Angie Pedersen's Scrapbooking Industry News

MemoryTrends Speaker Application Due Feb. 16th

From the MemoryTrends Conference & Expo website:

The annual, international MemoryTrends Conference & Expo offers a comprehensive conference program designed specifically for scrapbook, papercraft, and rubberstamp retailers. MemoryTrends conference sessions will feature strategic planning tools and best practice advice for managing scrapbooking businesses more efficiently and effectively. Attendees will gain valuable tips and insights into new products, trend-spotting, merchandising, financial management and more through presentations, case studies and roundtable discussions.

Business Seminars provide tips for managing a retail business. Topics may include:

• Digital/Online
• Finance
• Merchandising
• Store Design
• Technology
• Trends
  

Hands-on Workshops provide demonstrations of techniques and products. They must feature:

• Techniques that can be used with a variety of products and projects
• Tips on how effectively demonstrate and sell the projects presented in class
• Projects that are fresh and pertinent to the time of year that merchandise will be available
• Handouts and samples for retailers to take back with them to their stores

If you would like to be considered for an opportunity to teach one of the classes, please tell us who you are and what your area(s) of expertise are by submitting an  application by Friday, February 16, 2007.

Instructors are responsible for handouts, instructor fees, travel and lodging.

To sponsor a class, the company must be an exhibitor in the 2007 MemoryTrends Conference & Expo. Booth payments are required by stated deadlines to maintain presenting status. Sponsorships are limited to one class per exhibitor.

Dates for MemoryTrends are September 16-20, 2007, in Las Vegas.

Deluxe Designs Closes Doors

Via Nancy Nally's Scrapbook Update: Deluxe Designs Closes Doors.

Deluxe Designs, a fixture in the scrapbook industry creating laser die cuts and other products for many years, has announced that they are closing their doors after they finish selling their current warehouse stock.

I emailed DD to verify this information, and received this response:

Yes, it's true.  Our owners have decided to go on to other projects and are selling everything; that's why all the products are on clearance and will not be reordered.

Deluxe Designs is/was manufacturer of the innovative Color Blocking templates and idea books, Deluxe Cuts diecuts, and Pages by Design layout system, among other products.

Kodak Entering Printer Market

Via Nancy Nally's Scrapbook Update:

New Line of All-In-One Inkjet Printers Produces Durable, High-Quality Documents and Photos; Low-Cost Premium Inks Save Customers up to 50 Percent on Everything They Print

NEW YORK, Feb. 6 -- Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) today entered the consumer inkjet industry with a revolutionary new product line for the home.

KODAK EASYSHARE All-in-One Printers will enable consumers to affordably print crisp, sharp documents and KODAK lab-quality photos at home using premium, pigment-based inks that will save consumers up to 50 percent on everything they print. The three new printers provide ultimate levels of print quality and ease-of-use, while offering low total cost of ownership compared to other leading consumer inkjet printers on the market.

“After today, the inkjet market will never be the same,” said Antonio M. Perez, chairman and chief executive officer, Eastman Kodak Company. “We are changing the rules in this industry to ensure that consumers can affordably print what they want, when they want, easily and at the high level of Kodak quality they’ve come to expect.”

“For far too long, people have felt restrained from printing due to the high cost of ink,” Perez said. “Our new system gives consumers the freedom to print documents and photos frequently, easily and affordably with exceptional quality that lasts a lifetime under typical home display conditions. Our extensive history in printing, combined with our legendary dedication to the consumer, puts us in a unique position to revolutionize inkjet printing.”

Finally – Inks for People Who Like to Print

The KODAK EASYSHARE AiO Printers use Kodak’s premium, pigment-based ink, priced at $9.99 for a cartridge of black ink and $14.99 for a five-ink color cartridge (US MSRP). For every $15 spent on color ink and $10 spent on black ink, consumers can print the same number of pages at half the cost of other consumer inkjet printers.When the KODAK Photo Value Pack is purchased, a 4 x 6-inch photo costs as little as 10 cents per print.

According to a study by InfoTrends, the greatest obstacle to printing at home is the cost of ink and supplies.

“For years, the high price of inkjet cartridges has kept consumers from freely using their printers,” said Perez.  “With affordable premium inks, families can now create crisp documents and KODAK lab-quality photos at home.”

All-In-One Printers Available in March...

