Exciting news coming tomorrow!

For all you tech-savvy scrapbookers our there we have a SUPER exciting announcement coming tomorrow... Stay tuned!!

Have your iTunes ready (big hint!)

wheeeee!
~Kathleen

NZ Scrapbook Franchising Opportunities available

New Zealand Scrapbook Company franchising opportunities are now available for the areas of West Auckland, South Auckland, Central Auckland and other selected North and South Island locations.

Enquiries may be made by emailing info@nzscrapbook.co.nz


Don't miss this exciting business opportunity!

Instant Bonus Bucks this Weekend!

Three cheers!Originally uploaded by cattycamehome


Instant Bonus Bucks this weekend here at New Zealand Scrapbook Company
and at double the usual rate too!

No need to wait to fill your card before reaping the rewards.

For every $10 you spend on valid purchases* you will receive a $1 NZ Scrapbook Bonus Buck back in your hand.
Spend $100 and you will receive $10 worth of Bonus Bucks that you can spend in our store.

TWO DAYS ONLY
Friday 5th June and Saturday 6th June
Open 9am - 9pm

*Excludes purchase of gift vouchers, classes, Cuttlebug, Cricut and Spellbinder products.
Instant Bonus Bucks replaces our normal customer card stamps during this two day promotion.

Be my Valentine?

We have a Valentines gift for you!

Everyone who visits NZ Scrapbook here on the North Shore, Auckland between 9am - 9pm this Saturday 14th February 2009 will receive a FREE Valentine from us!

Plus as an added Valentines Bonus, any purchases made on the day will

DOUBLE your BONUS BUCKS rewards!

(Bonus Bucks stamps are awarded on purchases of $20 or more and exclude classes, Cricut & Cuttlebug products and gift vouchers)

Valentines Make'n'take project - may contain home made Coconut Ice!

Also we will be running a SPECIAL Valentines Make'n'Take project between the hours of 10am and 1pm. Just call in anytime between those hours to create a cute Valentine to keep or give to YOUR sweetheart. FREE!!

So as you can see, things are going HEART shaped here at New Zealand Scrapbook Company! Come join the fun and receive your free gift.

~ Kathleen, Linda and the Team at NZ Scrapbook.

A little bird told me...

The little cute Bird that Landed on Me!!!
Originally uploaded by Benny Vision

Watch this space for a BRAND NEW event evening coming to New Zealand Scrapbook. You don't want to miss this!

Mid-winter Christmas tree decoration contest - Kids!

Hi kids (and big kids!)
Earlier in the week we announced our Mid-winter Christmas Tree Decoration Competition. Here are the details for the Kids Category:


Check out our AWESOME first prize:

Yes, thats right - a brand new Cuttlekids diecutting machine and School Days die set! 12 and unders are welcome to create a christmas tree decoration, bring it in before the end of day 12th July and your entry is up for public vote the following week.

If you missed the earlier post about the Christmas Tree decoration contest for adults:


And the fab KAISERcraft prize!...

I'm looking forward to seeing your wonderful entries!
~Kathleen

Wave to the rest of the world NZ Scrapbookers!

Hey folks!

Have I mentioned lately how SUPER COOL you all are?? Well you are! CHECK this OUT.... (if you click the image it will make it bigger so you can read it)


This is an section from this months Basic Grey Retailers Newsletter that goes out to wholesalers/distributors and retail outlets all over the world. How awesome is that??!

How does that make YOU super cool you ask? Because every time you visit our store, website or participate in our events, turning up with your bright smiley faces and enthusiasm it means we can keep doing fun stuff like our Product Previews, competitions and the like. EVERY one of you makes a difference in the success of our (our includes you!) store So thanks!
Thanks!
and
THANKS!

~Kathleen & Linda
wheeeee!

PS: If you missed attending our Basic Grey Events and just joined our blog these are the links for Product Preview: Basic Grey Basically Breakfast and Product Preview: Basic Grey Basically Breakfast - the evening edition!

The NZ Scrapbook Family is growing!

Happy Tuesday!
A very warm welcome to our two newest NZ Scrapbook Family members who joined us in May.

This gorgeous lady is Pam Olds who is now running the Thursday Night Crop and kids birthday parties. Pam is a true people person and delighted to help with page ideas, suggestions or techniques - ideal for a crop teacher!

And our new Bookkeeper Charisse Baker who is doing a wonderful job keeping our Admin up to date. Talk about whizzy - the girl is FAST!

Both these ladies are keen scrapbookers and longtime customers. If you look back on some of our photos you will see both Pam and Charisse pop up from time to time in Product Preview Events, Classes and Kids Classes. Charisse was telling me just this week how she remembers coming into the store when my daughter was a baby (who is now 7years!).

