Well I figured I should pop in here to announce/explain our new Exciting blog format since Peggy has already introduced herself to everyone.

Starting RIGHT NOW! the Scrapping 4 Inclusion blog is taking on a collaborative format which I'm hoping will help take us to where we want to go. The unfortunate thing is that I'm not really sure where that is..... I guess that's a good thing ...... now we can just go wherever.

The new blog format will have contributors from three of our volunteer organizers. They will be sharing layout ideas, techniques, new products etc. Things that every scrapbooker is looking for.

We will also have one day where someone from the I Remember When team will stop by and share their experiences in being involved in the Scrapping 4 Inclusion program.

Of course I will be blogging too about Scrapping 4 Inclusion and what's going on and I'll also take the opportunity to share person things as well cause I just like to talk.

We are also working out some last minute details to have another guest author stop by weekly who will be able to share with you her experiences as the mom of an autistic boy. She will be our voice with respect to Inclusion and why it is we are all joining forces to help make a better world for our children. Hopefully this piece will be added in a week or so. Keep your fingers crossed.

Anyways, that's the new format. I hope you all like it and please feel free to comment and let me know if there is anything else we can be adding. It's very difficult sometimes to find just the right things to talk about to ensure you are providing value to your readers. Hopefully this new format will do that for us.

Have a great Memorial Day!
Laurie

Please visit us at http://www.scrapping4inclusion.blogspot.com/

Wow am I excited to finally announce this.

I Remember When has officially joined the Scrapping 4 Inclusion program as a National Partner to benefit The Bubel/Aiken Foundation (TBAF).

Interested IRW instructors will work with Scrapping 4 Inclusion to promote the program and offer fundraising crops in their own communities. Instructors will benefit by having guidance and support from IRW as well as from the entire Scrapping 4 Inclusion team. In turn the Scrapping 4 Inclusion initiative will grow across the country. Both partners will benefit from this collaboration but most importantly, working together will help bring inclusive programs to more children.

IRW is a direct-sales company that provides the personal attention of a home-based business with the variety and versatility of brand-name scrapbooking products. Offering the latest products and techniques, IRW gives crafters the opportunity to express their own creativity in a fun and educational atmosphere.

"IRW is thrilled and honored to announce this partnership with Scrapping 4 Inclusion. We envision a relationship where our instructors can share their passion and knowledge and support while building relationships and awareness throughout their communities. We believe in this program and in the generosity of spirit that our IRW instructors share. We look forward to a wonderful partnership!" Beth Kingston, Instructor Programs Manager, I Remember When.

I am so thrilled and excited about where Scrapping 4 Inclusion is headed and this partnership is a fantastic way to move forward.

I had a conference call just last week with some of the IRW Instructors and they were very excited about this collaboration and they were eager to get going. This just makes me more eager to get going too.

If you haven't heard of IRW before, go check out their site www.irememberwhen.com

In light of the changes and partnerships being developed I thought it was time to make a website change. Actually if I'm changing things I figured I might as well do a complete and total website overhaul. I just dont' seem to do things in a 'small' way at all. Well it took me a week but I finally finished the website and I'm quite happy with it. I've outlined many different ways that anyone and everyone can get involved with Scrapping 4 Inclusion. Yes doing fundraising crops is the primary thing we are focusing on but there are other ways to help raise funds and more importantly raise the awareness about what Inclusion is about and how this affects so many children out there. If you can't manage to organize a crop or it's just too much work for you then there are alternatives and many ways that everyone can help out and finally with the new website I have documented all of this to make it easier. Please check out my new site www.scrapping4inclusion.com and let me know what you think. The biggest thing other than content was creating the drop down navigation menus and I think I finally have something that will work for us and that makes me very happy. You see, I'm not a web developer at all, I'm still learning through trial and error so when something finally works I JUMP FOR JOY!. Now it's time to figure out what to do next.... there must be something to do next.... don't you think?

So I'm not going to put all my past blogs here (even though there aren't that many) but I will provide a few excerpts from past blogs that are relevant to the Scrapping 4 Inclusion program. Then I have one more from last week that I want to stand on it's own and then I'll just copy/paste as I actually blog. Then nobody has to play catch up with my blog.

So here it is.

 

Excerpts from a Blog posted originally on January 23

Wow is all I can say. I can't believe that it's January 23 already.

2007 passed with a blink of an eye and now January is almost over too.

Time really does fly when you're having fun!

Today I am very happy to report that we have 2 more event dates for 2008.

March 8 - Albuquerque, New Mexico

May 17 - Wilson, North Carolina

I'm so excited about what Scrapping 4 Inclusion can accomplish this year and we are off to a great start already with one completed event taking place in January in Lovetsville, Virginia.

The goal for 2008 is to hold 100 Scrapping 4 Inclusion events across the USA.

