International issue seems to be fixed . . . you should be able to process now (for all of my overseas friends)!

AOL

AOl is not recognizing the site upload for some reason (still checking with my programmer on it). If you use Internet Explorer as your browser instead, you shouldn't have a problem. I will keep you posted on this too . .

International Purchasers . . .

You will notice that you get an error when checking out. We are working on it now and should have it ready for you in a couple of hours (I will post here when it is working for you). Sorry about that!!

Also, please only hit the process kit once. We will have it fixed in about an hour where you won't be able to hit it twice (it will take you to a "please wait" page). A few of you hit the button again while it was processing. It didn't charge you twice though, but you may see two memberships in your box and get two receipts. We can see that on our end and are cleaning it up now (so if you go in tomorrow, you will only see one membership). It is only a handful of people, so everyone else disregard.

Other than that - so far so good!!! I will keep you posted. . .

Tomorrow night, Monday, June 5th at 8:00 p.m. central time

This is when the site will be back up and running and the June kits will be available for sale to all. We are in the process of sending out e-mails to our entire mailing list with this info. as well (if you don't get an e-mail, don't worry, you don't need to have it. It is just an effort to communicate with the people who may not read my blog).

Here are some reminders and other important information:

- No one has a reserved kit. Everyone will need to go to the site and purchase directly from there at this time by creating a new account. So, whether you just started a membership last month, just re-uped as yours ended in May or reserved a kit last month for June (etc.) you MUST go to the site and purchase as if you have never had a membership. We will not be doing and billing this month (as we have wiped out all of that information)

- If you purchased ANYTHING at the site on June 1st, it was not charged to your credit card. All of those orders are void and you must re-purchase as well.

- Any passwords sent out (or re-created on the 1st) are all void now. You must set up a new account tomorrow night. No one currently has a password.

Many of you have e-mailed me about being on vacation this week (and other things). . . unfortunately, I am unable to reserve any kits. However, we have enough kits being put up for sale to cover what our current subscriber base was in May, plus many, many, more. I expect to be still selling kits for several days, if not the entire month. Hopefully that puts everybody at ease a little bit (who knows, I may be still trying to sell them next June. ha!)

We are not sure how all of this will affect the shipping/gallery dates this month (if at all), but I will keep you posted here.

And finally, THANK YOU so much for the posts and notes of encouragement. It has been so gratifying to know how many friends I have out there - I truly, truly appreciate it. The cyber world can be so cruel, but just like everything in life, it is far more good.

Remember, tomorrow night (Monday) at 8:00 p.m. Central time zone, the site will be back up for purchasing.

Until then. . .

Going forward. . . Please Read if you have ever been a member or purchased from the site

(If you just want to read the announcement, skip down to the bolded area. . .)


To say that I am devastated is an understatement really. Yes, I know that I am healthy, my family is healthy, and we are clothed and fed. I am truly thankful for this and certainly know in the end that none of this matters. It’s just paper and stickers, right? Well kind of. . .

For several years I have put my heart and soul into this hobby, which has become more of a way of life. Many people do not get the opportunities that I have been given. So, it has been so heart-wrenching to watch something I’ve worked so hard to develop struggle from challenges that I have no direct control over. So while it all seems to be a little dramatic, it really is quite personal to me.

And I wanted you to know that we didn’t cut corners and go on the cheap to develop this site. Towards the end of my stay with Li’l Davis, they were working on a new website which has now been launched. I know what the estimated cost was for that site and I can tell you that in the end, we will be spending close to the same (keeping in mind that the size of our companies are vastly different). I say this because I suppose I wanted everyone to know that we have spared no expense, and, as you can imagine, this has been a very hard pill for me to swallow.

So, here is the part that impacts you (sorry for the lengthy introduction). . .

The site will be shut down until further notice. We hope that means just a matter of a few days, but we will wait until we receive the assurance that the site is completely secure and free of major complications. There might be a small glitch here and there, but nothing that can’t be fixed in very short order. We will send out an e-mail to everyone when we have a date and time.

And here is the second part (and this is the big one). . .

While we could probably salvage the information and memberships we have, we think it is in your best interest to start our database over from scratch. Our database will be completely wiped out. However, if you have ever purchased anything from us we will have your name and email address in order to communicate with you.

Here is the nitty gritty of what this means:

- if you have EVER purchased a membership with us, it will no longer be valid. You will have to purchase a new one through the site when it goes live. We are destroying all billing and shipping information.

- Any orders that were placed for the June kits at the site on June 1st (yesterday) are not valid. If you check your credit card statements you will see that nothing has been posted against your account. Even if you saw a order in your “account” folder they were not actually processed to your card.

- All passwords and usernames will no longer be valid (as no one will have an account). When you purchase your membership through the site when it is ready again, you will set up a new account (and hence, start from there).

We are not doing this because we have concerns about the security of the data we hold. We are doing it because the database structure we tried to convert from the first website, combined with the challenges from yesterday, make it almost impossible for us to tell with certainty who started a membership and when. Add to this the dozens and dozens of multiple memberships we had (even before yesterday) and it makes it an impossible task.

The good news is the new site is what we have envisioned from the beginning (once it is launched correctly.) Here are some of the features that have changed that will be helpful for you:

- secure log-in access to all of your membership, shipping, and billing information with the ability to make changes yourself.
- the offering of the Monthly Project Kit on Subscription as well.
- helpful information throughout the ordering process, including alerting you if you attempt to purchase a duplicate membership.

Jared and I really want to thank everyone for your support, notes of encouragement and overall good will. This is the only reason I am sticking this out and moving forward. I have made so many wonderful friends through this site (all over the world) and continue to be humbled by the patience and kindness that I have been granted!! I truly am grateful – I could never communicate it well enough. I know that my friends will still be here and I am so encouraged by that. . . thank you, thank you, thank you!

For now I need to shed some love on my little ones and we are off to see "RV" at the theater. . .

Site is being shut down

We have asked for the site to be shut down until further notice. I am unsure and still investigating as to why it was launched with some of the issues that have apparently arisen. I am unable to answer the majority of the e-mails that have been sent as the specific answers have not been communicated to me from the programmer. I am trying to go through and reply to a few, but it will take me a couple of days to confirm orders and reply to general checkout errors.

