Chattebox is back!

We have pretty much all the new Chattebox items in!(At least the ones they shipped to us!)
I have missed their papers--I love the way they really all coordinate with one another, it makes my life so much simpler.(If you don't remember that was my word for the year " Simplify"). Not only do they have beautiful papers but they have gorgeous embellishments as well. They are also debuting clear stamps and beautiful foil papers! You must come in and see them!

I thought I would show you a picture of it--come into the store though because the pictures do not do it justice.





I also thought I would share a picture of the Summer Ribbons by American Crafts! These cute little spools of ribbon are only $0.99! I feel like my $1 goes a long way with these spools. It matches so well with so much of the Creative Cafe line it is hard to believe it was not made for it!



Another new cute line to the store is the Noteworthy Collection from Making Memories. Here a few pictures of the Die Cut papers! Enjoy!


As I head to Indianapolis this weekend as my niece is graduating I ask all of you--what is a good gift to give for graduation? Do you do money? A gift card? Nothing? Something for their dorm room? A scrapbook for their high school memories(you knew I had to add this as this is a part of my nieces graduation present! :) LMK what you think is a good gift! Post it on the blog and I will pick a random winner next Thursday and they will win some blog candy! I mean all you have to do is comment and you could win a goodie bag!

Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you next week!
-Susan

Tuesday Tips –“Rub-Ons”

Hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day, what a beautiful day.

The last couple of weeks I have heard many people not happy with their Rub-on experience. I want to help you with your rub-on happiness and hope you love rub-ons as much as I do. So Tuesday Tip for today will be to apply your rub-ons with a regular ball point pen instead of the popsicle stick.

First, cut out the word, shape, letter or image of the rub-on that you want to use. Again, here I am using my favorite Tonic scissors. Make sure you are cutting out the rub-on sheet and the protective sheet behind the rub-on. This protects the rub-on from sticking.

Position your rub-on to your item and remove the protective sheet from the back.

Start transferring your rub-on by using your ball point pen. I use a regular pen pressure like I am writing a letter to a friend. I am not pushing hard on the rub-on. I like using the ball point pen because it allows me to see exactly where I have gone over the rub-on.

I still like to double check that the transfer of the rub-on was successful.

Woo hooo! Now we have a completed transfer of the rub-on to add to your project.

So I know we all have mishaps with our rub-ons. There are solutions to the stray rub-ons that get on our project. Some ways to fix this is the rub-on erasers made by EK success, regular tack tape on the unwanted rub on and peel off, or hid the mistake with an embellishment.

Hope this helps bring you back to rub-ons. I will say that not all rub-ons are created equally. There are some vendors that I will not use directly on my project. I will use them on an item then add to my project. Most of the others I will add directly to my layout.

Make sure you read the manufactures directions on how to apply their rub-on. Some suggest taking the protective sheet and rubbing again to insure contact to your project, others do not.

Continue to rub it the right way and start using those rub-ons again!

Until next time! Create and have fun.

Sesil

New LUXE just in...

If you are in love with Luxe Designs, wait until you see all of the new product that just came in
today! They have 5(yep that is right,5) new lines!

Capris
Cashmere Sweater II







Flip Flop

Sundress



Classic Black II
This is an add on to their original line of Classic Black and it is all wonderful! I mean you really can use this with so many different themes! This has to be my favorite at the moment(well, I really like Capris and Flip Flop as well!)

Each line has 8 papers and epoxies! And they also have new jotters! Really cute!

Come in and see which line you like for yourself! And the best part about this line is that we have it ALL!

Have a great week!

-Susan

Scrapping On Sundays

Hello everyone...



Hope you had a great weekend with family and friends...enjoyed the weather (at least what we had) and took lots of photos to preserve those memories.
Here is your SOS for this week...
Monday...is Windy City Scrapbooking T-shirt day...wear your t-shirt to the store and receive a special discount.
We have Creative Cafe Happy Hours set for this week...make sure you stop by and do a couple of them with us.
Classes this week...
I will be teaching a Basics class this week and Sesil will be teaching a Tools of the Trade class. Melissa brought back her Acrylic Stamp Challenge class this month and we are very excited about this class...if you wanted to learn about using acrylic stamps or wanted to find new ways to use the stamps you may already have...this is the perfect class for you.
Melissa also has a Father's Day Album class that she is teaching this week that makes a great gift for that father figure in your life or great to create and keep as a keepsake for yourself.
Grace is doing her card class this week too...she is really creative with her card making so make sure you try to come and take one of her classes.
Make sure you check out our website that list the classes along with dates and more specifics.



