BUSY...BUSY...BUSY

I'm sure I have annoyed many friends and family members lately...they say they check my blog every day to see if I have posted something new and wonderful..only to find the same thing as the day before. I'm not trying to disappoint them...but I just don't have that exciting of a life to blog about!For the most part, when I blog about the garden, flowers or the cat...it is a sure bet I can't come up with anything more interesting. Please refer back to the posts about how busy I have been...you think I make this stuff up?!?! I haven't had time for exciting or interesting. This past weekend I taught back to back classes at Scrapbook Barn...the Heritage Workshop and a new class, Beginning Scrapbooking...these classes don't just plan themselves! These I want to make interesting and exciting. To make it more of an adventure...my wonderful Canon printer stopped printing the color "BLACK"...I didn't know printers did that! As far as making Mother's Day cards...I don't have a glimmer of an idea...I may have to go buy some. And speaking of Mother's Day...and we were...I've been asked to design at a Flower shop for the holiday. Like I said...BUSY!

Oh by the way...When you order flowers for your mom for Mother's Day...don't order them on the internet...please call a local florist !

Spring Break Adventure

With only a few days left of Spring Break...I took the grand kids on an adventure to the park. The first stop was the huge "climbing" boulders...to see who was bravest.

Of course every adventure has to have some wild animals...I think this bird was just trying to get warm...
Some of the trees were just starting to sprout...check out the dark clouds...looks like it might rain.

Good thing we brought a sack of bread to feed the ducks...

it looks like they haven't eaten in hours!

What is that hiding in the reeds?

A duck preening his self, after his morning snack.

A photo op at the waterfall...

and here comes the rain...

nice weather for ducks!

Oh by the way...
Last Friday I taught my first Heritage Scrapbooking Class for Scrapbook Barn. The ladies were wonderful...good class participation, great comments and questions. This Friday is the Heritage Scrapbooking Workshop 4:30 to 6:30...bring a Heritage project and join us...you can sign up by calling Scrapbook Barn.

Sometimes you just need to play!

Last night at the Heritage Scrapbooking Workshop, Mary asked if I would like her to take pictures of the class...That would have been nice, but I forgot my camera! The nights I do remember the camera...I forget to take pictures. I really must get my act together. All the ladies are working on different types of Heritage projects and are encouraging each other along the way. Ann has amazing family stories, ephemera and photos which she is using to design some impressive layouts. Mary is working on a book honoring her mother-in-law, who was a poet. It is fun to see the wonderful pages they have created. We were joined by Cynthia, whose mother made a marvelous scrapbook back in the 1950s. It has been well loved and the cover is coming apart, so Cynthia is "remaking" the book.
During the class I taught different ways on how to use "Transparencies". I had a photo left over from the demo I designed for the class. With the extra photo I decided to play!
I printed a photo of Grandma Mabel at age 3 on clear adhesive film (transparency with an adhesive back), I love this stuff! You don't have to worry about how you are going to adhere the image to your project. Where do I get it you ask...Mystic Paper of course! I placed the transparency on a patterned paper that looked like an old letter. At that point I pulled out all my boxes of lace and fabric. Most of them got a "bath" in tea to give them an aged look. When they dried, I started layering.

From there I dumped out the jar of old jewelery and I found some pieces that if you squint...might look vintage. For a pop of color I added a few posies.

It turned out kind of cool...I will have to play more often!

OBTW:

If you feel like you missed out on all the fun last night...I have another Heritage Workshop this Friday the 25 of September- 4:30 to 6:30. You can sign up for the class by calling Mystic Paper.

Another OBTW:
Congratulations to the Mystic Paper new Design Team. Holly, Jenna and Surina. All very talented ladies. You can see their 12x12 entries on the Mystic blog site. Every team needs a captain...and Mystic Paper has asked me to be the Design Team captain. I'm looking forward to working with the new team. I have some very big shoes to fill...Sheri was an awesome DTC.

