Timberline Ranch

This past weekend I went to Timberline Ranch for a scrapbooking weekend put on by Get Creative Scrapbooking. Diane always does an amazing job. She is so organized and such a creative individual. She was working on her trip to Disneyland and needed to fit A LOT of photos from the parade but she didn’t know how to get them all in one layout until she remembered the Close To My Heart Folios.

The folio is a 12” by 12” file folder that fits in memory protectors. You can slip memorabilia inside or use it as a flip page for more scrapbooking space – like Diane did. She put the folded side of the folder along the top of her album and slipped one side of the folder in her page protector then when she flips it up, she has another 2 sides of 12" by 12" space to work with. This is definitely a great way to fit many more pictures is one layout. Good job Diane!

As for myself…what did I get done? I was pretty surprised actually. I didn’t have as much preparation time to organize my photos and supplies to pack for the retreat but I brought what I had and got so much done! I was able to finish some layouts I had created some time ago, and I started some pages from scratch and finished them. I tried to take some photos of what I did but it didn’t come out too well. The lighting at this hour isn’t great! I’ll try again and post some other time. Come back soon!

One of the projects I didn’t finish (or start) is my last trip to San Francisco. I’m not sure how I want to scrapbook that. It was the batch of photos I pulled out a few times over the weekend and would look at for a while, then put them away because I just wasn’t sure what to do. I’d work on something else, come back to it and put it away again. I’ll get around to it eventually! In the meantime, there are many other things I can work on!

Yee-Haw! Calgary Here I Come!

It’s official, next month I’m heading out to Calgary, Alberta to attend the Close To My Heart regional celebrations. What does that mean for you? Probably more exciting ideas about scrapbooking after I return!

I’ll be there with Jeanette Lynton, the founder of Close To My Heart. I’m looking forward to hearing her speak.

All participants of the regional celebrations will be doing create and take projects, business classes and get a chance to meet other consultants. I’m really looking forward to seeing a sneak peek of the upcoming designs as well as learning more about what I can offer my customers.

I’ve seen some photos of past regional celebrations and have always wanted to go but it’s always been too far for me to go. Now that it’s in Calgary, that’s only a hop-skip-and-jump away from Vancouver so I couldn’t miss it!

Stay tuned to my blog and I’ll be sure to post photos once I return!!

Hip-Hip-Hooray For Hatzic!

What's all the fuss about? I'm so excited to be returning to the Scrapping Away Crop at Hatzic from March 27-29th. I went last year, met lots of great women and had a blast teaching some fun make and takes with Close To My Heart products. I did a special card with a glitter flower which the ladies seem to really like. 

I'm working on some exciting new projects for this year. I'll be sure to post a sample of what we're going to make together a little later. In the meantime, check out some of the great products I'll be selling at the crop. I'll be bringing paper packs of the Close To My Heart white core paper in a variety of colours as well as an assortment of level 2 paper packs (10 cardstock sheets and 12 background and textured paper). 

Also, I'll have the Magic Moments Kit available for sale. It's one of my favourite products. It has everything you need to create a complete album - one two-page layout for every month of the year! It also comes with images of layout options to make it super fast and easy for you to put your layouts together in no time! 

The kit includes: 

24 - 12" X 12" preprinted layout pages

2 - 12" X 12" Colonial White cardstock sheets

8 - 6" X 12" My Stickease adhesive sheets

12 - 12" X 12" Memory Protectores

24" - 3/8" Cocoa grosgrain ribbon

50 Cocoa brads

I'm sure the ladies at Hatzic will be excited about this kit! 

Scrapbooking 101

I am proud to announce that the Vancouver School Board is offering a scrapbooking 101 class, taught by yours truly :)

Here's the class description:

Walk through the many stages of scrapbooking, from cutting & matting to adhering & arranging. Learn the creative process (including photo choice, layout, colour selection & storytelling). Techniques: sanding, tearing, stamping, creative use of ribbons, brads & eyelets will be explored. You will complete a scrapbook. Bring your camera to class, along with $25 for all supplies and a few basic tools you can take home. Registration deadline April 24.

Here are the details:

Date: Saturday, May 9, 2009
Time: 10am to 3pm
Course ID: HA05495
Cost: $69.00 + supplies

Register through Vancouver School Board
Call: (604) 713-4550
To register online, scroll to "Scrapbooking 101" (last entry) from here.

I'm really excited about the class. I enjoy teaching and I love meeting new people. Sometimes I think people who don't have much experience with scrapbooking build it up to be a big complicated process. Really, it goes back to something I've talked about before which is the hobby can be as little or as much as you want it to be. If you want to spend a lot of time scrapbooking, you can. If you don't, then don't. The point is to enjoy the hobby not to make it stressful!

