Angie Pedersen's Scrapbooking Industry News

Shutterfly Launches Holiday Digital Scrapbooking Blog

Shutterfly has released a brand new Holiday Digi Scrap Blog to inspire readers during the winter holiday countdown.

With our blog, we hope to create a unique destination for inspiration, ideas, and fun surprises that we call “more” during this holiday season.

The blog includes links to Creative How-To's, Holiday Card Samples, and Free Shutterfly Holiday Card Templates.  Recent posts include:

• Card-making Inspiration from Kate Teague
• Downloadable Holiday Digital Elements
• Including 12 photos on your holiday card

Questions or suggestions for the Holiday Blog can be directed to Alicia Bull.

Epson Announces Holiday Craft Contest

Craft and Scrapbooking Divas to Evaluate Entries; Winners to Receive Epson Products and be Featured on Epson CreativeZone Web Site

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Sept. 26, 2007 – Epson America Inc. today announced the start of  the Epson CreativeZone Holiday Craft Contest, inviting the paper craft and scrapbook community to submit their winter holiday greeting cards, scrapbook pages or holiday paper craft creations inspired by the free downloadable content on the Epson CreativeZone. Finalists will have their projects evaluated by Epson and several well-known celebrities from the craft and scrapbook community, including Rhonna Farrer, Renee Pearson and Jessica Sprague. Winning projects in each category will be featured on the Epson CreativeZone Web site during the holiday season. In addition, first prize winners in each category will receive an Epson Stylus® Photo R1800 printer, and second prize winners will receive a PictureMate Dash™.

Epson CreativeZone Holiday Craft Contest submissions will be reviewed individually by category, and contestants are welcome to submit projects in multiple categories. Submissions will be evaluated using the following criteria:

• Epson CreativeZone Patterned Page – All projects must include creative use of at least one patterned page from the Epson CreativeZone Web site, which are available to download for free. The patterned page does not need to be from a CreativeZone winter holiday project specifically.
• Winter Holiday Theme – Project submissions must display a winter holiday theme, including color scheme, design and embellishments.
• Creativity – Consideration will be given to projects that are original, innovative and inspiring.
• Functionality – Project submissions should be appealing, practical and easily re-created; projects should be designed for the beginner to intermediate levels and not require complex instructions or techniques.
• Quality – Project submissions should be completed, neat, and display good color, balance, design, and high quality photos; computer fonts will be preferred over handwriting.

To enter the Epson CreativeZone Holiday Craft Contest, contestants should submit an e-mail to EpsonHolidayContest@walt.com and include the following:

• at least one photograph or scan of the completed winter holiday-themed greeting card, scrapbook page or paper craft
• a detailed list of supplies
• step-by-step instructions explaining how the project was created (including any specific techniques used)
• project dimensions

E-mail attachment files must be in JPEG or TIFF format and 300-500KB in size. Entries must also include the contestant’s full name, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address. All submissions must be received by October 31, 2007.

Contest submissions must not have been previously published or submitted for other contests or publications. Selected finalists will be required to mail Epson their original projects for final judging; submitted projects will become property of Epson and will not be returned to their owners. Contestants may want to consider creating two of each entry: one to keep, and one to send.

Additional information and the official rules for the Epson CreativeZone Holiday Craft Contest are available at www.EpsonCreativeZone.com under Articles.

Connie Bensen Joins ACDSee as Community Manager

Announced recently on Connie Bensen's Digital Scrapbooking Info:

I am excited to announce that on Monday [9/24], I will begin a new position as Community Manager for ACD Systems! It is a wonderful opportunity for me to expand my support of their products & community. I will also be able to follow my passion in exploring social media, it’s tools, the various aspects of social networking in depth and web strategy.

...My responsibilities will be:

Connie Bensen will serve as Community Manager for ACDSee. In this role, she is the “voice of the customer,” maintaining a constant dialog with photographers and memory keepers to ensure that the company’s products and services are directly in line with the needs of the people who use them. This conversation is fostered through regular engagement in community events, as well as her enthusiastic participation in online social networks. She also shares her passion, ideas and discoveries related to digital scrapbooking and photography through the ACDSee blog.

Connie also mentioned she "will continue teaching & sharing with my sister at DigiScrapInfo.com. This blog will be for My Conversations, a place to explore ideas with everyone. The ACDSee blog will continue to be a group blog."

Beth Hess Announces Resignation from Memorytrends Magazine

Seen in the 9/21/07 edition of Memorytrends Magazine's e-newsletter News Bites:

...This newsletter marks my last official day with ckMedia, Craftrends & Memorytrends. Starting very soon, I'll jump fully into a new career of real estate and home construction, joining my husband in our family's growing business in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I will never be able to fully express the joy it has been to work with Craftrends, and then Memorytrends, for the last 8 years. More than business associates, so many of you truly are my friends. I will forever be a cheerleader for the creative industries, and you'll be proud to know I'm making a scrapbook of each home we build to present to the new owners at closing.

Memorytrends & Craftrends magazines are working on an editorial reorganization plan following Beth's departure.

The Latest Scrapbooking Industry Statistics

Seen in the 9/21/07 edition of Memorytrends Magazine's e-newsletter News Bites:

Scrapbooking at $2.87 billion

The 2007 Scrapbooking In America study revealed:

• Scrapbooking is now a $2.87 billion market, a 12.7% increase since 2004. [The scrapbooking industry topped $2.55 billion in retail sales in 2004, according to the 2004 Scrapbooking in America study.  According to a study conducted by the Craft & Hobby Association, scrapbooking grew to a $2.6 billion industry in 2006, becoming the most popular craft segment.]
• 29.4% (32.6 million) of U.S. Households has someone participate in the hobby of scrapbooking or memory books.
• Each household spends $87.81 annually on scrapbook supplies.
• 61% of scrapbooking enthusiasts have spent more than $50 on scrapbooking products in the last 30 days. The median value of all scrapbooking items a scrapbooker owns is $2,006. (That is up from $1,853 in 2004.)
• 78% of scrapbooking enthusiasts have a space in their home dedicated to scrapbooking.

