Sunshines scrappy weekend

Happy Tuesday everyone,

Hope you all had a great weekend. I know I sure did. On Saturday my family and I went to Saunders Farm in Munster and had a blast. Turns out that the scary side of Halloween is still not a favorite of my boys. He doesn't like being scared. but he really enjoyed the wagon ride and the mazes and everything else, especially the giant bouncing pillow. If you live in the Ottawa area you should check it out.
Then on Sunday I was at a Birthday party for part of the day before attending  the monthly LOONIE4SCRAPBOOKING CROP and POT LUCK.  Woo Hoo!  If you were there, it was so nice to see you and if you weren't there I hope to see you next time. We have a fabulous group of girls of all ages and I totally love you all. Nice to see some new faces and of course the old ones as well. Instead of working like I was supposed to be doing one of my fellow scrappers ( a wonderful new friend) let me play with her GLIMMER MISTS.  Well this is becoming one of my new favorite things. I took my SIMPLY ORANGE SMASH book and I glimmer misted the plain pages with her different TATTERED ANGELS stencils. OMG, did I have a great time. Now I know you are thinking sounds cool I would love to see some pics........but I am not very computer savy yet and i haven't figured out how to do this yet. but as soon as i figure it out I will post pics so you can see my beautiful works of art. I am very impressed with myself.....if i do say so myself. lol   After some playing I was pulled back to work... if you can even call it work since I love my job at LOONIE4SCRAPBOOKING... and Loon Scrapper and Ii have started some planning for our next big venture in November. We have planned some AWESOME (and super cheap) scrapbooking kits. we have a SMASH BASKET ( of course we do since all I seem to talk about is SMASH products) and a starter kit for a beginner scrapper.... Perfect Christmas gifts. Perfect prices. More info to come for sure.
Now yesterday I made some more progress on my SMASH books. I smashed for 3 hours without even noticing....oops;)  I   played with some products that haven't really been selling so I can figure out why. Well turns out I have solved some issues.
SMASH CAPTIONS are awesome. they are $3 and i thought that's a lot of money for 20 mini number stickers and 22 mini little notes that come with it. Well they are not stickers they are BRADS....awesome that's why they are a little bit more money. I loved playing with them. Totally worth the money now that I  have figured out they are brads not stickers. Also I was playing with the candy cane striped paperclips with tags, love them to!. They are great to gather up a bunch of items and then add a flag and label it. Again once I figure out how to add pictures I will. i also have to take some pics lol. hmmmm what else did I play with? Oh ya, the man and the bird clips that sell for $1.99 and they are great to smash glue in your books.   They make good accents and cute clips to hold items like ticket stubs, pictures even business cards. Well i think I have babbled enough today. i think its time to sign out.
Sunshine Scrapper

A SMASHing we will go.

Hey there Smashers and will be smashers,

I have started yet another SMASH book. this time i am doing a SIMPLY ORANGE book. It is awesome for any theme. It has a lot of plain paper that you can decorate  as you wish. Right now i am practicing my stamping. iIs like making my own patterned paper. If I mess up, who cares, i will just smash over top of it later. I am also practicing my border punch. Your smash book is all about you and you can do whatever you want in it ......and since i have a 4 year old and my scrap room is still not set up Smashing is very time and space efficient.
I take my Smash book with me whereever I go....except Scrapfest. of course i forgot my book at home. Good news is that i work for Loonie4scrapbooking (L4SB for short) and was able to just grab another one. My red one is like a diary.....very therapeutic and my green one is all happy family things and my orange one is whatever it turns out to be. The good news is you can grab any Smash book  and make it your own. Just SMASH whatever comes to mind.  The most convenient part of it is the pen slash glue stick.  Take whatever you want to smash, glue it in, and take the pen and write whatever you want about it. And of course as with all cool things Smash has all kinds of cool accessories. I love the paper pads. My favorite ones are the BLACK ( quotes) YELLOW (blank) and RED ( special people) but there are all kinds of others......PURPLE (top 10) GREEN ( family) BLUE ( travel) PINK ( special occasions) ORANGE ( entertainment)  just to name a few.  Also there are smash bands, smash folders, smash clips, again just to name a few things. what is your favorite smash book, paper pad and accessory? Do you love smash as much as i do?
 
Love to hear from you
Sunshine

A summary of our experience at Scrapfest Oshawa

What to say about Scrapfest?!  

