And the Winners are....

Alright ladies! I have 3 lucky winners for my Blog Contest. Each winner will receive a pair of Microtip Scirssors from Fiskars and a few other little goodies from me. Congratulations to all who won, and thank you to all who participated. I love hearing about people's reasons for scrapping. It inspires me and reminds me and those who respond why we do this wonderful thing we do.
Will the following ladies please email (jgribbin@cathartech.com) me there snail mail addy's so I can get their goodies out?
Sandy, Fiskateer #1715
Joan, FIskateer #808

And last, but not least,
Nancy, my gal from Scrap-Diner.
Congrats again ladies, and I'll be sending you some cool goodies soon!
Hugs,
Jessi

Adventures with The Nifty Fifty!

Ok, so most of you know I was in San Antonio last weekend with Fiskars and the Fiskateers. Let me tell you it was AWESOME!! I met 49 fabulous Fiskafriends as well as the wonderful folks from Brains on Fire and Fiskars, Our fantastic Fiskateer leads, Nancy from Cloud Designs, and Heidi Grace. It was an amazing weekend filled with inspiration, emotion, education, and fun. Friday started with a yummy dinner and a surprise from Fikars. We were all gifted with Orange felt hats, bearing our Fiskateer number, and a Craft Caddy from Fiskars. We also recieved a page kit featuring papers from Heidi Grace and an accordian album and embelishments from Cloud 9.

I love this LO of me and Dave. Cheryl is so great! I just lover her!

Heidi Grace is AMAZING! She's fun and creative, I love her! Holly is such a sweetie. I was so happy to meet her and become her friend.

We did some breakout exercises the first night that helped us define the DNA of a Scrapbooker. In this exercise we were asked questions about who we were, why we scrapped, who we are, and who we will become. It got me to thinking about why I scrap and what I want out of life. The questions asked in our fist session stayed with me the whole weekend. I have decided that I am a scrapper and crafter because I have no choice. Crafting is a part of who I am. It's like breathing or sleeping or eating. I don't just do it because I want to, but because I have to. I also reaffirmed that I am destined to be a part of the scrabook/ paper crafting industry. I have such a passion for this craft, and I learned I have an uncontralable passion to share my passion and knowledge with others. Every class I attended sparked more and more excitement about coming home and teaching my friends all I learned. It was amazing. I learned so much about myself, my friends and my passion known as scrapbooking.

CHALLENGE TIME!! Tell me why you scrapbook, or craft if you don't scrap. Simply leave me a comment here about why you scrap or craft. I will give you until November 16. I will draw 3 lucky winners to recieve a wonderful RAK from my weekend in San Antonio. I can't wait to here why you craft!

It's Official!!

Well bloggers, for those of you who know me, I have been waiting for a special present from Dave for a little while now. For those of you who don't know, let me catch you up to speed. Back in May Dave and I moced into our new apartment. The night before we had our new furniture delivered Dave asked me to marry him. I said yes, but he later said it wasn't an official engagement because there was not a ring. So I have been waiting and waiting....and it's here!!! I am so excited and so fortunate. Dave is wonderful and I couldn't be happier. I am hoping to get pics of us together, the engaged couple, when I get home from San Antonio.

Well, I'm off to finish my Halloween projects! Hope you all have a great night!!

Hugs,

Jessi

Happy Birthday To me!!

Well, my birthday was Thursday, but I had to work so I celebrated all week. my awesome brother came home from the Navy to have dinner with me Monday. He gave a $25 gc to Mike's which I used to buy my very first Roller cart. WOO HOO! I also got the new MM Tag Curler and oodles of tags. I'll have to make some cool stuff and show it off here.

I spent my birthday at the store making fun trinkets and stuff for the Christmas Feature. We had a blast and I am really looking forward to putting out all the new Christmas Goodies this week.

Friday I worked at the Frisco store...NEVER AGAIN!!! I won't air the dirty laundry but trust me, I wouldn't work there even if the stores weren't closing. I missed my girls and my customers. I also cropped at my store Friday night with my mom and my best friend Shawna. We had a good time, but my mom didn't win the chipboard feet she wanted. It's ok tho. We had another chance to win Saturday night. We cropped Saturday with 1/2 the staff from our store and we had a blast!!! Karen, Chrystin, Heidi, Ed, Sharon, Jessica, Shawna, Sonia and Mom and I were there. and we had a great time. There was so much creativity and catti-ness flying around the table, it was fabulous! We had such a good time and everybody won some cute stuff. At the end of the night, my mom won her feet! It was hilarious and fun and I guess you ahd to be there.

