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

You are all so sweet. ‘What’s a quick fix?’ you ask. Like…how quick?

So I wanted to make sure you got one little sneak peek of a quick fix.

The thing about the quick fixes is that they have options. So you can decide whether you want to spend five minutes or less, ten to thirty, thirty to sixty minutes and so on. This is just one picture from one day, with options to create a five minute piece of art (yes, really) up to spending an hour or two creating a display of things you love. Giving things a home and giving you the spark of inspiration you sometimes need as you walk down the same hallway for the tenth time one morning.

Class info is here.

xlovesx

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Another little sneak peek…this one from Miss Beshka, who uses some of my most favourite letter stickery things ever, though I am driven crazy by the reversed apostrophes. But the green makes up for it. Oh, the green.

Wonder what Beshka gets up to when she’s not making books about home? Check out her…
beautiful work for Fancy Pants Designs,
a lovely Valentine Box project,
this adorable photo garland,
the cutest gift box ever
and this fabulous book which was pretty much why I had to ask her to contribute something to There’s No Place Like Home.

Class starts one week from today!

xlovesx

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If you google Allison Kimball, you’ll find…
her blog which proves she is a superwoman (check out all the photo albums at the right side for heaps of inspiration),
her handwriting as a font,
her name on the list of Hall of Fame scrapbookers,
pictures of her hanging out with other fabulous scrapping superstars,
her take on a CK kit of the month,
and a hilarious birthday wish.

I’m so excited to share some of Allison’s work as part of There’s No Place Like Home. She’s created a fab book and a whole stack of resources that just made me itchy to create as soon as I started looking! Up above is a little sneak shot of Allison’s project, but there’s plenty more to see of course.

Excitingly, you can also win a free place on this course from Scrapscene. Go here and comment to enter. The contest closes today so hurry, hurry!

I know this has come up a few times so let me address the question of Just how much is there to do? All told, you’ll receive full instructions for twenty-five projects. Ten of them are bigger projects, like Allison’s book. Fifteen of them are smaller projects, like things to photograph, something creative to display, or a single layout for your scrapbook. There is absolutely no obligation to keep up and do every project every day! When something really hits you as something you want to do now, then do that one. Some you may really want to make but they won’t fit in your schedule right now, so it’s perfect to save for a rainy day. The community stays up and running permanently, so you can keep checking in on projects when they do fit into your schedule. Or if you actually have a fair bit of free time right now, you could carry right on with each project every day and have tons of stuff completed (and tons of stash used up!) by the end of the class. I firmly believe there should be no stress in scrapbooking so don’t worry about there being any pressure. With the extra snippets of projects over the next few days, it will start to have a fuller picture, but in the meantime, think of it like an idea book: do you instantly make something inspired by everything in there, all at once? So it’s a bit like that, except every project has a full set of instructions and the ten larger projects have printable resources to help complete everything. I’m getting too wordy now, so just know there is no reason to stress.

And if you’d like a little extra help with photography…thinking creatively about composing shots, getting to know your camera and the light and improving pictures from so-so to a new personal best…Cheryl of Feel Good Photos is running her Painting with Light workshop again now that there is some light in this part of the world! It’s a great place to make a real start so you can talk the talk and get the shot. It covers shots both inside and outside, so you could even put your new skills to use when photographing your kitchen for Allison’s project!

xlovesx

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Sometimes projects are just a long time coming. This is one of those. But oh, goodness, am I excited about it now. I keep trying to come up with the ultimate story to lead you into this one but I’m too giddy so I’m just going to cut to the chase with this class.

There’s No Place Like Home is an online class that starts on Monday, the 24th of March. Starting that day, participants will receive 25 prompts by email—a prompt every day Monday to Friday, with weekends free by popular request.

This project is all about our many definitions of home, from our hometowns to our current neighbourhoods to the very buildings in which we live. Four fabulous guest artists have joined me for this project, so you’ll get to see projects from Allison Kimball, Barb Novak, Kate Bucci and Beshka Kueser. And projects from me too.

Each week’s prompts will feature two major renovations and three smaller quick fixes. The major renovations include no fewer than six full albums (with worksheets and resources for each one) and other large scale projects for home display. These projects take a few hours to a few days to complete, depending on your style and speed. Quick fixes include single and double page layouts, journaling prompts and little exercises that tie in with the bigger projects. Some of these will take just a few minutes, while the longest quick fix takes a little over an hour.