We are THRILLED to have them both join our team. If you see Pam or Charisse in store be sure to say hi and give them a wee welcome too. It'd make their day!

~Kathleen

Product Preview: Hot off the press "Assembled with Love"

Hi All,
It's that time again! Product Preview Time... which means brand new product, creative projects, prizes and lots of scrapbook goodies... and of course a fun evening too!

This Wednesday 11th June at 7pm we will be sharing with you the new seasons products from Hot off the Press! We had a ball creating the project for the night and just know you're going to love making it too.

This Product Preview Project you will be creating a super cute 6"x6" Chipboard Album decorated with Hot off the Press Papers, Prima stamped chipboard swirls and a HUGE Hot off the Press Embellish-abilities kit.

This entire kit is included in your project pack!

Even the inside pages are stylishly decorated so by the end of the evening all you will need to do is just add photos.


Cost for Product Preview: Hot off the Press "Assembled with love" is just $30 which includes a Project Pack valued at over $60!! You will also receive a beautiful Take Home Project layout kit and be automatically entered in to win some wonderful Hot off the Press door prizes.

We have a limited number of spaces for this fun night so be sure to book your seat by phoning us on 09 912 0665

Hope you can make it and we look forward to seeing you soon!
~Kathleen, Linda and the Team at NZ Scrapbook

Product Preview: SEI "The Tourist Boxes!"

Hi Folks,
Yes, its that time again - time for another awesome Product Preview event! If you came to Product Preview: SEI "Chocooolatte Indulgence" you may remember me mentioning two very large and rather adventurous boxes that decided they would not come to NZ but instead make their way to Sweden, visiting with some nice men from Fedex who live in Stockholm. One box took in the sights of Paris and London...the other, well I don't know what happened with the other but eventually they did turn up on our doorstep. And just between you and me it was worth the wait! The YUM product in these boxes deserve a product preview all of their own! Words that I could use without giving toooooo much away are LUSH, RICH, TACTILE & Quirky, cute, clever!

Now I don't normally sneak a pic of the project you will be making but I just love these word albums (oops did I just let something slip??! heheee) and I just know you are going to have a great time making it! Soooo... this is the project you will make at Product Preview: SEI "The Tourist Boxes!"


PLUS an additional mini-project and a Take Home project too! Cost for this event is just $20 with the total value of products you will receive at over $30

The chocolate waterfall at Product Preview: SEI "Chocooolatte Indulgence" was such a hit we are having it again at this fun evening along with a bunch of prize draws too!

Product Preview: SEI "The Tourist Boxes!"
This Wednesday 30th April at 7pm
Tickets just $20
Phone 09 912 0665 to book your seat.

See you then!
~Kathleen

PS: If you can't make it to this fun evening, the new SEI product will be available for general store release from Thursday 1st May at 9am

I think I'll just live down there...

honestly there are so many exciting things happening down at the store I think I will just move in down there so I don't miss a thing! Free tonight? then how about this, it sounds like great fun...

Or check out the excitement happening in a couple of weeks time, how seriously cool is this?!

Now I know that image is a bit small for you to read the fine print but you can go here to see the original. In a nutshell though, it is a Spring CampIN in store! 36 hours of non-stop scrapbooking madness combined with a camping trip like no other. 9am Friday September 28th to 9pm Saturday September 29th, 2007

How it works is you buy a badge which secures your cropping seat and enables you to come and go (or just come for part of the time) and still receive the various badge attendee benefits such as a free goodie bag, mini workshops, two dinners and breakfast, Cropfest games and more. There will even be a midnight feast and marshmallows! Pitch a tent INSIDE OUR STORE Friday night (one of those popup types that require no pegs) and you will go into the draw to win a $150 NZ Scrapbook Voucher. We want to see how many tents we can fit in our Mega Store! And yes, you can TRY for some zzz’s during the night too. Crazy and a whole lot of fun! Cropfest 2007 – Spring CampIN badges are only $75

If you can’t make it as an official attendee you can still join in the fun. We are running back to back Make ‘n Takes over the entire 36 hours. Come and create tags, cards, embellishments, titles and more – ALL FREE. The store is OPEN for shopping and fun for the entire 36hours.
Join us for the scrumptious BBQ Breakfast cookout – you will receive a FREE BREAKFAST ticket with any purchase of $10 prior to the breakfast time of 7am Saturday 29th September 2007.

Visit our store dressed in some kind of camping attire between the hours of 9pm Friday and 9am Saturday (aka during the night) and receive a FREE GIFT!

