CKC Stock Up

I spent yesterday at the Creating Keepsakes Convention.  It was a lot of fun as usual and I discovered a new favorite booth at the vendor faire, too!

 

 I always check out the dollarscrapbooking.net booth - and rarely leave without buying something.  This year it was 3 large sets of Fancy Pants stamps for $8.00 each and a couple smaller sets for $4.00 each.  Seeing as the large sets used to retail up to $39.99, I think I did pretty well.  I also picked up 3 sets of Fancy Pants rub-ons - gorgeous at $1 a piece - as well as a bunch of cardstock stickers and journalling spots.

The Scrapbooking Closeouts booth has more great deals.  I got 7 clear stamps sets there for $22 - and they are gorgeous!  This is the same booth where I got a bunch of butterfly embellishments last year.  This year they had a smaller version at 12 for $1.  Yup...got them in every color.  I couldn't resist getting more cardstock stickers at this booth either.

This was my last purchase location.  I have used a bunch of pink flower rhinestones in recent projects and came to CKC specifically to restock.  I had hoped to find them at dollarscrapbooking.net or the Scrapbooking Closeouts booth - no luck.  Then, I came across this great new booth.  It is Tallmouse Crafts (http://www.tallmouse.com/).  21 mm flower-shaped rhinestones at 30 for $1?  I'll take it!  I'm totally hoping that they will be at every convention so I can re-stock without shipping charges!

Skrimp N Skrap!  Now to figure out where to store everything.  :-(

Snail Mail Inspiration

The last couple days have been full of happy inspiration.  Just got my newest issue of Creating Keepsakes and also their newest Special Issue:  Simple Scrapbooks.  Such a nice treat during a very stressful week.  Loving both of them and can't wait to try out a few new techniques!

I know there is a lot of inspiration to be found for free on the internet, but there is something so tactically and visually satisfying about thumbing through a magazine.  :-)  So, this is one of my splurges.  Of course, I always wait for the best renewal deals (often to be had at the convention) and I paid for membership on Club CK which at the time came with the 4 annual special issues (over 50% off cover price).  Not sure if that deal is still going on.  I sure hope it is...I'm really not willing to pay $14.99 retail no matter how great a magazine is.  Skrimp and...skrimp some more!

Crazy Busy!

What a week.  I am in the middle of a master's degree and just started classes again.  Between working full time, being married, raising two kids, renovating our house, getting my degree and getting taxes done, well, I've been a little out of sorts (not to mention a massive allergy attack that's gone on for days).  Looks like I won't be able to do as much craft blogging as I'd hoped.  If I can post and check in on my favorite blogs once a week, I'll have to be happy with that.  This has me totally bummed.  Still, I only have 7 classes to get that piece of paper!  My company is paying for it so I cannot give up the opportunity!  I'll be done in a year...I can do this!

I will not put all of my crafting fun on hold, though.  This weekend, the Creating Keepsakes Convention comes to Mesa, Arizona, and I'm volunteering.  I have been volunteering in CKC classrooms for several years now.  It is a ton of fun, I learn a lot and I get a free pass to the Vendor Fair, plus a couple other goodies in payment.  It's so worth it.  I'm sure I'll be picking up a few new items for my stash, too.  Can't wait to blog about them...have to make the time for that!  Thanks for stopping by!

Fancy Pants!

If you haven't found them yet, you totally need to check out http://dollarscrapbooking.net/.  They sell a great selection of papercrafting supplies at deeply discounted prices and their shipping costs are also very reasonable.

They recently got a fantastic order of Fancy Pants rub-ons, stickers, brads and even this great 12 x 12 sheet of clear stamps.  The stamps usually run $40 retail and are just $10 on DollarScrapbooking.  Most of the other embellishments run about $1.  They are a screaming deal.  You can bet, I'll be putting an order in soon!

Two for Tuesday

I like to pop into Tuesday Morning frequently - you never know what you are going to find there.  Fortunately for me, I have one about a mile from my house.  Often, I walk out without buying anything but sometimes I make out like a bandit.  Recently found these two packages at 99 cents each.

Each package had 10 sheets of paper/cardstock, most double-sided along with some trims and a small stamp set.

20 sheets, 3 packages of trims and a stamp set for $2?  What a bargain!