It was early Friday morning and I was getting all packed. Saying good bye to my handsome husband, beautiful son and adorable puppy, Loonscrapper and I Jumped into the over loaded van that her gracious husband had packed for us, and we headed to Scrapfest Oshawa 2012. Our biggest Venue yet and an awesome birthday getaway with my bestie.  We arrived at Scrapfest all excited and started to put up our display.....disaster #1. It fell down and landed on our neighbours cash register.  Thankfully no damage was done but we were getting flustered. After nearly taking out their POS system, Sweet Sentiments lent us a table and we were ever so grateful and got our booth set up just as they opened the doors. Phew that was close. Disaster #2......brand new cash register wouldn't work right......totally flustered. took some time but got it to work right.....woohoo!  Short time later discovered cash tape was running out and we did not have another one.  FYI:  If you buy a cash register do NOT expect them to give you a regular sized roll.  We would like to thank Karen's Scrapbooking Creations for helping us out of the bind.   We were so busy non stop that the day went by really quickly. met lots of wonderful people and had a fantastic weekend.  When the venue was over it was 5 pm and pouring rain......lol of course it was right?????????  As Loonscrapper loaded the van Disaster #3 happened and the dolly I had loaded up with totes snapped off a wheel. ...did I mention it was brand new?!  After A LOT of organizing and reorganizing we got the van loaded all the while staying positive and laughing it off.  We headed off for dinner about 9pm ( yup took that long to load the van) looking like two drowned rats. I'm sure we were quite a site.   We ordered supper......yummy, and I got free cheesecake for my birthday..delicious. and we headed back to our hotel and watched "The Proposal".....twice, great movie.

We had so much fun and moved A LOT of product!   That means you need to be paying extra attention because there is going to be tonnes of new products coming onto the site.  We had such a good time we are also looking into attending Scrapfest Kitchener in April 2013.   Eeeeek.how exciting is that?!

A very special thanks to Loonscrappers husband and trusted friend for building us a display (sorry it didn't work out) and spending valuable time packing the van up......we really missed you on our end when we had to do it ourselves. 

And a very special thanks to my dear friend Loonscrapper for inviting me on Loonie4scrapbooking's biggest event to date. i was very proud to wear the logo and be a part of the fun. And for the most wonderful thoughtful Birthday gift, a train punch that has been discontinued forever. i don't know how she got it but I LOVE it!

Sunshine Scrapper

Just a little sidenote from Loonscrapper:

The organizers of Scrapfest are amazing!  Everyone involved was polite, helpful and extremely friendly.  The canteen was serving actual Tim Hortons coffee as well as timbits.  They also offered healthy and delicious food at very affordable prices.  Everything was perfect!  Great job Lisa and team!  We appreciate all your hard work and advice!

Almost Christmas for L4SB?

Eek its here, Scrapfest, is only a few hours away now. Its almost better than Christmas. Store is packed and tomorrow we say our "see you laters" to the husbands and kids. As the husbands man the house for the weekend we will embark on our biggest business venture yet. Come on out and say hi you won't be disappointed you did. New products will be on site and lots of awesome deals, and if that isn't exciting enough you can wish me, Sunshine Scrapper a happy birthday and get an extra 10% off your order. Woohoo. We are located just beside the food court. So grab a snack and head on over to our both.   By the way they have Tim Hortons coffee and you can still buy tickets to the marketplace on Saturday and shop between 9 am and 5pm.. Tickets are available at the door only now.  We can't wait to see you!

Yours truly
Sunshine Scrapper

Meet Sunshine

Hello fellow scrappers,

My name is Sunshine Scrapper and I am a partner and cohort of the Loon Scrapper. I am a mother of one beautiful little 4 year old boy and love to scrap every little picture I have the opportunity to snap. My favorite line is Smash because I can do just that. Smash it, scrap it, and move on... so fast so easy and so awesome. I'm already on my 2nd book with two more on order, lol.

I am so fortunate that my husband agrees that my hobby needs its own room so in our first family home that we just moved in to  I am happy to announce that I have my own Scrap room. Woohoo.

For those of you that are coming to Scrapfest in Oshawa next weekend come visit our booth. We are beside the food court. I am so excited to be a part of this HUGE mile marker for LOONIE4SCRAPBOOKING and look forward to meeting some of you at this and other venues we will be attending.
If you have any questions about products or techniques or even if you just want to say hi you can post on our blog or send us an email to loonscrapper@gmail.com. We promise to be prompt and get back to you with a response asap.

Hope to hear from you soon

Sunshine

Another new cutting machine...The Silhouette PORTRAIT

Hello fellow scrappers,

I recently told you that Loonie4scrapbooking was going to be selling Silhouette of America products and we were accepting preorders. Immediately after placing the order for the Silhouettes I received an email telling me about a new Silhouette cutting machine that is now available for preordering. This new machine is geared toward cardmakers or crafters not requiring the larger 12x12 surface area. This machine is called "the PORTRAIT".

