Do You Google???

We have been having major problems with our pop3 e-mail accounts - affecting both my personal & the store e-mails that I've finally given in and got a seperate gmail addy for the store. If you have sent us an e-mail in the past week I probably haven't got it - please send it again using this new address

That also means that I've not received account requests for the forum or DT entries - I will be extending the deadline to reflect that - it's only fair!! Best bookmark the new addy now so you have it when you need it! LOL

And the search is on ...

Due to family commitments, Looby has had to leave us - leaving a huge gaping void that needs to be filled. We have said our goodbyes so all that is left is the question: could you fill that void? The search is on for two new members to join our team. Interested? Read on ...

Each DT member is required to do a minimum of:

• 1 blog post per week - you may choose to post twice per week (& receive a bigger kit to reflect this).
• You will also be expected to take part in setting challenges for visitors to the blog (by rota, once every 3-4 months) & to take part in challenges set by the other DT members.
• Post daily on our forum, organise swaps and other events & generally to help to build our online community.
• Promote the webstore through your personal blogs, message boards (where permitted) etc.
  

This is quite a commitment, so please do think carefully about whether you have the time & enthusiasm to take part before you apply. So, are you up for it?

If you'd like to be considered, please email scans or photographs of your submissions to us with ‘DT entry’ and your name in the subject line by midnight (BST) May 31st, 2008. Please keep your file sizes under 200kb.

• Create a total of 5 pieces to enter. Your collective works should cover at least 3 of the following categories to demonstrate your ability to work in various mediums.
  
  • Layouts (any size)
  • Mini Albums
  • Home Décor
  • Cards
  • Other Paper Crafts (art journals, ATCs etc.)
  Please let us know if you have used any special techniques & give a brief breakdown of the products you have used. If you have products that we stock, please do show us what you can do with that - this is encouraged but not compulsory.

Please tell us the following information (if applicable):

• Please give links to any blogs, public galleries, online resumes etc that you might have.
  

• What scrapbook/art-related message boards are you active on? What is your user name on each?

• Are you currently or have you ever been on a design team? Whose/when?

• Have you ever had designs published in the scrapbook industry? If so when/where?

• Have you ever/do you work at a local scrapbook store or craft chain store? If so when/where?

• Full name, address, e-mail address, telephone number
• Please also write a paragraph about why you’d like a place on this Design Team
  
• Come & join us on the forum – we want to get a real sense of who you are. We require all entrants to have a minimum 10 posts prior to the close of the DT call. Be sure to include your username for this forum in your application.
• Write a review for any product in our webstore – you will need a login account, which is free to create & no purchase is necessary.
  

Age & experience are less important than your passion for craft. I'd need a commitment for 6 months, although you could be invited to stay for longer. There is no pay as such but you would receive a kit of goodies each month & the chance to showcase your work - anything you make is yours to keep & we only ask that you do not post it elsewhere before it appears on our blog.
As we are a small store with a limited budget, we can only accept entries from the UK/BFPO at this time (sorry!) UNLESS international applicants are happy to contribute the additional postal charges.

Questions?? Please post to the forum, where answers will also be posted.

Did You Make It?

The new DT will be announced today & we are gonna break all the rules!! So we are going to tell the world what it was about each submission that helped us make up our minds. At first glance, it seems like all we had to do was pick the projects we liked - but not so, that would give us a DT of over 20 people LOL. The fact is that for this call (and all others I suspect) the standard was so high that we had to use lots of other criteria to make a choice.
Sadly, a few entrants didn't follow the rules. So unless the work was soooo outstanding we couldn't ignore it, those entries didn't get any further. For future reference folks, follow the rules LOL.
So, having established the entries we liked, we followed up links to galleries, blogs etc & looked at intro letters & the craft bios supplied. Some gave us a real 'feel' for the person behind the e-mail - others didn't. Then the whole lot was printed off, notes added & carted into the store.

Looby had the dubious pleasure of helping me decide (so if it all goes horribly wrong - I have someone to blame LOL). This involved copious amounts of tea (for me - Looby doesn't really drink tea) & several petits pain au chocolat with a few croissants thrown in for good measure!

I'm happy to say, Looby is gonna stay on the DT for a while longer (don't think she'd let me get rid of her even if I wanted LOL) and, quite frankly, I couldn't manage without her! We are gonna announce our five new DT members, one at a time every hour from 6pm. See you then!

Are You Up For It?

As promised, here is all the information you need to apply for a place on the Crop ‘Til You Drop design team. Age & experience are less important than your passion for craft. I'd need a commitment for 3 months, although you could be invited to stay for longer. There is no pay as such but you would receive a kit of goodies each month & the chance to showcase your work.
Each DT member will be required to produce a minimum of:
1 layout, 2 cards, something else (binder, mini book, altered project, ATCs etc) & another project of your choice (can be another card, LO etc). These will need to be posted to this blog regularly throughout the month. I could be flexible about this, so if you don’t scrapbook or only make mini books you could still fill a place if it would make for a balanced and interesting team.
You will also be expected to take part in setting challenges for visitors to the blog & to post on this forum every couple of days.
This is quite a commitment, so please do think carefully about whether you have the time to take part before you apply. So, are you up for it?

If you'd like to be considered, please send:

• 3 photos of your work - this can be cards, layouts or whatever but do send the pieces you consider to best represent what you do.
• A set of simple instructions for one of the above
• Full name, address, e-mail address, craft bio (fave techniques, craft info etc).
• Please also include details of any previously published work, current DT commitments, links to your own public gallery or website if you have one & details of anything else you consider relevant e.g. if you don't scrapbook or only make mini books. Decisions are not made based on this info, it will just help me to pick a balanced team.
• Please also give me a brief line or two about why you’d like a place on this Design Team (& do be honest – if you’re in it for the freebies (& who wouldn’t be), just say so LOL)
• This must be sent by e-mail with DT Entry in the subject line as soon as possible and certainly no later than August 20th.

Design Team Call Closed!

Our search for a new design team is drawing to a close. The deadline passed 11 minutes since and we are now accepting no new entrants. The standard has been soooo high that it has been difficult to draw up a shortlist from all the entries we have had.
So far, we have narrowed it down to a potential 7 candidates, of which we have decided that THREE will be chosen for our first DT. Over the weekend I will be e-mailing all those that have so far been unsuccessful and approaching those shortlisted for some additional info ... The DT will be announced on this blog by the end of the month and will make their debut in May!

Please do check back soon as we'll also have some exciting news about events coming shortly!!

Save The Date: National Scrapbooking Day - Saturday May 5th 2007!! More Information about our weekend of Scrapbooking Events coming soon ...