Okay...so speaking of classes...we are very proud to have a special class coming this July
Teresa Collins of Teresa Collins Designs will be here
July 16th, 2008 at 6:30pm

On her blog...

she posts about coming to Windy City Scrapbooking and our very own Sesil has been published on her blog with her one of her creations

Now we have limited seating for her class so if you are interested in signing up for her class you may come in and do it or give us a call and we can do it over the phone for you (773)935-0585 (Spaces are already filling up)

Make sure you check out the coupons that we have on our website...this month's coupons are all about albums so make a copy and come into the store and save.

Remember we do have new hours for the store and we will be closed next Monday for the holiday (Memorial Day)

Have a great week and hope to see you soon

TTFN

Alraynita

Family fun time...

Hello everyone!

Sorry I have not posted in awhile, but I have been busy with family activities. We had all of my husband's family in for the past week! We surprised my in-laws with all their kids and grandkids to come for a visit to celebrate their 70th and 75th birthdays, as well as their 40th Wedding Anniversary!!! It has been lots of fun to spend time with our nieces and nephews that we don't usually get to see! Why am I writing about this? Well we have made many memories over the week plus I don't know how many pictures I have even taken--to many to scrap!

But the best thing we did do was have a photographer come and take our family photo! She did an amazing job! It was so much fun and our family is thrilled with the results! I thought I would share some of the photos with you.

Just in case you were wondering who did such an amazing job--it was our very own Krista!

I have always loved all of her layouts because she is so talented but I think what I really love is her photos--they very much tell a story! So the next time you need a family photo check her out!

http://www.kristaaustinphotography.lifepics.com/

I will share some of the layouts I have already sketched out soon-kids really do say the darnest things!

Please watch our website for some exciting news on some people who are coming to Windy City Scrapbooking this summer!

--Susan

Tuesday Tip *Quick Fix- Brads*

This weeks tip is for those times when you are working on a project late at night and you can not get to the store. Here is a quick fix for that perfect color brad. I would not recommend this for all your brads, the color is just that, a quick fix.

Gather your supplies brads, sponge or makeup wedge and some paint.




First you will need to place your brads into your sponge or makeup wedge before you start painting. This will be your stand for the brads.

The next step is to paint your brad. I love using the Dabbers from Ranger, no need to get out a brush, just paint and go.


Let your brads dry and you will be able to use them on your project. Hope you enjoyed this quick tip.

Until next time. Create and have fun!
:)Sesil

Scrapping On Sundays...

Hope that everyone had a Happy Mother's Day...despite the weather, I hope that there was warmth in your homes and your hearts. I did have a very relaxing day with family, food and fun...
Here is your SOS for this Sunday May 11th, 2008
We did get some boxes in this week and might I say we were all glad to get one from Advantus...yes, we have the new Heidi Swapp papers and embellishments in and they are really cute. Here are a few shots including my dear Allegra holding up the mirrored butterflies



I personally had the pleasure of putting out the new Reminisce Jet-Setters 3-D stickers...this was a large task but I was able to fit all 50 states into our travel section. If you are traveling to South Dakota, New York or even Vermont, we have the perfect embellishment for your scrapbook page...just looking at them made me want to map out road trips for my family to take.
For all of you LOVE ELSIE fans...we finally got in her new idea book. I have heard that this a great source of inspiration so make sure to stop by and get your own copy.
We also got in the new Revolution Platforms which will allow you to use the long border dies and also cut out more letters...Quickutz has us all thinking...WHAT WILL THEY THINK OF NEXT?

This week in classes...
Sesil and I will be teaching Basics this week and remember, they are FREE. Grace has her Card Club class this week and I am sure she will doing some great cards this month. Danielle has brought back her K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Scrapper) class in which you will do some layouts and also a card and a mini project. She also has a Baby Keepsakes Box that is a NEW class...this is great to give as a gift or keep for yourself. There are also a couple of Happy Hours schedule for this week...make sure to stop in a check out our new projects for the month of May. Next Sunday, Angie will have her Paper Dolls class which is a great "Mommy and Me" class.

This Friday night, there is a crop and we can take your reservation over the phone...this is a great way to catch up on some pages or a great way to met and get together with fellow scrapbookers any way you look at it...it is 6 hours of uninterrupted crop time for you to come and create.

Please keep in mind our new Summer Hours, which we all have to get used to. We open daily at 11am and on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we close at 7pm. On the Fridays that we have crops we close at 11:30pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we close at 9pm (these are the days for most of our classes) and on Saturdays and Sundays we close at 5pm.

