'Treat yourself to an event unlike any other...

Have you been to a Club Scrap Retreat yet? There are an infinite number of reasons to join us in August or October this year, but I hope you'll indulge me as I list just a few...

This will be your 2013 "home away from home"...the Hilton Garden Inn, Kimberly, WI

A Club Scrap Retreat is unique. It really is a singular experience...just ask anyone who's been to one. It's nothing like the "cattle call"-style events put on by the "big guys". While you're with us, you'll be surrounded by the warmth, hospitality, and passion of people who truly love the craft and who genuinely care about you, your comfort and your satisfaction.

Our workshops. They are the best...they really are. Just when you think we can't top a previous project, our talented designers come up with something new, unique and amazing to share. You'll be guided through complicated-looking projects and techniques so effortlessly, that you'll go from, "I could never do that" to "I did it!!!" in no time at all.

2012 Retreat Project

2012 Retreat Project

 Our instructors. While we may not have world-famous "household name" instructors (although we've hosted the likes of Michael Strong and Tim Holtz in the past), we DO  have our very own Tricia Morris and the rest of our amazing, gifted and incredibly generous instructors. And let me tell you, there's a lot to be said for not only learning from your instructors, but getting to hang out with them and really get to know them...all weekend!

Friendships. Because there aren't 500+ attendees, you'll have the opportunity to meet everyone at Retreat. Our smaller attendance fosters a cozy, family-like atmosphere. Whether you come on your own or bring a buddy (or buddies), you'll leave with fond memories and awesome new friendships that will last a lifetime. That's how we roll!

Cheers!

The personal touch. You'll feel that personal touch in every aspect of your time with us. Everything is chosen with you in mind: the inspiring and challenging workshops, meals, hotel, gifts and goodies...everything is hand-selected to make you feel spoiled, pampered, and darned-near like a member of the family.

Value. A Club Scrap Retreat offers great value for your money, that's why it includes eight amazing workshops, with all of your workshop kits and shared supplies included, meals and beverages, as well as an awesome selection of gifts and goodies.

So what are you waiting for? Registration for the 2013 Club Scrap Retreat is now open! Go to http://www.clubscrapcommunity.com/news/retreat-info for more information and to register. Won't you join us?

Creatively yours,
Karen

Sneaky Peeky!

Creative Friday Greetings!

Are you up for a little sneaky peeky of what's in store for January?

I'm really excited about the Random Doorways kit that will be upon us all very soon. I've gotten to play around with a couple pieces from the upcoming collection before it ships, and also, to take photos of the Random Doorways creations Tricia has done already. So here are nine sneak peeks all at one glance.

The stamp images & papers are so fun. I love the Font UM, the project, the cutaparts in the Embellishment Pack (I could go on and on) - we are having so much fun with it all, already!

So here's to hoping you enjoy it as much as I do!

Thanks for looking & enjoy your day!

Wishing you a very happy 2013!!!

Kay (here at Club Scrap)

January is Coming!

The new year will be here before 'ya know it. Are you ready? I am! I'm so excited to see what 2013 will bring!

And on my desk, I'm so happy to have this darling little calendar. The thing just makes me smile. It's the December Bright Lights, Big City Stamper's Project. Here's our project in the making . . .

Sand the wood blocks.

Paint. (We did one in black, and one in white.)

Prepare all of the matted panels and the envelope binding strip.

Glue the envies together.

Cool. Envelope fan.

Wrap the envies in the binding strip.

Decorate the blocks however you like.

Attach the envelopes.

Attach the binder clip with a magnet.

Prep the calendar tags. 

Slide the calendar tags into the envies.

Interchange the front tag every month. The magnetic clip makes it easy!

Side view. Cute, eh? I've got some more tag decorating to do . . .

