Lynn I read you comment about Viewpoint/ USA Premium leather and the notation that you were leery of the companies prior reputation. I was curious so I decided to have a look at the online postings about this company. In general and for the most part the individuals making the comments had no real knowledge about this company and most of what was being said was based on speculation. These people were talking to hear themselves talk. In fact only one or two of the people making the comments had actually ever purchased this product or have even seen the product. Furthermore as is so often the case, comments such as these are posted as the poster has ulterior motives such was the case of recent negative postings about Annie's Furniture where a competitor, pretending to be a consumer and a past customer, who couldn't compete with Annie's on price, went online and tried to discredit them..... Bad Karma...... USA Premium Leather is quietly doing about $100,000,000 in volume in leather furniture which for the furniture industry, which is a small fragmented industry, is huge. Only a very few US based leather manufacturers are doing this kind of business, Natuzzi, and Palliser come to mind and they are not even US based (Italy and Canada) and I suppose US based Ashley. As I said before USA is not Legacy or Hancock and Moore in terms of tailoring, matching and design but it does represent good value. USA is also 1/3 to 1/2 the price of these companies. You don't necessarily have to spend as much as $4000 to $6000 to get a well made sofa.

Dear Mary, First I would go to your local Dollar Tree and see if they have any of the more regular supplies you need. (See earlier posting about Dollar Tree.) Second, I would see if you could find a friend or a couple of friends to buy, and share supplies with until you have the cash for your own. That way if each of you bought half then you would have twice the amount of the things you need quicker. If this is not possible, then try and find a crop class in your area where they bring some of the supplies to the crop and let you use them free. This allows you to use different items, to see if you even like them before spending the cash on them. Don't let this company or that one, try and tell you their product is better than the others. Acid free is just that acid free, no matter what the price tag. The extra money involved in the pricer suppliers pays their salary and commissions, not necessarily for a better or safer product. I have in my supplies brands from ALL different kinds of suppliers and I like different tools from each. Get what you like, and find easy to use, not what someone else does. But most of all have fun, and get double prints. LOL Penny

Hmmm, new stuff . . . it seems like paper dolls are really popular right now. I saw a lot of the Paperkins and Jill's paper doll templates. I also saw a lot of Journaling Genies and Overalls (page toppers by EK Success). There was one HUGE die cut display, but I didn't see a lot of die cuts at the individual stores. The Coluzzle booth was getting a lot of attention. I tried the EK Success Circle Scissor. I liked it, but am still contemplating the CM circle cutter. The circle scissor is cheaper, but I'm not sure about the durability. Flowers seem to be big right now in papers and die cuts, but that may be the season, also. Suzy's Zoo stickers are very popular. Oh, here's one local company that has patented really cute stick people that you can buy in rubber stamp form, or in a small book that you can trace or copy for personal use. The people that own the store are very nice and they let us stamp-and-take as many samples as we wanted. Unfortunately, their web site doesn't really show off their stuff. I think you can request a catalogue, though. They are at www.scrappinpeeps.com. Their booth was one of the most popular at the show. I bought a couple of books because they were half price. If I thnk of anything else I'll let you know.

Okay here is a cheaper suggestion: Go buy a 3 ring binder with a plastic clear cover where you can insert paper into the spline, front and back. Then you can find SB paper ( you'll have to use 12 x 12 paper cut to size for the covers as 8.5 x 11 paper is too small) to match her favorite color, subject, etc... I have done this with SEVERAL cookbooks, and on the spline, I have used alphabet stickers to spell their name, (ie - David's cookbook) on a matching piece of paper decorated with stickers, and then decorated the front and back cover just like a scrapbook page. It looks best if the same color paper is used as a background for all three sides. I have made several of these for cookbooks and albums and love them more each time I make one. Yours could perhaps say "Sisters are Forever Best Friends" on the front or back. The "D" ring style works best and if you have a large amount of pages get at least a 3 inch one. This will not work though if you scrap in a 12 x 12 size format. You will pay approx. $6.00 for the album which is a great saving compared to many overpriced albums, leaving you more dollars for scraping. Love Penny