One More Day

Yeehaw!!!! One more day till school is out! I cannot believe how busy life got this month. It honestly feels like it was just June 1st and here it is almost over! I spent last night frantically making teacher gifts so they are ready to take to school tomorrow - God bless my girlfriend Tanis who got me in gear and had me over to her house last night where we made some beautiful cards! I will try to post tomorrow as the pictures are somewhere other than my regular folder!!
Other than that, lots going on - school projects, school parties, birthday parties (galore!!), and a brand new Design Team at APOS! I would love to tell you all about each of the talented ladies but have decided that tonight shall be the night that I make it to bed before 1 am! So instead, I shall send you off to check out their blogs: Cheryl, Valerie, Vicky, Jen and Candace (and am happy to tell you that Jerusha and Deedee are still with us!!) . I am hoping for an energy building weekend - finally one weekend where I can relax....I may even treat me to a pedicure!!!! Hope your week has been fabulous and your weekend is even better!

SKETCH OF THE WEEK JUNE 22-28

So I have somehow wandered away from 2 page layouts....I'm not sure why but I seem to find that I am enjoying spending more time on the detail of a 1 page layout. Is it just me or does that seem crazy? You would think that 2 pages would give you more room for detail but I tend to put more photos on the 2 pages and less detail...anyway, enough of that rambling....

So the girls on the forum had asked for a 2 page sketch this week and I was happy to oblige...but in a cheating kind of way.... I had the latest issue of Canadian Scrapbooker nearby and remembered a layout that I loved. It was by Jennifer Hottinger-Sloan so I googled her name and found her blog so that I could email her and let her know that we were using it. I am on the countdown to all the crazy year-end stuff almost being done so this was a big help in saving me a little bit of time! The paper in this sketch is courtesy of My Mind's Eye this week and you can check out Jennifer's blog at http://lifebescrappy.blogspot.com/ - enjoy!

SKETCH OF THE WEEK AND OTHER GOODIES!

Oh I am a bad blogger...but sometimes life just gets in the way and I have to prioritize in order to keep up! We had a fabulous day today - my youngest son had his year end carnival at playschool and we had a great time. The rain managed to hold off for the most part and I kept oldest son home from school so he could enjoy it too.

So...Sketch of the Week was done and posted on the forum but I did forget to post it here. I discovered on Photoshop how to create new patterns so I borrowed some cute pp from Little Yellow Bicycle for this sketch - I don't yet have this paper but thinkin I may need it!! This is a great sketch for scraps so pull em out!
Other goodies I worked on this week were the year end scrapbook/yearbook for playschool. It was 32 pages but done in 8 1/2 by 11 and I have to say that I just don't enjoy working with that size. It works great for something like this as you have to try and put a lot of pictures on a page but no room for techniques!
I also got my kit up at the LSS - and it is selling super well! I am happy and the owner is happy so all is good!
And last but not least, I got all the goodies done for my first class at the LSS!!! I am going to be doing a class on Alcohol Inks and can't wait! I did 2 layouts and 2 cards so that we could start out super basic and work our way up to advanced...and there seems to be a lot of interest so YAY!!
The first layout will probably end up being a Father's Day present for my Daddy as it is a picture of his mom in 1913 at the age of 1.... although I love it so much that if I do give it to him, I will have to reproduce one for myself! This one will help teach how to colour transparencies, stickers and flowers with AI. This is that layout:
And the other layout is using some different techniques with stamping and alcohol ink, colouring foam letters and acrylic and then altering buttons. If you notice the denim flower, that is courtesy of my sons new cutoffs!!!
If you are interested in the class, please pop into Creative Scrapbook and sign up or send me a message and I will give you more info!!
Don't forget about the Design Team Call for A PILE OF SCRAP! Deadline is Tuesday June 23rd and I would love to see so many entries that we don't know what to do with them all!!!
And that is all my goodies for the week ! I am hoping to go to bed early tonight as I am tuckered right out. I think I shall work on my son's teacher/busdriver gifts tomorrow as the weather isn't supposed to be super nice.... Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

SKETCH OF THE WEEK JUNE 8 - 14

Ack!! Life is super crazy, busy and hectic around here! I took last week off from the Sketch but did have good intentions this week....but apparently I didn't remember them until this morning!

I have an album due tomorrow night that I need to finish, I still have to pick out the goodies and get my kit done for the LSS and then plan my first class! In between the scrappy stuff, I need to fit in real life stuff like parent helping at playschool tomorrow, oldest son has a school bbq on Friday and a birthday party on Saturday, next week is a carnival at playschool and I'm sure there's lots more I am forgetting! So hopefully, I can squeeze in time to do a layout for the sketch - enjoy and have a great week!!!

DESIGN TEAM CALL!!

CALLING ALL DESIGNERS! – DESIGN TEAM CALL – DEADLINE JUNE 23/09

A PILE OF SCRAP! is looking for some new Design Team Members for our next term, running from July 1st/09 to January 1st , 2010!! Come check out our forum and play!!

At A PILE OF SCRAP! we are:
first and foremost, a business but we understand that it's the people who make our business. We are eager to make being on the Design Team as positive an experience as humanly possible for all involved. We are deeply committed to bringing creativity & joy to the lives of those who share in our passion for scrapbooking and have great respect for what others share with us.

You are:
creative, passionate, committed and know the importance of deadlines and also that your best work is what you want others to know you by.
If you are a new scrapper or you've never been on a Design Team before, don't let that stop you from applying. We want to see everyone's work! Show us what you're made of!

