Getting Settled

It's the beginning of week 5, and I'm about to get settled in. Oh, the house has been settled for a couple of weeks...it's the DreamRoom that is progressing. I am designing it so it fits MY needs. So I've been cautious of bringing anything out of the basement, until I have a workable place for it. Now, some things may just stay down there (It's a finished basement, not like the scary ones in older homes in Oklahoma). It is as big as half of the house, so there's plenty of space. So here's a picture of my work space....

It's a little blurry, but I took it with my cell. I bought legs, painted them apple green (what else?), and added them to the counter top. You may remember the counter top as the check-out counter in the store or as the work station in the last space. On the opposite wall, I have hung the magnetic boards vertically beside each other. A short stack of plastic paper holders sorts my cardstock into colors. Then I have the printer and computer on the desk next to all that. With the doors off of the closet, my 3 rolling carts with all my embellishments, glue, etc fit wonderfully next to my 30 plastic paper holders.
Ribbon hanging from clothes hangers (I clipped the end with a wire cutter, bent up a piece to hold the bottom wire. Instant ribbon holder!) and albums on the shelf...it's scary how organized I've gotten. But then, with no friends, I have plenty of time!
I think I'm going to absolutely pour out inspiration from this room. The trundle bed fits on the far wall . I'll need the extra bed space when the girls come up in August for the ScrapBook Expo. With a window to bring in wonderful light, the only thing this space misses is my friends.

Well, there you have it....kinda long blog today...but finally some pictures. Girls, if I can get this organized, just think how your space can look. Send me pictures at our grou.ps forum, www.grou.ps/dreamersKlub.com. or at my email, dreamsandmemories@yahoo.com. The first 5 to send me a will get a paper pack with 10 assorted papers in it. Thanks girls, and....

Keep Dreamin'

Pam

At Home in Bolingbrook?

I'm not real sure of that title. But we are here, and almost settled in. It has been a woman's dream...shopping! We spent the entire first weekend shopping, yes Steve went. Into furniture stores, Best Buy, Target, Sears, Jewell Osco. We even ran into our friends David & Curtis (yes, Sally, even here I saw someone I knew out shopping!). Dinner out with them on Saturday night. It's a whole new world for me.
And I'm almost scrapping!! Ok, not really. But I have legs painted and on the counter top so I have a 7 x 5 workspace! Plus my computer desk. Now I just need to unpack MY boxes and settle in. The first Kit Of the Month should be ready to view the first week in May.
Speaking of the first week in May (Mother's Day Weekend & the following week), I will be in Sand Springs. Krista graduates from TCC, Erick graduates from OSU with his Masters, and my God-Child Carly will be graduating from high school. I can't stand to miss these 3 major events! So therefore, I should be available to crop on Saturday night, May 9, if you girls could find us a spot. We could do the first KOTM together!
I haven't found my USB cord yet, but as soon as I do, I'll give you a tour of my scrap room. I may even have a contest coming up... stay tuned and keep dreamin!

Pam

New Year, New Inspirations

Well, the New Year is here. Yes, I've been so busy that I just realized that! With the move and all, I'm really stretching myself to stay positive...and creative. With thousands of junk things rolling around in my head, where to live in Chicago, how much of our stuff are we going to move, gotta see "so-so" before we leave, you know, Stuff, that I haven't even thought about scrapbooking. My practical side has taken over...and...

I NEED SOME CROPPING TIME!!!

Sorry for the yelling. But I do feel better. I'll be moving my scanner home over the weekend? Maybe on Monday, so I can start showing you guys some of the fun stuff I want to create that is rollin in the other side of my head. I promise this will become a scrap blog again. Really. Scouts Honor.

Some things I've found during my fits of insomnia, are on-line classes. There are a couple of really cool sites out there. Forget sleep one night, and cruise on down the web. Probably my favorite site is We Scrap. I've been a member for a couple of years, although a paid membership is not necessary. But it has perks, so check them out. But the site has wonderful challenges, fun forums, Quote of the Day, and occaisionally free classes. I love the interaction and they are not trying to just sell me their products. It is truly an international site. Check it out. You'll love it.

Tuesday I'll start the clearance sales at the store...pretty much everything the new owners don't want will be 50% off. I need it to sale, cause I sure don't need it sitting around my house. Come by and browse.

Another shameless plug..I still have spaces available for the Dream Retreat. I have 5 brand new retreaters this time...can't wait to wow them. Come join us.(if you are on my email list, you received a $30 off retreat coupon. If you don't have one, drop me a line at dreamsandmemories@yahoo.com and I'll get you one!)

And in the meantime...

