{keeping busy}

Just a small note about keeping busy... I really feel blessed that I have so many enjoyments in my life. I love the many creative outlets I have and what it means to me. With RE/MAX, I really enjoy helping others find HOME! I love seeing all the houses we tour and the vision of what they could be! With live.love.scrap, I am able to help people preserve memories and design with my ideas. Both are extremely rewarding.

There is much to be said for keeping busy:

1. You feel satisfied at the end of the day that you accomplished something

2. Your head hits the pillow and you fall asleep

3. There isn't enough time to sit and over eat! {whew!}

If there is anyway that I can be of assistance to anyone, just give me a buzz! I would love to help you find your next home! And I would be more than willing to help you with your next project vision. I even occasionally do home calls for interior design {See you soon Denee!}

Graphic 45

Its here! Graphic 45 has arrived at live.love.scrap. It is so very cute and moving fast. Look at this sweet little mini album and layout from their blog! So many possibilities. check them out at http://www.g45papers.com/

{delicious}

This is NOT a great picture....but this is my lovely new chaise lounge! My mom and I found this sweet little corduroy number while vintage shopping. It is in great condition, super comfy, and perfect for my new office! More photos to come of my new office...

{i would love to hear of other blogs that you guys have discovered, please comment... and share the info!}

Spill Your Heart Out!!!!!

Now, don't you wish you were here?

Our Grand Prize winner, Kacellia is glad she came!

Check out even more specialty crops coming soon!

Screaming?

I absolutely LOVE this little vintage find. It makes me smile every time I look at it beside my desk. What does it have to do with? Who knows! But I think it is so very sweet and very funny. I kinda feel like that lately...like anyone could push MY button and I would possibly just SCREAM. I think my plate has been just a bit full and my mind is on alot of things. I am all over the place with the shop and Real Estate... but when all is said and done, I kinda enjoy the chaos. Just watch out, I still may scream! Hehe. I have a few things to run by you...

1. I would like to create a "SIGNIFICANT OTHER" E-MAILING LIST. It is my solution to the "perfect gift" problem. I would like to gather emails of those who would like to be notified when we have a great idea/promo for special events, holidays etc... they would only get an email every few months (so it wouldn't be bothersome) and it would ONLY go to them... so they could surprise their dear ones with something from the boutique. Like?

2. We are currently running a sweet little promo at live.love.scrap... for valentines day, you can receive the cutest little packaged gift certificate from us, you just have to let that special someone know! (and next time, if they are on the NEW email list, you don't have to be the middleman. what a surprise!)

This weekend

This weekend is the "Spill your heart out CROP" at livelovescrap! I am so excited for this event! We are going to have lots of sweet treats to snack on... and tons of fun! I will be doing a few fun things at the crop to prepare you for this upcoming holiday of VALENTINES DAY:

1. We will be making 2 cards. You will learn some new techniques, INCLUDING the one above... which is making these delicious dimensional flowers!

2. I will have 2 other projects out for display for INSPIRATION to complete a wonderful gift for your honey. One will be a layout, that can be mounted to chipboard or canvas and hung! (if you are interested in this idea, come with 1-2 large photos (5x7 or 6x8). Another project will be a small mini album... bring about 10 photos for this one. I will be doing mine in all black&white. You can do whatever you wish!

The big MOVE

Isn't this card cute? It was created using NEW Cosmo Cricket paper, lovely silk ribbon from the shop and sweet BASIC GREY stamps. Stop by the store to pick up these items, ALSO.... I now have items in my shop at etsy.com (the place for all things vintage and handmade)!

Feel free to stop in there and shop too

polkadotowl.etsy.com

AND BY THE WAY...

We are getting closer and closer to finalizing details of our live.love.scrap BIG MOVE! We met with the building owner yesterday to hammer out more details and we should be able to announce the LOCATION soon! I do have a few details I can announce:

1. Our GRAND OPENING is tentatively scheduled for MAY 9, 2009!


2. I am so INSPIRED I can hardly stand it!


3. We are going to be even BETTER than ever!


4. We have some amazing VINTAGE displays on order that everyone will LOVE!

lovely things

What a lovely surprise.

Myself, Mom, and Terri spent a few days at "429" creating projects for the upcoming move, for etsy and for live.love.scrap OF COURSE! All possible because of this beautiful snow storm and school closings! What a better time than a snow day to get all your projects complete!

We are all set up for a girls weekend of designing. Our friends are joining and we are getting too excited to bear it! What a LOVELY thing.

I love the snow. It is such a serene and beautiful experience. lovely.

