Online Classes

I'm a big fan of taking online classes. Whenever I get in a rut or want to simply challenge myself to learn something new, I go looking. Here are two that I have coming up that I'd like to share. And hey--if you decide to take the plunge, let me know and we'll chat over on the message boards!!

The first is from Debbie Hodge. Total sweetheart with a great new book called "Get It Scrapped: Organize, Visualize, Create" that you should all go out and grab.

Here is the write up for the class:

5 weeks, 5 page parts (canvas, photos, embellishments,titles, journaling), 15 challenges, & the chance to use your stash -- starting May 26. cost $20.

Wake up every Monday to a lesson and layout challenge spotlighting the week's "page part." Receive new lessons and challenges on Wednesdays and Fridays as you push yourself to master and have fun with the core elements of a scrapbook page. Share your layouts in the class gallery and earn points toward prizes. Each week a new class designer will provide inspiration and encouragement, and you'll get a "sketch packet" with a variety of one-pagers and two-pagers to pull from if you're stuck. It's going to be fun! You can register at www.debbiehodge.com.

The other class I recently signed up for is this one:

The class description for this reads:
Got Sketch 101 is a three-week online class designed and taught by Valerie Salmon and Janna Wilson. The class kicks off June 9th and will feature the most creative sketches yet: TEN exclusive, never-before-seen sketches for 12x12 one-page layouts, 12x12 two-page layouts, cards and altered items! As an added bonus, we are also providing the layout sketches in 8 1/2 x 11 format. Sketches & projects will be added 2-3 times weekly during the three-week workshop. At the end of the course, you will have a downloadable pdf of all the sketches, too!
Class fee: $21.00. You can register here for this class.

I took the best class with Janna a few weeks ago and I'm still gushing about the fun projects. You all know I'm a huge fan of sketches, so this one was a no-brainer for me.

Hope you guys dive in and join me in the fun--you'll be happy you did!

And while I'm "plugging" I better add this one. Move over, Paypal. This company is intending on cashing in on some of that market share. I, for one, am thrilled. Those fees and charges add up. This company is offering to pay YOU for transactions, and they start you off with $25 FREE just for opening an account. They got my attention for sure. Click on the button below to sign up! (I know the deadline says May 15th, but the offer has been extended...)

And one last note. HUGE hugs and congrats go out to my favorite blogger and friend, Karen Russell. She and Josh Downs are tying the knot today, and I hope they have the most wonderful day evah!! Can't wait to see those pictures...

Enjoy your Thursday!!

Teacher Appreciation

This one is an oldie, but a goodie...As a former teacher myself, I can tell you that gift cards are the way to go. Now, the packaging is where I like to enhance the gift a bit. This altered paint can is from 3 years ago when I made it for my daughter's teacher, and it was a big hit. The embellies are from Karen Foster. I know these are older, but she came out with new school papers and embellies this year as well...
The inside of the can contained this little mini fold out. I used office supplies to enhance it. This is one of my former publications, and the teacher we gave it to was and is pretty special. When it was finished, we gave it to her with photos of my daughter, her and the other students from that year along with the gift card.
Thought this was a cute idea too. The over sized tile contains a vinyl enhancement from Uppercase Living. Cute little decorative item for someone...
One of the local candy shops here (Suzin L Chocolatier) makes the most delish spring colored malted milk balls. They fit perfectly into the little felt pails from Target's dollar spot! The gift card tucks into the side of the pail easily.
If you have any teacher appreciation suggestions, please feel free to email them to Turay413@gmail.com and I'll be sure to post them!

Enjoy your "hump" day!

Senior Albums

I know many of you out there are mothers to high school seniors. And right about now, you're excited for them, but also a little more than stressed out about everything going on in your son's/daughter's life. Here is an album idea that you can implement--it's not too late. Set aside some time, get a ton of cardstock (a neutral and the school colors) and keep it simple.

