New Blog on our New Website!

Check out our new blog on our new website!

http://www.windycityscrapbooking.com/Blog.html

It's easy to get to! Just go to http://www.windycityscrapbooking.com/ and click on the 'Blog' tab at the top of the page. Be sure to read Christina's post from Sunday (1/18/09) because she is giving away blog candy! See you there!

Full Circle Friday

Ribbon, Ribbon, Ribbon!

All of our ribbons at W.C.S. are

50% OFF!

Now is a great time to stock up.

I am finally back into the swing of things after the holiday madness... I finally have a Full Circle Friday sketch for you! We are starting off 2009 easy... a one photo layout. This is a great sketch to showcase a single photo enlarged to 5x7. Sometimes all you get is a single photo to help you share your story. This sketch "boxes in" the photo with strips of patterned paper, ribbon, or whatever embellishment you would like. The left side of the sketch is left empty for the eye to rest.

I am still working on scrapbooking our Christmas holiday... ahem... from 2007. I had one photo to tell this cute story about my older daughter and how she wanted a certain type of carrot to leave for the reindeer on Christmas Eve. As the event was happening it stopped me in my tracks and made me realize what a cute kid I have. So even though the photo is not from the actual event that took place in the grocery store, I have a related photo that helps me remember.

Supplies:

• Patterned paper, lace paper, epoxy sticker - KI Memories
• Chipboard ribbon - Technique Tuesday
• Alphabet rubons - American Crafts
• Journaling die cut - My Mind's Eye
• Felt flower - Chatterbox
• Bling rhinstones - Heidi Swapp
• Sheer snowflake - Maya Road
• Button - Creative Cafe
• Brown pen - Sakura

For the top and bottom strips I used patterned paper. I love to use small stripes in small doses on my pages. I used a chipboard die cut and covered it with patterned paper and then sanded the edges. I filled in the space under the photo with the lace cardstock. I have yet to use a piece of the ever-popular lace cardstock in it's full 12x12 size. I always cut it up... hmmm... I think I have a new challenge. I put my journaling on a journaling die cut and layered it with a sheer snowflake and some stickers and flowers.

I am happy with the results because I think it is different from my normal style. For one, I didn't use a single piece of solid cardstock. I used all patterned paper. I also used a journaling die cut I have had on hand for awhile. I didn't use it exactly as it was intended but I like it. Then I was very happy to find a reindeer epoxy sticker in my stash I didn't realize I had. It was perfect for the reindeer theme.

Playing Hooky

Happy New Year, Everyone! I hope 2009 finds everyone happy and healthy!

This past weekend, I had the chance to play hooky at The Paper Doll House in Sycamore, IL! After 1 hour and 45 minutes to get there (I missed the exit not once, but TWICE -- something only I could do!), I cropped Friday, Saturday and Sunday, slept in a cozy room, and ate VERY well! I cannot recommend the Doll House highly enough -- this was my second trip there, and even as a solo scrapper, I had a great time! There were 4 other friendly scrappers in the house (Stacy had brought her ipod with a great variety of songs that I caught myself singing along to several times) who shared ideas and camaraderie throughout the weekend. MaryKim, the hostess with the mostess really did everything she could to keep us happy -- which included pizza, amazing sandwiches, CHOCOLATE Kahlua cake, snacks and more! But most of all, MaryKim makes an AMAZING homemade Chai latte mix that is SO yummy (and I am a Chai latte snob!)


If you ever need a weekend away -- as a single cropper, a pair of croppers, or with a group, The Paper Doll House is the perfect place to go! And, (armed with good directions from MaryKim) it only took me about an hour and 15 minutes to get from Sycamore to Windy City on the way home (I made all the exits the first time!!) -- so really it is far enough away to be "gone" for the weekend, but not too far away from home either!

So, now for the fun stuff --for approximately 25 hours of cropping time, who can guess how many pages I completed (a 2-page spread counts as 2 pages)? Please comment with your page count and the person to first guess correctly or come the closest (according to the comment posting time) by Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. wins a pack of Valentine's Day stuff!

Good luck and don't let your memories blow away! -Christina

SCRAPPIN ON SUNDAYS...

Happy New Year to all of our WCS Blog Readers...

Hope that you had a wonderful Holiday Season and are revived and ready as 2009 is here.

As always...we have things going on at Windy City Scrapbooking and I am here to update you as I post the first Scrappin On Sundays of 2009...

First....SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We always like to hear about SALES and we have a great one going on at WCS. It is our Pre-Inventory, "DO NOT MAKE US COUNT IT SALE" where all papers and stickers are 25% off and our retired section in the back is 80% off...not only do we not want to count it as inventory is approaching later on this month, we want to make room for new items from CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) as Christina is making plans on attending at the end of the month and we know we all want her to bring back alot.
The sale ends on January 12th so make sure to stop in and stock up!!!

