Katie the Scrapbook Lady

a brief guide to the fun!

 

Ok, if you haven’t noticed by now that today is {inter}National Scrapbook Day, then I haven’t been doing a very good job around here! Seriously though, I think you know by now that this is a very scrapbook-y kind of day. I’ve also mentioned a few times that I’m going to be spending time with my family today while my youngest brother gets married. Woohoo! So, I’m just going to leave you with a brief little guide to making the most of this fun holiday.

 

• Watch my free video about using digital papers and download the free 24 paper gift pack
• Watch my free video about using single & double page templates and download a free pack of 2 layered templates
• Watch my free video on multi-layered digital scrapbooking and join in the fun at The Daily Digi’s top secret event
• Take advantage of the storewide 30% off sale in my scrap shop through the end of Monday, May 6th. Use code 55631R55 at checkout..
• Read the Funtastic Friday post at The Daily Digi to get the info on all the other sales and events in digiland!
• Have fun!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I’ll be back to my regular blogging on Tuesday.

 

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Mark your calendars for my NSD celebration!

 

I’ve been working on some new products over the past few weeks, but I’ve decided to hold off on releasing them until May 1st. I have some fun stuff in mind to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day on May 4th, but I’m going to start my party early since my brother had the audacity to schedule his wedding on my favorite holiday. lol! Ok, I can skip NSD for my brother, but it doesn’t mean I’m not going to celebrate all things scrapbook-ey!

So I’m just giving you a little heads up on the news. There will be lots of new goodies, a storewide sale, some great inspiration, and a few other fun surprises. Mark your calendars because the fun starts on May 1st!

 

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What I’ve been reading and my reading list

 

I just finished reading The President’s Club and I really enjoyed it. I’m fascinated by any history related to the Oval Office and this was a fun book to read. It was so interesting to find out which presidents worked well together and which ones despised each other. I ended up with some new perspectives and found a greater respect for some of the men, but also lost a little for some others. I read it on my iPad using the kindle app, but I’m going to order a physical copy to keep. When I really like a book, I want to have it on my shelf – and I think my son will really like reading it. There are a few really big swear words in the book (most came from Richard Nixon who is kind of notorious for that type of language) but other than that, I think it’s something that would be appropriate for older teens (maybe around 16 and up?) and adults.

 

I have a few other books on my “to read” list:

• Pride and Prejudice – my daughter is reading this for school and I want to refresh my memory of this book. I did a semester study on Jane Austen in college and enjoyed her writing quite a bit. I thought it was super cool that my mom recently read this book so she could talk to Riley about it. Extra Grandma bonus points for her!
• Healthy at 100 – another book that my daughter is reading as part of her nutrition class at school. It sounds really interesting. She said “we shouldn’t let Dad read it because we will never be able to eat again” – lol! She’s sort of right since my hubby is passionate about eating right, but he’s such a good example about taking nutrition seriously that I really admire his dedication.
• The Racketeer by John Grisham – My mom is reading this right now and said it’s actually good. I was so excited to hear this since his last few books have been disappointing. She said I can borrow it when she is done.

 

What’s on your reading list? Any good recommendations for me? Have you read any of the books that are on my list?

 

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Random Product Love

When I discover a new product I love, I often think to myself “I really should blog about this” – but they are often just little tidbits that wouldn’t really make up an entire post. So I decided to do another"random product love” roundup and tell you all about the things I’m really enjoying right now.

Even though I’m very digital in most of my record keeping and paper work, I still love to have a nice little notebook/planner to keep in the drawer by the phone. I fill it with business cards for companies related to our home (carpet cleaner, doctors, etc.). I also keep a hard copy of our most used phone numbers. It’s hard for me to think of not keeping a physical phone directory because I always think to myself “what if the power went out?” I guess it’s the one old-school thing I’m holding onto. I also love to have blank paper in case I need to jot anything down. Being the OCD princess that I am, it is important to me that this notebook is beautiful as well as functional. My old daytimer binder was getting a little thrashed so I was thrilled to find this new system from Martha Stewart. I think I’ve already established that I’m a bit of a Martha fan! I also really like Avery products so this was an instant win for me!

