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I’ll be going to the one in Manchester, NH this year.  At first, I wasn’t going to bother, but the way things are scheduled, it works out that I can go.

The event will be held at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Manchester on April 30-May 1.  We already had plans to be in Manchester on Sunday, May 2, only, for a New Hampshire Fisher Cats game; I thought about getting a hotel room and coming up on Saturday, but decided against it.

But then, we decided we wanted to see “The Full Monty” at the Palace Theatre in Manchester.  The Hilton Garden Inn in town has a special theatre package, where you get a room, two tickets to whatever show is playing, breakfast the next day, and free shuttle transportation to the theatre.  We opted for the May 1 show, so we’d be in town the next day for the ball game.  We also got an excellent rate for the package, just $129.

Then, I got an email reminding me to register for CKC Manchester if I wanted to go.  I looked at the dates…the show is in the evening, the convention is in the daytime (well, the shopping part and some of the classes are)…so May 1 was doable.  So I registered…no classes yet, but that could change.  I’m more interested in just walking around in the Vendor Faire and seeing what they’ve got for sale.  I don’t want to pressure Mike to get moving so we have to get there in time for me to take any classes, plus, I don’t feel like lugging a kit of supplies along.  All I really want is to have a couple of hours to look around and shop.

Mike doesn’t have to go in with me, I just registered a day pass to the Vendor Faire for myself.  He doesn’t like going to these things, just as I don’t like going to his model train shows.  If we get into town before 2PM, he can always just hang out at the hotel bar and have a beer.  Once it’s 2PM, it will be time to check into the Hilton Garden Inn, he can go and do that, and I can just walk over when I’m done with the show.  It’s not a long walk, but long enough so that I won’t be wanting to use the fitness equipment at the hotel.

The reservation is in my name, though…would they let him check in without me?  I’ll need to find out.  I guess I could check us in at 2PM, and then go to the convention.

Anyhoo, it’s been a few years since I’ve been to one of these things, and I am greatly looking forward to it!  If you are interested in attending a CKC convention, here’s the website where you can see if and when there is one near you!

I got my weekly newsletter from Absolutely Everything, a scrapbooking/rubber stamping store up in Topsfield, MA.  And it said that they are finally starting to get in the new, long-awaited collection of Sizzix dies designed by the great Tim Holtz!

These are NOT available for sale on the Sizzix website, at least not at this time.  I have no idea if they ever will be or not.  You can see them there, but it says to “check your local craft store”.  There are also links to project ideas.  You can see the collection HERE.

So I guess it might be time to make a little trip up to Topsfield!  This collection is gorgeous, as is to be expected from Tim.  But it will be so hard to decide which to get first…I fear that i will be keeping the store’s epson receipt printer VERY busy!

If you have a store near you, go and check ‘em out!

Another scrapbooking magazine, that is.  Memory Makers has mailed out its final issue., I got mine in the mail yesterday.  That’s too bad, as I really liked that magazine.

So anyway, my subscription actually doesn’t expire until the March/April 2011 issue.  As is customary when a magazine folds, they will be transferring all existing subscriptions to another magazine, Scrapbook Trends.  Actually, I’m supposed to go to the site and convert my subscription over myself.

I think I’ve seen this other magazine before, although not very often.  I don’t think I’ve ever bought it.  If it’s what I think it is, it’s actually more like a high quality paperback idea book than a traditional magazine.

They publish other magazines, as well, all crafty-related, with ideas for everything from beading to home decors projects, such as decorating candle sconces. And if I send them $20 when I convert my Memory Makers over, I can get access to a whole boatload of back issues of all their mags, online.  I might go for it, that’s a lot of material for a low price.

But I hope that they’ll finish out my MM subscription with paper copies of Scrapbook Trends.  Online is nice, but I like paper books and magazines.

I guess this magazine folding is just another sign of the times.  Several years ago, a great mag called PaperKuts went under.  Then there was another one called Scrapbook Answers, which lasted maybe a year.  That one was very cool, as every issue came with a CD-ROM with all sorts of how-to videos and other goodies on it.  I was very disappointed when that one was discontinued.

With the economy being the way it is, I suppose that people aren’t buying as many scrapbooking and other craft supplies as they once did.  The companies that make these products are the advertisers in these magazines, and if they’re not selling as much, they can’t afford as many ads.

It’s sad, but what can you do?

Okay, enough unpleasant talk about doctors, hospitals, death, and looking for health insurance leads. I want to talk about these cool new Sizzix dies that are out now, some of which are exclusive to Stampin’ Up! and are only available from them.  They are called the Bigz XL, and yeah, they are BIG!

These things are GINORMOUS!  You will need to buy the Extended Cutting Pads in order to use these in your Big Shot or BigKick machines.  They are too big to fit into the Cuttlebug, though.  Just so you know!

You can see a selection of the Bigz XL dies at Sizzix.com.  However, as I said, Sizzix has teamed up with Stampin’ Up! to offer some more designs that are exclusive to SU.  One of these is the Matchbox die…you can cut out the shapes to make a most adorable little matchbox, in which you can put candy or other tiny goodies.  I just got this in the mail the other day, and it is SO cool!  I’m sure I will get a lot of use out of this one!

