Don't you love friends. I have been really blessed in my life to have some wonderful friends. Friends come in many packages. Your brothers & sisters, parents, the kind you only see once in a while but it is like you haven't ever been out of touch, you like the same movies, books and things to do, your scrapbooking, your exercise, and of course your shopping friends. The friends you tell everything to, and the "friends" you do not.
Life is good. We have the opportunity to make new friends everyday. I always say "you never know who you are going to like."
Friends balance our chaotic lifestyles. Bring warmth on cold days, support us, defend us, cry with us, tell us to suck it up and pull up our boot straps (only the true friend) laugh with us, and occasionally at us. I have just been really blessed with great friends who help me be a better person, try harder, keep inspiring me, encouraging me. So what about your friends? This week send a little thinking of you note, make a phone call, send an email. It is approaching Thanksgiving, what better time than now to be grateful and show that gratitude for all the fantastic friends in our lives.
The online store is ready to go live-we have received lots of new holiday product to keep inspiring you to create! Check us out and please post all your own fun and totally creative ideas in the gallery!

Back to Basics

We are hearing that a lot these days, cut back, budget, regroup. All good things, sometimes it is just harder than usual. With the economy taking a bite out of practically everything these days our days of big scrapping budgets are whittled. In my case, no more big stamp shopping spree's. I have been packing and unpacking for days and it has made me really take a hard look at, well, stuff. I have been thinking about all the scrapping that gets sacrificed at "times" like these. I don't think that scrapbooking or any paper crafting for that matter is a phase. I think that keeping your family histories, documenting our lives however we do it is important. I thought about ways I economize on my scrapping habits. I used to keep all my scraps no matter the size. Now I evaluate honestly, will I ever use this again? Am I just making more work for myself in the long run? I am sure we all think we will use every little scrap-whatever. So instead of keeping every little scrap that I will lug around until I can't stand it anymore, I economize on adhesive. Most good adhesives are just that, good. We don't need to slather it on to get items to stick. We can use minimal glue and still get perfectly fine results. Of course there are always exceptions to this rule. But for the most part this can be a good way to make your $$$ go further. I don't recommend cheaper glue. You will just be disappointed with the results. After all, it is like they always say, you pay for what you get. So get good stuff, and use it sparingly. I guess I had better go, I have a big black and white cat who keeps trying to sit on the keyboard and I have enoOunfh time spelling correctly!

New Beginnings

Today starts a new beginning for me. Our physical store will become a virtual store on Oct 30th. It is definitely a new adventure and I look forward to the challenge. I will, though, miss all my customers and the friendships we have shared. The ups and downs of life complicated, happy, sad. We have watched children grow, and lives change. It has been a privilege and a marvelous opportunity to get to know you. You are remarkable, kind and giving. You have supported us through many challenges, especially the loss of Dad.
I will miss you most. I am ready to try new things. I am way behind in the "virtual" realm, avatars? We have been receiving new products and are working towards having everything ready to convert. I have spent hours finding new rubber stamp companies saying good bye to some old friends and making new ones! We will be doing lots of custom pages and embellishments, using our extensive collection of dies and some new ones( I am so NOT allowed to look at any more dies) So you will still be able to find fun and creative items to inspire! We will still be meeting as clubs and working out the details in our virtual classes. Sp please keep in touch. Read your emails and check us out on the web. www.keepsakesandmemories.com Please continue to post all your fun creations. You are so talented!

I am going to continue to create and take some time to pursue other creative options! Like actually use some of the cookbooks I like to collect!

Back to School

Where has the Summer gone? It feels like summer. I have enjoyed the rain of late, my hair not so much. It has been a busy week, my friends and I donate to the crayons to calculators every year and this year we could hardly get our hands on the items needed. I was really surprised-but at the same time it reminded me of the "freshness" of each new school year. A new school year meant of course new clothes, but also the opportunity to met new friends and reconnect with friends you haven't seen in a while.

Time to Travel

I haven't been on vacation in a long time. This summer I get to go up to Oregon for the first time and visit some family and their new baby! I am so excited to see the ocean and eat seafood, just enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors. A different great outdoors. No real plans just going to wander up the coast line and see some lighthouses and tide pools. I will need to plan ahead again for the next trip and stay in a yurt on the coast. That sounded like fun! I will be taking lots of pictures ( of course) and post some when I return. Don't forget that you can post pages, cards, projects, all things beautiful in the gallery!

I have been busy planning classes-for when I return. I have been playing quite a bit with acetate and really enjoy this medium to work with. I also love sunflowers, so you can guess why I loved this card. Check out the website for full details on the other classes. Don't miss the Fall Room Book (there's limited class space) it's going to be too much fun to make and have!

You make the difference

* Just a quick note of thanks to all the new friends we met who participated in the scrapaganza shop hop! New faces and lots of stories to be told.

Scrapbooking is just that, a story waiting to be told! Only you have the skills to make the story come to life. Bringing photos and journaling together to document the journey, to talk about the good and the not so good. To share experiences with those we love and those we haven’t met yet. We make the difference. Every minute that we spend documenting the events in our lives makes a difference in someone else’s.

I have had the opportunity lately to converse with lots of different people about why I scrapbook. Yes, there are people out there who still believe this is a fad craft? A fad craft? We are not talking macrame here. There are those who doubt that it would matter to anyone in their family whether or not they recorded what was happening. So not true. Try this little test leave a scrapbook out where everyone can look through it. They can't resist the pull of looking into someones life. Everyone does it. And more often than not they want to know more, they read the journaling. Everyone has a story. What does your say?

When you think that the days speed by and you haven't got the time to scrap. Remember what it felt like the first time you saw an album, or the first time you completed an album. That pure joy just in completion. We are all busy with the day to day activities that make our lives hectic. Retreat to your scrap place and enjoy the journey of categorizing your photos, making notes for journaling, deciding just the perfect embellishment. You are the most important part of your scrapbook. No one can do it for you. Your thoughts and feelings are reflected not only in the way you took the time to take those all important shots, but in the time you took to document the things going on at the time. You are the only one with the power to tell the story behind your photos. It doesn't matter if you took 3 rolls of film or one perfect picture. The fact of the matter is you took it. You took the first step down a path that leads to satisfaction in a job only you can do. Any time will make a difference. Don't beat up on yourself or avoid it all together, make each moment count when working. Remember that you make the difference in your scrapbook, slow, fast, extravagant or simple, it all works.

Take this challenge this summer. Do a day in the life spread on each of your loved ones, in any shape and form, record the moments with heartfelt journaling. They will be your favorite pages in the years to come-you took the time to record for posterity.

YOU MAKE THE DIFFERENCE!

Take Suzanne's Summer 2008 Challenge - feel free to post your layouts in the "challenges" section of the K&M Gallery, there's a special section just for this challenge.

In Celebration of Fathers

My Father has been gone for a few years now. As I was reflecting this past Sunday about Fathers I was thinking about all that my father has done to influence me in my life. My Dad was always kind, nonjudgmental, hard working, self sacrificing, smart, happy. He had a dry sense of humor and liked to laugh. He loved blue spruce trees and good food. He liked having a garden but not so much on the actual gardening. He was honest and forthright. He lead by example and always with sensitivity to others. He loved his family. He taught us to be good upstanding citizens, he served his country and loved it. He was raised on a dairy farm and taught us about hard work and all the benefits of a job well done. My Mom and Dad have been the most influential people in my life. They loved, supported, taught and modeled the way for us as children to follow. I miss my Dad. I am sure that he would have really enjoyed spending time with all the new grand babies and seeing the changes in the store. He built all the displays for us. They remind me of him and how much he loved me. What a blessing.