Plus Our Class Calendar has been updated again. There are so many new classes - in fact they are almost all new! Everything has been redesigned and updated so if you haven’t taken a class in a while and are looking for an inspiration boost; join us for a great evening of creating. They are great value too. Just a note – The Ballerina Canvas class is filling FAST, so be in quick for this one.

And finally, this Saturday 12th September we are running FREE product demos with the NEW Curling Tag tools and grommet setting tools from Making Memories. Pop in anytime from 9am – 9pm to see and try these great new products.

I am sure that is more than enough to keep you busy!
Till next time
Jo :O)

Meet the Team!

A big welcome to the three newest members of our design team who I am so excited to have on board :O) You are going to get some wonderful inspiration from these girls and they all have their own unique style. Here I will let them introduce themselves to you:


Hi I’m Andrea Senn, I’m married to Daryl and have one daughter, Isla aged 21 months, the subject of most of my layouts. I began scrapbooking about 4 years ago and most of my layouts were about us as a couple and what we did, where we travelled etc. But when my daughter was born I discovered a new appreciation for scrapbooking. I then realised what a wonderful tool it is for recording special memories and in particular all those little things from these first few years of her life which I might forget as time passes. I’m really looking forward to the time when I can start recording on my layouts all those weird and bizarre things that kids say.

I’ve always been a creative sort, doing art through high school and then continuing on doing one form of art and craft or another and even traditional scrapbooks for receipts and brochures etc after trips overseas. NZ Scrapbook was the very first scrapbook store I ever went to and I took my first class there so I’m really excited to be part of the Design Team.

My style is ever evolving but the things which really appeal to me are use of white space, rubons, stamps, chipboard, alphas, and most importantly focus on the photos. I also really enjoy adding digital elements to my pages whether they’re Photoshop brushes or other elements that can be printed out. I love the whole process of creating a page and seeing how it comes together. It’s my creative outlet.

Heya there, I am Ilka Adam and live with my man Rainer and my son Chris (17) in Waiuku. I've always done one crafty thing or other. X-mas 2004 my son went to visit his grandparents in Germany. I wanted to make a pretty photo album with writing in it for him to take. In The Warehouse I found one of those big books, papers and other bits. Guess I made my first album unaware of what scrapbooking really is. A few months later Rainer discovered a scrapbooking section on trademe... well the rest is history. Been addicted ever since! To me scrapping is art with a small a. Art about all the little things that make my life so big. I love that it also conserves our memories..My style is eclectic and depends on my mood and what I am into at the moment. It’s wonderful to share this passion with others and I am constantly amazed by the fabulous talent and diversity of my fellow scrappers.

Hi everyone I am Sarah Groen, I have been married to Mark for 17 years and am a stay at home mum to our 5 kids, Chris 16, Jaime 14, Adam 13, Natalie 10 and Sophie 2. We live in Greenhithe on Auckland's North Shore. I have been scrapping for almost 2 years now and I confess that I am a total addict. I have had layouts published both in NZ and overseas but this is my first design team experience and I am thrilled to be part of the NZ scrapbook team. Most of my layouts feature my children and I especially like to record those precious everyday moments that we take for granted and which are so easily forgotten with the passage of time.

A Couple of Reminders...

Tomorrow night at 7pm a class designed by the very talented Wendy Jones to make a beautiful little family gift album using Heidi Grace vineyard product. This picture is obviously only of the front cover, the inside is decorated beautifully as well. This would make a perfect christmas gift or make it just for yourself. Contact the store for details.

Also there is less than a week to get those design team entries in to me. Friday 31st of August at midnight is the deadline and the details are here

Sounds like a great time was had by all for the all day crop on Saturday. Check out Megan's blog for pics, and also check out her details about the upcoming cropfest which sounds soooo exciting! Will keep you posted for that...might need to get some new pjs especially for the occasion ;o)

Mega Store Opening Celebrations continued.

Have you been down to check out the opening celebrations yet? Remember there are things happening all week. See my post below for details. I went down on Friday night and Saturday morning and let me tell you the place was pumping! And everything that was happening cost nothing to participate in. Here is a look at the talented Trina McClune's class for Fiskar's "Hole Lot of Loving" - gorgeous layouts were being created and the ladies were having so much fun learning new techniques with the Fiskar's tools. That is one noisy, fun, class and it is happening all over again on Wednesday and Saturday, and it is free! Have I stressed that enough lol!

Demo's were also going on in store of new products...here is the lovely Andrea demonstrating the Fiskar's stamp press, I love love love this tool...such a simple concept but so clever!