DESIGN TEAM REQUIREMENTS
* Submit 3 layouts and 1 project per month, or 3 cards and 1 project, or 4 layouts for each monthly kit and complete them on time.
* If requested, submit complete instructions on how to complete lo's or project.
* Participate on our forum at least 4 days per week.
* Participate and help run one online crop during term.
* Create and maintain a personal gallery on our forum.
* Create a weekly challenge that is unique to our forums.
* Create or maintain a blog that is updated at least once a week. Your blog must contain a blinkie, links to other DT members and a link to our forums. If you are not yet a blogger, there is lots of help available!
* Communicate with Owner and Design Team Coordinator about absences due to illness or vacation.
* You will not post pages created for the DT anywhere on the web until they have been published on our Forum first.
* Be available to possibly create a unique layout for forum members – this is a new contest that will be announced soon and more details will follow then. You may not be creating this every month but you do need to be available to do so.
* If you need to terminate your position, please try to give us as much notice as possible so that we can find someone else to take your place in the team.

DESIGN TEAM REWARDS
* Your own customized Design Team Blinkie that you can post on your blog and anywhere else!
* Design Team business cards with the pretty APOS logo on them!
* A scrappy package every month – sometimes with extra goodies shipped out to you or picked up at the store!!
* A store discount!
* The chance to learn from and inspire lots of really cool scrapping ladies!

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
* 3 of your best pages/cards, one of which needs to be brand new (never ever published anywhere) and created from the sketch found at the bottom of this post. We politely request that you refrain from publishing it elsewhere until you hear back as to whether or not you are invited to join our team. We want that page to be a big surprise to all our faithful forum followers!
* Write a brief blurb about yourself including your scrapbooking interests, as well as links to your blogs/online galleries.
* Please email all submissions to alissa@apileofscrap.ca by Tuesday June 23/o9. We do not have a set number in mind for our DT and look forward to all of you inspiring us to make it huge! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send me a quick email with them!

SHARING MY EXCITEMENT!

Poor old blog, do you remember me? Life has gotten a little hectic around here so I have decided to make a bit of time to update - 6 kids are happily stuffing chicken nuggets and tater tots into their mouths and I am quickly trying to update my sad and neglected blog!

Some exciting news around here....where to start....

First off, I am officially working at my local LSS - Creative Scrapbooks!! This job works out perfectly for me as I can do it on my own time and can even do some of it from home! Not doing a whole lot just yet but did get my very first kit done and am looking forward to teaching some classes! They don't do a whole lot over the summer but the owner is excited to try some classes and see how it works out. They are awaiting a large Ranger order so once it arrives, I am hoping to schedule my very first class! The gals there have been super nice and I look forward to getting to know them some more!

Secondly, I had the most amazing opportunity this Monday evening....with....hold your breath..... HEIDI SWAPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heidi was the very first person that I came to recognize when I took the jump from card-making to scrapping and so this night was extremely exciting for me. I am so happy to read on her blog that she is really wanting to get back into teaching at small LSSes....what a great opportunity!

I could hardly believe it..... I had read a while back that she was coming to town t0 do an all day class but knew that the $250 fee was way beyond my reach so decided I would just have to settle with trying to scope her out at the big mall (notice I didn't say stalk!!). However, the scrappy gods shined upon me and offered Alissa at A PILE OF SCRAP the opportunity to attend a retailer's event with Heidi and since she is on the other side of the country, she was ever so gracious enough to allow me to go to represent her store.

It was an amazing evening. Heidi is so many things - a great teacher, a motivational speaker, funny, honest, genuine....I could go on and on....lol. We got a whack load of goodies and spent the night doing these 5 different layouts (The following pictures are sooooooooo not the best quality but I was really wanting to share them with the girls on the forum so they will have to do for now!) :
The original background paper is the green with white circles. We laid the large star mask over it and then the floral mini mask over that and this is the finished product. The alphabet stamp sets are amazing...and I am hoping to add it to my collection soon!

2nd Layout
This one started out as the orange paper with white circles. The "This is Fun" is a sticker that was inked over top and the clocks are a stamp set. The stars and the orange circle behind it are all made by the masks. And that alphabet stamp set again......lovin it!!

Third Layout
This one is done with the Invisible Paper and the Mega Mask. This one was a lot more about blending the inks. The chipboard piece is also from the Invisibles...they are beautiful!!! The lighting on this picture is so horrible so my big apologies!

Fourth Layout
This one was so Tim Holtzish to me!!! There was a bit more of the original layout down on the right hand side but we ran out of time. This layout is so not really my style but I absolutely love it!!! Heidi told some really good stories about her and Tim Holtz, I only wish I could remember them all!

Fifth Layout
This started out as a white piece of the Swiss Dot Paper.....she totally taught us how to completely change a single white piece of paper!! It was so fun, I wish I had gotten a picture of my hands by the end of the night!! The birdie , LAUGHTER and ENJOY are HS Stickers the FUN is HS chipboard and that nice little scribble is Heidi's lovely signature!! She was so darn gracious....I had explained the whole situation about the store being on the other side of the country so she even signed this chipboard for them!! I LOVE the "wink"!!
And last picture....the one that I think I will probably scrap on that 5th layout....
Wow huh?!!! I even wore a pink shirt for the occasion! If anyone out there knows how to Photoshop out my lovely double chin, have at it!!
They gave us enough goodies to come home and make all the layouts again so my plan is to redo them and send them out to A PILE OF SCRAP so that the gals out there can enjoy it just as much as I did!! If only I could fly with them....it would be a fun night all over again!