A few years back, I taught a weekend class and we managed to make an entire 12x12 album on one person's senior high school year. I'd like to share some of the layouts from that class with you today.First off, every person's album was unique to them, depending on the school's colors. There were a couple of pages, like the one above, that varied from the general theme. For example, if the high school's colors were blue and gold, most the entire album used those colors. Please keep in mind, the following are just samples, and not all in the same book--your album would depend on your school colors.

The above layout is a 2 pager that is titled, "What I want you to know... Words of Wisdom by...MOM" and then the other page would say "...and DAD." They are all mini envelopes with tags tucked inside, and each parent is to write personal memories and words of wisdom specific to that child graduating. The little spots on the envelopes are numbers, although you can't see it that well--sorry! The red mattes are spots where you can put a photo of mom & dad along with the grad.

The next page is an "All About Me" page. Straight and to the point. A list of favorites in little boxes all over the place. Easily a 2 pager here. Topics could include: Favorite store, website, movie, car, school subject, all-time teacher, sport, saying, beverage, celebrity, color, junk food/fast food, hangout, reality TV show, daily ritual, i pod tune list, etc. I also included on the right, a spot for them to write in--who makes me laugh, places I'd love to travel, what I know for sure, most embarrassing moment, stuff I never leave home without, and personal stats (name, nickname, height, weight, age, address/phone).
This one is a single paged layout, but if there is more to this story, it can be expanded easily. On here list: My future plans, my dream job, places I'd love to live, where they want to be in 5, 10 and 20 years. You may also want to include acceptance letters here.
This is one of the favorites. That was then. Go to www.dmarie.com under time capsule (or click here) and put in the child's date of birth. Print it out and trim it. It will give you a run down of the price of gas, who was president, favorite song that year, etc. So fun to look back! Ideally, take a baby picture and a current picture and place them both on this page for reference.
Be sure to take a picture of the senior's school. I went to this high school, and 23 years later, it looks totally different now, so you'll want that point of reference in the future.
General school layouts. Encourage the senior to take a camera to school, photograph their lockers, favorite teachers, the office, etc.

Be sure to do at least one graduation layout too, so you can just add pictures quickly later on.
You may want to include an overview of all 12+ years of school on a 2 paged layout. Start with pre-school or kindergarten and go through the years on a layout like the one below.
Other possible topics you may want to cover in this album could be:

A layout on their friends.
Photograph their bedroom.
Include their class schedule and a page on their typical day at school.
Do they have a job? Photograph their uniform/place of work.
Did they play sports, participate in extra-curricular activities? Do a 2 pager on that.
Prom
Homecoming
Spring Formal
Senior Pranks/Senior Skip Day
Senior Pictures
Graduation party
An autograph page to layout out at the graduation party for others to sign
...and the list goes on and on...

When an album uses a simple format--you really do focus on the photos and story. Go light on the patterned paper and embellishments--they aren't needed, and you'll drive yourself crazy trying to get "the perfect one." If you insist on doing something a little extra, make your own patterned paper using Microsoft Word. All the patterned papers with the school names above I created in a Word document and printed at home on my computer--I didn't buy any of them.

I am an aunt to a graduating senior this year, so I feel your pain, but only slightly. I'll post finished photos of my niece's senior book when I finish it up on the blog.

Congrats to all you moms out there who have raised those seniors.

Enjoy your Tuesday everyone!

A few more party ideas...

My family and I attended a Confirmation party today, and it was just lovely. These ideas came straight from my friend Val, who put on a lovely party... These fruit skewers were made the night before, and she used the oasis that absorbed water. She loaded the oasis, soaked the skewers themselves in water, and then added the fruit. They stayed good overnight, and there was no rush the day of the party. Aren't they beautiful? She had them next to the chocolate fountain, and when we left, not a flower was left...

Recognize these beauties? Gotta love friends that share...Margaret and Jen--we both owe you!
Val's daughter Paige made this beautiful shadow box display. Following in her mother's shoes, of course...

This was the coolest thing. Each box said something about Paige, and it was on display at her school, along with the other students. I am totally inspired to do one of these now...
Val created this beautiful display by printing out Paige's statement of faith along with the party invitation. It was on the dessert table, and everyone stopped to read it. Beautiful touch!
Thanks for a wonderful day--we love you guys!

