Something exciting….

28 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by Sara in Mixed Media, Yearlong Album

Tags

Ronda Palazzari, Stencils, The Crafter's Workshop, Yearlong Album

…happened to me about a week and a half ago.

I tweeted sneak peek pics of the Yearlong album cover for the class participants to get an idea of what we would be doing in class.

Ronda Palazzari, who designed the awesome Confetti stencil I used, saw the pics and sent me a direct message through Twitter, saying she loved it and could she please include it in a blog post about her stencils?

Umm, let me think about that, YES!

So today the post is up on her blog and to be included with artists such as May Flaum and Marjie Kemper is a total thrill!

And thanks Ronda, I’m so glad you like the album!

By the way, Ronda also teased me, saying that her new stencils (coming in July) were even better than this past release! I offered to give them a test run, make sure they worked ok and all, but I don’t think she’s going for it – sigh. 🙂

YLA2013 | Album Cover

19 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, Techniques, Yearlong Album

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Album cover, Luminarte, Mixed media, Ronda Palazzari, Silks, Stencil, The Crafter's Workshop, Yearlong Album, YLA2013

This may be one of my favourite projects ever. The colours, the texture, the dimension, the shine and, hello! That stencil.

Seriously people, that stencil may be my favourite of all time, maybe even edging out the Pomegranate one. Yes, it’s that good. It’s so good that I could even say I’m in love with Ronda Palazzari for designing it and Jamie at The Crafter’s Workshop for making it. I love it so much that I made sure everyone in my Yearlong class got the 12×12 one as well.

Moving along, this lovely project also happens to be the album cover we are making for the Yearlong 2013 class. Obviously, as it is a mixed media album no one will have the exact same cover but I’ll be teaching all the techniques I used and showing how I got that awesome texture (hint: teabags may have been involved!).

I also used modeling paste which made the hearts pop:

And gave fabulous dimension to the spine:

The paints I used were Luminarte Silks to give it that awesome shimmer and shine:

And for those who don’t have Silks yet (I stress the word yet, they are a necessity!) I’m working on a way to use your regular acrylics and make them into a faux shimmer glaze. If it works, I’ll do a tutorial some Tuesday soon.

If you can’t already see the reason I love the Confetti stencil, here’s why:

It’s like paint spatters, and blobs of molding paste, and quirky hearts all thrown together with great, but still imperfect, border to tie it all together.

And here’s a closeup of the front so you can really see how it all came together:

The back is very similar, but the paints blended a little differently. Plus, I still think I’m going to add a small camera stamp and my signature:

I had truly planned to do an album title and some decoration but I couldn’t bear to cover this up so… I guess we’ll have to go with Happy as an album title! 🙂

I’ll be back next week with the LO for this month, so look out for that later and keep an eye on Instagram (#YLA2013) for sneaks of it!

Here we go again!

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by Sara in Classes, ScrapBook, Yearlong Album

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

Classes, The Paperie, Yearlong Album, YLA2013

Another year of the Yearlong Album class is about to start and I’m super pumped about this one! It’s going to be less monthly themed than in the past, though it will still work perfectly for documenting each month, and it’s going to be a fun mixed media journey!

For a teaser, I thought I’d show the cover page we’ll be doing for the album. I won’t get into all the details, I’ll keep those for class right now, but I love how it turned out!

Most of the pages we make this year will be adhered to or made directly on the page protector itself, giving us the page protector as a large pocket to house memorabilia.

As you can see, the cover page is on canvas, not paper!

We’ll be using stencils along with fun and different media…

There will be some great shimmer and layering…

And awesome texture!

The only thing not included in the class are all the wood veneer pieces since I really want people to personalize this LO. So, if you’re signed up, start hunting for bits and bobs that you want to add to make the cover page really you!

I’ve also just learned that there may be a kit or two left! We upped the numbers this year to make sure everyone who wanted to could take part and there’s still time to sign up! I’d love to see you there – it’s going to be an amazing, messy, creative, and wickedly fun year! Trust me, you don’t want to miss out on this one!

We’ll also be doing our first two page spread for the year and it’s a very cool one – follow me on twitter or instagram or search #YLA2013 to see the peeks I post while creating.

Final Yearlong Class 2012 – Part 2 (and some awesome news!)

