It's Scrappin Time! Check out our March Weekend Scrapbook Retreat Information!

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!

We welcome you to join us for The Scrap Cabana Weekend Scrapbook Retreat March 13, 14, 15, 2009 in Aurora, IL. I have included our Weekend Flyer and Registration Form for those of you that would like to take advantage of this time away to Scrap and have some fun! Our Early Bird Special runs until February 20th, so be sure to take advantage of our early discounts!

Due to popular request, we have added a FULL TABLE option for our Weekend Retreats. Lot’s of room to spread out!

We will have lots of Goodies, Giveaways, Scrapbook Specials & Make N Takes! Our on-site store will also be open to the public so if you are unable to make it to scrap, be sure to stop by to browse our exciting scrapbook products!

If anyone is interested in receiving a Private Massage during this event, please let me know. If we have enough interested scrappers, I will invite a wonderful professional masseuse that will be available during the crop. She has conducted messages at a number of scrappin events in the area, is highly recommended and we would love to have her available should there be enough interest. She is available for 15 minutes increments, up to an hour, at $1.00 per minute. She will have a hotel room available for your privacy.

We hope to see you at our Weekend Scrapbook Retreat!

Check out our National Scrapbook Weekend Retreat Information regarding our May Event. http://www.thescrapcabana.com/nascdaycemay.html National Scrapbook Day is May 2, 2009! We have found a new venue for this event in Sandwich, IL, that is also an Indoor Waterpark Facility, has a McDonald’s on-site and a Full Restaurant & Bar. We will have a 4,000 sq ft room for this event and each scrapper will have a Full 8X30 Table. You won’t want to miss this SCRAPBOOKING Event of 2009! Our grand prize raffle item for this event is a 12x12 Cricut Cutting Machine! We hope to see you at both our events! SAVE THE DATES!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me either by e-mail or phone.

Tell all your scrappin friends about our event that you feel would love to take advantage of our Weekend Scrapbook Retreats!

Until our next Chit Chat....Happy Scrappin’

Michelle

The Scrap Cabana

Your Escape for Scrapbooking!

Happy New Year

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 Pierce

Until our next chitchat……Happy Scrappin and Happy 2009! Thanks for letting us be a “little” part of your memories!

Michelle
The Scrap Cabana
Your Escape For Scrapbooking!

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays!

The Scrap Cabana wishes everyone a Healthy, Happy, Holiday Season! We are so thankful for our family; our good health and our freedom to enjoy life to the fullest! Whatever your beliefs we hope that you find joy in the holiday season.

May the meaning of the season be deeper, its friendships stronger and its hopes brighter!

To a joyful present and a well remembered past. For these are the events that we strive to remember with our scrapbooking treasures. Thanks for letting us be a little part of your memories!

Until our next chitchat……Happy Scrappin and Best wishes for Happy Holidays!

Michelle
The Scrap Cabana
Your Escape For Scrapbooking!

The Scrap Cabana Weekend Retreat November Wrap-Up

The Scrap Cabana hosted another wonderful Weekend Scrapbook Retreat in November at The Hampton Inn & Suites in Aurora. We had a great response to our event, with over 49 Cabana Croppers! (I borrowed that new name from a group of returning croppers who created their own shirts to celebrate our weekend event! Check out their picture!) How cool is that! I’m so glad that everyone enjoys our weekend events and that they took the time to create such wonderful custom shirts celebrating our time together! I’m thinking of expanding on their idea to create our own special “Cabana Cropper” paraphernalia to honor their creativity. They say “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery!” I believe in spreading this concept during out events as it pertains to scrapbook layouts & card creations!

All in all, I believe everyone had a great time. Lots of fun was had creating wonderful scrapbook layout creations. We also had a new group of card makers that are so talented! I only wish I could be so creative. I have included a mixture of phenomenal layouts that our scrappers created during the weekend.

Our event is open 24 hours, therefore we offer 50 hours of scrappin time for those die hard scrappers who actually take great advantage of this time. Anita was our die hard scrapper at our September event and she definitely lived up to her reputation at our November event. She was our late night die hard, scrapping into the wee hours of the morning once again. If only we had her stamina! She is not able to attend our March event and I will have to find a suitable die hard replacement. Any takers?

Overall I believe everyone had a great time….our Sunday Raffle was also a big hit with lots of winner! Check out all our photos.

