classes: pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

Learn Something New Every Day

online scrapbook class

September is a special kind of second new year: the time of year when we head back to school, set new goals, live up to our shiny new intentions and embrace the idea of doing a little something to make ourselves a little better somehow.

Around here, we do that with an online class called Learn Something New Every Day.

Now it its fourth year, this online class encourages you to observe the world around you and learn from your daily experiences and surroundings. We work with a small format album to make thirty daily entries, and we adopt a few short cuts and techniques to make those daily entries possible in even the busiest of weeks. And once you’ve joined, you’re welcome to participate for as many years as you like at no extra cost.

The class includes:
…preparation notes delivered next week
…thirty daily full-colour pdf prompts delivered to your inbox
…access to a private class forum at shimelle.com to chat and share your work
…permanent file archive so you can come back to the materials at any time

PLUS New for 2009:
Although the principles of the course stay the same each year, the prompts are revamped to show you a new book with a new look. This year’s additional materials include:
…for paper scrappers, this year’s featured album is made with repurposed supplies that will encourage you to stretch your supplies by recycling some items from daily life, and the option of a kit for scrapbookers in the UK.
…for hybrid scrappers, four pages of printable accents to include in your album (available to download on the first day of class).
…for digital scrappers, five page templates (layered .psd files) and a mini kit of papers and embellishments designed just for the class, plus the option of additional digital supplies available when class begins.

So you’ll get all that too, whether it’s your first year to sign up or you’re joining us again in 2009.

Ready to sign up? You can choose your currency and pay in UK pounds or US dollars by clicking the cupcake of your choice:

You can pay by credit/debit card (click on the left of the payment screen) or Paypal account (log in on the right of the payment screen). Please be sure to enter a valid email address as part of your payment so your prompts can be delivered to your inbox.

Participated last year? You don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive a message in the next day or so with all the relevant links for you. If your email address has changed in the past year, however, you will need to update it on your forum account to ensure you receive your emails.

Any questions? Leave them in the comments or shoot me an email and I’ll get an answer to you straight away.

I can’t wait to meet the Class of 2009!

xlovesx

Go To Press: class starts today!

hybrid scrapbook page

My new online scrapbooking class, Go To Press, starts today and prompt one has already been sent to your inbox if you had signed up before this morning! It’s not too late to join though, so if the party made you think your printer could be helping you a bit more in your projects, then join us!

Of course the first day normally has a few hiccups that come with sending large attachments by email. If you are signed up but didn’t receive your prompt this morning, check your spam or junk mail folder to make sure we didn’t get misplaced, and if it’s not there either, send me an email so I can get you all sorted. Please include your Two Peas username in your message so I can find you on the class list. Thanks!

And don’t forget, all the party challenges are open for your entries until the end of tonight (UK time), so you still have time to create or comment for a chance to win!

We have a beautiful blue sky here this morning: hopefully it will be a fabulous week for everyone!

xlovesx

Go To Press...a little something from our guest designers!

hybrid scrapbook page ideas

One of the things I love most about online classes is working with guest artists and seeing how they interpret an idea in their own style. There are ten guest artists taking part in Go To Press and a few of them have some sneak peeks for you today.

Check out Caroline, Amy and Cindy for just a tiny look at what the class has in store.

If you’ve already signed up for the class, you can already say hello on the private message board, by the way! You’ll find it in your list of boards at Two Peas once you are logged in.

xlovesx

More about: Go To Press...and a giveaway!

scrapbook page

Another tiny little sneak at Go To Press, the online class I’ll be starting on the 3rd of August. I can’t seem to go through an entire project without a tiny bit of cupcake influence, but I promise cupcake devotion is not a requirement of the class.

The biggest question that seems to have come up is what kind of printer you need. Because we’re going to be using our printers a great deal—but the good news is you don’t need anything superduper fancy.

