QuicKutz Blog: Adventures in Die-Cutting

April Challenge Winners

Thanks to everyone who participated in this month's challenge! There were some great project ideas in there and it sounds like the Back to Basics release was a hit! The nesting dies in partiuclar seem to be the favorite of the bunch. Many of you mentioned how great they'd be for journaling or for creating labels to organize your craft supplies and other house-hold items. Very cool.

After reading through everyone's comments, there were three ideas that really stood out to me. So here are your winners:

Colleen mentioned using the brackets to decorate a layout about attending March Madness and filling out their brackets (the other kind; very clever).

Melinda M. said she would use the instant photo die to decorate her classroom with pictures of all of her students on the first day of school.

Lara plans on making a mini album out of the different rolodex shapes as a gift for a friend.

Great job ladies! Please email me at lmiller@quickutz.com with the names of a couple of dies you'd like from this release. Thanks to everyone for participating, I love to hear from all of you!

One last thing... 

I posted last week about the Spring Gift Sets coming out this Saturday, National Scrapbooking Day. If you'd like to see more, like what is actually in the boxes, become our friend on Facebook! There are a lot of Facebook groups out there about QK but the one we're officially doing is QuicKutz People which you add as a friend rather than join as a group. There you will receive updates and get sneak peeks at what's coming up, including an inside look at these awesome gift sets. It's also a great place to interact with other QK fans. We have Twitter account under QuicKutz too so check that out as well.

But don't forget to check back here at the good old QK blog!

 

Be You. Be Colorful.

Coming National Scrapbooking Day. Stay tuned for more details!

don't forget to enter the give-away below.

Basically Awesome

 

Get back to the basics of crafting with these new Back to Basic Shapes from QuicKutz! With everything going on in the economy lately, there seems to be an enduring call to return to the simple things in life, or in other words, the bare essentials. We've discovered that even the most basic things provide the most versatility, functionality and happiness. In staying consistent with that spirit, Quickutz is releasing a collection of dies that are practical, efficient, usable and therefore essential to any serious crafter!

 

Go here to see all shapes

 

New 4x8 Alphabet:

Complement these dynamic shapes with the perfect title! The Sticky Note Mini Alphabet comes on one 4x8 die and adds a fun look to all of your projects.

 

Laura’s Challenge:

The Back to Basics release is certain to be one that anybody can appreciate. From office supplies to nesting shapes, from brackets to instant photo frames – there’s something for everyone! My question to all of you is which die(s) do you want the most and what will your first project be with it (them)?

 

Again, if you've won one of the last three give-aways, you won't be eligible for this contest. Can't wait to hear what you come up with!

 

Here's a couple Out of the Box project ideas using these dies:

 

 

 

Did anyone pick up on my "basically" reference from previous posts? That was me trying to be sneaky by giving a little clue, but maybe it didn't work.

Getting To Know Your QK Rep – Spencer Livingston

I have been thinking of a riveting subject for this week’s blog entry. Unfortunately I haven’t been on a trip in the last several months, or really had any events in my life that are blog-worthy recently. As I pondered possible ideas around which to write, I finally came to the conclusion to list a few items that define me as a person, and shape my views and the decisions that I make at my job here at QuicKutz. Call it my personal top 5 list. Here goes: 

Top 5 things I love

 

   1)   My Family. I am the lucky husband of a beautiful wife named Joanie. She just graduated from Nursing School in December, and is currently enrolled in the Nursing Bachelor’s program at the local University, and has begun working at the local hospital as an RN. She is absolutely brilliant at school, and will make an amazing Nurse. She has taught me that anything is possible if you set your mind to something and work at it every day. We are the parents of 3 amazing children. Calvin (8), Elle (6), and Luke (3).They are a handful, but they teach me the meaning of unconditional love. They are always positive, trusting beyond measure, and are quick to forgive, all traits that I would love to emulate in my own life.

