Happy New Year from The Scrap Cabana!I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! As we ended 2008, I promised myself that I wouldn’t make New Years Resolutions this year as I can never seem to honor them! BUT…since starting my scrapbook store I have found that now I truly never have enough time to scrapbook….I almost find myself taking less pictures as I am fearful I will never have the time to scrap them! How horrible is that! My kids have grown up with a camera in their face and they too were surprised that mom wasn’t following them around at every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Holiday celebrations this year. SO….I have committed to at least scrappin 1 day a month in 2009! Doesn’t sound like much but with the scrapbook stores, and returning to the staffing industry workforce full-time this year it will defiantly be a challenge!
2008 was a wonderful learning experience for us here at The Scrap Cabana. I have learned that starting a business can be very rewarding and time consuming! I have learned more about HTML, Blogging, Marketing, Inventory and Organization then ever before. The World Wide Web is a very confusing, interesting, intriguing, intimidating place but we are learning more and more each day! Attending scrapbook conventions and wanting to order everything, while being unable, has been challenging. There were so many great scrapbook products introduced in 2008 and we strive to offer unique, hard to find items.
We hosted our first Weekend Scrapbook Retreat in March in Aurora and although it was small, we had a total of 9 scrappers, it was a great time. Since we were so small I was actually able to work on my daughter’s 8th grade trip to Washington DC that I had chaperoned in 2006. I took over 1,100 pictures so it is a treasure in itself. (Yes, I understand that was 2 years ago…see I’m so far behind) We attended the CHA Scrapbook Convention in July hosted right here in Chicago and we were so excited to view all the wonderful NEW scrapping products. This convention has been in Chicago for over 10 years and this year they will be moving to Orlando, FL. While it will be fun to get away to discover all the great new products in 2009, I can’t image the heat we will have to endure while in Florida. I’ll miss being able to drive to the city….. We also hosted a number of craft fairs this summer, quickly learning that setting up an awning can be extremely funny! My kids and I had lots of laughs and I’m grateful for those memories. If only we had someone taking pictures of this…would be a site!
Our second Weekend Scrapbook Retreat in September was a blast. We had a total of 33 scrappers and I loved that we were able to bring a bunch of strangers together to create wonderful friendships and scrapping memories. Our little event was growing nicely! Although scrappin is a great business to have, I soon learned that it wouldn’t support our family in the manner we were accustomed. I had worked full time in the employment industry for 16 years and took some time off to focus on starting our scrapbook business in 2008. Once our small business was up and running, I returned to the workforce in September 2008. It’s been a challenge focusing on two careers but my daughter has been able to learn the business, helping pick orders and shipping our product. I think it’s a great learning experience for her, although I do get the occasionally eyes rolling or UGGHH from her when I return home from work to update her on her activity! How nice would it have been to work from home while earning money while in High School? Hopefully someday she will appreciate the work ethic and responsibility she was able to gain from this experience.
We celebrated our 1st Anniversary in October! I want to thank all of our scrapping buddies that have helped us reach this awesome milestone! We wouldn’t be here without YOU! We had our final Weekend Scrapbook Retreat in November and we have a whopping 49 scrappers! How great is that? I’m just so happy that we have created an environment just for scrappers! We all need that time away to focus on scrapping without any distractions and we have been successful in creating just that! We even had a group of returning croppers that created their own shirts and they call themselves, the Cabana Croppers! How cool is that? We added over 500 new products to our site in 2008 and we look forward to adding many more in 2009!
All in all, as I look back on 2008, I don’t want to focus on our struggles and challenges but that my family is happy & healthy, we have a roof over our heads and food on the table and that we will survive this economic setback that has effected so many! I hope 2009 brings you nothing but good health & happiness!
Escape to The Scrap Cabana often in 2009 as we will be adding great new products as they are introduced. Be sure to check out our Weekend Scrapbook Retreats in 2009 and don’t miss out on our Phenomenal National Scrapbook Day 2009 Celebration on May 2, 2009. We are planning a huge celebration with lots of freebies, goodies, raffles and contest. We will also raffle off a Brand New 12x12 Cricut Cutting System! You won’t want to miss this party! Full details to be announced in mid-January!
So, after I end this blog session, I will pull out my scrapping supplies and fulfill my monthly New Years Resolution! This will be my year to commit to scrapbook! I challenge all scrappers to commit to a specified scrappin time in 2009! Send me a comment to set your New Years Scrapping Commitment. We can motivate each other!
I’ll end with this special quote that I find appropriate to our quest…..
”We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” ~Edith Lovejoy PierceUntil our next chitchat……Happy Scrappin and Happy 2009! Thanks for letting us be a “little” part of your memories!
Michelle The Scrap CabanaYour Escape For Scrapbooking!
I can’t believe It’s Scrappin Time once again! I’m so excited! Please read even if you have already registered for this event, IMPORTANT new information included!
