What a Charmer| My Favourite Things 2015

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things, ScrapBook, Techniques

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Alcohol ink, Classes, Mixed media, Ranger

I stuck with my plan and used Ranger alcohol inks for this month’s Favourite Things class. These inks are made for use on non-porous and slick surfaces where they move and blend beautifully. Although I do like using that technique, my favourite is to use the inks on porous elements, like watercolour paper and sticky back canvas.

The first LO was simple blending of colours to make a striped effect. I love the intensity of the colours – I can’t get such richness with any other product I’ve found yet!

There were some awesome colour combos used in class for this! Although I generally use black and white photos when doing mixed media and/or colourful backgrounds so I can go with whatever colours I want at the time, many people brought colour photos and picked inks to work with them. I love seeing all the different preferences and ideas!

Once the majority of our background was done, we used Alcohol Blending Solution and extra ink to add some splatter and texture:

We finished it off by inking enamel chevron stickers to use as embellishments:

The second LO was made by using the alcohol inks over a stencil:

We brought the chevrons back in on this LO but with wood veneer instead. We still coloured them with the alcohol inks and then added some shimmer because I’m obsessed, lol!

I’m sorry I’ve been a terrible blogger lately – I know I’ve been totally AWOL! – but I can’t seem to get around my own self lately; I think winter is taking its toll! I do have posts for tomorrow (some fabulous “guest artists” will be featured!) and on Friday I have something fun to share so come back and check out all the eye candy!

Cheers!

Always Remember | My Favourite Things 2015

11 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things, ScrapBook

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Classes, Mixed Media Layout, My Favourite Things

In 2009 (I believe) I went to the owners of The Paperie and asked to teach a yearlong class – one that people would sign up and commit to for an entire year, once a month. Although I’m sure they were more than a little hesitant, they went for it. I’ve been teaching the Yearlong Album class ever since.

If you ask anyone from the original class most will probably say it was their favourite one. I was into some basic mixed media back then, when it wasn’t the popular thing to do and it was much harder to get product, and boy, did we have fun playing! That first year it was a small 8×8 album, if I remember correctly, and we used every single little bit in our kits. Right down to the paper pad cover and sticker sheet leftovers. We literally had nothing left. It was actually kind of stressful for me, lol!

We moved onto a 12×12 LO plus pocket page system the next year. Then an 8.5×11 album. 2013 was all mixed media and last year it was sketch based. 5 years of albums and photos. And I loved every minute of it!

But it was time for a change so this year the class has been overhauled. It’s now called My Favourite Things and that’s exactly what it is – all my favourite items, techniques, and stuff! Plus, you no longer have to commit for a full year; it’s month to month so it works better for those people who travel or know they’re going to miss a bunch of classes. We’re also focusing on journaling and how I add it in, since I hate doing it! What hasn’t changed are the awesome people (thank you to all of you who have stuck with me from the beginning, or who have come back after taking a break, or who are brand new this year) and the fun times we have in class. Plus, there’s new product, and what’s more fun than tearing into a brand new package of stuff? Nothing!

The first 2015 class was last month and we played with one of my top 3 faves – Distress Inks!

Our cover page used one of my favourite colours in the Distress line, Evergreen Bough, and a wet on wet watercolour technique.

We added lots of layers with some October Afternoon speech balloon and label diecuts:

Some shine with Studio Calico silver star rub-ons:

And a bit of bling with embossing powders on the Thickers:

The layouts were made with the use of Distress Ink though a stencil and then more ink through another stencil layered over the first:

My journaling trick here was to use a quote – I do that all the time! Google is my friend!

We also used hidden journaling here, written on one of the speech balloons and tucked in the top corner:

The second layout used the same techniques but we added in some drips too – I love drips!

The water and stencil layering, plus a glitter pen and some enamel elements added lots of texture:

So we’re off to a good start! If you want to join us anytime, just give The Paperie a call and they’ll sign you up. If you want sneaks of what’s coming up in class, I try to post them to Instagram with #FaveThings2015. I’m still debating exactly what we’re doing this month but I’m leaning heavily towards alcohol inks!

Cheers!

Alcohol, fall, and kids…

17 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mini Album, Mixed Media, ScrapBook

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Classes, The Paperie

Yes, I’ve been MIA the past week or so. Everyone has been sick and it’s all viral so there’s nothing to do but deal and wait it out. Sigh.

Anyway, I wanted to pop in really quick and fill you in on my classes at The Paperie from now until Christmas – there’s a couple of fun ones coming up!

This Thursday night I’m teaching another Distress Renewed class and it’s all about Alcohol Ink!

