Hello from Leslie I hope this newsletter finds you and your family doing well. So..Those of you with children still at home, do you love having your kids back in school or do you miss them? My friends have mixed emotions. One thing they do like is the extra time they have to do things they enjoy. We're planning on getting together once a month to scrapbook and chat with each other. I don't know how many pages I'll actually get done, but hey, we'll have lots of fun right? It will be interesting to see if we can keep it up. Two of my friends are pregnant and due in October, and hopefully Clay and I will have a baby soon too. We're starting the adoption process, and what a process it is. There’s so much paperwork and planning, but it’s really fun and exciting. If any of you have tips, tricks or stories to share about adoption, please shoot me an email. I think we can use all the help we can get! We'll be at the Scrapbook USA Expo in Sandy, UT on September 28th and 29th, then the Scrapbook Expo in Ontario, CA on October 26th & 27th. Come by and say hi if you can. We'd love to see you. We've enjoyed our last few conventions in San Diego, Chicago and Phoenix. I’d like to welcome all our new members. I'd encourage you to check out our Discussion Board where you can get to know some of our great members and participate in the fun activities if you choose to.   Show Your Pride It´s that time of year again for the Creating Keepsakes Readers´ Choice Awards. Last year was the first year StoryTellers participated and we received enough votes to be one of the finalists in the Scrapbook Club category. We would like to thank all our incredible members whose votes helped us beat out many other clubs. This year, we are shooting for the gold! Being a finalist was nice, but we want to show all the other clubs who has the best members. To help StoryTellers increase our ranking over last year and be voted as The Best Scrapbook Club, simply click here to visit CK´s website and place a vote for your favorite scrapbooking products on the market. You can vote for as few or as many categories as you like. Also, just for voting, you´ll be entered to win one of ten copies of the Scrapbook Hall of Fame, Volume 9. The three categories StoryTellers has been nominated for are: Scrapbook Clubs, Scrapbook Kits, and Software. All three of these categories are on page 4 of the voting website, so don´t forget to cast your vote before October 15, 2007 and show your StoryTellers Pride.   Members Only Blowout Sale Let’s get ready to shop! Do you love cardstock? Of course you do, who doesn’t right? We’ve put together a package of 32 sheets of paper (26 Bazzill and 6 StoryTellers cardstocks) we know you’ll love. That’s 32 sheets, and our members can purchase the entire package for only $9.50. That’s less than 30 cents per sheet! Can’t say we don’t love you. Click Here to log into your account, view the products, and make your purchases.   Creative Expressions Workshop All right, it’s time again to get creative! Alayna has a “homework assignment” for you. And, as she puts it, “it is homework you will actually enjoy!” I must say, once again Alayna has scored an A+ with this one. This handy clipboard with a pocket is great for staying organized. You can clip your large papers on and put your smaller ones, like receipts and to-do notes, in the easy access pocket. And of course, you need the darling, matching notebook for your notes and lists. I love it! The cute pencil/pen holder completes the set. I can’t wait to make one to keep at home. I think I’ll make one for my mom too. She could definitely use one to help keep her organized. What a fun and USEFUL project. Thanks Alayna, you’re the best! Now ladies (and you men out there too), go for it! Have fun! I know you can do it.   Refer a Friend and Save Money Did you know you can refer your friends and save money? For each friend you refer, you’ll get $1.00 off your pack each month your friend gets a StoryTellers pack. When you login to your account, click on “Email a Friend a Free 50% Off Gift Certificate”. You’ll be able to email a gift certificate to as many people as you’d like. This Free Gift Certificate gives your friends 50% off their first pack, and when they click the link on the Gift Certificate to sign up, their account is automatically linked to yours. We have members who hardly pay a thing for their packs each month. It’s a great opportunity to save money.   Featured Member Each month, we choose a member from our discussion board to be the StoryTellers featured members. This gives us a chance to spotlight and get to know that person and their talents a little better. It’s a fun way to get to know each other and have a little fun. Congratulations to September’s Featured Member, Jennifer Rexford (her nickname on the discussion board is jenrex4). Click Here to check out her bio and some of her layouts in the Community section of our website. Cute family Jennifer! You can also click on the "Archived Featured Members" link to view our past featured members.   Discussion Board News Come check out our Discussion Board! There’s all sorts of fun things going on. We just finished up a layout contest using fall colors and had some great pages submitted. There’s everything from people chatting about their kids and crazy things going on, to fun photos and scrapbooking tips and tricks. We’ve got such a fun group of people. It really is a comfortable and welcoming board that’s easy going, low stress and lots of fun, so come check it out. Congrats to our recent contest/challenge winners: donnatylersmom, all4ty, Ainerae, terylsiwfe, cooki801, sunnyscrapper, cmconniew, all4ty, donnatylersmom, cookie801, SunnyScrapper, ShepherdGirl, ShuriScraps, Ainerae and carolsue.   Monthly Member Activity When you get together to crop with your friends or by yourself, you take your papers, stickers, adhesives, embellishments and ……. don’t forget the SNACKS! Click here to add your ideas and/or recipes for your favorite cropping time goodies. I’ll start it out with my new found favorite treat. Yummy! Now, when you’re off to a crop, or just a little get together, you can refer to this posting of recipes for great ideas. I’m getting hungry already!   Contact Us For any questions comments or concerns regarding the monthly newsletters, creative expressions workshop, or any related topics, please send an e-mail to Suggestions@StoryTellersClub.com. We value your opinions and ideas; don’t hesitate to let us know what you are thinking.