All I can do is apologize for any inconvenience, alarm, and wasted time this may have caused any of you today. As far as the security issue, please know that I would never be okay with any part of my site (that deals with credit card information) not being secure. I am floored that this could have been an issue with anyone and still trying to make sense of how I got here?

I can tell you this - (for those of you that are concerned that you ordered multiple memberships), we have not received any money or receipts whatsoever. I believe, from the little information I have been given, that the orders were accepted into the database (and we will be able to process them therefore) but they currently have not actually been taken out of anyone's account. We will, of course, confirm any of the orders that show multiple memberships before you are charged.

I will keep posting. . .

Please Read - Site is down!!

Honestly, I'm not sure about all of the details myself yet, but my programmer has been getting the site up piece by piece and has told me that it will be down at least all day (it really was never "up"). So, even though it looks like it is ready (as the pictures show up), the functionality is not there (hence why I got over 100 e-mails while I was in the shower)! I have asked him to put a note up at the site on the home page so that people don't waste their time trying to check out.

I'm hoping that happens very soon.

In the meantime, here is some helpful information:

-we have not sold anything to anyone (so don't worry about kits being gone). No one is able to checkout currently.

- I will post here as soon as I know when it is all functioning properly.

- I don't believe passwords have gone out to current members yet either. I am waiting to hear on this and will post when I know more.

-if you have sent me an e-mail, you will probably get a really quick response from me (not specific) with a link to this blog. I have far more to answer than any one person could keep up with, so I think this is the best way to do it for now. The vast majority say that you tried to check-out and could not. Just reading all of this should help you out.

Okay, that is all for now. As I know more, I will post. Thanks for your patience!

June Kits. . .

Still not sure when these will be up. It could be a little later tonight (its 1:30am my time), but it will be soon! I will try to post an exact time, but I have a feeling they will just be there when I wake up myself! We have more kits this month (again) so I don't expect to sell out the first day again. We shall see! More tomorrow. . .

Sneak Peak. . .

Things have been so crazy that I haven't had a chance to do any sneak peaks for June!! With the holiday, all of the website behind-the-scenes stuff I've been working on and a birthday party for my big man (just cleaned up the house after 17 children) time has slipped away. So, just for fun, here are a couple of hints:

The title was made using the stamp below. I'm so excited about this!!! Stampotique Originals (high quality rubber stamps by the way) made this stamp for me. It is only currently available in this kit. Your friends will be envious! Ha! It is double sided (one side for "Name" and one side for "Date"). I have been wanting something like this - you know, something you can use over and over again (and therefore worth the investment) but could never find exactly what I wanted. So I made it myself (and added the star, because afterall, it is my stamp)! You are getting more of these little crystal stars this month that fit perfectly into the star image. I couldn't get enough of them in April. You are also getting these great circle stickers.

And, because I love to include the exclusive chipboard shapes, I had these great swirls made for June:

We are still working on some final testing etc. on the site and just to make sure we can meet the deadline, I am not going to have the new product available until the morning of the 1st (instead of midnight). I will post an exact time tomorrow once I get a clearer picture of where we are.

For now I need to get back to sweeping up chocolate cake from my kitchen floor!

Changes in store. . .

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend! We are in Greenville right now visiting Jared's parents awaiting a surprise birthday party for Uncle Jim tomorrow. It was such a beautiful day today - we went up to Bay Mountain park with the kids and had a fabulous time (and took some fun pictures of course)!

I wanted to finally let you know about some of the changes coming to the site. You will not visually notice alot right off the bat as most of the changes have to do with the navigation and checkout. Here are a few highlights that may be of interest:

My Account - You will notice this option at the bottom of the home page (and any page you click on). You will be able to log in to your account and see what memberships you have existing, your billing history, make changes to your billing information or shipping information, see when your membership ends, etc. I believe this will help with the accidental duplicate memberships we experience each month (some of you like the kits so you much, you buy a membership each month! ha!) There will also be an option here for you to sign up for a membership indefinitely!! All you have to do is check the box and you will have a membership billed each month until you come in and uncheck the box (at which point you will just finish out that 3 month cycle). I'm really excited about this section! We will be sending out e-mails to all current members in the next few days (I'm not sure if it will actually be by the 1st unfortunately) with your user name (your e-mail address) and an assigned password. The e-mail will include a link that will take you to your account, at which point you will be able to change this password immediately to whatever you like.

Project Kit Subscription and Add-On - By popular demand, we are going to offer the Project Kit on Subscription as well. This kit will vary in price between $16 and $20 each month. There will not be a price break however for this option. It just gives you the option to know this will be billed and sent automatically each month without you having to go to the site and do anything. If you would like to add the Project Kit on a monthly basis (not on subscription) to be shipped with your Papercrafting Kit subscription, you will still have to purchase it through the site and check out. If you do it by the 7th of the month, you will be able to enjoy the reduced shipping. It is a little different from before in that the cart will charge for full shipping with your Project kit at checkout, but it will reduce the shipping when your Papercrafting Kit is billed.

Duplicate Memberships - I talked about this a little above, but if you try to purchase a membership and you already have one, the cart will know this and will ask if you are sure you want to purchase another! This will really help out on some of the confusion here.

Anyhow, these are just some of the highlights I wanted to share as we get closer to the 1st. I will keep you posted on other things you may need to know as we get through the first few days. I know there will be glitches as it is a new process, but the in the end, I know we will be left with a site like none other of it's kind! I'm excited to get the changes underway!

Have a good night!

Membership Renewal

I have a meeting tomorrow about some of the changes that will be taking place at the site next week, and will post about those once I have a clearer idea of how everything will work. But in the meantime, if your membership was up with the May kit, my webteam will be sending out an e-mail to you simply asking if you would like to renew or not (I believe it will have a simple link attached). These will be sent out individually, so that should solve some of the junk folder problems we were having (in fact, all of our e-mails will go out this way in the future). If you believe your membership is up and would like to renew, but do not receive an e-mail by Tuesday night, please send me a note and I will get you taken care of.

I will post again tomorrow!

So do I look relaxed?

We are back from a quick 4 days in Destin. It was short but so very nice! Beautiful blue skies everyday and 80+ degrees. The water was still a little chilly for me, but the boys didn't seem to mind. We all definitely got hot enough for a shaved ice on the beach. . .