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by Sara in Classes, ScrapBook, Yearlong Album

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

2012 Yearlong Album, Classes, Kelly Purkey, Simple Stories, Studio Calico, The Paperie, Wood Veneer, Year.o.graphy

So, yesterday got away from me and I didn’t post the LO’s I promised – oops! And there was a big exciting announcement made by The Paperie which caused a Twitter frenzy among the local scrapping crowd. I’ll get to that bit later!

First, here’s how I added my own personal twist to the final bonus pages of the Yearlong 2012 album. (You can see the original LO’s here).

The things I use the most lately are wood veneer shapes and stitching and on these two LO’s, I loaded up!

For the first one, I added little birds (for my two chickies!), a bunch of stars (because they are the best wood veneer pieces ever), and a few other random pieces.

I loaded up on the stickles and the Metallic Gold Mister Huey so there’s lots of bling. I also stitched over the sticker letters so they would stay put – I hate letters that end up floating around your LO!

The second LO also has a ton of wood veneer, stickles, and stitching, but I matted it on a 12×12 background too. Normally I place all different sized LO’s in the same album but my wedding album is all 12×12 so I decided to stick with that.

All I did to make the original LO flow into a 12×12 is spray the background with coordinating mist and add stitching to the top left corner. This is my go-to quick and easy way to switch a letter size LO in a larger square – simple add a couple of elements like mist or embellishments that tie the two together and no one will ever know it’s a mashup!

I added the wood veneer doilies to tie in with the stamped doily border:

And of course, since it’s a wedding LO, I had to add the potty people and a heart!

Now, onto the exciting Paperie news….

Kelly Purkey is coming! And Krista and I get to share the teaching stage with her over the weekend! My class, naturally, is technique based so we’ll be making 4 cards with Ranger products and I’m going to try and fit in as many different products as I can – including the new Distress Paints!

If you’re in NL or are looking for a super fun weekend full of classes, cropping, and good times, sign up now and join us! Plus, it’s over St. Patrick’s Day weekend and since we do boast about George Street having the most bars and pubs per square foot in North America, you can bet there will be a party happening!

I do have to curb my excitement about Kelly a little and design and teach a few other classes before then – lots of fun and awesome things are coming your way!

I’ve been AWOL… (and the final Yearlong Album 2012 Class)

28 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by Sara in Classes, ScrapBook, Yearlong Album

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

kids, Salmon Cove, Scrapbook Layout, Yearlong 2012, Yearlong Album

Yes, I vanished sometime last week, totally without notice.

Sorry. 🙂

Let’s just say that a week of prep work and then two very full days of teaching, followed up by a couple of “undone but deadlines looming” projects led to me taking an unscheduled blog break.

But I have the assignments finished, photos taken, edited, and uploaded. And I have instructions written and about to be sent, along with photos, for the final January class and, more importantly, the final Yearlong 2012 class.

For the first time ever I put pictures on the pages for the Yearlong Album. My goal with this class has always been to give a base that each student’s monthly pictures could work with so I’ve never put my own photos on. This past year has been a little different since I’ve made several Bonus Pages that aren’t part of the core album. So, for the final two bonus pages I designed, I added pictures!

The first one is an oldie from my wedding day. Love the series this shot came from since it’s on the newly built deck of the family cabin. This cabin has been in my dad’s family for a very long time and although other family members have gotten married in Salmon Cove, I was the first to get married on the Sands (the beach), and, as far as I know, the first to have the cabin factor into the wedding at all. So my dad built a new deck and freshened the place up with a new coat of paint and we had a bunch of pictures there. I like these of only me at a cabin I loved coming to as a kid.

The next one features M & G having a fun time and insisting I take a pic while they hug – sometimes, they really are cute! 🙂

My idea is to take these base LO’s and add my own extras to them – planning to have them done tomorrow so stop back for the reveal!

Dear January,

04 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by Sara in Cards, Classes, Mini Album, Mixed Media, Yearlong Album

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Canvas, Classes, Impression Obsession, Mixed media, Ranger, The Paperie

Please don’t kick my ass.

I know you’re going to be a busy month.

Hugely busy.

Remember in December when I did 5 new classes in 10 days? Well January, that is kind of what you’re going to be like.

On top of the 6, count ’em, 6 new classes I’ll be teaching at The Paperie, I have my regular Design Team work for Simple Scrapper and am working on a special project for them as well.

And I still have Paperie Picks posts to write and of course, this place here.