2)       My Job. A lot of people ask me how I ended up working for a Scrapbooking Company. The answer is that I don’t have a clue. I remember playing basketball with this group of guys that were starting a “new” scrapbooking company.  They asked me several times to come work for them, and each time I responded with something snappy like “I wouldn’t be caught dead selling scrapbooking supplies”. After surviving several rounds of layoff in the corporate world, and finding myself envying those who were actually getting laid off, I decided to make a change. I called Erik and took him up on his offer. That was exactly 5 years ago, and it has turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. As with all jobs, there are days where things are frustrating, and I feel like I am spinning my wheels, but at the end of the day I am working for a company I love and am passionate about with people who are basically my family, talking to nice, sweet (most of the time) scrapbook store owners in an industry built around preserving memories.  What more could you ask for?

3)       Rubio’s Fish Taco’s. That’s right. Rubio’s made the bronze metal position in things I love in life. Now, some of you may think it absurd that a taco chain store could rank so high on my list, but seriously, have you tried their shrimp tacos? There was a time during a tradeshow in California where I ate Rubio’s fish taco’s for 5 straight days, and craved more. Until recently, if you live in Utah, you have to fly to California to get your Rubio’s fix, but through the miracle of expansion and franchise, we now have our own local Rubio’s store. I have already met with the manager to discuss setting up an auto withdrawal from my paycheck to support my habit.

4)       Any Sporting Team in Utah (except for the hated Utes). Having been born in Provo, I was indoctrinated from a very young age into the ways of BYU football. Attending home games are some of my youngest and most cherished memories. I also love watching the Jazz, even when they are down. My most prized article of clothing in my house is my official game day Jazz Shorts. I wear them every night.

5)       The GREATEST snow on earth. You can’t live in Utah without somebody strapping ski’s to your feet as a child, and guiding you to one of the dozen ski resorts that are within an hour of your front door. My parents started me young, and I am doing everything in my power to pass the passion to my kids. They are getting pretty good. It was actually the promise of boundless skiing that convinced me to come to QuicKutz. Erik (the president) is an ex-ski rep, and told me that if I signed on, there would be countless early off days where we would slip up into the mountains and take out our frustrations on the slopes.  These promises turned out to be empty, but I am sure his heart was in the right place.

I am sure there are many other influences and factors that I could list that have led me to where I am today. Hopefully this little glimpse into my life will help you realize the importance of preserving the memories that make us who we are. 

Spence

Kris's Trip Back East

One of the most enjoyable parts of my job is getting to be out among the people that I work with and their customers. I have recently had such an occasion, and I thought that I would give everyone a little glimpse into the life of a QK Sales Rep on the road! For this particular trip my focus was on the New England area: Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island to be exact. And so begins my journey……

It's 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning and as I am leaving my house I am wondering why airlines even offer flights that leave so early.  My flights went well, but when I landed I discovered that both the car rental company and the hotel didn’t have reservations for me. Luckily, I was able to work it out and then it was on to Colorful Creations…one of QK’s very first stores in Massachusetts.

I had never been to Cape Cod before and was impressed with the area.  I was equally impressed with Colorful Creation’s store. Jayne and Jenn do a great job and I could tell they have a great relationship with their customers. I was able to spend a couple of hours in the store doing demos and make and takes. The new products were very well received and it was a great evening at a great store….it was also the end of a fairly long day ;-)

Thursday morning kept me in Massachusetts where I visited multiple stores, including Right at Home Scrapbooking and The Crop Shop.  First, I met with Lisa at Right at Home and we discussed the latest and greatest things happening at QK. Their store was very well laid out, and it really did make me feel “right at home.”  Next was The Crop Shop. Dee, the owner, is a long time QK fan and her excitement shows! Dee has a HUGE store (it has 7 bathrooms!!) and I am pretty sure she has every scrapbooking product ever made!  We had a great event with her customers that night and discussed all of the new QK releases and tools. We had a raffle and a number of customers walked away with some great products!!

 

 

 

By Friday morning I was hoping to see that Massachusetts’ skies any color other than gray…no such luck and it was yet another day of rain and gloom (at least it wasn’t snowing though!). My first stop of the day was The Scrapbooker’s Dream where I met with Laurie Jacobson in her recently expanded store. When I saw Laurie’s crop room, I immediately wished that I actually knew how to scrapbook as the room itself had at least 20 workstations all adorned with desk lights, mats, and leather chairs. Needless to say, it was very impressive. I was also able to meet some of Laurie’s customers/employees and I saw some of the projects they have done with QK products. I am always amazed at the creativity of the people who use our products.