Of course the project comes with enough supplies to make two complete desktop calendars and complete step by step instructions. Can't wait to see your version(s)!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tricia

Gifts for the In-laws Who Have Everything

I am so blessed to have 2 of the best in-laws a girl could ask for. However, when it comes to gift giving, it is always a head-scratcher. They have everything and don't really need, or ask for, anything for Christmas. They do love my homemade gifts, though, and tell me they can never have enough of them. Hearing that makes me feel so good inside. Well, this year was no exception. My hubby said,  "Jule, they would love some of your handmade cards!" Of course, me being me, I couldn't give them just cards, I had to take it a step further!

 

So I went online and found a favorite stationery set tutorial from Split Coast Stampers and used papers from some of my favorite Club Scrap kits, Rhapsody and Surf's Up, to create them. Each gift included postage stamps, pre-printed mailing labels, and coordinating gift tags, along with 8 cards and envelopes.

They enjoy hand-writing and mailing cards with fun little notes all year long, so I know they are just going to love these practical and handmade gifts!

Stamps used:
"hi"--Club Scrap Collections Font UM
"hello hello"--Club Scrap Body & Soul UM
Hibiscus flower--Club Scrap Surf's Up WM

Special thanks to Club Scrap for asking me to be their guest blogger today!

BIG HOLIDAY HUGS,

Julie Heyer

**just an update,  heard from my in laws and they LOVED the boxes!   My mother in law even asked me to make 2 more for her to give to friends as gifts.

Merry Christmas, Bloggers!

Most of you are probably all snuggled in for the day with your families, but eventually you might hop online and check in with the outside world. Just in case, we wanted to have something here for 'ya!

First of all, Merry Christmas!

In case you're new around here, CS® creates formulas that help make efficient use of your time and supplies. In addition to the Assembly Line Scrapbooking instructions made specifically for each collection, your membership also includes a monthly layout card.

(When your kit ships on the 1st, 15th or 20th of the month, members receive an email containing a link so that you can view/print the instructions.)

The fun part is that you can use any formula with any set of papers, embellishments, stamps, etc. These little instructions are a great resource for when you're experiencing a creative drought. Gather up the papers listed for making the layout, trim according to the instructions, and assemble. By then, your inspiration is sure to kick in, and you'll be able to add photos, journaling, a title and a few embellishments.

So, here's how it went for me today. I'll note the time stamp on the photographs I took during the process so you can see how quickly it works!

11:30am Select photos from the stash and confirm that they'll fit will onto the layout plan.

11:33am Select the paper collection to match well with the photos. I chose to go with the Serenity kit and picked out the four sheets required for the layout.

11:35am Next, trim the papers according to the instructions/diagrams.

11:37am Arrange the trimmed elements onto the page while consulting the diagram.

11:40am Trim the photos to fit onto the mattes. (Subtract 1/4" from the length and width of the matte.)

11:44am Adhere everything to the page.

11:49am Creativity is kicking in . . . look at how those circular Dazzle stickers from Aurora Borealis fit onto the 12x12 White Print from Serenity!

11:50am Add the sweet "serenity" ribbon from the JR collection beneath the featured photo.

11:54am Add a few captions to the photos and stamp a UM Serenity image above the border strip on the left side. And . . . done!

Tah-dah! Two pages completed in less than 30 minutes. Time for lunch!

With the Pro-Scrapbookers League (PSL) coming up, think about pre-making several batches of layouts inspired by the instructions you already have on hand.

Best wishes for a creative holiday and a happy new year!
Tricia

Santa comes tonight!

Merry Christmas blog readers! Are you excited?

I'm not sure how your holiday celebrations unfold, but Mike and I have been lucky enough to establish and maintain the same tradition for Christmas since before we were married. Christmas Eve is spent with my parents and sister; we first enjoy a dinner "buffet" of fun appetizers (including my mom's AMAZING cheese fondue) and then exchange gifts afterwards. Christmas morning is just the five of us (Mike, the kids and me), opening gifts first, followed by a big breakfast. Later in the afternoon, we go over to the in-laws' place, where we continue the festivities with his parents, and his FIVE brothers and their wives and children (it's a big group!)

So on this Christmas Eve, I wanted to take a moment to wish you all many blessings as you celebrate your holidays. May you find yourself in good health, gathered with those you love, and surrounded by fun and laughter.

