pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

Coming soon: a scrapbooking masterclass [37]

2013-05-24T20:55:53Z

_{a fourth layout with supplies just from the April Best of Both Worlds kit. This was the last I could do with full sheets of paper, so the remaining projects will include some non-kit items too.}

Happy Friday! My Friday has been a waiting game… waiting to share something new with you! If you’ve listened to the latest Paperclipping Roundtable podcast, you heard my first announcement of something new coming up around here. It’s called Scrapbook Concentration.

I love teaching full classes, and I have two in the works at the moment: one that will debut quite soon and a second booked for later in the summer. But full classes take a lot of time to develop and a long time to devote as a student playing along. For quite some time I’ve been looking for a way to have something in between: something that would give you some quality instruction – in-depth discussion of one specific topic – but still be something you could do on one day rather than devoting several weeks. I’ve figured it out, and the new things available in the realm of video have opened up some new opportunities. Scrapbook Concentration will be a series of scrapbooking masterclasses in a video format. Each one is about two hours, broken into six segments that are each about twenty minutes long. No PDFs, no list of assignments. Also no waiting for me to process your registration. For Scrapbook Concentration, you can just purchase the video and then you’ll have access to it straight away, and the purchase price includes online viewing as many times as you want and any time you want for a year. You can also download the video to have a copy you can watch offline – including on your iPad, phone, or whatever you fancy – and that won’t expire at the end of the year, so you can keep it forever at that same price. I know some of you have been unhappy about video content that was online-only in the past, because streaming video can be painful when you have a slow internet connection! I definitely feel your pain. This new option will eliminate that problem because you can just download it (overnight if needed) and then have a copy to watch any time without worrying about access to fast internet.

This is a little different for me because it means I’m hosting the video content through a different set-up than I’ve used before, and at the moment everything is submitted and waiting for their approval, and then it will go live! I’m not sure if that approval comes from a person or if it’s a machine – so I don’t know if things get approved over the weekend. It’s a mystery to me for this first run! But as soon as it is live, I will definitely let you know, and if you choose to sign up, then I hope you enjoy it!

While there are no PDFs for Scrapbook Concentration, I know many of you enjoy having the class forum to discuss your projects amongst yourselves! So I have a little compromise for this. If you have taken any shimelle.com online class in the last six or seven years, you will have an account on the class forum. All forum members will have access to a discussion board for each Scrapbook Concentration video. Basically, that means there is a forum for you to discuss this if you have taken at least one shimelle.com class. Of course you’re welcome to purchase the video without ever having taken a full class! It’s just that the system for giving you that instant access to Scrapbook Concentration is different to the method where I personally process your registration and account for any full class here, so that’s why the forum is a bit of a compromise. For those of you who already use the class forum, you’ll have the extra benefit of having a designated place to chat.

One further clarification – this is completely separate to the videos and layouts that come from the Best of Both Worlds kits. Those videos will always be free. I use a range of other supplies in the video, and I can see about putting a product list up in the forum if that’s something you think would be helpful. But it’s very much designed to be adapted to your own supplies rather than needing to find the exact same stuff. The idea behind all my classes is always to leave you able to take the lessons forward with your own work so you can create happily and confidently on your own! (Yes, that school teacher side of me is still here. She is very happy she doesn’t have to grade exam papers or stay late for detention in the scrapbooking world!)

So… until I get this magic message that says everything is ready, I have to wait! I can tell you that this first Scrapbook Concentration focuses on layering, and it breaks things down to several different styles and techniques of layering, discusses how it can be easier and more efficient on your supplies than you think, and includes tips for adapting the ideas to your own style. You can choose if you really want to spend two hours watching it straight through, or if you would prefer to watch segment by segment, in twenty minute blocks that each give you something specific to try.

I’m very excited to offer this new masterclass approach, and I hope you enjoy it! More details here as soon as it’s live!