Still trying to catch up and get geared up for June 1st. I have alot to share this week and hope to blog everyday, but realistically I know that probably won't happen! I will try to at least do something short each day with a couple of June teasers. I will also be sharing some information about some changes coming to the site (good ones) for June, including how to re-up your subscription if it was up in May.

Cool Breezes and Palm Trees. . .

are calling my name! I will post when I get back and share a few photos. In the meantime, if you e-mail or order between now and Sunday, I will be unable to answer until Monday, May 21. All orders will go out that day as well. Orders received through 12:00 noon today have already left the building!

If you do not receive a kit by Friday (Domestic) and believe that you should have, please send me a note and I will check on it when I get back on Monday.

Also, if your membership expired with this month's kit, we will be sending an e-mail to you about renewal in the next 10 days.

Have a great weekend!

My Secret

So there is a new, cool scrapbooking show that is coming out (I am going to be bold and say that it will no doubt make it on the air)! I was the guest for the pilot episode and filmed with Jeanette Herdman, the beautiful hostess, last week at my most favorite antique store in downtown Franklin, TN (this is really my bigger secret)! Can you see the coral, old windows and ironstone in the background? The store is owned by (and named) Scarlett Scales. Here is a link to her website http://www.scarlettscales.com/index.htm. I love this place so much. Jeanette's premise for this show was Inspiration and I can't imagine a better place for it! I had so much fun, although Jeanette had her teeth whitened and her nails done (see how I have a fist?? Yep, I got the pedicure, but didn't seem to think about my hands!) - so unfair. She even has some performing under her belt and a couple of acting classes. See my pasted smile? Anyway, I muddled through and hopefully they edited out the twenty "um's" I said. Here is a link to Jeanette's blog where you can find out more. . . www.jeanetteherdman.typepad.com

And in the Scarlett Scale's bag in my husband's car? An ironstone tureen and bone dish to add to my collection. He is a good man!

***Forgot to coment on the "sister" thing. Jeanette said her son was with her at Scrap It awhile back and pointed to a layout that had a photo of me on it and said "Mommy, there you are"! Other than the fact that I have at least 10 pounds on her, we have very similar looks!***

May Gallery is up!!!

Check it out: http://www.jennibowlin.com/content.aspx?type=marchgalleryfront

So sorry for the delay. April is back up too (but now March and Feb. images are missing)

I guess you can't have it all! We will fix this soon.

Have a great weekend!!

P.S. - I found a bag from my favorite antique store in the front seat of my husband's car. Wonder who that's for??? I will let you know how he did!

Hanging on by a thread

Do you remember this? This was my beautiful new welcome sign that I purchased about the time we launched the site. I called my husband at work this morning (after having a major breakdown yesterday) and told him that my sign was a metaphor for my "web" life.

Here is the story. About two month's ago Jared walked past it and ripped the "e" almost off (bull in a china shop- that's him). I tried to fix it by adding a popsicle stick to the back with glue dots for support. This lasted about another month until it worked its way completely off. Then, a few days ago, Christian pulled the center of the ribbon off of the hook and brought it down to where it is hanging now. This is about how I have felt the last few days. (I'm making it sound worse than it is - we actually got a good laugh out of it).

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are working on the new site and have so many changes in store that will make my life and yours easier. This was supposed to have been done for this month, but it didn't make it. Instead, our new webteam (and Jared and I) have had the challenge of fixing the mess that our former webguy left us in the database. The truth of the matter is that we managed to bill and ship 90% of our customer base correctly, on time, and with no further issue. But I don't like having a 10% (and those of you who are a part of it woud rather not be in it either!) I'm learning to cope with this better each day - mostly because it is impossible for me to be responsible for every detail.

Case in point - the Inspiration Gallery. I knew it would be delayed slightly, but was told it would be up tonight. It still is not up though. I am going to investigate this tomorrow and will post most images here directly if it is still not going to be up. I will let you know. . .

I also have to let you in on a fun "secret" I did last week - I just got the picture yesterday so now I'm ready to post about it ( I will do it this weekend - you know how I like to tell you I "know" something and then leave you hanging)!

May Gallery

Just a quick note to let you know that the gallery will not be up tonight as I had hoped. I will keep you posted on it though. It could take a day or two, but I promise we will get it up about the time you start to get your kits!!

Another Gallery Sneak Peak

So we are headed to the beach next week for a long weekend. I HAVE to get away for a few days. So much so, I decided to pull the oldest out of school. Things have been so crazy, website issues still springing up daily - I swear I can hear the sound of the ocean already! I have been listening to a Kenny Chesney CD all weekend (I don't really listen to country music either), but this one is all about island life. It just puts me in my happy place!

I'm not sure what happened to the Monthly Inspiration Gallery, but all of the month's will be back up and archived soon (as well as the new May gallery). There is a chance that the new May gallery will be delayed a day, but I will post here if it is.

Everyone signed up on the waiting list to start a membership with the June kit will actually get a May kit. We will e-mail you about this soon. We had so many people in the database more than once that we ended up having more kits available than we thought. We will have this ironed out in the next couple of days.

So, in the meantime, here is a preview of the highlighted technique this month. You will LOVE this foam stamp! It is mounted on a clear background and makes it easier to do so many cool techniques!

Project Kit Add-On

We got most things worked out today (I believe!), but there are few people that we have on the May pre-sign up list whose e-mail is not being recognized in the system to get your reduced shipping for the Project kit. It has something to do with the coding - it doesn't mean that you are not in there. So, lets just do this. If you would like to add on the Project kit to ship with your membership and the cart doesn't recognize your e-mail, go ahead and check out and pay full shipping. Shoot me an e-mail (jbowlin7@comcast.net) after you do this and I will refund you for the difference in what you paid and the flat rate.

The contact link is still not working. My webguy is working with the hosting company on it.

I have a few more e-mails to get to, but it probably will not be until late tonight, but I will respond!

Have I mentioned how much I hate the computer (I suppose it's a love/hate relationship)! Ugggh!

And Jenn in MA . . . I am soooooo going to Brimfield soon! The owner of my favorite local antique store is going next week. I can't wait to hit the store when she gets back! I bought a HUGE window from her yesterday that was from an old Catholic girls school that she had mirrors added to. It was my birthday present to myself!

