Michelle has an awesome make and take planned for Friday might, May 3rd from 4:30-7:30... this project will allow you to play with Tim Holtz's Distress Markers!
Then on Saturday May 4th Michelle is teaching her second "How Do I" class... this is a great foundation class for beginners and an awesome refresher for more experienced classes. This is a one hour, one layout class from 10:30am - 11:30am - this month Michelle will teach you how to get the most out of your paper punches!
On Saturday afternoon Michelle is teaching the Basic Grey Card of the Month class from 2-4pm... This class is currently sold out, so this is just a quick reminder for those who have already signed up.
On Sunday Beatriz is back to teach two beautiful layouts... we ALWAYS love it when Beatriz comes to teach because she has such a lovely, sweet soul and always gives her students a fantastic class experience!
Her first layout is Sunday May 5th from 12pm-2pm and has a gorgeous beach theme:
And then from 2-4 she teaches her Special Moment layout:
There's still a little time to sign up, so make sure you give us a call if you see something you just can't miss!
Did I happen to mention that Dyan is almost here???? Just a few short weeks to go.... she's here for the weekend of May 11th and 12th so I thought we'd run the class info one more time for any of you that may have missed our other announcements.
Dyan Reaveley is Ranger's Signature Designer and creator of The Dylusions line
and also their International Senior Educator.
Dyan will be teaching 4 classes. Each class is 4 hours long.
You do not need to bring any supplies with you as everything is provided in class. Here are the class descriptions:
Using Imagery in your Journals May 11th 10:00am to 2:00pm $80 (Currently Sold Out)
I use a lot of imagery in my journals, from magazines, books, old journal pages etc. Where do you start and how do you alter them to make them yours. You will be working with images that I will provide and also selecting your own from my many magazine sources. Cutting and sticking has never been so much fun.
Journaling with silhouettes $80 May 11th
3:30pm-7:30pm
Silhouette imagery is big in journaling at the moment, but where do you start?? You start with the Dylusions silhouette stencils and masks. We will be writing, spraying, inking, painting and stamping in them, on them and through them. You will also learn how to create your own silhouettes to give your pages that unique look.
Couture journaling $80 Sunday May 12th
10:00am-2:00pm
This workshop is everything you need to know about the Dylusions range of Couture clear stamps. Bring a touch of glamour to your pages with the fashion images. Learn how to make each stamp look totally different by adding patterns to the material. We will be stamping, masking, painting, doodling, adding other imagery and elements to create fabulous pages.
Anatomy of a Page Sunday May 12th 3:30-7:30
$80 1spot left
Are you intrigued by the art
journaling phenonoma but unsure where to start?
Do the pages
look too complicated for you to even contemplate where to begin?
This is the class for you. We will break down
the journal page into easy bite size steps. Starting with a background, stamping
borders and journal lines, adding collage elements and doodling.
And then we will do it again and again, each
time adding a new twist or element until you feel totally at ease and raring to
go.
For all of our customers who are madly in love with their four legged friends, we've got new selections in the pet papers!
First, from Canvas Corps new papers for both dogs and cats:
We also got a sweet new line in from Reminisce, It's a Dog's Life:
So fun! You're four legged-furry friend is sure to gaze adoringly into your eyes after you show him or her the wonderful project you've created just for them, so don't miss out!
First, a full shipment of all the Tombow markers! If you've been needing a special color now is the time to come, because we have them all!
Also, a great new selection of bling from Zva Creative:
These make perfect additions to cards, pages, and even some altered art... this is just a sampling of the selection we got in, so make sure you come in so you can see the whole line!
We've got great new travel paper in from Splash of Color featuring two of our favorite destination cities... New York and Washington DC!
These papers are double sided and have some great landmarks to make your trip pages truly something special! And make sure to keep an eye out - we have more great things coming from Splash of Color!
Sometimes a blank 12x12 sheet of paper can be a scary prospect... trust me, I speak from experience here. Sometimes when we really want to scrapbook the hardest thing to do is to just get started! I know, I know! Sometimes you look down at your paper and it looks back at you:
Sometimes you tell yourself that when you make that first cut into a shiny new piece of patterned paper and it ends up being a bad cut, this will happen:
I've been there.... I really have! Even experienced scrapbookers sometimes get a little scrapper's block. You feel like you've never had a good, original idea in your entire life. You feel like you are going to make a big, HUGE mistake and that your entire family will be forced to look upon your failure for all eternity. You feel like you will NEVER find another sheet of patterned paper as perfect as the one sheet you currently have in your possession, and nothing you can think of doing to it seems "worthy".
Scrapping anxiety can happen to anyone at any time. Yikes! Who knew? It's supposed to be our fun time, right? Supposed to be that safe hobby we can use to both honor our family and spend some quality time away from them at the same time! Supposed to be the time when we feel like art goddesses! Why should it be nerve racking? Why, why, WHY?