Do you need a 12×12 printer? Not at all. I don’t have one! All of the printables are designed to be printed at 8.5×11 or A4 sized and can be resized even smaller if you prefer. If you are lucky enough to own a 12×12 printer, then you can enlarge them a bit too and print anywhere you want on the cardstock. That can give you some flexibility, but I managed to make my album without that and I promise I didn’t have any headaches at all! So a standard sized printer will be fine.

Do you need a laser printer? Not at all. I printed everything for the class on my ink-jet photo printer. If you do want to use a laser printer, keep in mind that you may be slightly limited for what you can send through it (you’ll be fine with paper and transparencies, I should think, but you may have trouble with fabric, for example).

Do I really have to send lots of stuff through my printer? There’s nothing you have to do. You’ll see lots of examples of non-plain-paper items that have been printed on—but you’ll also see plenty of layouts using the same printables on traditional white cardstock. So you’ll have plenty of options to go with what you like and what supplies you have to hand.

Those were the big three that I found in my inbox over the last few days—if you have any other questions, let me know and I’ll happily answer them!

As for a little more non-printer detail, here’s a quick summary:
...20 full colour PDF prompts delivered to your inbox Monday to Friday.
...20 pages of colour printable accents
...permanent back up and access to the prompts and files
...40+ example projects, including layouts by Kelly Purkey, Tia Bennett, Kelli Crowe, Stacey Sattler, Shannon Tidwell, Caroline Ikeji, Amy Grendell, Cindy Liebel, Jennifer Gallacher and me.
...step-by-step instructions for new techniques
...twenty page themes and journaling prompts to make up a completed album
...private message board to chat and share your work
...plus door prizes along the way!

All that, and you can sign up right here.

To kick things off, everyone who comments on this post gets their name in the hat to have me pay for your place in the class. Just leave a comment to enter—entries close at 10pm UK time on Monday 27th July and the winner will be posted on Tuesday the 28th! (If the winner has already purchased a spot on the class, she can have her choice of a refund or a place for a friend.)

And if you’re so inclined, please pass the word about this class to your scrapping friends and blog readers. Here are a few images you might find useful!

(that is 300×300 pixels, but there is also this one which is 150×150 which works for sidebars.)


(or this one for you non-blinking blinkie collectors!)

But all you have to do right now is comment for a chance to win, so say something in the box!

Have a fabulous weekend!

xlovesx

PS: What’s on your schedule next weekend? There might be something going on. Just maybe! Stay tuned.

ETA: Comments closed. Winner will be announced Tuesday 28th July. Thank you for entering!!

Introducing...Stress Free Scrapbooking

If you’ve taken a class from me, you know my biggest mantra:
There is no stress in scrapbooking!

Seriously, we all started doing this for fun. Because it was something that was creative, pretty, enjoyable. And yet from time to time we get stressed out by a range of things that come along with this happy hobby. Stresses like…

I’m falling behind because I’ve taken so many pictures and I don’t have time to scrapbook them!

I love all the latest and greatest supplies, but I can’t justify them since I haven’t used all my other stuff!

I feel like everyone I know who scrapbooks is super talented and makes it all easy!

I’ve been working on this page for hours (or days!) and I just don’t like it.

I bought this new product because it seemed fabulous, but really I don’t have a clue what to do with it. What a waste.

I want my pages to mean something, but by the time I’ve finished, they don’t seem emotional or special enough.

Any of those sound familiar?

So I’m starting a new series of online classes that put the stress and the guilt and all the negativity completely out of the picture. These classes are all about learning, creating and always, always having fun. Hence, Stress-Free Scrapbooking.

Okay, maybe I can’t come clean your desk, but the other stuff we can work on together.

The first class is called Go To Press and you can sign up now. Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing a bit more about this class. But let’s put this into perspective: do you have a printer? How much did you pay for it? And what exactly do you do with it?

