Never Before Published Layout Book

Every day I'm getting 1 or 2 people submitting layouts for our book. I am so happy to be working on this project and seeing how people are so excited about getting published. I totally understand from a publisher's point of view how hard it is to select layouts when they get so many every day. For those who dream of being published in the big magazines, this will also give them something to put on their scrapbooking resume. A chance to say "yes, I have been published". We are also getting stores pre-ordering the book and we definitely have enough pre-orders to meet the minimum. Yay! I'm really excited about that. There is still time to submit layouts to us, so don't be shy, just submit up to 3 layouts that you're proud of to kelly@memoriesinmotionscrapbooking.com

So, what else is new?
Well, Christmas is coming and of course everyone has those friends or family they don't know what to buy for. Have you thought about our Pre-Paid Shopping Spree? You pre-pay a set amount and then we show up at your friend's or family's home so they can shop for whatever they want. This is also a great gift idea for the husbands or boyfriends who don't know what to buy us. Ordering a Pre-Paid Shopping Spree is so easy, all you have to do is call us at (780) 297-0019 or email us at: kelly@memoriesinmotionscrapbooking.com. We have so much fun surprising people when we show up at their door.

The other new thing is I've been adding more stuff to our online store. Yesterday I added another 200 products. Lots of new paper has been added and more to come. I just love the new My Mind's Eye and Scrapworx Christmas lines, they're awesome. I also still have 2 DCWV Christmas stacks and they're so awesome too.

New - Girls Night Out Clubs starting in January - if you have 6 friends who would like to start up a club in Jan for $29.99/month, you each get a FREE kit! Six girls for six months at $29.99, we show you how to make a 2-page layout and then you get to shop in the truck. And best of all you take home your purchases that night.

Hey - Fort McMurray friends, I'm planning a trip up there in Jan, I haven't selected the dates yet and I'm still looking for a good location to set up. If you know of any place that I can sell my stuff at, pls let me know. My Vulcan friends, they know I'm coming back in Feb, I had such a great time that I'm staying longer too. When I come back from Vulcan, I'll have to stock up again and then head out to Cold Lake for their big Scraptacular event. I can't wait because I've never been to Cold Lake before and it should be a lot of fun. I hear there's lots of wild and crazy scrapbooking gals up there.

Upcoming Events

My friend/customer Jacki is hosting a retreat at Bittern Lake Lodge (45 min from Sher Park) on Jan 25 - 27 and she needs to fill 5 more spots. To book your spot call her at 929-9219 or email: robjacki@telus.net.

My friend/design team member Rhonda is starting a new venture selling Mock-Off Purses/Handbags from home. Just in time for Christmas. She is having 3 open houses, Sun Dec 9, Mon Dec 10 and Wed Dec 12 from 7 - 9 pm at her house, email her at: croppindiva@hotmail.com for more details.

My Publishing Dream

One of my dreams is to be published in a scrapbook magazine and a few of my friends have said the same thing. A few times I have submitted layouts only to be ignored and eventually I got discouraged and stopped trying. I decided to try something else and came up with an idea, why not do a magazine/book for people who have NEVER been published before? So that’s what I’m doing, a book dedicated to scrapbookers who have never been published before and you're invited to submit layouts/projects.

I found a place to do self publishing with very low minimums, but the only problem is that it has to be paid for upfront. We are going to take pre-orders to pay for the book plus a portion of the sales will go to charity. Pre-orders will also ensure that we print enough books for everyone who wants them. If you or your friends would like to have your layout included in this book, email by Dec 15 up to 3 layouts to: Kelly@memoriesinmotionscrapbooking.com. We will select the layout that we want to include in the book and request it for photographing. The book is going to cost $25 plus $10 for shipping (includes shipping your layout back with the book).

I am also going to have a special section for business listings for only $50 and you get a free book included in that price. There will also be a price for retailers who want to sell them. If this is something you would be interested in, pls let me know.

Thx and I look forward to hearing from you. I'd love to get 100 people in the book. This book is about being proud of what we do and I'd love for other scrapbookers to be able to showcase their talents too.

