Weekend of fun and inspiration ahead:)

Wow! It is Friday already! Where did ther week go? Doesn`t matter because the weekend is HERE!I don`t know about you but I have a whole lot of scrap plans that I am looking forward to! First up... Miss Janine is coming up for Anams` Little bit of Aloha Crop at Treasured Memories! Should be fun as I have not had a playdate with these ladies in a LONG time! Although it is a play date, I will be working somewhat (if you can it that!). Janine and I will be creating class samples for our OH MY CRAFTS CRUISE out of NYC in October!

I have a few other class samples for various events and classes near and far over the next several weeks... like Multi Crafts in Ottawa! This is a retailers event August 31 and September 1 and I will be teaching 4 fun filled classes featuring Tattered Angels, My Mind`s Eye and Graphic 45 goodness! There may still be a few spaces available so if you are in the area, come on out! I would love to see you!

I also have the super fun Birthday Bash at Bizzy B`s in Toronto September 18-20. Jackie Ludlage of Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine will be out there having some fun!

Another little tidbit of info I should share with you is that Scraptivity! is holding a Design Team call!!!! I had the honour of being their Guest Designer in July and let me say that I had an AMAZING time! What a wonderful group of ladies:) For more info, check out the call here!

So I want to leave you with a bit of fun stuff to get that mojo to come out and play a wee bit! I have a couple of fun layouts up on the My Mind`s Eye Blog. You should go and check it out if you have not done so already... the blog is finally up and running (and can I say how GREAT it is to finally have it up!) and we are doing a few things differently than most! The best part, I think anyways, is that every now and then we will include a pdf of the instructions of a project posted! Totally cool and super easy way to scraplift something you like, eh?!


Then once you are finished there... head on over to the Tattered Angels blog! There are a few fun projects I have posted there too! Yes, I have done a lot of blogging this week... I know! Time to breathe for a bit now... yeah right:) Anyways, I had such fun playing with their new Chip Tiles and making an adorable little note book! There are also a couple of other projects posted so go and let me know what you think! Be sure to check out their calendar of Events too as have a list of my Tattered Angels classes up there. There will be many more of come but at least that will get you started:)
So there you have it for now! Leave a comment as I love to know when people are stopping by! Let me know if you are coming to any of my upcoming classes as I would love to see you there:)

Seasons are about to change...

and how do I know that? Well, I have had to dig a sweater out to start! My nose and toes are frozen! Where the heck did summer go? I am pretty sure it was only around for a week or so!

You want to know how else I know? Well, class samples are being created in abundance with all of the new goodies and my calendar is filling up! Gotta love it!!! Within the next week or so I should have all of them finished up and there will be plenty of fun choices for retailers to choose from and lots of you gals will hopefully come out and play with me when I am in your neighbourhood!

Many of you know I have been working with My Mind's Eye for about a year and a half or so and I am super excited to say there seems to be some official-dom (I borrowed Anam's fun word) going on over at their brand new blog! You want to run on over and be sure to leave a comment on my post as they are going to give one lucky person a few of my favourite things! They can't give them all cuz I would bankrupt them...lol! Too many goodies to choose from:) Anyways, check it out and scroll through some of the recent posts too. It is our goal there to give you a tonne of inspirations sure to spark your creativity! What else is super cool.... for many of the posted projects, we have included a pdf of the instructions so it is almost like getting a class for FREE once in awhile! You can check out their blog HERE


I also want to mention one of the events I will be at in a couple of weeks... MultiCrafts Retailer event in Ottawa, Ontario August 31 and September1, 2009! I am looking forward to doing 4 classes (yes 4! We added the last one today!) and I think the store owners are going to LOVE it! We will be playing with some FABULOUS My Mind's Eye papers from the Oh La La collection as we create a fun canvas perfect for showcasing that cherished family photograph. We love the new MME releases so much, the owner of the Wholesale company has asked me to do a second class with the fun BOO TO YOU Collection too:) Pics to follow in the next few days! We will also be doing 2 classes using a whole lot of Graphic 45 papers and embellishments and Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists and Chips! This is one event you do not want to miss and classes are filling fast:) Be sure to check out their blog HERE for more details on the classes being taught... I would love to see you there!

Have a great day girls... happy scrapping!

Good things on the go!

I have to say, it has been a pretty cool weekend... in fact the past week has been great overall. Some fun things have occurred and some pretty awesome other things are in the works. First up...


