Its the first week of August and the air could not be more filled with anticipation and anxiety here at Two Peas in a Bucket. I am sitting in the main warehouse bagging/shipping area (I always set up my computer in this area, to be in the middle of all the hussle and bussle. I love it. being around all of this work, and also around all of these great people I just adore who work here). All around me, all over the floor, are boxes and stacks, of products that are in the process of getting ready for the Super Sale & Crop that is going to be held on Saturday August 13th. Thats less than 2 weeks away. In 10 days!! We have been receiving large shipments of products from all kinds of companies and are expecting a lot more within the next week. We have gone through all of the Two Peas inventory, and have made tons of packages of products for super super low prices. Albums, stickers, papers, tons of embellishments, rub ons, ribbons, eyelets and so many other great deals.

The plans for the crop are also wrapping up, with prize boxes coming in everyday from all kinds of companies. We recieved a few big boxes from Provo Craft today, with some Sizzex machines and dies for use at the crop! We have some great big prize packages that we are planning to give away, as well as some small items for each person attending the crop. The Garden Girls have also been making some special items that we are going to be giving away. I am working on some small journals and plan to ask everyone in attendance to do a small page for the circle journals. (I will let everyone know in advance what size the page should be). And so far I think there are at least a dozen of the Garden Girls who will be in attendance to mingle and play at the crop! It is going to be so exciting to have all of the Girls here, as well as all kinds of wonderful Two Peas users and friends, at an exclusive Two Peas sponsored event. How cool is that??

In the beginning of July Jeffrey and I went to the CHA Summer trade show. It was a quick run through for us. and with this sale and crop on our minds, we have not had the time to focus on new products as much as we have in the past. Hopefully, with the passing of the sale, we will the opportunity to order in a lot of fun new products for fall and beyond. There are a lot of really great new products out there on the market, and we would love to get them all in. I have a rough idea of the things I plan to focus on, keeping it to a core group of product types and lines. Watch for all kinds of new things this fall. In the meantime, be sure to check out the Preorder area of the shopping section, there are a lot of new products on preorder right now, with most of them shipping within the month or so. I know this not always the best scenerio for some products, but I am really going to stick with this type of ordering style for most of the products we get in here at Two Peas. The short explanation is that it really helps my budget, allowing me to better handle the flow of cash by allocating it to things that we for sure need (have a sure customer demand) for, rather than just taking a guess and ordering something that may not go well. or perhaps ordering not enough for something that will really fly out of here. If you know you are wanting to order some of the products we have coming in, the best way to ensure getting it right away is to place a preorder for it. I order the amount of products based on the numbers presold. Right now there are quite a few new product lines on preorder and I have several more planned for this month. Watch for those coming up.

New Products:
Ki Memories Collection 5
Ki Memories Alphabet Soup
Creating Keepsakes Books
Quote, Unquote Vol. 3

New products on preorder:
Ki Memories
7Gypsies
Chatterbox
Daisy D's
Basic Grey
Autumn Leaves Collections
Autumn Leaves Designing With Calendar

I have a huge stack of product catalogs of things I want to order in the future. With the arrival of fall I hope to have all of these things coming in to Two Peas in a Bucket.

Heidi Swapp
My Minds Eye
Mara Mi
Anna Griffin
Scrapworks
Lil Davis
Fontwerks

We have been clearing so much stuff out of the warehouse this summer. Bazzill envelopes, Chatterbox papers, Ki Memories papers and embellishments, Autumn Leaves products, Rhonna Farrer holiday products, SEI, Basic Grey, Die Cuts with a View card products, Monograms by My Minds Eye, Artic Frog, and so very much more!

Anne Heyen: I am a HUGE fan of KI and love all the lines. The latest collection release was so coloful and "HAPPY". My favorite was the INFINITY collection. It is a "wedding" themed line but the products can be used for any theme. As soon as I got the papers, I was inspired to create 3 layouts of my daughter. The soft colors are perfect for baby photos. For this layout, I covered up the wedding words with another patterned paper and it was perfect for my needs.

Joy Bohon: One of my favorite products right now, one that really strikes a chord with me is the KI memories Keepsakes collection. Mostly for the subtle colors, the quotes that so aptly fit what we do as scrapbookers..

Maria Grace Abuzman: I am a huge *huge* fan of Autumn Leaves' Quote, Unquote series. I can always depend on this collection to help me come up with just the right words for my pages. Now that Autumn Leaves has put out sets of Quote, Unquote stickers. I can't get enough of them. I simply can't.