The truth is that it's not... not really. For some of us type A personalities a little anxiety-related perfectionism is to be expected. For others, it may just be a little tension spreading from your daily life into your scrapbooking time. In either case, there are things you can do to relieve your anxiety and get scrappin!
1. Scrap with someone else. Scrapping with other people is a great way to relieve getting-started anxiety. If you're having a particularly good chat, you might not even think about the fact that you don't really have a plan. Or perhaps your friends will have the perfect idea to get your page started. Or, maybe you'll see something that your friend does that inspires you to try something new. Two heads are usually better than one, as the old saying goes. Unless those two heads are Nancy's and Michelle's... when their heads get together scary things happen! Speaking of scrapping with friends, don't forget we're having a Craft Night on Saturday, April 27th from 6pm-12am. Instant companionship provided, as well as a trained scrapbook professional if you really get stuck! Come join us and get going on those pages!
2. Cut something. Anything. OK, not "anything", Ms. Literal-Pants. Nothing living, for starters. I'm talking about a scrap, or a magazine page, or something that doesn't really matter. Use your scissors or your paper trimmer and give yourself 5 minutes to cut it up.... little shapes, big shapes, doesn't matter. The point is to get over that big blank page anxiety. Maybe you'll cut a shape you'd like to use with your scrapping papers, or maybe because you're not thinking about what you're going to do, what you're going to do will just come to you. You'll be surprised how a little distraction can work wonders.
3. Give yourself a little break. Maybe you are hanging on to stress from some other part of your day. Maybe you're a little tired. Whatever the case, do a little deep breathing, stretch your muscles, and take a short walk around. If you're still unable to start, look for inspiration. Go through a scrapbooking magazine, or take a look at some of samples... there are plenty of ideas out there to get you started. Give yourself a time limit, thought... don't allow yourself to browse the evening away. Find something you like and just do it! Once you get that first layout out of the way, you might be surprised to find that your next layouts come a little easier...
4. Organize for next time. Those of us with type A personalities are sometimes in the wrong frame of mind to get started. It might be best to sit this round out. Grab a stack of pictures and start pulling papers and embellishments that match your photos together so you'll have little "kits" to get you started next time. You might even find after you've put a few mini kits together that you get pulled to start on a page you hadn't planned on. Go for it! Despite what you're brain is telling you, there are no rules in scrapbooking. You can scrapbook photos of Christmas before photos of Halloween... I have done it before and I can promise that lightning will not strike. Well, if it does, it won't be because you scrapbooked out of order!
5. SMASH something. The SMASH revolution has taken our store by storm... people who have been previously intimidated by that big 12x12 page are finding a perfect avenue for their creative side in SMASH book art! They feel more free and creative because they don't feel like they have to follow so many "rules"... in fact, you really don't have to follow rules either way, but SMASHing can still be a little liberating. Take a peek at the calendar... every month Amy hosts our SMASH club, giving great techniques and ideas to get you started. Not familiar with SMASH? Check out this little video... and don't worry, we carry all the supplies right here in the store!
6. Accept that every page will not be an astonishingly good, fantabulous work of art, the likes of which no other scrapbooker has ever seen. Because they won't. Sometimes you'll come up with something amazing, and sometimes you just won't. You know what, though? Your down-the road relatives are going to be interested in the pictures and the stories, as they should be. They'll appreciate the work you did because you did it... that's another part of the story of the page. Don't get hung up on perfection because, trust me, perfectionism only gets you so far, and it's usually a lot less far than non-perfectionists! To that end, if you're in a jam give yourself a one hour time limit. You'll be amazed at what you can come up with when there's a deadline! Just stop thinking so much and DO.... you'll be happier for it! You know what might happen if you're rushing to get your page done in an hour? You might make a mistake. What, you say? A MISTAKE? Surely this awesome article on combating stress did not just admit that if you follow it's advice you might just make a mistake. Why, that would be awful! Horrible! Unforgivable, even! Or would it? Some things in history are famous simply because mistakes have been made.... consider:
Take comfort in the knowledge that, whatever your mistake, it will probably not be as big, as permanent, or as public as these mistakes! But even if it is, mistakes are interesting. Mistakes have character. Mistakes can be another part of the story.... OR, mistakes can be incredible learning opportunities. Half of the techniques I've learned or come up with have been some kind of effort to cover a mistake.... so give yourself a break! Don't let the possibility of a mistake keep you from ever starting!
7. If you STILL can't get going, here are a few motivational quotes... pick your favorite and tape it up in your scrapping space!
So, let go! Leave your worries behind and get scrappy! I give you permission to get started, make glorious mistakes, and end up with fun and memorable pages. You can thank me later :)
Fun new papers from Canvas Corp are just in - take a gander:
Aren't those lips and 'staches too cute??? Do they remind you of a certain special guest who is coming to our store in May???? (Check out this post and see if you can't figure it out...) I love the Family page too... all the little cut-out tags and the tree of words... very cool! Come on in and pick out your favs!
