"From the Heart" Crop

K2R is getting warm and fuzzy ... we are doing 12 x 12 acrylic home decor project kits for Scrapbook Royalty's May 31st crop at The Red Bee in Tustin, CA, to benefit the Tyree Family. Volunteer Krewmember Liz Hernandez has been kind enough to donate her time for teaching the class, as I am already committed elsewhere. So, Liz, thank you very much! So, not only can you spend the day cropping with friends, but you can help others while doing it! If you are interested in finding out more about this incredible, affordable crop (Prima's a sponsor and local scrap celebrity Donna Salazar will also be teaching!) log on to www.scrapbookroyalty.com.

New products and a RAK giveaway!

The K2R Design Krew and I have been slaving away, getting some new project ideas ready for you! We have a few new project kits you might want to take a look at:

"MOM" Mother's Day 8 x 8 acrylic album: We have had a lot of inquiries about this project and it is now available for purchase! Click here for more details!

Krew Kits are here! I don't know about you, but I LOVE the challenge of working with pre-selected products! The kit club industry is going strong, so I think there are a lot of us out there! But I don't like the restrictions and policies of monthly clubs. So, I have come up with limited quantities of Krew Kits. These are designer product kits that have papers, embellishments, acrylic, chipboard, etc., in them to create a projects (or projects, depending on your preference!). What will happen is this: Each month (or so) the Design Krew and I will come out with a new Krew Kit, and then post the projects we made with each on our blogs, along with helpful hints as to how to make the project.

This month, Krew Kit #1 features double-sided printed paper from new company Paper Trunk, as well as their very cool and creative chipboard spinning wheel. There is also an 8 x 8 acrylic album from Clear Scraps, five yards of decorative ribbon and a handful of flowers and embellishments.

The photos above (aside from the MOM kit) are photos of the home decor calendar I made with the kit. Acrylic isn't just for albums, of course! I made this because my kindergartner, Will has been studying days of the week, months of the year, season, etc. I figured this would be a fun way for him to change the date each day. He will spin the wheel for the day of the week, change the month (which also denotes the season) by sliding in the correct cardstock piece and move the circle to the right date (it's attached with thin elastic). The bottom panel is for notes, such as important dates, field trip info, grocery lists, etc. I also wanted to make sure that none of the monthly slides would get lost, so on the back side of the month panel, I made a slide pocket to store them, lining the stored slides up with the one showing in the front, so there wasn't anything hanging out from the back.

I did add a few items to the kit from my stash - I was happy to use some things up! I used some scrap cardstock for the monthly slides, the thin elastic, which I inked, an office binder clip for the notes panel, Scenic Route alpha stickers, Creative Imaginations foam stamp alphas (numbers and months) and chipboard letters (the "today" part), brown distressing ink, Espresso and Willow acrylic paint dabbers from Ranger and Diamond Stickles (I blinged up the numbers). I also made a template grid to place under my 8 x 8 acrylic to make sure my calendar numbers lined up OK. If you purchase the Krew Kit, email me at jessica@kits2remember.com and I will email you a copy of the grid if you want it. The rest of the supplies are all in the kit.

Wanna see what else you can create? The K2R Design Krew will be blogging about their project for the next week, but you can get a sneak peek on the Kits2Remember idea page. The Krew Kits come in very limited quantities, so be sure to order today!

The Krew's "Blog and Win" RAK: The Design Krew is giving away an 8 x 8 acrylic album this week! For details, check out their blog: www.k2rkrew.blogspot.com.

A scrappy visitor from Mexico City

While attending CKU Anaheim last summer, I had the pleasure of meeting an avid scrapper from Mexico's national capitol, Rocio Cano. While scrapbooking is expensive, and, therefore, not as popular as it is here in the United States, Rocio is single-handedly trying to introduce the latest scrapbooking trends to her scrappy friends back home. Rocio arrived Thursday to stay with me for the weekend; she wanted to learn the ins and outs of working with acrylic so she could take the information and supplies back to Mexico City to share. Acrylic has not yet been introduced there, although there appears to be a great interest in it.

So, of course, during her visit, we first went to Michaels and JoAnns Thursday night as a scrapbooking "appetizer," to whet our appetites for the day-long acrylic seminar the next day. Friday, I walked Rocio through a number of acrylic projects, showing her how to use different binding methods, inks, paints, layering techniques, etc. We took a break for lunch and shopped at Angel's Scrapbook Garden in Mission Viejo, which is, unfortunately, going out of business and nearly the entire store is 40 percent off. We both stocked up on a number of goodies there!

Next, we went back and finished up a couple of the earlier projects, discussed necessary supplies and then went over to Scrappy Nan's in the evening to crop with her and Laura Miller (Desert Scrappers Weekend Retreats). I loved hearing about the scrap community in Mexico and enjoyed practicing (and us both laughing at my attempts to speak) Spanish, which included learning the true lyrics to the gringo birthday song "La Cucaracha" beyond the fact that it is about a cockroach.