Kelly & Alexanna Falardeau
www.memoriesinmotionscrapbooking.com

This past weekend

This past weekend was a lot of fun and as busy as I could be. I wanted to see if I could do 3 events in a day and I did. I was worried about having vehicle troubles, but my scrapmobile did great and so did we. My daughter Alex has also been awesome. She insists that she wants to come with me and work. She helps me set up the paper and puts items out on the shelves. Then she also likes to help me write up everyone's orders and use the calculator to add things up. Then she goes and hangs out with the ladies. A few of the girls came in to me to say how awesome of a sales person she was. She definitely has the gift of the gab and isn't shy. She talks to everyone and helps them get stuff from the store. She's an awesome daughter and I'm sure she's going to be taking over the business some day.

This Sat, we had three events to go to. One was a retreat in Bittern Lake (1 hr away from me), then we went North across a couple different cities and drove for 1.5 hrs to get to Gibbons and then ended the evening with a Girls Night Out Club in Northeast Edmonton where we taught 6 ladies how to make a beautiful canvas project for their wall. We had a lot of fun and by the end of the day we were very exhausted.

One of the highlights of our day, which was also sad is that at one retreat we attended, they have a friend who is dying of cancer, so everyone there was making at least one layout for her book. Alex and I gathered up about 7 layouts that we had in the truck and donated them to their friend. They were extremely appreciative that we were willing to help out their friend too. It made us feel so sad that she was dying and so happy that we could help out too.

That's all for now and I hope everyone had a great weekend!

New Canvas Kit

Last night I decided I had to do a canvas project and do I ever love it. I took a 24x18 canvas, painted it, then attached an 8x10 canvas to it. I then got some snowflakes and painted them with white paint. Some of the snowflakes I put tons of glitter on and other ones I didn't. I love the chipboard letters, I also put glitter on them. They are about 3" in size. With the kit, you get a whole set of letters. I then got some of that snowball ribbon from Walmart and attached that to the top and bottom of the big canvas. The blue you see around the 8x10 canvas is actually blue ribbon around the edge of it. This really makes the 8x10 canvas stand out and would be a great spot for a 5x7 or 8x10 pict or even 2 4x6 picts. If you like this project, I'm making up some kits and they're only $35 and that includes both canvasses, paint and glitter too. Let me know if you'd like me to make you a kit.

This weekend I'll be at 3 different events. Two retreats and one crop at the Sherwood Park Church called Scrapalicious. This is a free crop and everyone is welcome.

Have a great weekend!

Charity Weekend

This weekend was busy and fun. I helped two different charities. Fri night I attended Harry Ainlay School in Edmonton to help the synchronized swimming club raise money to go to Perth Australia for a competition. The group was very small and sales were very low, but what a great group of ladies. These ladies have never organized a scrapbook event before, but it looked like everyone was having a great time. The biggest problem was when they started to lock the doors and if people came out to my truck store, they couldn't get back in, including me. Oh well, I'm sure they had a great time.

The 2nd charity event that I helped was for the Make a Wish Foundation. They had over 400 picts and they didn't know what to do with them. Eight of us came to the event and helped to create 35 pages for their office scrapbook. Wow! We were thoroughly impressed with how much scrapbooking we were able to get done. We also want to thank everyone who donated supplies for the event including Debbie from Creative Scrapbooks. She donated a whole bunch of Disney stuff for the Disney pages plus a big stack of cardstock and adhesive. Check out Debbie's website at: http://creative-scrapbooks.com/ She has an awesome store in Edmonton and the biggest selection of sports and travel lines.

It was also great to see Susan Tarling come, her son Brandon received a wish last year, a family vacation to Vancouver. Brandon has since passed and is greatly missed by everyone who knew him. Susan brought her friend Karen who is so much fun and quirky. Another awesome mom to help us was Heather (sorry, I don't remember her last name), her son passed away last year when he was 7 yrs old. Heather is an amazing woman who keeps at it and never gives up.

Rhonda Duncan brought her funky son with cool pink hair plus she also brought her best friend Fran. While we were creating pages, her son was creating mini-wish boxes for the kids. Rhonda just had her head shaved for breast cancer on Fri. She raised $4000 and plus she also brought 2 gigantic boxes full of paper, embellishments and stickers for us to use. Fran was so fun and it was great to see her spirit at this event.