Have a beautiful and safe weekend!

xlovesx

Gardeners' Digest scrapbooking blog hop (May 2013) [113]

2013-05-22T12:00:00Z

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time at my desk preparing for something that should appear here on Friday (I mentioned it at the end of yesterday’s Paperclipping Roundtable episode) but wanted to take a quick break to join the Garden Girls for this month’s Gardeners’ Digest blog hop.

Since we last caught up with all things Garden Girl, Glitter Girl has been on a few adventures, including rather lovely fashions from the late twentieth century, a focus on the embellishment process, balancing the scrapbooking of new and old photos for your albums, making stuff with background stamps, and an extended episode on planning a new album. That extended episode is the first in a little mini-series of four adventures jokingly known around here as Glitter Girl’s Guide to Wedding Scrapbooks, but there should be plenty in each episode that will apply even if you don’t have wedding pictures to scrap. It was rather lovely of my sister-in-law to plan her wedding for just the right time for the mini-series! As always, you can find all my Glitter Girl pages and videos here.

I’ve really been thinking and taking notes on double page layouts recently, and this edition of In the Mood to Scrap by Kristina Nicolai-White really caught my eye. I love how this is a video where she shows you how she changed her plan part-way through the design and had to take the layout apart and put it back together again to make it work – but it definitely did work and no tears shed. I do love a bit of reckless abandon with paper! But actually Kristina made it look all rather calm and clear. The end result is beautiful, and a very different use of the two page design concept.

So many of the mid-release collections are just lovely this spring. My top five suggestions this month include The Pier Ephemera pack by Crate Paper (die-cuts and sequins – lovely!), a cut-apart paper from My Mind’s Eye (glasses! huzzah!), the new font from Jillibean Soup letter stickers (I ordered them in every colour, I think), the Amy Tangerine embroidery kit (I’ve been using this often when a page just needs a little something more), and a freebie – this cutting file sampler. There are several lovely cutting files, but I like that there are a few you can download for free to give it a try and make sure it works. Free is my favourite price!

This month I have a class pass for Jen Gallacher’s new workshop, Tool School, to give away to one commenter. Just leave a comment on this post to enter, and entries close at the end of this month. Be sure to leave a valid email address so I can reach you if you win, and if you have a Two Peas username, that would be great too. Thanks!

After you leave a comment to enter the giveaway, click over to Melissa for the next stop or take a look at the Two Peas blog to catch the details.

May Flaum shares her creative process for scrapbooking [5]

2013-05-21T05:00:00Z

I am often asked about my creative process, about the how and why of the things I do, about where my wild ideas come from. The funny thing is, I actually have a very simple, very story-centric process when it all gets broken down. I took the opportunity to sit down and really look at, make notes, and think about my process and I found that I actually do have a very specific set of step that I follow. That might sound funny considering how I’m known as this no-rules and carefree scrapbooker but it is true.

The steps are really more of guidelines, and what you might notice is that I put embellishing dead last. My perspective is that the pretty stuff is there to support the story and the photos, and so it has to work with my story. Often as I get started on a project I will have a creative idea, and sometimes I alter the scope of my layout to allow for it if needed. Oh but I could really rattle on all day about this! Here is a layout I created just for this article:

You probably wouldn’t guess to look at it, but this is actually a two page layout (other page not shown). I broke down the creative process as I went along for this page, and I share a few creative thoughts as well in this video. Things got a bit long – more than twenty minutes – but that’s normal here in Shimelle’s world, right? I hope you enjoy – and if you have any questions please feel free to let me know I’d be happy to clarify further.

I encourage you to explore your own past and present scrapbooking, and make some notes on your process, strengths, and weaknesses too. Where are you happy? What are you doing well? Often noting those things can help you elevate areas you aren’t as happy with or are struggling with. I wish you some very happy crafting – thanks for joining me today!