My friend Rita sent me a link to share this for those of you in the throws of baby showers. Totally adorable and unique ideas!! Thanks, Rita!

More graduation and party ideas coming in the next few weeks. If you have one that you'd like to share, please email me at Turay413@gmail.com. I'd love to post it!!

Happy Monday!

Cool things.

I got these two great cookbooks for Mother's Day. Amazing things happen when you send your hubby a link, huh? I plan on trying out a bunch of new recipes next week, and I'll share any good ones with you all...For you locals, I found all this stuff at Archiver's yesterday. Now I have to say, these items are not officially "cool," but when you have a niece that is graduating in a few weeks and you want to throw something together quickly for her, you take the plunge. I did a weekend long class on "My Senior Year" a few years ago when I taught at a lss, and I will share those layouts and ideas here in the next week or so. I know a lot of you are feeling the grad crunch right now... BTW, they have several other local schools there as well...
These Fancy Pants papers made me happy...
And all these tags from Elle's Studio did, too. Man, can't wait to use those numbers in that private class coming up!!
I was stumbled upon this blog using the May WIP kit, and want everyone to know what a doll she is. Love what she did with the kit, and the fact that I came upon it through Willow Traders by happenstance made me smile. Love you, Jamie!

I took an online class from Janna Wilson a few weeks back and loved it. The altered projects were absolutely adorable!! You can purchase it here if you are interested. Love her blog too--so inspired by all her work!! I even checked into this when I jumped over there today...

Have a wonderful weekend, bloggers!

My Favorite Marinade...

Look what I'm grilling for dinner tonight...It has been a while since I shared a recipe, and this one is a tried and true keeper you should all try this summer. It was lifted from my dear friend and grill master, Tim Lewicki. I use it on chicken, but really love it with pork too. We're having these chops tonight!

Easy Marinade for Pork or Chicken

¼ C. oil

½ C. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. onion, chopped

2Tbsp. Worchestershire sauce

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 Tbsp. molasses

Salt and pepper

Fresh or dry parsley for color

Fresh or dry ginger--a pinch

Now, the night before, prepare the marinade and soak the meat. By the time you're ready for dinner, you'll be happy you did this. Trust me. :)

Enjoy your Friday all!

Update & Questions

The June Kits are HOT!!!Thanks so much for the orders, emails and comments about this kit. It really is a boost to get such a response, and I am doing my best to try and tackle the orders and invoices. The 8x8 album included in the kit contains 10 square pages inside and is post bound.

For those of you who ordered the Project kit, look for a different box when the kit is shipped. The framed screen was too large to fit into a regular postal box, so I had to improvise! Shipping will start today.

There will be leftover main kits because I increased the quantities this month, and those will be available on the website here at 5:00 EST. The Add-on kits sold out so quickly yesterday--so I apologize to the people who have requested one but were shut out.

I had a few questions about the project kit, and will try and take more pictures of it today so you get a better view. The step-up acrylic album is somewhat difficult to see (not easy photographing something clear) and the framed screen project is only partially seen in the photo.

Along with the release of the kits, there has been a frenzied reaction to the weekend at the Bertram Inn, prompting a ton of email about it yesterday. There is a thread about the retreat over at Willow Traders, and I'm so excited to see so many of my friends over there interested in coming!! And who knew Sue is virtually my neighbor??? How could this have escaped my attention before??? I can't wait to hook up with you in person!! This really is going to be fun...

I've had some questions about the coupon for the free mini kit. The code for the coupon was on the tag of the May Project kit. So if you purchased one of those and are ordering this month's project kit, you will receive a free mini kit in your box this month. I have a record of the people who are eligible, so if you didn't keep the code, don't worry--it will automatically be sent!! It is my little perk to the customers out there who are project driven and so loyal every month.

Okay all, I'm off to do some packing!! Enjoy your Thursday!

June 2008 Kits

I've been quiet about sneaks this month.

But I have to tell you, I'm absolutely giddy about all three kits this month. They are, hands down, my all-time 3 favorite kits ever.