Right now we have almost 60 volunteer organizers communicating with us about doing an event in their community. Out of that we have 36 confirmed locations for 2008. Still working on confirming the others and I'm always trying to find more.

The statistics show that there are millions of scrapbookers in the USA and I know that there are plenty of those who would just love to get involved and help the Foundation bring inclusion to ALL children. The problem that I see is that they don't know about us yet. You can't help a cause that you know nothing about, now can you?

You're thinking to yourself, what can I do to help? TALK, TALK TALK.

The more people who talk about Scrapping 4 Inclusion and The Bubel/Aiken Foundation the more word will spread and I know for a fact that eventually it will lead right to that person who is looking for something just like Scrapping 4 Inclusion. That ‘perfect fit' where someone can take their hobby and do something really good with it.

How can you help TALK, it's easy...... put a link to my blog on your website or blog. If you have a Facebook account go find me Laurie Weishar and add me as a friend and join the Scrapping 4 Inclusion group. There are so many people on Facebook and if we can get just some of them TALKING then we can really make a difference.

Wow, as morbid as this might sound, my mom is likely rolling over in her grave right now at the fact that me TALKING is actually making a difference in this world. Ever since I entered the world of "school" I don't think I ever got a report card that didn't say "Laurie talks just a little too much with her classmates"......... STILL DOING IT AND LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

 

Excerpts from a Blog posted originally on February 5

I'm slightly in shock right now as I just can't believe it's February already.

This month will mark the 2 year anniversary of my Mom's passing and these last 2 years have just flown by. Really makes you wonder sometimes if you are really making good use of your time here on earth. I'd like to think that I am, but still time goes so fast and I don't feel that I get enough done on any given day. I guess when I look at the big picture it looks better. That's what I'll do..... just look at the Big Picture and not worry about what I didn't get done today.

Now having said that, I've been meaning to blog and just haven't gotten around to it so today is the day to get that blog done. I really need to do this more often. The unfortunately thing is that there isn't that much to report on a regular basis but I'll do my best.

Today though I am very EXCITED!

I want to announce our very first PLATINUM SPONSOR for Scrapping 4 Inclusion.

Simply  Cardstock - monthly cardstock kit club. They are donating a prize to 50 of our events and also offering a discount coupon to every single scrapbooker that attends our events this year. How exciting is that! Vicki's brother has CP and her parents had to struggle for everything for him so Vicki clearly see's the value in assisting our communities to become more ‘INCLUSIVE' for all children.

Thank You Vicki and Simply Cardstock for being our first Platinum Sponsor. Please visit their website for information on their monthly kits. www.SimplyCardstock.com

I have three other sponsors from the Digital Scrapbooking world and I'll announce those tomorrow. I'm glad to have some digital sites on board as there are many scrapbooker who do both digital and paper scrapbooking so it's nice to have everyone included together. I know that I personally am looking forward to my dive into the digital world. That's coming up here really quickly as I just finished the photos for my daughter that weren't on digital. Everything else is now digital so I'll be doing a combination of both types of scrapbooking from now on and it's exciting.

Hope everyone stays warm. Happy Scrappin!

Excerpts from a Blog posted originally on March 30

Wow, I didn't think I'd get another blog in before the end of March but Wooo Hooo, here I am.

As you can see from the logo above, Scrapping 4 Inclusion if finally ready to launch the Let's ALL Scrapbook program.

It's nothing fancy, trust me, it's a simple instruction manual that takes a small paper craft idea and puts everything down in step by step instructions so that anyone and everyone can get out there and offer a craft session for children with and without disabilities.

There are many communities out there where there are no inclusive programs for children with disabilities to participate in. The Let's ALL Scrapbook program is designed to make it really easy for anyone to create an inclusive environment for children without being overwhelming. A small step towards bringing inclusion to the kids in your community.

You can download your copy of the manual HERE

Scrapbooking.com will be issuing an article about Let's ALL Scrapbook in their May issue and they are also publishing the information to their business clients over the next couple of weeks. What a great way to get some exposure of the program at all different levels.

Visit the Let's ALL Scrapbook page of our website to view a slide show of photos and a video of the pilot program that was offered at the A.E. Finley YMCA, Raleigh, NC last summer. You'll see just how much fun the children had.

I hope you are inspired to offer a similar program in your area. Please share this information with anyone and everyone you know, someone out there is looking for something fun to do to give back in their own community, you just need to help show them how.

Have a great last day of March.

Excerpts from a Blog posted originally on April 17

We are getting some great publicity from The Professional Scrapbook Retailers Organization® (PSRO^TM) and this is very exciting. This opens up so many additional opportunities to get the word out about Scrapping 4 Inclusion as well as Let's ALL Scrapbook.