For more survey information, watch for the December issue of Craftrends.

Call for Submissions: Funniest Scrapbookers Ever

Via Wendy Smedley's blog, a link to a new Simple Scrapbooks contest: Funnest Scrapbooker Ever (for 2007) Contest.  To enter:

1. Tell [Simple] a joke.
2. Tell [Simple] in 100 words why you should be crowned Funnest Scrapbooker Ever (for 2007).
3. Send a picture of yourself in costume.
4. Send a picture of your funniest layout ever.
5. Complete three prompts from [Simple's] Scrapbook Play special issue, and send pictures of your layouts.

All entries must be received by November 30, 2007.  Official rules posted here.
See also Simple Scrapbooks' Let's Play Contest.

MemoryTrends 2007: Making Memories

Making Memories has posted pictures of the new lines they are launching this week at the MemoryTrends trade show in Las Vegas: new Making Memories products

From the Making Memories blog:

This week we'll be at the Memory Trends trade show in Las Vegas, where we'll unveil our newest programs including "Love Story" and "Garden Party."

"Love Story" [pictured at right] is a modern and sparkly take on Valentine's Day. Epoxy topped embellishments, glitter brads, and a host of romantic accents are truly, madly, and deeply irresistible.

"Garden Party" explodes with all the promise of a new season: bright greens, yellows and blues are brought to life with scalloped edges, polka dots, and shimmery accents budding in a coordinated program of papers, stickers, flowers, brads, and tags.

MemoryTrends 2007: Be Blessed

Be Blessed debuts its newest additions to their Signature Watercolor Collection and their True Gifts of Christmas Collection.  Six new papers for each collection are being introduced at the MemoryTrends 2007 trade show in Las Vegas.

Be Blessed offers a popular line of six faith-based scrapbooking collections of 12x12 papers, coordinating tags, rub-on's and collection packs.  Be Blessed's newest papers introduce new color patinas, graphics, and faith themes, designed to coordinate with their exisiting collections.

The founding partners of Be Blessed, one Christian and one Jewish, felt it was important to recognize both of their faiths and its role in their lives.

Shutterfly Expands Digital Scrapbooking Services

September 18, 2007 -- From the MemoryTrends Expo, Shutterfly, an Internet-based social expressiona and personal publishing service, today announce three new additions to its digital scrapbooking services, further establishing Shutterfly as the premier digital scrapbook printing solution.  Digital scrapbookers can now upload their designs to Shutterfly and print individual scrapbook pages, cards, and calendars.

• Scrapbook Pages: Digital scrapbookers can bring their digital designs to life with professional-quality Shutterfly prints in two new square sizes - 8x8 and 12x12.  These digital scrapbook pages allow scrapbookers to upload their personal designs, create unique page-at-a-time scrapbook albums, and order extra copies for loved ones or for framing.  Shutterfly uses Fuji Crystal Archive matte paper and chemicals to product its square scrapbook pages.


• Cards: With the introduction of instructions and templates for creating personalized cards, Shutterfly makes it possible for digital scrapbookers to send announcements, invitations, and greetings featuring their digital layouts.  Customers can print digitally scrapbooked layouts on a variety of Shutterfly Cards formats: 4x8 and 5x7 Photo Cards (printed on Fuji paper), along with 5x7 folded Greeting Cards (printed on heavy cardstock, with a personalized message on the inside).  All card purchases include matching envelopes.


• Calendars: Shutterfly makes it possible for digital scrapbookers to display their creations every day in a 12 or 18-month Shutterfly Calendar.  Printed on high-quality acid-free cardstock, calendars are easy to make and simple to send directly to loved ones as gifts.  Users can customize their calendars with nearly 50 holidays and their own personalized dates, such as birthdays, anniversaries, or school activities.

"Since January, we've been delighted by the number of digiscrappers who've uploaded their digitally designed scrapbook pages to our website and transformed them into professional-quality photo books," said Kathryn Olson, Chief Marketing Officer of Shutterfly.  "Based on input from these customers and guidance from our Digital Scrapbooking Advisory Team, we are pleased to expand our digital scrapbooking offerings today and to provide even more storytelling options for this important community of Shutterfly users."

Shutterfly also announced the upcoming launch of an interactive holiday microsite for novice and experienced digital scrapbookers.  This site will include holiday card templates commissioned by members of the Shutterfly Digital Scrapbooking Advisory Team that will be available to all customers free of charge beginning September 25.  The Digital Scrapbooking Advisory Team will also be contributing inspiration, ideas, and more through Shutterfly's new holiday blog, shutterfly.typepad.com.

For more information, the entire line of Shutterfly digital scrapbooking products can be viewed at www.shutterfly.com/digitalscrapbooking.

MemoryTrends 2007: New Scrapbooking Manufacturers

Reporting live from the MemoryTrends Expo trade show floor in Las Vegas... some new exhibitors I had not heard about previously:

• Studio Eight: new paper company introducing four lines of paper
• Speakin' Up: 30-second voice recorder covered with acid-free paper that can be embellished
• Brindy's Backyard: clear acrylic books, acetate books, chipboard products, and retailer class kits