The PORTRAIT has the same motor as the Cameo but is smaller (with a 8.5x11" surface space)and weighs only 3.5 Lbs making it easily portable. It is able to resize designs from 1/4" to 8" in width and up to 10 feet long. The Portrait can cut all the same types of materials that the CAMEO can (including all Silhouette branded materials) and includes a cutting mat that will accept Letter (8.5 in x 11 in) and A4 sized sheet goods. Like the CAMEO, the portrait has an optical scanner so it can be used with a home printer to create print & cut projects. It is compatible with both Mac and PC and includes Silhouette Studio® software—allowing users to create their own designs and cut the fonts already installed on their computers. This machine will be in store by early December which gives plenty of time to get it as a Christmas gift. It will retail for $199.99 + tax

To ensure you get one in time for Christmas preorder now! Total cost is $199.99 plus applicable tax but we only require a downpayment of $100 (no tax) to place your order. Balance of order will be collectable when machine arrives in store!

In our next entry we will be introducing you to Loonscrappers friend and creative collaborator, Sunshine Scrapper. ...

Silhouette America

The Silhouette Cameo is an electronic personal cutting tool that hooks up via a USB cable to your personal computer be it a PC or a Mac..  Instead of printing your images the Cameo has a blade that cuts out the designs directly from your computer.  The Silhouette is the 2^nd electronic cutting tool that Silhouette America has released.  The first machine was the Silhouette SD which is very similar to the Cameo but lacked enticing features such as a 12x12 cutting surface. 

The Cameo is able to cut through fabric, vinyl, cardstock and other materials with ease (when you use the right blade).  There is also the option of removing the cutting blade and replacing it with a Silhouette sketch pen to sketch digital designs. It is easy to adjust the size of designs or text from ¼ inch up to 12 inches wide and as long as 10 feet,  At this point I can’t help but think to myself…ok, but my Cricut does all that!  What is it that makes this machine stand out from other electronic cutting machines? 

One important benefit I see from comparing the Cameo to the Cricut machine is that the Cameo is both versatile and cost efficient.  Cricut users need to purchase expensive and space taking cartridges to get the images they want, many times buying a cartridge just so they can get a couple of the images off of it…not at all cost efficient.  The Cameo user can purchase the images they want through the online store using a download card paying only .99 cents (or for some like Looney Tunes its $1.99) for an image, the image they actually want!  Once purchased this image is theirs to keep.   No wasting money on images you don’t want or need, plus you get free designs through the Silhouette software when you initially purchase your machine, and if that’s not enough, you can use any of the fonts already on your computer.  Wait a second, am I understanding this right, this machine gives you some images free, lets you download others and lets you design your own!  Wow, to design using the Cricut I need a Gypsy which is another semi expensive tool whereas the Cameo does all of that with just one machine!!!!

I was thinking I MAY have to get a Cameo if for no other reason so that I can know the product I am selling, but following that last paragraph I am now certain I MUST have one for myself!  I love my Cricut and it has served me well over the past couple of years but as technology continues to advance so to do the tools….and yay for that!

The more I read about the Cameo the more I like what I see/hear.  The Cameo also allows you to print full color images to your printer then cut them out using the Cameo.  How cool is that?  The Cameo can be controlled either by a home computer or an SD card….my guess is the next machine they come out with will also be controlled by our cellphones.

While I was reading up on the Silhouette I decided to take a peek at the   Online store. The store is open for browsing but you are not able to purchase or download anything without having the Silhouette Studio.  Lots of options including designs from companies like Echo Park, SEI, Pebbles etc,  Only possible problem with this (for me anyways) is that a person could spend hours just trying to choose designs they may want with the large selection available.  They even have a free shape you can download each week.  Upon entering the store I came across a blog they have that you may be interested in taking a peek at:  http://blog.silhouetteamerica.com/

If you would like to purchase a Silhouette Cameo machine they are now available for preorder.  The cost of the unit will be $299.99 + tax and being such a big ticket item we do require a $150.00 downpayment on the machine.  Included in the box with the Cameo electronic cutting machine is:  USB cable, AC adapter and power chord, $10 download card, Silhouette instructional DVD and Silhouette Studio design software, cutting mat, adjustable blade, and 50 exclusive digital designs.

Here are some specs on the machine you may find useful:

Weight: 6.5 Lbs but please note the shipping weight states 11 Lbs

There is a 1year warranty on parts and labor.  This warranty is through Silhouette America which is based out of California, USA.

Dimensions of the machine itself are: 20.9”x5”x6.5” but for shipping are 24x11x11

Well I guess all that’s left to do is get my Cameo and check it out!  The order will be going in soon so preorder today to ensure you get one from the first order.  I know I am looking forward to playing with mine!  Watch for my review after I get my machine in a future blog.

Happy scrapping friends!