Whim So Doodle

You're Invited

Hey there!

This is the official invitation for the Krop for Kids charity crop that is happening in Tampa on Saturday, October 18th.  This is the crop that I have been talking and talking about for the last few months!  I am on the planning committee and have been having a blast putting together all the fun stuff for this event!

Here is what you need to know:

-The proceeds from this crop go directly to A Kid's Place.  This will be an emergency assessment shelter for children coming into the foster care system. 

-There are two "levels" that you can sign up for at the crop, but really, the VIP level is the best and everyone has been picking that level! 

-The VIP level gives you 2 extra hours of cropping (from 10am-10pm), an upgraded goody bag, a chair massage, double door prize tickets, a gift certificate for a cleansing facial from Cleopatra's and a gift certificate for a free haircut/style at Salon Salvatore Christian.  (I mean really...who would pick anything BUT VIP seating?!)

-There will be not one, not two, but THREE on-site scrapbooking stores full of what you need to keep you croppin'!  Whim So Doodle will be there along with Scraporium and Scrap & Sew.  They are both located in Lutz and if you went on the Treasure Hunt you probably visited their stores.  There will also be some direct-sale vendors on site to show you their latest and greatest.

-Food will be provided.  This is a small statement for the food that will be provided!  Oh boy!  Do we have food for y'all!!  Lunch will be provided by Carrabba's-too yummy!  There will be goodies provided by Lindt's Chocolates, Otis Spunkmeyer, Panera Bread and more!  Gino's (on N. Armenian in Tampa) is providing dinner (on a personal note, I highly recommend the Eggplant Parm if you visit their restaurant...it is out of this world!).  And since the planning committee is still "working"  who knows what other kinds of foodstuff will show up!  As with any crop, if there is a certain snack that you MUST have that makes you crop better-by all means you can bring whatever you need to.

-There will be make-n-takes throughout the day sponsored by on-site vendors and stores that will show you some great techniques and tips! 

-Each person will receive a goody bag full of great stuff.  I have seen both the goody bag and the arriving "stuff" that will go into these bag...oh boy!  I also know a COOL, super secret surprise that each person will also be getting!!  I am sure that you will love all of your "swag"!!

-There will be door prizes given all day and night and as of our last meeting we have collected over $3,000 worth of door prizes including a digital camera with memory card, a rolling tote from Mackinac Moon, tons of restaurant gift certificates, Ott lights and much more! 

-There will also be tons of items up for "auction".  I think it works like a silent auction where you bid on the items throughout the day and then someone is picked to win.  (Don't hold me to that-we'll explain on the day)  But as of our last meeting there was over $2,600 worth of items up on the auction block including a 20" bicycle, a $1,300 dog training package from Sit & Stay Academy (I want that one!!), a complete Pazzles Cutter with tools, 4 Disney Park Hopper tickets and more! 

-There will be volunteers on duty all day long but most importantly, they will be there at check-in time to help you unload and get your stuff to your seat!  How cool is that?  Which brings me to the actual seat.  They are large and comfortable!  I went on an on-site inspection and the space is huge, the lighting is good and the chairs are large-bottomed and padded!  (I know just how important that is!!  LOL)  I do like to recommend that shorter folk, like me, bring a little foot stool to help with lower back strain.

-The location is in Tampa and it is at Egypt Shriner's Hall located on Memorial Highway just off the Veterans Highway.  Very easy to find!

Whew!  I think I covered all the good stuff.  There is more that we are working on to make this fun for all our croppers!

You can sign up by calling Nanci at (813) 728-3165 and make sure that you tell if you want to sit with someone special.  And if you want to sit in the "Doodle section" make sure to tell her that too!  The Doodle section will be Divas and our customers that will be attending, so you will see some familiar faces at the crop!  I talk to Nanci all the time and since the crop date is getting closer, seats are filling up! Please make sure you join us for this crop-you can have a blast and support a great cause at the same time!

Thanks and see you there!

Jen 

Creative Cafe Tonight

Howdy!

For those of you coming to the Creative Cafe tonight here is the pretty page you will be making!

First...I know, I know...it's not keeping with the Christmas in July theme, but we loved it too much to change it!

Second...the cost is $5 for tonight.

And third...YES!  Kristen will have a second side designed so y'all can copy that one!!  LOL  She wanted me to make sure you knew that! 

If you have not been to the Creative Cafe Happy Hour yet, why not check it out?  It happens every Tuesday night and you get to make a quick and easy project.  Sometimes it is a fun decor thingey or a layout or box or jewelry....you never know what we have in store for you!  Projects range from $2 to $8.  The best part of hanging out in the Cafe is the friendship!  We have seen some wonderful friendships formed over glue and scissors! 























