Good Search + Candace + Stephanie + Camping + Saturday

What a fun-filled day!! As you can see, I am posting at 3am!! LOL

First off I have to mention that you can now earn money for your favorite charity on GoodSearch.com. And guess what is my favorite? Scrapbook Royalty!! Just go to Goodsearch.com, which is powered by Yahoo, and type in the charity you want to benefit. Then start searching as you normally would. You can even see how much money has been raised. For more details on how this works, please check out SBR's blog.






Tonight I went down to The Scrappin' Table to say hello to Stephanie Ackerman!! She was doing a class there and I was unable to take it so I figured I could at least say hello. She is so nice and talented--love her!! I just can't say enough about the great feeling I get from her and how her projects are so fun and heartwarming.

I also saw Robyn, Tiffany, and a few other Table friends! I was there meeting Anne because we were on our way to Scrapbook Oasis for the Candace Carpenter Halloween Layout class. We had signed up long before we knew Stephanie was coming to the Table...arrgghh to have to CHOOSE!!! Anyways, Anne and I carpooled and met PJ down there at Oasis for a night of fun!!

Anne, Candace, and I:

Here's Anne loving the Blackboard + Stickers from Cosmo Cricket:

Ms. PJ, deep in concentration:

Here's my first layout!


Me and Peej, doing the "My Space" pose:

While we were there, I saw Felicia and Cindy from It's About Time!! LOL

Small world--we each traveled over an hour to get to Oasis. I also saw Cartrice, long time scrapper in the IE! We had a blast and made a few new friends along the way too. And Candace was just awesome in every way--very patient, down to earth, and just pleasant as can be. It was really nice taking the spot of "student" tonight in this class.

Alright, if you know me, you know I DON'T usually take classes. It's not a case of thinking I am too good for it I just think if I can figure it out, I will, instead of taking the class. But I am starting to "get it", that it is more of an experience than just getting the project itself. I really had a great time and look forward to taking more classes. Hopefully it will make my classes better and make my customers' experience in my class better too--that's the goal anyways! And I got some super cute layouts too so that can't hurt either...

Here are the layouts -- I put them up on a bookcase to be Halloween decoration until after Oct31 and then I'll put this year's pics on them. They are too cute to just stick in my stack of stuff!! On this first layout I made a Matthew skeleton and a Katie skeleton--they are pretty cute!!! Katie has the bow of course...



TODAY (OMG I don't even know how I will get enough sleep) I am teaching THREE classes at two different locations!! Check it out--there is still a tiny bit of room in each so go ahead and come on down to the class!

"School Days" Mini Book
September 20, 2008
11am-2pm, $40
Ph: 909-793-2200
Collective Journey

"Girls vs. Boys" FOUR Page Layout Class
Make a Boy 2 pager AND a Girl 2 pager
September 20, 2008
330pm-430pm, $20
Desert Scrappers Retreats - Palm Desert Embassy Suites

Desktop Birthday Calendar
September 20, 2008
430pm-545pm, $20
Desert Scrappers Retreats - Palm Desert Embassy Suites

Adn then on Sunday I'll be teaching at The Scrappin' Table -- it's the "Our Little Camper" book! This is one of my all-time favorite projects and I just love the little s'mores on the front!! Don't miss out because I just added a BONUS layout to the class--yeah!

"Our Little Camper" Mini Book
September 21, 2008
12-3pm, $37
Ph: 714-961-8011
The Scrappin' Table

I still have few spots in this one and you won't want to miss it. It also features my split pages technique and an ENTIRE package of chipboard alphas. Call the Table to sign up now.

See you all later!!

Simple Five Fridays #7 – Five Journaling Ideas + Fiskars Friday (Clouds Paper Edgers Scissors)

Who doesn’t struggle with journaling? It seems to be a constant issue discussed in scrapping magazines, blogs, idea books, forums, and scrapbook classes. Here are five ways I get my journaling done.

Well, actually, before we get to that, I want to let you know that I am a Certified Fiskars Demonstrator and Fiskateer #2074 and a few of us are sharing Fiskars tools and tips every Friday on our blogs –its called Fiskars Fridays! Every Saturday I'll be posting links to all of the other Fiskars Fridays features on other Certified Fiskars Demonstrators' blogs.