And people were able to have a play on the new Cricut Expressions - my fave new toy! Incidentally did you know you can use the Cricut to cut acetate - Fiona Newth the cricut and cuttlebug expert gave me a tip about cutting out a large box with a cute flower on top from acetate using the tags, bags and boxes cartridge and filling it with sweets - makes a gorgeous gift! Will share a pic when I have filled it so you can see what I mean.
Speaking of Fiona, here she is taking one of her free Cricut and Cuttlebug classes. I was lucky enough to be helping out with one of these on Friday night and I learned heaps of new tips. My favourite was the cutting out of felt accents using the Cuttlebug dies and then layering them up to create beautiful embellies for you pages. I am off out this morning to get some of those dies and will share a pic of the accents also when I have made them. Super cute Fiona!

And last but not least here is a pic of the very talented Ian Handricks. He is the resident photo restoration and genealogy expert. This guy is simply amazing - I spent half an hour in his company one day and came away in awe of his talent! Ask him to show you the stunning fairy photos or caricatures he can make using your photos or the fantastic restorations he can do. He is also the man to talk to if you are considering researching your family history. He is very approachable and will love to show you examples of his work.


Well that is about all for now...off to get my cuttlebug dies!

More to share soon
Jo :O)

MEGA STORE OPENING CELEBRATIONS - Free Classes!!!

Yes you read that right! Due to the opening of the mega store we will be holding opening celebrations in store this Friday 10th August all week through till Saturday 18th August. Some great sponsors are supporting this event and include Fiskars, Cricut, Cuttlebug, GlueArts, Blooms,Pratley, Xyron, Peelcraft and more! Make sure you get down to the store at some stage during this exciting event as there will be prize draws, make ‘n takes, special promotions and of course some great free workshops such as:

Free Workshop - Cricut! Experienced users class: Free class with Cricut demonstrator Fiona Newth. Join in the fun with other Cricut owners and learn tips and tricks of this amazing machine. Great opportunity to have a try of the new Expressions machine and versatile Cuttlebug! 2 hour duration, no tools or materials needed. Bookings essential. Friday 10th August 7pm

Free Workshop - 'Hole lot of loving!': Taught by the amazing Trina McClune, in this Fiskars sponsored class you will create a single page layout featuring the Heidi Grace Vineyard range. 1 hour duration. Bookings essential. Saturday 11th August 11am and 12.30pm/Wednesday 15th August 7pm/Saturday 18th August 11am. Here is a sneaky peek of the project:

Free Workshop - Cricut & Cuttlebug exposed!: You've heard about these amazing machines - this is your chance to try! Demonstration/make 'n takes lead by Cricut demonstrator Fiona Newth. No bookings necessary, simply arrive during these times to join the fun. If you can't make those times, don't worry Cricut and Cuttlebug make 'n takes are happening all week long! Saturday 11th August from 11am - 1pm and 2pm - 4pm.

Free Workshop - Heritage Class and Genealogy: This week in keeping with our Opening Celebrations event the Heritage Class is FREE and all are welcome to attend. Genealogy expert and photo restorer Ian Handricks will be making a presentation, then to follow will be a fun project that you can use in your own Heritage Pages. You may wish to bring any challenging photos that you would like advice for. All welcome, bookings essential. Wednesday 15th August at 7pm

Free Workshop - All for Kids!: Kids love scrapbooking! This mini-workshop is a great chance for children aged 9 - 15 years to try scrapbooking. 1 hour duration. No bookings necessary Saturday 18th August at 3pm.

Next week there will also be a MEGA STORE GRAND OPENING EVENT CROP: Lead by Megan Renfree and Faye Gregory you can be sure of an evening of scrapbooking fun! Mini-project and a prize or two!Bring your current pages to work on and scrapbooking tools and materials.$15 fee. Friday 17th August 6pm until Midnight.

Make sure you remember to book in for those classes that state bookings essential because there are limited spaces.

Also during the open week new hours will kick in for the Link Drive Store. We are open 9am – 9pm 6 Days a week! Closed Sunday.

And the class calendar is now online, go and check it out.

By the way...some of you (like me) may not be receiving the store emails - this seems to be affecting xtra customers. If this is the case for you can you please email the store and let them know or pop a comment on this post, we are trying to sort out why this is happening.

More to share soon...Jo.

Lots to share...

Firstly new products in store from We R Memory Keepers.

1) Really beautiful leather post bound albums. These albums have a classic look and are available in sixteen different colours, here are just a few of the colours - gorgeous aren't they?!

