Weekend crafting!

Hi all! I'm surrounded by crazy scrapbooking women this weekend while we endure a Snowmaggedon here in Picton Ontario. It's been a blast so far, and it's still not over. It's definitely been a learning experience as well, because I managed to do my first 2-page layout! Wow!

What I am definitely finding though is that now journaling is becoming a habit, and it's a good one. One that I think is changing with me thanks to Scrapbooking from the Inside Out. It's not just that I'm journaling, but that I'm also learning how to express how those memories make me feel.

For example, this layout, Dream, I wanted to express how it felt to finally see my work on the shelves of my favourite bookstore. I was still in shock and awe, and I wanted to capture that! I took a risk in showing my work online and it paid off. Guess how many chances I'm going to take in the future.

So I hope you are enjoying your weekend, and have some happy scrappiness as well. I'd love to see what you make this weekend!

Serious fun this weekend with Prima!

This weekend was such great fun! Some wild and crazy women got together at Auntie Em's Scrapbook and Beading shop in Cornwall, Ontario for a fun-filled weekend with Cari Fennell. I have to say that personally I make it my mission to attend each and every Prima workshop that is within my area if I can. They have some of the best educators for scrapbooking and mixed media. Cari is a special treat though, throwing her own flavour and excitement into every class.

We worked with the gorgeous Firefly collection from Prima, and I had no doubt that I would love that class on Saturday. I have a love of all these soft and dreamy, especially watercolour-like papers. If you haven't seen this collection, you have to see it in person. No pictures I've seen online do it justice. We worked on two layouts on Saturday, and for the first time, I scrapbooked layouts without pictures. Eeek! Totally out of my comfort zone, since I usually work with picture first, and then select my papers, embellies, etc. But they did turn out quite wonderfully I think. Here are the layouts, waiting for just the right pictures.

I was in flower cluster heaven! A picture should cover the cut journal scalloped card.

Yummy layers!

I admit to being bow challenged.

Such juicy layers!

Even though I have been scrapbooking for a while, I learned so much in this course. Use those beautiful journal cards to create more dimension on your page. Cut them up and use them on the edges of your layouts for a little cluster yumminess. I also learned that no matter how ugly your bows are (and mine are definitely lacking in romance), your layouts can still be beautiful.

I cannot wait to find the right pictures for these layouts!

I'll be back later this week to share more from the weekend, including the Donna Downey Mixed Media canvas journal we worked on, so stay tuned. There was plenty of madness, and a whole lot of fun this weekend at Emma's. I'm looking forward to more.

Go on! Layer It!

This week wasn't your typical work week. I got great news, upgraded my iPhone, and had a short work week, but the work week seemed to go on forever.

First off, my creative life has taken on a life of its own, and I'm thankful for that. Not only was I recently added to the Creative Scrappers team, but this week, I discovered much to my delight, that I'm one of the newest members of the design team at Tina's Scrapbooking Creations. I'm so looking forward to working with a local group of talented scrappers. We all bring something different to the table and I'm looking forward to learning more from these gals.

And, much to my delight, I'll be combining my two passions, teaching and art journaling, at Tina's store. My first class, called Layer It! Mixed Media Canvas, is open for registrations for the November 21st class. Those of you that know me understand just how exciting this is for me...primarily because I love to share my process when I create. And I have a real passion for teaching as well. Watching students when they have that "ah ha!" moment makes all the work worth it. So register for the class. Registration is limited and that means more discussion and feedback so that we both enjoy the class. It's only $30 and you'll walk away with your own mixed media canvas that you'll be proud to show off.

Other classes will follow, including an introduction to art journaling course.

So this week had its ups...and its downs. I didn't expect this week to be that difficult. But generally speaking, aren't the weeks before long weekends longer than we think? And with all this positive news I was itching to get home and be creative! Well, with that in mind, you can imagine how long my week was, because not only is it a 3-day weekend this week, but it was my first week back to work after vacation. Originally I thought it would be good timing, but it was truly a "semaine des quatre jeudi", or in English a "week of four Thursdays". But now the weekend is here, and I'm ready to get journaling, creating, and completing my travel journal/scrapbook.

There's lots more news to come very shortly on my blog, but I can't tell you just yet. Aren't I a terrible tease?!

I hope that you have a great weekend, no matter how long it is, and enjoy every single moment of it!

