yes, that's Lain holding a real, actual Oscar. And I think I may have taken this picture. We were in Hollywood right before the CHA tradeshow last January, and there was an Academy Awards display outside the Kodak theatre. The statues really are heavier than you expect! (p.s. did you know we're publishing a book of hilarious essays written by the lovely and talented Lain? Watch for it in November!)
p.11 Did you find the fake ad? How long did it take you? This is the third year we've run this contest. This year's ad is my favorite so far. Wendy came up with the concept for the fake company, I wrote the ad, and Cathy designed it.
p.15 Stacy is so inspiring! But don't worry, you'll still see her in the magazine. She's not disappearing entirely. In fact, she's working on a really cool feature as we speak that will be in the January/February issue.
p.30 Cool idea, huh? We saw this idea in the 3L booth at a past tradeshow, so we assigned Lisa to give it a try. I love Lisa's approach to this layout...I may have to scraplift this idea.
p.32 These glitter fibers are SO cool! It's not as fine as regular glitter, and it's easier to clean up. You can get the look of glitter on a layout without having to WEAR it all day.
p.35 The cute lips stamp is by Inkadinkadoo, but the actual lip impression? Those are Cathy Zielske's lips. She's got great smackers, doesn't she?
p.41 So, you think you can stamp, huh? Then join our group to see if you can be crowned Stamp Champ 2008!
p.43 Those little blurbs that describe each of the columns? I write those. And it takes longer than you might think.
p.44 That flower girl cracks me up. And how beautiful is little miss pirate on the opposite page? Seriously.
p.52 Read this story...pretty funny.
p.56 17 photos on one spread!
p.58 Since reading Rachel's intro, I've been paying close attention to the opening credits of movies. This weekend I watched a super creepy movie, The Devil's Backbone, that had the coolest font on the opening! After reading this feature, you won't be able to help noticing movie fonts either.
p.60 There used to be a light switch on the wall behind the bee lady's antennae, but Cathy cloned it out in Photoshop. It's like magic.
p.61 Elisha's layout is one of my favorites in this issue. LOVE the font work!
p.73 Mi'Chelle's baby arrived on 08/08/08! His name is Isaac James, and he was 7 lbs. 9 oz.
p.82-84 Wendy's and Cheryl's projects are both SO cool. If you try either of them yourself, make sure to post your results in our Simple Scrapbooks Group!
p. 95 Leigh's layout is one of my favorites in this issue too! I love how she included memorabilia...what a sweet boy she has.
p. 96 Okay, it's way too hard to pick a favorite! But Michelle St. Clair's is also amazing!
p. 106 Don't forget to play our Greeting Card Guessing Game. Click here to start matching. You could win a really cool stamp set from Stampin' Up!

And now for this issue's contest. Find for me the following three things. The first person to comment with all the correct page numbers will win an adorable paper line from SEI. Then I'll pick two more random winners to receive random prize packages from the office. See if you can find:
measuring spoons
a girl who plays the tin whistle
an owl in a pirate costume

Comments (14)

My FAVORITE Idea from CHA!

Check this out. See this cookie jar? You can etch glass YOURSELF with help from your QuicKutz die-cutting machine (Squeeze, Revolution, Silhouette) and their adhesive vinyl. You just die cut your shapes in the vinyl, punch out the positive shapes, and adhere the NEGATIVE shape to your glass item.

Then, you apply your favorite etching cream (Andrea at QuicKutz prefers B&B Etchall since it's reusable). That's it! Andrea's going to personalize casserole dishes for her neighbor gift for Christmas this year. I just might have to copy that idea. Thank goodness none of my neighbors reads this blog!

There, now can you see it??? :-)

Comments (7)

I LOVE THIS!!!

This layout is in the new Simple Scrapbooks Group on our new website (still in beta). It's one of my very favorites, so I had to share it with you! Click here to see it up close and tell mlepitts how much you love it! And if you haven't joined us in our group on the new site, you simply must. We got 50 new members just this week! But I think we can do better. I just posted this week's poll question here, so come on over and let me know what you think! Sorry for all the exclamation points!!!

Comments (8)

It's What's On the Inside That Counts

Look what arrived in the mail today? Inside this squished up box was a beautiful Pioneer photo album (also squished), that I was expecting for an album I'm putting together for our upcoming special issue tentatively titled "Quick Creative Photo Albums"... but can you believe the beating it took in the mail? Seriously, how does something like THAT happen? Do they play hockey with the boxes at the UPS warehouse? I mean, this is a heavy duty album. But the nice folks at Pioneer are sending me a replacement for the issue.

Maybe I could use this damaged one to house an exciting new idea for a theme album. I'll call it "Damaged Goods," and it will be all about injuries, mishaps, things I've broken, and things that have gone wrong in my life. Prime example: I have ripped THREE side mirrors off of THREE different cars I was driving: backing into a pole, hitting a huge construction barrel on the freeway, and even rolling one car over completely upside down and landing right-side-up. That's right, steer clear when I'm behind the wheel!

Hmmm...

Comments (12)

So, You Think You Can Stamp?

We're on the hunt for fresh stamping talent, and you could be crowned our Stamp Champ 2008! All you have to do is join the So You Think You Can Stamp group on our new website and start posting your stamp-a-licious layouts. Click here to join!