We will be working closely with PSRO over the next little while to help reach the Scrapbook Retailers out there and get them engaged in our program.

The Professional Scrapbook Retailers Organization® (PSRO^TM) is a nonprofit international trade association that bridges together scrapbook retailers and suppliers. A member association of PMA®, The Worldwide Community of Imaging Associations, PSRO supports its members through the focus on efficient operations, profitable retail strategies and ongoing professional development - with educational programs, business services, publications, industry research, networks and trade shows. Visit http://www.psro.org/.

The PSRO has a monthly newsletter and members can read the archives of newsletters HERE.

The April PSRO News Clips Bulletin Board mentions the Let's ALL Scrapbook program. You can read it HERE.

This is a link for the PSRO News Clips archives, the link for the newsletter archives is http://www.pmai.org/index.cfm?ci_id=26686

Then today another mention of the Let's ALL Scrapbook program was published in the PMA daily Newsline International. PSRO members can read that one HERE. (the link takes you only to that day's news, but members can access archives. Let's ALL Scrapbook was mentioned 4/11/08)

This is a wonderful breakthrough for Scrapping 4 Inclusion to gain more recognition in today's marketplace. This will hopefully help the initiative grow and gain some more momentum.

Look for some more really really exciting news next week on another development to help us grow and become a household name in the scrapbooking community.

On a personal note, my youngest daughter turned 10 this week. Double digits just make me feel old sometimes. That just came up way too quickly for me.

 

Excerpts from a Blog posted originally on April 17

The following is a list of locations where events are being planned. I'm posting it in a blog post so that I can hopefully link to it in the margin as I'm truly hoping this listing will be getting bigger really soon.

This listing will be updated regularly.

Tucson, Arizona s
Winslow, Arizona
San Francisco, California
Castle Rock, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
Orlando, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Sebring, Florida
Atlanta, Georgia
Indianapolis, Indiana
Des Moines, Iowa
Worcester, Massachusetts
Detroit, Michigan
Beaufort, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Las Vegas , Nevada
Ridgewood, New Jersey
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Gloversville, New York
Queens, New York
Greensboro, North Carolina
Wilson, North Carolina
Cincinnati, Ohio
Pendleton, Oregon
Erie, Pennsylvania
Pendleton, Oregon
Erie, Pennsylvania
Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Columbia, South Carolina
Beaumont, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Waco , Texas
Northern Virginia
Lovetsville, Virginia
Everett, Washington
Mount Vernon, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Appleton, Wisconsin
Casper, Wyoming

 

 

Now on to The Bubel/Aiken Foundation. I want to share with you some information on the foundation that we are supporting so that you understand just what Scrapping 4 Inclusion is all about.

 

The Bubel/Aiken Foundation was co-founded by Clay Aiken and Diane Bubel in 2003 to serve children with special needs.  Clay had the experience of working with children with autism both before and while he was attending University for his Special Education Teachers Degree. It was the relationship that he developed with a then 13 year old autistic boy Mike Bubel and his mother Diane Bubel that the basis of this foundation was started. Both Clay and Diane felt strongly that if they could open doors and open minds to the value of inclusion for all children, with or without disabilities, this world would be a better place.

 

Here is what Clay and Diane had to say about the Scrapping 4 Inclusion Program:

 

"I am excited about the possibilities of Scrapping 4 Inclusion. Through doing something that people love, people have the opportunity to find out about the need for inclusion. It gives us the opportunity to build our presence in local communities and inspire people to make a difference in the lives of children with developmental disabilities," Aiken says.

 

"Scrapbooking is a hobby that many people enjoy and a wonderful way to preserve your memories.  How nice and fitting it is that those who cherish and wish to preserve their memories are giving children with disabilities a chance to create memories of their own. My thanks go out to all those involved in these wonderful events!" says Diane Bubel Co-Founder of TBAF.

 

The Foundation provides services and financial assistance to promote the full integration of children with disabilities into the life environment of those without. The Foundation strives to create awareness about the diversity of individuals with disabilities and the possibilities that inclusion can bring.  ALL children deserve the opportunity to learn, live, and play together.

 

In addition to organizing the Scrapping 4 Inclusion fundraising crops across the country, Scrapping 4 Inclusion and the Foundation organized a pilot program called Let's ALL Scrapbook this past summer involving scrapbooking with over 250 children with and without disabilities.  The intention of this program was to provide an opportunity for anyone and everyone to be able to bring an inclusive program to their own communities. It was also a way to complete the circle and bring scrapbooking to the children. This program can be included as part of the existing Let's ALL Play inclusive summer camp program or run independently as a small-scale inclusive activity.  The Let's ALL Scrapbook program manual is available for download at www.scrapping4inclusion.com

 

To learn more about The Bubel/Aiken Foundation visit their website at www.bubelaiken.org