Angie Pedersen's Scrapbooking Industry News

May is National Photo Month

The Photo Marketing Association (PMA), the PhotoImaging Manufacturers & Distributors Association (PMDA), and TakeGreatPictures.com (TGP) are joining together to promote National Photo Month in May and is encouraging consumers to embrace the joys of photography and to visit local photo retailers.

The joint project offers retailers a variety of point-of-purchase (POP) materials they can display to tell consumers to “Get Out and Take Some Photos”, and point-of-purchase materials direct consumers to TGP where they can post their springtime photos as part of a photo contest open to all. The POP materials show photos and tips, along with the suggestion that consumers can see all the tips and places to take photos in their area by logging onto the TGP web site.

Rules for the contest and instructions for submitting photos are on the TGP site. Site visitors will be able to vote on the best 50 springtime photos.

While May is National Photo Month, May 5 has been declared by the National Scrapbooking Association as National Scrapbooking Day. It may be a coincidence that both are in May, but it does create some great opportunities for cross promotion between photo and scrapbook retailers.

Source: Craftrends News Headlines

Paper Zone stores file Chapter 11

Paper Zone LLC, which operates 12 retail stores and 2 online stores under the name of “Paper Zone” and “Memories”, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Western District of Washington U.S. Bankruptcy Court on April 2^nd, 2007.

See the full story here on Nancy Nally's blog: Scrapbook Update: Paper Zone stores file Chapter 11.

Call for Submissions: 2008 Memory Makers Contest

Submit your best work today for the 2008 Memory Makers Contest. 

Ten winners will be awarded more than $2,000 in cash and prizes, and will work with Memory Makers editors, creating layouts and projects for the magazine for an entire year, beginning August 15, 2007.

In addition, each Memory Makers Master will also receive:

• A full line of Memory Makers 2008 products, including a magazine subscription and books.
• Exclusive opportunities to create art and to be published in Memory Makers magazines and books.
• Payment for published pages.
• During your term, special recognition each time your pages are published in Memory Makers magazine.
• Your name on the magazine masthead alongside the Memory Makers staff.

Send one actual/original 12x12 single-page layout highlighting your interpretation of the theme: I Wish. The theme does not have to be the page’s title. Use actual photos on the page, no color-copied photos. Original artwork will not be returned but becomes property of Memory Makers, and will be kept on file for possible future use.

Send four different color-copied layouts (approximately full-size), of any theme, that represent your best scrapbook artwork and your special abilities. Layouts may be a mix of single pages or two-page spreads (a two-page spread counts as one layout), in any of the following sizes: 12x12; 8.5x11; or 12x15.

ENTRY DEADLINE: July 31, 2007
Winners will be chosen by August 15, 2007, and notified no later than August 22, 2007. Winners and 10 runners-up will be posted on the Memory Makers Web site on or before August 22, 2007.

Paint, Paper, & Crafts Contest Seeks Submissions

From Cutters Productions, Inc.:

Paint, Paper and Crafts 2007 Viewer Arts & Crafts Contest
Crafty Basket Giveaway

We know our viewers are talented, creative and crafty!  Here's your chance to show the world just as marvelous you are by entering our exciting econtest.  Whether it's beaded jewelry, a scrapbook page, needlework, pottery or just about anything that ignites your crafting fires, we want to see it!  Then we want to share it with all our viewers on TV and on the web!

• Projects must be original (designed by the viewer)
• Include all materials and steps involved in the project and tell us how you came up with the design.
• List any specific details for the project.
• Email us 2-3 good digital photos of finished project & step outs.

Entries must be postmarked by midnight April 20th!

One submission per viewer will be accepted.  The winners will be notified by email or phone by May 15th.  You must respond by May 30th to claim your prize.  Both winner's projects will be demonstrated on the show by Sloan Payne-Rutter, host of Paint, Paper and Crafts.

Visit the contest homepage for more information.

Lazar StudioWERX Seeks Design Team

Lazar StudioWERX has announced a search for their 2007/2008 Design Team.