It’s like a planning notebook for creative people. I love that you can customize it any way you want!

 

The notebooks and inserts are available exclusively at Staples. I have a plain black one and it looks really neat with the beautiful blue pages and colorful inserts. I also think the blue one is really pretty!

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I’ve blogged about Photojojo and all of their cool stuff many times here before, but I’m going to say it again… they rock! I can always find something fun in their store and I just signed up for their first ever Phoneography - Photojojo University class. I’m so excited because I find a lot of my favorite phone photography apps via Photojojo already. I know they will have good things to share and it’s only $5 right now! I’m not sure if the coupon below will be able to apply to the class or just to physical products, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

Here’s a great little coupon that I can share with all of you! Just use this link http://photojojo.com/r/6h6 and you should get $5 off your first order.

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Do you ever just buy stuff because it’s so stinkin cute that you have to have it? I’m guilty! When I get my Lettering Delight newsletters, I always look for their newest graphic sets and I was thrilled with this Dream Come True bundle. Oh the cuteness!!!

You can find some of my other Lettering Delights favorites in this post from last year’s summer tour.

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It’s not everyday that I get excited about a stapler. In fact, I can’t remember ever feeling any sort of stapler-related joy before. lol! I have minor arthritis in my hands so I need a stapler that doesn't require a lot of pressure from me to work. This PaperPro model is so easy to use. It just takes a small amount of effort from me and the staple is quick and powerful - it can easily handle multiple pages at a time. I like that it stands upright so it takes up less space (smaller footprint) and the color is fun and cheerful. Who needs boring office supplies?

 

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How’s that for random? Just some fun stuff that has made me happy lately.

 

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A great resource for storytelling + a coupon + a giveaway!

When we recorded episode 72 of The Digi Show a few weeks ago, the topic was about telling our stories and all the different ways there are to do that now. I was looking for a “pick of the week” to share at the end of the show and I immediately thought about this new ebook from Stacy Julian. Our guest Renne Looney also had the same idea, but she had another spare pick in her virtual back pocket so she let me use this one. I bought the book from Big Picture Classes and downloaded it as we started the show. I don’t like to pick something unless I’ve actually tried it. Well, I knew at first glance that this was a great resource and I wholeheartedly recommended it to The Digi Show audience. Since that time, I’ve had even more of a chance to read through the material and I’m excited to recommend it to all my readers here as well.

 

Storytelling Strategies

How to scrapbook your life instead of your pictures authored by Stacy Julian

 

This is a 54 page fully illustrated ebook about how to really tell the stories of your life through scrapbooking.

 

Stacy started her journey by choosing 12 key storytelling topics. Then she set an intention (and set up a process!) to make storytelling a part of her daily life. In the end, she completed 144 story-rich layouts in just 12 months—one layout for each of her 12 storytelling categories every single month. Those categories are:

You, Holidays, Places, Everyday Life, Rituals, People, Personality, Things, Family Stories, Seasons, Fun, Inspiration

 

 

You can buy the ebook today and start using it immediately for inspiration (I love downloadable content!) It’s only $12.99 which is a great price for a resource packed with all the ideas included.

 

Special Offer for my readers

I’m so happy that my friends at Big Picture Classes have a coupon code for me to share with my blog readers! You can save 25% on one or all three of Stacy Julian’s other eBooks at Big Picture Classes with promo code below

scrapwithstacy (code expires 4/30/13)

Photo Freedom132 pages for $15.99

UR2 Cre8ive 68 playful ways to unleash your creativity 24 pages for $5.99

20 Simple Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers 26 pages for $5.99

See the complete eBook cataloghere

 

And just to make it all a little more fun, how about I give away a copy of the Storytelling Strategies ebook to one of my readers? All you need to do is leave a comment here on this post. I’d love to hear about a story you want to tell in your own scrapbooking. Or you can just say “hi”. Leave the comment before 10 p.m. EST on Sunday February 17th. I’ll announce the winner here on Tuesday February 19th.

 

Pretty cool, right? I can’t wait to read your comments! Thanks to Big Picture Classes for bringing so much fun to the world of scrapbooking!

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