Hope to see you in the store soon...

TTFN
Alraynita

Tuesday Tips ~How to make your own paper embellishment~

Welcome to Tuesday Tips -

I have a ton of tips to share with our blogger friends of Windy City Scrapbooking. So get ready to start using up your scrapbook stash in different ways you may or may not have thought about. Let me know if there are any suggestions or topics you would like me to cover on our Tuesday Tip entries, just post a comment to the entry and I will do my best to answer or cover your topic.

Okay, let's start with our first Tuesday Tip on "How To Make Your OWN paper embellishment"


I am going to start off with a simple paper flower embellishment. Here is what I have done.

1. First I picked out some pattern paper that would make a good embellishment. Here I am using LUXE Classic Black Fresh Cut Grass. There are some great pattern papers out there that make great embellishments...just another way to look at the papers. The possibilities are endless. My suggestion is to look for bold or large patterns. It makes it easier to cut. But remember there are no rules saying you can not use the small print patterns. Just a suggestion.

2. The next step is to cut out the elements of the pattern paper. It is easier to use a sharp fine tip scissors. My favorite is Tonic brand (the spring loaded pair, helps with all the cutting I do with my pattern paper. If you haven't tried them out come by and try them out...you will want one for your own. LOVE THEM.)

3. The next step is to embellish the cut out. Here I have used Stickels by Ranger. Love the ease of the Stickels...one stop shop.. no messy glues or loose glitter everywhere. Let the stickels dry and you have a great embellishment. It takes anywhere from 10-30 minutes for the stickel to dry, depending on how thick you layer up the Stickels. (You could also use more than one color of Stickles on the cut out.) I always leave my embellishment out to dry overnight to make sure it dries completely. (and most of the time I am having to run around with the kids and can not get back to it until the next day to finish a project. But I digress.)

Some other ways to make it your own... using Glossy Accents by Ranger, adding Hot Fix gems to the project, even adding ribbon, eyelets, brads or you could even adhere the two flowers with a pop dot to give it more dimension. Okay, the possibilities are endless!

So here is my finished embellishment. I would love to see what you come up with for your OWN paper embellishment. Just post a link to our comment section. Let me know what you think. Can not wait to share more of my tips with you. Until next time! Create and have fun!

:)Sesil

What are you doing this weekend???

My, oh My! Wait until you see all the new goodies we have gotten in this week at Windy City Scrapbooking! I have to mention the brand new Hambly! The brand new transparencies are here and they are AWESOME! If you are a Hambly fan hurry in and get these because I KNOW they will not last long!

We do have the gift sets for Quickutz as well! These are limited edition--so once they are gone, we CANNOT reorder them. (There is also a rumor we will have the new Platform at the store this weekend too but call the store to make sure we did really get it in! Mr. Harold(our UPS man) usually comes after 4:00pm!)

Also here are a few more items I know we just got in too! The brand new Travel Line from Teresa Collins-super cute! Her stuff is so amazing...you can really use it for lots of different things and I feel like it does not date itself! (I guess I am trying to say I think it has a classic look to it! But then again I am tired and I may not be expressing myself right!)

Don't forget all our FABULOUS National Scrapbook Day festivities!

Here is a reminder what is going on!

The sales are good Friday, May 2nd-Sunday, May 4th!
*40% off all Luxe Designs(don't know what it is-don't worry just ask and we will tell you where that is!)

*40% off all Hampton Arts stamps(yes that does include the Creative Cafe stamps!)

*40% off all Heidi Swapp stuff(same thing-don't know where or what it is? Just ask!)

*40% off ALL ADHESIVE!(I am pretty sure you ALL know what this is! :)

Free 180 piece paper pad with $100 in purchases!(Super Cute!!!) A $19.99 retail value!

Revolution is $79.99--this weekend only purchase the Revolution and get a free mini album Revolution die for free(retail value $24.99) Don't know how to use it-well be will be demoing it for you to learn how to use it!

On Saturday, May 3rd we have an all day crop from 11am-11pm! Croppers can come in at 9:30 and take our mini album class which is available ONLY to croppers. I know we have a few spots left so come join us!

All day Saturday from 11-5, every half hour we will be having raffles! Find a balloon in the store to stand on and hope we call your number! This is lots of fun!

Plus we are having demo's and make & takes all day long! Come join the fun!

I hope to see you this weekend! It is going to be lots of fun!

--Susan