Reminder: The Way Of The Scrapbooker Starts Today!!

My new class starts over at MCC later today but it's not too late to join the fun! All the deets are here (scroll down to the 3rd class)! The classroom will open at 8pm (BST) - so long as you are paid up, you'll receive an e-mail with the classroom keycode - & that's about all there is to it!
This li'l album is part journal, part scrapbook - designed especially to go where you do & with refillable space for you to add notes, sketches etc on the move ... No kit to buy - you can use your own stash - but a full supply list is included for reference. You'll even get a full PDF of quotes, especially adapted by me, ready to print off at home. All that for $15 (so if you live in the UK, it's an absolute steal!!!)
Can't wait to see you all there!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes ...

Well I'm all over My Creative Classroom today! LOL. I have uploaded not one - but FOUR classes to the site today - and check out the news bulletin for May 23rd (scroll down the home page - before you log in). Yep! It's all about me just now! LOL

All my classes are enrollable now & I have a bunch more coming very soon - it's all exciting stuff!!

So have a lookie at ...
'Family Mini Book' - Starting May 12th
The Way Of The Scrapbooker - Starting May 19th
Totally Top Hats - Starting May 26th (see the cool piccie at the top right?)
Let's Kit Together: Love - Starting May 19th (I'm re-running this popular class!)

And talking about changes - we have re-branded the forum to better reflect the direction we are taking - pop over & take a look ... & if you aren't already a member why not register with us now - we'd love some new friends to chat to - the more the merrier!

This Girl Gets Around A Bit!!

If you subscribe to Becky Fleck's PageMaps newsletter, you'll already have seen this card. My first for Becky, making me an official 'friend of PageMaps'. How cool is that???
Some of the details are lost in the smaller pic - but if you click on it to enlarge, you can see the ribbon detail & BG white rub ons - gotta say I love this card!!
Pop on over & visit her site to sign up for the newsletter, download current & past maps or just to drool over all the yummy stuff that this month's friends have provided. You'll find the card maps here.

Next up is March #1 card sketch for Di Hickman's weekly challenge. There's a new sketch every Wednesday, so if you aren't already taking part - why not make this the week that you join in. Di has recently added a few new features to her blog: Friday Freebies; Theme Thursdays and Tutorial Tuesdays as well as the sketches, loooooads of inspiration, reviews and more. There's a newsletter you can sign up for too!

Finally, last Saturday's Journaling Junkie challenge, set by 'Celeb' scrapper Janna Wilson to stash your journaling. This is my fave pic of DS1 (which he hates! LOL) taken when he was 17 - can you believe that was 5 YEARS AGO????
Loved doing this page & it's a mish mash of new & old: Lace cardstock that Auntie Jane brought back from the US on her last visit (I'm gonna have this in the webshop soon!), an odd sheet of BG that's about a million years old (probably 3 or 4! LOL), Fancy Pants Fashion Sense felt (currently 25% off!), Maya Road clear ribbon (luuuuurve the birds trend - I shall keep it going well after it's no longer de rigeur!) & a 'goth' stamp set I recently acquired. I outlined the solid gaps between the letters on the lace cardstock, it's subtle but makes it 'pop' I think! If you want to know about the hidden journaling, it's all here.

That's me done for today. I'm working on a few bits for online classes at MCC so I should have some more to share next week.

Challenges again!

Pam Sandy (my buddy and fellow tutor at MCC) has a sketch challenge over on her blog right now. The sketch is provided by Alicia Barry of Leisha's Page Plans - who is also a tutor at MCC with us.
Anyway, here's my take on the sketch using Creative Imaginations Coffee House papers - I love them & have plenty of scraps left for card making!! This is also my entry for Arty Girlz weekly challenge to use stamping on your project. I have used three different Alpha stamp sets for the title and the HOTP winter swirls (emanating from under the coffee pot). Ribbon by American Crafts - i think the cardstock is Bazzill - there's also a welcome return to inky edges & a little penwork - I missed that on the last card I made! LOL

I'm Baaaaaack!