We are looking for 6 artistic individuals who can take our diverse product line to the next level in scrapbooking, rubberstamping, altered and mixed media art.

...we are looking not just for Design Team scrapbookers... we're also looking for stampers, altered artists, collage artists and more. We are hoping to create a uniquely blended Design Team capable of utilizing our product lines in combination with the vintage ephemera and eclectic supplies available at RubyDog's Art House. The store's function is to inspire paper artists of all types and the focus is primarily mixed media, collage and altered book style artwork; cool, non-cute rubberstamping and free-style, funky, collage inspired scrapbooking. The ideal candidate would not only be comfortable in the scrapbooking and rubberstamping field, they would also willing to experiment and stretch themselves in the mixed media, collage side of paper arts.

Deadline for submissions is May 15th.  Visit http://lazarstudiowerx.com/designteam.html for more information.

Memorytrends Magazine & SnapTotes Partner for Bag Full of Memories Contest

Via the Memorytrends Magazine e-newsletter:

The Bag Full of Memories Contest is now accepting entries for the chance to see your digital page on a photo bag by SnapTotes. Winning page designers receive a photo bag with their page. The retailer whose customer wins the bag contest will win a starter sales kit with 8 bags (a more than $500 value.) For entry forms and more information, visit www.snaptotes.com/contest.

About SnapTotes
SnapTotes is an innovative company that helps you create your own personalized photo handbags. They are a custom manufacturer that allows you to select your favorite style of handbag, choose your interior colors and add your favorite picture to it. The photograph is actually "baked" into the fabric with what is known as a sublimation process. This sublimation process creates a photo that is literally embedded into the fabric. The result is an extremely clear image that will not fade crack or peel.

Benefit for Gallacher family

Via Nancy Nally's Scrapbook Update:

The 12-year-old son, Joey, of Jen Gallacher was recently diagnosed with cancer. Jen is a wonderful woman and an active member of several online scrapbook communities. She is also a talented scrapbooker whose work has inspired many others in their creations.

In an effort to do what little can be done to help, a benefit fund blog has been set up for the Gallacher family. Donations can be made via Paypal until May 1st, and contributors will be entered into drawings for donated products or the design services of talented scrappers to work with your pictures. If you would like to contribute to the benefit fund, or would like to donate your products or services, please visit the benefit fund blog for more details at http://www.benefitforjen.blogspot.com/ or by clicking on one of the links supplied above.

OurStory.com Captures Family Stories with Blogs, Photo Sharing & Digital Storytelling

New Service Catalogs Photos and Videos Past and Present to Share with Friends

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – OurStory, a new online service where users collaborate to create, share and preserve life stories using photos and videos, recently announced their product launch, receiving positive reviews from PC Magazine, USA TODAY and CBS News.

OurStory combines the best of blogging, photo sharing, digital storytelling, and family history. It uses a rich feature set that includes an interactive visual timeline, privacy controls, collaborative email requests and a library of over 2,000 prompting interview questions. OurStory content can be preserved online, backed up to a home computer and made into heirloom-quality books, CDs and DVDs.

While most social networking sites such as MySpace.com focus on adding "friends", OurStory encourages deeper sharing and a collaborative process of online storytelling among family, friends and groups.

OurStory member, Chloe B., found the site by searching for “blogging” and wrote her first entry that day. Within a few weeks, Chloe’s stories brought her entire circle of friends and family to OurStory. She said her group migrated to OurStory because the site felt more expressive, safer and generated more meaningful connections.

“Very few people actually read what you blog on MySpace. It’s not built for people to really connect,” she said. Chloe says she likes the new features of OurStory including the lifelong timeline, privacy circles, and private messaging to her connections. “I like the fact that I can write one story at a time, save stories in the draft option and upload photos. I don’t need to write everything all at once.”