Look at the texture there – fun, fun!

Of course, I have the Yearlong Album class the end of this month and again in December.

During the November class I’ll be talking about the changes for next year – and I think you’re going to like them!

The second Seasonal Mini Album class is December 4:

The great thing about this class is that you can take all four throughout the year or you can pick and choose. This fall one is looking pretty cute so far and has some new fun elements that differ from the Summer one.

On December 6 I’m teaching along with some of the other members of the Paperie Creative Team at the annual Holiday Hoopla. This year it’s all ornaments! I don’t have a picture of mine, I forgot to take one before I handed in the project, but it’s cute!

Finally, I’m teaching a kid’s class on December 7 so any parents who need some shopping time, this is a great time for that! Drop the kiddies off, they make a great project and you get all your stuff done!

I taught this to some Paperie Retreat participants last weekend and I’m super excited to see what the kids do with it – they always have the best ideas!

There are loads of other classes happening over the next month and a half as well so make sure you take a look!

Cheers!

A Super Star

17 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mini Album

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Classes, Mini Album, Star Album, The Paperie Retreat

Are you going to The Paperie Retreat? If you live anywhere close to St. John’s area or like to travel, scrap, and have fun then you really should come. It takes place at The Wilds Resort and we basically have the run of the place from Thursday to Sunday – it’s a blast! Trust me, it’s worth the money and the trip…

The Paperie sets up a pop-up store with a ton of new product and retreat exclusive kits, the designers and staff do demos (Cathie and I will both be demoing brand new products!), we have Make ‘n’ Takes, and there are a few classes to take, if you want. This time around, I’m teaching a fabulous Star Mini Album.

Isn’t that fun? With the kit you’ll get instructions for that one, plus the papers and stickers for these pages:

And as a bonus, I’ll include measurements for two bigger stars as well so you can have a hanging cluster for decoration this Christmas, if you want!

The mini is a great Christmas present too, since it comes with a stand to hang your finished album on. If you decide you just want to leave it closed, it’s got a super cute cover to display!

Have I convinced you to come yet? Here’s some more! Rae Lynn will be teaching an ornament Make ‘n’ Take and on display will be the ornaments all the designers have created for our Holiday Hoopla class in early December. I’m still working on mine but here’s one that didn’t make the cut for this year:

Super sparkly but a bit too finicky for this class – I have some more ideas though!

If you want more details on the Retreat, or to sign up, check this out!

Cheers!

Seasonal Canvas | Fall

03 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by Sara in Canvas, Classes, Mixed Media

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Canvas, Classes, Fall, Mixed media

Last night was the final in the Seasonal Canvas series – those people who did them all now have a gorgeous collection of four 6×6 canvases to display!

I have to admit, this fall one is my favourite – I love how it turned out!

A closer look at the quote most of us used:

And look at that shine! That’s pearlized Stampendous Mica Fragments with some fall colour added – isn’t it fabulous?!?

And that’s it – all the seasons done! Now, I just have to find somewhere in my house that will fit all four of them!

Cheers!

P.S. Missed some of the canvas posts? You see them all here: Winter, Spring, Summer

Seasonal Mini Album – Summer

30 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mini Album

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Classes, Mini Album, October Afternoon, Summer, The Paperie

One of the new classes I”m teaching this year at The Paperie is a series of seasonal mini albums. They’re a great size – 6×8 – and although they can very easily stand alone, they can also fit into an album, like the October Afternoon Daily Flash albums or Simple Stories Snap binders. We’ll be making them with sturdy covers so they’re beautiful on their own!

The first album was to document the summer months – June, July, and August.

We made cover pages for each month, simple but focusing on one special picture from that month.

June was still pretty cold around here but it was nice enough to go hiking!

July was hot and beautiful and we spend loads of time at the beach.

August was up and down but we managed to get a great day to go sailing with my dad, one of the kids favourite things to do!

We also added lots of fun things to the album, like a couple of chevron envelopes for pics:

And then we misted the back with some stencils:

We also added a full size coloured envelope:

That holds a tiny mini of additional pictures:

I used my Wink of Stella Clear glitter pen to add shimmer and shine to all the foam Thickers:

There were also some acrylic pages and some pages we made into pockets, plus some cool monthly dividers. I didn’t get pics of everything but there are a few more photos you can see at Flickr.

We’ll be making the fall album the beginning of December and the papers I’ve picked out for that one are pretty awesome – if you’re around here, maybe you should think about joining us!

Cheers!