A few peeks at an on-going project of mine. I have a big love for sweet little banners. I have one from Moda that I absolutely adore, it is a Happy Birthday one and I hang it whenever I get a chance....in fact, it is difficult for me to remove it, and it usually graces us with birthday cheer for about a month each time! Anyway.... I decided to make a few of my own. This one will be from paper...vintage music mostly. I also plan to make a few fabric ones as well. What fun! I cant wait to hang one in my studio. Where it can grace me with its presence ALWAYS!

A lovely glass container from McMaster and Storm. I am not sure what to place in it yet... but for now it houses my altered book about "snow days"; how appropriate.

Quick tip:

paint little frames to showcase a favorite image, picture or anything you love. I gave it several coats, but still let the gold show through in certain areas. I also used these frames at a dinner party we had. I took the cute little making memories ledger stickers and created a "desserts" "beverages" "entrees" etc in each one. It was so cute in front of each section. Have fun!

New Projects

Yesterday I had alot of things to do on my list... the first of which was GET MY HAIR DONE! I am really having fun with the new "dark" me, but the "do-it yourself" products just were not cutting it! They continued to keep fading out into a yucky color I cant even describe. So... I took some advice of a dear friend and hit up the "Designs by Tanya" Salon in Enon, Ohio. What a great little place! It has all the charm that I love and HEATHER did an amazing job! Thanks again Heather... and Allison for the recommendation.

I also had alot of ideas swirling around in my head... I couldn't wait to put them into use and onto paper. I have been designing alot with so many new things.... here is a sneak peek.

Love our NEW nesting fill. It is great for packaging, home decor and I even decided to create a little NEST on my latest page. Very simple! I just added a few pearls and wa-la... instant nest.

I have also been obsessed with folding tags over the edge of my layouts for a very sweet layering effect. I have especially been loving anything bronzy-gold and our new tags by twogirlzstuff... a local very talented designer, Aja. These will be in the shop very soon!

I think I mentioned before I love the new DEER trend. I have been using it quite a bit! Sweet little A.J is perfect for this little sentiment...what a dear heart. I also am very inspired by flocked paper, so very vintage.

Remember to layer lots of trims and ribbons on your page. I also threw a bit of fabric on this for some texture! This layout had LOTS of texture actually... between the flocked paper, trims and fabric scraps - it was tough to find a journaling surface!

These new flowers are bound to make several appearances on my pages... I watched the great little YouTube clip on Cosmo Crickets blog. I love making these... check out the link to their blog for instructions!

Velvet trims, gold crowns and painted cardboard scraps...

and of course as I said - those flowers!

Add a few pearls or rhinestones for a lovely center.

Spring is here

Now that Spring is just around the corner...that means so is CHA. For those of you that are not familiar with CHA... it is the Craft and Hobby Association. They put on 2 big conventions each year, and that is where all the companies gather to showcase NEW RELEASES. Well, hooray... the preordering has begun! We just finished ordering the 3 new lines from Crate Paper's New Spring 2009. These included Little Sprout, Lillian and Orbit. All 3 are just tooo cute. As designers, we LOVE Crate's stuff! The paper is the most beautiful texture. If you have not tried it, stop by the store and pick some up! Happy creating and we will keep you posted.

Matilda Jane

Matilda Jane Clothing! I love it sooo much. I have a sweet friend Denee... she is the local trunk keeper for "Matilda Jane"... and she hosts the most wonderful events so you can purchase these wonderful and unique items! The line has recently expanded, she has adorable girl and boys clothes. They even have a women's line now too! You really should consider booking a trunk show with Denee... WARNING though, you will become addicted! It is on my top 5 list of addictions that get me into trouble! Call Denee... she books up quickly! DKochersperger@MatildaJaneClothing.com

http://www.matildajaneclothing.com/

http://www.matildajane.typepad.com/

I just love the Matilda Jane blog. She has such a beautiful eye for photography and they are so fun! I love this picture of this trunk and her toes... Her polish is so cute! I am trying to be more creative and refined in my photography this year. I think it might even be time for a class! Maybe when everything slows down! But for now I am going to try and give myself some challenges... TRY: to take a photo at an object below you. Make it something unexpected an interesting. Something maybe we all overlook that can be beautiful. I would love to see/hear how that goes for you.

Country Home

Last night... very late, I had to make a grocery run because we were out of MILK! This is like a nightmare in our house! So I picked up this Country Home magazine in the checkout. I wanted to share with everyone just how inspiring this issue is! There are so many fun ideas for vintage displays, places to shop online, and even amazing labels to download. Check it out! I would buy the issue and get online at www.countryhome.com

get organized

Whew, my studio looks like a whirlwind came through. It doesn't really matter how "tidy" I make it though... it only takes a few moments once I start working to mess it all up again. However, I would like to share with you a few tips to keep you inspired and productive. Even if you are like me... and mess all your CLEAN progress up right away, it is still important to START tidy.

