Upon arriving at the American Crafts booth we met Michael and Grant ….. these two guys were so much fun!

We had a quick little chat and a few giggles, and then they brought out the new Clothesline line to show us.  I honestly didn’t think I would like it - but it is fabulous.  After investigating through these papers, I asked if I could take a closer look at the things behind them.

Clothesline line

Gorgeous albums.

If I remember correctly, these things match the Clothesline line.

Cool embellishments.

New ink pads from American Crafts - these are SO smart. You know how we store our ink pads upside down? Well, these ones, the pad is actually in the lid, so they are really upside down when they are right side up. Fabulous colors, and I love that they are stacklabe and you can see what color they are when they are stacked.

The brads that he is holding - gorgeous! The new detailed layered embellies - love them - smaller packaging but oh so cool.

A closer look at the details embellies.

Now that American Crafts has taken over Pebbles, it's nice to see them keeping some of the favorites from Pebbles.

Love these new remarks.

Very cool new page protectors to put right on your scrapbook pages.

Next we got to the “Thickers” and I had a question for them.  “Why do companies put adhesive on the back of their product if it doesn’t always work?”  I explained that I am often asked this question about “Thickers” and many other “self-adhesive” products - not just “Thickers.”  It was so nice to get an answer that makes perfect sense.  I will try and explain.

When they cut the “Thickers” they are cut out of one big piece of adhesive backed chipboard, felt, etc.  The pieces that are in the centers of the letters and around the letters - are hand-picked out of the alphabet sets.  So really the adhesive is there to keep the letters in place on the packaging so we can see the individual letters instead of one solid piece.  (I hope I am making sense here).  They are self-adhesive, but they are not meant to be used without another adhesive.

Okay, I give them that - it makes sense - yes.  And to know that each package is individually done by someone - that was pretty amazing.  So, I did reply - that the packages and/or their description should state - yes, that they are self-adhesive - but it is advisable to use extra adhesive to adhere to your project.  That way, us - as consumers would be happy, and they would not get complaints that they do not stick.  They said that made sense too.

So, we’ll see - do I expect American Crafts to change their “Thickers” packaging because of something I told them - no.  But - I do think it’s important that I could bring your concerns to them, and I was very pleased with their response.  I was also happy to know that whether there is adhesive on them or not - the price we pay would not change.

With that ….. check out the new “Thickers” and colors.

We had a lot of fun at this booth, and spent a lot of time there.  I really want to thank Michael and Grant for taking so much time to talk with us, listen to our concerns, and talk to us about their products.

And after seeing all of this, I said an awful lot more of these ….. “uh huh” “uh huh” “uh huh”

Posted under News, Products, Recipes

We left Thursday the 18th - Bonnie and Sandy left earlier than me and arrived MUCH earlier than me.  Let’s not talk too much about my trip there - after a plane having mechanical problems and making an emergency landing - a 3 1/2 hour delay - not so good.  But, I made it, and a wonderful taxi driver pulled up, loaded my bags, and off we went to the hotel.  The driver was quite talkative, haha - so you know I would get along good with him - and as our conversation continued - it became very clear to me that he had driven Bonnie and Sandy to the hotel about 4 hours earlier.  Funny how he knew about the lady in Manitoba who was having so many troubles - and he told me they thought it was funny.   Funny eh?  (remember this “eh” - we’ll discuss this later)

I arrived at the hotel, tired, but excited that I was finally there.  It wasn’t quite as late as I thought it would be - 11pm Edmonton time - so I would have a little time to chat with Bonnie and Sandy in the room before hitting the hay.  We had an early appointment with Memories Wholesale - 7:30 am - and we were all looking so forward to this.

Arriving at Memories Wholesale - bright and early - we were excited to dive into the scrappy goodness we knew we would find.  I have never met any of the staff in person before, only chatted with them on the phone - so it was going to be very cool to finally meet them.  Bev (who’s in charge of the warehouse) was there to greet us - and we would like to thank her again for getting up so early to allow us to shop.  After walking into the warehouse it was very easy to see that Bev takes great pride in her work - there were rows and rows and rows of scrappy goodies - all so neat and organized - seriously, you could get lost in there for hours.

