New Ideas!

The K2R Krew and I have been BUSY this past holiday weekend! We have some new projects up in the Project Idea section of the web site, as well as on the K2R Krew blog! Be sure to check them out if you need some inspiration! And be sure to bookmark this blog and/or the K2R website. Our new kits will be hitting the "shelves" very soon and we have some surprises in store!

Jessica

K2R will be crusin'! Sort of ...

Just wanted to give you all the heads up that starting Thursday, my Director or Operations (AKA the DH) and I will be crusin' to Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada for 5 days and 4 nights starting Thursday. My parents are watching the kids, feeding the dogs and taking care of the house while we are gone. This is especially exciting for Rodney and I because this is the first real vacation we've been able to take together. We never had a honeymoon, and I have always wanted to go on a cruise, so seven years later, Rodney surprised me with the cruise for Christmas. Funny how my gift gets him something good, too, huh? But no complaints here, really! Just wanted to let you know that if I am less than responsive on my emails this weekend, you'll understand why! I will be back responding in full steam Tuesday and any orders placed between Thursday and Monday will ship then as well! Thanks for your understanding! Wish me luck in not being someone who gets seasick! Gotta get those sealegs before the Ultimate Cruise in January!!! Anyone else going?

My Pazzles is on its way!

I am so excited! I have wanted a Pazzles (think Cricut, only more versatile) for at least three years and I just got an email saying it has been shipped! I ordered it back in September at the Memory Trends conference and it should be here Monday. I can't wait to play with it! I have promised myself that this will not be like my 12 x 12 format Epson printer: I will not only break it out of the box, but I will USE it! Now, I just need to carve out some time next week to learn HOW to use the thing...

New conventions added to the K2R calendar!

I may be a glutton for punishment, but I just don't feel like I am working hard enough unless I travel to a scrapbooking convention at least once a month! Next up: The Scrapbook USA Expo in Utah, April 18-19! K2R will follow that up with The Great American Scrapbook Convention June 5-7 in Arlington, Texas. At both events, K2R will have a booth and host classes and make and takes. Find out more on our calendar. And, as always, we are looking for a few good volunteer Krew members to help us out! If you are interested, send an email to jessica@kits2remember.com.

Bay Area Expo Day 2

My Dad sent me photos from Day 2 of the Pleasanton, Ca, Scrapbook Expo, but I did not realize that they were all of ME at the make and take table ... LOL! So, I have displayed a couple of them here, but won;t bore you with the others. I should mention that my father volunteered and spent most of the day at the Make and Take table, being a fabulous sport about showing the ladies how to use acrylic and the Bind-it-All. My Mom, of course, ran the register, and volunteer Krew members Delia and Kathryn were a huge help, especially while I was teaching the home decor class.

If you are interested in a home decor class kit, I do have some left over from the Expos. They are $10 and can be found in the New Kit section of the store. I also have a few of the 6 x 6 acrylic kits left, only not in the orignal color of beige, brown and teal. Instead, they are teal, green and yellow, the same pattern as the "Spring" Wall hanging. These 6 x 6 acrylic album kits are $20. The instructions come with the kits and they are online, as well.

In the K2R online store, we now have white Opaque Staz On ink (beautiful on acrylic, especially when used with Stickles!) and Krafter's ComfyKushes, as well. Take a look!

The Krew's gone International!

K2R would like to welcome our fifth and final Design Krew member, Trace Geworsky,to the group! Trace is from Manitoba, Canada, and has a fresh, unique style I think you'll enjoy! To find out more about her, log on to the K2R Krew blog and watch for her posts!

Bay Area SB Expo Day 1

Friday was a very busy day at the Alameda Fairgrounds! About 4,000 scrapbookers descended upon the Young California building to see what latest and greatest scrapbook supplies are now available. Kits2Remember was there, of course, and I taught a 6 x 6 acrylic wire-bound album class that sold out. The K2R booth was almost always busy and our make-and-take table was never empty! A huge thanks to the NorCal scrappers for being so fabulous! I also want to give an even bigger thanks to my parents, Mark and Nancy for traveling with me to help me out, and to my Krew members who were kind enough to volunteer their time: Jean, Glenda, Sunshine, Delia and Kathryn. Without you guys, the booth and classes would not have run as smoothly as they did! Thank you! I also saw some CKU Anaheim buddies: Disney Debbie, Carol and Nina, plus some other familiar faces. It was great to see you guys! More on Day 2 as soon as I get the photos back from my dad!

"Mom" class

While my "Tribute to My Mother" class kits have been sold out out the local stores (check the K2R calendar for dates, times and places), I do have class kits available for this class here, "Mom." If you want to learn advanced layering techniques for acrylic and how to stamp effectively on it, you'll want to take this class! Plus, you will have that Mother's Day gift checked off your "to do" list! Already have a Mother's Day gift for your Mom? You'll get a full Chip Chatter Alphabet with your class kit, so you can make the title anything you want! And with this girly-themed project, your daughter, granddaughter or best friend would love to receive this! If you are in SoCal and are interested in me coming to teach at your favorite LSS, I'd love to come! Just have the store owner email me ASAP to schedule a time, ad we'll see if we can't work something out!

Scrappin Escapes

Well, I am a little tardy in reporting back, but Feb 29-March 2 I was in San Diego at Jessica Struder's Scrappin' Escapes crop. I had a great time, and while it was a working crop for me, I still got a lot of my personal scrapbooking for my boys done. I love a productive weekend of cropping! Two of my scrappy pals and fellow vendors, Crystal Deckard and Laura Miller and I entered the pajama contest together as a group of "Scrapbook Girl"-wear junkies. I love these PJs! Amyway, we didn't win, but another matchy-matchy group of PJ girls did, and I have to admit, they did look quite cute! There was also a pair of croppers who had jammies they got at Nordstroms with a bunch of scrappy phrases. Imagine - Nordstroms with scrap duds! I guess scrapbooking HAS gone mainstream! So much for being a fad ...