Friday Night Post

Looking at this picture you would think the ladies at the Wednesday night Heritage Scrapbook Workshop didn't get much accomplished...actually I forgot to take photos until they were all cleaning up. They have all accomplished a lot with their projects. Lisa has posted some of the pages from the recipe book she designed on her blog...House of Hullabaloo. Ann has great old photos and family stories and her layouts are wonderful. Mary is working on a book with a few photos and a lot of poems written by her mother-in-law. I'm impressed with each book these ladies are designing.

If you are ready to get all your old family photos out of a box and into a scrapbook and aren't quite sure were to begin, call Mystic Paper and sign up for the Heritage Scrapbook class on Saturday the 15th of August. This class will break it all down for you and help you get started.

Did you notice something was missing from my blog? There is no Design Team project for this month. It has been a year since I joined Mystic Paper Design Team and our term is now up. Mystic has a call out for a new design team.
I have had so much fun with each and every project that Fearless Leader...Design Team Captain Sheri pick out. I got a chance to play with all the fun toys at Mystic and the opportunity to met some very talented designers while hanging out there.
Earlier this year Kim and Jennifer asked if I would be interested in teaching classes at Mystic. I have appreciated the offer and it has a great experience to be able to share thoughts and ideas with so many people.

Playing with Butterfly Wings

I've been playing...
It started with the flowers, outlined with a black pen. I had cut the flowers out for a long ago project...that I ended up going a whole other way and didn't use them. I remembered a wonderful background that Debrina Pratt had shared on her Flickr...Spark*your*imagination. I needed an image so I sorted through my collection of vintage photos and came up with this lady in an Asian costume...check out the high heals.

She needed some butterfly wings, but it had to be the right color, a bit of red and some orange...I couldn't resist the blue in these wings. Digging through my treasures, I ran across some VERY old gold sealing wax and a "sun" seal...the goal was to not burn the house down. The edges of the card were stamped with flourishes and rubbed in gold ink. At this point the lady had to have a crown...gold Dresden Borders to top her head and a bit more for a border on the bottom of the card. I'll add a message inside and send her off to a friend for a birthday card.


An "OH BY THE WAY" class schedule...

This Wednesday August 5th at Mystic Paper I will be teaching the Heritage Scrapbooking workshop 3:30 to 5:30. Come join us and bring a project to work on.

On Saturday the 15th of August from 10:30 to 1:30 I will be teaching Heritage Scrapbooking class at Mystic. You will leave with a notebook full of information to get you started creating your own family album.

Wednesday the 19th of August 3:30 to 5:30 will be another Heritage Scrapbooking Workshop. With ideas to move your project along. Call Mystic Paper to sign up.

Way too much fun!

We had way too much fun yesterday afternoon downstairs in the classroom of Mystic Paper

at my Heritage Scrapbooking Workshop. Everybody had a project that they were working on. Mary has some great poems written by her mother-in-law that she is designing layouts around. Ann had been busy since the last workshop creating beautiful heritage pages using her old family photos. Kristy worked on a page with a great color combination using a family picture. Lisa's book has family recipes, photos and marvelous family stories. Sandy assembled a layout for a family picture by layering patterned paper from Basic Gray's Periphery line.

There was a lot of "ooh-ing and ahh-ing" going on around that big design table.

You want to join in the fun...the next Heritage Scrapbooking class is Saturday August 15th. Call Mystic Paper to sign up!

Thank you Kim for the class photo!

Christmas in July

I was surprised how easily the Mystic Paper Christmas in July Design Team
project went together. I'm not sure it was so much the theme, as it was the Basic Gray patterned paper...hey it's no secret, I am a Basic Gray girl!
With names like "Winterberry", "Merry Happy", "Brandy Butter" and "Spruce" how can you not create wonderful Christmas layouts. Basic Gray knew what they were doing when they created the "Wassail" line...this paper would be great for non holiday pages too. I really did have a good time with the Element stickers. I mounted a few of them on chipboard to give the layout some dimension. The journaling was printed on white vellum.I haven't played with that in a while.
The Vellum Glue Dots make it much easier to apply the vellum to layouts. If you are not using vellum because it's to annoying to figure out how to make it stick to you page, try the Vellum Glue Dots... they are great.
Not sure where to find the dots...Mystic has them!
Of course I added"Old Paper" distress ink and some "Star Dust" Sitckels.

