Cosmo Cricket

Design Team Call July 1st deadline... (See giveaway contest in entry below)

We’ve had a few questions about this so I wanted to let everyone know that you can post projects to your blog and send your email to me through the day of July 1. July 1 at 11:59 pm (mst) is the cut off. Hope that works for everyone.

Rockets Red Glare and 4 for the fourth

  

So yesterday, Eric for only the second time in his life blogged. I thought he did a great job.

Okay here is my checklist for the blog today:

1- Thanks to all of you for your terrific projects that you have emailed to me. I have literally received hundreds.  I will try hard to get as many on our blog as I can wherever possible.(Check out what some of you have sent to us below)

The Min Kalendar comes Anna Maria Nilsson. The Girl Friday "congratulations card", Anthea McConachy, the Early Bird layout, Abby Torril, and last but not least, the "pinwheel card" by Fleur Smith. Great stuff!

2- We love our store's and we love our kit clubs, and we love our customers.

If you get a minute check out www.scrapinkits.blogspot.com

We are trying harder to let everyone know when there is something special using Cosmo Cricket products going on.

3- It's a short week, must mean "rockets red glare", "the bombs bursting in air" and free stuff from Cosmo Cricket. Leave a comment today on the blog, were giving away 4 prizes today in honor of the 4th of July. You never know, your name just might get drawn.

 What were playing for: A Paper Crafting Kit of your choice and also your choice of one of our Blackboard albums.

4- Update on the Gym girl- If you remember the story "Not that there's anything wrong with it", after clearing that matter up, she (Tiffany) mustered the courage to ask what I do for a living, and before I could get the words "Cosmo Cricket" out she was telling me that she is an avid scrapbooker and her favorite company is Cosmo Cricket. Now that she know's that I'm also into scrapbooking, I wonder if she is rethinking mine and Eric's relationship? I did reward her the other day with some Cosmo goodies. She was so excited!

Have a great day!

  

A new website. Sort of...

Hello everyone. Well the new site is up. Sort of. If you click on the products link in the upper rh corner you can begin shopping. Julie left me here with 4 kids, a dog in a recovery from a spay procedure and a new website to launch. And on top of that I have to make dinner too. Who else could handle that? Well maybe a woman, but that’s beside the point.

So you can start shopping now and the new homepage will be up in a few hours, we hope..... “Jack, Jack stop playing with that.... Suki you’re suppose to do that outside........... ......  ........”

Sneak Peek! Cosmo Cricket's New Website

We get asked, ALL the time, what stores carry particular lines and where to find specific Cosmo Cricket products.  Well, we've tried to answer the questions as best we can, but now we are actually going to go one step further!

Starting Monday, June 29th, we will be working with our United States and Canadian retailers to enable our consumers to purchase product directly on our site. That means, every sku, every print of paper, every piece of chipboard will be available at cosmocricket.com.

Here's how it will work for consumers:
You will visit our site, see the product you love, put that product in your shopping cart and place your order. We will take that order and send it to the registered store nearest you. That store will then fill your order and ship it right to your home.

Here's how it will work for retailers:
You will register with us and then wait for the orders to start rolling in (we will be emailing you directions or you can visit www.shopatron.com for more information). You will acquire new customers, turn your inventory faster and be able to see what products are the fastest sellers.

Here's some pics of the new site:
You'll get to know a little bit more about us, our history and the great employees that make it all happen.

Of course, it wouldn't be Cosmo Cricket without the DHPB!

There will be fun, banter, projects and contests. Lindsay and I will let you know our picks, you can decide who has better taste...... voting with your orders!

Shopping will be easy with a clean, simple to use sight that has EVERY SINGLE STINKIN' CUTE Cosmo Cricket product.

Another Contest and Chance to be Famous

Good morning everyone! If the design team call isn't keeping you busy enough.... I have another fun project for you!!

Those of you that have been familiar with Cosmo Cricket may remember some of our sneak peak campaigns, like Jon the Warehouse Guy:


Well, this time around we thought we would see what you guys can come up with. That's right, we want sneak peek videos from you!! We are looking for clever, funny, creative and original ideas. And of course, there will be prizes and winners!

The first place winner will receive Paper Crafting Kits, Rub-ons, Ready Set Chipboard and Ribbon from all of the new, CHA Summer '09 Cosmo Cricket lines (in individual quantities), and so will their local scrapbook store (in store quantities). They will also have their video used as the sneak peek video for the release and will become famous to all Cosmo Cricket blog followers! The grand prize winner will also get to see the new release before it is officially posted...... what a perk!

There will be three runners up who will recieve the same products, but from just one of the new lines, of our choosing and their favorite stores will too (these prizes will be in the quantities as described above). They will also have their videos featured on the blog!