My goal for the Scrapbooking 101 class is to make "newbies" feel comfortable enough with the craft that they can make it a simple hobby or an all-encompassing one, whatever suits their needs. Each student will walk away with a scrapbook that includes a page for each of the techniques covered in class. I figured this would be a good keepsake as a reminder of what the techniques are. It took me a while to find the right topics to cover in class because there's just so much I want to teach and there's just so little time! Now that I've got it figured out, I can't wait to get in the class room!

How the Economy is Affecting Scrapbooking

Normally I like to blog about things that are upbeat and inspiring but this post is a bit more somber. Simple Scrapbooks magazine is going out of business. The May/June issue will be their last one. Here's Angie Lucas, Managing Editor, with the last edition that goes on sale in March.

It's clear advertisers are cutting back and the magazine just couldn't keep going. But they will be folded into their other magazine Creating Keepsakes. I guess it's tough times for the magazine industry. 

It makes me wonder how the rest of the scrapbooking industry is being impacted by the economy. I have noticed a significant decline in sales from my Close To My Heart customers so I wonder if they are either:

a) not thinking about scrapbooking right now or 

b) not spending money on scrapbooking

It definitely creates an air of uncertainty for consumers and suppliers alike. But at the end of the day, I still believe it's important to scrapbook and treasure those memories we are creating. It wouldn't surprise me as people scale back their expenses they start to see what's really important in life. And it's those precious moments that should be captured in a scrapbook. 

TAG!
I've been tagged. Go to your folder of photos, pick the 6th folder and the 6th picture in that folder and post it. Tell the story of the photo.

This is my "almost AFTER" craft space photo. Take a look at my "BEFORE" photo below.

Can you believe I used to fit all my craft stuff in that one traveling bag? It was great because I didn't have to worry to much when packing for a crop. Now, things are a little different. I've got a whole bookshelf to store my craft supplies and I'm sure I'll fill it in no time. 

Your turn. Go to the 6th folder and the 6th photo and tell the story.

Want a $20 Shopping Spree?

Two Peas In a Bucket is doing something pretty neat. If you upload 20 projects to the member gallery, they will give you $20 to spend in their store.

If you haven't heard of Two Peas In a Bucket, they were founded in 1999, and are a very well respected community for scrapbooking enthusiasts around the world. They were named top internet retailer by Creating Keepsakes Readers' Choice Awards and they are number one in site traffic by the Scrapbooking Top 50. They've been around so long that they have Ali Edwards' first posts of her layouts. Click here to see her first post to Two Peas In a Bucket in 2002. How cool is that?

There are a few conditions like you have to put tags on your uploaded projects and include a descriptive paragraph among a few other details...if you ask me that's not a lot of work to earn a $20 shopping spree.

Make sure you upload 20 projects to the gallery by Saturday, January 31st, 2009 to receive your coupon.

If you're interested in more details click here to visit the Two Peas In a Bucket website.

Karma brings Photo Freedom

Are you thinking about new year's resolutions? I don't like resolutions in the cheesy way, but as many of my friends will atest, I set goals throughout the year (practically monthly, in fact). What I like about the calendar year coming to an end is that it's a clear cut point to look reflect and look forward. One thing I'm determined to do in 2009 is get my craft area organized. I haven't had a chance to do it since I've moved (I can't believe it's been almost two months now), but I am purposely taking my time so that I can make sure I choose the right things for my space.

As luck would have it, I recently won a book that is so perfect for me! It's Stacy Julian's Photo Freedom. (And would make an excellent Christmas gift for any scrapbooker). 

Stacy outlines her approach to organizing and scrapbooking. It's such an easy read, you could get through it in no time. Stacy gets right to the point in the first chapter by outlining her three essential components to her system: storage binders, category drawers, and library albums. There are also nine extra components that can be customized to suit your needs. The second chapter outlines different ways to implement each component. The last chapter shows other women who have read the book and used Stacy's sytem, or adapted it in their own way. I really can see how her system can help scrapbookers be organized with their photos to scrapbook what suits their creative mood.

I was lucky to win this book at the Timberline Ranch scrapbook retreat. Diane, you did a great job as always! If you want to check out other events by Diane, go to her website here. It's funny how things happen because Photo Freedom was a door prize, so anyone could have gotten it. I had learned about the book by reading a few blogs and wanted to get it eventually anyway because I really like Stacy's approach to scrapbooking. Her Big Picture book totally changed my way of thinking about scrapbooking. 