This week I broke out the decorative edge scissors. My favorite Fiskars design is the “Clouds” Paper Edgers scissors because they can be used to make scalloped edges around anything – even circles!! Below you’ll find a couple examples of this technique as well as the journaling tips I was promising you earlier. Enjoy!

Have the Subject Do It. If you are scrapping pics of your kids, have them do the journaling! Every year when I do Katie’s school portrait page I have her write her name and I put that on the page, just to see how her handwriting changes from year to year. On this High School Musical Page I had Katie journal about her favorite songs:

Christi Abshier recently shared with me that she has her kids journal each night when they are on vacation and then she has that record of their own words to include on her pages. She says the kids love those self-journaled pages the best!

Practice and Mess Up. Use a scrap paper to write out your journaling first, using the same pen you plan to journal with. You can then see if it will fit in the area and then you also have a script as to what to write on your actual page. If you mess up, fix it. I sometimes cover a messed up journal spot with another one. If you journaled directly onto your page, try covering the boo-boo with a flower or a pre-printed journal spot and start over. It’s okay to mess up!

On the page above where I used a Heidi Swapp journaling spot I actually used THREE of them since I messed up the first two. They are all just stacked on top of one another on the page.

• Fiskars Fridays Tip: I used the “Clouds” Paper Edgers scissors to create a scalloped trim around the large circle in the middle of the page. I traced a plate onto a piece of green cardstock to create the circle and cut it out. Then I glued the circle to the blue cardstock, with about ½” showing all the way around. I then cut along the edge of the green circle with the “Clouds” Paper Edgers scissors and voila – instant scalloped circle, any size!

On this one I journaled on the blue in white pen…big mistake. So I used a circle punch and cut out the messed up blue paper. Then I printed the journaling on orange paper using the computer and mounted the journaling from below. I realized later I could have just punched the circle from the orange and glued it on top too…but hey, now it looks better, either way.

Use the Computer. If you hate your handwriting THAT MUCH then use the computer to journal. There are loads of great handwriting looking fonts available, for free and some for a couple dollars, online. You can even buy font CDs in some stores. Journaling programs are also available. I still have a really old copy of Journaling Genie from Chatterbox I use to make spiral text! I posted a tip a while back on how to make computer printed journaling strips if you don’t want a plain box of journaling. And scrpajazz has this great article on computer journlaing.

I actually used the journaling genie to create the spirals on the snail on this really old page kit I did for a swap. I still have two partial kits left if you want them—just let me know and I will send it to you for free. These snails need a good home…

I used strips on the above page. I like that this allows me to move the journaling around before I commit to putting it on the page. And I can make changes to the font and size if I don’t like it once it is printed.

On this page I just printed a paragraph in Microsoft Word that fit the space on my page. Say the space is 4” wide. I set the page width of the document to 3.5” and type away. On the left side of the page is a ruler I can use to tell how tall my journaling can be. Resize the font until it fits in the space you need. Then print on cardstock and mount to the page. Maybe I’ll post a step-by-step of how to do this one time…let me know if you want to see it and I will.

Use Pre-Made Items. Stickers, Diecuts with quotes printed on them, rubons—many accents come with titles or quotes printed directly onto them. You can use those to journal. EK Success has some really fun word stickers and date stickers I use a lot in my journaling. Making Memories also has some cute definition stickers to use and tiny alpha stickers as well. And Karen Foster has signs that make great titles, like the one I used on this page:

• Fiskars Fridays Tip: I used the “Clouds” Paper Edgers scissors to create a scalloped trim around the circle photo on the side of the page. I punched a circle from a photo. Then I glued the circle to cardstock, with about ½” showing all the way around. I then cut along the edge of the photo circle with the “Clouds” Paper Edgers scissors to create the scalloped circle border on my photo!
  

I used a pre-printed quote for the journaling on this page:

I used stickers with pre-printed words on them (by EK Success) to do the journaling on this page:

Break Away From Rows. Instead of trying to journal in nice level straight rows, why not follow a curve or make your own pattern on a page? I love doing this when I am in a creative rut as far as journaling. And you don’t have to worry about it being straight or perfect either.