But I must admit, today's activity was the most fun! Rocio, Nan, Nan's daughter Marli and I hit the road to some of our favorite scrappy spots. First off: the Fabric Barn. Anyone who is anywhere near the Long Beach, CA, area at any time and LOVES ribbon has got to stop here. They have thousands of ribbons at fabulous prices and you cut what you want by the yard. Or, you can buy the whole spool for larger projects. Anyway, all three of us did some damage to our pocketbooks at that store! Then it was off to Strictly Scrapbooking in Cerritos and The Red Bee in Tustin, both stores that feature a wonderful selection of supplies. Rocio was able to find a variety of supplies for a fraction of what they sell for in Mexico City and I was able to get some good ol' scrapbook shopping done - something I have not been able to do for quite a while. Now I just need to find the time to USE it all!

Sadly, Rocio had to fly back to Mexico City tonight, an extra suitcase in tow. She was delight, not minding the fact she had to room with my 2-year-old Xan (pictured sharing her iPod above) or that she had her "acrylic seminar" in a dusty garage. Thanks, Rocio, for a fabulous time! Please come back any time!

K2R will be bi-coastal!

One of the main reasons (aside from wanting to own my own business and have fun doing it!) I started Kits2Remember was because it is difficult for me to find a well-paying job in my career because my military family moves so much. A number of people have said I would be a great store owner, and I would love to own a bricks-and-mortar store, but my husband is a career Marine now and Marine Corps families move about every three years. By the time I had a store up and running profitably, I would have to pack up and move again. So, going online and vending at expos and conventions seemed to be the smartest way to go for me and my family.

It turns out my business plan wasn't created in vain. Despite news to the contrary in January, the Marine Corps now considers my husband overdue for a move, so he has been reassigned to become an air traffic control instructor at the Naval base in Pensacola, FL. We just found out about this three weeks ago and have not yet worked out all of the details. I DO know that Kits2Remember will continue as it has been, attending Expos and crops; I will continue to teach classes and share the latest and greatest products and techniques.

My DH and I will be traveling to Pensacola in mid-May for a week to look for a house and check out the area. We will physically move from California to Florida in July. K2R now has the opportunity to make an impact on both coasts!

Now, what does this mean for K2R, the Expo, CKU Provo and Creative Escape? Not much, really. I will be flying back to California for weeks at a time to fulfill my commitments - and have FUN! I still hope to teach at the local SoCal stores when I am in town. I do have some store classes planned for July that I will have to postpone or cancel, but those are the only changes to my scrappy schedule at this time. Whew!

The stores I supply acrylic to on the west coast won't have to worry about additional shipping - my family will assisting with those orders, still shipping from California. Most web orders go out via flat rate boxes, so there won't be any shipping impact for my online customers, either. And as for Expos, I plan to continue to do the California shows I did this year, and adding East Coast shows as early as the Tampa, FL, Scrapbook Expo the first weekend of December 2008.

The CKU Provo bus tour from SoCal to Utah and back is still on and a number of the stores are already lined up (find out more at www.ckubustour.com). And instead of driving out to Creative Escape in Mesa, AZ, I will be flying in - I'll just have to watch how much shopping I do!

Now, I need to find out what scrappy stuff is going on in and around Pensacola. If you know of any stores, crops or scrappy events going on, let me know! I am looking forward to discovering what's hot in the southeast!

And, as always, thank you all for your support and enthusiasm for K2R. Without you, it would not be what it is today!

New products on K2R!

While I was away, the postman was busy delivering (and my Dad was busy dragging the packagaes into my living room each day!) all sorts of goodies! Here is what's up on the site:

Acrylic Idea Books!
These are fabulous and I can;t keep them in stock at Expos! These are by publisher Design Originals and feature either transparent cards or albums. "Clearly Classy Albums" gives you some tips on working with clear albums while "Clearly Cards" shows you some "clearly" fresh ideas for your greetings and paper crafts. Click on the link above to take a look!

Kitlets!
A new kit line from K2R! These kits are finished in 15 minutes or less! Really! And they are perfect for gifts. I started with three 4 x 4 acrylic albums with an acrylic cutout cover. "Graduation" features a rectangular cut out; "Military Dad" features a star cut out and "My Man" features a heart cut out. These are so cute and very affordable. Be sure to check them out for the upcoming graduation, Memorial Day and Father's Day season!

O-rings!
If you are using the Crop-a-dile or Fiskars handdrill to punch holes in your acrylic and chipboard minibooks, you may want different colored o-rings to match your project. Check out the 7Gypsies O-rings now available at K2R!

Back from cruisin!

Here are some pictures of my DH, Rodney, and I enjoying the cruise along Baja Mexico. This is the first cruise we had been on and we had a great time shopping, playing with dolphins and playing some Texas Hold 'Em! Now, I'm ready to jump back in to the real world!

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!