New store on the upper west side seeking a part-time experienced scrapbooker for retail sales position. 

REQUIREMENTS: 
* Have a scrapbook to show you work at the interview. 
* Ability to create scrapbook kits and sample pages 
* Good organizational skills 
* Good attention to detail 
* Strong customer service and communication skills 
* Be VERY VERY VERY responsible 

The Scrapbook Specialist is responsible for performing efficient, accurate and friendly customer transactions, including operating the cash register and processing customer purchases. Applicants must demonstrate good listening skills with regards to customer requests about product locations and store programs and services, and knowledge of the scrapbooking industry with a willingness to learn about the craft industry. 

Scrapbook Specialist candidates must have good organizational skills, good attention to detail and strong customer service and communication skills. High school diploma is required; some previous retail experience or restaurant is recommended. 

Basic computer skills are required. Hours of work vary and you will be required to work some evenings and weekends. 

To be considered for this exciting opportunities please send a letter highlighting which position interests you, why you are interested and what skills you feel you bring to the position. 

You will be helping with creating scrapbook kits and sample pages. 

You will be on the floor most of your shifts helping customers with the craft needs, showing them on to use tools, giving them ideas on making cards and scrapbook layouts. This is fast paced high energy level job. 

You will also be responsible for keeping track of special orders - calling customers when they arrive - maintaining our class attendance list and creating and update what is needed in terms of stock items. Replenish the displays, cleaning the crop studio, replenish the cash area with bags, newsletter, paper fro the register, price items, do signage, cleaning the store - floors, dusting, washrooms. Approach the customer and determine what they are looking for, demonstrate how to use products, highlight new ones, or ones that would make there tasks easier. 

Candidates being considered will be contacted for an interview. You will be asked to bring samples of your scrapbook pages to present at the interview. These samples should exhibit your knowledge and use of several scrapbooking techniques and tools. We have monthly staff meetings or staff events , daily and monthly sales goals as a team to meet. 
Salary starts at $10/hr. with performance bonuses for TEAM performance.

Email kim@portraitbug.com with your information if you are interested.

About a month ago, Julie Balzer posted on her blog ‘7 days of PortraitBug’. These posts included examples of her design team layouts and videos showing techniques she used. 

For day one, Julie demonstrates how she created the ribbon bead from on this layout:

Julie Balzer Ribbon Bead Frame Layout

Her tutorial show how to create the beads surrounding the photo. The video is not to be missed. Her videos have compelled to also post our own videos on this blog. We will show you how to accomplish many of the techniques from the design team, give highlights on classes we will teach in the store, and just show off some fun stuff as we go along. 

Check out  Julie’s blog for more videos and ideas on truly unique ideas and techniques.

Progress! Our fun puzzle floor is going down today. Yes, today. Last week the floor was leveled and given proper drying time. Once the floor is in, the lighting goes up, and some skim coat and paint we will be ready to fill the store with product. In addition to what is available online, there will be lots of new and interesting items. 

More news about opening events, classes, and giveaways to come.

the perfect diy gift for the holidays!

picture frame clock

Everywhere I look lately, I see glitter. Literally. Glitter on my floors. Glitter on my clothes, my rug, my hair, and even that stray flake on my face that never seems to go away. There are so many colors and decorative options out there that its nearly impossible not to find a reason to throw down some glue and shake on some glitter.

I’ve been loving the colors Martha Stewart has come out with this season. Especially the blues and orange/golds. But my favorite part has to be the ease with which I can add just the hint of “bling” with a simple dot of glue.

After a couple weeks of playing around here and there, I’ve learned that a white glue (I used Martha Stewart’s Glitter Glue) with a small, precise applicator tip worked the best. Although the glue comes out slowly, it is worth the control you have. You can dot an ‘i’ in a title or trace around an entire photo pretty easily. But I will admit, once you have to actually shake on the glitter, it does get pretty messy.

Here are some tips I came across on the internet, by watching Martha “herself” on her tv program and by chatting it up with some online buddies that love glittering as much as I do!

-Place your project on top of a large sheet of scrap paper or even a flexible placemat. When you are done glittering, you can either funnel the glitter back onto the bottle or throw it away with ease.

-It is not a good idea to glitter elements that are already attached to your layout. You can do it, but be warned. You will have glitter stuck to various elements, photos and it will shake out of the layers of your layout when you pick it up for years to come!