To celebrate May’s upcoming online class, we have a class pass to give away. This giveaway is open to Twitter users, and to enter, just send this tweet:

Hey @glittershim, I want to spend my summer scrapbooking with @mayf! http://ow.ly/ldOB1

Copy and paste that tweet and post on your Twitter account - the link at the end comes back to this post to share May's tutorial. (Feel free to try it so you can see we're not sending you anywhere else!) May will select a winner next Monday, and class starts on the sixth of June!

A note about this Twitter giveaway: we realise not everyone has a Twitter account, but we just wanted to change it up a little to try something a little different to just leaving comments here. You're welcome to open an account, tweet just that message, and delete your account next week if you really want to enter but don't have a need for Twitter! No worries!

When it comes to crafting May Flaum has one rule: it’s gotta make her happy. She’s not afraid to get super grungy or work with bright colors, dabble in lace and doilies then make something more splattered and wild. If she’s not in her studio (aka 'the bat cave') then she’s probably out running around having fun with her family or cooking up a storm. May has been working in the scrapbooking industry for a decade and currently blogs her crafty adventures, teaches on-line classes, and works with amazing companies sharing her projects and ideas. If she has one piece of advice to share, it’s always to be true to your creative heart. May is currently finishing details on her newest on-line scrapbooking class Camp Scrap – where you can come and play, create, and enjoy more than a dozen videos and over fifty new exclusive projects as well. For more information or to register for Camp Scrap visit Big Picture classes here.

Five Things to do with Wood Veneer by Wilna Furstenberg [9]

2013-05-17T05:00:00Z

We all have some wood veneer in our stash. I think I have more than most people and when I was thinking of doing 5 things with one product, wood veneer shapes came to mind. Working smaller projects for this post, I found that I can pay more attention to details. In the end, I love the mood board that I created. This will also work wonderfully for a project life page.
My idea with creating this visual mood board is to focus in on little details. I wanted to treat each little wood veneer as the main attraction of the page. I will explain with every part, just how I did that.

In my stash, I found these whimsical little muslin drawstring bags. And I stamped it with the “handle with care” stamp using some big brush pens (You can see how I use those in this in the mood to scrap video on 2peas). The centre piece is a wood veneer butterfly that I embossed with gold. I literally (as with all the embossed wood veneers used in this project) pressed the butterfly into the versamark pad and sprinkled some embossing powder on and heat it up. The little embellishment is from the Maggie Holmes collection by crate Paper and it completed the little bag perfectly.

This little page is a perfect example of something you can add to project life, in a mini album or as a card. I layered my photo on some mint green paper (from Studio calico’s sundrifter collection) and added the wood veneers with my hot glue gun in a little row. I used a 7 gypsies stamp and black ink to stamp on the wood veneers and you can see the lovely texture it created. To add some softness to the card, I punched a hole at the top and bottom and threaded a organza ribbon through it.

This card consists of a Maya Road envelope and some tags I added at the top. I stamped the tags with the same 7 gypsies stamp and gold embossed the wood veneers to match the butterfly from the little bag. The feathers is embossed with pink and layered over an american craft sticker and some Maggie Holmes paper from her new collection. I love how pretty this piece turned out. It’s simple and complex all at the same time. This will make a beautiful feature on a scrapbook layout.

This card can be a mini album cover. I layered the wood veneer pieces (these hearts are from lawn fawn) between layers of tulle fabric that I stitched down on some Lucky charm paper. Sometimes less is definitely more. I love the splash of green that I cut with my silhouette cameo. The flair button is by Evalicious.

This card is simply layers. I layered stickers and a tag, some chipboard words and a chipboard hart. And on top i used a fern wood veneer that I painted white with gesso and a wood veneer frame that I embossed with a glitter pink. I finished it off with the same organza ribbon that I used on another card.

This tag is also one of my favourites. I used a wood grain big roller stamp (from Glitz) and embossed it in white on a tag. Then I added the flower wood veneer that I painted white and coloured with different colors gelatos. (you can see how I use gelatos in this video2 on 2peas) For a finishing touch I added the organza ribbon.