So please be kind to me, January, I’m going to need it!

I’m looking forward to the final Yearlong 2012 class and to just being able to say goodbye to that one after a year.

2012 Album Cover (& Ella!)

I’m already planning, planning, planning for the new one and can’t wait for all the fun techniques we’re going to do in the 2013 class! I do know that brand new Crafter’s Workshop stencils and mixed media gels and gesso will be a small part of the new kit!

And I’m really excited for the 4 classes I’m teaching in one giant fun-filled weekend. Ranger, Impression Obsession, Dylusions, canvases, cards, mini albums, and more on January 19 and 20 for what I call the Orlando classes. There will be great products included, awesome techniques, and fabulous projects. I know I’m going to have a blast but boy oh boy, I have some major prep work to do!

But first, I’m teaming up with Cathie once again for a Designer Duo class in Mixed Media! She’ll being using those techniques on a LO while I’ll be teaching a canvas. This is my favourite type of project to do so I’m stoked to get everyone else loving this art form too.

Happy Memories

So yes January, I’m excited and looking forward to you but please, don’t throw anything else my way for a week or two!

You can learn more about all of my January classes at the Paperie here and call them to sign up for any or all. Sign-ups are still open for the new technique filled Yearlong Album 2013 too but call quick if you want to be part of that always sold out class!

Yearlong Album Class

29 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by Sara in ScrapBook, Yearlong Album

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Tags

My Mind's Eye, Simple Stories, Studio Calico, The Crafter's Workshop. Yearlong Album 2012

I was planning to start posting my Project Life LO’s today but it turned out to be Monday in every sense of the word.

That means no pics and since I have no light now, except the fake kind, no blog post about that until Wednesday. Unless tomorrow and Wednesday also turn out to be a Monday in which case I may not survive… 🙂

Moving on…

I do have the pictures taken of the latest Yearlong Album class LO’s so you can take a gander at those!

(Please excuse the terrible pictures – it was early in the morning and I was in a rush! I’ll replace them when I get a chance to take better ones.)

Here’s the double spread for November:

Simple, as always, but we do need to fit a month’s worth of pictures here so I’m kind of limited as to the space I can take up with pretty paper and stickers!

I’m still in love with this stamp set and this mist. And, of course, I had to throw in a stencil. The mini Circle Explosion worked so well here – it reminds me of throwing leaves in air and having them fly everywhere!

A pocket, as always, on the page:

And I always cut the page protector so, in this case, the flap is outside and can be opened and the pocket contents are always easily accessible.

We also did another bonus page:

Again, simple, but this one has a great list on it for journaling, plus, I made everyone do some fussy cutting, I’m mean like that! 🙂

I specifically keep the bonus pages generic so they can be added anywhere in the album you need extra space, or they can be used in any other album you might want. For those people who scrap 12×12 exclusively (this album is 8.5 x 11) the bonus pages are able to be mounted on a 12×12 sheet of cardstock and used in a larger album too.

Only one month left for monthly LO’s and then we have one final class. Most people have requested that class be catchup, questions, and a couple more bonus pages for their extra pictures.

And then, come February, it’s new album time! Open registration for that class is coming up soon so keep your eyes on the Paperie blog and newsletter. This one always fills up, and fast, so if you’re interested jump on it right away! I’m excited for the new album too – we’re going back to 12×12, it’s going to be a little less thematic for the months and so could be used for just about anything, and it’s going to be technique heavy. If you like to play with new supplies, or want to learn about different products, this will definitely be the class to take next year!

Back tomorrow, we hope, with a technique tag and PL on Wednesday – wish me luck!

Yearlong Album Class – October 2012

02 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by Sara in Classes, Uncategorized, Yearlong Album

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

2012 Yearlong Album, Simple Stories, Year.o.graphy

Yesterday was not only Monday but it was *a* Monday. Know what I mean? Yeah. Nothing that was supposed to get done got done and I was very happy when the day was over!

So here I am today, trying to play catch up a little and post yesterday’s blog – which means that the Tuesday Technique post is not happening this week…. and probably not next either, since I’ll be out of town. 😦

Moving on!

On Sunday I taught the October LO class for the ongoing Yearlong Album at The Paperie. Following the same trend as the past two years, October has turned out to be my favourite design!

