Care With Cards - Kick Off!

Care With Cards just began last year and we have already collected over 12,000 cards! 

Thanks so much!

Last year we were able to share our cards with Operation Write Home and Huntsman Cancer Institute and this year we are going to spread our love even farther!!

This year we are expanding our efforts to include:

Cards

Card Kits

Quilts

Journals

There are a number of organizations who are in need of our skills! I am so excited to see what we will be able to accomplish this year!

All items will be donated to:

Operation Write Home

Huntsman Cancer Institute

Utah Juvenile Justice System

 No time to waste. We are only 6 weeks away from our 2013 show so let's get to work! Please click on the above organizations to see what you can do to help.

If you will not be attending this year's show, you can send donations to:

The Original Scrapbook USA Expo

PO Box 1237

Draper, Utah 84020

Remember, Quality over quantity!!

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

—Winston Churchill, displayed in the halls of Huntsman Cancer Institute

Care With Cards - Operation Write Home

This year at The Original Scrapbook USA Expo we will be continuing to support Operation Write Home.  We have already donated over 10,000 cards to this great organization. Let's see what we can do this year!

Over 1.5 million cards have been sent to U.S. troops stationed overseas through Operation Write Home. Ever single week they are shipping to U.S. bases all over the world.

Thanks to this great organization our troops are able to pick up a handmade card for free that they can use to write a note to a love one and then ship home to family and friends.

Because of the nature of this project there are a number of guidelines that must be followed in order for Operation Write Home to be able to use the card.

Please visit their GUIDELINES page before getting started so you know the do's and don'ts.

Appropriate themes are really important. Upcoming holidays that we can be involved in are:

Father's Day

Independence Day

Halloween

Other themes that are ALWAYS welcome are:

Just Because

Birthday (teen and adult especially)

Thinking Of You

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Bring your cards to the show. We have a collection area near the center stage where we will be collecting your cards.

In addition to Operation Write Home there are a few other organizations we will be supporting this year. Check out other opportunities:

Utah Juvenile Justice System

Huntsman Cancer Institute

More About Care With Cards

Care With Cards - Juvenile Justice System

I am THRILLED to get involved with the Juvenile Justice System through our Care With Cards Program!

Every year  hundreds of youth in Utah become a part of the Justice System.
There are a number of facilities around the state. Youth spend anywhere from a few days to months incarcerated in these facilities.

When I was 17 years old I participated in a church service project where I donated my time at the Salt Lake Juvenile Detention Center doing data entry. What I had really wanted to do was spend time with the youth doing some things more "hands on" but because of my age, that wasn't possible. Since then, I have always wanted to go back and get involved. Care with Cards is perfect!

Each facility includes an "activity" room of some sort where the kids are able to participate in various opportunities.

Our "Card Kits" are absolutely the perfect fit for these kids and they are thrilled to hear we will be sending these kits their way! Youth will be able to have access to simple crafts that they can assemble and use to write notes home to family or to others who could use a note from them.

Desired themes include:

Just Because

Thank You

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Birthday

Never put together a card kit?

No worries, they are really fun and you can easily put together a bunch of the same ones at the same time.

Please include all materials in a ziploc bag. Include all pieces needed to put the card together along with a photo of the finished card and instructions if needed.

Here are a couple of card kits after being assembled.

Here are a few of the card kits that were collected in 2012.

If you are making a card kit the best thing to do make 10 or 12 of the same one. Once you do it once, repeating it is easy. 

These kits will be spread out over a number of facilities so duplicates are great!

Glue sticks will also be needed. If you have a few extra glue sticks around the house, please consider donating them as well.

In addition to Utah Juvenile Justice System there are a few other organizations we will be supporting this year. Check out other opportunities:

Operation Write Home

Huntsman Cancer Institute

More About Care With Cards

A Note of Love Using Fancy Pants

Hello there!  Andrea here and I'm very giddy about the "Love Note" collection from Fancy Pants Designs.  I'm a long-time fan of Fancy Pants and always look forward to what they come up with.

Here's a piece of framed Valentine's art that I created using some of their fabulous paper and stickers:

For the background, I used a piece of the Love Note white paper with pink text and I shot a spritz of "pretty pink" color mist on it (Mister Huey's brand).