Keep Dreamin

Pam

Weekend Getaway

I wish I could relive this weekend! I had some of the girls from the store to the house for a retreat. We did the usual scrapbook things..eat, crop, laugh, crop. You'll notice that sleep didn't make the list! This weekend was a "Thank You" to these ladies (and Erick) for all the support they give me. Sally finished 17 pages, Adeline 14 (she had to work from 8-3, but she finished all the pictures she had planned to!), Patty finished 9 (she was gone all day Saturday to a previously scheduled family event), Krista got about 8 or 9 pages, and I got 12 of my mini pages done.
We had time to talk about the CKC Convention in Tulsa in August. We are getting a hotel room and making a weekend of it!
Speaking of the convention...this month's challenge has been decided. You have 2 choices this month:

1. "Defining Moment" this is the page title for the CKC contest. If we have it finished by July, there will be no excuse not to enter.
2. Or do a simple layout for the Simple Scrapbook contest. From the way I read it, there isn't a theme...just your best simple layout.

So come on girls, get with it. Remember, all who take up the challenge and have them to the store by June 25th get a $2 off coupon & a chance at this month's drawing. I'm giving away a page kit using the Shore Thing paper. I can't wait to learn more about Your Defining Moment.

Pam

Keep Dreamin'

Retreat Site

We have a retreat site! It is in Broken Bow at Deer Creek Resort. We are staying in the Casa Grande Cabin. It sleeps 16 and is beautiful. You can see it at www.deercrkresort.com. The dates are March 7,8,& 9. The cost is $125, with $75 deposit due by February 20th. I'm late for work (again, I should fire myself!) so I gotta run. More later!

Keep Dreamin
Pam

CKC Houston

I want to start by saying, if you haven't been to a scrapbook convention, RUN don't walk to your computer and sign up NOW! My friend Patty & I went to the Creative Keepsakes Convention (CKC) in Houston this past weekend. No hubby, no kids, no job...it was heaven! CK sure knows how to show a girl a good time. We took 5 classes, volunteered for the Saturday night crop & shopped. We even got to see my friends Laura & Howard from ScrapMart. It was Houston's first year to host CKC, so the crowds weren't as big as I expected.

I took three classes from QuickQuotes. I'll be carrying their products in the store soon, so I needed some displays! (how's that for a tax write-off?) One of their kits had paper that is not yet available to purchase! The kit from SEI is also a new product...I'll get pictures in here tomorrow with the scoop.(sshhh it's a secret)

Lance from Rusty Pickle taught our other class. We made a chipboard album & he taught us some really cool "techniques". Or just new ways to add stuff to your album. Whatever you want to call it, the finished product is awesome. It was the "Smiles" class. I love this hobby so much.

Steve is finally getting over his broncituss(not spelled right, but can't get this spell check to work). He's always been very active and is really tired of just laying around. I'm glad he is getting better. We have his company "Christmas Dinner" at the Polo Grill on Friday. (yes, Christmas is over, but we had to cancel it because of the ice storm)
Hope everyone got a chance today to put some adhesive on some paper.
Keep Dreamin Pammie Kay

. Name your two favorite scrapbook topics.
Grandsons & my youth group at church
2. What are the two best places you've been to?
Philadelphia (I got goosebumps when I saw Independence Hall!) and our
latest trip to Maine for the birth of grandson Ethan (although CHA was a
highlight of last year!)
3. Name two things you do every day?
Talk to my daughter & read a devotion
4. Tell us two things that everyone pretty much knows about you?
I love to paper craft & my family (ok, most days!)
5. Two places you wish to visit?
The beaches of Normandy & Ireland, to look up family headstones
6. Two things you may not know about me are:
I love the smell of sheets after they've been hung on the clothesline & my
Great-Grandfather (many greats actually) is Daniel Boone
7. Two nicknames you've had at some time in your life:
Pammie Kay because I have a cousin who is also a Pam & Mamma Funk by
the youth that I "mothered" on band and choir trips
9. What are two interesting (in a good or bad way) jobs you've had in your life?
I was a camp counselor at Lutheran Church camps for many years and I was
a chair-side assistant in a dental office for about 3 years
10. What are two things you would like to learn?
I've always wanted to speak Spanish and to play a hammered dulcimer.
.11. What two things would make your scrapping/stamping work space work even better for you?
Cleanliness! and, while I have all my stuff at the store right now, just a
defined space at home to work when I have insomnia
.12. What are two of your best organizational tips for stampers that do not have a lot of space?
Think of using inexpensive 1x2 boards screwed into your wall above your
area (wooden stamps fit on it wonderfully & I use my things more when I can see them) & sort your inks according to type, not color. this keeps me
from searching everywhere for pigment ink or the perfect shade of Staz-on
.13. What are your two favorite stamping toys?
I'm a fairly simple stamper and don't have many toys at this point...but I
love my new glue stamp pad & the cleaner pads
14. If you could have TWO super-powers, what would they be?
I have ALWAYS wanted to fly, and now as an adult I want even more so, so I
don't have to mess with stupid drivers on the ground & this may not be a
super-power, BUT, I'd like to be able to eat anything I want and not gain a
bunch of weight!
15. Name two words that describe your stamping/scrapbooking style?
historical & fun
16. Name two of your favorite colors to design with?
Definately browns & lately I've really been into blue
17. Name two of your all-time favorite paper collections/lines.
That's hard, cause I usually scrap with paper I carry at the store, so I can
have examples up...mmmm..Ok, The school collection from Daisy D's &
Karen Foster's new line for card making ie; Thank you & Birthday
:18. Name your top two favorite paper crafting manufacturers.
7-Gypsy's & I couldn't live without my Bazzill
Mmmm..now for my Question..
19. If money were no problem, what 2 items would make your scrapbooking
world complete?
A Pazzles cutter & that giant scrapbooking armoir we saw at last year's CK
Convention!
Well, I finally completed this! I am tagging my friend Patty & Eugenia. Good luck.