I have been having a hard time catching up just lately with my DT commitments, the grand opening at MCC, teaching my local classes and all the stuff that goes with closing the B&M store & rebuilding the website. Happily I think I've got it under control now.
Last December I joined FlyLady in an attempt to gain control over my housekeeping & I've been fluttering (i don't FLY just yet! LOL) ever since. I've applied the same principles of small steps to my work - and it's working. Instead of plouging my way thru a list as long as my arm and constantly worrying that it's not getting any shorter, now I just pick 4-5 things to do today ... & I get them all done!
Instant sense of achievement & I feel ready to crack on the next day too. The list will always be as long as my arm. There's always something to do, right? But I feel like I'm winning! LOL
The same thing applies to my DT work. At the weekend I had five projects to complete & usually I would try to get them all done over the weekend. As I was still busy over at MCC this weekend, I have to say the panic was rising. I was also starting to become dissatisfied with what I was creating - like I'm rushing it all & it's not the best it can be. So I tackled just one project each day and because it's only one, if I want to spend three hours on a card I can. Very liberating!
So this is the card I made for Di Hickman's February #1 sketch. I'm back to creating things that I really like and getting satisfaction out of it again - so rewarding!
Anyway - the card: I cut the li'l patchwork squares, sanded the edges and matted them on to a lighter colour, stamped the stitching with black ink (masking with scrap paper where necessary) sanded the edges again & then matted the whole thing onto darker paper. The card blank was cut from A4 cardstock & then the panel edges were sanded before mounting centrally with the fold at the top. The hearts are die cuts, sanded and then the edges highlighted with doodled lines in pink & black. The flowers are punched and doodled in the same way (black only, no sanding)and the tag was made with a Making Mamories Tag Maker and scraps trimmed from the card blank. A layer of gathered lace is glued to the back of the tag, rub on added to the blue heart and then the whole thing assembled with DST & foam tape. Gems are added for the flower centres.
Supplies: Papers & Die Cuts: Fancy Pants Sweet Pea; Cardstock: SU!; Flower Punch: EK Success (Retro Flower); Gems & Stitches Stamp: A Muse; Rub On: HOTP
If you have a go at this sketch, be sure to hook up the link in Di's comments & I'll come visit you!

Today's The Day! Woo-Hoo!!

The My Creative Classroom Grand Opening event kicks off today!! This is strictly by invitation only, so if you haven't signed up to the newsletter, you won't be invited! Not to worry tho' it doesn't start until 5pm CST (that's 11pm to us in the UK), so pop over now & get yourself registered.

Nearly There!

Bit of a panic this weekend (& a major hissy fit!) as my internet connection went down on Friday & didn't come back until the early hours of Monday morning. I had planned my tasks and everything was on schedule - now I'm waaaaay behind!
Anyway, I've been catching up & obviously my priority had to be My Creative Classroom - the Big Opening Event starts on Sunday & I'm sooooo excited to get going! I have my FREE class loaded and (more or less) ready to go. This is a li'l sneak peek from one class! Check out my blog at My Creative Classroom for another!
For this course, I'm not going to stick to the usual format - most of the features will be there but I'm not going to have a audio visual presentation for every class - usually there would be one or two new classes each week but for this one, I've gone for seven classes in seven days!
I wanted to make sure there was enough there for everyone to get a real 'feel' for our class experience. It's a bit different to any of the others I've seen so far. So I'm cutting back on the presentations and adding extra downloads. So fun!
There's over $1500 in prizes and soooo much going on - loads of free classes (not just mine), competitions and challenges, forums, live chats, galleries, blogs - fabulous!
But you only get in by invitation, so pop on over and sign up for the newsletter - then get ready to stalk your e-mail on Sunday! LOL

Sorry, I Forgot! LOL

I promised to upload a li'l sneak peek of the free class I'll be teaching over at My Creative Classroom during the week-long launch at the end of the month. Anyway, this is one of the projects I'll be including for one of the topics. It's all a bit secret squirrel (anyone remember him??) at the moment, so I can't say too much except that the class will cover 7 topics in 7 days - all for free.
Only those signed up for the MCC newsletter will be invited to the launch, so if you haven't already, pop on over & get signed up. I've updated the link in the side bar for the main site (it's just undergone a facelift!) or click here to go straight to the newsletter registration.
There's going to be a whole bunch of free stuff, competitions, chats etc going on - I can't wait! LOL. I know we have almost 2000 signed up already and around 25% of them are from the UK (YAY FOR US! LOL) not bad for a tiny li'l country like ours huh??
And if you want to get a head start on your chance to win $100 gift certificate for My Creative Classroom - check this out - Help us spread the word & maybe you'll be taking the prize!