Urban Anthology is going through many changes… and our biggest change, is we are moving to the ning.com network! You can come join us for all of our fantastic Challenges, Techniques, and of course our limited edition kit releases!
Bookmark our new forum address at www.urban-anthology.ning.com.
Come join the UA Challenge Team, we are seeking several motivated scrappers who love a challenge.
Team members will help facilitate the challenges posted on the UA blog. They will be responsible for coming up with challenges, posting them on the blog, forum, and advertising the challenge on several websites. Challenge Team members will be encouraged to post a sample of their work for the challenge, as well as share the challenge details on their blog.
Team members will be assigned one week per month to post challenges, and to encourage participation.Each challenge team member will receive a 30% discount to the Urban Anthology Store. And for each week of hosting challenges you will receive a $5 gift card to the Urban Anthology Store (gift cards can be accumulated for larger purchases). Other special perks like per ordering limited edition kits, as well as one ticket to CHA will be offered.
Email Kari@urban-anthology.com if you are interested. Please provide a brief description of why you would like to be on the Challenge Team, what skills you have to offer, as well as your commitment to other design teams or challenge teams. (Please note, we are not looking for you to be exclusive to us, I just don’t want anyone to over commit… GASP… there IS more to life the scrapbooking… occasionally.)
I don’t even know how to start this blog entry… its one of the most difficult things I have had to write, ever…
About 16 months ago, Urban Anthology started as a dream to have my own business, which is something that I truly enjoyed doing. Over the year, I have learned so much about scrapbooking that I never knew… I have met so many wonderful, talented, and caring people. The people who have visited and participated in the UA form have been AWESOME. I don’t think I could have hand picked a better group of friends if I would have tried on my own. So you are probably wondering why am I saying all of this???
I am sad to announce that Urban Anthology is changing directions with its business, and will no longer be offering kits after the November 2009 shipment. I can honestly say this has been a tough decision after a long year of hard work designing kits, researching what’s hot, and gaining the confidence of our customer base. I truly love looking at all of the beautiful papers, mixing and matching them with the hottest embellishments and seeing the UA design team create some of the most fantastic layouts, cards, and altered projects I have seen. They have been so inspiring!
So what WILL Urban Anthology be doing?
For now we will still be hanging out here online with our forum, and will be converting out blog to a challenge based blog. I am looking forward to challenging you with lots of fun challenges and blog candy… Urban Anthology will also continue selling goods online… expect to see some fun embellishment kits, as well as unique trims, and some occasional kits. Urban Anthology will be focusing a majority of its efforts on selling supplies at scrapbooking retreats in the Southern California/Nevada Area. We hope to see you at one of these retreats… You can find out where we will be at on our blog as well.
Now what does all mean?
I have decided that the November Kit, will be Urban Anthology’s last kit for now. The forum will remain open, the blog will be maintained with Challenges, and the store will be available for purchasing items as well.
What about the current DT challenges?
Well I never dreamed that this was going to happen when it did… but no time is ever a good time. Challenge 5 has been posted, and is due October 22nd, as indicated in the challenge post. Instead of choosing a design team, I will be picking 4 winners of the challenges, and will be given a November kit for playing along. We hope to see some things that you create with it. Anything created with this kit and posted in the gallery for the kit, will be featured on our blog. Those of you who do not win a kit, and have been playing along with us from the beginning or who have submitted a complete portfolio of all 5 challenges in our gallery by the due date, will receive $10 gift card to the Urban Anthology store as a thank you gift for participating in our Design Team Call.
And a BIG THANK YOU!
I want to thank you all for this wonderful and challenging run with Urban Anthology and it’s kits. I truly love the people I have met through this venture, and hope to keep you all close by as you are truly talented and wonderful group. I look forward to seeing you all on the forum, as well as joining in on the blog with our challenges.
I want to thank all the current and past design team members. The help I have received from my team members has been tremendous! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
I also want to thank those who have helped me who were not on the design team, my UA Team, that was working to help me grow my business, helping with challenges, and anything else I needed help with! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Finally…
Please feel free to contact me with any questions kari@urban-anthology.com. And remember WE ARE NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS, and we are not going away… we are just changing directions of business at this time.
Please sign-up for our newsletter to follow what will be going on, and where we will be. Urban Anthology does not sell, nor share your information with other companies, and we promise not solicit you with useless mailings… we will be sending out monthly updates… and any other exciting news that may happen… like store specials, and those special kits here and there.
The last kits…
The October Kit will be shipping tomorrow, and what’s up for the November kit???? Sneaks will be posted shortly, its one beautiful winter kit. And we will be having a special limited edition Christmas kit as well… this will be announced next week. 
Thank you all! And see you at the challenges.
I’m sure you have noticed the blog has a new look… or several new looks (I’m trying to find the perfect and most useful layout) I am working on changing things around a bit here… hopefully it will make all of our information easier to find and more enjoyable to look at. Over the next few weeks you will see some changes and modifications happening to the blog, and other Urban Anthology sites… Please pardon our “virtual dust” as we make these changes. And if something goes TERRIBLY wrong, please don’t hesitate to email me at kari@urban-anthology.com to let me know… or if you don’t see something show up that you like let me know and on the flip side, if something is missing that was once there please let me know as well… and I will see what I can do!
Working hard to make things better! Thank you for your patience.
The time is finally here to start our search for our next design team…
Join us in the first challenge for our Got Talent search… This challenge is due September 24, 2009 at Midnight in our gallery, if you wish to play along and have a chance to be voted as our top talent! Otherwise take your time and have it in the gallery by Midnight October 22, 2009.