As you can see, there are so many ways to dress up the wood veneer pieces. I loved playing with them in such a whimsical way, thinking of creative ways to use them on each little layout. I hope this inspires you to look at your wood veneers in a new and different way.

Wilna Furstenberg is a South African Canadian that lives in Saskatchewan Canada with her husband of 22 years and 3 girls. She has been a designer in the scrapbooking industry for 8 years and have been on various Manufacturer Design teams and have been published in a various scrapbooking publications. At the moment she focuses on growing her Photography business and she is a garden girl at 2peas in a bucket. Her recent Artclass workshop on 2peas has been very popular and she is working on artclass 2 coming out in the fall. You can find her blog at: www.wilnaf.com and follow her on twitter and Instagram# .

National Scrapbooking Day 2013 :: The Winners [21]

2013-05-14T22:08:47Z

As promised, it’s today that all things NSD 2013 wrap up around here! The deadlines for all the scrapbooking challenges have passed, and one winner from each challenge was selected at random. I’ve also put together an inspiration pin board here with some of my favourite pages that were submitted to the challenges! But all the prize winners were chosen at random, with the caveat that if the same scrapper’s name was drawn more than once, a new name would be chosen. NSD is all about sharing the scrapbooking love, right? Do have a look to see if you or a friend are amongst the winners:

Challenge 1: Scrap in pink
Congratulations to Mel Bakes, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 2: Use 4×6 photos
Congratulations to Jamie Leija, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 3: Use mist
Congratulations to Michelleun, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 4: Write with repetition
Congratulations Caroline Faulkner, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 5: Use brads or eyelets
Congratulations to Kerry Lynn, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 6: Scraplift yourself
Congratulations to Lisa M. Zepponi, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 7: Use unexpected supplies
Congratulations to Karen Williams, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 8: Scrap about yourself
Congratulations to CEngland, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 9: Do some fancy cutting
Congratulations to Tasha, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 10: Use a mood board
Congratulations to SassyScrapper, a winenr for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 11: Make it sparkle
Congratulations to Donjawong, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 12: Write a letter
Congratulations to Miriam Prantner, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 13: Highlight your favourite papers
Congratulations to Kate, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 14: Try a double page
Congratulations to Lisa Jane, a winner for this scrapbook page .

Challenge 15: Line it up
Congratulations to Mandalika, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 16: Record hope or gratitude
Congratulations to Marshatf, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 17: Scrapbook with fabric
Congratulations to PurpleJet61, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 18: Embrace the power of three
Congratulations to Cristina C, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 19: Paint it up
Congratulations to Jennie, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 20: Scrapbook smaller photos
Congratulations to Nina, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 21: Divide your page
Congratulations to Cynthia, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 22: Scrap with squares
Congratulations to Rhonda, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 23: Stretch your supplies
Congratulations to damitaprilurcool, a winner for this scrapbook page.

Challenge 24: Scrapbook a milestone
Congratulations to Adria Smith, a winner for this scrapbook page.

To claim your prize, please send an email, making it clear which winner you are (many of you are screen names or first names only and that may not be an obvious match to your email address), and include your mailing address. Use the subject line ‘NSD Prize Winner’ please. The prizes are a mix of physical prize packs to be sent in the post, gift certificates, and online class passes – they will take about a week to be all sent out and the various prizes will be randomly assigned to the winners!

About sharing the love: if you entered your page into a challenge on another site, that’s fine! If you won a prize for the same layout here and on another site, please consider giving this prize a pass so it can go to someone else who also participated in challenges but didn’t win anything yet. It’s not a firm rule and I’m not going to go looking. I just ask you consider it, and if you would like to pass your prize to another scrapper, let me know so I can arrange that. Thanks!

Thank you so much to everyone who joined in and shared their work or left a comment. I hope you enjoyed the guest artists especially, and don’t forget to add them to your regular blog reads or drop them a comment to let them know you were inspired by their creativity! And next May, let’s do this all again, shall we?

As always, happy scrapping!