Most of us are taking our printers—one of the biggest investments a scrapbooker makes—for granted. We print photos. Sometimes journaling. Maybe we go all out and get creative with something title-ish. But most of us are neglecting the tool that could bring the most in custom embellishment our way—making our printer our very own personal printing press. To give you plenty of stuff to run through your printer, this class includes twenty pages of custom printables that include accents, embellishments, journaling spaces, titles, quotations and all sorts of little surprises along the way.

So over a four week class, we’ll be putting our printers through their paces, and creating a finished album while we’re at it. And that is something I’ll be sharing with you later this week!

I hope you’ll join me for class—you can sign up here! Class starts Monday 3rd August.

Can’t wait!

xlovesx

Here, There & Everywhere :: Class Winner!

scrapbook page

And the winner is…

Shaquanna Says:
13 February 2009, 01:51
This class looks like it is going to be great! I would love to win a spot to take this class!

So Shaquanna, email me with the name, email address and TwoPeas login name for you and a friend, and I’ll get you all set to go!

Thanks to everyone who entered! You can still sign up here and join in the fun. Class starts tomorrow, so go-go-go!

xlovesx

Here, There & Everywhere :: Sneak Peeks, Q&A and Prizes!

scrapbooking class

Thanks so much for your happy comments about the new class, Here, There & Everywhere. Lots more to share with you today as we get nearer and nearer the first day of class this Sunday! Some sneak peeks, a bit of Q&A and some prizes to be won, all in this post.

Questions and Answers

Q: This album is just for people who have been on lots of trips, right?
A: Definitely not. Although there is certainly a travel element to this album, this isn’t a travel album that will make you feel inadequate if you haven’t had a chance to see the world. If you have visited three cities, towns or destinations that are not where you live, then you have enough material to follow every prompt in the workshop. They don’t have to be places that are far from home – they might even be places you’ve gone to visit family. For this book, the places you want to see someday are more important than the places you’ve already been, so don’t let your limited travel stop you.

Q: Are you selling a kit for this workshop?
A: No. But there are two supply options that you can mix and match throughout the workshop if you want. The first option is to make this project from your own stash. So many of us have enough scrapbook supplies to wallpaper our homes many times over, so I know you have enough stuff to make this come together with what you have on hand. The second option is to shop from the four sample albums, as you’ll be able to download a list of the materials each of us used to create our books and purchase anything you fancy with just a click. You’ll see those shopping lists this Sunday when the class starts, and the prompts give you time to order a few special things without having to stall on the project in the mean time.

scrapbook by jennifer johner
A sneak peek from Jennifer Johner

Q: Will the Photoshop Actions work in Photoshop Elements?
A: Yes. With a bit of extra work. The files are super easy to use if you have full Photoshop, because the easy action interface is part of that program. But Photoshop Elements is a much more affordable program that is more practical for home use. It doesn’t have the same easy interface for actions, but you can run actions in Photoshop Elements—you’ll just need to do a little extra homework to make that happen. And the homework is different depending on which version of Elements you’re running. Thankfully this website has instructions for every version going. So you should be able to follow the instructions there and use the actions in Elements. Occasionally there may be parts to the actions that will not be available in your version of PSE, depending on the edition you’re using. But just in case all the action stuff is scary (or you don’t have Photoshop Elements), there’s also a step-by-step instruction for recreating each of the actions using both Elements and Picasa (Google’s free-to-download image editing software). So by the end of all that, the answer is yes!

Q: Do I need to know a lot of stuff about scrapbooking?
A: No, of course not. If you have an appreciation of photographs, the written word, day dreams and the occasional piece of pretty paper, you’re all set. If you are a scrapbooking superstar, you can gloss right over the little margin notes where each of us declare our love for our favourite adhesives and inking techniques. If you’re new to all this, there will be plenty of step-by-step stuff for you to try and by the end of the six weeks, you’ll have reached superstar status yourself!