Warm regards,

Karen

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Santa is coming early for one of our lucky blog readers...today is the final drawing for our "12 Days of Giveaways". We've had so much fun, we might just have to do something like this again!

Our final prize winner is Lynn Goodrow. Congratulations, Lynn! I'll be sending you a Tilescapes Club Stamp kit with Project.

Thanks to everyone who played along!

Day 11 Giveaway Prize Winner!

Happy Sunday, everyone! I can't believe it's the "eve" of Christmas Eve already.

It's my pleasure to announce our Day 11 prize giveaway winner from yesterday's post: Nancy Keller!

Bold Blooms Papers

Bold Blooms CST Unmounted

Nancy will receive the Bold Blooms Club Stamp kit for free...congratulations, Nancy! (I'll get that shipped out to you once I receive your contact information--just send it to karen@clubscrap.com...thanks!)

There's just one more day left! Leave a comment on today's post by midnight tonight (Club Scrap/Central time) to qualify.

Have a great Sunday...Go, Pack, Go!

Creatively yours,

Karen

Christmas Gift Spoiler

***Mom...if you're reading this before December 25...STOP! 

It will spoil the surprise of one of your Christmas presents.***

Okay, now that I have that out of the way, I fessed up earlier this week that I'm a procrastinator. One of the hazards of working with such talented and creative people is that I always have a million ideas floating around in my head of stuff I wanna do. This is especially true when it comes to creating handmade/handcrafted Christmas gifts for the ones I love. *Sigh* It seems, however, time always gets away from me.

So what gift is economical in both time and money, but is still thoughtful and personal? Enter Club Scrap's 2013 Printable Digital Calendar! For under 9 bucks, you can create one, or two, or a dozen or more photo calendars for relatives and friends.

As you can see from the photo above, the download comes with all 12 months pre-designed for you...just add photos. They are set up much like our digital QDDL (quick-drop digital layouts). You literally drag and drop in a favorite photo for each month. Easy peasy! Perfect for a procrastinator like me.

Adding photos to all 12 months took me about an hour and a half (choosing which photos to use took longer than anything!) Since the pages are already sized for 8.5x11 printing, all I gotta do is print 'em out and bind the pages. Now I have the perfect useful and personalized gift for my parents and my sister. Woot!

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And now for the sad news...today is the last day of our "12 Days of Giveaways". We had a blast giving away some of our "extinct" kits from the past few years, and the feedback has been amazing...there are some very happy prize winners out there! So for our final kit giveaway, simply leave a comment below before midnight (CS/Central time) tonight for your chance to win a Tilescapes Club Stamp kit with Project. Best of luck to you!

Creatively yours,
Karen

Another Giveaway Winner!

How's everyone's holiday planning coming? Are you ready for Christmas? I'm ALMOST there, lol.

A great, big "thank you" to all who've been following along with our "12 Days of Giveaways"...we've been having so much fun! We had a total of 44 qualifying comments on Kay's awesome post yesterday. From those 44 comments, comment #29 was chosen at random, so Holly Koster is our winner!

Congratulations, Holly! I'll be sending you the Just Dandy JR kit...I'll email you directly so you'll know when to expect it.


Two more kits, two more days of giveaways. Don't forget to comment on today's and tomorrow's posts for your chance to win!
Creatively yours,
Karen
Creatively yours,
Karen

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Well...CS offices are back in business today, and our elves are busy shipping Club Stamp member kits as I write this!

A great, big "thank you" to all who've been following along with our "12 Days of Giveaways"...we've been having so much fun! We had a total of 46 qualifying comments on Ron's post yesterday...wasn't that gift tag and wrapping idea clever? 

So, you ready to know who yesterday's giveaway winner is? Our random drawing winner is (post #36) "marsha"!

Club Stamp Project cover.

Club Stamp project interior.

Congratulations "marsha"...your prize is an Bon Appetit Club Stamp Kit with Project! Please email me directly (karen@clubscrap.com) with your full name and contact information so I can arrange to get your prize to you.

Have a great Friday, everyone!

Creatively yours,
Karen