Due to our growth, we are seeking another facility to hold our events. While everyone had a great time, we are quickly running out of space and my number one concern is that everyone is comfortable and has enough space to spread out and focus on scrappin! We have adapted the motto “No Worries, this is your time to focus on scrappin” so I need to be sure to accommodate that motto! Check back often to follow our adventures in scrappin! We really do have a lot of fun and I’m so excited that our group of on-line strangers has grown into a scrappin family!

Check out our information regarding our 2009 Weekend Scrapbook Events at our on-line scrapbook store, The Scrap Cabana Weekend Scrapbook Retreats! I’m confident that you will enjoy our events and we welcome new scrappin buddies to join our growing scrappin family. Hopefully we will scrap with you in 2009!

Until our next chitchat…..Happy Scrappin!

Michelle

The Scrap Cabana.com
Your Escape for Scrapbooking!

The Scrap Cabana's 1st Anniversary Celebration!

We made it through the first year! Thank you for all the support! A few years ago I had a crazy idea to start an on-line scrapbook store. I have been scrapbooking for over 12 years and I was really frustrated that I could not find one scrapbook source for my favorite scrappin subjects. My family, children, including their school & sporting accomplishments and our family travels. Since I had so many memories to scrap, I originally decided to move forward instead of starting from the beginning! My focus was to create a school years scrapbook for each of my children, committing to keeping it current! The second was to document all our family travels since this was really the only time we were focused on family activities without all the day to day interruptions. Every time I would go to the local scrapbook store, they had the same school year, sports and travel scrapbooking products! I wanted more! So, I came up with this idea to start a scrapbook supply source focusing on travel, sports and school year products! I wanted to offer a large assortment in these areas so that if others were also discouraged with the limited supply available locally they would have an additional source where they were free to surf till their hearts were content! What better place than the World Wide Web, where from the comfort of your own home, you could oooh and aahhh at all the great products available? I had been working in the staffing industry for 16 years and I really wanted to focus on creating this new adventure! Many smart, intelligent people warned me that turning my hobby into a business venture wasn’t the brightest idea but I threw caution to the wind and decided to take that leap! Thus began my newest adventure, The Scrap Cabana.

How did you ever come up with that name, you may ask? After searching and searching the web for scrapbook names that weren’t taken, I was reminded of our vacation travels once again. Whenever we travel, our family must spend at least half the time in or near the water. We find the most relaxing environment at the pool or at the beach is chilling in a Cabana. When you rent a Cabana, you never have to worry about finding enough vacant lounge chairs, the television is available for my sports loving hubby and sons, and I don’t have to make 15 trips to the concession stand for my hungry children who never seem to want to eat at the same time! It may cost a bit more, but we have found that it is, what’s that commercial jingle….Priceless! So, we wanted a name that reminded us of one of our favorite places….while offering a similar environment where you could escape to scrapbooking from your favorite chair, couch or even bed, multitask while watching your favorite TV show or even eat & drink if you felt compelled! Whaala…….The Scrap Cabana. You’re Escape for Scrapbooking! Clever, huh?!? We think so!

My family has been extremely supportive during this crazy, hectic and even sometimes scary journey and I cannot thank them enough for all their support! It has been a struggle establishing our name on the World Wide Web but we are taking it one day at a time. Our motto is “Keep it Simple, Keep it Current!” And my favorite quote has always been, “Anything is possible!”

We are so excited to be celebrating our 1st anniversary! We want to thank all of our scrappin buddies that have helped us reach this awesome milestone and we look forward to being your favorite source for scrapbooking products in the future. While our focus will continue to be based on Scrapbooking products for Travel, Sports, Hobbies & School Years, we have gradually introduced other scrapbooking themes and will continue to keep an eye open for fun, classy, funky & unique scrapbooking items.

Even during these times of economic challenges, we hope that you will still capture and preserve your most precious memories through scrapbooking! At The Scrap Cabana we appreciate your business! We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for YOU! I find it very exciting to share our awesome scrapbook treasures with those who actually appreciate them! I love being able to contribute to preserving your most precious memories! Your hard work will be appreciated for years to come! Thanks for letting us be a “little” part of those memories!

Thanks for taking time to read all about our journey! I hope you share in my joy and passion and be sure to take time to surf the site! http://www.thescrapcabana.com/. We will have lots of specials during our Anniversary month of October! Check back often as we will switch up the specials and savings thought out the month! I hope you will find the site easy to navigate and full of exciting products! Check our blog often, as I will continue to relive bits & pieces of the tale of our journey along the way! I will also be sure to update the site with exciting new products as often as I can! If you have a favorite product line that you do not see, be sure to drop me a line and I will check it out……we encourage suggestions, comments and critiques! Feel free to call, text, snail mail or E-mail me at michelle@thescrapcabana.com

Until our next chitchat.....Happy Scrappin!

