Happy Anniversary, Pocket Full of Papers!

Congratulations to us! Today marks the two year anniversary since our inception and things are really hopping here at PFOP. Not only do we have several great new members, we are averaging more listings per week than we've ever done in the past.

Great work, team!

You can check out all the current PFOP listings by clicking here.

Just Around the Corner - CHA Summer '08

The summer CHA trade show* is held in Chicago, IL and is just a few short weeks away - July 18-20. While I won't be able to attend the show, you can bet I'll be watching for manufacturer sneaks of all the new lines and products that will be released.
(*CHA is the Crafts and Hobby Association and they put on two large industry trade shows every year where new products are released.)

Here's one that sounds tantalising (I'm pasting their press release):

New Mrs. Grossman's "Take the Cake"

Outrageous creations from CHARM CITY CAKES inspire tasty sticker collection from MRS. GROSSMAN’S

PETALUMA, CA. June 2008 - Mrs. Grossman’s, the oldest and largest decorative sticker company in the country, and Charm City Cakes, the Baltimore bakery that turned cake decorating into a hit show, have teamed up to launch Mrs. Grossman’s Charm City Cake Sticker Collection.

The unique line of stickers was inspired by the imaginative custom cake creations of bakery owner and celebrity chef, Duff Goldman. Star of Food Network’s hit reality show, Ace of Cakes. Goldman and his like-minded design team, are legendary for their colorful, made to order cakes which have included everything from classic, one-of-a-kind wedding and birthday creations to a massive, edible Hogwart’s castle for the premiere of Warner Bros, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

“I think these stickers really capture the spirit, fun and diversity of Charm City Cakes,” says Chef Goldman, whose baking tools include everything from blowtorches to power saws. Andrea Grossman, president and founder of Mrs. Grossman’s agrees, saying, “we think this collection is a good mix of elegance and wackiness and will appeal to everyone from fans of the show to home bakers and craft enthusiasts.”

Goldman selected twelve of his favorite cake designs to be illustrated and represented in Mrs. Grossman’s new collection. Each one of the distinctive decorated cake stickers are surrounded by a variety of coordinating decorative embellishments. Ideal for decorating everything from cards, envelopes and gift bags to recipe binders and scrapbook pages, each package includes a bonus - Duff’s favorite recipe for French Buttercream.

Each 4” x 5” package features one sticker sheet – suggested retail $1.99. For more information go to mrsgrossmans.com. Mrs. Grossman’s Charm City Cake Sticker Collection will launch at the CHA (Craft Hobby Association) trade show at the Donald Stephens Convention Center in Chicago, July 18 – 20.

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Here's one of the new cake stickers (click on the image to see all of them). A big thanks to Lara Starr, Marketing Director at Mrs. Grossman's for the link.

Friends Challenge is LIVE!

PFOP is having a fun FRIENDS challenge this week!

Just a reminder that our "Friends Challenge" is now live at eBay. PFOP designers have paired up to bring you fantastic designs June 24th-30th in our "Friends Challenge". Each pair will be incorporating the same embellishment into their project, and showing off fantastic signature work.

Check out all our auctions to see how we teamed up by clicking here.

Tuesday's Tip

First Tuesday of June ~ yeah summer is almost here!!
Hope you're all having a happy spring!

I've really been enjoying stamping, still feel like a novice, but having lots of fun.
I have noticed that I don't always get it perfect with stamping or inking. But I do remind myself that that is part of the charm with stamping and inking ~ right??

Something helpful, if I do smudge a little or get a finger print (I know, UNTHINKABLE, but I've done it)....I use an eraser. It cleans it up quite nice. As long as it's a good eraser, nice soft one. Don't rub too hard, especially on colour paper, it can rub the colour off. That's my little secret.

I'd love to hear what you all do....

happy scrapping,
Tammy

Feedback Friday (On Tuesday?)

Ok so last month I apologized for being late with posting my feedback friday post- and here I am late again this month!!! Summer is just catching up with me and I find myself being away from the computer more and more! I hope you can all forgive me one more time!

Soooo the winner of the FREE box of Prima Belle Fleur Daisies is:

Comment #7 (chosen via random.org!)

Nan Paturzo please send me an email at adonia@cox.net so I can send you your prize!


For this week's Feedback Friday I was thinking it would be fun to discuss WHERE we scrapbook! Everyone has different places- whether it's a converted closet or in the backroom at your local scrapbook store- one thing is for sure- we almost always need more space LOL!

I have a finished attic room in my house that I have claimed for my own. It is small and sometimes I bump my head on the ceiling, but it's my space! It was decorated with ugly sunflowers when we bought the house and I haven't been bold enough to take down the wallpaper and paint up there yet!

Tell us about your space, or do you scrap outside of the home? What would you change about your scrap space if money didn't matter?

One lucky commenter will recieve a RAK from one of the PFOP gals, winner will be drawn next month!

What's New Wednesday for May

This month's "news" falls under a category that isn't exactly all that new - sketches for scrapbooking. They're called by different names -- blueprints, floorplans, grids, page recipes, page maps-- and they are a scrapper's best friend!

If you're stuck, they can provide you with a starting point for your layout or give you the inspiration to spin off your own creation. Using a pre-designed layout grid can also save a scrapper lots of time, so that instead of using precious minutes to decide on page arrangement, valuable time instead is used for creating the page.

What's new in the "sketches" world are two terrific books:

The first is "Page Maps" by Becky Fleck. Here's a review from Amazon.com:

Editorial Reviews

Book Description
Scrapbook Page Maps takes the guesswork out of where to begin by giving plenty of design ideas for their scrapbook layouts!

By referring to the sketches in the book, readers can select photos, papers and embellishments and then bring the page together quickly and easily. Helpful resource information such as a supply list and photo sizes are included on each card, along with page information cross-referencing the sketch back to the book. Scrapbook Page Maps is the essential book for beginning scrapbookers as well as those short on time.

And you get more than just an inspiring, design-filled idea book!
Also included is a deck of laminated cards that includes a thumbnail of many of the sketches in the book along with corresponding finished layouts.

The second of the new "sketch" books I want to share with you is "Layout Blueprints 2" - the eagerly awaited sequel to Amy Elkins "Layout Blueprints":

I haven't seen any reviews of the book yet, but I know it is due to hit stores very soon. I loved the first book and have been anxiously anticipating the arrival of the second one!


You can check out the Layout Blueprints blog here.

Feedback Friday

Ok, so I am a week late posting this, I am sooo sorry!!! I will plan on being on time next month :).

Feedback Friday is a new thing we are going to be doing on the PFOP Blog to get YOU (our friends and customers) involved!!! We'll post questions and topics here for you to reply to, and sometimes there will even be prizes randomly drawn, and all you have to do to enter is reply to the feedback friday post!

This week I have been thinking about flowers a lot! Not just Primas, but real ones for my house too. My favorite flower of all is the Hydrangea and I was so excited to see that wal- mart has them for sale this year for a Mother's Day type of gift- so of course I bought myself one :)

When it comes to scrapbooking my newest favorite flower is the Prima Belle Fleur Daisy- they are SO pretty as ithey come with layers and a premade center. Here's a peek at the green apple ones:

What is your favorite type of flower embellishent to use on your scrapbook artwork? Is it a Prima, Bazzil, or Making Memories flower? Or is it something you make yourself?

Reply to this post with your answer and you'll be entered in a drawing to win a FREE box of Belle Fleur Daisies from me!!! The drawing will be held on Friday May 30th and the winner will be announced in that day's feedback friday post! So be sure to get your replies in before then!