Happy New Year!

WOW! It's apparent that I have NOT been a good blogger! But hey, let's be honest, when have I ever been good at it! Oh well, lots of good reasons I guess. Fall was a VERY busy season for me as I travelled extensively teaching.

Minneapolis for Scrapfest, Las Vegas for Inspiration Unlimited, the Netherlands (and a quick day trip to Paris) teaching at The Fairy Tale Event for Paper and Pictures and finally the Prima Road Show in Australia. Yup! It was busy and that didn't leave a lot of time for me to update this baby!!!

It's a new year though and what better time to start fresh than RIGHT NOW! So... here I go! I will update when I can and try to give you something interesting once in awhile in hopes that you'll come back!! LOL!

So lets start out the New Year with some updates. A lot of things have changed over the past few months. I did a lot of soul searching, trying to determine where I wanted to go with this little career I have going on. I have to admit that like most, I struggled to find balance in my life and I didn't like the toll it was taking on me and my family (although I LOVED so many other aspects of it of course!). I was finding myself in a "rut" more often than not and that is when I decided that CHANGE IS GOOD! It's almost necessary. It's not easy and frankly can be scary as hell. It can also be pretty disheartening when the change you THINK you want to make doesn't pan out so then what do you do? Well, onto Plan B (or C,D, E or F)... there are a lot of letters in the alphabet so you can just keep moving until you find the place you are MEANT TO BE.

I have found that place and I am so very happy that things turned out the way they did. One door closes and another opens. Sometimes you have to have the courage to"knock" before that door will open but if you are patient, that door will open and often you will be invited in. Heck... you just might meet someone really cool behind that door and you will be grateful you walked out of the door before it.

I am soooooooo extremely grateful for the opportunities that came to me and am looking forward to the changes they bring. I am confident that it was the right decision and I am going to make the absolute best of my time as long as I am welcome.

So how about I share some of the changes and the exciting changes they bring.

First up, let me tell you about a sweet gal who came into my life just this past summer CHA. She and her husband (who is also pretty cool) own Authentique. Have you ever met someone with whom you immediately "clicked"? Well, we did! So much so that she even came with me to Holland and France this past fall. We work well together and the fact that we travel well together is a HUGE bonus! I am one of their AUTH-orized Educators and will be teaching plenty of Authentique Classes in 2012. I really hope you will come and join me occasionally. Their papers and embellishments are beautiful and the fun I have had working with their products thus far has been fabulous. Keep an eye on this new company as I have no doubt in my mind that they will do very well in the Scrapbooking world! Once this next CHA comes (at the end of January) I think you will hard pressed to find a store that DOESN'T carry Authentique as it's popping up EVERYWHERE!

Next up is Pink Paislee. Imagine how surprised I was to find out that I made the "cut" for their 2012 Design team as a Special Events/ Education Designer. They have such an extensive line up of amazing talent that I am extremely honoured to have been invited to joint their team. I am so looking forward to incorporating their products into this next years classes and I am certain the students who come will like them as much as I. I have always LOVED so many of their papers and embellishments and now I will actually get to play with them on a regular basis! I am sooooooo looking forward to this!

So let's touch on some of the classes or events I have in the works for 2012.

The first major one is Scrapbookers' Paradise's CAMP CROPPIN'! I had the privilege of teaching at this event last year and it was a RIOT! The ladies were great, the teachers were fab and the organizers amazing! I do look forward to being a part of this event again as I share a few Pink Paislee Classes and Make and Takes. I know they are just starting to get details listed so be sure to check out their Facebook Page and as I have more info, I will surely pass it on!


The next BIG DEAL and something I have been working very hard on for the past month getting it ready to launch is ARTSY ADVENTURE. When I was in Australia this past November as a part of the Prima Road Show Team, the ladies were all so very sweet and extended the invite to come back one day. Well, little did they know that we were actually able to make it happen! My ARTSY ADVENTURE tour will happen in May 2012 where I will teach at 11 different stores across Australia! How amazing is that?! Be sure to check out the blog and facebook page dedicated to this event. As time goes on, it is my intention to really work on taking my classes to the next level. I LOVE sharing my passion for paper crafting and am honoured so many feel that I am worthy of that privilege.