Crop & Create Ottawa was an incredible experience

Friday morning after arriving home from our vacation at the cottage, I sat down to my laptop as usual and perused the usual...Facebook, Google Reader. I thought about how lovely our vacation was, and how even though I packed up some scrapbook and art journal materials, I hardly did anything creative while up there.

And then I got a notification for a group I'm in. It had a new post, and I checked it out right away. I was thrilled to read that the owner of Loonie 4 scrapbooking was looking for someone to take her spot at Crop & Create in Ottawa, and it started that day! She was offering it to the first person who replied, and I had to say, I scooped that baby up so quick! The owner contacted me right away to arrange the transfer of registration.

I had only found out about Crop & Create coming to Ottawa in August, and it was already sold out. So this opportunity to go was such a nice surprise! I cannot say enough about the owner's generosity in giving this wonderful gift! It just goes to show that women in the scrapbooking community are truly a reflection of the best qualities we possess. I contacted my friends to let them know I'd be there. It turned out that we were taking a class together too, and we got to sit together for the cropping on Saturday.

Here are a few layouts that I did during my adventure this weekend:

This layout was created for one of the challenges

I love using Fall pictures for warm layouts

My fave layout from the weekend

Learning from Vicki, Kelly and Catherine was a real pleasure. I learned so many techniques, such as tissue encasing, tape binding, and making an adorable fridge magnet from a Maya Road bottle cap and sticker sheets. (Catherine it truly was the best make & take EVER!)

I really hope that they come back to Ottawa again in the near future. It won't be the last time I go to an event they've organized. The location was ideal, and the organizing team had everything running so seamlessly that we quite often forgot about how much work went into it all. If you get a chance to attend a Crop & Create, take it! You will not regret it, and you'll be hooked and waiting for the next event.

Weekend fun...I need another weekend to recoup

Who knew that scrapbooking all day could be so tiring? I certainly didn't. But I will tell you, it was totally worth the 1.5 hr drive, and the Sunday to rest and recover. Visiting Auntie Em's Scrapbooking store in Cornwall was the most fun I have had in a long time. It was a blast! And I got so much done, both projects and learning. 

Prima was sponsoring this crop and provided a beautiful goodie bag for our donation. And I did most of my projects using what I got from that bag of scrapbooking goodness. 

Of course I had to bring a notebook with me to alter. So I used the Prima Annalee paper we got, as well as just a few of the flowers, some Prima crystals, and lace.

Altered Composition Notebook

 And of course, I had to try my hand at a tag. This one uses Prima's Songbird stamp and Prima flowers, as well as Annalee paper that I distressed on the edges.

Art tag

 Then I pulled out some of the Moulin Rouge papers, and more flowers to scrap my dog Nanouk. He's so photogenic!

And last but not least, I used another Annalee paper and fussy cut my husband and I out of a picture that had a busy background, and did a layout of our latest trip to Quebec. Gotta love the Starbucks at the Chateau Frontenac!

I also did a layout using the Song bird collection of papers, flowers, alphas, etc. that I brought to the crop. I'll show that one off a little later.

I'm so glad that I attended the crop because I found a wonderful store (somewhat local) and met some amazing ladies that day. It was a long day but so worth it in the end!

I've prettied up my blog!

I finally bit the bullet so to speak and bought a blog in a box by Zoe Pearn from SSD. Isn't it pretty? I decided that it's time I updated my own blog from time to time, with things that are going on in my life. Like my 5th anniversary for example.

Paul and I had a lovely day - it was sunny and a little windy, but it was warm enough to take a long walk with the dog. So Paul and I grabbed Nanouk and went out by foot headed for the trail behind the Nepean Sportsplex. All in all, I think we walked for about 3 hours and covered approximately 8 kilometres. Not exactly the smart thing to do before dinner, since it just about wiped us both out.

But we did head for dinner. We tried to get a table at The Keg, but the wait time was over 45 minutes, so we decided to try a little place my mom had recommended. Flying Piggy's is a delightful little trailer-turned restaurant on Bank St. and it's tucked off the road, so you really have to be watching for the sign. They took us right away and we had a lovely dinner of antipasto, wine, gourmet main dishes and then headed home. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who loves authentic italian.

Of course following that day, our anniversary, with lousy weather and snow (yes, I said the s word), is no fun. Especially since Paul wanted to plan his garden this weekend. But we are going to plan it out on paper first, and then do some errands and chores.

All the same, despite the cold weather, it sure is nice to be sitting here, near the fire, with the dog curled at my feet, while Paul busies himself with caring for the plants in the house. We love our new home.