Meredith Media Group Partners with Wetpaint Wiki Community

Meredith Special Interest Media Joins ABC, CBS, American Express Publishing, T-Mobile, HTC, and Other Leading Brands to Provide Users With an Online Collaborative Platform

SEATTLE, WA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 12, 2007 -- Wetpaint (www.wetpaint.com), the consumer-friendly Wiki for collaborating and publishing online, and Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP), one of the nation's leading media and marketing companies, today announced an agreement to launch a series of Wikis for Meredith's most popular special interest magazines and websites. A Wiki is an easy-to-use, collaborative platform that lets anyone dynamically share their passions or interests online.

The first Wiki to launch will be Scrapbooks etc. at http://wiki.bhgscrapbooksetc.com. Meredith's new Wiki builds on the growing scrapbooking trend and invites scrapbooking hobbyists to contribute their knowledge, tips, and tricks to the website. In the coming months, communities for Kitchen and Bath Ideas, Remodeling Center, Do It Yourself, Creative Home and All People Quilt will also be launched.

"Meredith's movement toward increasing reader involvement and emphasizing an online reader community allows for the perfect alliance with Wetpaint," says Jeff Myers, General Manager, Special Interest Media, Meredith Corporation. "The goal is integrating our brands into the daily lives of our consumers by engaging them in new ways. We'll accomplish this by building experiences that supplement the pages of our magazines."

Since the June 2006 launch of Wetpaint's consumer platform, more than 200,000 user-created community sites have been created with 3 million contributions, creating 1 million pages of content.

"Emerging media platforms like Wetpaint are increasingly shifting the power to the readers, enabling them to direct and control the experience," says Ben Elowitz, CEO, Wetpaint.

About Wetpaint

Wetpaint has powered more than 200,000 user-created community sites that have collectively received more than 3 million user contributions since launching in June 2006. The Seattle startup has also caught the attention of prominent consumer brands such as AOL, ABC, CBS, T-Mobile, and HTC. These companies have partnered with Wetpaint to create community sites for their most active and knowledgeable users. Wetpaint is backed by Accel Partners, Trinity Ventures, and Frazier Technology Ventures. For more information, visit www.wetpaint.com

About Meredith Corporation

Meredith (www.meredith.com) is one of the nation's leading media and marketing companies, with businesses centering on magazine and book publishing, television broadcasting, integrated marketing, and interactive media. The Meredith Publishing Group features 26 subscription magazines -- including Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies' Home Journal, Family Circle, Parents, American Baby, Fitness, and more [like BHG Scrapbooks etc]-- and publishes more than 200 special interest publications under approximately 80 titles. Meredith owns 14 television stations, including properties in top-25 markets Atlanta, Phoenix, and Portland.

SOURCE: Marketwire.com

Digital Scrapbooking Blog Carnival Started

Digital designer Christine Smith has started a Digital Scrapbooking Blog Carnival on her blog.  The first carnival is posted here. 

According to Wiktionary, a "blog carnival" is "a blog article that contains links to other articles covering a specific topic. Most blog carnivals are hosted by a rotating list of frequent contributors to the carnival, and serve to both generate new posts by contributors and highlight new bloggers posting matter in that subject area."

The categories for Smith's carnival are How-To's and Tutorials, All About Digi Scrapping, Sales & New Product Announcements, and Contests Calls & Challenges.  [On a related note - Scrapbooking Industry News is included in the All About Digi Scrapping category, for the post announcing the Epson Stylus Photo 1400 printer.]

A new digital scrapbooking carnival will be posted every Monday. The deadline for each week is the Friday prior to the publish date. Submissions details can be found here.

Scrapbook Dimensions Premiere Issue Released

Scrapbook Dimensions Magazine has posted their premiere issue.

From the original press release: Scrapbook Dimensions Magazine "is aimed at combining the long-standing traditions of paper scrapbooking with the ease and appeal of its ever-growing digital counterpart."  Articles and projects will appeal to the "hybrid" or "tradigi" scrapbooker who "finds unique and practical ways to make the best use of all [scrapbooking and digital] tools and products".