On the page below I used the rims of plastic and paper cups to stamp circles with paint on my page (I was at Desert Scrappers Retreats and wanted circles!). After I finished the page, I used the spaces made by the overlapping circles to create spaces for me to journal.

Frame the photo as I did on this layout:

And I did the same thing on this layout:

So break out of the “rule” that journaling has to be in your own handwriting and be straight. The point is getting the words onto the page so you can remember the moment. Have a great weekend and I hope these ideas inspire you!

What I've Been Doing

For the last 2 weeks I have not taught any scrapbook classes! I've kept plenty busy with other stuff though...

Girl Scouts started back up again and I am down to 4 girls in the troop. These days kids have so many options to choose from and only 5 nights a week, not to mention homework, so something has got to give. I totally get it. Katie loves Girl Scouts and my current girls and moms love it so we are still making a go of it. We are moving our meetings to Friday nights which means less crop time for me but Katie can now start Tennis, which had practices conflicting with our Girl Scout meetings. And the meetings will be closer to my house, saving me time and gas, which is always a good thing. I will be extra busy trying to recruit some new girls so we can have a well rounded troop once again. I'm not really looking forward to that whole endeavor and the potential drama it can bring with bringing new parents into an established and very active troop but hey, I gotta do what I gotta do! It's for my Katie!

Speaking of kids, Matthew is talking now. He says somethings, sort of.

"Bop" = bottle, ball--we know when he points to it
Mama, Dada
"KKHHHH" = Katie (I think he has trouble with K)
"DeDe" = Thank you (he says when you give him stuff he wants)
"Beep"
And he nods yes and no and says "no" sometimes.

I already talked about my custom scrapping jobs this week but I am still wrapping one up. I gotta get ready for Christmas!!

Also, I have been working on GPDI -- the Guild of Papercrafting Designers and Instructors. For the last year I have been working on drafting membership requirements, a code of ethics, and trying to figure out how to make this happen-- a resource for instructors and designers to share ideas and successes, network, and to get advice without worrying about drama or politics or any of that nonsense. I am only launching it in Southern California for now but if it is successful, I'd love to go national. So if you're an instructor or designer in So Cal, please let me know and I'll send you an invite to the group! It's all about support!

Tonight I had my first class to break my classfast -- I taught the "Back 2 School" book at Scrapbook Boulevard. This really is my home store, just over 2 miles from my house. I love that I got home so quick! The customers are great and everyone is really fun and real. And I could chat with Cheryl, the class coordinator, for hours. She is really talented with anything from Tim Holtz and, boy, can that woman Glimmer Mist!! If you are going to be in Upland on Thursday (today) she will be at the Market Night downtown from 530pm-8pm selling her "Tag Swags". If you like Holiday decor and my banners, you'll LOVE her tag swags!

And finally, on to kits. I keep taking on teaching more and more classes at more and more stores-- I think I am addicted or something!! It is really really fun. I mean REALLY fun!! Plus I get to talk about Scrapbook Royalty and scrapbooking--both two things I love. In order to stay organized I have to be prepped at least a month out. Here is what that looks like:


From Wednesday night's class:


And like 5+ other classes coming up:


Somewhere under here is my dining room table...gotta get this cleared off before Thanksgiving! LOL

Bins and Baskets of supplies & tools for each class:

I love being organized and I love seeing all these great rows. The bags were fun to decorate too! I am so glad we are finally getting settled in and everything in my topsy turvy life is getting back in order. I can finally get back into the groove. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings...

Our Little Monkey -- for Reminisce Contest

This is another submission for the Reminisce 2009 Design Team Call.

Last year I designed this paper bag book for my daughter, Katie, who is our little monkey. I taught it as a class...two times! And then my friend Elena taught it as a class at Pink Pineapple Scrapbooks in Vista, CA as well. I still get requests for kits for this paper bag book--it is one of my all time favorites. I remember during the class we were all getting tongue tied trying to say "Ooh Ooh Ahh Ahh" paper -- we kept saying "Hoo Hoo Haa Haa"!