Rock My World--Results of a Weekend at ScrapFest

This morning at 2 a.m., I returned home from three days at ScrapFest, the nation’s largest scrapbooking get-together which is held yearly in Minneapolis at Mall of America. The sponsor is Archivers, and they kindly invited me to sign copies of Paper, Scissors, Death at their flagship store there in the mall. My husband David came along with, to help me sell.

And sell we did.

More than 300 copies of Paper, Scissors, Death flew out the doors! People loved the idea, loved the story of Kiki Lowenstein, loved the coupon in the back for 50 free digital prints, and the whole idea of a mystery involving an expert scrapbooker.

You know, we write in such a vacuum. An author puts her dreams, her fantasies, and a lot of her ego into her characters. The acquiring editor makes a purchase, based on her own tastes and her assessment of the market. The publisher packages the book, hoping it will capture the interest of the target readership.

But until you put your product into the hands of the readers, it's all a big crap shoot.

And this one is paying off.

How successful was our launch?

You know you’ve done something right when the “buzz” starts, and demand builds--pulling the product you formerly pushed into the marketplace. By mid-way through Day One, we had to call Midnight Ink, my publisher, to ask them to drive over more boxes of books. (Midnight Ink's home office is in Wooddale, about 25 miles from Mall of America.) We went through the same re-stocking panic on Day Two, and this time the new head of publicity at Midnight Ink drove over boxes of books. He and two friends hand carried them into the flagship store.

By Day Three, well, the buzz about my book had reached a fevered pitch. Word had spread throughout the mall, and many of the 5,000-plus scrapbookers in attendance were talking about my protagonist, Kiki Lowenstein.

How do I know this? Well, folks came in to share their enthusiam.

For example, I learned that a woman waiting in line at a make-n-take booth in the Rotunda, started reading Paper, Scissors, Death aloud to the others in line. When she quit, three women who had been listening came upstairs to the Archivers store and demanded copies because they wanted to know what happened next! Another woman bought five copies, determined to send a book to everyone on her holiday gift list. And then there was the woman who bought books on Day One and made a special point of coming by on Day Three to say, “I’m so enjoying the book. I can’t wait to tell all my friends.”

Perhaps most gratifying was the reaction from the Archivers staff members. They weren’t allowed to make purchases until the last day (Sunday/Day Three). So early on they brought me a list of who all wanted the book, and asked me if I would have enough copies to sign books for everyone on the list. (That's a photo of me with the staff. They were so great to work with!)

Immediately before David and I left to drive nine hours back home to St. Louis, the Archivers store manager Jodi announced over the public address system that folks had ten minutes to get a signed book—and a small crowd raced over to ask me to personalize their copies.

It was like a dream come true.

So here I am today, back in my little office. My dogs are snoring. David is off at work. Everything seems so normal, except…my whole world has changed.

I'm not alone anymore. Now Kiki and I have friends.

A Class Act

I’m not much for taking scrapbooking classes. When I started scrapbooking, there were no nearby dedicated stores, no places to take lessons.

Besides, I just didn’t have the time to find a nearby crop. And I wound up cropping at odd hours. Also, dragging all my supplies around was not my idea of fun.

Okay, and there’s an ego-thing. See, eventually I did “invent” all sorts of things that are now standard in scrapbooking: using silk flowers (I remember the look on the faces of the people at Creating Keepsakes Magazine when they viewed my page with silk flowers—SHOCK!), inking the edges of your paper (I’d run out of paper to use as mattes and decided to drag the image across my ink pad), adding fabric to a page (I used felt), and three-D items (tiny Christmas wreaths), dried flowers, tinsel, beads, and I forget what else. (Oh, I’m also the originator of the phrase, “There are no scrapbook police.” I know another prominent scrapbooker has since picked it up, but I said it “first.” And I wrote the seminal article on scrapbooking your faith and scrapbook pages featuring yourself. I can prove that, too, because there were in magazine articles.) So I guess you could say I’ve had an inflated view of my own creativity. That’s good and bad, perhaps.