Website Issues

It seems that the storms caused a delay for my webteam. The kits finally went up for sale around 1:30a.m. So sorry for those of you who stayed up and then gave up! We still have both kits available this morning for any of you that went to bed!

For the most post things are processing normally, but here are a few items that I know about and have alerted my team to. I expect all of these things to be fixed by this evening:

1.- the May descriptions are not there (it is still showing the April descriptions). I have alerted the team about this.

2.- for the membership add-on for the Project kit - it is not recognizing some of the people who did the pre-sign up for May (even though you are on this list, so no worries!). They are working on this and it should be fixed by tonight. We have plenty of the Project kits left, so if you could check back tonight that would be great!

3.- the contact link at the site is not working. If you have an issue that doesn't pertain to #'s 1 and 2, please just send me a note to jbowlin7@comcast.net.

I will keep posting throughout the day as we get some of these things resolved. Thanks so much for everyone's patience!

May Kit night!

Keeping this short as we are in for some awful storms tonight and I need to shut the computer down!

May kits will go on sale tonight at 12:00a.m. (central time). I suppose the storms could cause trouble for my webteam, but I don't expect that to happen. I was hoping we would be able to implement some of the changes to the site by this time, but it looks like these won't happen until next month. I will keep you posted. In the meantime, all is the same (unfortunately, if you are a member and would like to add on a Project Kit, you will have to do it the same as last month. Look for the box under the cart at checkout where you can add your cart contents to your membership shipping for a flat rate shipping fee).

I will post here again if we experience any problems!

Gallery Preview

So here is a little preview of the May gallery (actually, a preview of the May Papercrafting Kit itself). I loved using this flower foam stamp from Teresa Collins. It gives the cleanest impression and it is mounted on a clear plastic panel so it is easy to use. Teresa also designed some ADORABLE polka dot bookplates especially for this month's kit!! I used a tiny one here. These will be available through Junkitz in a few months, but for now, they are all mine! (and yours) Ha! I enjoyed using the gameboard alphabets from Making Memories in the past and wanted to find a place for them one month. They are super thin chipboard and have a shabby look to them. I sanded mine here to rough them up even more! I plan to add some hidden journaling here (behind the photo). Still looks like it needs something???

And speaking of Teresa. . . she is our guest designer this month!

And, here are a few photos of my new nephew. Isn't he a doll!

Don't forget that tomorrow night at 12:00a.m., the new kits will be available for sale. I'm so sorry for the delay in this. As you can imagine, it drives me crazy because I can't control all of the variables. Maybe its just a good lesson about life in general? Have a great night!

Please read- May kit information

As you know (if you read this blog regularly) we have hired a new web team to re-vamp our site. Most of it is behind the scences stuff that will make our life easier- and yours! Unfortunately, the developers have been a little delayed, and in order not to rush things, we are moving the sale date back a couple of days for the new May kits. So, DO NOT STAY UP UNTIL MIDNIGHT ON THE 1ST!! The new May kits will not be available for sale on the website until 12:00 a.m. May 4th. This will not affect the billing of current (or pre-signed up) members, or the shipping date (kits will still ship out on the 10th). This information is up at the website as well.

We plan to send out an e-mail in the next couple of days to members informing everyone of some exciting changes this month! I will post here as well.

We are in Atlanta today visiting my brother who just moved his family here. I have a handsome new nephew, Alex Jacob that I got to meet for the first time today. He is such a cutie - with red hair just like I had! I took some sweet photos this morning of him and Noah, who just loves babies!

Have a great weekend!

Promised Preview

I have been so swamped with getting the website ready for May, but I took this photo today of the MAY PROJECT KIT and wanted to show you! You will receive all of the supplies to make these sweet chipboard flowers as well as a small accordion book. I picked up this vase at the antique mall the other day and thought it would be great to hold pens, but it turned out to be PERFECT for this display. Paid $13 for it but would have paid $100!! I may have to make some of these in colors to match my studio. Jared says I kill anything green, so maybe these are more suited for me?

I have some things to share with you about the website this month, but I am waiting for some clear answers from my webteam. Keep checking back as I will post about some changes in the next couple of days!

This is what we did this weekend . . .

It was such a nice weekend! The boys both had games again on Saturday (Jared and I have matching sunburns) and then they played out back all day Sunday. Noah was pretty proud of his be be gun shooting (I know I didn't spell that right) and our neighbor Emily enjoyed the tire swing! I got my camera back and it is actually working better than before. I was suspicious that there was something wrong with the automatic focus and now I know for sure. It works like a charm now!

So I wanted to tell you about a great fundraiser that Karen Russell is putting together (how the girl found time to do this with a new baby I don't know)!! Below are some links with more information:

http://www.womenforwomen.org/wWIIndex.do;jsessionid=avMkZubUmulh?g11n.enc=ISO-8859-1

www.karenrussell.typepad.com

The fundraiser starts today and runs through May 8th I believe. You basically buy tickets that enter you in drawings for tons of great prizes. You could also win a layout (using your photos) by one of several people in the industry (including myself)! The Studio is also giving away a free month of both kits to one lucky winner! Check it out - it is a great cause and I'm so thankful that Karen felt led to organize this.

Speaking of feeling "led", Jared and I have several ideas in the future for ways to give back some of the kit proceeds each month to organizations we feel strongly about. I will keep you posted on those things in the near future. Our first goal is to raise the money to build a well in Africa. This is such a fantastic mission and I can't wait to tell you more about it.

Have a great Monday!

Feb. Subscribers whose membership is up. . .

We have been busy making changes with our new webteam for the site (you are going to LOVE these changes!!). In the meantime, we have tried to come up with a temporary way this month to renew our Feb. subscribers and this is what we have come up with.

If your membership was up with the April kit and you would like to continue for another 3 months, please go to the website and click on the link under the "sold out" button on the Papercrafting Kit page (or click here- http://www.jennibowlin.com/content.aspx?type=thismonthspaperkit ) This will take you to a sign up page where you will enter all of your shipping/billing information to start a subscription again with the May kit. This will essentially start you over (and give you a chance to make sure we have the most updated information in the database). You do have to fill in all of the information again and submit it. Unfortunately, our current system will not send you a confirmation (this is changing soon!) but you will get a "success" type screen that lets you know if came through. If you do not sign up again using this link, we will just assume you would not like to continue your membership at this time. We will be sending out an e-mail to those people this specifically applies to in the next 2 days, but most of you know who you are and can go ahead and sign up whenever you would like.