Needless to say, we had a fabulous time shopping and the staff and owners are fantastic - this is who we met that morning.

Garry (co-owner), Bev, Jen - and Candace (in the front)

It’s nice to see some of the people who package and ship the goodies off to us.  You will meet more of them as I post throughout the week.

Trudy (Garry’s wife) and co-owner - I cannot believe that this is the only picture we have of her.  Sorry Trudy, I guess I do talk too much.  *grin*

Registration wasn’t till 6:30 that evening, so after breakfast, we headed off to the West Edmonton Mall.  Sandy had been there before, but Bonnie and I had not.  The very first place that I had to stop - was Bath and Body Works - oh Yum, I spent quite a bit of time in there - Bonnie and Sandy were patiently waiting for me outside the door.  ;)  We browsed and ended up at the sea lion show.  What a cool job to have - working with these sea lions - I believe there was 3 different ones throughout the show.

We walked around, noted lots of cool and different things, but we did not even cover a third of the mall - it is very huge - and lots of neat things to see.  But alas, we were pooped and wanted to have an early supper before we registered and headed off to our classes.

Vicki Boutin taught our first class - a fabulous 7 Gypsies album - showcasing the new 97% complete Top Ten stickers and the new Avignon papers.  Poor Vicki arrived in Edmonton - but they sent her luggage to BC - and she was not going to get it before she left again on Saturday.  Sure hope she got it back by the time she arrived home.

Her class was awesome and she showcased the new 7 Gypsies products perfectly in this class.

At the 7Gypsies booth, Justin had lots to show me.  Now speaking of Justin, Canadian’s say “eh” -  but Justin and actually quite a few of the American reps - they say “uh huh.”  And I do believe they say “uh huh” a lot more than we say “eh.”  And, it’s very easy to pick up on, as we found that we began saying “uh huh” quite a bit throughout the weekend.  It was pretty easy when we saw some of their products.  Do you want to order this …. “uh huh”

4 x 6 picture/printer frames/trays - Awesome! "uh huh"

Cool new notepads. "uh huh"

7G book covers turned into an awesome mini album. "uh huh"

Revolving photo carousel "uh huh"

Photo stands and another view of the notebooks. "uh huh"

Vintage receipt holder. "uh huh"

Print trays. "uh huh"

Dangle paper clips. "uh huh"

Print tray. "uh huh"

Are you seeing how easy it was to pick up on the “uh huh” ….. *grin*

Over the next few days, I will be showing you more “droolworthy” products and more highlights from the show.

Posted under News, Products, Recipes

Wasn’t this amazing?  If you missed the winning gold medal run - watch here and the flower ceremony here.

Bravo Alexandre Bilodeau!!!

Will you be doing a layout of this moment - Canada’s first gold on home soil?

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The winners from yesterday’s blog post as chosen by Random.org are

And the winners are - from their comment #…..

1.   cindye February 14, 2010 10:32 am
Hoping to some challenges done.

4.   Angele February 14, 2010 10:46 am
Woohoo! Happy Valentines Day Lori!! I *heart* those hearts
I’m trying to get my scrapping in before curling starts for the day!

23. Ali February 14, 2010 9:58 pm
Happy Valentine’s!  Those are cute little hearts!

6.  Martine February 14, 2010 11:33 am
Happy Valentine’s Day and happy online crop day!!
I’m getting a late start to the day, but hopefully I’ll be productive soon!

17. Thelma February 14, 2010 5:57 pm
Lovin’ the hearts!  Happy Valentine’s Day

Big Congrats Ladies - hope you enjoy your hearts!

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What are you up to today?  Scrapping, Olympics, family time ….. or all of the above?

Posted under News