EVER.

And I have never said that before...

Here is the June 2008 Main Kit:...There is a mix of Chatterbox, Making Memories, Webster's Pages and Melissa Frances among the papers. Rub-ons and alphas and the coolest flourish stamp are from Scenic Route. Cosmo Cricket die cut letters. And yes, the kit includes the new Noteworthy 8x8 album. And it is divine.
(ETA-6 month sub--$30/month, 3 month sub--$32/month, Month-to-month $34 each).

The June Project kit is also bold and happy. Papers in this kit are from Cosmo Cricket Get Happy, Cherry Arte's girl line, Chatterbox and Imaginisce. The two projects in the newsletter will use the screened frame and the step-up acrylic mini album you all loved from Tina's blog. The kit includes a 3" chipboard alphabet, chipboard trees (3), a stamp from Imaginisce, a blue Souffle pen, Scenic Route Rub ons, a yard to ribbon and journaling stickers from Etsy. This kit will sell for $26.
The June add-on kit is a real wowzer too. It is a bit over-the-top this month, but I couldn't turn anything away--I had to include it all!
Items in this kit include papers from the new Making Memories Noteworthy collection, a set of Noteworthy chipboard alphas, two bracket chipboard pieces from Jenni Bowlin Studio, 4 pieces of Bazzill Cardstock (two each of Heather and Green Tea), two 12" Dresden Daisy strips, Scenic Route alphas, Etsy tags, Little Yellow Bicycle Delightful Playful Project Sheet, half a pack of the new Noteworthy Chipboard, a variety of Making Memories Noteworthy Flowers, an entire Making Memories Delaney spiral journaling book and a full bottle of Ink Essentials Glossy Accents (that you will love as much as I do once you use it--I promise!) The add-on kit will cost $32.
I'm on a total scrap-high right now, and I can't wait to tear into this stuff myself...
I plan on emailing all subscribers this evening, so please be on the lookout for those in your inboxes! And for those of you who requested the Grade School 7-12 albums, those are also ready to ship out (and if you order other kits, shipping can be combined--yeah!) I should have a few left that will be available for purchase to the public, and those will be found on the website in the next few days.

The June kits will be available to the public for purchase on Thursday, May 15th at 5:00pm EST if there are any left after subscribers place their orders. Any new subscribers will begin with the July 2008 kits.

I also updated the information on the website yesterday regarding the Fall Retreat at the Bertram Inn in Aurora, Ohio from November 14-16, 2008 here. I will still take reservations at this time, but space is very limited. I have currently filled all rooms I've blocked, and I've added more but those are going quickly as well. If you are interested in attending, please fill out the information and email me along with your deposit. I know of at least 4 people attending from out of state, so if any of you have any questions, please feel free to email me at Turay413@gmail.com, and I'll do my best to help you with any transportation services and such.

And speaking of emails, I'm a bit behind right now, so please bear with me if you sent me one and I haven't responded just yet! I'm doing my best to get to them, I promise! :) Thanks for understanding...

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

Laina

One of my absolute favorite scrappers of all time is Laina Lamb. She is amazingly talented and works with color like nobody's business. I know many of you local gals know her from Archiver's in North Olmsted. She is also beloved over at SIS and is on the design team of Paper Jam Studio and The Scrappin' Spot as well. Her eye for color and design speaks volumes about her personality. She hates brown. She doesn't do anything half-way. Her personality shines through in her work--and the word that comes to my mind when I think of her is fierce. She is the mother to three adorable boys and doesn't hesitate using whatever she wants on her pages. Man, I wish I was more uninhibited like that... Laina emailed these two layouts she created with the April WIP Project kit. How sweet was that? I love what she did with the Scenic Route papers...
You'll be seeing a little more of her too! She will be the guest designer for the June WIP kits!! I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

So it's safe to say there won't be any brown. :)

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

She...