Q: Do I have to do the project right now, or can I keep it for later?
A: You are more than welcome to do the project on your own time, whenever suits you. Sign up now and you’ll receive all the materials and you can decide when you want to make your book. There are no due dates and no detentions, so you can work at your own pace.

scrapbook by nichol magouirk
A sneak peek from Nichol Magouirk

Q: Do I need to be able to print photos at home?
A: No. One of the prompts actually discusses various methods of printing, including various places to order your prints. The prompts come on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays so you have a bit more time to choose your photos and order them if you would like something a bit more economical than printing at home.

Q: Can I participate if I’m a digital scrapbooker?
A: Yes, definitely! Tia has made some gorgeous goodies for you digital girls to use, and they come as part of the class. Then you can mix them up with your favourite digi supplies and you’ll be good to go.

Q: Can I print the digital elements if I’m a paper scrapper?
A: Yes! Tia has even set them out so they are super easy—arranged everything over a couple of pages so you can print them all out on the same paper if you want, but she’s also included each individual image in case you want to change the size, colour or paper and print them individually.

Q: When will I receive my first email after I sign up?
A: This Sunday, the 15th—that’s when class starts!

scrapbook by kelli crowe
A sneak peek from Kelli Crowe

Q: Will the private forum be hosted at shimelle.com or twopeasinabucket.com?
A: This class is hosted by Two Peas and the forum and downloads will be available there – not at the forum you may have used for any of my classes over the last year. There are some great benefits for us moving over to Two Peas—like how they have a real team of IT experts and it’s not just me banging my head against the keyboard when something technical goes screwy. (When the headbanging didn’t work, then I had a list of people to call, in order of how much they would charge me for help!) Two Peas also has the capability to do things I couldn’t do with just my own tiny little set up: like have things run on a set schedule rather than me needing to manually send things at crazy hours of the day. Okay, so that one is more help to me than it is to you perhaps! But definitely good for you: a more reliable server that won’t suffer from our normal first-day-of-class wobbles when my website would inevitably hit the overload mark. And a gallery, instead of loading images into discussion threads. Plus I’ve worked with the team at Two Peas to make sure you still get everything you’re used to with my classes—materials that come straight to your inbox but are archived online for you to access if you need them at a later date, a private forum to discuss things along the way. And I’ll still be available by email to help with absolutely anything I can.

Q: Can I pay in pounds sterling instead of US dollars?
A: I know some of the banks here have gone insane with extra charges for every time you breathe, so if your account is one that’s affected by this, I may have a solution for you. The easiest and quickest way to sign up is to use your debit/credit card (or paypal account) to pay for the class in US dollars. If your bank is trying to make it all but impossible for you to pay in dollars, then I do have an answer for you—it’s just a bit more effort than the first version. If you need to pay in sterling, then email me and I will take care of it for you.

Q: How much is the class?
A: $25 US dollars, which at the time of writing this is £17.40 in pounds. So less than a pound per prompt (and these prompts are longer than most of my classes, so although it’s in 18 prompts, you’re looking at 70+ pages of material, if that gives you a better idea). If you want to see the price in any other currency, check here for up to date exchange rates.

Any other questions, just ask and I’ll post the answers!

here, there & everywhere :: sneak peek

And now it’s about time we got down to some prizes, don’t you think? I’ll pay your way for you and a friend to join in on this class!
—>Comment below and your name goes into the draw once.
—>Comment below with a link to where you blogged about this class (with a link to the sign up page please!) OR you posted it on Facebook, Digg, etc and your name goes into the draw twice.

Entries will close at midnight London time (GMT) this Friday night and the winner will be posted here on Saturday!

Here are a few little images if you want something colourful for your blog or message board signature!

polaroid
The polaroid image in this mini size and also in medium.


Or a bit of a sneak peek…


Or a blinkie that doesn’t blink!

Don’t forget to sign up before Sunday!

xlovesx

New Class :: Here, There and Everywhere

online scrapbooking class

As promised, the 15th of February begins a new class…this time it’s a six week online album workshop called Here, There and Everywhere.