 

 

I ended the night with Christi Lucia at Times to Treasure. Christi’s store was packed with customers all night and we did some in-depth demos on the Silhouette SD, some make and takes, and we even gave away some awards for creative layouts. It was a great event and I had a blast…even if I did have to wear a crown! That night would mark the end of my time in Massachusetts.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday found me in Connecticut. First stop: Wiggles and Giggles!! Darlene Wigglesworth has a GINORMOUS (is that a word?) store and I was excited to see QK product displayed front and center. We met with Darlene’s QK club members, had lunch, discussed QK, and did make and takes. Finally, we did a Silhouette SD demo that allowed everyone to see the benefits of the new machine first hand. Darlene did a great job organizing the event and I was glad to be a part of it!

 

  

 

 

My second stop for the day was Scrapbook Clubhouse. Sharon and Tracie have a great store. We had a fun event with food, make and takes, and great conversations. It should be noted that I had perhaps the BEST lemon squares that I have ever tasted (courtesy of Tracie) while I was at Scrapbook Clubhouse. 

 

My final stop was Memory Lane. Debbie Goff is a long time QK store and I could tell from being in her store that she knows what she is doing! We had a great event in Debbie’s store (despite the fact that UCONN was playing in the final four that night!!) and we had a lot of fun. Debbie even made a custom QK cake for the event.

 

 

Even though Debbie’s store was the last stop of the trip, the fun definitely didn’t stop there…..

Sunday morning should have been a peaceful flight home, but things are never that easy on the road! Over the next few hours my flight would get canceled 3 TIMES, with the end result finally being me driving to Boston to fly out of MA. I have never had to go to 3 different states in 1 day just to catch a flight!!!! 

Monday found me back in the office with a new release pending and thoughts of my next road trip already beginning to form!!  Thanks to everyone in MA and CT for a great trip!

 

an "instant" success

I know I'm getting a little sneak-peek crazy here but I wanted to show all you avid QK blog readers one of my favorite shapes from this month's upcoming release!

If you aren't already aware, instant photos (or polaroids) are VERY "in" right now. Unfortunately, not many people have access to those cameras these days, what with all the developements in digital photography and everything, they're just a lot harder to come by. So our designers found a way to replicate that look by releasing an instant photo die. This shape is the exact same size as the standard instant photos but now you can insert your own photographs!

Heather, one of our designers, showed us how cool this effect is by taking some shots of our silly sales guys with her digital camera and inserting those pictures into an instant photo frame (she also adjusted the settings in Photoshop slightly to give the pictures a more vintage look).

This is just one of many examples of what this die can do. How darling would it look on a layout with pictures of your children or family (instead of one of these weird dudes)? I'm certain this shape, along with the rest of the release, will be an instant success. Like I said yesterday, the April release is basically wonderful.

P.S. Which picture is your favorite?

Get Excited

Here are some teaser posters for the Spring Gift Sets coming National Scrapbooking Day (May 2nd). Look for these posters hanging up in your favorite scrapbooking store. I can't say much about them yet but let me tell ya, these Gift Sets are superb and will surely go quick!

 

 

          

click on poster to enlarge

I will say that there are four gift sets and their names are not "tickled pink, true blue, etc.", those are just teaser names. More info to come in a couple weeks!

Don't forget about the April release. Those dies are basically just as exceptional and they'll be in stores April 21st.

Finally Rewarded

Thanks to everyone who participated in the challenge this month! I was very impressed by the creativity that went into all of your ideas, but there were three posts in particular that really stood out to me. Congratulations to the following winners:

 

Angela

Michelle

Adriana P.

 

Email me at lmiller@quickutz.com with the two dies of your choice from this release. I’m glad you guys enjoyed this release and that you can see the dies’ potential through their specific style. I hope you all had a chance to read everyone's innovative ideas.

              

 

I wouldn’t want all of you who gave great feedback to go away empty-handed….

Free Silhouette Downloads

This week’s Silhouette release is our best ever! Each shape was carefully crafted to look stunning on your walls, cars, windows, or even etched into your fine glassware. We’re so proud and excited about these new Silhouette shapes that we’re offering them for free! Go to the Silhouette Store (you can access this through the purchase online button in your Silhouette Software) to get them today!

Be sure and let me know which one is your favorite! Enjoy :)