I think winning Photo Freedom was good karma for the bad karma that haunted me when I arrived at the ranch. Long story short, coke spilled on my camera and I couldn't use it. I think it's a goner :( It's so hard to be a scrapbooker without a camera! Maybe if I've been good, Santa will bring me one.

BC's Craft Show And How I'm Eating Crow Because Of It

This year BC's Craft Show Expo was at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre.  I went with my boyfriend on Friday after work to check out some of the latest tools and toys. 

I was making my way through the aisles checking out all the fun things available this year, I turnaround and who do I see? Tacye from Scrapbook Warehouse! (See last post). I was so excited I shouted to her "Hey! It's the Scrapbook Warehouse celeb!!" She laughed and started telling me the story of how quickly that segement was filmed and how little time she had to prepare. Because of that it seems like there are a few things that may have been left out of the tv show and it is these things that I criticized her for in my last post. Mmmm, crow is tastey, isn't it? 

Tacye and I had a great conversation about the importance of knowing what you scrapbook (cards? pages? projects?) before you make purchase decisions. I was happy to hear her say that. I think in the end we both believe in the same thing. Knowing how you're going to scrapbook and getting advice from someone who can help you through the process.

I had a great time with Tacye.  She was showing me a new tool, The Big Shot, which looks pretty cool I must admit. (Possible Christmas present?) The great thing about this is that it's a tool that does die cuts or dry embossing using templates from Sizzix, Cuttlebug and Quickutz! It's so versatile which is what really got my attention. Plus, it's big enough that it can cut large dies for window cards and envelopes. Tacye was having so much fun showing off the tool in a bit of an infomercial kind of way. We had a good laugh.

The other thing that left a huge impression was a booth for the Local King Rubber Stamp. Lisa was doing some demos of how to make multicoloured stamps. The pictures she was producing were amazing! It's such a simple concept, but she blew my mind. She would take markers (non-alcoholic, dye based) and colour about 3-5 different markers on one stamp going from lightest to darkest, then stamp. It's amazing what she would produce. The catch for me was that she was using rubber stamps and I have built a collection of acrylic stamps (the clear ones). I'm going to have to test this one out and see if I can replicate what she did. Look at the hydrangea below, isn't that gorgeous!?! 

All in all, I'm so glad I went to the craft show, even if it meant I had to eat crow because of my last post :)

Oh! And one suggestion to the organizers of the BC's Craft Show Expo, make a man-friendly spot...possibly a kid-friendly one too. Thankgoodness my boyfriend had his blackberry or I probably would have been pulled out of there sooner :)

Let's Watch TV...
I just found out about this really cool segment on a CBC show called “Living Vancouver”. They have a section on hobbies and there was one segment about scrapbooking. If you’re just starting out, or looking for tips to keep it simple, take a look at the show.

Click here to go to the website and select “living segments” on the right and choose “live and learn”. You’ll see “hobbies” listed, click on it and scroll to the third page of the hobbies for the segment called “scrapbooking”.

Kudos to Tacye McLagan from Scrapbook Warehouse. She gives a good definition of this fine hobby.

“Scrapbooking is about using photos and putting them into acid free safe environment and putting the stories behind them so you can enjoy them for years to come. How much or how little you do is up to you.”

That last part is so key, isn’t it? There is so much you CAN do with scrapbooking but it depends how much you want to do.

Tacye lists some of the key things you need to get started, but I’m not sure I completely agree with her list. She says you need: an album that lies flat, a paper trimmer, a coluzzle (a template to create circles, ovals and rectangles by using a swivel exacto knife), acid free paper, acid free adhesive, and an archival pen.

What kind of scrapbooker are you? Do you want to make cards? Do you want to do altered projects? Do you want to scrapbook family photos? I think it’s important to have a vague answer to that question before you can know what tools you need.

That being said, I do think it’s important to start with a paper trimmer, paper and adhesive. If you want to create a scrapbook album, I don’t think a coluzzle or an archival pen is necessary. I know many scrapbookers who don’t like journaling so they would never use an archival pen. Some scrapbookers I know do journal on their layouts but they would never write themselves, they’ll type something out on the computer and adhere it to the page.

One good point Tacye makes is that you should try out products before you buy them. There are so many products on the market, you can’t possibly buy them all so focus on the ones you know you like, or know you’ll use.

And since you asked for my advice (well, you didn’t, but I’ll give it to you anyway, just cuz I like ya!), if you’re just starting out find someone who can walk you through the first few steps. Start with a small project you can do together so that you get comfortable with the tools and how to put a project together. Personally, I love helping newbies out because at the end of the day you get to see the fabulous finished project! It’s so gratifying!