Classes, Classes and More Classes!

With the end of August in sight, I will get back to writing more blog posts and bid a sad farewell to our lazy summer days.  But I am excited for September too because I have some wonderful classes coming up.

On September 10, I am teaching a "Summer Layout Workshop" at Treasured Memories...

If you would like to get those summer photos into albums, then join me and learn some fun stencil techniques as well!

Click HERE to register.

If you live in Alberta, you have probably heard of this fantastic event hosted by Canadian Scrapbooker magazine:  The Great Canadian Scrapbook Carnival...

I will be teaching a layout class in both Edmonton and Calgary called "Double the Fun"...

Using some fun new Fancy Pants Designs products, we will use one of my sketches and a few cool techniques to create 3 double or 6 single page layouts.  

Click HERE to learn more about the Carnival and register.  It's a really great time with lots of awesome classes!

In October, I will be teaching at ScrapFest in Oshawa. 

I'm SO excited to be invited to this event and cannot wait to meet up with all the Ontario scrappers there!

Along with "Double the Fun", I will have 2 other classes as well:

In my class "From  Simple To Sensational", we will create 2 double page layouts, learning how to embellish a basic design with lots of extra special elements.

The third class is a travel mini album, featuring the wonderful Simple Stories "Urban Traveler" collection:

Click HERE to register for my classes at ScrapFest.

Although September means an end to summer, I'm really looking forward to getting back into the classroom.  Hope to see you there!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

This blog post title could only mean ONE thing:  Las Vegas!  

Here is a photographic recap of my fun trip to Sin City, where I attended the Create & Connect trade show with Canadian Scrapbooker magazine.  

It was my first trade show, and I was so excited to represent the magazine as their Social Media Correspondent.  

As well, I had loads of fun doing demo's in the Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L booth.

There was so much eye candy at the show and some of the booths had amazing displays.  One of my favourites was Sizzix...

Luckily, we had time for some sightseeing!  Our first stop was Hoover Dam.

The heights were dizzying!  It is an astonishing engineering feat. Wow.

From there, we drove into the desert looking for the Eldorado Canyon Mine Tour. 

This place was soooo cool!  Well, actually it was about 105 degrees, but you know what I mean.

Our tour guide was fantastic.  We saw some real rattlesnakes (in his fridge and freezer!)

He even showed us proof that there are aliens...

We walked around the ghost town...

...and toured inside the Techatticup Gold Mine.

This place is a popular set for movies and music videos etc.  Here is the site of a movie plane crash...

The fellow with the beard is Bobbie, one of the family members that owns this land and gold mine, and the man with the cowboy hat was our tour guide, telling us all about the gruesome history of the area.  Lots of violence when it comes to gold mining!

Back in the city, I spent 3 days at the trade show and my evenings on the strip...

The beautiful Paris hotel....it's not France, but the lights at night are gorgeous!

We ate in a restaurant in Paris...

We stopped in the Bellagio Hotel too....so beautiful inside and out!

Check out that glass ceiling!

And the hotel window displays were fabulous...

We went to 2 shows:  Penn & Teller and Jersey Boys...

They were both excellent!

On our last day, we had a free afternoon so we drove back into the desert to visit Red Rock Canyon...

Did you know there are wild burros in the area?  We were lucky enough to spot a couple and stopped by the roadside to take photos!

We also stopped for lunch at Bonnie Springs Ranch.

Rustic setting, but delicious food!

Love the metal divided plates!

The washrooms were "unique"...

Yep...looking like the Wild West now!

This is definitely a trip that will end up in a scrapbook !  But it was definitely ALL good and no bad...Good times, good friends and lots of laughter!

Fabulous FabScraps

If some of you are fans of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine and follow their blog, then you know I've been writing updates on the new releases from the Create & Connect trade show in Las Vegas that took place 2 weeks ago.  

Today on their blog I share this layout, plus some wonderful photos of the amazing displays in the FabScraps booth.

The design is based on Sue Sykes' August sketch for the Sketchy Challenge. 

I made a video to show how I designed this page, and you'll also see how I altered the chipboard title and created that cool circle element with a Crafters Workshop stencil.

It's all on the Canadian Scrapbooker blog, so click HERE to head over there now.

It's CHA in Vegas, Baby!!

I'm so excited to tell you that I am in Las Vegas right now at my first CHA (Craft and Hobby Tradeshow)!  I'll tell you all about my experiences here next week when I return home.

There are 2 reasons why I'm attending CHA this summer:  Canadian Scrapbooker magazine and Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L.

I'm the Social Media Correspondent for the magazine, so I will be updating everyone with CHA news and trends via Facebook, the blog, etc. Click HERE to visit Canadian Scrapbooker on Facebook or click HERE to stop by their blog and find my updates for Vegas.

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L invited me to work in their booth, so if you are also in Vegas, please come find me and say hi!  I will be doing demo's and make 'n takes all three days, Tuesday - Thursday.  So much fun!

Here is one of the projects I have on display in the booth:

I used the Simple Stories "Vintage Bliss" collection, and I really like how the house walls turned out....that paper looks so real, exactly like wood!

I cut all the pieces from a second identical piece of paper and popped them up with 3D foam squares for dimension.

The roof is made with a Fiskars scallop punch.  I designed a similar roof on another layout awhile ago, along with a tutorial.  Click HERE if you'd like to see that post about the scalloped roof.

There's more to come in future posts....plus, I will feature a few projects on the Crafty Power Blog too!

ScrapThat! July Kit Tutorials

Today I have two video tutorials posted on the ScrapThat! blog using the wonderful July kit.

The first technique I share is how to create a simple tulle flower that is on my vintage wedding layout.

On my second layout, I used the Prima stamp and Smooch ink from the kit to alter these scrabble tiles for my title:

So stop by the ScrapThat! blog by clicking HERE and enjoy the videos!

Butterfly Suncatchers

It finally seems that the rainy days are over and the sun is shining!

I thought I'd make some pretty suncatchers to make the most of the sunlight.  These can be placed in plant or flower pots either indoors or out, but they are partly paper, so they are not 'rain friendly' ! 

All the crafty instructions on how to make these are up on the Crafty Power blog today.  They are really easy to put together....even kids could make them!  There is also a video, so stop by there and take a look.  Click HERE to find the butterflies!

Hope you are enjoying the weekend and catching some sun wherever you are! 

Identity Crisis?

Recently, a scrappy friend of mine asked, "What is your signature style?"

Supplies:  Fancy Pants Designs

We have been discussing this off and on, and at first I was puzzled, but then I panicked...oh no! Who am I? Do I have a design style?

Sometimes I'm vintage and use heritage photos...

Supplies:  Bazzill

sometimes I'm graphic and simple....

Supplies:  Stampin' Up!

and sometimes I'm playful and cute...

Supplies:  Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper

Supplies:  Bo Bunny

I've now come to terms with the idea that I am a 'scrapbooking chameleon' of sorts...I change up my designs according to my moods, the papers and the photos.

And I've also decided that it's not necessarily a bad thing, especially because of the design work I do with Canadian Scrapbooker magazine.  I love experimenting with all trends, products and styles, so I am very very lucky I have that opportunity to just "be myself" and express my creativity with the magazine!  In the new Summer 2013 issue, you can see my changeable chameleon design style in all of these layouts and cards.

I'm also very fortunate to be on the Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L Design Team because that means I can use whatever papers and products I like!

So the 'crisis' is averted...well, at least until next week!