I will post about the changes coming to the site in May tomorrow or Sat. (I don't want to confuse the above right now). All I can say is the future will be effortless! I'm so excited!

I REALLY need to get my house under control next week (before we start packing May kits). I spent this afternoon going through the boys clothes and organizing everything (transitioning into summer). Got 4 loads of laundry done too so that was an accomplishment!

Jared was in Charleston the past two days for a convention. He called me many times telling me how much I would love it so we are planning a trip! He went into a shop near his hotel full of seashells but told me he didn't know what I would like (I really need to train him better). Didn't he know I would like ANYTHING from there? He came home with some sugar coated pralines instead.

I'd better get off now - I am being called to watch "Transporter 2". (I really think I had my fill with Transporter 1).

Quick Post

I wish I had more time in the day (don't we all)! I plan out my week (in my head) and it NEVER seems to go as planned. Friday comes and I didn't make it to half the things on my list.

We had a meeting last Friday with our new webteam. They are working now to rebuild our database and website. You won't notice many changes at first to the site, although we do have plans next month to do some refining to most of the pages. Most of the changes affect us and what we do behind the scenes. I will post more about the changes (you will appreciate all of them!) this week as I learn more about when they will be implemented.

I will post in the next two days about continuing a membership for those who's membership ended with the April kit. We will be sending out an e-mail as well to those people.

I don't know about where you are, but here in Nashville we seemed to have missed Spring again. It has been in the upper 70's even 80's for days now. We probably only had about 7 days in the 60's this year. I'm not complaining though - either way I'm glad to see the cold weather go away. I am a major flip flop girl!! I would wear them all year round if I wouldn't get strange looks.

More to come this week - I will tease the May kit some more! We will have quite a bit more of these kits to sell on the website at the first of the month and don't anticipate to sell out quite as fast as we did last month!

Have a great night. . .

What a good sport he is!

He makes the cutest little flower don't you think? Check out his latest scrape on his right arm - surprised there isn't a spongebob bandaid over it!

So Christian is giving you the first tease about the May kit! I had these exclusive chipboard frames made in two sizes. Isn't it the cutest thing you have ever seen! My mind keeps racing with ideas. You get one of these large ones and two smaller ones in your kit (including the chipboard circle centers). And here is one more hint in case that isn't enough:

These paper flowers are to die for! I only wish I could put this much in each kit but there was a supply issue so I took what I could! Each kit will get 3 I think. This gives you an idea of the theme and the color scheme! More to come. . .

We are headed out to my in-laws tomorrow for Easter. I finally got caught up on most of my e-mails, but will be unable to get to the new ones until we get back. We will most likely have a few kits left after April billing and they will go to the first people signed up to start with the May kit. We will contact you if you are one of those people next week.

We are meeting with our new webteam tomorrow. I'm excited to implement some changes and refine some things. They have already done most of the building, but we are beginning the process of moving over the database information. Once I get through this I will be able to tell you about some great enhancements we have coming and when they will be in effect.

For those of you whose membership obligation ended with April but would like to renew. . . After my meeting tomorrow we will know how we are going to go about the renewal process so, we will be contacting those members in the next week to 10 days about it. In the meantime, we have reserved a kit for every single one of you so there are no worries about being left out! We will just offer the kits of those who choose not to continue to the general sales on the 1st of the month.

Have a great Easter weekend!

I'm back . . .

barely, but I'm finally posting! So sorry, but things have been hectic. I've had alot of things going on with my family (and a few boxes to pack and ship)!

I got notes from many of you about the weather here on Friday. It was very scary, but we are all okay. When our sirens went off and the hail started falling, we took cover in a closet in the middle of the house. It didn't last for very long though. We were out of power for most of the afternoon, but this was a small inconvenience compared to what our neighbors were going through.

I couldn't believe the damage I saw - and literally only a few miles away from us. I always thought that having an all brick home was an advantage in this type of weather, but one neighborhood where 8 people were killed was filled with large, all brick homes, many of which had NOTHING left. It has been very humbling.

Both of the boys ended up in our bed that night. Noah did not actually go to sleep until about 3a.m. He really has a hard time with those things.

I want to give you a sneak peak of the May kit, but I am waiting to make sure I am definitely going to have something before I show it. I will be sure to post this week!

Also have an exciting preview to share about June!!

More very soon!!

ramblings. . .

So it's been a few days! I am feeling hopelessly behind. Some days I get overwhelmed and feel it is impossible to keep up. I'm looking forward to a time when all of the kinks are worked out, the new areas are implemented, and my focus can change a little. We are working on some things with our new webteam (which will take over after this billing) that will make my, and more importantly, your life a little easier at the site.

I appreciate all of the posts/e-mails I got about the weather here. We somehow escaped with barely a storm ourselves but some of our TN and KY neighbors were not as lucky. I was working at the ad agency in downtown Nashville in 1998 when the tornado came through there (very unusual) and vividly remember seeing the funnel cloud forming outside of my window. I was almost 8 months pregnant with Noah. Its not something I'd like to be that close to again!

We went out looking for cars this weekend. We have about decided not to go the SUV route again (I doubt gas prices will ever come back down). We know we need at least one vehicle that we can haul things in (antiques for me, mulch for him)! So, I think we are going to get a truck. I guess that means I can upgrade to some larger pieces now!

We will be doing all of the billing tomorrow for our members (was supposed to be today but my current webguy is having some type of connection problem tonight) and then shipping on the 10th. After the 10th we will be contacting all of the original Feb. subscribers about continuing their membership. And, speaking of the 10th, that's when the new monthly inspiration goes live. Here is a sneak peak at this month's highlighted technique!

Meeting the demand . . .