Well, I am stepping it up this year! YES I AM! SO many exciting plans in the works and even though I can't spill it all right now, I trust this will give you enough to peak your interest. I hope you will join me on this newest adventure and check back often. I promise I will do a better job at updating this blog.

Happy Scrapping!
Trisha

Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine's Scrapbook Carnival!

Hey everyone... just a heads up that The Great Canadian Scrapbook Carnival is coming to Edmonton and Calgary within the next short while! There are limited spaces available and they are going fast so you will want to check out the line up of amazing classes with terrific teachers! The shopping is PHENOMENAL as the vendors are all in one place with great deals to be had!

I copied and pasted some of the details from their website... want more details...

Check out www.canadianscrapbooker.ca for more info!

        

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Come join us at the 4th Annual Great Canadian Scrapbook Carnival! Everyone is welcome to shop, learn and get creative! This year we have our own hall filled with paper crafting exhibitors ready to meet you! Various local scrapbook stores, consultants, demonstrators and Canadian manufactures will be on site surrounding 100 excited croppers! Get ready for a fun and inspirational weekend in both Calgary and Edmonton! We can’t wait to see you!!!!

Thank you to our generous sponsors that make these shows possible!

MacEwan Conference & Events Centre on U of C Campus
402 Collegiate Boulevard Northwest
Friday, Sept 23rd: Noon – 9pm
Saturday, Sept 24th: 9am – 5pm

Central Lions Senior Centre
11113 – 113 Street
Saturday, October 1st: Noon – 9pm
Sunday, October 2nd: 9am – 5pm

The Creative Market Place – open to the public!
Join the fun and creative excitement and of course shop!
Day pass: $8.00 
Weekend Pass: $12.00
12 years and under: FREE

2-Day Crop
Join us for 2 fun-filled crop days with inspiration galore and exciting prizes! 
 
  
Crop registration opens on Tuesday, August 2nd at 9am MST.

The Classes and the Teachers: 
Class registrations are open to everyone! Sign up for inspirational, technique driven classes! You will learn, laugh and love the energy! 

Class registration opens on Tuesday, August 2nd at 9am MST.

Jackie Ludlage	Cathie Allan	Christy Riopel	Allison Orthner	Connie Nichol	Susan Weckesser

Thank you to our generous sponsors that make these shows possible!

Directions and Hotel Information: 
Click the buttons below for directions, parking and hotel information.

Brought to you by:

My Mind's Eye Birthday Blog Hop!

Alright ladies... you are at your final stop... if you just happened to come here, you really should go to the My Mind's Eye Blog and participate in the blog hop this weekend to celebrate. Lots of prizes are to be had... share some love on each blog and increase your chances of being one of the lucy winners!

A HUGE Happy Birthday to the My Mind’s Eye Blog! What a GREAT week to celebrate too :)

I am posting today from Chicago and having just wrapped up CHA for the summer, I feel soooooooooooooo fortunate to be able to be a part of this fabulous design team for an even more amazing company! I was one of the lucky ones who got to attend CHA this year and do I ever have a treat for you today to CELEBRATE our My Mind’s Eye Blog birthday! Being able to attend the show (although I should mention that I do not attend with My Mind’s Eye but do visit regularly throughout the week)... I DO get to see some of my favourite guys and I thought today I would share the spotlight with them as they truly are the backbone of so much of this company and they deserve the kudos for doing such an amazing job getting all those YUMMY products into all of our hands around the world. So without further adieu, allow me to introduce you to these handsome gentlemen...

