Scrapbooks Etc.: Feb. 2010

Yesterday, I received my new issue of Scrapbooks Etc, the February 2010 issue. Of course, the front cover was covered with pastels, mainly pink. I know that Valentine's Day is a love holiday, but I still do not see the need for my pages to be coated in the color promoted to genderize the female and unfortunately, society has done such a great job of telling my boys that "pink is for girls" that they ask me not to use a lot of it. Thus, the first thing I did was to search the magazine for product that I could use on their Valentine pages.


The first ad for new collections that I came across was from Making Memories. There new Valentine's collection, Love Struck, seems to be all pink. (When I go to their site, there is no Love Struck listed.) The picture shows some pink paper with nice brown stripes and some pink with brown polka dots, as well as, some brown and pink ribbon. The rest of their collection is pink, with pink, with more pink. Looks like if I purchase any of this set, it will be two sheets of paper.

Next, is The Little Yellow Bicycle collection, Sweet Love. This collection has nothing but pink. There is one gray foil sheet, but the rest is pink. Maybe they did this to make up for the lack of pink in their Christmas collection, 25 Days of Christmas. This was one of my favorite collections. Very rich, lots of green, red, tan, and blue. A great collection for boy pages. I have saved some for regular pages. Yes, that is how wonderful their Christmas collection is.

Fancy Pants Designs took the holiday in a different direction. Their Valentine's line is called My Family. I went to their web site, but could not locate any new collections after Nov. 2009. (This site is in desperate need of an update.) From the picture in the magazine, this collection is red with green, blue, and beige. A great set for the holiday and then some. This maybe one I purchase some embellishments as well as paper. On the Fancy Pants site I did find a boy collection, of course there is a girl collection also, and it seemed very nice.

The next I came across was for the brand Basic Grey. This collection called Origins has nothing to do with Valentine's Day at all. The colors are wonderful, browns, greens, blacks, and yellows. The picture in the magazine makes the collection look more masculine than it really is. I would not purchase the collection pack, but I would buy paper and embellishments individually. There are a few floral sheets that would work for boys, because of the colors. I especially like Revitalize, Cucumber, Henna, and Mineral Soak.

The Mariposa Collection is the new one from Die Cuts With A View (DCWV). This collection is not on the web site either. I can't get a good grasp of exactly what is in this collection. The ad states, "enchanting butterflies, twisting florals, delicate birdcages, & more." These words alone tell me that I will not like most of the papers. However, the solid paper pack has only one pink sheet, which will be great if it is true and since solid paper is a necessity, I will probably purchase this pack.

The popular brand Bo Bunny is next with its' Persuasion collection. The ad shows blues, greens, with pink. The florals are nice, but the ad only shows two. I went to the web site for Bo Bunny and found nothing for this collection. This site has not been updated since the fall releases. Not only was this disappointing, but the website itself is not a pleasant one to use. To see the collections I had to click on their PDF catalogue which took forever to open. Here is the link to the site if you want to try for yourself: Bo Bunny.

Last, is a Spellbinders ad. They are a company that sells Bazzill Basics Paper. These papers are wonderful. They have a section that I used to check out the new colors for 2010. This site even has a color matcher. It can only match paper from Adorn It, 7Gypsies, and Anna Griffin, but what a great way to find that solid paper to go with my printed paper. Though I don't purchase from any of these collections regularly, this is a wonderful tool.

Well, that is all the new collections advertized in scrapbook etc. from the February 2010 issue. I hope this helps when you are out shopping for those not so girly Valentine supplies.