"5"

I am currently in a hotel room in Pleasanton, CA, a room I am sharing with my parents who so graciously are here to help me with the Scrapbook Expo this weekend. Oddly enough, I find I actually have time to surf the Internet aimlessly. I can't remember the last time I did that! Anyhow, I had not visited Heidi Swapp's blog in a while and I always like to see what's going on in China, so I logged on. It turns out that she is recommending a book called "5" to anyone who wishes to be inspired. Basically, it asks the question (paraphrased here): "What do you want out of your life in the next five years." Good question.

I may just have to spend the $15 and get the book after this quote:

“…This is your life, your one-and-only-life, and you don’t want to miss any part of it. So, what is it going to be? You decide. Starting today, you can make the next five years the most exciting, satisfying, productive and amazing years of your life so far - or just another five years.”

I am a Type-A planner by nature, but being married to an active duty Marine has made me learn how to adapt, quickly change plans and to "roll with the punches," the latter being the most difficult for me, especially when the punches hurt! But, then again, the Sagittarius in me has always taken on new adventures and opportunities as they came up, whether they were planned or not (mostly NOT!). I never want to miss a fabulous opportunity!

Now I find myself wondering, "What DO I want in the next five years?" Looking back on the last five, I never would have thought I would have a full-time scrapbooking career in the spring of 2003. I was living with my inlaws in rural Illinois with my 11-month-old son while my husband was overseas in Japan and Iraq for 15 months. While a scrapbooking career seemed a lifetime away, it was, in fact, something I dreamed of and wished for. I just needed the right opportunities to come along, take a deep breath and jump in to them when I had the chance.

So, how does that translate in to the next five? I'm not sure. Definitely answer the opportunity knock. Absolutely work hard and do the best I can do at what I am doing. Enjoy the people in my life. Take time to notice the blooming flowers on the hills that were on fire six months ago. Appreciate your spouse. Make your children laugh. Stay out of the cubicle farms. Never run out of Sweet & Low. I have plenty of thoughts, ideas and dreams, big and small, as to where I would like to be at the end of the next half-decade. I better get busy, because the next 5 years starts .... NOW.

Making a List, Checking it twice ...

...making sure I don't forget anything for the Pleasanton, CA Scrapbook Expo! I'm sure I will, but I will drive myself crazy double checking the lists of lists I have made. I am, really excited because I have also made some *new* project samples I have not yet had the chance to unveil on the K2R web site. Instead, the Bay Area scrappers will be the first to see them. Plus, I have the first project from the Design Krew. Trisha created an adorable acrylic "BABY" word book, using photos of her daughter. Take a look at the Design Krew's blog to see her handiwork.

If you are planning to attend the Expo this weekend, be sure to stop by the K2R booth and say "hi!" If you mention this blog post to me (the secret word is GREEN!)at the expo, you'll get a little token of my appreciation ...

That said, any orders placed between now and Sunday will be shipped out Monday, St. Patty's Day, since I won't be home to fulfill the orders any earlier.

I hope you all find time to scrap this weekend ... 'cuz I know I won't be! LOL ...

Congratulations to the new K2R Design Krew!

After spending several hours pouring over the design team application I received, I have finally settled on the following, incredibly talented ladies:

Stacy Cohen
Kim Fairbanks
Patricia Jones
Lisa Spiegel

You will be seeing these ladies' works of art and hearing from them on the K2R Message Board and on the NEW K2R Krew blog - www.k2rkrew.blogspot.com - in the coming weeks. They will be creating beautiful pieces using products found at K2R to inspire you as you create your mini books, home decor and acrylic projects. I am very excited to have the pleasure of working with them!

I know judges in every contest say how tough the decisions are and I used to just roll my eyes and say, "Whatever ..." But having to make the choice, myself, this time, I now know what they are talking about! There is a huge amount of talent out there and the sampling that was sent to me was fabulous. I am honored that so many creative people are interested in K2R - just by entering you have given me and my company a great compliment. So, thank you for that.

Now, I'm off to the grindstone again! I am getting ready for the Bay Area Scrapbook Expo in Pleasanton, CA, right now. If you're in NoCal, I hope you'll stop by the Expo and the K2R booth!

I am Al Fresco ...

No, I am not trying to be some kind of new mobster wise guy, Mr. Al Fresco. That is my Porter Paints "Voice of Color." I subcribe to Making Memories Magazine's email ewsletter and the executoive editor pointed reader to this fun game that allows you to input your preferences for your senses and then co,mes out with a color palette that is most appropriate for you, along with a secondary one. I think I'll take my color palette, Al Fresco, fresh greens (think kiwi fruit) and accent with my secondary, Water Beads, refreshing blues (think of the clearest blue seas) and see what I can create in a layout or project. I'll post it here once I am done.

So, have a little fun and visit the site: Porter Paints, The Voice of Color. Maybe it will inspire you to create in a color palette you've never tried before - but will love!

Thanks for all the Design Krew submissions!

Wow! What a response! Thank you to you all who submitted applications to the first K2R Design Krew. I have the tough job this week of going through all these lovely projects and only picking four of you! I'll post the winning names here by the end of the week. Thanks again for your time and effort! I really appreciate your support!