The balance of the major renovation projects and the quick fix projects means you can decide how much you want to make during this course. You can go all out and complete all of the five tasks each week—perfect if you want to create a little something every day plus have a bigger project for the weekend. You can just complete the major renovations and you’ll have plenty to show for it from two or three scrapping sessions each week. Or even without much spare time you can complete the three quick fixes each week, then choose one or more of the major renovations to complete in your own time. Lots of flexibility and no pressure to complete anything by a deadline, but at the same time there’s plenty to be doing if you want to create every day.

You’ll receive the daily prompts by email, and they are also archived in a private web forum. (For those who participated in the Christmas Journal forum, we have upgraded to allow us to archive everything in full PDF format, not just plain text. Hurrah!) The private forum hosts discussions about the class projects and you can participate as much or as little as you like. You can also share your work with the other participants on that forum, so you’ll end up seeing even more than the projects presented in the prompts as everyone brings their own ideas and photos to the mix. (Another upgrade for alumni—you can now upload your photo straight into the post, so no more confusing linking from elsewhere.) You’re also invited to participate in an online chat party midway through the course.

None of the projects require special shopping—you can customise each project with your own supplies. We’ll talk about that idea specifically with a few projects.

There’s No Place Like Home, in summary:
...class starts Monday 24th March
...there are 25 prompts delivered Monday to Friday for five weeks
...each week has a theme with two bigger projects and three smaller projects.
...all prompts are permanently archived online
...participants are invited to a private discussion forum and online chat party
...in total, you’ll receive detailed instructions for ten large projects and fifteen smaller creations.
...all twenty-five projects focus on the many definitions of home in your life.

Between now and the 24th, I’ll share a few more sneak peeks of the class projects. Maybe the next one will let you in on a little more than those three snippets above!

How to sign up:

Even if you’ve taken one of my classes before, please read this because there is one little change that is quite important!
To access the class materials, you need a login name at our class forum. If you have one from this past year’s Christmas Journal class, open a new tab/window and login here to make sure you remember your login and password.

If you didn’t participate in Christmas Journal ‘07, you won’t have a login yet. No problem—you just need to pick a name! Go here and register. You won’t be able to actually post on the board yet…that’s absolutely fine. You just need your login name at this point.

Okay! From here on out, it’s easy! You can pay in US Dollars or UK Pounds. (If you’re not from either of those countries, you can still join us—just pick whichever currency you prefer.) Click the button to pay. When you pay, there will be a box for your forum login name. Just put the login name in the box and all will be fine! Ready to click?

$20.00 US Dollars

£10.00 UK Pounds

A few little things to remember:
If you do not put your login name in the box during payment, there may be a delay in receiving class materials.
Please keep your confirmation email from Paypal. It is your receipt for the class.
The first prompt is delivered on Monday the 24th of March.

And now that’s quite enough formal talk for one evening! I think I shall go retire to a room that is more comfortable than the office, because after all, there’s no place like home!

(Yes, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Because I am from Kansas, after all.)

xlovesx

PS: Just to clarify—if you forget your login name or don’t see the box for it, please don’t worry. I can look your name up and all will be fine right now. It’s just really helpful if you do remember. And of course, if you wait until the day the class starts to sign up, then it gets a bit crazy. But so far we are doing just fine and everyone has had a name when I’ve looked it up so we’re all good!

Also, several of you have won places on this course or received them with other classes and so on. That is my big job for Monday, so I will be in touch with you then! ETA: This started today but it was a big job indeed so will finish tomorrow (Tuesday). Today’s other big job turned out to be driving through this. Whoa.

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If you’ve signed up for Journal your Christmas, you should have received an email inviting you to join the forum.

If you haven’t, please email me with the email address you used to sign up (the one on your paypal account, basically). I’ve tried to catch all the requests for alternate emails but I may have missed one here or there, and several emails bounced…so please just let me know.

Don’t worry—you’re not missing anything. Just yet. :)

xlovesx

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Yes. It is that time of year. Christmas chocolates are out. Special shopping bags are in the stores. I’ve even heard a few Christmas carols here and there.