Second...CLASSES!!!
Our classes for this month are posted on our website and there are a couple of new ones that are worth checking out.
For this week, I will be teaching Basics and next Sunday, I will be teaching both Beyond Basics and my Create L.O.V.E. Class (L.O.V.E. stand for LayOuts Very Easy) where as the month's theme will be Resolutions and Winter
Angie will be debuting her new DISNEY Class and she will also be teaching her Stitchery Class.

Third...CROPS!!!
Our Crop Nights will resume this month with the first one being this Friday, January 9th. Sesil and I will be your hostess for the evening. Remember, crops are where you may come and have 6 hours of uninterrupted time to work on your projects and we will provide you with dinner and prizes and giveaways. This can also be considered as a great girls night out.

For Classes and Crops...feel free to either stop in and sign up or give us a call.

There are 2 things that I would love to share with our WCS blog readers and invite you to play along if you have not already started...

Your word for 2009.
This can be found on Ali Edwards blog http://aliedwards.typepad.com
I was very surprised as she listed the words that she received from others that are doing the word and I did not see my word.
My word for 2009 is REBIRTH

Project 365
Alot of us at Windy City Scrapbooking are doing this and also my scrapping group, Scrap On Sistah... for me...it is definetly a challenge, but I welcome it.
You may read more about it here http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2008/12/understanding-concept-of-project-365.html

So since I am involved in both...I am trying to make myself more accountable so please join and share if you like on how you are going to join in.

And finally...I have updated my personal blog...Inspiring 2Be. I will still be posting older posts since I have them in que but I will also move forward with newer posts of my online journal.

Enjoy
TTFN
Alraynita
http://www.inspiring2be.blogspot.com/

Scrappin On Sundays

Hello everyone...

I know that it has been a very long time since I have posted our "Scrappin On Sundays" ...glad to be back...
I hope that everyone has had a great Holiday Season and just like me...looking forward to a Happy New Year.

We have a few sales going on that we hope...will be of great interest

Our DON'T MAKE US COUNT IT SALE started today...this is to help us out with inventory (which we dread doing next month)
With this sale...Papers and stickers are 25% off and our retired section is 80% off and we have been adding more to the retired section to make room for new merchandise

Speaking of new...we just put out the new Basic Grey "Bittersweet"...papers and embellishments and new Heidi Grace "Valentine's Day" papers and embellishments....so we are getting ready for your Valentine's Day crafting needs

For classes...we have Basics this Tuesday night and that will be it for classes for this year.
Make sure to look out for our new calendar and Breeze which should be available by the end of next week

Our...DO NOT MAKE US COUNT IT SALE ends on January 12, 2009...so make sure to stop in and see us.

Happy New Year to you all

TTFN
Alraynita

Full Circle Friday

Before I begin my last Full Circle Friday of the year, I have a big announcement for the store...

Gift Certificate Redemption Days*

December 26th & 27th, 2008

If you were lucky enough to receive a holiday gift certificate or have a certificate you haven't redeemed yet, come shop on December 26th or 27th and receive 30% off your entire purchase when redeeming a gift certificate! More special gift certificate redemption days will follow in 2009! Watch our website for more information!

*Does not apply to gift certificates purchased after 12/24/08.

I started a little annual project last year for the grandparents. Every year I make a 2-page layout for each month featuring my two little beauties. This year I did it all 100% digital but this project could easily be completed traditionally with papers and tactile embellishments. Even if you do no other scrapbooking throughout the year, you can complete this project for your own family in as little as a week. Here is the process:

Step 1 (1-2 days) - Develop 2-4 different templates using anywhere from 8-15 photos each. My 3 templates each have a different number of photos to accommodate months with lots of photos and months with not so many photos.

Step 2 (1-2 days) - Gather your photos. Edit them, print them and organize them into the months.

Step 3 (1 day) - Gather your supplies. To make it easy, chose one set of papers from a manufacturer and the matching embellishements. Make sure to get an album too.

Step 4 (4-5 days) - Assemble, assemble. Put those layouts together and put them in a book.

For my 2008 book, here are my three templates:

Okay, now for the final outcome:

You can do it! You can record your memories for an entire year! Ask our staff if you have any further questions on how to get started. Good luck!

More BIG Sales!

Yesterday started two new HUGE sales!

From now until December 24, 2008 you get

40% off every mini-album!

Acrylic, chipboard, bound with binder rings or metal coils... they are all on sale.

Making a mini album for a loved one is a great holiday gift and you can finish one quickly.

Don't know what qualifies as a mini-album? Just ask our staff.

Calling all QuicKutz QT Members:

BOGO SALE

Buy one 2x2 or 4x4 shape with your regular 30% discount, get the second shape FREE!*

This sale is for QuicKutz QT Members only.

You can join the QT's at any time, call the store for more details.

*BOGO sale is for regular priced, in-stock merchandise only. Not valid on prior orders or holds, clearance, Cookie Cutters, alphabets, 12" borders, November 2008 release shapes, or December 2008 release shapes. Consult store for further details.