Well, I'm off the clean my studio(or at least my half of the office) so I can scrap and post more beautiful works of art. Remember, keep the Recollections gals in your thoughts and prayers through the end of the year. It'll be a rough season and we need all the happy vibes we can get. Thanks for all your support!
Hugs!
Jessi

Sad News....

I am sure by now most of you know, but for those who do not....*sigh*...Recollections is closing. The decision was made by the board of directors over Michaels Inc. We did not have any clues this was coming...nothing. I am told by our corporate team the decision was not one based on porfits or lack there of, but as a way to focus on the main company, Michaels. Our corporate team found out the day before we did. If you have a Recollections near you, show some love to the staff by attending their crops and classes, and let them know how much you truly appreciate them. Most of the stores' staff is truly passionate about papercrafting and it has been a devistating week for all of us. If you shop at my store, Greenville Ave in Dallas, stop by and see me. I'd love to hear your favorite stories or memories about us. I will miss all of the customers whom I've become firends with over the past year. I will also miss my crew their. You have become my family and I will miss you all very much.
I will be attending both crops this weekend, so hopefully I'll have some goodies to show off this weekend to you all. Have a great night and thanks for stopping by. You all mean so much to me.
Hugs!!
Jessi

OMG!!! I'm going to San Antonio!!!

Many of you know I'm a member of the Fiskateers website. You may also know the Fiskateers are hosting a "Round up" the first weekend of November to train 50 fabulous Fiskateers on Fiskars latest and greatest. Well, I wrote last week that my mom was in need of congrats cuase she was picked...guess what? SO WAS I!! I got the invitation yesterday and got my flight reservation confirmation this morning! I am so EXCITED!! I'm gonna meet 49 fabuous Fiska-Friends and 3 of the 4 fabulous crafting ambassadors. I am also so buzzed about meeting Heidi Grace. I am in love with her papers and fun accessories so it is an incredibly HUGE honor to finally meet her. I am also going to get to meet the fabulous ladies at Cloud 9, another fave vendor of mine. I tell you, I am on cloud 9 right now...hee hee...

Other happenings in my life:
I am also gearing up for a fabulous Open House this weekend! If you live near a Recollections and have some spare time, even if it's just a little bit of time, I encourage you to stop by one and enjoy all the goodies. We're doing a fantastic fun Make and Take, Demos on 5 minute cards or less, and you'll get to see all the fantasticly fun and fabulous Holiday projects.
Other upcoming events: My birthday is in 14 days!!! I'll be 27 in 2 weeks, very exciting.
Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week and a fantastic weekend!
Hugs until next time!
~Jessi

FANTASTIC DEALS!!!

Ok, so I went running around town tonight looking for a sub ribbon for work and ended up finding lots of goodies. I was shopping in Mesquite, at Hobby Lobby. There I found ribbons 50% off, All punches and paper/paper paks 50% off, and the best find of all....are you ready for this....get ready....Mini Mark rubon alpha sets $4.79! Reg price $7.99, I got 'em for 4.79! There were lots there and lots of alphas I use already so I stocked up!

I also went to Target becuase Deana was telling me about some fun stuff she found in the dollar bin. Sure enough, the Target on TownEast had cool stuf...for $1!!! I bought some fall ribbons, fun ribbon for cards, brads, and felt embelishments!

I do have a fun LO to share soon, just gotta get more ink in my printer so I can finish the page. Stay tuned and I'll cathc ya on the flip side!
Love ya!
Jessi

Congratulations are in order!

To my new scrap gal pal Aleida Franklin and to my Momma, Congratulations!! Aleida is one of my favortie scrap divas and she has recently been invited to be a Design Team member at Scrap to the Music. If you've never seen her work, check out her diva-licous blog. If you've never been to Scrap to the Music check it out. Either way you won't be sorry. Both are filled with awesome and inspiring works of art by very talented ladies! Now, to my Mom....She has been invited to the Fiskateers Round up. There she will learn the art of being a Fiskateer! She gets to go and meet...yes meet...Heidi Grace, Nancy from Cloud 9 Designs and other fun Scrappy celebs and big wigs. I am way jealous, but I am SOOOO happy for her. She is a fantastic scrapper and a wonderful teacher. I know she'll do Fiskars proud. Maybe I can giver one of my cards I made with my fave HS and Cloud 9 paper and get autographs...hhmmm.... Well, I know there are no pics this week, but I promise soon...really, soon. Have a good night! I'm off to the Scrap-Diner and to scrap. Happy scrappin'! Hugs, Jessi

Frustration!!!