In honor of Mother's Day, I'd like to share my all time favorite tribute album. Many of you may recognize it from Heidi Swapp's famously popular CKU class. I made this book at CKU-Stamford back in 2005. It remains to be one of my most treasured possessions. I did the book on my mom.
(ETA--Make a note to take a photo of your mother's hands this weekend. You will never regret photographing them--promise me!)
Let me give you a little background. I went to that CKU with a bunch of wonderful, fun gals. We toured NYC before heading out to the convention, and we all were having the time of our lives. I signed up for this class because I was a huge Heidi fan. But I also loved the concept of the book--and I knew right away it would be in honor of my mother. At that point, my mother had sustained many medical issues, and she wasn't well. I felt compelled to write down positive memories and I felt a sense of urgency about doing it. I knew I didn't want to do a memorial about her life one day, and reflect on her life after the fact. I wanted it to be a celebration of the life she had currently. So I was on a mission.
I gathered photos. I scanned and printed and felt that the task of simply gathering them was an accomplishment. I left my house with those ladies feeling a sense of pride in knowing that I had at least done that--so that was a step in the right direction.
The experience was really, really something. I have talked about this several times to various groups of people, and as I type this, I still get choked up. The whole event was like a woman's conference more so than a scrap retreat.

Heidi and her two assistants were wonderful. On this particular CKU, Heidi brought along her mother to help out as well. She introduced her on day one. We got right to work. I'm a simple scrapper--and this was WAY out of my comfort zone. The class was technique driven, for days on end. I learned a lot and played--and as you can see, we did accomplish a lot.
It was so enjoyable that as a class, we elected to stay in our tracks and not go to the CKU crops. We hung out in our classroom and kept working. Women shared with each other--and strangers quickly became friends. My friends Marti and Sandra were in the class with me, and I love having shared that experience with them. Heidi encouraged us to stand up and share some of the statements. Wow--it was something to witness.

Most women took the liberty to do the album on themselves. The concept of the album is based on a book by Kobe Yamada, and it was the making of a brilliant scrapbook. Fill a book with with positive affirmations--"She statements"--and support the statement with photographs. Simple enough, huh?
After two days of really pushing ourselves, Heidi started the third day completely different. When we arrived to the classroom, she had a power point presentation set up, and on the screen was a photo of her son in mid-air on a dirt bike doing a jump. When Heidi got up to talk, she began to speak about the meaning it had. She told us that she was out of her mind with fear over watching her then 7 year old son do a jump--and that what we couldn't see was her husband laying on the ground underneath--he was in fact jumping over his father. Then she read her she statement which paraphrased was something like, "She may not always agree with him, but she'll be there to take pictures."
Heidi went on and spoke more. She talked about her journey and how she worked hard and how her mother thought she must have been nuts. She questioned her choice to leave Making Memories and she found herself defending her position on starting her own business, working late hours, neglecting obligations and searching for balance. Every woman in that classroom identified.
Off in the corner of the room, Heidi's mom stood silently. Heidi began to talk about how important she was to her, and how her mother slowly started to see over time why she made the leap to do what she did--to start her own company and take a different path, as difficult as it may have seemed at the time.

Then she pointed to the picture of the bike and said, "Because to her, I'm the kid on the bike. And she has always been there to support me, even when she didn't agree or see what I was trying to accomplish--she was there every step of the way, to love and support me...and maybe even take a few pictures."

I swear to you, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
When I came home, I showed my mom the book. She read through it once--and only once--and gave it back to me. We didn't talk about it, but her reaction was enough. She simply said thank you, and I told her that someday my grandchildren would read it and know her by reading those words and looking at those photos.

I thank God I'm able to celebrate yet another year with my mom on Mother's Day. I'm also thankful for my own children and the blessings they have brought to our lives. I had a great teacher...
And tonight as I type this, after spending a lovely evening with a fun group of gals, I'm also incredibly grateful for this shared hobby. It has brought so much to my life, and when I reflect on the friendships that I have gained that I otherwise wouldn't have had--wow. Thank you for joining me, and thank you for sharing yourselves tonight.

To each and every one of you who are out there, doing what you do and doing what we do, I hope you have the most satisfying of days spent with the ones you love. Happy Mother's Day!

Love you, Mom!!!