First up... Jason T...he’s the “big man on campus” so to speak. He’s the guy that we all look to in some way as the “boss”. When I say that there is no one better, that is an understatement. Although I am not an employee, I have taught and designed for My Mind’s Eye for at least 3 years and LOVE that he is so easy to work with. Anyone that knows him would surely agree!!! With his expertise and personality, we all try to follow his lead and bring the best of ourselves to the table for the sake of a company we all adore. JT is an all around fab guy!

Next... K.C. Who out there in blogland knows KC? If you do, you will agree that he is rockin! This guy has it going on I tell ya! He works with so many of the stores in the U.S. to make sure they have all they need in their stores so you can indulge. You may have even had the privilege of taking a class from him. Every now and then, if you are lucky enough, you may catch him at a local store as rumour is he has been known to teach a class or two! You cannot help but love K.C’s laid back an fun attitude.

Then there is little Jason (that’s what I call him;)... he is a great guy too! Did you know he celebrated a birthday recently? YUP! A Happy Birthday to him too! He also helps with sales and although I have only met him a couple of times at the past couple of CHA’s... he is a sweet guy and also a lot of fun!

Finally... and I am saving one of the best for last (well, they are all the best really) BUT this guy has become someone whom I consider to be a great friend. This is Sean and he deals mostly with the International stores. He has bent over backwards to help to make sure I have everything I need to bring My Mind’s Eye classes to the stores and events to which I have had the privilege of traveling to and teaching at! He is such an amazing guy and anyone who knows him would say the same:) He's like a brother (they all are really) but Sean goes above and beyond to do what needs to be done! I am honoured to call him a friend:D

So there you go... a quick little introduction to the guys who make it happen in so many ways! There are of course so many others behind the scenes at My Mind’s Eye and I hope to meet them all in real life. It is a GREAT team to be a part of and I know my fellow design team members will ALL agree that you will not meet a better group of individuals... ever! We love them all and are so grateful for all they do!

Here is a pic of us all together... and I know what you are thinking;) I am the luckiest gal in the world to have this pic with these guys. I continually feel blessed to be on the design team to be able to have gotten this pic at the show this week. I always look forward to seeing them and can’t wait till January to see them and all the YUMMY My Mind’s Eye goodies).

So, now that I have chatted them up, how about I share one of my projects from CHA that I did using the uber fabulous Lost and Found 2 Collection. And this also ties in with our birthday blog hop theme. My word is “LOVELY” and I used it as it describes the products, people and relationships within this company. This particular layout focusses on our fellow design team member ANAM. What you may not know is that Anam and I have been dear friends for about 5 years. She and I met through scrapbooking and developed a great friendship. Her family became very dear to me and my family and when she had to move back to the UK earlier this year (she lived in Edmonton, Alberta as I do)... it broke my heart. Our local store, Treasured Memories, had a farewell crop for her and it was great to celebrate our friendships through this hobby and bid farewell to a wonderful lady whom we all love and adore. Fortunately with the world as we know it today, with facebook, etc, it is much easier to stay in contact. I know that our paths will cross again one day soon and I cannot wait to give her a giant hug! In the meantime, I created this layout to feature a "LOVELY farewell" to an amazing gal:)

So there you have it... a whole lot of chit chat on this post but I hope you enjoyed it! Be sure to go on back to the My Mind's Eye BLOG to finish up this hop. Leave a little love for the MME guys (I am sure they will be reading the posts and I would love to surprise them with all of us shouting their praises!!!!). A HUGE thank you to them for having me be a part of their wonderful team and I look forward to being with them for as long as they will have me!

Also a huge THANK YOU to all of the My Mind's Eye fans... without you, we are nothing! Let's celebrate our love for this hobby as often as we can... it brings so many gifts into our lives and I am so very grateful for this hobby and the relationships that have developed as a result of it!

Happy scrapping everyone!!!!

2nd Blog Hop

Hello! Welcome to the 2nd My Mind's Eye Blog Birthday Blog Hop.

I am in the middle of switching hotels, so I haven't been able to get the "official" post up. Until I can get the post up, my word is: Lovely.