So I feel the need to vent. I haven't been trying very long to get published, but lately I've been annoyed with LO's I'm seeing in magazines in my store. It's not that I don't appreciate their beauty or the effort the artist put into them. The problem I have is I don't think they portray the way over half of America scrapbooks. I never realized how frustrating this truly is until I was at a crop this weekend. I was seated next to a couple of ladies who NEVER scrapbooked before 2 weeks ago. They were asking our crop hostess for ideas, and our girl referred her to our store supply of idea books. One lady brought them back and 10 minutes later she was up again to find another mag...then another, then another. I asked if she was finding any inspiration and she said "I don't have the money it takes to scrap the way these magazine people do." She showed me the pics she was looking at and sighed, "They only have one picture per page. If I did that I'd have 100 albums just for my daughters Freshman year." Another instance arose a few weeks ago when I was scrapping with my girlfriend. She said she loves my pages, but she takes way too many photos to scrapbook the way I do. I know she and I have very different scrapping styles, which I love, but it frustrates me that she feels her pages have to be less exciting because of the amount of pics she takes. I know there are a lot of styles out there, I really to. I just wish more of the mainstream magazines and websites acknowledged this. I feel I am an very talented scrapper, but sometimes I feel even my pages are inadequate against those of the "celebrity designers" because I go for max pics per page in over half my album. I just want to teach new scrappers that you can have fabulous pages with multiple photos without sacrificing style and beauty. I wish other sites and magazines would join me in this...it would make scrapping more fun and enjoyable for all, I think.

Ok...I'm off my sopabox now. I'll be posting new pics over the next few days, so keep an eye out. Good night bloggers, and thanks for reading my ramblings. You mean the world to me.
*~*Hugs*~*

Work...Work...PLAY!!

So I've been uber busy at work lately. It seems like only yesterday when I was stressing over my first open house. Sunday we had a staff meeting to discuss our holiday open house! It's in 4 weeks, so I will be uber busy over the next several weeks. This week has been HELL at work tho. I'm trying to make sure the current feature (Halloween) get set in time and try to start pulling for Christmas...criminy I'm a tired girl.
On an up note, I am very excited about the Recollections paper this year. I am also excited about the projects. If anyone should find them available the first weekend of October, please come by and say hello to me and the girls!
On to the personal front...let my just say, I have the best fiance in the whole world! I came home after a very long Sunday and he had re-arranged our bedroom and decorated the walls! All the laundry was done and my aprtment was clean. I was so happy to be home and smother him in smooches. (Mom turn away and go "ewww" now.) I also wanted to show off some cards I made a few weeks ago. I was waiting on a challenge to be over, so here they are!

Hello moon...

Here it is, 3am again, and I'm sitting at my computer, again. Tonight I'm a little frustrated because I have to leave for Grapevine to drive Dave work in 3.5 hours. The fact that I have to go doesn't really bother me. I've known about it for a week. It's the fact that it is 3am and I'm still wide awake. I will be coma-tose in about 3 hours, which make for quite unsafe driving conditions.

I'm also a little frustrated because I've been rejected. I tried out for 3 DT this past month. I've been rejected by 2, and the third won't announce until Oct. I know I shouldn't worry about the rejection...it still stings a little tho. I have, on the flip side, found a wonderful site called the Scrap Diner. You should definitely check it out. It's a funky little site with a great group of talented ladies, and the store is pretty neat too. I'll probably be spending a few $$ in there once my pay check hits next week. Woo Hoo!!

Here's my latest creation. I'm still on this crazy card kick. I'm hoping I can get back to regular pages soon. I'll have a few more goodies to show off once the weekend is here. Until next time, good night bloggers, and much love to you!

To submit, or not to submit...