I used a Chevron stripe sticker and layered two pieces of fabric on top of it.  This collection also comes with some gorgeous corrugated pink paper, which I punched a heart out of.

To embellish, I added a mini pink binder clip and attached a "true love" sentiment sticker, which is also from this Fancy Pants Designs line.

The Love Note collection has a great mix of whimsical patterns and you can either go bold or soft with your color pallet choices.  The colors range from black and white and bright magenta's to soft pinks and grays.  All in all, a great line that's just in time for Valentine's Day!

And hey- you know what February means, right?  It means we are only ONE month away from the Scrapbook USA Expo!!!  Yipppeeee!  Don't forget to mark your calendars, pack your bags, or do whatever else needs to be done to be ready for March 22nd and 23rd in Utah!  It will be epic, as always!

Welcome Heartstring Designs to Scrapbook USA Expo

Hello and good morning..

It's Wendi here and I'm sharing with you a wonderful fun kit from Heartstring Designs. Heartstring Designs is one of the many new vendors you will see at The Original ScrapbookUSA Expo coming March 22-23rd. Heartstring Designs isn't brand new to the show, they have been a vendor in the past but they have been gone for a few years. They are now back, under new ownership and with a brand new look. They have the funnest, jammed pack with goodies kit, and it was sooo easy to work with. The products all coordinated and made it easy to come up with projects.

I used the January Vintage Wonder kit:

 Its got all the cardstock, tons of pattern papers, a set of alphas and full of embellishments!!! It is packed!!

Today I am sharing some layouts that I made with the kit.
First up is a layout focusing on my son's last baseball season:

I also created this page of my husband on daughter together:

Lastly, I created a two pager of some photos from our summer getaway trip:

To better see it, here is the left side:

and the right side:

As you can see, there is a ton of variety you can get out of this kit!!!! It was super easy to work with, and everything coordinated really well. I LOVE it when a kit pulls together nicely, and you don't need anything else from your stash.

Make sure to check out Heartstring Designs at Scrapbook USA. Until then visit their blog and their website to check out all the fun goodies they have in their store. Also give them a "LIKE" on Facebook!

Have a wonderful day....

All Night Crop–The 411!

Each and every show you have asked, and finally, the time has come! Come and crop and craft ALL

NIGHT LONG at The Original Scrapbook USA Expo!

Join Sherry Mendoza from My Craft Channel for all night fun beginning at 9:00 pm Friday night and ending 9:00 am Saturday morning when you are the first to enter the show floor! You are going to LOVE Sherry!

 

We recently sat down for lunch and I leaned more about this fantastic lady. Sherry is a happily married military wife who recently made the big move from Australia to Utah (love her fun accent!). She has worked in the craft industry for over 6 years in a range of positions which include teaching, designing, marketing/promotions, magazine editor, expo participant/organizer and consultant. Sherry has recently joined the team at My Craft Channel as Creative Director, a role which she loves! Sherry is super excited about attending this years Scrapbook USA Expo!

You will be able to find Sherry in the My Craft Channel booth, teaching 2 AWESOME classes and  hosting the all-night crop!

If you are up for cropping all night, watch out, Sherry has LOT'S of energy and has some fun ideas on how to keep the crafting going! You should come out of the crop with new ideas, inspiration and lot's of pages done.

 A few things to know about the crop:

*Because of the nature of the show with our vendors and product. The all night crop will be held outside of the expo hall in the classrooms. We will open up the room dividers to create wide open space.

*Seats will not be assigned in advance. They are first come, first serve.

*South Towne Expo is a county run facility and "all-nighters" are not something they normally do. We did receive special permission from the county board to run this event and they do have a few stipulations. The all nighter is not a "come and go" event. You must check in by 11:30 and if you leave, security will not allow you to re-enter. They will have extra security on staff to make sure it is a safe event.

*To make the transition to Saturday we will make things super easy. You will be the first to enter the show on Saturday thanks to a special entrance for our All Night Croppers. We will do all we can to make it easy to clean up and move your supplies back to the show floor.

*Your All Night Crop ticket includes Friday regular admission and Saturday early bird admission. If you are interested in a different Friday or Saturday ticket please call in and we can take care of applying a discount to the upgraded ticket you are looking for. (801) 253-4481

YOUR Valentine's Traditions plus Fancy Pants Giveaway

A couple of days ago when we started our Fancy Pants "A Note of Love" collection giveaway, we asked you to share your Valentine's traditions on our blog. SO many of you did!  There were some really great ideas and I enjoyed reading them so much that I decided to compile them here so everyone else can enjoy them.