-Once you lay down your glue, sprinkle on your glitter, shake off the excess and then allow it to dry sufficiently (drying time will depend on how thick and how large an area you are working on) you’ll want to get rid of all those stray glitter flakes. There are a couple easy ways to do this:

Use a soft, dry paintbrush to brush off the excess into a garbage can, outside or you can even do it in a pizza box to contain the mess. (Thanks, Julie and Lisa!)

Use a can of compressed air (the ones used to clean out keyboards and such) and blast those stray particles away. You can use the thin tube attachment to really get in there and direct the air so that the glitter doesn’t go everywhere. (That tip is direct from Martha!)

Use an embossing buddy. The chalk-like substance in the pouch will makes it hard for the glitter to adhere to anything but the glue you have applied, so getting rid of those stray flakes is easier than ever! (Thanks Jennifer!)

For the project shown above, I shaped the glue into four fairly thick brackets and dumped on a bunch of glitter to get a frame effect around my photos. Once it was completely dry, I used a soft dry paintbrush and brushed the excess off over my garbage can. It was fun, easy and fairly neat. And I love the customizable effect I can get.

Have fun glittering!

Fall has arrived and while there aren’t really deep woods in the middle of New York City, you surely can check out a fawn or owl with the new Sassafrass Lass. Our shipment just arrived a couple weeks ago and we put it up for sale on the site.

In addition to the cutesy woodland themes and funky 60’s style take back, there are ridiculously awesome buttons:

And groovy papers that you can use as is or chop to pieces:

Leave us a review of the product. We are interested in knowing what you think.

While we wish the store was open for you to come meet us at the store, the PB girls are hitting the road to our local crops. We will be giving demos, selling some of our stuff, and making free deliveries of any product you buy online.

On Friday night, we will be at the Manhattan Scrapbooking Meetup hosted at Cheryl’s office on 23rd Street. The crop is currently full but we encourage you to attend a future crop or email about getting on the wait list. This week Julie is going to show off some of her skills she learned at Ranger U. If you are going to be there make sure to bring your distress inks, dabbers, and ranger supplies so she can show you how to rock them!

Meredith is going to demonstrate how to bind pretty much anything using the new pink version of the Bind-It-All. And Kristi is going to pull out the stencils (minus the spray paint).

Early Saturday we will be at ‘Crop for a Cause’.  Saint Teresa School in Staten Island is hostings its first annual scrapbooking fundraiser. PortraitBug is very excited to be a part of this event. Registration proceeds of this event will benefit the children at Saint Theresa School and a donation is being made to the Grace Foundation. PortraitBug will be donating free classes and product for the raffle. The event is from 8:30am-5pm. Email Christine at CBWilsea@yahoo.com or Jennifer at Momtoeb@aol.com for more information.

If you are already attending either event, you can make a purchase online and select ‘in-store pickup’ for free delivery of your order to the crop. Please just put a note in the comment which crop you are plan to attend. We will also be bringing a selection from the store for you to browse.

Hope to meet many of you this weekend!

i really enjoyed playing with these excellent stencils from stencil1 in brooklyn. anything that allows me to rock spray paint is always fun, but throw in killer designs and my heart is yours for always

i decided to put them to the test with traditional spray paint first (most likely not an acid free product and most definitely done in a well ventilated area), and loved the layering possibilities. i especially like the crispness of line achieved when using a fine mist. 

paint was also an obvious choice. brush it on for a smooth look, or use your fingers to dab it on for a little bit of textural flavor. make sure you don’t let the stencil swish around as you work, unless of course you prefer a more casual look. use a light hand, and it will stay in place as you work.

glimmer mist works exceptionally well here, and i love the way it has a bit of a blotchy effect.

another fun option is outlining. micron pens, slick writers, souffle pens, any writing utensil will do. after you’ve outlined your image, you can color it in to customize it…paint it…chalk it…you get the idea :) 

here are some of my experiments with the mini set no. 2.

i’m also itching to play with mini set no. 1,

fall leaves (perfect for this time of year!) and of course the mini holiday set will be making an appearance in my christmas correspondence!

Well… it has been two months without electricity. And today, my daughter Asher’s second birthday, she got the best present of all. There is an electrician working in the store. Yup, it looks like the landlord finally got his act together and thought it wise to put the electricity back on. If all goes well, we should have a circuit breaker back for our electrician to begin working early next week. That’s great news!