A year ago last week I made a promise to myself that I would work very hard to get onto a Design Team or get published by the time I'm 30. At the time I was 25, and thought I had plenty of time to make it. I'm now 26, going on 27 and can feel 30 breathing down my neck. Until last month, I had all but forgotten about my goal. I hadn't really done anything that incredibly spectacular, hadn't been very active in the few sb sites I actually belonged to. Then I met Aleida. She rekindled a passion in me to get myself back into the game. I've joined a few more sites and become more active. I've even started a blog that isn't MYSPACE. She's so talented and such a great person - she's inspired me to strive for my goals and grow into the artist I was born to be.



I have actually applied for 3 DT in the past 2 weeks: Paper Jam Studios, The Little Scrap Shop, and Scraptastic. I got my first notice today from Paper Jam...didn't make it. It's ok though. I know I tried, and that's a good first step. I'm still waiting to hear back from The Little Scrap Shop and Scrap-Tastic calls end Sept 30. I'm a little anxious, but after talking to several gals online about this I feel better. They all told me that they got a lot of rejection when it came to DT when they first started. They also told me that when they first started submitting to mags and books they had to wait 6 months to a year before they heard anything, if at all. I'm definitely going to have to grow a tougher skin to get over the rejections, but I really want to share my creativity and style with the rest of the world, so I will keep on trying. Who knows, maybe in 10 years I'll be a big name in Creating Keepsakes...or maybe I'll still be trying. The point is, I'll still be me, and I'll still be scrapping. :)

I'll keep y'all posted as things come up. Thanks for stopping in, and enjoy your Labor Day Holiday.

Hugs!!

Jessi

Cards and More!

Hello Bloggers,
It's after 4 am and I am still up, playing with all the goodies from my scrap closet. My card kick continues. I have been designing and creating like crazy the past few weeks. My latest creations have stemmed from challenges from one of my new favorite places, ScrapFreak.com. It's been so much fun and I've really allowed myself to get to know the site and expand myself as scrapper and card maker here. The ladies and gents (if any) have been so wonderful. I am saving my card challenge cards for the site, but I'll be posting pics as soon as the Challenge winners are announced. :)
In the mean time, here are a few cards I made in the past few days. I have also been working on a card keeper box for MIL. I will be posting pics of it as soon as it's done. Thanks for looking, and enjoy the cards. If you have any comments, please fell free to leave 'em. I love the feedback!
Happy Dreams bloggers, I'm off to bed now!
Hugs,
Jessi

ABC's of me revisited...

There is another challenge from ScrapFreak.com. We were challenged to used the ABC's to use adjectives to describe ourselves. Let's see what I can come up with.
A- Active Paper Crafter
B- Brown Eyes
C- Choco-holic
D- Dancing feet
E- Enjoys Life
F- Full Figured
G- Giggly when it gets too late
H- Happy
I- Insomniac
J- Jumpy when I'm home alone
K- Kidding
L- Loving
M-
N-Nurturing
O-
P- Perky...as described by severl coworkers at 8am
Q-Quirky
R- Respectful
S- Stubborn
T- Talkative
U- Understanding
V- Vivacious
W- Witty
X- Xuberant
Y- Yackety Yak---I talk a lot!
Z- Zany when I'm with my girlfriends after a few margaritas.

I'll have to get mack to O and M later...right not my mind is blank.

Scrap Freak Blog Challenge 8/17...a little late

Ok, so I'm late getting this in, but I"m still new so I wanted to play.

This challenge is called teh ABC's of me challenge. It seems like a great way to share a litel bit about me.
A - Available or taken: Taken! :)
B - Best Friend: Dave...and Shawna
C - Cake or Pie: Cake
D - Drink of choice: Dr. Pepper
E - Essential Item you use everyday: My computer
F - Favorite color: Teal
G - Gummy Bears or worms: As long as it's made by Haribo, I don't really care.
H - Hometown: G-Town, Tx Baby!
I - Indulgence: Anything Chocolate and and a cozy blanket with a good book
J - January or February: February
K - Kids & Names: none yet
L - Life is Incomplete Without? Dave...He's my world and I miss him when he's not home.
M - Marriage Date: July 2008...haven't set the exact date yet.
N - Number of Siblings: 1
O - Oranges or Apples: Oranges
P - Phobias or Fears: Drowning
Q - Fave Quote: No matter where you go, there you are.
R - Reason to Smile: Waking up on Sundays with Dave
S - Season: Fall
T - Traffic Tickets: Sadly, too many...
U - Unknown Fact about Me: I love everything about the entertainment from the 1950's and early 60's
V- Vegetable You Don't Like: Asparagus (sp?)
W - Worst Habit: I'm a habitual Ice Chewer, and it is SO bad for your teeth
X - Xrays that you have had: 2
Y - Your Fave Food: My mom's Lasagna
Z - Zodiac Sign: Libra

Can't wait to read what my Freaky friends write in their blogs!

