Sometimes life throws you a curveball…

Happy September, scrapbook friends! What a month this has turned out to be - my Labor Day weekend was NOT the holiday I was expecting.

I am writing to you from my son’s room in the Neuro ICU at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. A week ago yesterday he went in for a routine pre-appointment MRI to see why he has been having some balance issues, and after a whirlwind day by midnight he was in the ICU with a drainage tube coming out of his brain and on Tuesday he had brain surgery to remove a (thankfully benign!) tumor. Alex is an adult, but he has Asperger’s Syndrome and isn’t quite able to advocate for himself most of the time so I have been staying up here at Vandy with him.

The good news is that the surgery was very successful, and we anticipate that he will be transferred from Vanderbilt in the next few days to a rehab hospital in Huntsville. They won’t allow me to stay with him there, but by then hopefully he’ll understand more of what is going on and it won’t be so scary for him to be alone much of the time (especially for me - I think HE is probably fine!)

If we are Facebook friends, I have been posting regular updates there. (If we are not, I will accept your request!) If you are not on Facebook I hope to write up a summary of this whole adventure soon - and you KNOW I will be making a scrapbook of his journey. How kind of CM to come out with their “On the Mend” collection earlier this year so I will have the perfect supplies.

Event Schedule

HUGE thank you to the people who were at my crop last weekend who carried on when I had to abandon you to take care of Alex, especially Joy Thomas who has guardianship of the studio keys. :) I do plan to crop this coming weekend, even if I can’t be there the whole time, and the retreat is still a go (because I’ve already given the Marriott several thousand dollars!)

So we are still on for our September events my studio in Madison, Alabama. Pre-registration is requested, however if you find yourself unexpectedly free, it’s always worth contacting me to see if I can fit you in! It’s especially important right now that you pre-register so that if I need to contact you with changes I am able to reach you.

Once you know which events you want to attend, you can sign up here: September Cropping Events and if I can’t be there with you someone else will be there to open the doors and make sure everything is taken care of.

Wednesday Day Crops: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Wednesday September 10 and 24. No frills, just time to work on your current projects. Bring your lunch or we can go in together on a DoorDash order from a restaurant we agree on. (No crop on the 17th because of the retreat that starts the next day!)

**This Wednesday, September 10th I WILL NOT be attending, but Joy has proven to be a very responsible deputy.

Happy Album Circle: 6:00 - 8:00 pm
On Zoom: Wednesday, September 10th (without me, most likely)

Weekend Crops: Friday, noon - 9:00 pm and/or Saturday, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. September 12 & 13, September 26 & 27. You’re welcome to sign up for both days (and leave your stuff out overnight!) or choose just one of them. We do potluck meals but I never want that to scare anyone away. :)

Project Recipe Layout Class, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
I think we are going to cancel the September class. It’s currently scheduled for the 16th and I just don’t know if I can pull things together by then. Then my retreat starts on the 18th and that’s going to be tough too, so there’s no way I can do it on the 23rd. I can possibly reschedule for the 30th — if you have already signed up I will be in touch to figure out what works best, which might be postponing to October.

Sign up on the Google docs linked here: September Cropping Events

Croptoberfest!

I guess it’s a good thing this all happened over Labor Day weekend, because that means Alex should be well on the way to recovery by Croptoberfest, which is still a GO.

October 9-11 (three spots left)
or
October 16-18 (four spots left)
$110.00 event fee
Thursday 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm (dinner from Lawler’s)
Friday 10:00 am - 8:00 pm (sandwich bar lunch, dinner from Taco Mama)
Saturday 10:00 am - 8:00 pm (salad bar lunch, dinner from Tellini’s)

For details and the link to register please see my website:
Croptoberfest 2025

Copper Canyon is BACK!!!

Last year (or was it 2023?) Creative Memories came out with a Secret Box featuring the beautiful Copper Canyon collection. Since then I have had multiple people asking if I had any extra pieces of the collection to sell, and I have had to say no.

But… I’ll tell you a secret, that clear back in July I was picked to create the Project Playbook for a new collection… and it’s Copper Canyon 2!! I can’t remember exactly what was in the previous collection, but I can tell you that this one is absolutely stunning, and I am so glad that we will be able to buy multiples of it! It has been SO HARD to keep the secret, especially from a couple of you who I now especially loved this collection.

As always there is a buy-it-all bundle (and you’ll get 10% off plus the Project Playbook free!) or you can buy the collection items separately. The Copper Canyon 2 album cover is one of the prettiest we’ve had in a long time and I will definitely be planning to buy this one for my own use!!