1. Train yourself to pick everything up after you complete your project or work for the day. When you arrive at your space the next time, you can start fresh with a clean and uncluttered area. This will keep you from being overwhelmed, and your creativity can bloom unhindered.

2. Find a really great "organizer" piece. I LOVE this one pictured above. It holds so many small items and has lots of places to label each section. The top has an adorable scallop edge and it spins! This type of storage is key to keeping you cleaned up and it is easy access to the items you need.

3. A scrap BOX. Probably hands down, THE essential in my studio. It is a vintage tray that is very large. The important thing is to make sure it is much bigger than 12x12. I believe mine is 20x20. It is also probably 5 inches deep. I can easily toss any scraps large or small into this roomy open box and they do not become damaged. It is easy to access ( right behind my workspace) and I grab from it to make a quick card or so.

I really like the "deer" trend we have been seeing lately. I have created several quick projects with sweet DEAR sentiments on them. "I love you my dear" "you are so dear to me" etc...
Very fun.

What an amazing discovery. This sweet bolt of vintage ricrac has about 300 yards of delightfulness on it. So lovely!

Just Perfect

Let that loved one in your life know..."yes, a gift certificate from live.love.scrap is just the perfect way to show you love me"

Cosmo Cricket

I know... I screamed too! I am so excited about Cosmo Cricket's 2 NEW lines that are shipping to live.love.scrap as we speak. Also, check out the other fun all-NEW lines that arrived at live.love.scrap today! Including Little Yellow Bicycle, Making Memories, Fancy Pants and MOREI cant decide which line I like better, I am just glad I have a niece and a nephew! Also, since my childhood nickname is Katiebug... that is so convenient for the "Girl Friday" line!

Be sure to go to www.cosmocricket.com to preview the line... it will be in store any day now!


We have all been talking about the lack of any CUTE sea creature lines! Well here it is... so super cute. I just might need to take a vacation to somewhere Ocean-y!

Where have we been?

We are still here! Apologies for the massive amount of time with NO POSTING! live.love.scrap is still in the picture, and stronger than ever! We just recently announced that we will be making a MOVE this year... it is TRUE. Please be patient, the location will be announced when the time is appropriate. We appreciate all of our loyal customers... and would like to say this. Wherever we move to, we are confident you will LOVE, I mean ABSOLUTELY LOVE the transformation. Of course it will be DIFFERENT, change is GOOD and NECESSARY sometimes. But know this, we are even more INSPIRED than EVER before, and we will make this new JOURNEY worth the while. You know what to expect from us, and we plan to deliver! If you LOVE our current style... expect to see even more VINTAGE, BOUTIQUE PRODUCTS, and an overall better INSPIRING EXPERIENCE. You will not be disappointed. Please continue to check our website, keep up on the blog, and stop by the store. New items will be arriving everyday. We thank you for your continued support. This holiday season was a tough one, everyone had to reflect upon the current economic situation and PINCH accordingly... and we were no exception. NEW items and the same favorites are IN STORE now, and we are so happy that you continue to choose US! We are happy to help you in your creative journey... check out the "more space" than ever in our crop room. We can help you with ideas and product, book your crop today! Even in tougher times, it is important to preserve your memories! See you soon.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

Christmas is, by far, my favorite holiday and it has been ever since I can remember. I am getting ready to celebrate my 24th Christmas and I consider myself so lucky to have friends and family that enjoy this season as much as me and are as excited as I am to share the joys of the season.

I love baking cookies and my family is so indulgent of my "cookie days", a full day when the kitchen is out-of-bounds to anyone not willing to "pass me that teaspoon" or "check that batch in the oven, I think they're burning!". I usually have my baking days at my parent's house because it comes equipped with four fluffy vacuum cleaners, a.k.a. Otis, Prissy, Coco, and Danny!

Isn't Prissy the cutest thing ever?!

There's nothing better after a long day in the kitchen, than piling up a plate with all my sugary creations and sitting down with some hot tea and a great movie! My mom and I are addicted to movies from the 40's and 50's and would probably watch "White Christmas" and "It's A Wonderful Life" once a day if my dad and brother would let us. Since they like a little more variety in their movie-viewing, we like to break up the so-called monotony with "The Polar Express", "Scrooge, The Musical", and one of our newer favorites, "Black Adder's A Christmas Carol". (We searched for it for years! My mom finally found it on eBay, along with the adorable "A Wish For Wings That Work" which is a holiday tale with the cartoon characters, Opus and Bill.) My family is never in want of a good holiday movie... we actually have an entire DVD case devoted to them!

I think everyone here at the store is pretty excited about the holidays, too... especially since I have started bombarding them with my collection of Christmas music! If you need to hear some good Christmassy tunes, just stop in and you're bound be serenaded by Sinatra or Bing or even Tom Hanks! We have started decorating around here, too in order to supply you with endless inspiration!