This is the last blog you will visit in the hop. From here you will return to the

My Mind's Eye blog.

Please be sure to come back to get your fill of My Mind's Eye goodness. You won't want to miss it.

Swirlydoos Class...

On July 22, 2011, while in Chicago for CHA, I am honoured to be teaching a fun filled class using beautiful Prima products to numerous attendees in presence for Swirlydoos Special Event with Ingvild Bolme and myself. I hope to see you there!

We are going to broadcast this LIVE from the class via USTREAM and it will be recorded so you can complete it at your leisure if you have the kit! Speaking of kits, Swirlydoos MAY still have some available so be sure to contact Krissy@swirlydoos.com to order yours ASAP so it can be shipped to you to have it in your hot little hands in time for this fun filled class! I know that the last I spoke with her it was getting close to being sold out so if that is the case, drop me an email at trisha.lado@gmail.com and I am sure I can hook you up as I have numerous kits here too! The kits are jampacked with soooooooooo many beautiful products and the album has a plethora of fun techniques... I am sure you will love it!

Speaking of kits... I am clearing out kits from this past season that I will no longer be teaching. Interested in one of my Prima album or layout classes? Maybe the Teresa Collins Designs Album or Vintage Card class featuring Graphic 45 is more your style? I also have some great layout kits from the classes I taught in Puerto Rico... so many beautiful projects all with awesome instructions and tonnes of photos to walk you through the project! These are perfect for bringing with you on vacation... while the kids are swimming in the lake, pull up a chair under a shady tree and break out your supplies. That's what I LOVE to do and get some of my best scrapping done while outdoors camping or at the lake! Check the previous post for photos... I will try to post more soon! If you are interested, drop me an email at trisha.lado@gmail.com.

I have been working away in my studio non stop for the past little bit, preparing for CHA! I can't wait to show you what I have been working on... soooooooo many fun projects!

Hope you are finding time to play a bit too... let me know what you have been up to in your scrapbook world:D I LOOOOOOVE to hear comments on my blog!

Happy Scrapping!

Bring on Summer...

Well, it's been a busy spring (as I am sure you can tell from my lack of updates!) but I had so many wonderful experiences! With classes non stop locally (Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary) as well as classes in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, it was insanely busy!

I had the privilege of meeting so many wonderful scrappers from near and far and experienced some fabulous parts of the world. WE had some good times and I am forever grateful for being given the opportunity to share my classes with those that gave me the honour of their time and attended! I am always humbled at the number of people who come out to join me and I hope they enjoyed their class with me as much as I enjoyed teaching it!

Now, I have a couple of weeks at home before it starts up all over again. CHA Summer is upon us and I head to Chicago with Prima again (I know... I am soooooooo lucky!). I have worked CHA with Prima for the past few years and they are fabulous! We all LOVE their beautiful papers and embellishments and it is a necessary stop for retailers from around the globe when at this tradeshow. I hope that if you are a retailer, you will drop by the Prima booth and say "HI"!

In the next week or two leading up to the show, I will be going full force preparing samples for My Mind's Eye, TAttered Angels, Walnut Hollow as well as numerous classes that are on the books:D Although it is pressure... I THRIVE on it! I LOVE it and always look forward to getting to play with the latest and greatest! I hope I manage to do the products justice and the mojo fairy is good to me ;)

Onto classes:

On July 22, I will be teaching a class for Swirlydoos focussing on Prima. I am in the final stages of having the actual project complete but trust me when I tell you it's going to be a good one! The kit is BURSTING with a tonne of terrific Prima Products and we are going to learn a plethora of fun tricks and tips that you can incorporate into your future paper crafting projects. If you are in the Chicago area, sign up! Come and play with Ingvild Bolme and I in a fun filled day that you are sure to love! We are even going to stick around for a bit of the crop to hang out and have fun with the attendees!