But first, if you haven't entered to win Fancy Pants brand new Valentine's collection - "A Note of Love", do it now! The giveaway ends tonight and this is a fantastic collection!!

Valentine's comes at the perfect time. The cold and snow are getting old, New Years resolutions are hopefully becoming habits and a celebration is in order (this is all my opinion of course). I don't have really 1 tradition that has stuck over the years except that I do something for my family every year. I like to keep them on their toes. Probably the most surprising and creative thing I ever did was burn a cd of "Valentine" by Martina McBride that I put into my husband's car cd player so when he started his car that song came on. Just a little gesture that really surprised him.

So, I have yet to decide what I will be doing this year but it will be unique because half of us will be on the road traveling to a soccer tournament and the other half will be home alone. Will have to come up with something that lets everyone know they are special! Thanks to all your ideas, I have a few things I am stirring around in my mind...

If you have more ideas, please add them into the comments below so we can really get this list LOOOONG and full of inspiration!

Your Valentine's Traditions:

We usually will have a little party with other kids my daughter's age and decorate heart-shaped sugar cookies and other fun activities! LOVE this line! 

We usually go out some place very nice.

My little girl and I bake cookies and cupcakes and we all make and exchange cards.

We actually don't have a valentine's tradition....just try and do a little something special that day. Last year we had chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert. The girls loved them! 

We always decorate for Valentine's Day, and share some chocolatey treats!! 

I usually make the kids a valentine bag with candy and hide it around the house (too cold and snowy to this outside in my neck of the woods) and then leave four or five clues leading to the next clue and then ultimately leading them to the bag of goodies. 

I love making valentine cards with my grandchildren, they enjoy playing in my craftroom. 

My Valentine's tradition...hmmmm, yes, it's telling my husband over and over not to get me chocolate, because I'm on a diet and I'll just eat the whole box in a day while secretly hoping he'll get a small box anyway, because then I'll have to eat it or it would just be a waste of money, right? LOL! 

Love to make cards for my family!

Our Valentine tradition has always been a romantic dinner at home & some us time. However, last year my husband gave me a scrapbook (thought it was odd considering I buy them whenever I want), but this one was special. Inside it was a 2 page layout my husband made for me using photos of us on our 1st date. Secretly hoping he'll add a few more pages to the book this year. 

My husband and myself are doing the "Kiss Me Countdown", but we are giving each other a little something each day, till Valentine's Day! Fun to be had!

Make and send valentine cards to my nieces & nephews each year and I go to the movies every Valentines day.

We don't do V-day as a couple, our anniversary is too close, so we make it about the kids. my oldest helps to make a '

fancy' dinner and we set the table with candles and our best dishes. My kids love the attention. 

No Valentine tradition except to enjoy some yummy chocolate truffles! 

I LOVE Valentine's Day! My kids favorite tradition is the night before Valentines Day I decorate the table with all sorts of Valentines things and I always leave them a small gift on their plate. The next morning they get to have their gift and we have an all pink breakfast! 

We love to decorate our windows. 

I make my husband a special breakfast before he heads off to work. 

I am going to start a new tradition this year! I found the idea on Pinterest...You leave a heart on your family members' doors every day starting on the First of February up through VDay, and you write the things you love most about them on each heart.

I eat chocolate until I pop! 

I make love baskets for my family with a shirt, a valentine and a homemade treat bag. 

Our Valentine's Day tradition is to cook a nice "

fancy" dinner. We all dress up and practice our manners. Dad always brings home a rose for all 3 of his little girls :) 

I love putting together Valentine's treats (usually food like cupcakes or cookies) for my friends 

When my kids were little we would make Valentines together to give at school... 

My tradition is to make Valentines for my nieces and nephew and a couple little cousins. I do baskets for my girlfriends. 

As my other half usually has to work on valentines day, and our babysitter is usually busy we curl up on the sofa after the kiddies have gone to bed eating takeaway & watching a movie. As long as we're together we're happy. 

Usually the hubby and I go out and celebrate and make chocolate covered strawberries, but he's deployed this year! 

I make chocolate dipped marshmallows with my daughter.