Here's what to do either upload your videos to youtube or vimeo and send the link to eric@cosmocricket.com or save your video as a .mov and email it directly to Eric. Please put "Sneak Peek Movie" in the title of each email. We need your movies by July 8th. That's two weeks people! Believe me, Eric and I have done all our videos in much less time....... maybe you could tell! :) You can use any Cosmo Cricket line as a placeholder for the sneak peek product in your videos or you can do a teaser where you don't show any product at all like our Jon the Warehouse guy campaign. You've got full creative license!

All videos will become property of Cosmo Cricket and can be used on our blog, website, or any way we see fit. Thanks and good luck...... this should be fun!!

Our New Mascot, Suki

***The Design Team Call Info is in the post below.***

I love dogs. So, when I saw this cute little rescue puppy, I used all my diplomacy skills, sweet talk and womanly wiles to persuade Eric into letting me get her. Eric is not a dog lover and barely a dog tolerator, but he does love me and so Suki became ours!

Suki is seven months old and was abused as a puppy. She was then left at the pound where she was going to be put down until a foster family saved her. She is just the sweetest thing ever! She bonded to me almost instantly and even my daughter, Kate, after a little bit. However, Suki does not like men! It's taken her three days to warm up to Eric. She really doesn't want much to do with him, which doesn't hurt his feelings one bit.

It's been fun watching her come out of her shell. We had 16 neighborhood kids over at our house most of the day yesterday to meet her. I was worried that it would be too much for her and so I had the kids all get down on their knees and wait calmly for Suki to come to them. By the end of they day, they were all friends and Suki, who was timid and cowering when we got her, had started to walk with her head held a little higher.

By the way, Suki was named by her previous owners, but Kate and Abby are super excited that we got a "Japanese" dog. They have nick-named her "The Great Sukinni." So apparently she's a Japanese magician...... I think her first trick will be turning Eric into a dog lover! :)

Cosmo Cricket Design Team Call

One of the questions I get asked all the time is, "How can I get on the Cosmo Cricket design team." Well, if you have asked, or wondered, this is your day! But, before I get into all that I want to thank last years design team..... they were absolutely amazing!

Do you remember this project by Danielle? This project had more hits, when we posted it to the blog, than any other! Apparently you all loved it as much as I did. We will miss Danielle and her classic, simple, editorial style.

Then there was Leah. Leah somehow managed super-creative, beautifully designed projects throughout last year all with a family move, husband away overseas, and the birth of a new baby. And I thought my life was crazy!! This particular project was #1 over at twopeas the week she posted it.
Maren had more projects published than any other design team member. We will sure miss her , but I know we won't be seeing the end of her!
When you have the opportunity to work with someone like Debbie Olson, you jump on it..... and you don't let her get away....... ever. We welcome Debbie back for a second year on the team.
Natasja and Yukari are our two foreign team members. It took us a bit to figure out how to ship and pay these two so that it wasn't costing either of us a fortune! Also, due to the team's first CHA deadline schedule, they didn't get to participate in that show. So, we're excited that Natasja and Yukari will be back for this year too. You'll get more of Natasja's videos and tutorials. She is currently working on one for this fabulous project.

And from Yukari, we expect more great design!
OK, so now for the call. Let's start with what we're looking for in our design team members.
1. People who love Cosmo Cricket products and feel inspired by them.
2. People who have a great sense of design.
3. People who are creative.
4. People who maintain an active blog and are connected to online communities.
5. People who are not afraid to submit for publication.
6. People who are low maintenance, dedicated, easy to get along with, generally happy and fun to be around. (It's going to be hard to beat last year's team on this one!)

We are looking for 3-5 new members, with possibly (meaning I reserve the right to change my mind) one spot for a cardmaker, one spot for an altered project artist and 3 spots for layout lovers. You don't have to be great at all three of these things, but you need to be really great at the one you feel is your best (it won't hurt you if you're great at all three, it's just not necessary).

What to do if you'd like to try out: post your best projects, preferably ones with Cosmo Cricket products, to your blog. Then, before July first, email your blog link to submissions@cosmocricket.com and don't forget to put Design Team in the title of your email. We will sort through each and ever entry and begin narrowing things down quickly.

Things to keep in mind: There will be many, many designers try out. There will only be a handful that are picked. This is always a hard thing! But, I think the experience was positive for most, hopefully all, the applicants last year. When we narrow things down, we will post the top contenders with links to their blogs, why we picked them and one of their projects. This will drive a lot of traffic to your sites and give you some great publicity for publications, other design teams, etc. We will then narrow further untill we have the final picks.

