Thursday, December 27, 2007

Sketch 7









Ingredients needed:
4 feet of ribbon
buttons
1 scalloped Stacker circle
1 smaller circle - Stacker or chipboard
What an easy page for alot of photos...and still have room for journaling & a cute title!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Scrapbooking Cruise Online Now!

We're so excited to announce our next Scrapbooking Cruise:

  • Tampa to Cozumel, Mexico
  • May 15-19
  • rates from just $429 per person

Stay tuned for more info. We're finalizing our class schedule & complete itinerary and will post it soon! For all the current info, go to our site, http://www.acidfree.com/ and click on Retail Shopping, then the Cruise link.

We hope you can join us in May!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Sketch 6




This cute holiday layout would be perfect to put some of the photos you receive in Christmas cards this year! We used a Stacker circle to make a fake envelope...adds dimension & interest to the page...and very easy to do.




Ingredients used in this sketch:




Largest circle from Stacker pack


Matching print paper


12x12 cardstock


ric rac


buttons


hemp


Curly Uppercase Letter Stamps (HO HO HO)
Curly Number Stamps (07)




Tuesday, December 11, 2007

FREE Christmas Connector Kit!



As our gift to you, we're giving away this Christmas Connector kit with every order, now thru Friday (12/14)! Just put "Merry Christmas to ME" in the Special Instructions section at checkout...no coupons necessary. (stamp not included)

Monday, December 10, 2007

Accordion Photo Board


Wow, just look how cute!! And, better yet...EASY!


This accordion photo board is made from pages from our 4x6 black board books. Just turn pages both horizontally & vertically...punch more holes (Cropadile works best)...add ribbons, pix, paper, & stamps....Voila! This would work great with our 5x7 and 6x8 board books, too....just use pix the same size as the chipboard.


Just think of the gift possibilities! Enjoy!!

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Survey Results

WOW! We're blown away by the response to our questionnaire. So many of you took the time to email us your answers...and many of you included lots of suggestions & ideas for us. THANKS SO MUCH to all of you!

We'd thought we'd share the results of the questions with you:

As for the order to roll out new items this year, 35% of you voted for stamps first...and clothing items tied with 35%...20% said rub-ons and 10% said inks first.

As for the blog, you want more of all of it...more ideas & projects (with list of supplies, etc....and we've listened to this already!)...more tips & techniques (soon to follow)..more sketches ( of course...we love these!)...and for "other", many of you asked for more contests, including contests with your projects...so stay tuned!

For monthly kit pricing, we got answers from $5 - $75....so all of our kits fall right in the middle. We have monthly kits from $15 - $32...all including shipping. We hope you'll all take the time to check them out. And, that's not to say we won't be adding even more kit options! (for those of you who preferred a box of matching supplies!)

On the questions of class prices, we had responses of $10 - $675 (full weekend event). With all the comments, too, it's clear that the most important part is actually getting what you pay for....and that leads to the answers to questions about techniques or finished projects. The answers were evenly split on these, with comments saying that these are closely tied...that if you love a finished project, you usually love the techniques that you used...and would use them again.

Acrylic stamps are preferred 4 to 1...whew, glad we started our stamp line with those! (wow, has it really been 2 years?!?)

You preferred Quickuts, but only slightly over Sizzix, 48% to 41%, with 11% saying none or other systems like Cricut. So many of us started with Sizzix, and with coupons at the chain stores, it's so easy to add to. But, just in case you want to try Quickutz...and for those that already do...keep it mind that you can email Quickutz orders to us...and save 25% off retail everyday!

For online ordering, shipping costs is the most critical element to over 70% of you. You all wanted coupons, too...and items to be available...and good customer service. We definitely provide coupons to those on our newsletter group...have over 95% of our items ready to ship...and strive for the best customer service. And, as far as shipping is concerned, we've offered FREE SHIPPING on orders of just $35 or more for over a year! (and that $35 is on regular pricing...coupons bring that total down!)

When ordering online, over 90% of you want items in that come open stock and have a complete kit option. We offer this on alot of our products, but we'll work on more combo options.

You were all very honest by telling us that you advertising in the magazines is important, as well as celebrity endorsements...but most of you (62%) buy items that you've been taught to use. That's where good companies come in...if you learn to use our products, you'll use them up & need to buy more! Advertising is sooooo expensive...we'd rather spend money on new products...and more classes (in our store AND online) to share more techniques & time-saving tips. We're glad most of you prefer this route!

In making your purchasing decisions, ease of use & versatility were the most important, followed closely by price. Only a couple answered for the 'newest' product available. We work hard to make sure we provide products that make your scrappin' time more enjoyable...easy products to work with, that can be used several ways...all at a fair price...and of course, we try to come out with new things. We will continue to keep all of these aspects as priorities in our business.

Finally, we LOVED the extra comments & suggestions! (especially the praise & good wishes for me & my son, Keller!!) Yes, we will work on more contests...we will continue offering great coupons...we will consider a "bonus bucks" or similar program...we will work on more pictures on our site...etc, etc, etc. I have saved all the responses to our survey, and will refer to them often...not just the tallied results....our customers are individuals, not just one of a percentage. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for your answers...and for your continued support in this industry.