The last few Happy Hours have been standing room only so make sure you do not miss out on the fun!

See you tonight!

Jen

QuicKutz are HERE!!

Whoppee!!  The new releases are starting to come in!!  Can you tell that I am stoked?!  First, before you grab your car keys and head over, they are NOT all here!  We have gotten 9 of them in and the rest should be here VERY soon.  Now,  you may be asking yourself, "Self?  Did Whim So Doodle do that on purpose so that I could spread my dollars out?"  I would love to take the credit...but sadly is was just a shipping thing.  But...you can still spread out your QK budget a bit-some today, some in a few days!!  LOL

                                                                           























Here is a list of what has arrived:

Blossom Classic (2x2)

University Grand Unicase CC

Studio Classic (2x2)

Nutmeg Classic Complete CC

Chicago Classic (2x2)

Chemistry Mini Unicase

Moonlight SkinniMini Complete

Rollerskate SkinniMini Complete

QuicKutz Klub Members can take their 30% off but no other discount applies to these "show" releases. 

Also, I am gonna be letting the cat out of the bag here, but we have a sneak peek for you QKK members on what die you are gonna be getting at the August meeting!!  It is SUPER COOL!!  We do have a VERY LIMITED supply available NOW to purchase in the store, but the Klub dies wont be here until the meeting...but I thought you would like to see it at least! 

How cool is that?  This is an exclusive die that is only available to stores who offer clubs and since we do, we got this die!!  Yippee!  I have no idea what Leisa will do about September, October since this is a BIG die and not the normal 2x2 single kut, but heck, it is awesome!  Just remember that the Klub dies are not here yet!!


There is TONS more arriving, but we opened the QK boxes first.  Now let me go see what I can open next!

See you soon,

Jen

Props to Ginni!

I was just blog-visitin' and came across a re-vamped pome from a very clever friend of mine!  She rewrote it in a "scraper's version".  Hope you like it as much as I did! 

Dust If You Must - Scrapbookers Version

Dust if you must, just don’t think I am!

I’ve got an album layed out and I’m working my plan.

In my own little corner, in my own little chair

Hey! Pass me the camera, I’ve a layout to share

Dust if you must … or fish … or do something!

Order in dinner,  just you pick out something …

I just don’t have time for nuthin’ but scrappin’

And hey, did I tell you?  I just started stampin’

Dust if you must, I’m in my scrapbook room

Why bother me? You know where’s the broom!

I have paper & markers & glitter & glue

Laundry? Cleaning?  I’ll get back to you!

Dust if you must, I’m out the door

And while I’m gone, would you please sweep the floor?

I’m going to a crop, be back Sunday night

If I’m not back before dark, just leave on a light.

Dust if you must???? You’ve got to be kidding!!!

Who’s gonna see it? Or who’ll do that bidding?

All weekend he’s out, he’s fishin’ and campin’

And I’m at a crop, just scrappin’ and stampin’

Creative Cafe Tonight

Kristen left yesterday on her Keys vacation so that means that Creative Cafe is on us tonight!  And by "us" I really mean Jo!  Make sure you head on over to tonight's Cafe and make Jo feel the love!  Creative Cafe runs from 5-6 pm and if you cannot make it right at 5-that's ok!  You can drop in anytime in that hour and still play!

Tonight you will be making a cute set of flowers on sticks!  They look so pretty sticking out of a Bell jar full of buttons!

See you tonight!

Jen

Behind the scenes!

Besides being totally fun and crazy, Saturday was one of my favorite days of the year!  We welcomed SANTA in for our Santa Sittings!  We had such a great time with the Big Guy and his #1 Elf, Edith.  From my vantage point as the official "j'uge-er" I get to see some funny things!  (I have no idea if I spelled "j'uge" correctly, but it means to straighten or arrange clothes.)  Leisa jumps all around trying to get great photos.  Kids squiggle around and off Santa's lap.  Sometimes we have to look and sound like totally deranged fools to coax a smile from a normally happy child.  I don't even want to tell you what we have to do for the dogs!!  LOL  But in between all the fun I snapped a few "behind the scenes" photos that I wanted to share. 

Leisa has to climb all around for the shot!

Edith is our "go-to" Elf who hands out cookies and keeps waiting or nervous kids happy! 

It is such a fun day!  I cannot wait for the fall dates when Santa comes back!  Keep watching your emails for dates and when to sign up.

Jen

School Supply Drive

Whim So Doodle has teamed up with Kids Charity of Tampa Bay (same ones that we are cropping with on October 18th!!) to help them collect school supplies for Tampa Bay area foster children.  Y'all know that this charity and what they stand for has quickly become near and dear to my heart!!