Some of the major features of OurStory.com include:

• A Lifelong Timeline: Once and for all, OurStory’s drag and drop, visual timeline easily collects and organizes any milestone, event, moment or memory. Enter stories with photos and videos in any order and the timeline sequences them chronologically.
• Collaborative Storytelling and Interviewing: Users can share multimedia stories with family and friends, gather comments and photos and exchange “life-interview” questions. Members can also work together to collect a group history with photos, comments and videos.
• Private and Secure: Connected to private circles of family and friends, users decide who can see each entry, and who can add photos and stories to their timeline.
• Preserve Living History: At any time, free downloadable software allows the user to import a copy of the complete timeline collection to a home computer for local backup. Heirloom books, CDs and DVDs can be created as gifts or mementos that document special events, births, memorials, anniversaries or family biographies. Books start at $13.95, and orders are fulfilled in five to seven business days.

Andy Halliday, CEO/Founder of OurStory shared his inspiration for starting OurStory, “Family tradition, daily events and personal history are captured in the stories we tell about our lives. But these are often lost or forgotten. At OurStory we set out to involve everyone in a fun and engaging process that uses the latest innovations on the web to make sharing and preserving important photos, thoughts, and memories easy, beautiful, and rewarding.”

About OurStory
Founded by Andy Halliday and Chris Lunt in June of 2005, OurStory is an online service where family and friends share and preserve photos, videos, and stories from life, organized in lifelong interactive timeline. OurStory is a full-featured free service on the web with a premium subscription for $39.95 (USD) per year that adds features such as multiple profiles and timelines, unlimited privacy circles, style embellishment, and discounts on books and CD/DVDs. 

SOURCE: OurStory.com Press Room

Martha Stewart Scrapbooking Contest

Martha Stewart has begun her search for five master scrapbookers. Enter Martha's Scrapbooking Contest if you think your page is prize-worthy. You could win an amazing scrapbooking package, including HP products and a gift certificate to Michaels Stores. Enter now for your chance to win.

Tune in May 7-11, 2007 for Martha's Scrapbooking Week.

Fine Print: Contest entrants must be legal US residents, aged 18 or older.  Since Michael's (Arts & Crafts Store) and Hewlett Packard are two of the sponsors, employees "and their immediate family members (mother, father, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and spouse, regardless of where they reside) and/or those living in the same household of any such individual, whether or not related, are not eligible to enter or win."

Contest runs from April 10, 2007 to April 27, 2007.  Entries accepted ONLY online.  All Winners  will be notified by between April 28, 2007 and  May 11, 2007.

Five Grand Prizes will be selected from among all entries received, based on the following criteria: Creativity/Originality (0-50 points); and Workmanship (0-50 points). The five highest scoring entries will be deemed the Grand Prize Winners.

Each Grand Prize consists of a HP Photosmart c7180 All-in One unit,  a HP Photosmart R837 Digital Camera, a HP Customer 02 Series 150-Sheet Photo Value Pack, fifteen sheets of HP Premium Photo Paper and a $250 Michael's Gift Card.

Creative Memories to Cut 19 Positions

Creative Memories announced today that it will eliminate 19 jobs, effective today.

The move is being made in conjunction with an initiative to set new business priorities and strengthen sales performance, according to a company news release.

The workers can apply for other positions at Creative Memories or take a severance package. Terms of the severance deal were not disclosed.

Chandra Attiken, vice president of human resources, could not immediately be reached for comment today.

"Our focus must be to align our products and services with the changing needs of our customers to maintain our leadership role in the scrapbooking industry,” President Asha Moran said in the prepared statement. “That also means that we need to take a look at ourselves and make changes to our organization that will support our long-term success.”

Creative Memories’ headquarters and 316,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and distribution center are in St. Cloud. As of late August, about 480 people were employed there.

Creative Memories also has a facility in Richmond, Va. Its parent company, The Antioch Company, is based in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Creative Memories started in 1987 and is a leader in the keepsake album-making industry. According to its Web site, it operates in the United States, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

SOURCE: St. Cloud Times