2) Themed embossed cardstock stickers. There are several different themes available, but my favourite would have to be the tooth fairy ones - perfect for those pages about a child losing their first tooth. Or create a special treasure box for your little one to keep their letters from the tooth fairy in.
3) Now these are going fast so you will need to be quick...metallic rub ons! I can see why these are so popular, they would give a very elegant look to your page and are something a little different to the classic black or white rub on.

There are also restocks of all the Fiskars products in store, including some very cool clear stamps that I have my eye on ;O) and of course the stamp press which imo is just the best thing since sliced bread for those large clear stamps, and when you want to stamp several stamps at the same time and know exactly where they are going to end up on your page. Stay tuned for an exciting upcoming class featuring the clear stamps and the stamp press.

Now if you haven't been down to the store yet and seen the new Cricut Expression in action you are missing something special. Get Joanne to show you just what this baby can do. She showed me a couple of its cool features yesterday and yes, I will admit it, I succumbed to the lure of the cricut! It is now sitting proudly in its new home on my dining table lol! Oh the joy of being able to cut something out that will fit across an entire page...oh the rapture of being able to cut a photo into a shape exactly where you intended to cut! Believe me you will be seeing a lot of cricuting in my upcoming work, in fact I have a work in progress which I will share soon featuring the most gorgeous swirly doodle done in about five seconds flat by my new best friend cricut :O)

And speaking of sharing work...I have some news to share with you about someone who is now working with me on our design team...introducing our newest design team member...

MEGAN RENFREE! Yay! Welcome Megan. Megan has been a friend of NZ Scrapbook for a long time and we are delighted to have her on the team. She does beautiful work featuring clean lines and she rocks boy pages which I know some of you struggle with. Her linear style is the perfect complement I think to my somewhat haphazard one lol, so you are getting the best of both worlds in terms of inspiration. Here I will let her tell you a little about herself...

Hi there,

My scrapbooking journey began officially 7 years ago, just after the birth of my eldest son Connor when I was online searching for some letter stickers to decorate an album. Unofficially I think I have always scrapbooked and have always loved cutting up stuff and creating old fashioned scrapbooks when I have travelled. I can safely say that Scrapbooking is my passion.

I am married to Mark, and have two boys, Connor who is 7 and Riley who is 4. Most of my layouts feature them as I love to capture their lives through our photos. I have a shocking memory, so it’s great to be able to create pages of moments that have happened and then be able to go back to them at a later date and remember the memories all over again.

I also love the creative aspect of scrapbooking. I feel like I have always scrapbooked in some way, and I have several paper scrapbooks that I have made when I have travelled prior to discovering scrapbook products and "Acid Free". My style is very linear, I like to use sharp lines and you don’t often see a project of mine that doesn’t include lots of bright bold patterned paper, chipboard, paint, ribbon, rubons and plenty of kindy glitz.

Megan and I have already begun creating layouts and you can see a couple we have completed recently in store, but I will share them here with you too. Here is a layout Megan created using Basic Grey and Lil Davis products:


See what I mean about fantastic boy pages?! And here is one from me featuring Heidi Grace Vineyard papers and embellishments, and Queen and Co large sequins. Last but not least (still there loyal readers?) remember we are still looking for three new design team members and you have until the end of August to get your entries in to me. I will announce the design team shortly after that. Entries are starting to come in and I must say it is going to be very difficult to choose, I am seeing some gorgeous work...kiwi scrappers rock imo! If you need the details again go here. Looking forward to seeing your work.


That's all for now, chat soon.

Jo

DESIGN TEAM CALL!

We are now on the hunt for three new design team members! Please send by email to joblogs@xtra.co.nz by 31st August 2007, images of: two favourite recent layouts, an "about me" layout which features five things about you people may not be aware of, and one off the page project. Images to be around 100kb please. If you live locally to the mega store you may also drop your projects off there, marked attention: Jo Kneller. Please also include your full contact details and any other information you would like us to know, for example if you have been published, have design team experience etc.
If you have any questions or require further information or clarification please email Jo Kneller at joblogs@xtra.co.nz.

Did you know?

That NZ Scrapbook has a huge new megastore at shop 4, 6 Link Drive, Wairau Park, North Shore? How huge you ask? Try 5683 square feet! And it is open for business now! So pop in and say hi. There is some construction going on at the moment but when all is done the store will have the following features: Two fully equipped class/crop areas, customer computer journaling station, customer kitchen, kids play area and partners lounge, in store digital photo restoration service, Accucut diecut centre, customer toilet facilities, 'make and take' customer education stations and more! Plus of course a large showroom full of papercrafting and scrapping goodies, and inspiration!

And you get the best of both worlds because our small North Harbour store at 80 Paul Matthews Road is staying open for business too.