Want a little preview of the coming attractions for Sunday night?  Well here you go…

The official on-line fun with me will start a little after 5:00 pm Eastern Time Sunday night.

The progressive crop challenge is back!  What is a progressive challenge you ask?  This is a challenge that you must complete step by step to create a scrapbook page layout during the on-line crop.  I will release the steps gradually between now and the end of the Oscar telecast.  (Look for the detailed post tomorrow morning.  I’ve made it easier than last year.)  This year’s layout challenge will have five simple steps.  To make things easy, I’m providing the first two steps right now. 

1. Step One:  To prepare for this challenge you’ll need to grab your personal stash of scrapbook tools and supplies.  You will have the opportunity to use anything you want to complete this challenge but you must use at least one Fiskars tool while creating your layout. 
2. Step Two:  The focal point of your layout will be all about your favorite movie snack(s).  Can you tell that this is a challenge created by me?!  You need to take a photo of your favorite movie snack(s) and/or obtain an empty wrapper(s) from your snack(s) to put on your page.

Now don’t do anything else until you are directed to do so on Sunday.  Just gather up your supplies and get ready for the fun to start.  You will be given specifics on how to create your layout during the night of the crop including photo placement and a specific title.  So you can’t create a layout in advance or think you can get away with just pulling a page out of an old scrapbook.  (Pretty sneaky, huh?)  How many times have you attended a crop and talked so much to your friends that you didn’t get anything accomplished?  For those of you who play along with this challenge, you will walk away from the crop with at least one completed page… and still have time to chat too!

Change your Fiskateer main profile photo to a new movie themed photo for the weekend.  This will be an easy way to spot all the other Fiskateers who are participating in the on-line crop.  I thought I’d bring back one of my favorite photos from a past party just for fun. 

Current Movie Challenge.  What’s that?  You are not going to be around to join in on the fun Sunday night?  That’s okay.  I’m going to be posting a special challenge on Sunday that any Fiskateer can participate in and everyone will have an entire week to complete it!  So whether you attend the movie party or not, you will have the opportunity to complete a layout or card based on a current movie now showing in theaters.  Be sure to check back for the details tomorrow!

Join me in the Fiskateer Chatroom at 7:00 pm Eastern time Sunday night.  I’ll be hanging out in there until the end of the Oscars telecast.  Unlike some of our past on-line crops, the majority of the fun will be happening live in the chatroom, not the message board.  It will help to be close to your television while on the chat because we will be discussing the red carpet arrivals, watching the award show together while it’s on air as well as chatting about movie stuff in general.  It’s a time for bonding with other Fisk-a-friends who love all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood… and of course Fisk-a-WOOD!  

Crop Party Log-in.  I will post a topic on the message board on Sunday morning so we have a running list of all the Fiskateers who participated in the Fisk-a-Wood Movie Party this year.  (Be sure that you comment to the 2010 Fisk-a-Wood Party topics, not the older 2009 or 2007 Oscar Party Topics.)

So there’s your little party preview.  I hope you can join me tomorrow night.  I’ve got a movie filled weekend planned now… I’m off to the movies!

That’s right, my sweet pink laptop (who I named Cupcake) made another trip to the computer hospital.  She’s home now feeling a little better and she is finally talking to my printer.  I don’t know who decided not to speak to who first, but someone finally decided to spit out a ton of mailing labels instead of blank white sheets of paper.  Some I don’t recognize as being recent so I have a little research to do.  So if you have been expecting something from us, you can now officially start stalking those white and purple trucks.

Now that that mess is just about cleared up, this evening I’m putting together some new packages.  Did you notice that I have a special event scheduled on the Fiskateer calendar this Sunday?  Keep your eyes peeled on the Fiskateer blog for a little “Preview” tomorrow.

This three day crop was hosted by two of Virginia’s finest local scrapbook stores; Scrapdoodles in Fredericksburg and Beach Scrapbooks in Virginia Beach.

This crop had 160 very busy and happy scrapbookers.  Not only were there participants from the lovely state of Virginia, but people also traveled from the Carolina’s, New Jersey, Maryland, and Florida.  I was quite busy doing demos and make-and-takes throughout the event but I did remember to pick up my camera and was able to take a few photos while I was there. 

There were Fiskars sightings on every aisle of the crop and by the end of the event, everyone went home with a couple of new Fiskars goodies.  One lucky cropper even went home with a new Fiskars trimmer!

I made some new friends who kept me laughing the entire weekend.  (I even discovered that some of my new friends are huge fans of my favorite television show.  Bazinga!)  I’m happy to report that I’ve noticed that some of my new friends will soon be your new Fisk-a-friends too.  Be on the look out for them as they join our Fiskateer community!

Before I leave, I do have two other things I need to do… announce some winners from my recent blog posts.

Fiskars Emergency Snow Shovels:  Sue #2266 & Tona #4437

Fiskars Framed in Love Corner & Border Punch: Tracy M #6773

Congrats to the winners and don’t forget to email me your name, address and phone number to claim your goodies!

Violets are blue,

A ”Blind Date” has been scheduled tonight on Valentine’s Day,

With a very special Fiskateer… YOU!