Here are the details of the challenge:
1) Pick a sketch from the Urban Anthology Gallery… using this sketch create a ONE PAGE layout about you.
2) The layout must include the following:
a. Describe yourself as a scrapbooker
b. Shall demonstrate your scrapbooking style
c. Must include at least ONE PHOTO of YOURSELF
3) In the description of your image in the gallery, indicate what the signature aspects of your scrapping style are.
Post your creations in our gallery, and feel free to post a link in the comments of this blog post.
Welcome to the Urban Anthology Design Team Call…”Urban Anthology’s Got Talent!” We are sad to say good bye to our current design team, as they have been so inspirational and talented, and such wonderful ladies to work with. But it’s time to see some fresh new ideas. It’s time for you to dig deep into your stash, and deep into your skills and pull out all of those wonderful creations, tricks, and techniques you have been waiting for the “right time” to make.
I bet your wondering how you can be apart of our next design team…
There are two ways to play… its pretty simple… you can try your luck…or take it easy over the next 5 weeks and show us what you have got! Here is a look at the two options:
Each week you must submit your work in the appropriate Urban Anthology Gallery folder by Midnight the Thursday after the assignment is posted. Starting the following Saturday the entries will be posted on the Urban Anthology blog for 5 days to be voted on by the members and visitors to UA blog… that’s right, get your friends, get your families, get your Facebook stalking buddies to come vote for you! At the end of the competition the person with the most points will win a position on our design team. The catch is you won’t know your score until you win!!! Oh the drama, but us girls love drama don’t we??? But remember, the person with the most points must have completed all 5 of the challenges by the final due date. (All challenges do not have to be voted on, however, challenges submitted after each weekly voting date, will not receive any points)
The points will be assigned as follows:
Participate in all five challenges, and have them all completed by Midnight Thursday, October 22, 2009, with your work placed in the appropriate folders in the Urban Anthology Gallery. Three lucky participants will be selected based on the overall work completed over the 5 weeks of challenges.
The “portfolio” that you will have created over the 5 weeks should demonstrate the following:
Your unique style, that is well defined
How well your style works with our kits
Your ability to bring new ideas to the Urban Anthology Message Board and Blog
Your creativity
Your adaptability to a variety of challenges and activities
Do you have your scissors, paper trimmer, adhesives, chalks, inks, stickers, papers, flowers, embellishments, etc… ready to go? Well… it looks like you have to wait until 12:01 AM Friday, September 18th, 2009 for your first challenge!
And remember, there will be a new challenge posted each Friday, for 5 weeks. All of the projects will be due Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 12 Midnight PST.
If you want to know what you will be expected to do as a design team member, check out the Design Team Call page for all the details.
If you have any questions please post them in the forum. We also have a special section in the forum setup for your chit chat about the Design Team Call… so join in the fun, check us out, and we can’t wait to see what you can do!
Let the challenges begin!!!
Have you ever wanted to see Urban Anthology in person! Well you can… you can see our kits up close and personal, as well as me. Though the kits are probably far more exciting… Take a look at our booth from the last retreat we attended, with Scrappin’ Escapes…. we will be at the November Scrappin’ Escapes retreat as well… the other dates are still pending… but will we will most likely be there, becasue they are just so much fun I can’t resist going! If you would like to have Urban Anthology come to your retreat or scrapbook event, we’d love to come to show off our kits, and even teach some classes…
I know, I know! I am ALL for purging and getting rid of that stash that is bogging down our creativity.
But as I was going through my stash a week or so ago, I realized something . . .
I was making a pile of patterned papers to give to my scrapping friends. Papers that I had multiples of, that I had scrapped with already, or that I was just getting tired of.
As I was flipping them over, I had a lightbulb moment! A lot of those patterned papers have SOLID COLOR backsides in incredible colors!!! A lot of them even had a great weathered look “built in”!
I don’t know about you, but cardstock is something I will NEVER purge. I consider it a staple item that never goes out of style.
As I looked at all these pretty colors sitting on the floor, I decided that I would integrate these patterned papers into my cardstock stash according to the solid colors.
Now next time I go to look for a particular color, it will be easy to find.
Save patterned paper from going to waste and look at it in a new light. Make your scrapbooking dollars S-T-R-E-T-C-H! Woo HOOOOOOO!
You’ve seen this page before, but I wanted to show it again, because I used the cream colored “backside” of a piece of American Crafts patterned paper. I love that it has a smooth surface and allowed me to do my stamping/embossing technique, flawlessly. Something I would have fought with on a textured cardstock. 
Hope you found this tip helpful! And remember, think twice before you purge that patterned paper!
After may days of waiting, it’s finally there the full reveal of the September 2009 kit, Opps I did it again!
Hey all, hope your July is humming along nicely!
July is a great scrappin’ time for me, while the kiddos are busy swimming and crafting and bike-riding and library-book reading, I have time to sneak in a bit of creative time just for me…how about you?
The July Kit, Grandma’s Kitchen, features an AWESOME color palette of reds, buttery yellows, greens, and blues, along with a fab retro-kitchen vibe that is perfect for lots of different types of photo themes! It’s packed with Cosmo Cricket, Webster’s Pages, and Jenni Bowlin, along with sumtuous trims, AC embellies and alphas, and custum exclusive journaling tags too!
Check out a peek of some of the layout goodness created with this stellar kit! More DT inspiration to come in the following week as well!
If you haven’t ordered this gorgeous kit, rush to the Urban Anthology store and pick one up today!