Kim


Oh, I almost forgot...you want to know who won the 25 shopping sprees?!? Ok, but first, if your name is on this list, email us at kellerscreations@acidfree.com for your coupon code to shop all thru December at 50% off regular prices! If you're not listed, check your email (or sign up for our newsletter if you don't get it already...sign up on the front page of our site) for a great coupon for you, too. So, drum roll, please....the winners are:

Cathy Nelson
Rustie Dimitriadis
Angela Hood
Selena Alvar
Amy Biddison
Andrea Grant
Danniell Slocumb
Sue Vassallo
Kelly Austin
Geneva Whitmire
Jana Robinson
Shawna Kermott
Sherri Simons
Shelly Berg
Jennifer Roeder
Amy Watson
Candy McSween
Kimberly Cramer
Denise Ross
Kim Hackworth
Jamie Harris
Mary Ann Jenkins
Erin Koirtyohann
Sonia Pitts
Nancy Finnerty


Congratulations to each of you! Remember, email us for your code to shop at 50% off all month!

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Another holiday card idea...

Ingredients:


kraft cardstock for card

chipboard tree

scalloped circle & red circle from Distressed Christmas Stacker pack

slide mount

Slanted Bricks XL Background stamp (on slide)

cranberry ink (CTMH)

Christmas Cards slide spot

ribbon


Tuesday, December 4, 2007

WooHoo! Check this out...




Look what we found! We made the list of 'must haves' in RubberStamper magazine (Nov/Dec 07 issue)....check us out at #6. Just thought we'd share!

Monday, December 3, 2007

A simple holiday card...



Stamp slide mount (small round) with snowflakes background stamp (Winter set); put Slide Spot of choice inside mount (Time & Dates used for '2007'); tie ribbon around top side of slide mount before adhering closed.

Use 2 of the 6 small circles in the Distressed Christmas Stacker pack to overlap towards the center of card; adhere in place then cut off outside edges.

Add title...JOY letters shown cut from Vixen alphabet by Quickutz. You could also stamp letters.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

We need your input!

We want to know what you think! Help us out by copying & pasting the following questions into an email to us...along with your answers...and you'll be entered into our biggest prize giveway yet. We will draw not 3 winners, not 5 winners...but 25 winners!!!!!!! 25 lucky customers will win 50% off shopping sprees for the entire month of December! If you win, you can shop online or at our retail store or BOTH. Good luck! (email answers to kellerscreations@acidfree.com with 'my answers' in the subject line)


Tell us what you think...

1. Rank these products in the order you’d like to see us roll them out:
a. more stamps
b. inks
c. rub-ons
d. more clothing items – t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc.

2. Rank these in order of importance to you on our blog:
a. ideas & project samples
b. tips & techniques
c. sketches
d. other?

3. Do you subscribe to any monthly kits? If so, which ones?

4. What is the most you’d pay for a monthly kit?

5. Rank these in order of importance to you in a monthly kit:
a. techniques learned
b. finished project
c. prefer a box of matching supplies

6. What is the most you’ve paid for a class at a scrapbook convention?

7. What is the most you’ve paid for a class at a LSS?

8. Rank these in order of importance to you in a class:
a. techniques learned
b. finished project

9. Which do you prefer: acrylic stamps or wood-mounted stamps?

10. Which do you prefer: Sizzix or Quickutz?

11. Rank these in order of importance to you when ordering online:
a. shipping cost
b. coupon or special offer
c. other?

12. Which do you prefer when ordering items:
a. in complete kits
b. open stock, ordering piece by piece
c. want both options

13. What is the most important factor influencing your likes & dislikes in scrapbooking & cardmaking:
a. products advertised in major magazines
b. products featured by a ‘celebrity’ in the industry
c. products you’ve been taught to use (in a class, at a LSS, at an expo, etc)

14. What is the most important factor in making a purchase, either online or at a LSS or at a show:
a. price
b. ‘newest’ item available
c. ease of use
d. versatility of product

15. What are the top 3 sites you order online from?

16. Where do you purchase more:
a. LSS
b. online
c. convention or expo
d. chain stores (Michael’s, Target, WalMart, etc)

17. Any other comments, ideas, suggestions, criticisms???

Thank you for taking the time to complete our questionnaire! We value your opinion and want to involve our customers in the direction of our company. Good luck in our drawing of 25 lucky winners! We'll announce them here on Saturday night, December 8th...so get your answers to us by midnight Friday to qualify for the drawing.

Kim

Sketch 5 - Enjoy!


This sketch is so versatile. On first look, it didn't make me think holiday...but it worked! You could change the theme easily on this one. And, you could use 2 colors for background, with one under the ribbon border...or use 2 different prints & solid ribbon to divide them. We'd love to see what you come up with!




You'll need:

1 scalloped stacker & 1 round stacker


3 XL tags


4 mats cut to 3x3


ribbon


die cut (flower...2 on this layout)


buttons


title (Quickutz Vixen letters on this one)
"Believe" Word stamp

Saturday, December 1, 2007

More Memory Trends Pix...finally!






Even though these should have been up weeks ago, I still wanted to post them. We (I) had some technical difficulties with my digital camera, but I finally got the pix out!!
We had a blast chatting with Ali, Stacy, and Lisa...so much fun!





Kim