And last but not least was Bev. Bev drove all the way from Ponoka to be at this charity event. She also showed us how to make her awesome puzzle piece titles. Thank you Bev for being involved and traveling such a long distance to help us out. I had a great time sitting with you and chatting.

Miriam and Rachel from the Make a Wish Fdn were so awesome and made sure we had everything we needed including a big box of chocolates! Miriam's husband made a big pot of stew for lunch and we all ate it like crazy.

The one I felt the most sorry for was Shona the Executive Director from Make a Wish, she is an avid scrapbooker herself, but had to stay locked in her office working on budget and marketing reports for her board mtg today. She was dying to get out and help us, but she didn't want to miss her deadlines. Don't worry Shona, we'll let you help us next time.

All in all, the weekend was awesome, it wasn't about making money, it was about giving back to people in need and sharing. I had a great time making pages even though I didn't do that many, the ones I did I was proud of and I'm happy to be a part of this great charity. Shona was bugging us about doing this event on a regular basis and we're looking forward to having the next one.

I also want to thank another lady for dropping off a big box off stuff. I don't know her name, but she knows who she is. Thx again for helping out!

Take care and have a great week. I'll post pictures when the girls email them to me.

Cool Demos and Techniques

One of my favorite places to visit is TV Weekly Crafts. Their name doesn't totally explain what they do, but they have the most awesome videos of the coolest projects. I learn so much from them and I find it a great place to find out how to do neat things. I met the guys at CHA in Chicago and they're so full of energy and have such exciting things planned. I always look forward to seeing what kind of surprises they have. I just watched two demos, one was the Jacob's Ladder cube (how awesome is that) plus the wine bottle box (using the Creative Imaginations round bottle box) and I loved both of them. I can't wait to try making them. I just know I'm going to struggle with the cube project, but I think it's one of those projects that you just need to do it once and then it won't seem so hard. I'll post a pict of the project when I get it done. Check out their site at: www. crafttvweekly.com.

I'm looking forward to doing more workshops in the winter. We're going to start doing our Super Sunday workshops again starting in Nov. We have some exciting Christmas projects planned including a really awesome Advent Calendar that Monica Lipscombe designed. If you're interested in purchasing the kit, it's only $25 (includes the cookie sheet), you can email me at kelly@memoriesinmotionscrapbooking.com.

This weekend is a charity weekend. Tonight I'm going to a crop at Harry Ainlay School in Edmonton to help raise funds for the synchronized swimming club to go to Perth Australia for a competition. Then tomorrow I'm going to the Make a Wish Foundation office to help them make pages for their office scrapbook.

Talk to you soon and have a great weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. We had my husband's family over on Mon evening for our yearly family dinner. Thanksgiving is great because we both do the cooking and so it's not such a big task for either of us. The funny thing is, my husband's family is an "eat and run" type of family. Really, they basically stay for only 2 hours or less. And if they've stayed more than 2 hours, well, let's just say that is totally unusual and rare. Most of them showed up at 5 and left by 6:30, just long enough to eat turkey, clean up, eat dessert, sit down for no more than 10 min and head out the door. Why does his family do that? I don't know and I don't get it. When my family used to get together for holidays, it was always an all afternoon, all evening and then even turkey sandwiches at 9 pm before the long evening of drinking, celebrating, singing, and playing games until you couldn't keep your eyes open. I used to stay up the latest because then I got to hear all the funny stories about my family from before I was born.

I have to show you this new thanksgiving recipe. My friend/franchise director Janeen emailed this to me and we tried it, but it didn't turn out like the pict. What a bummer, but it was fun doing it. My turkey didn't turn out as brown as the pict did. Oh well. I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving like we did. What am I thankful for this year? Two things, a happy and healthy family and lots of great new friends and customers from my mobile store. I want to thank everyone who has helped to make my mobile store as successful as it is. I'm looking forward to making lots of new friends in the coming years. Thx!