BAZZILL... While teaching on the OMC Alaskan Cruise in May, I had the pleasure of getting to know the lovely Marti and Doug Jones, owners of Bazzill Basics.... they were teaching too. While at CHA, Marti and I connected again and she extended the invitation of possibly teaching for Bazzill (I guess she liked my class;). Well, how could I say no? They are a great company with fabulous products, most of which are a staple in my projects so I spoke with Doug last week and confirmed the details. So now I am thrilled to be able to say that I and an Endorsed Educator for Bazzill as well:) Stay tuned for more details on EXCLUSIVE Bazzill Classes and other upcoming classes incorporating Bazzill products. Lots of fun things coming your way, I promise!

While on the topic of cruising (or not far off), have I told you that I am going on ANOTHER GREAT BIG BOAT!? Oh yeah baby! Another cruise by Oh My Crafts! this fall (October 3-10)... this time out of New York City!!!! I had the privilege of being asked by Jody and David at Northridge Media to teach last time and was ecstatic to be asked back again:) This cruise will be fabulous as it is at the perfect time of year to witness the majestic spendor of the Autumn colours in the Northeastern US and Canadian Maritimes! On this trip, we visit ports like Boston, Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and have I mentioned New York City?! OH YEAH.......... I am soooooooo stoked about this:) NYC has always been at the top of my list for a travel destination and now it is finally about to happen... yippee!!! And you wanna know what else is cool? I am bringing the uber talented Janine Wahl with me to teach a couple of rocking classes too! You just gotta know we are going to have a blast and the crafters on board will have a marvelous time! Stay tuned for info on our classes cruisers... you will not be disappointed:)

Other fun stuff to check out today... My Mind's Eye Blog! You may not even be aware the My Mind's Eye has a blog now but they do and it is full of fun eye candy! Lots of inspiration can be found and there are even step by step instructions for many of the projects so that you too can create projects just like those posted! At some point today the new sketch challenge will be posted and today you will got to see my interpretation of it (I even broke ou thte old sewing machine!). Can I tell you how much fun I had working with the Brand NEW Boo To You! collection?! Even though it is a Halloween line, I used it for something completely different... and I think you might like it too! Go check it out and play along... we would LOVE to see what you come up with!

Last but definitely not least... I gotta tell you how very proud of a Mama I am today! This past weekend, we were in Red Deer at the BMX Provincials and my boys kicked some serious BUTT! Carter just got bumped up to the Intermediate level this past week so his fist race in that class was at Provincials and he still finished up 6th overall! Logan was placing first in all of his Motos and made it to the Mains where he finished 2nd overall!!!!!!!!! How cool is that?! I am so proud of them and how well they tore up that track:) I will post pics later... I still have to upload them but I wanted to share the fab news! A huge thanks to the Lute family for their hospitality and a thanks to Miss Janine and the Jakester for coming to cheer on the boys and hanging with us... sooooooo much fun was had by all and I cannot wait to do it again:)

Anyways, that is the update for today... happy scrapping and have a GREAT day!

Small but Mighty...

That is the term I heard that best describes CHA last week in Orlando, Florida. AS most of you know,. I had the privilege of working for Prima again while there and I have to admit... many in the industry were really concerned about how this show was going to go. When we began to set up, we noticed that the show appeared to be only about 25% of the previous CHA Summer shows so that was somewhat scary. The manufacturers that were there all set their expectations really low. We were pleasantly surprised after it was non stop for us at Prima until the last hour on the last day! Hopefully the bottom line for these companies was still good but from what I saw... it should be:) The retailers that were there were serious buyers! So that is good... those with smaller stores with small budgets most likely avoided the expense of travelling to the show and placed their orders online! Hopefully this is an indication of good things to come for the paper craft industry!

The down part was that we were so busy that I did not have the chance to explore the floor and check out all the new releases by the various manufacturers:( But what I did see was HOT! Yup!

Graphic 45 released 3 new collections of paper and their booth was stunning as always! I cannot wait to design my class samples using their gorgeous papers and diecuts!

My Mind's Eye, well they are always a staple in this industry aren't they? Several new collections were a tonne of fun to play with, so much so that I even brought it on the plane and created 3 Christmas cards and a layout for their booth! I loved the adorable glittered chipboard pieces and the colour palette for the Holiday line... so refreshing! Halloween is great too. I plan on creating a couple of My Mind's Eye classes within the next couple of weeks so stay tuned for those details!