Cards and Challenges!

Hello Bloggers,
I've been on a card making kick lately so I wanted to share my latest creations. If you're on my Christmas list (except you, mom) look away. You may be getting one or two of these in your present. :) J/k.
The first 2 pics are actually the same card. The first one is blurry, but it shows the layering better. This card was one I made for a challenge from Miss Robyn at Scrap-tastic.com.


The rest are just fun cards I've been working on the past few weeks. I've been having a blast and hope you all enjoy. If you have any questions about papers, techniques or anything else, just ask.

No love for the Insomniac

So it's 2:45 am here in balmy Dallas. Ok, so it's not balmy, more like muggy, but balmy sounds so much nicer. Anyway, back to my original thoughts....regular cable tv has no love for insomniacs. I gott off work around 11 this evening and am having trouble sleeping. My original thought is, "Sweet, I can work on a project while I'm watching TV in the office. Well, I must have seen 20+ infomercials since 12am. Where are all the tv shows. No movies or anything. I wish we ahd digital in the office. Encore Love is showing 24 hours of Dirty Dancing! :) I can't paint in the living room on our new sofa tho. :( I did finally find reruns of "Fresh Prince of Bel Aire" on Nick at Nite, but it's not my fave tv rerun. It'll do 'till I'm finished.

Right now I'm working on a class kit from work. It's a memo board with beautiful pockets and fun scrolly rubons from Imaginesce. I'm thinking of either hanging it in my office or giving it to my mother-in-law to be for Christmas. Haven't really decided yet. If it's not a Christmas pressie for Edith, I'll post it this weekend. If it is, you'll have to wait until Christmas. In the meantime, here's are a piece I finished last weekend. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by.
Hugs,
Jessi

Fashionistas and their transformations...

Ok, so I have finally come to terms with the fact that I am overweight. Don't misunderstand this to mean I've given up on the battle of the buldge. I've just come to terms with this is who I am right now. For the past 2 years I've put off buying clothes that actually flatter my figure and make me look nice because I was always "saving the money till I lose weight." HUGE mistake. I learned all this, believe it or not, from TLC's what not to wear. It really is a show more about personal transformation than learning how to buy the trendy clothes. Stacey and Clinton, tho harsh in the beginning, really do seem to understand that plus size = beautiful, not fat! They have also told several of their transformees the only way to really make a chnage to better yourself is to better the person you are right now by taking care of yourself. If you feel better about who you are right now, you will have an easier time working to make yourself better. That's not to say you'll breeze through diet and exercise and lose 100 pounds, but you will learn to do it for the right reason, rather than because you hate yourself and your body.

I can't tell you how long it's taken me to come to this realization. Until a month ago, I really did hate the way I look. Then I started watching the TLC show and became inspired by several women with my same body type. Stacey and Clinton were way more than supportive and each plus size participant left the show looking fabulous and feeling better about themselves. It inspired me to do some self inspection of my own. I have since cleaned out the closet, disposing a few items that were less than pleasing to my shape. I also took some time to replace those items with some new, more colorful and flattering pieces. I know this transformation won't happen overnight, but it brings me hope that I can change, and I can do it for me and not the rest of the world who thinks the perfect girl is 5'7 and 110 lbs.

Jumping in...

This my first official blog at my new blog site. I have simply grown tired of the Myspace blog environment.Don't get me wrong, I have connected with old friends and family members, but I think it's a bit over rated. At any rate, I'm here in my new blog, ready to take on the world one scrapbook page and handmade card at a time. You may ask, "but who are you to take over the world?" Let me tell you, my new friend.
I am Jessi Gribbin. Fiance to David, daughter to my loving parents, sister to my Navy brother, and Event Coordinator and class designer to my LSS. I am a habitual ice chewer and night owl, and am completely stubborn. I am also a fan of Nick at Nite and sitcom reruns on life time. I am a crafter of all sorts. I started crafting as a young girl with my mom and have done everything from scrapbooking to card making, candle making and cake decorating. Between my mom and I, there are very few things we haven't tried.
Here are a few samples of my favorite projects. I'm planning on uploading new projects, so stay tuned!