Working on pages and Martha preview

so last week i left off where i shoulda been makin Friday stuff - Pets or Special Projects right?

well i began to create pages of our recent trip into DC - pictures of lots of memorials and cherry blossoms etc. I took a whole lotta photos and i'm not a good editor. rather i prefer not to use one photo when 2 or 3 will show a fuller picture of events LOL

I laid out 4 pages (containing 24 photos) and then had to set it aside to take care of some other things around here. I still have more photos to put on pages then I'll go back and journal and title things.

I scanned a few photos yesterday for a layout idea I had. Hpefully i'll work on that today.

But while I had a little time i thought i'd head over to Michael's as I read somewhere online that Martha's products were already being displayed. I had read some mixed reviews - most notably a long thread on a well-known board about the very large and expensive albums she was selling.

At my Michael's they were still working on putting out all the product but there was a good bit out already to safely say, here and now, it's all lovely. Just what i expected for the most part. It's classic and pretty. I wasn't altogether thrilled with some of the patterned papers in packages - the scrapbooking paper - but that's ok as I find myself not using too much patterned paper on pages. I use it mostly on cards and for other projects. There were 3 different sizes of albums: 12x12, 8.5x11 (landscape) and the large 18x18 size. She had 18x18 paper as well and lovely wrapping paper that could be used for scrapbooking. I liked the stamps she had and i came home with 3 different colored journaling pens (i really don't need anything right now, but pens i cannot resist - specially if they are in pretty colors!)

There were all kinds of other items and i shall have to return when ALL of the product is out but I like it. I'm so pleased. I don't think she's trying to rock the scrapbook world but I think she's made a lovely addition. I'm kind of weary of all the same companies making the same products and hers seemed much more "me" than most companies are making right now. Yes, I know you can't use your 40% off coupon on her things. I like using a coupon but if i want something i'll buy it just the same. When I return to Michael's I am going to take a better look at her albums - they looked pretty darned nice and I'm getting so much done lately I have a stack of pages but no album to put them in!

ok... back to work....