Distress Renewed – Distress Ink Part 2

26 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, ScrapBook

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Classes, Distress Ink, Mixed Media Layout, Ranger

I’ve been having great fun with this bimonthly class at The Paperie – Distress Renewed. This month, due to popular request, we went back to Distress Inks again and I dug deep to come up with some new ways to use them. I think I succeeded!

The results were two new ways to build backgrounds, one in a watercoloury (that’s a real word, I swear!) way and the other using a new blending technique.

The blended ink background has double stencil layers, some water dripping, and ink splats. Lots going on but still not too busy:

Layers with alphas and stickers from the element sheet:

Now, can I be honest for a minute here? I’ve never been a fan of the Tea Dye Distress Ink – it just didn’t work for me. Until this LO:

See those orangey splats? Tea Dye. Awesomeness. Love, love, love.

The watercoloury background used about 12 different colours of ink:

The perfect mix of Old Paper ink and Perfect Pearls powder for ink splats with shimmer and defined edges, plus circle stamping:

And of course, sticker layers!

I love these Distress Renewed classes – it’s as much fun for me to find new ways to use my products as it is to teach them!

Back early next week with the first in my Seasonal Mini Albums class – Summer!

Cheers!

Let’s Hear it for the Girls!

22 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by Sara in Cards, Classes, ScrapBook

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cards, Classes, Layouts

A while back I posted a class I taught at The Paperie, Let’s Hear it for the Boys! Well, I’m finally getting around to sharing the second class, Let’s Hear it for the Girls!

As a bonus, we also made this one a LO kit and I think there might be a couple left at the store! You get everything you need to complete the LO’s and cards, plus full colour, step by step instructions – go grab one while you can!

This first one is pretty simple but the background paper was so gorgeous I couldn’t cover up much of it!

I added some fun shimmer mist droplets and sequins for sparkle:

And the Thickers in the kit are an awesome colour:

The second LO is a little more involved with some fussy cutting of elements:

I couldn’t resist cutting out one of the cute foxes and the chevron arrows were just asking to be used!

There’s also a great geotag clip in the kit and I got it to stand out by backing the heart with a scrap of patterned paper:

Finally, I made two cards – one was a birthday theme of course, because you can never have enough birthday cards!

And the second is a pretty generic one using those cute foxes again!

Once the LO’s and cards were made, there was still a ton of stuff left over for more cards or Project Life inserts – awesome value! The only thing not included in the kit were the mists that I used for droplets and the adhesive. It’s the perfect thing to take to a friend’s house for a night of scrapping or when you just want to do something but don’t want to think too hard about it! 😉

If you like this type of kit you’re in luck – I’m going to be doing more for The Paperie! We released a Back 2 School kit this past weekend at the Sunshine Foundation Crop and Silent Auction fundraiser and there are more in the works! I’ll post the School kit here on Wednesday so stop back then to check it out.

Cheers!

Seasonal Canvas | Summer

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by Sara in Canvas, Classes, Mixed Media

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Canvas, Classes, Mixed media

We’re heading into the finals of the Seasonal Canvas Class – only Fall left to do! If you want to check out the others we’ve done, there’s Winter and Spring.

For summer I did a clothesline, with a pretty common Newfoundland phrase, “Good day on clothes!” That’s what you’d say to neighbour over the clothesline when there’s a nice day for hanging out the wash.

Of course, since Molly’s favourite thing is Feel Bunny, I had to add her to the line – she smells so good after we hang her up by the ears!

The clothes are traced through a stencil by Nathalie Kalbach and then I added details to each piece:

The sun is made by rubbing Inca Gold Old Silver into the texture made by the molding paste through a stencil:

The seagulls have a bit of dimension so it looks like they’re flying off the canvas:

For me, the best part of these canvas classes is seeing how people look at what I made and then change it to fit their style – I love seeing their completed canvases!

I’m working on a new two layout page kit for the Paperie – Back to School – and I’m hoping to have that to show you in the next day or so. We’re hoping to get you several of these page kits over the year and they’re awesome! Everything you need to complete two full LO’s and maybe a couple of cards as well. Of course, they come with full colour instructions too – they’re the perfect thing to take to a friend’s house or crop if you don’t want to drag all your gear with you!

July | YLA2014

15 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by Sara in Classes, Yearlong Album

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Classes, Yearlong Album, YLA2014

I’m way behind in sharing things here but now that summer is almost over and school is in session again, I’m planning to get back to a regular schedule – fingers crossed!

Last month we did the July LO for the Yearlong Album class and it’s one of my faves. We used neon yellow and Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint, along with Distress Stains – it was all kinds of fun awesomeness! 🙂