The Scrapmobile is on YouTube!

My new friend Monica (she was one of my teacher's asssitants at Scrapfest) has this cool YouTube demos called "Monica's Place" and this month she featured our mobile store plus the Cosmo Cricket "Best Buds" project that I designed plus the Zutter Bind-it-All tool. I just love her demos and her blog. If you want to check out Monica's Place and see the mobile store in action, click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ukba6uuZoo

I still have some Bind-it-All tools available, just email me at kelly@memoriesinmotionscrapbooking.com

I hope you enjoy Monica's demos as much as I do. I also spent a lot of time at her house looking over her projects and she's an awesome scrapbooker. I hope I can get her to do more stuff with us and to submit some of her layouts to the gallery. Our forum is getting busier, check it out at www.memoriesinmotionscrapbooking.com.

What a cool way to display layouts

You have to check this out: http://www.memorymakersmagazine.com/08Masters/Functional+Wall+Art.aspx What a cool way to display layouts on the wall. Amy has this set up in her scrapbook room and I just love it. I can't wait to do that in my store/truck. It just looks so nice and organized.

Scrapfest was a success!

This is the first time I have ever done Scrapfest and what a success it was. I have done other trade shows before, but never specific to scrapbooking and it was great to meet so many women who were as passionate about scrapbooking as I was. At first I was a little concerned about doing a show with so many of my indirect competitors, but because we're different than the brick and mortar stores and the online stores, we reach a different market.

I wanted to first start by chatting about my team, Rhonda Duncan, Carrie Zahorodney and Terrie Moxam. What a fabulous team! We had such a great time together and had so much fun, that the 2.5 days flew by. At times, I thought I was forgetting something and my team was right behind me remembering and using their own initiative to get things done. I couldn't have done it without such great girls right beside me helping to get things done and spread the word about our company. I'm so grateful for them and I know our customers were loving them too. I want to thank them again from the bottom of my heart for being so awesome! Thx Rhonda, Carrie and Terrie. I look forward to working together very very soon! You three are the best!

I also want to thank Deb & Lisa from Scrapfest for putting on such an excellent show. They have done an awesome job turning the show around and making it a great success. I know next year will be even bigger and better. I thought the mini-album workshop was great. We were a little confused though, we had 200 kits and only 120 people had tickets and we ran out of stuff. We felt bad for the few who didn't get kits, but we gave them some of our own stuff to help them with their project. If you took the workshop, but didn't get a kit, let me know and we'll see what we can do.

I also want to thank Cdn Scrapbooker (Jackie & Katharina) and Mylene English (the writer) for doing such an awesome job on the article about us this fall. What a great article and we've been getting so many calls and requests for franchise info. Our goal is to start up a Calgary franchise right away because we are going to be at the Creative Stitches show at the end of Sept in Calgary. We're going to have tons of leads for a potential franchisee, so we're looking to get that franchise going asap.

I also want to thank all the gals who took my "Best Buds" lacing board class. I had a great time teaching them and my assistants Monica and Joanne were awesome! Because we had such a small class I was able to give everyone an extra kit plus I sold the extra supplies at a great discount and donated the cash to the Breast Cancer Foundation. We were able to donate $60 to them. We're helping Rhonda to raise $3000 so she has to shave her head at the Hair Massacre on Valentine's Day.

Anyways, that's all for now, I hope everyone else had as much fun as we did at Scrapfest and I'm looking forward to seeing my new friends again. Thx to everyone for helping us.

Oh, I forgot to mention my trip to Red Deer on Fri night. Our Bind-it-All machine was such a success that I phoned my supplier in Calgary and asked if they had more and they had just rec'd a huge shipment in so I asked if I could bring in 20 of them. They were so awesome to put them aside for me and I had my friend pick them up and we met in Red Deer on Fri night so that I could get them. (Greyhound couldn't guarantee that we'd have them in time) My husband thought I was nuts and doing everything he could to convince me not to go. I told him I just had to get them for my customers. I got home at 1:30 am and had lots of Bind-it-All machines for everyone who wanted them. I couldn't believe the hugs I got from a lady in Drumheller. She was so excited that I was going to get more bind-it-alls and bags for her. What a sweetheart! What a feeling it was for me to see how happy she was. And I also want to thank Janeen my Marketing and Franchise Director for taking time out of her day to go all across Calgary to get the order and then drive all the way to Red Deer just for me. Thx Janeen! You're awesome.

