Scrapbook Album Alternative to WeR Memory Keepers

How to you shelve your scrapbook albums? Do you make sure they are all the same and labeled by year?  Do you have categorized albums? Do you just buy whatever album you can find on sale?

In the past, I was a super fan of the brown leather-like albums from Hobby Lobby where I organized my layouts by year.  They were sturdy with large rings and I could use a 40% off coupon when I needed a new one.

However, Hobby Lobby is a drive, and once Michael's opened just 10 minutes away, I started purchasing the WeR Memory Keepers albums with my 40% off coupon.  The same albums were also at our Target, which sold for $10 less than Michaels, and I didn't need a coupon for the best deal.

Target has made some changes for their art supply department, and the favorite WeR Memory Keepers albums went away (along with the majority of their other scrapbook supplies).  The picking was slim at Michaels as well and just focuses on the Project Life albums.

My dilemma was that I wanted the black, faux leather, which was hard to find in my area.  Now as a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I found the most perfect solution!  Stampin' Up sells a black, Project Life album that is nearly identical to the WeR albums!

In the top left photo is a WeR Memory Keepers album; in the top right, the Project Life by Stampin' Up.  Both have the large D rings.  The difference is the metal labels on the spine, but since they are both the silver color, it will still look similar on the shelf.

If you are looking for black faux leather albums, may I suggest you check out my Stampin'Up store website?  The best part is that until April 10th, there is FREE SHIPPING on any size order!  So pick up a couple albums for your Spring and Summer scrapbooking and/or Project Life projects!

And if you are strictly a Project Life scrapbooker, Stampin' Up sells exclusive Project Life card and stamp sets that you cannot find anywhere else!  At my website, search "Project Life" to see all the awesome supplies available!

Want to earn some credit for your new albums and Project Life supplies?  If you are local to me, you can have a Craft Camp with your crafting buddies.  I will come and show you some fun projects you can do with your friends where you can enjoy and experiment with Stampin' Up projects.

If you are not local, and you do not have a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, you can have an Online Party!  Simply message me through my website for details on this fun alternative you can have with online friends while earning Hostess Credit!

Have a great week, and thanks for visiting!

Mojo is Back!

After a long break from crafting and blogging, it's good to be back with some new layouts, cards and challenge posts!

These last few months have been busy with homeschool and homeschool co-op with my youngest, plus spending time with my oldest, taking him to his new job and teaching him to drive in the process.  I also signed up as a Stampin' Up consultant, which has been such a fun time! (more on this later)

We just took a ten day Spring Break, in which I took the opportunity to go through my scrap stash and purge many things that hadn't been used for eons, and probably wouldn't ever get used.  I grouped what I planned to keep by collection, so it would be easier to grab a sleeve of product and finish a layout when I only had a few minutes.  Needless to say since reorganizing, scrapping has been more fun, and over the Break, I finished MANY layouts, cards and pocket scrapbooking pages! (Videos coming soon to my YouTube channel!)

For this post, I wanted to share two layouts that I completed yesterday for the Make it Monday sketch challenges over at The Memory Nest blog.  (You can find the challenges on the right margin of Leslie's blog)

The first sketch is this one for Make it Monday # 35.

For this layout, I used the remainder of the 2010 Fancy Pants collection on hand called "My Family". The only additions were Basic Grey chipboard letters, along with a few gems.

The next sketch is for Make it Monday #36:

Again for this layout, I grabbed one of my sleeves with what I had left of the 2010 Little Yellow Bicycle's "Twig"collection.  Once I started to follow the design, I remembered this photo and the page took on a different twist.  The back layers are probably the only original item from the sketch, but I am happy with how this turned out.  

In addition to the collection paper and embellishment sheet, I added the chipboard title phrases from K & Company.

There is still time to take part of these challenges, where you could win a gift certificate from The Memory Nest store.  

I hope this post will inspire you to get out those old collections and use them up!

Back from Summer -- and a Scrapbook Share!

We have had a busy summer, as I am sure you have too!  We started our homeschooling on August 5th, so we are slowly getting back into the regular routine.

For most of July I scrapped my heart out, working on my oldest son's birthday album with the RSVP collection from Basic Grey.   Some old pages that were done in the past on 8-1/2" x 11" were completely redone (since I had photo duplicates) so that the entire book looks cohesive.  The RSVP kit was purchased from The Memory Nest, and comes with a great collection of papers for a boy or girl, a sticker sheet and three different sets of letter stickers.

Here is the latest video where I do a quick share on what I have accomplished so far for the album.  For the teenage years, I will be transitioning to the new Celebrations collection from Carta Bella:

What have you done this summer for scrapping??