SPRING CHALLENGE WEEK 14: Summer is Here!

Summer Is Here! And it is our last challenge. Have you stayed caught up? Are you playing catch-up to get ready to submit your projects to Keepsakes so we can get you your prize? Sure hope so! Now that it is officially summer, lets get some projects that reflect the warm, long days of sunshine and lemonade, of children running through the sprinklers and families camping! Go to town on this one people!

This Week's Classes

We're down to the last couple classes for the schedule, so if you really wanted to take a class this month, you'd better get busy! Here's what's coming up this week:

The Story of Me
Taught by Kristii Lockart
Wednesday, June 25
6:00-8:30
$20


Sommerset Watercolor Album
Taught by Susan Beth Breuner
Thursday, June 26
6-9 pm
$25

Stop by Keepsakes to see the class sample!

SPRING CHALLENGE WEEK 13: Three's Company

Your challenge this week is to...

Combine Products From at Least Three Companies

Come and see how well so many lines coordinate with products from a completely different manufacturer. Pick at least three and take them home to do a little something special for us! Be creative! Be inspired! Have fun! Make something unique!

This Week's Classes!

Friend Pages
Taught by Jan
Tuesday, June 17
6-8:30 pm
$20


Mom and Me Class
Taught by Elizabeth
Saturday, June 21
11-1 pm
$20


Intro to Design #6 - Bridge and Ground
Taught by Jan
Saturday, June 21
2-4 pm
$20

SPRING CHALLENGE WEEK 12: Prolific Poetry

A Rose By Any Other Name... would smell just as sweet. Let poetry inspire your card, page or other project. Use the poem or series of poems for your journaling, or just as a jumping off point. Put a little punch of romance and sweetness with a classic Shakespeare poem, or try a funny children's poem from Shel Silverstein to narrate that great photo of your child or grandchild! Or better yet, use a poem you wrote!

This Week's Classes!

Surprise Techniques
Taught by Susan Beth
Monday, June 9
6-9 pm
$20

Come and see what surprise techniques Susan Beth brought back from the Donna Downey workshop!

Shabby Chic Cards II
Taught by Elizabeth
Wednesday, June 11
6-9 pm
$20


7Gypsies Layouts
Taught by Peggy
Thursday, June 12
6-8 pm
$20

SPRING CHALLENGE WEEK 11: Clearly Colorful!

Your challenge for this week is to...

COLOR A PREPRINTED TRANSPARENCY!

Get out your pens and paints, maybe even a few stamps and some ink and go to town on a pre-printed transparency. We've got a ton of them in stock just waiting for you to work some colorful magic to enhance your pages, cards and other projects! Check out transparencies from Hambly, Creative Imaginations, Fancy Pants and others! What fun!

Thank You!

I just want to say "Thank You!" to those of you who attended tonight's Artsy Butterfly Cards class! It was wonderful to meet a lot of you for the first time and I hope to see you again! You are all so wonderful to work with and I love seeing how you changed up the cards to make them your own!

For those of you who were interested in more information about the paper ribbon from Little Black Dress Designs, you can find information on their product page. They have the ribbon in all sorts of colors and also have ideas for what to do with it. From reading on their website I learned that you can activate the adhesive used in the manufacturing process by wetting the ribbon and pressing it to your paper. I tried it, and it works! You have to hold it down for a few seconds to get it to stick, but then it adheres nicely. It's a neat trick!

Thanks again for attending the class tonight. I hope you had a nice time - I know I did, thanks to all of you!!

Elizabeth

How to enter the challenges...

We were asked how to enter the weekly challenges by leaving a comment on the blog, so here is a step by step process for anyone who wants to enter but doesn't know how! The blog challenges will continue through the end of the month, and there is a prize awaiting one lucky winner who finishes them all! You can always drop your layout / project off at the store to have it entered, but if you want to enter online, here's how to do it...

1. First you will need to post a picture of the project online somewhere. It can be anywhere, from your own blog (free, and easy to set up at blogger.com), to a photo sharing site (like flickr), or an online gallery (like twopeasinabucket). It's free and easy to set up an account on one of these sites and it just takes a second.

2. Once your project is online, make sure you can see it in your web browser and then highlight the web address (the WHOLE thing) and copy it. If you are using a Windows based computer, the easiest way to copy is to hit while the line is highlighted. You can also right click and select "copy" from the drop down menu.

3. Once you have copied the link, go to the post on the Keepsakes blog and leave a comment. In the comment box you can say whatever it is you'd like to say and then paste the link into the comment. To paste, you can hit or right click and select "paste" from the drop down menu.

4. Once you have finished posting your comment the web address should be visible and we can go see your great projects!

Can't wait to see what you all come up with now that you know how to post a link!!

This Week's Classes!

Birthday Cake Book
Taught by Jennifer
Monday, June 2
6-8 pm
$20

See store display for class sample!