My Guest Designer and Friend, Sherri Tirschmann

I just have to brag about my friend Sherri. She is such an awesome person who I met on the internet a few years ago. We met on the internet on Thurs and she came to my first CTMH party on Fri. I was worried about her because we had a girl at that party who scared a lot of my friends there that night, but she gave me another chance to prove that I wasn't crazy. Well, crazy, but not that kind of crazy. lol. Anyways, I have seen Sherri's style change and change and change some more and I've seen her build up her confidence that she really is a great scrapbooker.

What do I admire about Sherri? She is so down-to-earth, humble, fun, creative and a great friend. Whenever I need help, Sherri is there and she never expects anything in return. When I needed help at the Woman's Show or the Mom & Tot show, she was there even though she had a bad back and hates crowds. She helps me to stay down-to-earth and to appreciate what I already have in life. Whenever I am with her, I never feel any pressure to be anyone but myself and I always feel relaxed around her. And when I'm feeling crappy about my scrapbooking, she always makes me feel great.

I asked Sherri to be a guest designer because I really do believe she's a great scrapbooker and she is hard on herself and doesn't believe she's good enough. I hope that when you see her layouts that she did with the Sep Kit of the Month that you too will think that she's good enough. I really like how she was able to create such different and unique layouts with this kit. She was able to make it look really feminine and masculine with the same kit. If you're intersted in purchasing this kit for $25, pls go to our website at http://www.memoriesinmotionscrapbooking.com/. Sherri also gets a bonus for every kit sold, so let's help Sherri, she's awesome! If you come to my Facebook group MIM Srapaholics, you'll see more of Sherri's layouts plus you'll be able to chat with her.

Garage Sale Coming Soon

I'm getting excited to see how many people come out to my garage sale this Thurs & Fri. If you haven't already heard, everything is 25% off and if you bring a friend then you both get 30% off. It's going to be so much fun and I have some door prizes too.

I'm starting to get ready for my sister's wedding in Kelowna, we leave next Wed and I'll be back on Tues. Then I have to finish getting ready for Scrapfest. I'm really excited about Scrapfest because Lisa & Deb have some amazing things planned for the event plus all there stuff has been shipped to my house. No, I haven't opened any boxes other than the box that Vicki Boutin called me about. You're going to love her project.

And if you haven't registered yet, check it out at: http://www.scrapfest.ca/ I'm teaching a class for them too called "Best Buds" using Cosmo Cricket's Halfway Cafe line (http://www.cosmocricket.com/). I have a little surprise for that class too. I'm also excited because Lisa was able to line up a sponsor for the ribbon, http://www.savvynsassy.com/. You have to check them out - if you love ribbon, then you'll love their stuff and they're Canadian. I'm so happy that they were generous enough to sponsor the ribbon and of course Cosmo to sponsor the class kits.

My design team is looking for more people to join our forum. Patti has contests and fun stuff planned, but not enough people to do it with, so pls pls pls join our forum at www.memoriesinmotionscrapbooking.com If you join, then you will also get a $10 gift certificate from me to use in the store.

I ordered some more Clip-it-Ups, they should be here in time for Scrapfest. If you would like me to reserve you one, pls email me. They're so awesome and great for organizing all our collections. Take care and have a great day. I look forward to chatting more in a couple days before I head to Kelowna. Don't forget about the garage sale 14 Grayridge Bay, Stony Plain, half a mile South on Boundary Road (West of Spruce Grove on Hwy 16A), turn right, then turn right at GRayridge Bay and you can't miss the lime green truck. lol. Nobody can miss that blinding truck. lol

Page Maps

Ok everyone, I just have to tell you about this. My old high school buddy who I just found out last year is an avid scrapbooker (Dawn Ofner) just told me about this awesome website called Page Maps. If you like sketches, you'll love this website. I think sketches are a great way to learn the foundation of scrapbooking plus it takes the guesswork out of it all. Plus it will help you to get more pages done faster because all the thinking is done for you. So, I went to this site www.pagemaps.com (by Becky Fleck) and I was totally blown away by the Page Maps (sketches). They are phenomenal (not sure if I spelled that one right) and you know what I loved the best - she also has ROUND page maps. Yep, that's right, for all of you who are doing lots of stuff with round pages (especially those cool acrylic round pages), round page maps and they're awesome. Check them out, I know I'll be using this website a lot.