I had one applicant last year that made it to the top 12, but not the final team. She was upset that we had posted her in the top 12, feeling that we had shown her to be good, but not good enough. I hadn't stopped to consider that one might feel that way until she told me. In my mind, all the top designers (and possibly even more than that) were good enough, it just comes down to not enough spaces. However, if you might feel as she did, you can let us know in your submission email not to show your name unless you make it into the final draft (doing so won't hurt your chances). We really want this to be a fun and happy experience whether one makes the team or not!

One last thing: We have five Cogsmo Fat Quarter Winners! Congratulations Tiffany Moy, Robin Redd, Lee Cockrum, Gro aka emrille and Lisa Truesdell. Send your info to kristen@cosmocricket.com and she'll get you your prize!

Sneaky Peeky and a Fabric Giveaway!

You're eyes do not deceive you. This is not a photoshop trick. I actually have in my temporary possession, the strike offs for the Girl Friday and Snorkel fabric collections! And, I'll show you just a little bit. I have to say, the color is off in my photos..... just couldn't get the exposure right...... it really looks so much nicer in person!
I've not shown you all the prints in case you're wondering. There are two full colorways for each line....... I'm so excited about these sets!!! This fabric will start to show up in your local independent quilt shops in about three months.

Until then, maybe you'll be happy waiting if I give you a chance to win a set of Cogsmo fat quarters. I just got some from Andover last week. Look for Cogsmo at your stores any day now! They're shipping it as we speak.
OK, to win, tell us if you sew or not. If you do sew, tell us what the last project you made was (and if you like, post a link to a photo). If you don't, tell us what you would like to do with this fabric or what you've done with fabric in the past (again, feel free to link to a photo).

I think we'll give away five prizes.......... maybe Lindsay is rubbing off on me! :)

Friend Faves Fursday

Ok, I know that this entry would work so much better tomorrow! But, since Lindsay posted asking all our friends to send in their projects, we've had so many great ideas to share. He forwarded some AWESOME ones to me last night and I am so excited about them that I just didn't want to wait until Friday.

Check out a few of our faves! Please don't feel badly if you sent us something that isn't shown. We literally get hundreds and there is no way to show them all.

I love these two layouts by Amy. My favorite is the Early Bird layout because of the design. I love how the little squares around the baby seem like little blocks, or toys for her to crawl and discover. The sizing of those blocks makes this 12" layout feel baby-sized in a way. The Everafter layout is just lovely and I like that it is celebrating a father/daughter moment..... it's a little unexpected for this line.

Eric picked this card by Anthea McChonachy. He loved the newsprint (it's not even Cosmo Cricket :) and the colorfulness of the card.

I loved these cards by Zarah in Sweden. I fell in love with the image and green and yellow combination on the lower card. I wanted to show the red and white card too because I never thought of Early Bird as a Valentine line until now! I just love the vintagey feel to these!

Kim Holmes sent us a ton of great projects. I really loved this boy layout. It is so nicely designed and pulls your eye right into the photograph. I also liked her Cogsmo canvases of her three boys. These fall into that "I haven't seen this" category. I have seen canvases before, but never in tryptic like this.

And, who can not love this amazing card by Kristine Moldenhauer Biseth? Look at the detail and time put into this project. It really is beautiful!

Lil' Man Fire Crackers

•Updated with original spool photo specifically for Tamera•

Good Morning Everyone,

This summer, the blog is likely to be posted a little later in the morning than during the school year. I have a new routine that involves making my children be responsible, productive and hard working until about 11:00 in the morning. This is a full time job in and of itself and can't be done while sitting at a computer. It seems that if I even take a minute to read an email, they sneak off to A. hide somewhere in the house, like the bathroom or a bedroom, B. sneak off to their friend's house or C. start looking in the fridge and/or pantry for something to eat.

Anyway, on to today's entry. I know you are all waiting to hear who wins yesterday's prize, but first, I want to show you these fire crackers. (I apologize for the poor photos..... it's super grey and cloudy today.)



These are made with antique spools. Now, when altering things that are antique or valuable, I am against damaging the item in any way. Besides protecting something cool, you can remake the item later (these spools were actually decorated with Halfway Cafe paper first).

So, I just wrap the paper around the spool to measure. Then, when you've got the right size for the spool, put adhesive down one edge, wrap the paper around the spool and stick it onto itself..... leaving the spool free of any glue. The ribbon (Cogsmo and Honey Pie) will help to secure it.

For the stars, I used gold wire that is pushed into foam that I cut to fit snugly in the spool center. Attach some stars from the Lil' Man Ready Set Chip and your almost done. If you like, cover and add the chipboard star from the Buck Naked Buttons and more.

OK, now onto today's winner................ Vicki J Wade. Congrats Vicki, send us your information to kristen@cosmocricket.com and we'll make sure that Label Tulip gets it!