I can't believe I just...

What clubs do you belong to, what do they offer, would you recommend or beware...
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jfugina
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I can't believe I just...

Post by jfugina »

...re-joined the Scrapbook Generation Super Sketch club. It was time though. The new release thread reminded me that SG always seemed to send stuff I liked a lot. I looked back at old emails, and the last kit I received from them was exactly four years ago. I still have a few kits from way back that are unopened, but I've been working on using that stuff up lately. Obviously I'm not lacking for paper (which is mostly what they send - very little in the way of embellishments that aren't paper-based). But I'm lacking for inspiration and motivation. I'm hoping my monthly package will be a monthly kick in the butt. :-)

I LOVE making empty layouts. There's a kind of freedom to it. I make the layouts without any concern for whether I'll ever have photos that go with them. And sometimes those layouts sit for YEARS. But I find that I don't actually mind. I go through phases where I just want to play with paper and be done, and then I go through phases where I want to put photos on pages, and I'm much more likely to use a page that's already made. I'll still do layouts from scratch for some photos, but I don't often find that process to be relaxing, and sometimes it even stresses me out. Ergo, more page kits will be beneficial to my stress levels. So it's like medicine. :lol:

The other thing that I'm hoping will come of this, is that maybe Nicole and I can sit and make some of these empty layouts together each month. I sat her down with a sketch a few months back, and told her to pull papers and embellishments and just make an empty page, and she seemed to enjoy it. She spends so much time on her phone playing games, and I'd love for her to spend more time doing something with her hands, rather than stuff that puts strain on her eyes. I'd mind less if it was time chatting with friends, but it's not. The games aren't terrible, but she spends so much time with her face buried in a screen - I just want her to find another option. She and I also need to work on our relationship. We seem to be getting along better lately due to increased common interests (band, guard, and her interior design class). She seems less touchy about my inquiries into her grades these days, probably because it's not the *only* thing we talk about. So maybe.. just maybe, she'll be willing to spend time doing this with me too. Maybe not, but a mom can hope.

I think I'll get a January shipment fairly immediately, and then regularly starting in February. I'm excited about getting some new stuff again for a while.
Julie Fugina
#26 in the order of the PAO
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paddlegal
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by paddlegal »

Good for you Julie. What you said about blank LOs is true and when I was into doing scrapping with CS products I would generally get right to making the ALSBs which is what made me want to scrap. It’s a nice circle of inspiration. Hope Nicole will jump in also.

My step-daughter, when she was around 12, and I used to do beading together while watching X-Files, LOL. It was a nice bonding time for us.
FARLEY in Sacramento
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pamcook
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by pamcook »

I just ordered some clothes after I had just made a resolution to not buy any new clothes this year.
And i ordered 2 stamp sets and a die from Altenew - you guessed it, after I just resolved to not buy new supplies (only my Hip Kits).
Then I ordered new drip pans for my stove - no resolution about that but I really did need them.

You will love the SG sketches and have used what you have quite a bit. You have my permission. :tomato: Be sure to post when you start using them!
Pam Cook #48
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Keitha
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by Keitha »

That's great Julie; they work for you so it's money well spent and seems to be good value. And if you can get Nicole interested even better. I have a question about the club: are the sketches quite similar to the SG sketches we're familiar with, just with product provided? Do you know exactly where the photos will be placed, or is there some latitude there when you finally do add the photos? Okay, that was 2 questions and I have another one ;) I know both Allison Davis and Debbie Sanders design the sketches. I'm quite familiar with Allison's designs; somehow I'd stumbled on her online I think before SG was even in business. Can you tell the difference between hers and Debbie's sketches? Do you prefer one over the other? Can't wait to see your new layouts rolling off the line.
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jfugina
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by jfugina »

Sweet, Pam! As long as I have permission from someone, I think I'm good! :lol:

All kidding aside, the only real reservation I have about this is that in a month or two, we're going to have an additional monthly payment that's pretty substantial (the pool loan) kicking in soon. We've been trying hard to reduce other expenses in preparation, but here I go adding to the monthly outlay again. We've already cut out bi-weekly housekeeping (and my house is now not only cluttered, but filthy), and we cut out Jake's after-school care, since Nicole is already home when he gets there. We're currently researching wireless resellers so that we can reduce our cell phone bill (plus Jake will be getting a line over the summer). Then we're going to try to cut the cord with AT&T entirely and go to streaming exclusively with our TV watching. I think that will be a bit tougher, because we only watch a handful of shows, but it seems like very few of them are available from the same place. But maybe it will prove to be just enough of a nuisance that we'll just cut TV viewing down to a minimum anyway.