CuttleBug Club

Tonight we had our first Club meeting. I had a great time, even though I had to rush home to see the Lonesome Dove movie. (they continued it again!) Katie led us in making a card, a goodies bag topper AND a candle wrap. There were 5 of us (3 no shows), so I think it was a great success.
Girls, today I had a MAN come into my store, so excited that I was here in Sand Springs! He's a avid scrapbooker, who has completed 3 albums of his little girl! We had a great time, and he plans to crop with us next Friday!
Well, it's bedtime, and if you knew me, you would realize how much I need my beauty rest!

Keep Dreaming
PK

New Classes

Winter serves us up a huge helping of boredom sometimes. Ok, maybe just me! I'm trying to keep busy by kicking the store activities up a notch.
For those who love a challenge, I've got one...a whole 12 months of challenges. When I get to look at you guys' layouts I see: cute babies, learning to walk, fishing pictures, sports.....hey! Where's mom? Behind the camera and behind the layout, no doubt. So 2008 has been unofficially declared (at least at Dreams & Memories) " A Year of ME!" Your family will want to know about your life..later, when they grow up.
Here's how I work a challenge. I give a topic...sometimes easy, sometimes hard. Make a layout using it as your theme and bring it into the store by the 15th of each month. In return, I will give you each a $2 voucher to use in the store and hang your work of art up for a month. At the end of the month, all participants' names go in a drawing. (This month it is a $10 gift card to the store, next month?)
Isn't that simple? I need new layouts to display in my store and YOU need to document YOUR life! I'm not real big at rules (drove my mom crazy) but there are guidelines: Pages due by 15th of month
You must journal your story
You must have fun doing it (Patty!)
I thought our first layout would be in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. We all know that he "Had a Dream". So do you. So scrap your dream this month. It can be a childhood dream, a marriage dream, a silly or a serious dream. Mine felt serious at the time...now it's silly. I don't even have pictures of part of mine...cause they never came true. But they were a huge part of me growing up. So have fun with it. Since only my "regulars" know about the challenge, just this once, I'm extending the due date to Tuesday, Jan. 22.
The new CuttleBug Club (CBC) that Katie has started has really stirred some kind of interest. The first one is SOLD OUT! First in D&M history for a sell out. The club will be the 3rd Tuesday of each month and MUST be pre-payed by the 1st of each month. That way I can have enough supplies and more can join.
What is the CBC? Katie, using CB dies, will teach us different projects each month. (this month it is a card, candy topper, & a candle wrap). For $20, you get to complete each project AND KEEP THE DIE TO ADD TO YOUR COLLECTION!! Sweet deal!
Future incentives to join the club include;
with every 3rd paid in full class, get the 4th at half price!
special insider sales of CuttleBug Dies
I'm signed up! Come join us!
I've got some scrapping to do, so till next time...
Keep Dreaming
Pam

First Blog Goof-ups!

Well, this is my first blog. I must admit, that I am a paper crafter, and not an English major. I've always loved to hear myself talk, so this will be cool.
I own a growing scrapbook store in Sand Springs, Ok. Most of my time is spent there with my scrapping friends. We crop on Friday nights, have classes (my teacher Katie Piotrowoski, is fabulous..check out her blogspot), host quarterly retreats, have scrapping sleepovers, and go to CK Conventions together. Oh! I also get to sell the scrapbook supplies that we all love. Life is good!
I hope you all enjoy my ramblings...I will post our calendar, pics of projects, and specials here, for my group and my new group.

Keep Dreamin'