This past October the owners of The Paperie offered me the trip and experience of a lifetime and sent me, along with one of the owners, Chris, to Houston for the Collins Group Rep Show. To say I was overwhelmed and way too excited the whole time would be an understatement! I took classes from Tim Holtz, Jennifer McGuire (who publicly announced her pregnancy today!), Shari Carroll, Candy Rosenberg, and Cheryl Mezzetti, to name a few. The techniques I learned, the people I met, and the fun I had were just over the top.

In return, I came home with a promise to teach classes based on what I had picked up. And I had more ideas than I knew what to do with! We started the series of Houston Classes a couple of weeks ago with a full weekend of workshops. I taught 3 classes on Saturday and a full day Tim Holtz Class on Sunday.

Saturday morning was Hero Arts – Stamp and Emboss where we made 3 cards – a faux watercolour, a faux letterpress, and a trapped embossed resist.

Next up was Impression Obsession – One, Two, Tree (my personal favourite) where we again made 3 cards – one with alcohol inks, one with acrylic paints, and one with Distress Stains.

Finally, I taught a tag workshop with The Crafter’s Workshop Stencils. We made 10 tags, full of different techniques and everyone went home with the recipes on the back and the two stencils so they could recreate the fun we had!

The Tim class on Sunday was the Holiday Artful Journal, one of the exact classes Chris and I took while we were away. The big treat in this one was all the product everyone took home – stains, mists, paint, Glue n’ Seal, and a finished mini album!

There was lots of laughing, a bunch of giveaways, and some great projects made. I can’t wait to do the next class in the series – Kraft Glassine Mixed Media Mini Album. That’s coming February 12, 2012 at The Paperie – and here’s a peek!

We’ll be playing with Distress Stains, Alcohol Inks, Cork Paper, Sticky Back Canvas, and more!

Have a good one, everybody!

S.