Boy, we have been trying to do this! Let me see if I can explain some of the reasoning behind this:

This has certainly been bigger then we ever imagined (thank you, thank you, thank you)! Although we use many tools to help us predict what to order each month, there is just so much that goes into it that can't be predicted. We base the bulk of our order quantity decisions on our Membership sign up. That is why I encourage everyone to sign up for membership at the site and have mentioned it here (and also why I keep it to only a 3 month commitment at one time). Now that the April kit is sold out, you are able to sign up to reserve a membership to begin with May. This will guarantee you a membership to begin with that kit (and guarantee that you won't have to ever stay up late again)! Having said that . . .

we did have to shut down this pre-sign up last month. Because of the amount of product we order, we have to place orders several weeks in advance. After two weeks of sign up, the numbers were getting high enough that we were almost sold out of the product quantities we had ordered (and I re-ordered twice)! So, I shut it down so that we would at least have some to sell last night.

What that means is this: if you have been trying to purchase each month unsuccessfully, you have the option at this moment (and at least for the next 10 days) to sign up to begin with May. We had this option available last month for almost two weeks. If you are one of the first people to sign up on this list, there is a good chance that you might actually still start with the April kit as we always end up with extra kits after we complete billing.

Hopefully that is helpful to some of you that are feeling frustrated. All I can tell you is that we are trying our best to include as many people as we can and will continue to make improvements each month.

Now. . . for those members that wanted to add a Project Kit to their subscription shipment, there is a button that you will see at checkout under the cart that asks you if you are a member and would like to receive reduced shipping. I received about 10 e-mails overnight that some of you didn't see this, so I am not 100% sure that it was there at first. I do see several receipts with the $1.75 add on now, so I know it is up and running currently. I will refund the extra shipping to those of you who didn't see this at first.

Also, it appears that the cart still said "March kit" instead of April at checkout (and on your receipts). No worries, you are getting the April kit. It was just something that my webguy missed.

And finally, if you are an original subsciber from Feb. (as your 3 month commitment is up after April) and would like to continue your subscription, we will be contacting you (and I will post about here on the blog) after the 10th of April. We have basically already counted you in the number for May so there will of course be a kit for any of you that want to continue.

I always get loads of e-mails the first of the month, so it may take me a couple of days to get back to everyone, okay?

Have a great Saturday! It is in the 70's here - so looking forward to that!

Better late than never . . .

This wasn't a full size JPEG, so you can't enlarge it, but you will see all of the details in just a couple of hours! 12:00a.m. central time tonight is when the new kits will be available for sale!

If you have any problems checking out on the site, here are a few common errors I have seen come up most often with the cart:

- just a plain ol' typo!

- billing address doesn't match the one connected with the card.

-security code is wrong (it is the 3 digit code on the back of your card. (4 digit for Amex)

- zip code (this must only be the 5 digit code- not the extended version with the extra 4 digits)

For current members - I am still unsure as I type this if the revised flat rate add-on for the Project Kit will be working properly (as my webguy is working on this now). If for some reason it is not overnight, we will get it all worked out tomorrow. You have until the 5th to add on the Project kit for reduced shipping, so at least there will be plenty of time to do this! It should be charging you $1.75 for this.

Want to continue your subscription?

So thankful for these e-mails! Gotten lots of them from February charter subscribers wanting to know how to continue their subscription after this month. (This info will apply to any subscriber when your subscription is up). As far as April goes, after we get through billing and shipping (so after the 10th) we will be sending e-mails out to those members who's subscriptions were up with the April kit. This e-mail will explain how to continue. We will be sure to contact everyone more than once (and I will post here) about it. You will not have to go back to the website and re-register. I have plans to make this REALLY easy in the future, but for April, we will figure out a way to do it through e-mails.

Which, by the way, if you seem to be having problems getting our e-mails, add email@jennibowlin.com to your contacts and that should help with that.

Boy do I have some secrets!!! So many things I have in the works - I really can't wait to share them! Right now I'm just trying to stay above water. Looking forward to a time in the near future when the creative aspects are my biggest focus each day!

Just got back from Christian's fist T-ball game. Very funny. He hit the ball, held on to the bat and ran to the pitcher's mound. He then proceeded to run in circles with every base run he was supposed to make. Daddy is so proud! Looking back on it, baseball was not a smart choice for that kid. He has a very short attention span and needs alot of action. I think he will be my football player!

Have a great night!

April Project Kit

So here is another preview for April (just a few more days)! This is the project kit. You will get all of the materials needed to make a Star Mini-Book (that is the top photo) and a set of Star Coasters (why not make them in star shapes I thought??). These would make great gifts! You are getting 7 Exclusive chipboard stars and a full package of 7gypsies 6x6 paper (48 sheets), but . . . if you just use some of the chipboard sheets you have laying around you can trace the stars and will have more than enough paper and rub-ons to make several more of these! The cost this month is $20.

For current subscribers (this would apply to those signed up to start with April as well) . . . if you would like to add a project kit to be shipped with your Papercrafting Kit, you can go in between April 1st and 5th to do this. You simply to the site, add a Project Kit to your cart and checkout (you must checkout and pay for this - you will billed on the 5th for your Papercrafting Kit separately). In order to save on shipping you will see a box you can check under the cart at checkout that says you are a subscriber and you would like the contents of your cart to ship with your subscription. This will enable the cart to charge you reduced shipping. NEW FOR THIS MONTH- the shipping for the project kit add on will be a flat rate ($1.50 to $2.50 - I still need to weigh the kits). This is a change (and a good one) over last month. In many cases, last month, the cart charged too much for the shipping add on.

We are still fine tuning some things for the future (which will be May). One of those things is shipping. We are looking for the cheapest and most dependable way to get you your kits each month!

I will post tomorrow about Feb. subscribers who would like to continue after this month . . .

Emotional Day . . .

Been spending much time today with a sick feeling in my stomach. Many of you have seen the headlines about Mary Winkler - the preacher's wife who has confessed to killing her husband here is TN. I was shocked to hear the story yesterday, but didn't think much about it as it actually happened a little more than 100 miles away from here.

It wasn't until this morning when I saw more pictures and they showed Crieve Hall Church of Christ that I realized who she was. . .

When Noah was about a year old to 3 years old, he attended the preschool at Crieve Hall while I freelanced at an ad agency downtown. Mary, or "Miss Mary, as I knew her, was Noah's teacher his last year there. Her oldest daughter was in the class with him.

While she wasn't a family friend, or really even an acquaintance (I haven't seen her since his last day there), there is something about that small connection that makes it seem so real. You see so much on the news that it makes it hard sometimes to feel affected personally.