The collection includes: Designer Paper, Stickers, Foiled Embellishments, Foiled Rub-on Transfers and a Mat Pack. The buy-it-all bundle includes all those items plus the Ornate Ripples Border Punch. Don’t forget that if you purchase the buy-it-all bundle within the first two days you’ll be eligible to win a “year’s supply” of Tape Runner Refills! (If you order through me for local pickup and my order is a winner I will split the refills between everyone who ordered the bundle!)

Foiled Paper Buffet

Secret Box #1 this year had some very cool Celestial Delights foiled paper, and I know I have struggled to use it because once I use it it’ll be gone! Well, I guess CM got a lot of feedback that we love shiny, shimmery papers, so they have come up with a whole line of foiled papers - but it will only be available for a limited time, via this Molten Lava Foiled Paper Buffet.

The colors of the papers you can purchase are: Cranberry, Gold, Dark Green, Island Waters, Black and Platinum. If you purchase any six packs of these papers, you’ll earn the exclusive Plum Foiled paper FREE!

These papers are $12 a pack for a 6 pack, and of course there is a one-click bundle if you know you want them all! If you are local to me (or attending the retreat) I will also be offering a sampler pack of ONE of each of the seven papers for $14.00.

Of course, anytime CM offers us a limited edition product, it’s also a marketing test, and if it turns out that we love it, we might see this in the regular line. No promises, though.

But wait, there’s more!

It’s also time for Simple Page Kit #9, which gives you everything you need to quickly create a beautiful seasonal page layout. If you are in the Page Kit Club, you already got this one in the 3rd quarter bundle. If you chose this as an add-on to the Project Recipe class and we end up not doing that this month due to the giant curveball life has thrown me, I will make sure to set it aside for you for whenever I see you again.

If you haven’t already ordered this one (or the others) I do have most of them still in stock, and they’re a speedy way to catch up on a lot of layouts in a hurry.

We also have two new card kits - the 12 card Festive Greetings set, or one that I am really excited about, the Spirited Sentiments trio kit which gives one one card each for Halloween, Thanksgiving and New Year’s!

One more sale punch

The Ancient Key is one of my favorite BMCs lately - the design itself is very elegant, but it is also one that you can easily “weave” contrasting papers through for a different look. And starting tomorrow it’ll be on sale for just $10!

How to Order!

As always, for more details including video flip throughs and additional photos you can check out CM’s info page: What’s New September 8th

Iff you are local and able to pick up your order at one of the events at my studio in Madison, PLEASE order on this google form: Local Pickup Pre-Order Form. This makes it SO MUCH EASIER for me to keep up with what you want! I will turn off this form at about 11:30 am on Monday so if you want me to order anything for you please fill it out before then. (If you need something between new product release days, just email me - I order at least once a week most of the time!)

If you can’t have me order for you — or you just don’t want to wait till you see me, remember that I am happy to gift you a $10 CM credit to offset your shipping charges. Please just EMAIL ME (or reply to this email) with “I am planning to order” and I will transfer the credit to your account. Remember that I’m up here at the hospital on Monday so the more advance notice you can give me the better.

https://www.creativememories.com/user/nicolesoh

Thank you!!

I have told you this before, but once again the events that have happened in my life this week have reinforced for me how very VERY much the support of my scrapbook community means to me. I’ve always appreciated your support of my business, but getting to feel that support in my personal life has been almost overwhelming.

When I left the crop last Friday night, and gave Joy the key so she could let people in “in case” I wasn’t back from the MRI appointment in time, never for one minute did I think I wouldn’t be able to be at Saturday’s crop at all! But I knew that I had left the studio in good hands, and that there were twenty people who were keeping me in their thoughts and prayers. As I had to cancel my Theme Park Thursday YouTube video, even more people have reached out to offer their well wishes, and the love, support and “vibes” or whatever it is I am feeling is something that I literally feel with my body, not just with my brain. It’s been incredible. I am grateful for all of you, your friendship and support (even the people I have never met) more than words can ever say.

But OH I am also ready for this adventure to be over so that I can be happily scrapbooking with all of you again, whether it’s in person at the studio or on YouTube. Scrapbooking is the thing that refills my bucket and oh is my bucket in need of a refill right about now!

So hopefully I will see you all VERY soon!

Nicole Soh
Creative Memories Independent Advisor

www.NicolesScrapbooks.com
www.CreativeMemories.com/user/nicolesoh

#MemoriesMatter