Now, in case you cannot make it there is still a chance for YOU to participate! Kits will be available from Swirlydoos prior to July 5. If you PRE-ORDER you can be a part of the class as it airs live via USTREAM on Live WIth Prima! I always have such a great time doing the Live with Prima episodes and this is no exception.

Check back later this weekend as I plan on posting the actual class pics for this class! I am fairly certain, it will NOT disappoint you at all!

While on the topic of classes, I am now finished teaching my spring line up of classes and have a few kits left incase you are interested:D

Each of these classes were HUGE hits among attendees and photos really do not do the actual projects justice. Ladies were thrilled with the hefty kits and I will send the powerpoints for each of the classes so you will have step by step instructions with plenty of photos to walk you through step by step. I have never had anyone come back saying they could not figure out how to do it as the instructions are extremely thorough!

First up is my PRIMA "True Beauty" Mini Album... using assorted papers and embellishments from the REFLECTIONS collection, you will create a beautiful mini album with pages of assorted sizes and various mediums.

Class Kit Cost: $60.00 +Shipping

Vintage Card Class featuring Graphic 45's vintage inspired papers with some fun products that work so very well with these particular cards. They will blow you away with their layers and detail and a few hidden surprises. You will like them so much it is doubtful that you will be able to give them away!

Class Kit Cost: $35 +Shipping

Teresa Collins Designs- Timeless Mini Album... again, this kit is bursting with beautiful papers and coordinating embellishments. The project is relatively generic so you can use it for just about any theme. The tactile treasures and interactive components with captivate you and make you want to recreate it over and over so you can share with our loved ones!

Class Kit Cost: $60 +Shipping

If you are interested in any of the above, drop me an email at: trisha.lado@gmail.com and we can make arrangements!

SO I will leave it at that for now! As I mentioned, pop by in the next couple of days and I hope to have some more photos for you!

Have a great weekend!

Scrapbook Classes galore!

So I only have a few weeks left of a very busy (but oh so fun) Spring that has been full of some fabulous classes and events! But there are still a few fabulous events that YOU can be a part of (and I hope that if you are in the vicinity, you will join me!)

First up:

Scrapbookers Bliss in Calgary, AB May 27-29... I will joining the gals for a weekend with 6 classes jampacked with techniques and the kits are AMAZING! I think it will truly blow your mind as most have been extremely happy with the value of the class once they see the kit and at the last event I sold out of all extras as the ladies wanted at least one extra to play with or to give as a gift. If you are interested in any of the following classes, please contact the store directly at (403)217-9827 for times and cost. If you cannot physically make it, the kits are available- for the same price as the class- you just have to pay shipping. Definitely a fun assortment of class projects you can do at leisure!

Graphic 45 Vintage Card Class:

Prima Mini Album

Tattered Angels TECHNIQUE Class:

My Mind's Eye "Releasing the Artiste Within" Layout Class- featuring the Stella & Rose Collection

Teresa Collins Designs- TIMELESS Mini Album Class
7 Gypsies Altered Receipt Tray Class
A couple of days after I return from our adventure in Calgary, I am off to Rayuella Scrapbook Store in Santiago, Dominican Republic. I am sooooo looking forward to meeting the lovely Ciana and playing with her customers all weekend long! I have no doubt in my mind that this will be an amazing experience for all! There are a few spaces left I believe so if You are wondering about attending (assuming yo are in the area), contact the store directly for the details!

After a few days of R&R it's off to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rico Scrapbook Event June 10-12. Here I am teaching 2 funky layouts to more than 600 ladies! I have heard that these girls KNOW how to have a good time... rumour is they actually DANCE to win a prize! How fun is that?! I am looking forward to being a part of the line up of amazing teachers (I almost wish I could be a student for this event... you have got to check out who will be there!).

So there you have it... if I don't post for a couple of weeks, you now know why! I will try to drop by for an update every now and then though... fingers crossed that I can, otherwise I will give you a full report upon my return!

Happy Scrapping!