My new favorite paper is the "Brandy Butter". This is a lovely shade of yellow with hints of red distressing. The Element Sticker page had some fantastic borders that I layered. The distress ink on this layout was "Tattered Rose".

What to do with the Daisy Ds Picture Hanger?

I wanted something unexpected...but couldn't come up with any ideas. Sometimes you need a little bit of creative help... I scrap-swiped this idea from the Internet. I can't remember were, so thank you to who ever came up with such a fun idea!

With the last little bit of paper and stickers I designed a Christmas card. After all what is Christmas with out Christmas cards?

I'm going to click over to see what Sheri, Lindsey and Yasu designed with their Christmas in July kits...want to come with me...just click!

Another "Oh by the way"...

Wednesday night I had great Heritage Scrapbooking class at Mystic. Lots of information and ideas to get the ladies started with all their old family photos, letters and memorabilia. If you are still wondering what to do with all your family treasures, call Mystic and sign up for the next class. It will be Saturday the 15th of August. Don't you think it's time to get your grandma out of a box and into a Heritage Scrapbook album?

168 Days till Christmas

It is difficult to even think about Christmas when the temperature here is above 100f and getting hotter every day. But that is just what the Mystic Paper Design Team is doing for their July projects. My first thought when I opened my DT kit and saw all the wonderful Basic Gray pattered paper was Hooray...I haven't had my all time favorite paper in a while.

Then I took a second look...it was the Christmas line "Wassail". Was there some mistake? Did DT Captain Sheri really intend to give me Christmas paper? Seeing the confused look on my face, Kim told me it was for Christmas in July. With a tear in my eye at the very thought that "yes...soon...too soon, it will be that time again"

I pulled the rest of the Christmas goodies out of my bag.

Besides all the wonderful paper there was a page of Basic Gray Elements stickers, they are always a great addition to any layout, a yard of holiday green striped ribbon and some Daisy Ds picture hangers.

So to get me in the holiday mood I have set my Air Conditioning very low, and have Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas" from the CD player...I am designing Christmas in July. You would think with this much warning I would start designing my Christmas Cards...naaaa, I'll wait until December!

I wonder what Lindsey, Yasu and Sheri got in their kits?

Oh by the way!

I had a great class last night at Mystic Paper. It was a workshop for Heritage Scrapbooking. Lisa and Ann came with all their treasures and wonderful ideas. They both have photos, ephemera and fantastic stories for the albums that they are working on. Want to join in the fun? I am teaching the Heritage Scrapbooking Class again next week at Mystic on Wednesday the 15th of July from 3:30 to 5:30. This class is full of information to get you started and will prepare you to join Lisa, Ann and I the following Wednesday on July 22nd from 3:30 to 5:30 for the continuing Heritage Scrapbooking workshops. All you have to do is call Mystic Paper and sign up.

A Touch of Class...

If you weren't in the class room at Mystic Paper yesterday afternoon you missed a great class. I had some wonderful students at my Heritage Scrapbook class.
One of Mystic's favorite people, Lisa from "House of Hullabaloo" was there. She is so much fun and such a talented artist. Ann, who already has a head start on genealogy and family history and Leah, who came all the way from Wyoming to take the class! Okay...not really, she is visiting the Valley, and is interested in Heritage Scrapbooking, so that was good timing.
My Tucson Sister also attended and is still working on the photos and poetry of her mother-in-law's.
They all recieved a notebook full of information on Heritage Scrapbooking and made notes on all the added info I talked about in the class. I completly forgot about getting "class pictures" until the end when Kim came down to check up on us, so she got in the pictures.
If you missed the class, not to worry, I will be offering it again on July 15th.

Remember, your family may be waiting on you to tell their story!

Cape Cod...without me!

Where have I been for the last five days you ask...gathering up all the toys I will need for my Heritage Scrapbook class at Mystic Paper this Wednesday. I have a new found respect for teachers...there is a lot of prep work to get ready to teach a class!