Last month I signed up for a class at Archivers in “see through” albums. (These are albums with pages made either of sheets of acetate--like overhead projector cells--or pages laminated so that portions are see-through.) Man, I had soooo much fun. I got to use new tools, try new products, try new techniques and I sat at a table with three other cool young ladies (much younger than I—their names were Amy, Emma, and Katie, so you can guess their ages!) who shared their knowledge and supplies.

I came away totally inspired. So much so that I dove into making an album for my son to take to college. (Okay, that’s not likely. My husband sweetly suggested that we scan the pages and put it on Michael’s I-Pod instead. “Honey,” said my husband, “you have to remember that kids access information differently than we do.” He’s right. Besides, I’ve put so much work into that album, I hate to let it loose in the uncontrolled dorm environment! And Michael really liked what I did, so I want it to be convenient for him to see.)

Here’s my suggestion to you: Get thee hither to a class. I paid next to nothing for the Archiver’s class. Surely it didn’t cover the cost of the materials. I came away with a cool, cool album. (I’m adding more pages to it before I bind it, so it’s not only way-cool, but also very useful.) And I’m feeling totally inspired.

Summer is a great time to learn more about the hobby you love. Kick it into high gear!

Great Gifts for Scrapbookers and Papercrafters

If you have a scrapbooker or papercrafter on your gift list, you might be baffled about what to get her. Here are some great ideas:

1. Paper: I’m a charter member of the “she who dies with the most paper wins” club. However, one sheet of several patterns never works well. Instead, buy a “slab” of paper or a package with a variety of co-ordinating papers. That way the crafter will have enough to do a project. Do be careful, however. Some kits promise hundreds of pieces, most of which are garbage. Look at the back of the package to see what it contains. You want a good mix of embellishments and paper.

2. Letter Stickers: You can NEVER have too many or enough! No matter how they look, or what color, letter stickers are essential to almost every project. A great idea is to buy two packages. That way your crafter will have enough for those pesky words like “proofreading” or “bookkeeping.”

3. Ribbon: The trend is lots of ribbons in all sorts of colors. Choose a color family or two and buy a variety—solids, patterns, stripes. Don’t go thicker than ½ inch width.

4. Stamps: I would say “rubber stamps” but the new clear ones aren’t rubber. (Who knows WHAT they are.) Right now, the coolest stamps are alphabets in foam. Also hot are any clear stamps with a doodling style and journaling stamps (stamps with lines on them where you can write your story. These are products that can be used over and over.

5. A Cricut or a QuicKutz System: This is the next step up from letter stickers. With these you make your own letters. The equipment is expensive, but worth it. If she already has either of these, give her a Cricut cartridge with another alphabet or cool shapes like tags or a QuicKutz font.

6. Storage Systems: I particularly like Cropper Hopper’s paper storage containers which are like magazine holders. You can see all your paper, take them off the shelf and easily find what you’re looking for. Also their "page planners" are cool. You can put all the pieces of a page or two in one and keep your stuff together. Make sure everything is sized for 12" x 12" paper, otherwise the containers will be too small.

7. Canon Selphy: This is a unit that allows you to download photos from the memory card and print them. It’s very convenient, quick and economical.

8. A Subscription: Keep the ideas coming all year long. I give a lot of subscriptions as gifts because I think they are a monthly reminder of my love. The top three scrapbooking magazines are (in no particular order): Scrapbooks, Etc.; Memory Makers; and Creative Keepsakes.

Now, where should you go to buy all this? I suggest Archivers. (The Canon Elphy might be best purchased at Best Buy.) Right now if you make a $50 purchase at Archivers, you get a pad of holiday paper FREE. (Yeah, I meant to make it in today, but the weather turned nasty. I'll see you there tomorrow! Of course I need more PAPER!)