Happy Halloween

It's been a while since I last posted.  Sorry about that.  Barry & I just got back from a European vacation.  We went to Barcelona, Spain for a couple of days, spent a week in Mykonos, Greece with Cocoa Daisy for their scrapbooking event, and then took a 12 day Mediterranean cruise.  It was fabulous and I'll post some photos later.

Now that we are home, Halloween is fast approaching.  I haven't had a chance to put up any decorations yet, but I'll have to get busy soon or we'll have some disappointed trick-or-treators this year.  We had our first Halloween in this house last year and everyone (well almost everyone) loved our decorations.  One little guy got as far as the sidewalk leading to our door and then took off running back to his parents on the sidewalk.  I felt so bad that I followed him out and made sure he got extra candy.

Amy & I will be teaching a Halloween mini album class at The Scrapbook Garden in Huntington Beach, CA next Saturday - October 23rd from 10AM - 1PM.  The cost is $35 and as all our mini album kits, it is packed full.  You will have lots of product left over to make cards or use for any scrapbook pages.  The retail value of the kit is well over $40.

Notice the little quilled flowers peeking out on the above page?  We'll be making those in class.   And as is usual with our kits, all the paper is pre-cut and organized in the order you will be using it.  So come and join us (or call and order a kit from the store) and make your album.  (If you aren't local to the area, I'll update this blog after the class and let you know if there are any remaining kits.  Then if you want to order one, you can order from our online store.)  That way all you have to do is drop in your photos and journaling after the big night.  And you can be sure we'll have some "frightful" treats to keep your sugar level up while creating.  Hope to see you there.

In addition to your regular Scrapbooking tool kit, please be sure to bring the following supplies with you to class:

Glossy Accents
Scissors
Trimmer
Journaling Pen
Tape Runner
Wet Adhesive (Glue)
Crop a Dile or hole punch
Photo mats (cut from white copy paper) in the following quantity and sizes:
     3x3 - 5
     4x4 - 3
     3x5 - 3
     4 1/2 x 4 1/2 - 1



Away We Go

Amy & I will be teaching our next class at The Scrapbook Garden on August 28th from 10 AM - 1 PM.  (You can use the link on the right to get the phone number and call and reserve your spot in class.)

Away We Go by Amy Sotolongo and Sally Basiliere

$35.10 plus $2.90 sales tax equalling $38

ONLY SIXTEEN KITS ARE AVAILABLE

(Retail value of this kit is over $36.00)

Come join us for a lovely scrapbooking class titled "Away We Go". It's a travel album just waiting for all our travel photos from this summer or before. It is also great if you have a trip in the works as you can take it along with you and journal right in the book! You will build the backbone of your book in class and then take it home and add all your photos and memorabilia! This kit is packed full of wonderful product including the entire Teresa Collins Travel line, bling, American Crafts Thickers, die cut borders and more! With over 30 physical pages and 60+ layouts on those pages you will have plenty of room to house all of your treasured vacation photos. As always yummy treats, laughs and fun will be provided. Come spend the morning with us!

I'll post more teaser photos next week.

Wedding Album / Rolled flowers tutorial

We've loaded the wedding album to our store site (http://www.dareyousayit.com/).  There are only 2 remaining so if you want one, please don't delay in ordering it.

Someone that bought the kit only (didn't attend our class) asked how to make the flowers on the front of the album.  It's the same rolled flower that you've see elsewhere.  (I would give credit to the first place I saw these done, but I can't remember where that is since they are popping up everywhere.)  I told her that I would post a tutorial here.  Please bear with me as this is the first time I've posted anything like this.  If you have any suggestions / helpful advise, please leave me a comment.

1)  Pull out the paper for the flowers and the template. 

2)  Adhere the pattern to the paper with temporary adhesive.

2)  Using scissors (I used 2 decorative and 1 regular pair), cut around the spiral following the lines.  Be sure to leave some of the center portion uncut.

3)  Remove the pattern and start rolling the flower.  I start rolling and then place the paper between my index finger and thumb and turn to roll.