While I have been at the bench in my "Wizards Room", my mom and aunt Mary took a trip to Cape Cod...without me! The weather was rainy and windy, which made it hard to walk on the beach and pick up shells. They were forced to find other activities, like antique shopping.
Which worked out well for me... Mom found me some wonderful old books...they even smell old

The "Book House" books have a publishing date of 1937...

The weather cleared up the last day they were there and

they were finally able to walk on the beach. Sadly for mom and Aunt Mary...

there were no shells or rocks on the beach for them to pick-up.

Once Upon a Time...

I taught my "Once Upon a Time..." book last night at
Mystic Paper, it ended up being a mini family reunion, birthday party and Heritage Scrapbook class all rolled in to one. My cousins had seen my book at Mystic and wanted to take the class. My Tucson Sister heard about the plans and came up with my niece to take the class too.

Along with lessons on how to use Distress Ink and Glimmer Mist we had cupcakes and hummed "Happy Birthday" to the birthday cousin. We hummed because she wanted to just forget the whole thing!

Bed, Breakfast and Scrapbooking

I taught a beginning "Heritage Scrapbooking" class this weekend. It was held at a East Valley Bed and Breakfast, with a very limited student to teacher ratio. It involved organizing family photos and documents . Type of story to be told, selection of paper and placement of pictures and ephemera. How to use distress ink, chalk and different types of adhesive. Scanning photos and documents and a quick lesson on glimmer mist.

Okay...my Tucson sister (TS) came up to my house, spent a couple nights sleeping on an air mattress on the living room floor, made her own breakfast and I taught her how to begin scrapbooking. TS had never scrapbooked before. She makes lovely handcrafted Valentines cards every year, and designs beautiful quilts. But she has never scrapbooked. Her husband has some wonderful poetry that had been written by his mother and had been placed in a magnetic photo album... which we all learned long ago is a big no no!
We carefully removed the brittle paper from the album and semi-organized them into categories. There were quite a few poems, about a dozen photos and a few pieces of ephemera. We talked about the album and what she wanted the end result to look like.
The kitchen table was covered with glue, scissors, patterned paper and all the other scrapbook stuff that I pulled out of my wizards room to play with. Of course no scrapbook lesson could be complete with out a visit to Mystic Paper. TS added to her supply of paper, picked up a Tim Holtz Distress Ink pad , Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and breathed in all the creative vibes at MP.
My mother was here also (she got the bedroom) and between reading in the sun room and doing her crossword puzzles she would lend encouragement and creative input. We inherited all our creativity from mom...she is one heck of a talented lady. We also managed to go to lunch three times while they were here. With her talent and the inspiration she is getting from the pictures and poems TS will have an exquisite family heirloom when she finishes.

Welcome to my Garden Party

The Mystic Paper DT has turned in their first projects. I saw Sheri's at the shop. She was the first to finish, and oh so creative. Lindsey has a picture of her project on her blog. I took a quick peek at Yasu's blog, she will be posting her design soon. I was assigned "1-2 page layout and maybe cards with scraps" Once I added Color Box Chalk Ink pad in Lime Pastel and Prussian Blue to the treasures I got in my sack it all came together. The pictures of the flowers are from my garden. I took them this spring. Not because the garden was all that great, but I wanted see how well the Macro button on my camera worked. Not bad hun. So welcome to my garden party.

Lights Bells and Whistles

HOORAY!

On August 18th I got THE call from Kim at Mystic Paper, in downtown Mesa, letting me know I had been selected for the Mystic Paper Design Team. Now how cool is that!

The MPDTM , Lindsey, Yasu, myself and our team captain Sheri, all got together later in the week to met and get our first project assignment. My bag had dark blue ric rack, Jenni Bowlin patterned paper in greens and blues and rub ons. What to do with thoses? It did get me out of my comfort zone and I had a great time putting it all together.

Part of being a MPDTM is keeping a blog. The very creative Mike Putman taught a Blogging Basics class at Mystic Paper and then met with the members of the class one on one to help us set up our blogs and teach us how to play with all the lights, bells and whistle on the blog dashboard. Thank you so much Mike for all your time and for sharing all your blogging know-how.