Sept Kit of the Month

Hi everyone,

I just finished creating the Sep Kit of the Month using the Upsy Daisy "Oodles of Doodles" line. The kit comes with 6 sheets of cardstock (teal, red, lime green), 6 double-sided sheets of pattern paper, 4" chipboard letters, crystal sticker bling and 2 sheets of matching rub-ons. Patti McCarthy and Sherri Tirschmann, two very talented designers are working on some layouts & projects to go with this kit, so come back soon to see what they've created.

Pre-orders are being accepted and if you sign up today then you get a package of 80 brads for FREE (a $6.50 value). The KOTM is $25 plus $5 for shipping. Email me today at: mimscrapbooking@hotmail.com to order.

I can't wait to see what kinds of layouts you all create with this awesome kit.

Scrapbook Garage Sale

Well, I have no room and lots of new stuff coming from CHA, so I've decided to do a garage sale and sell everything for 25% off and if you bring a friend, then you both get 30% off. The dates are Thurs Aug 23 and Fri Aug 24 from 10am - 8 pm at my house. Email me and I'll email you my address in Stony Plain, Alberta.

I'm so excited because I have lots of cool stuff coming. You're going to love the new Zutter Bind-it-All machine. You'll be able to make all kinds of cool mini-books and even coil-ring albums. I love them so much that I'm doing a special promotion. If you start up a Girls Night Out Club, then you get one for FREE! Yes, that's right, a $75 value for free. All you need is 8 girlfriends who want to spend $29.99/month (they get the kit of the month) plus then I come out and show you how to make a 2-pg layout using that kit. Then after the workshop is over, you get to shop in the mobile store. If you're interested in starting a Girls Night Out Club, email me at: mimscrapbooking@hotmail.com I'm limiting this special promotion to only 10 clubs.

I met Tim Holtz at CHA

I was so excited when finally I got to see Tim alone and chat with him about his new products. He asked me if I had seen his new SCRUNCH BOARD and I hadn't. So I asked him what was so unique and special about this product and he scrunched it up in a ball and then it flattened out when he let go of it. It seems like a chipboard/rubber kind of product. So I asked him why did he want this kind of product and he said because this doesn't break and so he can hammer it, twist it and be ruff with it and doesn't have to worry about it breaking like chipboard does. He said it's way more durable and can handle any kind of distressing. And yes, you can do anything to it that you can do to chipboard. You can paint it, ink it and texturize it. Yes, Tim also has this cool hammer that you can hammer different textures into chipboard. It's awesome.

I also loved the new scrunchboard letters that he made because they come really big (8") and then they have various other smaller sizes in the same package. They're awesome and I can't wait to get them in.

CHA - Chicago

I just got back from CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) trade show. This is the big trade show where craft, hobby and scrapbooking manufacturers showcase their new lines of products. It was HUGE and I've never been to a trade show with 500 booths. It was very overwhelming so I took pictures of the product lines that I liked and then I'll remember what I saw. I took over 275 pictures. On the way home, I flipped through each picture and took notes about what I wanted to order.

The other thing I loved was seeing all the project ideas. There was so many great layouts and projects that I was extremely inspired. Don't ask me what my favorite was because there's too many to list. I just can't wait to have my scrapbooking garage sale so that I can clear out the current inventory I have and order all brand new stuff.

If you'd like to see picts of the new stuff from CHA, go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MIMScrapbooking/CHASummer You'll find all the picts I took (275 of them) oh yeah and of course one where Austin Powers had his leg wrapped around me. Good thing my husband doesn't get jealous. lol

Kelly