4)  Once you have it all rolled, your will release it to let it "bloom".  This is scary to some people, but trust me it will be fine.

5)  Next place a generous dollap of glue on the part of the flower that you did not cut.  Push the flower onto that glue and hold for a few moments to make sure it adheres.

6)  Allow the flower to dry.  (I usually wait at least 30 minutes to make sure the glue set.)  Spritz the top of your flower with just water - just enough to make it damp and pliable.  Then gently begin folding down the edges of the flower.

7)  Now you have a beautiful flower.  I then spritzed mine with Maya Road Mist - Iridescent Pearl - to give it a little shimmer.

Hope this helps.

Christmas In July

Can someone please tell me where the first half of this year went?  I'm totally going to get my Christmas cards started soon.  I will not be making them at the last minute like I did last year.  I'm sure the hotel where we spent the night on the way to my dad's house last year after Thanksgiving would have appreciated me getting them done earlier.  Staying up most of the night while Barry slept so he could finish driving to dad's the next day was not fun.  And the poor hotel cleaning staff the next day probably wondered what had happened in that room.  They may still be trying to get up all that glitter.

In the spirit of trying to get organized earlier for Christmas this year, I'll be discounting the 3 Christmas kits that we have on the website -  http://www.dareyousayit.com/shop/shop.htm - by $10 each.  (There are limited quantities.)  This way, you can get your album done early so all you have to do over the holidays is drop in your photos and journal.  Or you can get it all ready and give as a gift to someone for them to enter their Christmas memories.  Don't forget if you're local to the Long Beach, CA area to email me at info@dareyousayit.com versus placing your order online in order to save your shipping costs.  Then we can arrange a time and place to meet.

Christmas Advent Box - $25 (Retail value of products - over $34)

Chrismas Countdown Album - $25 (Retail value of products over $40)

Merry '09 (you can put '10) - $33 (Retail value of products over $50)

Ready for CHA and all the new products?

Amy & I have been working like crazy trying to plan our next kits so we can start ordering new products from CHA.  What are you favorite finds? 

As always we love Maya Road.  If you haven't been watching their blog, you should check it out - http://mayaroad.typepad.com/mayaroad/.  Their products are reasonably priced and I love their mists.  If you haven't tried them, you should.  They provide good coverage, spray really nicely and will last a while.  And their designers are amazing.

Studio Calico was one of our favorite booths last year.  The people in their booth were so nice and we loved their products.  What we've seen on their previews this year, they are not going to disappoint us this year - http://studiocalico.blogspot.com/.  We'll definitely be ordering from them.

Anyone that knows us, knows that we love all of Teresa Collins' products.  I've already placed our order for her Celebrate, Giving Thanks, and Noel lines.  You can view her peaks on her blog, if you haven't already been looking - http://teresacollins.typepad.com/teresa_collins/.  Her stamp maker looks really interesting as well.

Those are just a couple of the lines we've seen so far that are our "must haves".  I'll keep you posted as we go along.  Let us know what you really want to see.

Wedding Class

We had a great time today teaching the Wedding album class.  There was even a visitor from Brazil taking the class.  We have a few extra kits if anyone wants to purchase one.  The cost is $40 plus tax.  If you are local to the Long Beach, CA area, I can meet you somewhere to save you shipping.  As always our kits are pre-cut and in order so you can easily put it together.  There are printed photos, along with a CD containing the photos (so you can view larger if necessary) and written instructions.  I have not placed the kits on our storefront yet, but if you are interested, simply email us at info@dareyousayit.com.

Here's the front cover of the wedding album that I did.  I sprayed my die-cut with Maya Road mist to match my niece's colors in her wedding.

Hope you had a great day!  Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Wedding Album Class

Long time no post.  Sorry about that.  Things have been a little hectic around here. 

If you're not doing anything tomorrow and want to create a wedding album, Amy & I will be teaching at The Scrapbook Garden in Huntington Beach from 2PM - 5PM tomorrow (Saturday, July17th).  The class is $40 and there are still a few available seats.  You will customize the die cuts that we included with Maya Road Mist in the class.