Because we’re using 8.5 x 11 pages, the LO’s are pretty simple, leaving lots of room for pictures – we do have to fit an entire month’s worth of photos on here! 🙂

The “Count your blessings” panel is actually a pocket, we have one on each monthly LO for all those bits and bobs of memorabilia we collect, and there’s some fun random stamping and glitter happening here too.

We also completed a bonus LO that was inspired by Cathie’s sunburst and pie chart class at the Paperie last week. I offset my centre point but used the same basic principle and I love how the papers from Simple Stories worked for it – the sunburst looks awesome!

We also talked about the next Yearlong Album class (yes, I’m doing it again!) and it’s going to be changed up a bit next year! Think less themed pages, way more technique, and the album will be more flexible. What I mean is that if you don’t want a yearlong album because you’re doing Project Life, for example, it doesn’t need to be. It can be a basis for a Book of Me (Rae Lynn will be teaching a series of Book of Me LO’s and we’re hoping the two classes can work together, size-wise!) or a special moments album, or whatever you like!

People are already asking when registration begins so if you want in this year, keep checking the Paperie blog for when that will open – it sold out quick last year!

G in Salmon Cove

03 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by Sara in ScrapBook, Yearlong Album

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

7 Gypsies, beach, Ranger, Salmon Cove, Simple Stories

A few weekends ago my oldest friend and I took our kiddies to the beach. Of course, it rained the whole time so there was no beach and water play, but we managed to have fun and get in one stroll along the sand.

When I went to make the project for the latest Yearlong Class at The Paperie, I knew I had to use a picture of G from the walk.

Instead of a regular LO this past month (we’re a little ahead of the game!) I decided to do a shadowbox project instead. It’s super simple, so easy to replicate for gifts and it looks great!

The large opening is 4×6 and the smaller ones are not quite 2×2. The size and depth of the openings are perfect for things like a vial of sand, which I have (but need to fill the next time we go!), or baby bands from the hospital for a birth present. Loads of options, and these trays come in black or white.

We jazzed up the white ones a little with some tissue tape around the full exterior and the interior of each opening.

I love how it turned out, and the ones from class were amazing! Just changing up the tissue tape made a huge difference to the final look.

I’m hoping to get my hands on a couple more – I’m thinking Christmas gifts already!

Some crafty goodness…

04 Friday May 2012

Posted by Sara in Cards, Classes, ScrapBook, Techniques, Yearlong Album

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Adirondack Color Wash, Distress Stain, Paperie, Ranger, Stamper's Anonymous, The Crafter's Workshop

…as promised! Here it is!

Last weekend we had a birthday party to attend and I had to teach the Yearlong Class at The Paperie that day as well. Unfortunately, I had no card made for the party before hand. Oops! Luckily, as I was teaching one of the two bonus cards we made…

… Cathie mentioned the Distress Stain splats would make good monsters. Ummm, yes, they totally would! And I had coloured googly eyes at home – awesome! Here’s how that 3 minute card turned out:

Monsters!!!

So yeah, I totally *love* it! And I think Pine Needles might be my new favourite colour – see that fantastic greeny blue guy? He makes me happy… 🙂

The other card we did on Sunday was made using The Crafter’s Workshop Mini Fragmented Flower Stencil and mists.

I get a lot of people asking me how to mist properly and I always say to press on the nozzle. Seriously.

It seems to me that a lot of people are scared they’ll get too much colour or spray in the wrong place or something and they gingerly press down on the nozzle. Slowly. And that’s guaranteed to get you splats and drops, not mist. So just give your mist a good, solid press, people – go for it! And if you’re worried about too much colour, place your paper in a box, aim the mist at the back of the box, press down, and just let the mist drift down on your page. It’s much finer this way, but you’ll have more control about the intensity but since it’s mist, it will go where it wants, for the most part – you have very little control there, my friends!

All that being said, I thought we should have some misting practice in class! I used Adirondack Colour Wash in my sample – I love the colours and intensity of these. The trick with mist and stencils is to go light. The more mist, the more liquid, the more seepage under the stencil. So, go light and get a great impression! And use colours that will blend nicely together! And if you don’t think you have enough colour down, trust me, you do – do not spray again, it will be fine! 🙂

Anyway, simple cards, both done in about 5 minutes each, but fun techniques that can be used for a bunch of different things! If you want to see more techniques with Distress Stains, check out my Paperie Picks post from last week.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone – I’m at the Retreat and I know I’m having a great time!