Travel Pages
Taught by Jan
Tuesday, June 3
6-8 pm
$20



Butterfly Cards
Taught by Elizabeth
Wednesday, June 4
6-9 pm
$20


Intro to Design #5 - Balance
Taught by Jan
Saturday, June 7
1-4 pm
$20

SPRING CHALLENGE WEEK 10: Dream Vacation

Vacation season is upon us. Are you going on your dream vacation? Did you already go on it? Maybe you don't get to do it this year, but you still have a dream vacation to look forward to in the future! Do a project that reflects this dream (whether it has come true or not!).

Here are a couple pages from DT member Elizabeth's album from her dream trip to Alaska a few years ago!

Upcoming Event: Crop 'Till You Drop!

Don't forget that this Friday is

CROP 'TILL YOU DROP

from 6:00 - 10:30 pm!

Bring your projects to work on and a snack to share and come join the fun!
The cost is free, but workspace is limited, so call (406) 586-9249 to let us know you're coming!

This Week's Classes!

Baby Pages
Taught by Kristii
Monday, May 26
1-4 pm
$20




Vintage Photo Cards
Taught by Elizabeth
Tuesday, May 27
6-9 pm
$20

Stop by the store to see the class samples!

Prima Boy Pages
Taught by Jan
Wednesday, May 28
6-8 pm
$20

Let's Create A Party
Taught by Peggy
Thursday, May 29
6-8 pm
$20

Stop by the store to see the class samples!

Mom and Me Class
Taught by Elizabeth
Saturday, May 31
1-3 pm
$20 for mom and child
$10 for each additional child

SPRING CHALLENGE WEEK 9: Flower Power!

We're looking forward to a season of wonderful flowers - from sweet peas to roses to paintbrushes and sun flowers. Now is the time to put them on your pages! You know what that means... this week's challenge is to:

Go flower crazy!

We've got flowers from Prima, Bazzil, Bo Bunny, Imaginisce, and other manufacturers! Grab a bunch and put them on your project! Or use one of our many flower punches and make your own! Alter them with ink, glitter, paint, whatever you'd like! Enjoy the flowers and share them with all of us!

Don't forget that you get a 15% discount on the flowers you buy for this challenge - all you have to do is let us know which challenge you're working on! And remember to leave a link in the comments so we can all praise the great work you've done with your flower power!

SPRING CHALLENGE WEEK 8: Class Act

Have you taken a class at Keepsakes? If so, thank you! We hope you enjoyed it. If not, check us out! We've got a variety of fun classes, projects and teachers for you to pick from. Whether you've taken a class with us or not, please join us in this week's challenge! Your challenge is to...

Think of a class you've taken, whether scrapbooking/crafting related or from your formal education and use it as an inspiration for a project.

Don't forget to post a link in the comments so we can see your work and be inspired by you! Let us know which class inspired you, too... knowing the back story is part of the fun!

SPRING CHALLENGE WEEK 7: Mother of Mine

How does your mom inspire you? We've all got a mother. She's got her strengths, and probably her weaknesses. She gave us life, and probably oh so much more! Your challenge for this week is to

Make a card, page or other project expressing how you feel about your mother!

Don't forget to link in the comments so we can all appreciate your mother, just in time for Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Sale!

For Mother's Day, send your loved ones to

Keepsakes by Design

On Thursday May 8th - Saturday May 10th

we will add 25% to the total

of any gift certificate purchased

Our way of saying -- We Love you Mom!!!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!

Today was National Scrapbooking Day, and we celebrated in style at Keepsakes! If you weren't at our all day extravaganza, you missed a real treat! Chrissy Doolen, a representative from Fiskars, came and shared 6 projects with us over the course of 7 hours. Thank you, Chrissy! We came away with 6 finished projects, lots of great ideas, and door prizes galore!

Chrissy showed us step by step how to complete each of the projects.



Just one of the great projects we made today!



The crafting crowd.



Everyone hard at work and tuckered out by the end of the day.

Chrissy usually comes to do a day like this for us once or twice a year. It's worth it every time!

This Week's Classes...

Transparent Planning Board
Monday, May 5th
6:00 - 8:30
$20
Taught by Jenn


Wedding Planner
Tuesday, May 6th
6:00 - 9:00
$40
Taught by Peggy



Wedding Pages
Thursday, May 8th
6:00 - 9:00
$20
Taught by Susan Beth

SPRING CHALLENGE WEEK 6: Magazine Mania!

Here's your challenge for the week...

Head to Keepsakes and check out the many inspiring magazines. Choose one full of ideas and projects you like! Then relax as you settle in at home with a nice cup of coffee, flip through it, and get inspired. Then, take it a step further and act on that inspiration by making a project inspired by the magazine. When you link it to the blog, be sure to let us know what magaizne and what page inspired you! We can't wait to see what you liked!