Tattered Angels... what more can I say? Glimmer Mist popularity is spreading like wildfire and people are loving all the fabulous possibilities! They have finally come out with a true black Glimmer Mist (Cinder) and an opaque white (Marshmallow) which are FABULOUS! I LOVED playing with their new Chip Tiles and Glimmer Screens with co-ordinating stamps! GLORIOUS creations will come about from these amazing products:) I am one of the luckiest gals in the world to be on their Design Team and teach using their goodies around the globe! I am looking forward to many new classes coming soon to an event near you!

Last but not least... PRIMA! Ahhhhhhhhh.... what more can I say about Prima?! Seriously!!!! Again, they have outdone themselves this time. BEAUTIFUL flowers in abundance! 4 new paper collections and you know what is super cool about that? The papers are all packaed in 10's rather than 25's making it more affordable for retailers to carry an entire collection without sitting on a pile of inventory:) Prima also released their E-Collection... their answer to the recession! And what a FABULOUS idea! Packages of flowers and packages of Bling/pearls that will retails for only $1.50! YUP! You heard me correctly! It is far more likely for you to buy multiple packages of flowers at $1.50 a pop that drop $8.00 on a single box of one style so this is Prima's contribution to stimulate the economy! And for you ladies wanting the white flowers.... this is what you will be after! Be sure to get on your store and tell them you want them all!!!! The new Stitched Mulberry papers were great too! Many of them already have ribbons and trims added to give additional texture to your project! Gotta love it!

So what am I up to now that CHA is over? Well... I have a TONNE of class samples to design using the latest and greatest from the various manufacturers I work with. A few really cool things are in the works of which I cannot yet spill the beans but know that I am super stoked to be a part of it all! For my local gals, check out Scrapbook Memories and More in Sherwood Park and Treasured Memories in Edmonton for upcoming classes. Dates are being finalized and samples will be in store soon!

Registrations for BC's Creative Expo have begun. I am so excited about heading back there for a second time to teach several classes! Be sure to check out their website for full details!

I am also going to be at Multicrafts in Ottawa at the end of August teach 4 fabulous classes to retailers using the latest and greatest from Prima, My Mind's Eye, Tattered Angels and Graphic 45. This is one weekend you do not want to miss if you are a retailer as you will get all the good stuff on one swift swoop! I got a ll the goodies from the manufacturers while I was in Orlando so this week, I am off to design them! They are going to be terrific!

This fall, I will be travelling quite a bit again to some pretty cool places by the looks of it. Once everything is finalized, I will post all about it. One of the super cool events I have the privilege of being a part of again is the cruise with Oh My Crafts. Am I a lucky firl or what? Seriously...3 cruises in one year?! WOWSERS! I am blessed! I had such a terrific time aboard the Oh My Crafts Crusie to Alaska in May that I gladly accepted their offer to return this fall! Oh Yeah baby! I was a lucky girl to have been asked by my friends Jody and David at Northridge Media to help them out last time. We made a great team so I was not about to turn them down this time. I cannot wait to hit the streets of New York City before we set sail on another fabulous adventure that will take us to some beautiful ports that will be bursting with colour as this is a Fall Scenic Cruise... all the leaves will be in their full majestic spendor during the first week of October! We will hit the ports of Halifax, NS, Saint John, NB, Boston, MA and Rhode Island, Maine... not to mention NYC! Oh Yeah.... I am soooooooo thrilled to be a part of the OMC Cruise again... can you tell?! lol! After meeting with them for dinner in Orlando last week, we made some terrific plans of which details will be finalized ASAP and then I can spill the beans! WHOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO! Let the countdown begin....

So there you have it....a quick recap of some recent events and ones to come! I did not take a lot of pics this time (hardly any!) but here are a few of the ones I did take:)

On Friday evening, those of us left from the Prima crew hit Universal Studios City Walk for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe! Pictured above from left to right are Diego, Adam, Donny, Denny and myself:)

Donny's adorable daughter Dominique came along to keep us company! Such a sweetie!
The Uber talented Sharon Laakonnen and myself with sweet Dominique. Did I mention that I got to hang with her AND Cari Fennel all week. DANG! I hope their creativity rubbed off cuz they make all things so beautiful without barely an effort! I had sooooooo much fun with them:)
Before I had to fly out on Saturday, Adam, Diego and I hit Downtown Disney for the afternoon! These guys were a blast and so sweet to not make me wait at the airport any longer than necessary!!!LOL!

So there you have it, MY CHA Re-Cap. Not that exciting I know but you came and read this far so I guess I was not that bad, eh?! LOL! Anyways, until we meet again... Happy Scrapping:)