Update | 5.8.2014: Fedex, October Afternoon, Sakura, CHA PaperArts
Tonight is the annual NFL draft - a very scrapworthy moment if there ever was one for some proud football moms! Combined with today's annual "Day in the Life" project by Ali Edwards, which encourages scrapbookers to record the normal everyday things about their lives, the two events make a good reminder of the importance of recording not just the victories, but everyday battles in our lives, and even the defeats.
Fedex has announced that effective January 1st, they are reworking the pricing structure on Fedex Ground. Previously, shipping on Ground packages below 3 cubic feet in volume was charged based solely on weight. After January 1st, the company will be going completely to "dimensional weight" pricing, where packages are charged based on a combination of their weight and volume.
This pricing change is being put into effect to combat e-retailers' habits of selling large lightweight items with free shipping, or packing items in boxes that are way too large for the item and then filling the rest of the box with air pillows or other packaging. These low density, high volume packages result in lower profits for the carrier because they take up large amounts of space without generating equivalent revenue. The new rate structure is in effect a rate increase for anyone selling large relatively lightweight items and shipping them via Fedex Ground: yarn, batting, embellishments, albums, adhesive refills, to name a few.
Analysts quoted by NBC News expect that UPS will likely follow this price increase by either changing their pricing structure to "dimensional weight" as well, or by increasing their prices in their existing structure. This could have a chilling effect on e-commerce, and force companies to rethink their current free shipping deals on certain items.
October Afternoon is about to ship a new line that will probably make most of my readers feel old, even while they are putting it into their basket! "Public Library" is a lovely retro tribute to all things library and reading that will have you digging for school and childhood reading pictures to create with. You won't even care that in the back of your head you are thinking "when did my childhood become retro?" My favorite is the wall of card catalogs, which I spent hundreds of hours pouring over doing research in my prehistoric (oops, I mean pre-Google) school days. My daughter would have no idea what they even were:
Public Library 1037 - PP 12x12 - Card Catalog - _Drawer Fronts v
That brown and the retro drawer hardware will definitely make a fabulous backdrop for the right photo (maybe a black & white?).
Sakura is running a year-long giveaway to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Gelly Roll pen. If you make a public post on Facebook or Instagram featuring Gelly Rolls pens, artwork or handwriting, and hashtag it with #GellyRoll30, you will be entered to win a 74 piece set of Gelly Rolls in a monthly drawing! (That's every single size and variation of the Gelly Roll, for those keeping count.) Your post will also appear on a feed on the #GellyRoll30 giveaway pag
For those planning on going to the CHA PaperArts show in Atlanta in July, there is incentive to register before May 14th! If you register before May 14th, you will be entered to win an upgrade to a suite at the Atlanta Hilton! So, register now and you could be staying in style in a one bedroom executive level suite with concierge service, an 800 square foot parlor, a 6 person conference table, and more - for only $126/night!
