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.  :-(

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!

Bazzil Bargain!!!

In a previous post I mentioned my new Bazzil addiction - I've been worried that I would run out of my stash before I found another inexpensive source.  Well, I didn't find a reliable inexpensive source but lucked out on a stock up opportunity.  I was trolling my local Goodwill store and came across 20 packs of 8.5x11 Bazzil cardstock (25 pages per pack) for $1 a piece.  Yes...really, $1 per package.  I don't think the employee who priced them knew what they had.

My Bazzil withdrawal has been averted...at least for awhile.  Skrimp N Skrap!

Dollar Tree Inspiration

Some crafters are very skilled at deciding exactly what product to use on a project and then heading off to the craft store to get exactly what they need and no more.  I am in awe of that discipline.  I am not that person.

I like to "shop" in my craft room. Once inspired, I like to pull out almost every possible product that might go on that project.  I hold up this paper, that flower and then another embellishment, slowly narrowing down to the product and design I will use.  If I tried to do this "shopping" at the store, well, eventually Joann's would kick me out for either making a mess or being there for hours.  Not to mention that when I am finally ready to buy product for a project, the stores either do not have it or it's atrociously expensive.

So, in order to be able to shop in my craft room, I stock up when I see items I like.  The only way I can afford that is to be very frugal.  Thus, I call myself Skrimp N Skrap.   Fortunately, this isn't hard.  Here are just a few of my stock up items from a recent Dollar Tree excursion.

Already, I am seeing how some of these will coordinate with some 6x6 albums I bought from the Dollar Tree awhile ago.  I'm thinking some cute little toddler boy albums are destined for a future post!  Skrimp N Skrap!

Dollar Doilies Double

Yesterday, I posted a layout of my daughter using dollar store supplies including paper doilies.  Well, I have twins.  So that means I have to make two of every layout but just a little different each time to make it special for each girl.  If I don't make them similar, they get upset, but if I make them identical, they get upset.  The joys of motherhood!  Anyway!  Here is the "similar" layout that I made for my other daughter.  Hope you enjoy.

I used a different set of stickers from the Dollar Tree.  I love these so much I went back and got more!!!  :-)

The other supplies used were purchased in the same manner as my other daughter's layout - mostly from the Dollar Tree.  I swear, I'm as addicted to that store as I am to Craigslist.  So sad.

Skrimp N Skrap!



Dollar Store Doilies

This new blog world is just awesome.  Recently, I came across the Scrappin' Sisters blog in my wanderings through blog-land and was enamored with their style.  The beauty of their layouts is stunning and the product they use is gorgeous.

I love the way they create clusters of embellishments and decided to do a little more of this in my most recent layout.  It's the more is more technique and as I noted in a previous blog, I struggle making more detailed, complex layouts and cards.  I always end up taking things away until I have a much simpler design.  I fought this instinct on this layout.  Here is the result.  I'm pretty pleased with it.

I love the recent trend of using fabric and paper doiles on layouts and cards.  This one came from the Dollar Tree (18 doilies per package).  You might recognize the flower and bird stickers from a previous blog, too.  They also came from the Dollar Tree.

I added some paper flowers I bought from the Michael's dollar area, fabric flowers from the Dollar Tree, bling from a bulk buy at the Creating Keepsakes Convention, trim from the Dollar Tree and a couple title stickers from another Dollar Tree sticker pack.  The entire layout cost less than $3.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you got a few ideas from this project.

President's Day Sale

Love the holiday sales - they can be a great opportunity to pick up items on my wish list.

I've had my eye on a Sizzix Texture Boutique for forever.  I have plenty of die cutting tools and punches.  So I wasn't keen on spending tons of money on a Big Kick or Cuttlebug or any of the other non-electric die cutters but I really wanted a quick, effective embossing option.  When Joann.com offered the Texture Boutique for 40% off and free shipping, I was all over it!  I can say, it was totally worth the wait...now I just need more embossing folders!