Magazine Masthead

• Editor-in-Chief: Cindy Wyckoff
• Managing Editor: Kristi McFadden
• Assistant Editor: Kelley McDonald
• Contributing Editors: Yvonne Busdeker, Stephanie Hackney, Audrey Neal, Julie Ann Shahin, Deanna Wentz Shain, Michelle Pearson, & Barbara Williams

Making Memories Idol Season II Starts

From the Making Memories e-newsletter:

Between now and February 15, we invite you to submit just three designs on the Making Memories Idol web site, including two scrapbook page layouts and one craft project.  Our judges will narrow the field of submissions to 50 finalists, and then the fun really begins!  Each week, we will introduce a new challenge to the finalists, post those projects, and let the Making Memories Idol fans select their favorites.

Last year, Wilna Furstenburg emerged from the more than 1,000 contestants as the first Making Memories Idol.  Her instant reward included more than $500 worth of scrapbooking supplies, and a spot on Making Memories Design Team as an Honorary Designer.

Today, Wilna's designs grace Making Memories latest book, Show and Tell.  She's currently working on designs for the company's next book due to hit stores next Fall.  And she's moved from being an "Honorary" design team member to a paid, contributing Making Memories designer.

MM Idol - How It Works

Epson Releases Stylus Photo 1400

Epson Stylus Photo 1400 Delivers Fast Enlargements with Ultimate Image Quality, Functionality and Value for a Breakthrough Price of $399.99

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Epson further enhances its line-up of Ultra Hi-Definition ink jet printers with the introduction of the 13-inch wide Epson Stylus Photo 1400. Sharing the same technology as the Epson Stylus Photo R260 and R380, including Claria™ ink and DX5 MicroPiezo® print heads, the Epson Stylus Photo 1400 is engineered to produce awe-inspiring photographic prints up to 13”x 19” that enable photo enthusiasts to realize the full potential of today’s newer DSLRs and high-end digital point-and-shoot cameras. With an estimated street price of $399.99, the new photo printer is also designed to deliver the ultimate combination of image quality, high-speed performance and value in the 13”x 19” category.

The Epson Stylus Photo 1400 offers many innovative features and benefits that provide photo enthusiasts with an extremely advanced and easy-to-use printing system right at home:

• Enlargements with 13-inch wide capability for photographic enlargements or attention-grabbing projects in 11”x 14”, 12”x 12” and 13”x 19” sizes
• Claria Ultra Hi-Definition Ink: smudge, scratch, water, and fade resistant photos that are rated to resist fading for up to 98 years under glass and 200 years in an album
• Six High Capacity Ink Cartridges: change out only one color cartridge at a time; designed for the higher ink usage of photo enthusiasts, creates greater tonal range for smooth gradations and accurate skin tones
• Faster Print Speeds: 8”x 10” photos in as fast as 108 seconds and 11”x 14” photos in as fast as 173 seconds
• Automatic Photo Correction: Adjusts photos automatically -- correcting color for dark, backlit and washed-out photos, adjusting skin tones, enhancing the richness of scenery photos, and automatically sharpening prints (not available with Mac OS X)
• Direct CD/DVD Printing: Prints directly on ink jet printable CDs and DVDs, a feature offered only by Epson
• BorderFree Printing: in 4”x 6”, 5”x 7”, 8”x 10”, letter, 11” x 14”, 12”x 12”, and 13”x 19” prints with no perforations or edges to trim
• PictBridge PC-free direct printing from digital cameras and cell phones
• Adobe Photoshop Elements: the software is included with each Epson Stylus Photo 1400

Epson Stylus Photo 1400 Replaces the Epson Stylus Photo 1280

As successor to the award-winning Epson Stylus Photo 1280, the Epson Stylus Photo 1400 delivers a vast array of improvements in print quality, ink technology and speed. In addition to direct CD/DVD printing, the new DX5 print head can print professional quality photos almost three times faster than the head used in the Epson Stylus Photo 1280.

The new Claria Ultra Hi-Definition inks are rated to provide three times longer lightfastness than the Epson Stylus Photo 1280 and the high capacity color ink cartridges provide about three times the ink yield. With an estimated street price of $399.99, the Epson Stylus Photo 1400 carries the same list price as the Epson Stylus Photo 1280.

For more information on the Epson Stylus Photo 1400 and Epson Stylus Photo series, please visit www.epson.com/sp1400. For information on Epson products and services, visit Epson.com.

CHA-W 2007: Cropper Hopper Storage Partnerships

Lisa Bearnson, founding editor of Creating Keepsakes magazine, and Becky Higgins, Contributing Editor of Creating Keepsakes, have partnered together with Cropper Hopper to "bring you storage with style and products to embellish your home and craft space":  Lisa & Becky.