Katie put this card together for our "Black Friday" Make 'n' Take!

We have a few fun events coming up this month for the holidays. This first is our fabulous "Santa's Workshop" which should be tons of fun! Get all your holiday shopping done in the Workshop and find all kinds of wonderful creations by local artisans! The Workshop will be open the whole month of December, so stop by and see what you can see!

We will also be having a photography day soon! (More info coming soon!) This will be the opportune time for you to get your Christmas portraits done for this year! We have a really amazing background planned, starting with this amazing sleigh...

That gorgeous thing is 101 years old and is just waiting to be decorated for the photo shoot! The Yates's have adopted it and re-finished it and aren't we glad! Stop by the store often to see what other holiday goodies we have in store for you! And don't forget to make the very best of the season!

Love, Stephanie!

Where I have been???

Hi all! Wow, has it been a whirlwind month for the Vanderbergs!

Addie had her third homecoming, just one more to go until she's off to college! She looked amazing and of course had a wonderful time with all of her friends!

We went camping where a pasture of poison ivy attacked my leg. Can you believe that??? This is Vandy drying off from the poison ivy scrub. I, of course, wasn't that lucky. I scrubbed and scrubbed, but still I managed to get a pretty healthy dose of the nasty weed. And fooey on clorox, it burned and it still didn't go away for a week and a half.When we got back from our adventureous camping trip I threw a bachelorette party and our son got married the following weekend!

This is Justin, the son, and his new bride Marianna talking to his sister in Mali! It was a beautiful event and I have to say, Pumpkin Squash Lasagna at the Winds Cafe in Yellows Springs is to die for ... only the month of October, so get in there before the month is over! And below is a picture of me and Vandy all dressed up. Remember me mentioning the poison ivy, well it doesn't feel any better when you have to put on a pair of nylons with your fancy dress! Needless to say, by 10:00pm I had a run in my stockings! Soooooo ........ enough of that ...

Now we are preparing for the Fall Retreat! Yippeeeeeeee ..... Can you believe it is only a couple weeks away! Do you have all your projects ready? Remember just like in girl scouts .. be prepared! We will be having special trips to the store for great retreat savings! Katie and I are also teaching two mini classes, an earlybird and nightowl on Saturday .. guess who is teaching the earlybird!!! Also, we will be making Tim Holtz necklaces for only $5! Addie had me make them for each of her BFF's for Christmas this year and they are so fun and cute!

AND for all you digi people, we finally got Prima's digi stuff in and Michelle will be teaching those classes in the upcoming months! So look for them .... I'll post a sample or two here in the next couple days! Until then .. happy scrapping! ~ Allison

Scrap Pink THANK YOU!

We would like to extend a special THANK YOU to all our fabulous
customers for supporting Scrap Pink 2008 at live.love.scrap. We had
so much fun raising money for the Susan G. Komen foundation and
we couldn't have done it without you! We also want to thank all
the businesses that helped us out with their generous donations!
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City BBQ
Xenia Kroger
Fairborn Kroger
Fairborn Carry-Out Pizza Hut
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Scrap Pink 2008 was great success thanks to a wonderful
community coming together to give back! Thanks again!

"The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy." ~Streep

Scrap Pink is in a little over one week and we are all so excited to play such a special part in the fight against breast cancer. Most of us here have had our lives touched by this horrible disease, whether through family or friends, and we know many of you have endured alongside mothers, sisters, daughters and friends. Because breast cancer effects so many, we want to allow for every opportunity we can to support wonderful organizations like Susan G. Koman for the Cure.

We still have a few spaces available for the Scrap Pink Crop. In addition to a fabulous day of scrapbooking and spending time together, a portion of each crop fee will be donated to Komen for the Cure. We will also be hosting a luminaria ceremony after dark to show support for the victims and survivors of this disease. (Crop is Saturday, September 27th from 10am-2am. Please call us if you have questions or want to sign up!)

If you want to contribute even more it's as easy as buying a raffle ticket! We were surprised with a very generous donation from the brand new Hilton Garden Inn in Beavercreek and we are raffling off this fabulous prize during Scrap Pink! Raffle tickets are only $1 each or get 6 for just $5! All proceeds will go to to Komen for the Cure! The winner will receive a one night stay in a romantic suite at the Hilton Garden Inn, champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, and more! There is no limit to the number of ticket you may purchase and you do not have the be present to win! This is such a simple way to show your support for breast cancer research and treatment and you never know... you may be the winner! (Drawing will be held at 2pm on Saturday, September 27th. Winner will be notified immediately.)

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Breast cancer makes an impression on all of us in ways big and small. We can fight back just as hard. Scrap Pink gives us the opportunity to combine something we love with a cause we feel so strongly about. Let's take this chance to come together with our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends to enjoy our time together and lend our strength to the battle against breast cancer.