Farley - as much as I'm not into CS anymore, I still give them full credit for introducing me to the ALSB concept, which for me was nothing short of life-altering. I've even had thoughts of taking the sketches that come with my new kits and pulling papers from my stash with similar pattern qualities, and using each sketch twice - once for the kit, and again with something from stash. That idea actually got me super excited. Three of the layouts from the super sketch club are similar to ALSB in that you get a cutting template for the patterned paper that spans all three layouts. (I regret not saving those cutting patterns during my prior membership). I'll build up a massive collection of empties, but that collection will make me so, so happy. I tried to do that with ALSB, but those cutting patterns are so tailored to the images on the printed paper that I usually struggled to make it work.
Julie Fugina
#26 in the order of the PAO
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jfugina
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by jfugina »

Keitha wrote:That's great Julie; they work for you so it's money well spent and seems to be good value. And if you can get Nicole interested even better. I have a question about the club: are the sketches quite similar to the SG sketches we're familiar with, just with product provided? Do you know exactly where the photos will be placed, or is there some latitude there when you finally do add the photos? Okay, that was 2 questions and I have another one ;) I know both Allison Davis and Debbie Sanders design the sketches. I'm quite familiar with Allison's designs; somehow I'd stumbled on her online I think before SG was even in business. Can you tell the difference between hers and Debbie's sketches? Do you prefer one over the other? Can't wait to see your new layouts rolling off the line.
OK, this is going to get long, so bear with me. When I was a member before, the super sketch club ($28) comes with the supplies to make 5 double-page spreads. The first three are usually from a single collection, and will come with three sketches and a set of cutting instructions for one or more of the papers that explain which layout to use each cut on. It's similar to ALSB in that way. The other two layouts will often come from different collections. And the two layouts come with two sketches each, one from Allison and one from Debbie. You get to choose which sketch you use for the supplies, but you will have the right amount of supplies for either. And each sketch comes with a color photo of what it looks like finished with the products provided. It was awesome (and I am assuming that not much has changed since I originally belonged). Additionally, for layouts 4 and 5, they usually sent too much of the patterned paper. I don't think they've ever sent less than a 1/4 sheet of anything, and usually it was a 1/2 or full sheet, even if you just needed a single strip. So I was often able to make BOTH the Allison and Debbie design if I added background paper and a few other tidbits from my stash. So from the super savers club, I usually got 6 or 7 layouts.

Then there is the Generation club, which used to be a single two-page layout for $15, but now it's two layouts for that price. Those are designed by Debbie. Then the Allison kit is of course designed by her, and is also now two layouts per $15 kit. I subscribed to both for a while, then cut out Allison's because while I adored the layouts, I just couldn't convince myself that any double-page spread was worth $15, much less two of those at $30. I kept the Debbie one longer, because they contained seasonal/holiday materials that I would never look at otherwise.

Your other question was how similar they are to the sketches in the book - I'd say the styles are incredibly similar. That said though, some of the sketches do occasionally design around a particular feature of a print that might not work in a more generic sense. For example, one sketch I got involved fussy-cutting large flowers out of a piece of patterned paper. Another had large circles in the layout that were cut from a print of doily-like designs. So you could substitute that stuff out with other embellishments, but when it calls for "large print" in the paper list, it was referring to the stuff that was used for the fussy cut, which may not make sense out of context. There were a few kit sketches that I tossed for that very reason - I didn't find them particularly adaptable. But the overall style is very much in line with what you find in the sketch books.

What I re-joined this time around was the super-sketch club, and the Allison Davis club. The choice of Allison over Debbie isn't because I prefer one designer over the other overall. The Generation kit (Debbie) is still more seasonal, and there are some months that will just never get used because I never take photos for those occasions (Easter, for example).