One of the first albums I ever taught in an online class was a tiny little minibook called Roam. The idea was to use those tiny little pages to track all the places you had been, and count them up, whether you were counting towns, states, countries or continents. Even though I made it quite some time ago, I still like it and it’s one of a select few albums that I am often asked about. Was it you that did the Roam album? Which always makes me smile. And so over the last six months I’ve been thinking about that little book, what made it special and more importantly, what it was lacking.

I love that it captured travel from one set perspective in time. Places I had been as of that very date.
I love that I couldn’t go wrong with the photos—I could use my favourites or I could use the oddball snaps that didn’t fit easily into other scrapbook pages about a certain trip.
I love that everyone’s books came out lovely whether someone had racked up a gazillion frequent flyer miles or focused on the towns where they visited their grandparents and cousins.

I didn’t love that the tiny format made it hard to add anything to the project, so I couldn’t return to it after my next trip.
I didn’t love that made it feel out of date within a month or so of finishing it.
I didn’t love that it didn’t let me look forward and plan where I wanted to go next.
I didn’t love that it made little to no allusion to the place I considered home.

Add all that with many years of scrapbook style evolution, and we arrive at Here, There and Everywhere: an album documenting the places you’ve been and the places you dream of going.

Here, There and Everywhere is the name of the workshop but it’s also the name of the album’s three sections. Here documents the kind of travel you do near home: tiny little everyday journeys and important sights on your hometown landscape. There records the places you have been. Whether they are close or far away, we’ll illustrate your travels so far. Everywhere is something entirely new: we’ll be scrapbooking about the places we dream of going and looking into making the travel of our dreams one step closer to reality.

If you’ve participated in one of my classes before, you’ll know that the album prompts…
...come to your inbox and are backed up online permanenetly so you can download them later if you like.
...are illustrated by breaking things into steps that include photography, writing and design.
...give you examples you can recreate, use as inspiration or completely ignore if you have a better idea.
All of that will still be true.

I’m positively giddy to show you four completed albums throughout this course. One from me, plus an album each from the lovely and talented Kelli Crowe, Nichol Magouirk and Jennifer Johner.

There’s also yummy digital and printable goodness as part of this course. Tia Bennett has designed both a custom digital kit that is included with the course if you would like to create digital pages AND a printable kit with custom book plates, section dividers, journaling notes and all sorts of goodness.

Plus there are five Photoshop actions included to give you a range of easy photo-editing options. If you don’t use Photoshop, don’t worry—we’ve also included step by step instructions for creating similar effects in other photo-editing programs, including Picasa.

And you can breathe a little easier with this project: the prompts come three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so you can stay caught up even if you only scrap once or twice a week and even if you would like to order prints online as we go.

As always, there will be a private message board to chat, ask questions and share your work during the class. You can chat it up or work quietly—whatever suits you best!

This is the first workshop I’m teaching through Two Peas in a Bucket, and you can sign up here. You can also say hello here until class starts next weekend. If you’ve been taking classes at shimelle.com, we’ve made sure that things will work in a very similar way for my classes at Two Peas (and shimelle.com isn’t going anywhere!) plus the introduction notes will take you through everything just in case.

I’ll have more about this project to share throughout the week, but you can go ahead and book your place now. The six week workshop is $25 (US dollars), which includes everything I’ve talked about above and a few extra surprises along the way. And seeing as class starts on February 15th, you could always email the sign up page to your significant other and suggest if you’re not getting whisked away to a romantic location for Valentine’s Day, you could at least be allowed to scrapbook about it!

Any questions I can answer about the class, just leave in the comments!

xlovesx

PS: UK girls who would prefer to pay in sterling: I am working on an option to have this available for you tomorrow, as I know some of you would prefer not to use your credit/debit card overseas. If that’s not an issue, by all means, go ahead and sign up in dollars. You can check the current exchange rate here. But if it is an issue, check back here tomorrow and hopefully I will have an answer for you!

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