Here's the contest in a nutshell: Post as many layouts as you can (featuring stamps of course) to the group between now and the end of August, and we'll narrow the entries down to 16 finalists. Then these 16 finalists will face off against each other in four elimination rounds (two-step stamping, stamping on transparencies, stamping on ribbon, and stamp kissing), and we'll end up with ONE talented winner. The prizes are awesome, the competition will be friendly, and you do not need to be a pro stamper to enter. All stamping ability levels are welcome. So come on, let's stamp!!!

Read full contest rules here.

Comments (2)

Vital Information About the Old vs. New Websites. Please Read Even Though It's Very Long.

So, I should clarify about this whole new website/old website thing. I thought everything was shifting to the new site a month ago, but I was wrong, and I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong. (p.s. how did THAT phrase ever become common? How many men do you know that admit when they're wrong? I know two.) Anyway, we're maintaining BOTH sites until we're through our "public beta" phase, which will go on through the end of September.

This means that we're still fixing bugs and functionality until that point AND it means that this blog will be right here until the end of public beta. So stick around! I'll give you ample notice before I really truly move the blog.

And I know lots of you miss the Simple Gallery. I do too! But we're still going to have our own gallery, you just have to join the Simple Scrapbooks group on our new website, to post to it! Here is a layout from one of the existing 94 members of the group, Mrs. T:

Here are five simple steps to joining our awesome group (come on, let's make it the biggest and best group on the site!):
1. If you don't have a profile yet, set one up by clicking here. Have fun adding your avatar, uploading layouts, all that fun stuff.
2. Now click on the "groups" tab.
3. Search for "Simple Scrapbooks" in the search field.
4. When you see the group with a picture of Wendy & I on it, click on "join group" (anyone can join!)
5. Click "post project to group", and then you can add any of the layouts from your profile to the group!

THIS, my friends, will be our new gallery. And we editors will take turns "hosting" the group for the next couple of months. We'll be uploading projects, writing posts, looking at the stuff you submit, commenting, awarding prizes, posting polls, the works! I'm your first host, so come join me in the group next week, from August 11 through the 15!

While the web team works out the kinks, we Simple fans will still have a place to gather, and share, and set ourselves apart from rest of the enormous (but cool!) website. Go Simple!

* Also, as you're uploading layouts to your profile, make sure you type "simple" in the tag field, so we can search and find you from the main gallery.

Comments (14)

Yeehaw!

it's here, and it's fantastic!

p.s. check out my freaky short pinky! they're both like that, but they usually don't look quite so claw-like.

Comments (1)

How About a Funny Story?

To make up for weeks of minimal, mostly contest-related posts that have, frankly, gotten disappointing numbers of comments (I blame myself...), I shall now share one of the more embarrassing stories of my Simple Scrapbooks editing career.

First off, raise your hand if you know about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. (Keep your hands up until I'm done counting!) It's an extremely insightful personality test, and we've had some training sessions on it at work.

Well, I happen to be an E-N-F-J, which will mean little to you unless you've taken the test yourself. But each of those little letters has an opposite (the opposite of "E" is "I" and the opposite of "J" is "P"). Well, when I took the test, I was borderline "J" and "P"...kinda right in the middle. This means that I while I value some structure and order (J), I also enjoy flexibility and doing things at the last minute (P).

So, in a meeting with the rest of my team, I was talking to Megan (a "P") about Rachel (a "J"), and here is what I said:
"Oh, don't worry Megan, Rachel handles my P-ness just fine."

(You may have to read that line out loud to get the full effect, but make sure you're alone.)

Embarrassed laughter ensued, and Jennafer said: "You know, any other verb besides 'handles' would have been so much better...like 'deals with' for example."

True story. You can't make up stuff like that.

Comments (14)

Incentivizing You to Sign Up for Sweetwater

I actually hate the word "incentivize"...it's corporate speak at its worst. It's right up there with "win-win," "facilitate," and "monetize." But I digress.

Tina Cockburn (pronounced CO-burn) and Margaret Scarbrough just returned from a fabulous weekend at the Sweetwater House. Check out Tina's amazing photos here. Seriously, you must click here now. Wouldn't you love a one-on-one (well, ten-on-one) session with that amazing photographer? (A woman traveled all the way from GERMANY to join these ladies at last month's retreat!)

Well, not to fear, you have another chance. Elisha Snow, an incredible photographer herself, will be at the Sweetwater House with designer Cheryl Overton August 21-23. There's still room to go and learn a few photo secrets while also having plenty of time to make adorable mini-albums! Hurry, because the September 11-13 retreat is already sold out, and we're lucky to still have room in our August retreat.

To sweeten the deal (get it? "sweeten"? "sweet"water?), we're going to give away a FREE book: The Scrapbooker's Almanac by Elizabeth Dillow, to anyone who signs up for our August retreat by Sunday, August 10. And Sweetwater will also throw in a FREE "Love" pillow, guaranteed to fit in with any decor scheme. Talk about incentivizing.

p.s. Check out Sweetwater's etsy.com shop to see all other fun fabric creations they have available. These ladies are Creative (and Crafty!) with a capital "C."

Comments (2)

And the Winners Are...

the 47th comment, left by ABCrystal, who favors "eensy weensy"

the 15th comment, left by heatg05, who favors "wee little"

Wow, who knew there were so many synonyms for "small." Next time I'm stuck on a word choice, I'm just going to ask you guys! Much better than the old Thesaurus. :-)

special issues are on their way!

Comments (3)