To me, that means it’s time to get ready for Journaling my Christmas. Something that started so many Christmases ago now as just a book I kept for myself as a way to reclaim my Christmas and put a happy ending to a year that had been anything but fabulous. And it worked. So from there, I shared it with a small group of people…most of whom I knew in real life…that next Christmas. And after that, well…it’s something that has grown and grown, to include scrappers, artists, photographers and writers from more than thirty countries. And it really is my favourite time of the year.

Now is the time when you can join in too. Journal your Christmas is an online class that helps you document the holiday season for you and your family. The class starts December 1st and goes through the 6th of January — the twelfth day of Christmas. Every day, you receive a prompt with a theme for that day’s page, writing to get you started and pictures of pages from a range of artists, all designed to let you decide if you want to take your time to make something original and from scratch or work quickly by borrowing ideas from others.

You work with your own stash of supplies — and you’ll see a mix of Christmas themed accents alongside supplies that wouldn’t necessarily scream Christmas at all. You can work in any format or size. You decide how much or how little you do every day.

And to really make that work, once you join, you’re in forever. So you can join us this Christmas and make as many pages as you like without the pressure to try to finish everything in a limited time frame. Because next Christmas? You’re still in, and you can add to what you already made. Some of the original participants are working on one album compiled over four years while others have made a new book every Christmas. Whatever works for you is the key.

Every year I add something to make the experience that little bit better. This year it’s the November preparation. Before the official start of the class, you’ll receive tips and sketches for preparing your supplies and book so you can minimise some of more time consuming work when you are at your busiest during Christmas. It can also help if you need to put your crafting supplies away during the holidays to make room for extra houseguests or presents that need a place to hide.

For those who have participated in courses throughout this year, I’ve also listened to your feedback regarding the organisation, and this class will use a new private forum for discussion instead of the old email-group set up.

So, if you sign up for Journal your Christmas, you receive:

*37 daily prompts from December 1 to January 6

*November preparation prompts

*Three audio messages throughout the course

*Access to a private forum for members to chat and share their work

*Access to a permanent archive of the course materials

*Ongoing membership for every Christmas that you would like to participate.

You can purchase the class in either US dollars or UK pounds. Just click the appropriate button to pay in the currency of your choice, through the secure payment system at Paypal.

If you have any questions, comment here or send me an email. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks.

xlovesx

Answers to questions posted in the comments:

If you participated last year, you do not need to sign up again. You will receive an email with details on how to move to the new forum. I’ll post here when that is sent out so you will know if you have missed the email.

You can sign up a friend as a gift. Just click on the button, and make sure you write her name and email address in the comment section during the payment process, or sign up and then send me an email with her name and address.

If you have received your paypal receipt, you are all signed up. The next message you will receive from me will be during this coming week, as we get everyone set up on the new forum. I’ll be sure to post here to say when the last of those have gone out, so you’ll know if anything has gone astray. You’ll be able to access the preparation material then too, so not long now!

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Oh my goodness, you girls really know how to sweet talk!! It’s a good thing I am not picking by the content of the comments, because that would be simply impossible. I want to give you all places! Someday. Thank you so much for all your support.

Random number generator says 24 and 88. So our winners are:

Patty N and Misty D.

Let me know what email addresses you want to use, girlies.

Many sorries to the rest of the hopefuls! Ugh, I could never be Simon Cowell for a living! Thank goodness.

Class starts tomorrow if you’re still thinking about signing up!

Heading up the motorway to Moxley tonight. Tomorrow those crazy girls are making an album in a day…provided I can get everything packed into our little car!

xlovesx

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The most awkward part of school is realising you know no one to sit with at lunch, correct? Totally horrible feeling.

But alas, one you don’t need to have! Comment here and I’m going to draw two names. Each will win a free place on Learn Something New for themselves and a friend – so four places up for grabs.

And as today as been a glorious day of packing album kits, I’m going to recover from assorted paper cuts with an episode or two of Chad Vader. You know, the adventures of Darth’s lesser known little brother and his ongoing employment at the local supermarket.

Educational, I’m sure.

Get commenting…you’ve got until Friday morning in my time zone!

xlovesx

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