I'm excited about getting these again.
Julie Fugina
#26 in the order of the PAO
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pbp908
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Post by pbp908 »

I enjoyed the kits because they gave me a smattering of lots of different companies' items. Some of the kits I had to adapt to suit my photos, but most of them were done "as is." I've been considering signing up again, but I don't see a lot of reason to do so since I'm not taking many photos right now. Nobody here likes to have their photo taken, and you can only use so many pictures of snow, trees, dogs and cats. :lol: I'm really looking forward to seeing the new kits via your purchases.
Pam P.
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Keitha
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by Keitha »

Thanks Julie, that gives me a really good feel for the kits. I like that they are using mainstream collections as opposed to exclusive product like CS also.
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paddlegal
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by paddlegal »

You know I’m not much of a scrapper but when I listen to you all talking about different kits I can’t help but wonder if I joined a kit club if I would actually get back into it. Like Julie, I have to give CS full credit for getting into and enjoying scrapping years ago. I got turned off of CS for several reasons, one of them being the proprietary sameness of the kits in spite of mostly gorgeous papers each month. I found my creativity became stifled by using CS products pretty much exclusively.

Julie I look forward to seeing your LOs with your kit revival.
FARLEY in Sacramento
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troublesmom
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by troublesmom »

Congrats Julie! I look forward to seeing your work with them.
Cheryl
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pamcook
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by pamcook »

Farley - here's a great blog post about choosing a kit club. Too often I've joined clubs because someone else loved them - only to find out they weren't my style at all (*cough, cough*Studio Calico*cough*Cocoa Daisy*cough...and a few others...). Wish I had this wisdom before wasting that money!

http://aurorasland.blogspot.co.at/2014/ ... nthly.html
Pam Cook #48
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jfugina
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by jfugina »

That was a good article. My main criteria for a club is that it come with instructions for what to do with the contents. And I'd prefer to not have a ton of leftovers. Sometimes I do OK with putting together my own eclectic mix, but I rarely love the outcome. The only thing that's disappointing about this kit, is that it appears that they no longer post previews when the kits launches. They used to post all of the completed layouts for a kit on their blog, but now they include printed photos in the kit, so unless I just haven't found them, the kits will arrive sight unseen.

My kit was shipped right away yesterday, and should arrive tomorrow. :cool5: Shipping is via postal mail, but this place is an actual storefront in southwest Missouri. So it's super close (relatively speaking). I was excited to see the tracking info, because we have a long weekend due to MLK day. Nicole has all-day rehearsals tomorrow and Monday, but maybe she can help on Sunday.

As far as any of you who are looking forward to seeing what they sent, I won't likely have anything done with photos anytime soon - fair warning. My initial focus will be to get the pages assembled and start rebuilding my stash of empties. If you want to see photos of the empty layouts just to get a feel for the kit, I'm happy to oblige. :-)

My next scrapping priority (and I actually have a bit of a deadline) is to get the last year or so of Jake's scout related photos scrapped. He crosses over to boy scouts next month :shock: , and I'm going to pull all of the scout related layouts from the last 5 years and consolidate them into a temporary album for Blue & Gold. Then I'll put them back in their proper chronological album. I know I scrapped a couple of campouts a month or so ago, but I know I haven't scrapped any cub scout stuff from 2017 at all, and there might still be a thing or two from 2016 left.
Julie Fugina
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pbp908
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by pbp908 »

My other fave was Paper Camellia, but they no longer do kits. :( They also gave you a good selection of new items, and I ordered several full collections because of them.

When I'm ready to do it again, I'll go back to SG.
Pam P.
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fuzzylover

Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by fuzzylover »

Julie - your "kit club" looks interesting. I checked it out and looked at some of the past layouts. When you finish your "naked" layouts, could you please post them for us to see. The layouts on their site look like they have more than just paper. It looks like there are a bit of embellishments, or is that just printed paper cut up? I'd like to get more of an idea of what is included.

thanks!!
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paddlegal
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Re: I can't believe I just...

Post by paddlegal »

pamcook wrote:Farley - here's a great blog post about choosing a kit club. Too often I've joined clubs because someone else loved them - only to find out they weren't my style at all (*cough, cough*Studio Calico*cough*Cocoa Daisy*cough...and a few others...). Wish I had this wisdom before wasting that money!

http://aurorasland.blogspot.co.at/2014/ ... nthly.html


Wow did I fall down the rabbit hole! I read the article...Thank you Pam. And then I got lost looking at Hip Kit Club. Now I’m off to investigate a few others. Warming to a kit idea. But we shall see. I am a bit gun shy of scrapping kits still. If I ever get my craft room cleared properly there may be a chance of me scrapping more.
FARLEY in Sacramento
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