These dies measure a whopping 13 inches long by 6 inches wide.  They can cut through paper, cardstock, felt, and other materials.

If you are looking for a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, please visit my friend Annette Stewart.  Her blog offers many fun ideas for using SU products, and also has a link to order online directly from her.  It doesn’t matter whee you live, she will ship your orders anywhere.  She also offers some cool clubs, one of which I am a member.  And, once again, long-distance members are accepted.  Each month, a different member gets to be the *hostess*, and that means FREE STUFF!

If you visit Annette and buy anything, please tell her I sent you, ‘k?  Thanks!

One of the fun things about papercrafting is all of the cool STUPH!  And my biggest favorite of all of this STUPH has to be die-cutting machines.  I especially love the alphabets, in my opinion, die-cutting my own letters for cards and layouts is much more cost-effective in the long run than buying pre-made chipboard letters, or letter stickers.  I can cut them out of any paper or cardstock I want to, and I will never run out of any particular letter.

I have just about all of the popular die-cutting machines – the Sizzix BigKick and SideKick, the QuicKutz Squeeze, and the Cuttlebug.  And those are just the manual machines.  To be honest, if I could only have one, knowing what I know now, I’d probably just have the Cuttlebug.  It can use dies from all other companies, and it takes up a lot less table surface real estate.  It even takes the new Sizzix Bigz dies, as well as their Texturz embossing plates.  I thought those would be too big to go through the Cuttlebug, but I recently got some, I tried it, and they do fit.  So I may be downsizing my craft area a bit, since I lack a lot of space, and put all of the other machines in storage until I decide what I feel like doing with them.  For all I know, Sizzix might come out with even bigger dies that won’t fit into the Cuttlebug, and I might still need that BigKick some day!

Then there are the electronic cutters.  There are several out there, most of them too expensive for me to ever think about buying.  But when I found the original Cricut on sale at Michaels for not much over $100, I said, what the hell, and bought it.  I love it, but the cartridges, even when they are on sale at half price, and pricey.  I only treat myself once in a while, when they are on sale or clearance.  Still, considering the cost of regular dies, they still give you a lot for the money, including the fact that you can cut in several different sizes.  You can’t do that with Sizzix, etc. dies!

Anyhoo, I’ve been through a lot of personal crap lately, and I decided I needed some more retail therapy.  So yesterday, I decided to no longer resist the cuteness that is the Slice machine from Making Memories.

Like the Cricut, it uses cartridges, in this case called “design cards”.  The design cards are little SD cards, just like the ones you use in your digital camera to store your photos.  Each one contains a variety of shapes and/or fonts.  And like the Cricut, these can be cut in various sizes…in this case, anything from 1″ to 4″.  Not as wide a range as even the regular Cricut, but still, good enough for most scrapping and card-making needs.

Unlike the Cricut, you can only cut one shape or letter at a time with the Slice.  And you do have to hold it down as it cuts.  Some users have complained about this, but it honestly doesn’t bother me.

The Slice is a bit “greener” than the Cricut.  While the Cricut uses disposable sticky plastic cutting mats, the Slice uses a glass mat…the paper is held in place with a repositionable adhesive.  I’ve read that some people have tried, with success, using repositionable adhesive to reuse Cricut mats, although ProvoCraft, the manufacturer, does not recommend this.  I can’t personally vouch for this because I haven’t tried it, but if I do, and it works, I’ll let you know.

The Slice also has the advantage of having cordless operation.  It does come with an electrical cord, and it certainly can be used with that.  But the cord also is a charger…plug it in for an hour and the Slice is fully charged and ready to use sans cord.  This is excellent for taking to crops, because sometimes, you are not near an electrical outlet.  I used to go to crops in a church basement, and I never got a seat near a power cord.  If they ever start those crops up again, I would definitely bring my Slice.  It’s small (base measures 5″ x 5″ square), and very lightweight.

It’s also surprisingly affordable.  The Slice machine itself retails for $149.99, but you can often find it on sale.  It is currently on sale at Joann.com, and there’s an everyday discount price over at Scrap-Mart, a site I highly recommend because of their low prices, free shipping on many items, and very fast shipping, too.  They carry the Slice and many of the design cards and accessories for it, all at prices below MSR.

The design cards retail for $39.99, which is more than half what a Cricut cartridge costs.  And, as I said, you can find them on sale for less than that.  Scrap-Mart is selling them for $29.99 each.

The machine comes with everything you need to use it right out of the box.  You will get:  the machine, a 6″ x 6″ glass cutting mat, a small tube of the repositionable adhesive and a foam applicator, six cutting blades (one comes already installed in the machine), tools for removing and installing the replacement blades, the “Basics 1″ design card which has one font and lots of shapes, the power cord, and an instruction booklet.

I had a chance to play with this today, and I love it so far.  I’ve tried it on regular scrapbook paper, as well as lightweight cardstock, and it worked very well.

If you are spacially-challenged, yet still want the versatility of an electronic cutter, the Slice is a good buy.  It’s cute and it’s fun, and I’m glad I bought it!