Products include:

• Crafters Cube: "The 3 side panels create frames to display anything imaginable, such as scrapbook pages, photographs, designer paper, metal panels and more. Constructed of solid unfinished wood, the Cube can also be painted, stained, embellished or distressed."
• Rail System: "...a smart, effective
  storage solution for all of your craft supplies. A series of practical wall
  accessories hook neatly onto the rail to help clear your workspace but keep your
  supplies within arm’s reach. Mountable to your wall or the Lisa & Becky
  Crafter’s Cube, the Rail System allows you to customize and maximize space with
  simplicity, style and functionality."
• Canvas Wall Art: canvas wall hangings incorporating meaningful words and their definitions, each "personally selected by Lisa Bearnson and Becky Higgins."
• Wall Transfers: Vinyl transfers that adhere to your walls "with a rub, peel and press method".  "The Inspirational Wall Transfers are repositionable, removable and safe to apply
  to wood, walls, plastic, glass and more. Choose from 6 stylized quotes."
• Craft Hideaways: "Create a custom craft supply center by stacking Hideaways to
  suit your space. Store, organize and easily access tools, embellishments,
  ribbon, photos and more. The stackable Craft Hideaways connect with hidden
  magnets to secure your structure. Each Hideaway drawer features a label holder
  and a blank label for quick identification and retrieval of supplies."

Also spotted at the Cropper Hopper website - the Tim Holtz line of storage solutions, specifically for his products manufactured by Ranger Ink.

CHA-Winter 2007: New Recipe Scrapbooking Software

Whip Up a Batch of Tasty Layouts with New Recipe Scrapbooking Software

FxFoto Recipes Project CD allows you to design quick keepsake projects with easy-to-use templates and digital kits from eleven top designers.

Windham, NH – February 5, 2007 – Triscape has released the first in a line of FxFoto Project CDs – the Recipes Project CD.  This stand-alone program joins the award-winning family of FxFoto digital scrapbooking software, combining designer scrapbooking kits with drag-and-drop technology.  Anyone who is interested in preserving family recipes alongside family stories will easily be able to do so, regardless of past computer experience. 

Like any good recipe, the FxFoto Recipes Project CD allows you to tweak projects to your own taste.  With ten coordinated kits oriented around cooking, food and kitchen themes, it's easy to create your own custom digital scrapbooking layouts from scratch.  Use one of the pre-made layout templates for polished results.  Add your own photos and text as desired.  Then simply print them for your own albums or to give away as gifts.  You can add your own 3D embellishments after printing, to create a "hybrid" traditional project.

"Recipe albums are the perfect digital project," says Triscape's Director of Marketing Susan White.  "You can make the layout once and print as many copies as you want, in any size you want.  You could have the same recipe album as an 8x8 or 12x12 or 6x6.  I'm making a set of laminated recipe cards with the recipes I use all the time.  I will punch a hole in one corner and use a ring to keep them together."

White suggests the following possible album themes:

• Your family's favorite recipes, combined with stories of their creation
• Tried-and-true recipes as a bridal shower gift
• Holiday Dinner menu
• Quick and Easy recipes for the college-bound graduate 

Eleven popular digital "cooks" contributed kits to the Recipes Project CD:  Tamara Dantes, Jeanine Baechtold, Roberta D'Achille, Katie Mann, Maya, Elizabeth Lane, Kim Hill, Correen Silke, Kim Hill, and Lorraine Yuriar.  The program also includes a selection of easy drag-and-drop sketch templates for 4x6 recipe cards, created by Corina Nielsen. 

The Recipes Project CD incorporates the Quick Layouts software by FxFoto, with all the creative power and ease of use found in Triscape's full FxFoto Creative Edition, but without photo organization, editing and effects. Everything you need to get started right away creating your own recipe layouts and albums is all on one CD.

The Recipes Project CD is available for purchase at http://www.fxfoto.com/sales.htm.  Regular retail price is $29.96 plus $5.99 shipping.

Visit the FxFoto website to view the digital scrapbooking tutorials at http://fxfoto.com/fxtutorials.htm.

About Triscape
Triscape, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is located in Windham, New Hampshire, 35 miles north of Boston. The company is privately held and specializes in graphics software.