There are over 3,000 school aged foster children in the TB area and funds for foster families are not provided to purchase school supplies because academic tools like notebooks are not considered a "basic need".  So, enter Kids Charity who is a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for foster children and foster families.  Through community involvement each school year they are able to provide backpacks full of school supplies to hundreds of children in foster care! 

The Doodle Divas are so proud to be part of the drive this year and we are putting out "the call" to our customers for help!  Your participation in other "calls" we've put out have so humbled us with your generosity and have blessed the recipients greatly!  (I am pretty sure there are some happy puppies out there in good "doodle" homes from our last call!!) 

Here is a list of supplies needed to fill the backpacks:

-Notebooks

-Two-pocket folders

-Pens & Pencils

-Pocket Dictionaries

-Crayons

-Colored pencils

-Markers

-Calculators

-Scissors (blunt end)

-Rulers

-Erasers

-Notebook Paper (general rule)

-Subject Notebooks

-Glue/Glue Sticks

We have set up a huge drop bin in the front of the store and will be collecting supplies starting today and going until Wednesday, August 6th at 6pm!  That gives us about 3 weeks to collect-collect-collect!!  If you do not have the time or do not live near the TB area and would like to participate all monetary gifts are great appreciated to help purchase the backpacks!  You can make any checks out to:  Kids Charity of Tampa Bay, Inc., mark the memo spot with "school supplies" and mail to us and we will deliver them.  Mail to:  Whim So Doodle 237 2nd Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

Thank you so much in advance!!!

Jen

Get a tissue handy!

Kim Brett shared this YouTube video and I HAD to share with y'all!

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

Jen

(Hey can anyone teach me how to embed the video in the body of the post?)

Summer Garage Sale

We have been getting many (MANY!) requests to host another GARAGE SALE!  Since we had one planned for the late summer anyway it is perfect timing.  So if you have any gently used, personal scrapbooking or rubber stamping supplies that you want to sell to turn into cash this is the event for you!  And let's face it...you plan on turning the cash into more scrapbooking supplies...but heck I cannot talk 'cause the last garage sale I left with many bags of stuff! 

When:  SUNDAY, August 10th

Time:  9:30am-2pm

Where:  Inside the classroom or on the front sidewalk at The Doodle

What:  Gently used, personal scrapbooking and/or rubber stamping supplies

Who:  Anyone!

How much:  $5 for a 6', outside space (you bring your own table) OR $10 for an inside 6' table.

To participate you must sign up by calling the store at (727) 827-4911 (inside spaces go FAST!).  Get your supplies ready for sale.  You price your products, you bring your cash, you bring bags, you tote in in and set it up...you keep all the money you collect! 

What can you bring to sell?  This sale is open to anyone who wishes to sell gently used personal products.  This is not a venue to sell new products or direct-sale merchandise.  If you have merchandise from direct-sale vendors you may sell that, but you cannot "set up shop" if you are a direct-sale vendor.  All tools must be in good working order.  You cannot sell anything that is damaged.  You can sell stickers or whatnot that some have been used from the sheet, but you need to mark it as "used".  It is sometimes a good idea to make little bags of themed things and put price on for the bag. 

How should you price merchandise?  First ask yourself if you are there to make money or to clean out your craft area.  If you want to make money then price items between full retail and half of retail.  If you want to move items the price them between half of retail or below.      

On the day of the sale you can come to set up at 8:30am.  You can reserve more than one space when you sign up.  You can also request to be near friends.  We will try to accommodate space requests, but cannot guarantee any special spots! 

I think I've covered it all.  Call the store right away to book your spot! 

Jen

Shared photos

Do y'all know our sweet Barbara who works the crops, some Saturdays and comes to tons of Doodle events?  Well both her son and daughter are currently deployed in Iraq.  Her daughter just got over there and she is working in a medical facility helping folks from area villages.  She is a big picture taker and has been sharing photos with Barbara frequently and Barbara brought some in with her yesterday that I wanted to share with y'all.  Don't know why I wanted to share them other than (to me) it is always interesting to see what other people are doing.  Sandy is on the other side of the world-literally and figuratively.  She is doing something different than I am doing right now.  Something meaningful and vital.  I know and care for her mama greatly.  I know her mama misses her all the time.  Here are some of her photos.

Sandy with one of the camp's doctors and a cute surgery patient who had a tumor removed from her eye.

The camp Sandy works and lives at and a nearby village in the background.

Sandy's on the back.

This caring brother brought his little sister in because she had a stomach ache.

Not enough thanks go to the moms and dads who raise children who do such services for our country and other countries.  So. BIG thanks to you, Barbara, and all the other mamas and papas out there so proud of and so missing their babies so far away from home.  Remind me I owe you a big hug next time I see you!

Jen