Michelle
The Scrap Cabana
Your Escape For Scrapbooking

The Scrap Cabana November 2009 Weekend Scrapbook Retreat Information

Are you yearning to scrapbook but just can't find the time? Do your kids, family and work responsibilities dominate your life and time? Me too! While this is all good, we need to carve out some time for ourselves! I have been an avid scrapbooker for over 12 years and I am very interested in meeting local scrappers and getting together for Scrapbooking Marathons!

Our next Weekend Scrapbook Retreat is November 21, 22, 23, 2009 in Aurora, IL at The Hampton Inn & Suites. Join us for the entire event or if time is still limited, you may choose to come for a day or two days! Space is limited so be sure to reserve your seat today! Get a group of friends to join in on the fun and make it an annual event!

Click on the flyer to the left to check out all the details!

I have also included a registration form for more detailed information.

Join us for this great event! It’s the perfect chance to catch up on all your scrapbooking! OR at least have a bit of fun! Our Scrapbooking room is open 24 hours for those die hard scrappers! We are in a secure hotel conference room so once you get out all your scrapping goodies and spread out, you don't need to pack up until you leave! Room is locked after the last scrapper finally gives up for the evening.

If you are looking for a place to Scrapbook, meet new people and laugh then this is the event for you! Leave your career, kids, hubby, housework and worries at home and escape for a weekend of Scrapbooking!

Check out our site link to the right of this blog for more detailed information!

Until our next chitchat.......Happy Scrappin'

Michelle

The Scrap Cabana

Your Escape for Scrapbooking!

The Scrap Cabana Weekend Scrapbook Retreat - September 5, 6, 7th Wrap-Up

The Scrap Cabana hosts Weekend Scrapbook Retreats in Aurora, IL at The Hampton Inn & Suites. We just hosted our 2nd Scrapbook Weekend on September 5,6,7 and it was a great success! We had such a great time and lots of scrappin' fun! Our scrapbook events are growing quickly and we had 33 scrappin' buddies attend our September Event!

At our Scrapbook Weekend, we play Scrapbook BINGO! You earn raffle tickets just by scrappin'! It is a typical BINGO card but with scrappin' squares. An example of a Bingo square would be USE RIBBON ON YOUR PAGE, or SCRAPPED FOR OVER 8 HOURS IN ONE DAY, or COMPLETED 10 PAGES. It is really a lot of fun and you earn raffle tickets that you can use to win Scrappin' Giveaways.

Everyone was busy scrappin' the weekend away! Our scrapping room is open 24 hours for those die hard scrappers and we took total advantage of the time away. Scrapper Anita was our late nite die hard staying up until 5:30 AM! She stayed up in time to catch the wonderful hot breakfast that the Hampton host for all overnight guest! After catching a few hours of sleep, she was back at it by 11:00 AM! What a tropper! Scrapper Beth completed a whopping 30 pages! She was also busy earning her Scrapbook BINGO tickets and she completed the full Scrapbook Bingo card! Scrapper Erin was our honored returning guest....she has attended both of our scrapbook weekends and we were so happy she came back for more! Thanks Erin! Scrapper Kim A is expecting her second child in a few weeks and we were so happy she was able to join us! Any day now.....we will be thinking about you and wish you the best!

With so much time to focus on just scrappin', we created lots of wonderful scrapbook layouts! Just look at our creations! Click on the picture for a close up! (Some are not upright and I have tried to correct but they keep going back sideways!)

Once all the BINGO raffle tickets were earned, we held our Scrappin' Raffle at the end of our event on Sunday. The Scrappin' Raffle was very exciting and highly anticipated! We had a lot of different winners so no one dominated the raffle! Check out our winners......

The Scrap Cabana Scrapbook Weekend Retreat Bingo Winners: Scrapper Beth, Jackie (2), Hilda (2), Anita, Trina, Alice, Sue, Judy (2), Kathy & Kim

Congratulation Winners!!!
Our weekend was a lot of fun and other than being sleep deprived, I believe it was a success! Please join us for our next Scrapbook Weekend Retreat in November! It's just around the corner and definitely worth it!

Until our next chitchat.........Happy Scrappin'

Michelle

The Scrap Cabana
Your Escape for Scrapbooking!