So many questions . . . my heart just goes out to everyone involved. I told Jared today that those girls lives changed forever in the course of one day. They lost a father and a mother in one pull on that trigger. . .

April Sign Up

Considering that my inbox is filling up (ha!), I thought it would be wise to post something here.

I have had a link on the site up until yesterday that went up after the March kits sold out. This is where you could have signed up to begin your subscription with the April kit. Many of you took advantage of this. In fact, so many of you did that I had to shut down this pre-sign up yesterday as we were very close to selling out April before I could even get it up on the site for April 1st!

So, if you are a current subscriber from Feb. and March, or if you signed up to start with April on the site before yesterday, then lucky you! -you don't have to stay up until 12:00am on the 1st!

If you have not previously signed up as a subscriber and would like an April kit, there will be some available on April 1st (12:00am central time). You can purchase it at this time at the member price (and start a subscription) or at the one-time purchase price. This is the only way now that you will be able to get an April kit if you are not currently on the subscriber list. If you are unable to purchase the April kit before it sells out, you will still be able to sign up to start a subscription with May at that time.

Believe it or not, we have been increasing our orders dramatically each month and are gaining some ground in trying to meet the demand! We will continue to do this in the months to come.

Thanks so much for the interest - I've said it before, but it has been so exciting for me to see the response to something that I am having so much fun bringing to you!

No, Molly Shannon doesn't scrapbook

Well, maybe she does Ms. Crowe - (I don't want to make any assumptions), but since I DO know she doesn't know about my little club, she is not the guest designer for April.

But SHE is . . .

(insert the picture here that I forgot to ask her for)

She loves pink . . .

She seems to like stars alot (and I like that). . .

She makes some really cool products . . .

and She's always up to something. . .

Yep, it is Heidi herself! So glad she agreed to do this- she really has nothing better to do, you know?

*Superstar*

Yep, said with my best SNL, Molly Shannon impression! That is the theme of the April kit (you knew it was only a matter of time, right!)

I really had hopes of taking a cool photo, but the camera is still MIA. I LOVE Scenic Route paper because it can fit any theme - basic, classic patterns! This is just a tiny peak (I am in love with these teeny tiny star rhinestones)! I also went with alot of Heidi Swapp this month - I can always get my star fix with her line. The fuzzy white star rub-ons were a MUST! Lots of sparkle to go along with this theme too - including a jar of "Tang" (don't you love that name!) Art Institute glitter in every kit. Cool square, clear top tins to hold all of the embellishments this month too! So there are a few hints (with out giving it all away)!!

Come back tomorrow and I will leak who the guest designer is. You can bet that she is a superstar herself!

The light at the end of the tunnel. . .

My husband keeps saying that he can see this. I, on the other hand, am having a harder time.

Maybe it's because it is my name and my company and I take EVERYTHING very personally. As it should be, I say. Whenever there has been an issue with the website, the e-mails, etc., it is me who has to take full responsibility for what happened (again, as it should be). Truth be told, in the background, so much of what happens has been completely out of my hands. Here is a little background. . .

When my husband and I finally made the decision to go forward with this idea, we knew we had most of the bases covered. He had the accounting and finance degrees and an MBA. I had the ideas and the marketing and advertising background. What we lacked between the two of us was the web/computer expertise. This was our first and primary concern as we planned out the steps to getting the business started. We had to completely trust in someone else to make the best decisions for us on this front.

If you have been around since the beginning, you know that things did not go as smoothly as planned. From a cart the first month that was not user friendly (considering 75% of you, just like me, have pop-up blockers) to e-mails that never seem to go out to the right people. Challenges?- we have had many.

So, considering the fact that I have lost almost 10 pounds since this started, I have decided it is time to make a serious change.

We have hired a TEAM of web specialists. I keep calling them the "big dogs". These guys have developed and serviced websites for many major web retailers (many of which you would be very familiar with). In the coming months we will be working on the site in phases. You will begin to see some of these changes as early as April, but most likely by May 1st. Most of the first phase will involve behind-the-scenes type things that will make my life easier (and my communication with you more accurate). The second and third phases will be more visible - new site enhancements and a new look, such as a members log-in where you will be able to go and update your personal information securely at anytime. We are also currently working on new shipping solutions and have plans to send out shipping notifications with tracking information for every customer.

Once we get through the initial clean up, we will be able to focus on the evolution of the site to include such things as on-line classes and member galleries - things I'm really excited to launch!

I really wanted to share, that in the midst of all of the frustrations, I have been so humbled by the support and understanding I have received from so many of you!!! I really couldn't begin to thank you for that.

So here's to the future!! Thanks for sticking with us through it all! And speaking of the future, I have some exciting things to share for the coming months! You will see some teasers this week on the April theme and guest designer and upcoming exclusive products that you will only find in your Jenni Bowlin Studio kits! Keep checking back this week!

The $1700 picture . . .

This was photo was taken on Saturday, just before my husband, my 20D, and brand new lens fell into the river. Not a bad photo, but not sure it was worth the price tag!

So, he tells me that it might be salvageable (they are looking at it now). And then he says, with a twinkle in his eye, that the 30D comes out on April 1st. . .

In the interim, I'm looking for a rental!

Today

Took a little break from my computer and the warehouse today (and that would be my house - it is looking much more like a storage unit these days). Hubby went hiking with Noah. He called me on his way out and told me to go shopping with a generous budget for the day. Told him I would never spend that in one day - Ha! I underestimated myself. Funny how shopping for two boys and yourself eats away your budget very quickly! Nonetheless, little man (who was bribed with a few new gifts) did very well at the mall and we had a relaxing day (topped off with Pot Roast and Chocolate Cream Pie from Vittles for dinner).

Just took a look at some cool blogs tonight that I have been missing! My girl Kelli Crowe had an awesome post today about "sheltering" - I will let you go and read it. Very inspiring to me. I drive my 7 year old to school everyday (and at 7:00a.m. at that) just to keep him off the school bus for now. I know I'm not saving him from much, but I feel like its something. We probably make alot of these decisions based on our own past experiences - and man, from what I remember, NOTHING good happened on the bus!

Also checked in on Ali. Boy this girl inspires me - to get me act together! How she does all that she does on a daily basis is beyond me. Sometimes I sit, rocking in the corner sucking my thumb wasting hours because I don't know where to start. I do not manage my time well and so want to figure that one out.