I just noticed on the Fiskateer Calendar that there is a chat scheduled in the Fiskateer Chatroom tonight at 9:00 pm Eastern time.  Looks like there’s a blind date planned.  I wonder if this “Mystery Date” will be bringing sweet things like chocolate cupcake shape templates, beautiful flowers scissors or “special” jewelry.  I was planning on watching the Olympics on television tonight, but now curiosity has the best of me wondering who will show up. 

This whole “mystery date thing” got me thinking… How many of you remember the board game Mystery Date?  This was a Milton Bradley board game that was originally released in 1965, then again in the 70’s and revised in 2005.  The game was simple… players got ready for their big dates by moving around the game board, collecting cards to assemble an outfit to wear for the date.  Once an outfit was created, players then had the opportunity to turn the door handle of a little plastic door built into the middle of the game board.  Then, with fingers tightly crossed, players would open a door to reveal their “Mystery Date” for the evening, in hopes that their outfit was a perfect match to that of the guy standing behind the door.  If the outfits didn’t match, then the game would continue.  If the outfits matched for the date, then the game was over.

In that game, the dream dates consisted of:  a beach date; a skiing date; a formal dance date or a bowling date (or in a later release…) a picnic date.  There was one final date also standing behind the door, and that was the guy with no sense of fashion or in my opinion, common sense… the dud.

So Fiskateers, let’s play our own little version of this game…

I’m curious, if you were to select one of those guys listed above for your dream date, which one would you hope was your secret admirer?  Who would be standing behind that door waiting for you?  And why are you hoping for that date?

Now you won’t have to create a perfect outfit to wear for this date, but I’m sure you have orange in mind.  Instead one lucky random Fiskateer who leaves an answer below to the mystery date question will open the door to reveal a delivery man with a box that contains this…

Fiskars Corner & Border Punch - Framed in Love

Happy Valentine’s Day Fiskateers!  Fisk-a-HUGS to all!

Yes, I had to dig myself out of that mess.  And if that wasn’t bad enough, it looks like my area is getting up to another 20 inches tonight.  (Why is it every weatherman has a different snow fall projection?)  Guess I’m going to have to dig myself yet again.  Perhaps this handy little tool could help…

Hey, wait a minute!  I recognize those colors!!!!  Do you?

Yup!  This cool tool was made by Fiskars.  If you have been getting a ton of snow in your area, a shovel might be hard to find in the stores this late in the season.  The winter tools are quickly disappearing from the hardware store shelves in order to make room for all the new cool spring and summer tools for gardening.  But if you are lucky to stumble across this Fiskars Emergency Snow Shovel in your local stores, you might want to snatch it up because I’ve just been informed that this tool is being retired by Fiskars. 

Now don’t be sad if you didn’t know this tool existed.  As luck would have it, I managed to get a couple of these shovels from the Fiskars warehouse.  I’ve waited for the perfect storm and I really want to give them away to someone who has been “in the same boots” as I have been in this winter.  So, I’m going to give them away to two lucky Fiskateers!

I would love to see a photo of your wintery neighborhood.  Snowmen, snow covered trees, your car buried in a snowy tomb… or any snow scene from your neighborhood that warms your heart.  Put your photo in your Fiskateer gallery and leave a link to your photo here in the comments below by February 15th. 

For those of you who have yet to see any snow, or have never seen snow in their warm neighborhoods, spring is just around the corner.  (Well, at least I hope it is!)  Fiskars has some cool garden tools and I’ll bet some will be given away on the blog later this spring! (wink, wink)

Well, it looks like more than 5 inches have fallen on the ground in the last couple of hours.  When the sun comes over the horizon tomorrow morning, I’m going to have my work cut out for me yet again.  If you don’t see another blog from me in the next 24 hours, can someone please send out a search party for me?

How many of you have watched the Weather Channel in the last couple of days?  Has the weather been the top story in your local news?  When you look out your window, do you see any signs of life or does it look like a ghost town?

Most of you know I live in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area.  The sky is nothing but shades of white.  My area has received more snow in the last 24 hours then it’s received in the last the ten years.  Well, that might not be the most accurate fact, but it sure seems like it to me.  So, today I’m taking advantage of the situation and I’m staying in doors.  I think I’ve slept longer than my cat today.  (Is that really possible?)  It’s coming up on 5:00 pm, and I’m still walking around my house in my pajamas and big fuzzy slippers.  So, since I was dressed to kill, I thought I’d hit a stamp pad or two.

I flipped through my stack of some of the new Fiskars items that were recently introduced at CHA.  I grabbed the two new color shades of Fiskars Stamp pads, Copper Kettle and Navy Blues as well as a package of new clear stamps, Winter Wonderland, a set that is designed to fit several Fiskars squeeze punches.  Along with those new tools, I grabbed a few other favorites, my Fiskars rotary trimmer, several squeeze punches and the Snowbubbles border corner punch. 

And with those, I got a little creative and here’s just one example… 

But I couldn’t stop there and I decided to create a scrapbook page layout.  Now perhaps someone out there can help me with my next task…

Dude, where’s my car?!