When did you start scrapbooking?
My neighbor introduced me to scrapbooking in May of 1998. Actually, a few years prior to this my girlfriend Mary mentioned that she was going to a party where you bring 4 or 5 pictures and put together a little page with decorations and stuff. She thought it was right up my alley. I thought it sounded messy and too labor intensive…and then what would I do with it after I finished it? Now look where I am, Mary! (haha)

How were you introduced to it?
Like I mentioned before, my neighbor showed me some of her things and invited me to go to a scrapbook store to pick up some supplies. I was hooked after my very first page.

What are your sources for inspiration?
I think we all have the same answer to this one. EVERYTHING inspires me. Color combinations from clothing catalogs, home furnishing catalogs, every magazine I read gives me something (including my husband’s AutoWeek and my son’s Skateboarding magazines), food and drink packaging, things my kids say, art pieces, my family…the list goes on.

How do you get started on projects (layouts, etc)?
I always start with my photos. I’ll usually lay them out and try to pull colors from the photos to get started. Most of my layouts start out with cardstock. And then I’ll build on to them as I go.

What things do you like to communicate through your work?
I’m not too deep with my layouts. I want my albums to be something that my family can sit down and enjoy reading the stories and looking through the photos and remember the good times (and some not so good times – gotta keep it real, right?). If anything I try to incorporate a bit of my sense of humor in my layouts.

What have been your biggest achievements or greatest layouts or moments with this hobby?
Winning CK’s first Hall of Fame was pretty cool. I was brand new to scrapbooking and it was such a long shot. And back then NOBODY in my group of friends or family knew a thing about scrapbooking, so I celebrated with my immediate family. All they knew was that mama won some money! Being a part of the Garden has also been an amazing experience. I feel like I’ve been here forever and it’s my second home. That’s a good thing.

What kind of goals do you have with your scrapbooking?
Lately I’m lucky to get my assignments done in time for the Garden. It’s fun to get work published with the various magazines, but I don’t make a big effort to do this as much anymore. I like to stay at least a year behind on my photos…anymore than that and I get overwhelmed. I know that I will never be caught up with my box of photos waiting to be scrapped (and I’m ok with that).

Where do you scrap?
I have an office that I share with my photography business. Everything is there in its place…or constantly getting rearranged, or purged, or added to. But the nice thing is that I can start a layout and walk away for a few hours (or days) if things aren’t flowing.

Do you attend crops or conventions?
Occasionally I will pack up my supplies and scrap with some friends at a local store. That doesn’t happen too much anymore because it’s just easier for me to work from home…with all my stuff right here. As far as conventions, I will go to the local ones on occasion. I love meeting up with my online friends when the shows are in town.

Where does scrapbooking fit into your life?
I try to make time for it at least once a week. There were times when I scrapped every single day. I just don’t have the time to do that now. If I go longer than a week without working on something then I get antsy and irritable. Ask my husband about that one. J

Do you scrap in the morning, evening, late night?
Anytime of day that I have some free time. It’s all fair game for me. My youngest starts preschool in a few weeks so I’m thinking the afternoons will be a good time to get more work done, too.

When do you do your greatest work?
Probably late at night after everyone has gone to bed and the house is quiet. I’m a night owl and will sometimes stay up until 1am working on an idea. And once I get started on something that is flowing for me then I can’t stop in the middle of it to make time for bed. I pay dearly for it the next morning when the kids are up at 6am, though.

What does your family think of your scrapbooking?
They thoroughly enjoy looking at layouts with their pictures and stories in them. My husband is so supportive he’d even drive an hour each way to pick up a pack of letter stickers because I’m missing the letter T for a layout I’m working on. Plus, he’ll take the kids to get them out of the house. That my friends, is love. My mother in law wants a copy of every single thing I’ve been published in. It’s fun to have support from everyone.

Do you have a favorite product line, paper, sticker, or cardstock color?
I guess I don’t favor one particular product line as much as I love a product. My favorites seem to be letter stickers, chipboard letters and accents, kraft cardstock, rub-ons and flowers of all kinds. Oh, and my favorite pen for journaling is the Pigment Pro pen from American Crafts.

What do you want the peas to know about you?
I’m crazy about my family. I always have a camera loaded and ready to go – so be careful. I love picking up my photos from the lab even though I’ve already seen them on my computer. I stockpile Hermafix refills like you wouldn’t believe. I laugh a lot. I blush VERY easily. I’m terrible with timely emails. I’m on a mission to lose a lot of weight. I wear flip-flops year round. I love this hobby more than I ever thought possible.