And I 'm so glad to see that Chris is taking his first step towards his goal. I watched Jared make a career change this year, and it has been such a good thing for him. I have just been so proud of him lately - for the success he is having with his day job and for coming home and working at the computer, still in dress slacks, for two hours helping me.

And - it was 70 degrees today. Today was a good day.

Billing Update

(This is only for original Feb. subscribers again)

We have finally gotten most of the billing done- yeah! We did another round tonight, so if you were concerned about us getting your information, you will now see a charge on your card.

IF YOU WERE A SUBSCRIBER FROM FEBRUARY AND STILL HAVE NOT GOTTEN AN E-MAIL FROM US ASKING FOR YOUR BILLING INFORMATION, PLEASE SEND A NOTE RIGHT AWAY TO jbowlin7@comast.net.

E-mail (and this blog) is the only way we have to reach you, and it seems that some people literally are not getting any of our e-mails (even though we have sent them several times). It seems that some spam controls are pretty strong (and I'm not sure how else we can send them).

We only have a few left that we have not heard from, but I hate to leave anyone out who signed up and wanted the kit!

On this same note, it is possible that after the weekend we will have a few extra kits from March. We will pull from the people who signed up to start with April (first to last) to see if they would like to start with March. You will get an e-mail from us if you are one of those people (and we actually end up with kits)!

We had a beautiful day here - almost 70 again! The kids played outside until dark. My wonderful neighbor Ruth knew I was here by myself (Jared was on a sales trip today, but is back now) and she brought me over some dinner! It was really the sweetest thing - and delicious! She has been a life saver for me this month. The woman is an efficient machine! I would send over 30 spools of ribbon and she'd bring it back to me an hour later! I couldn't have gotten through this month without her. Also had some great local store girls help me out one night this week. I'm finally getting into a routine (I hope)!

Have a great night!

Billing info. and Gallery Sneak Peak

I think we are finally getting everything moved over to the new database, filling in the information holes we had - all of that good stuff! If you started your membership with February you will be billed tonight and/or tomorrow. Normally it will be on the 5th, but we wanted to double check all of the information first. Starting next month, you will get a receipt from us once we bill you, but for this month you will not unfortunately (just the record you will see on your card statement). We will send notices out again tonight to the few people who we still have not heard from in response to the billing update e-mail. The good news is we will not have to go through this process again! Yeah! (all of this only applies to subscribers who started in Februrary)

I have been working all weekend on the Gallery. I am really enjoying the fact that I have everything sitting there, already coordinated, waiting to be put together. It takes the time out of hunting and searching for paper and embellishments. And, I love everything I have to choose from (ah, the luxury of being the one who pulls it together)!!

So here's a little preview of Friday's Gallery. . .

Billing E-mail (for subscribers that started in Feb. only)

My webguy had some computer issues last night, so these are going out this morning (lets say early afternoon) to those of you who have not received it.

Just a couple of reminders - some I posted already.

- be sure to use your e-mail address that you processed through Paypal with last month. That is the e-mail we have for you and the system will not recognize you as a subscriber without using that. We can change that e-mail for you later if you would like to.

- YAHOO and AOL addresss - (and a few others) are putting our e-mails in the spam/junk folder so be sure to check there if you do not see it. Some people have their accounts set up to delete that folder each day, so it may have even gotten to you, but got deleted. It is my understanding that you have to add us to your "okay" list to receive the e-mails in your inbox?? But what do I know about computers! Ha!

Once everything is set up in the new system (so starting next month), we will mass bill all of the members on the 5th as stated on the site. We will most likely still charge those people who did get the form filled out tomorrow, but not everyone will be billed on the 5th this month. It will span out for a couple of days after that I am sure (again, this only applies to people who started their membership in Feb).

That's it for today (this morning anyway)!!

A few FAQ answers that may be helpful . . .

Just wanted to post a few notes here about some questions I keep seeing (some of you may have the same) . . .

- there are several of you that did not get the billing e-mail we sent out on Monday (that are subscribers from February). This is partly because some things had not been moved to the new database. We are working on that tonight and will get those out to you tonight or tomorrow. Be sure to check your junk e-mail (especially if you have yahoo or AOL) as they seem to be putting it there. Also be sure to check the e-mail that you signed up through on Paypal last month. You also must use that e-mail to get into the billing area in the link once we send it.

- speaking of junk mail, your receipt from the website checkout could be there too. I am hearing that from alot of people as well. They are also being delayed for some people, but show up soon after.

- the Monthly Inspiration Gallery will be up for this month on the 10th. (each month will be archived -so you will still be able to view Feb.) The Project Kit Instruction link will be password protected starting this month. If you ordered the Project Kit, you will get the password with your kit. This area will have all of your photos and instructions.

Hope that is helpful to some of you! I will keep posting as I see things . . .

(P.S. - got Ali's images today! You will love these ideas!)

Wow - that was fast!

If I told you I had ordered enough kits for double our current subscriber base, would you believe it? I can't believe how fast they disappeared!

The good news is, you can still sign up for the membership (and start with April). This did not show up on the site until about an hour after we sold out. The link is under the "sold out" button on the Papercrafting Kit page. If you do this it means you won't have to stay up until midnight in April (ha!) - you will already be set.

We fixed the photos not showing up on the Project Kit page AND we fixed the contact link on the site (so sorry about that). I have been joking that I can't possibly have everything work at one time!!

I finally got through all of the e-mails I received today, so I am off to bed! Have a great night!

It worked, It worked!!

Well, for the most part, everything is going well with the shopping cart and most people have been able to check out okay. That is good news for me. I was still so sick last night that I couldn't stay up to check things out. I'm finally feeling better this morning!

I have read the posts and I know a few of you did experience errors. Apparently, the biggest one was the the Contact link wasn't working. So, just send the note directly to jbowlin7@comcast.net . Please do that even if you posted a note here on the blog. I noticed a few of you did actually get a note to me later and have been taken care of.

So, just send a note over if you experience an error (try again first before you do though, many times it is just because a field was left empty, the billing address didn't match the card, the card selected from the dropdown was in error, etc. AND, we have fixed a couple of the glitches some of you ran into overnight so you may be able to process now).

Thanks so much for your patience!