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

There’s No Place Like Home starts today…and I’ve got a big stack of email addresses on paypal accounts that are bouncing!

If you’ve signed up and can’t access the home class forum, please send me an email. If your paypal email is an account that you don’t check or it doesn’t exist, I can’t reach you.

We are mostly good to go, but I don’t want you to miss out! Many thanks.

ETA: Prompt One is sent now! I’ve got to do a two-to-three-hour drive now, so just know that if you email in the next couple hours, I will get you all set as soon as I am out of the car!

xlovesx

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Greetings to those arriving here from Design for Mankind—it has made my day to be featured there. Such a lovely place to check out if you haven’t already! (And there is a giveaway there today, which is cool too.)

It also made my day to have a nice, tidy kitchen that now has food in it. We are rubbish at food shopping…we mean well and then things get in the way. We are extra rubbish when it is chucking it down with rain, which lately, it is. A great deal. But today we have stocked the fridge and the cupboards and there is life in the kitchen and we have eaten things that do not contain MSG or glow-in-the-dark colour additives. I also get excited when there is juice in the fridge. Right now there is a choice of juices. Many days I could quite happily live on juice and dark chocolate, so juice is a good thing in my world.

As happy as those two things have made me, they may not sound outwardly inspiring, and the other things I have been doing today involve typing, decluttering, paying bills, sneezing, studying for an exam (when I’m not in any type of school! It’s a story for another day.) and finding out the recycling bin is very full only when one’s arms are full of recycling. These things are also not outwardly inspiring. So, here are some things that I do find outwardly inspiring today:
pretty spring colours and lacy cardigans from Emily Temple Cute,
a spring green art journal entry,
this crocheted garland that is just right (but I can’t crochet for toffee) and
this kitchen illustration by Camilla Engman. I quite like the idea of something like that on a photo of our own kitchen to be displayed in our kitchen, even if that is like looking into a kitchen-filled kaledioscope.

Which has just reminded me of the many hours I used to be entertained by finding things I could put in the end of a kaleidoscope my grandpa made. I remember being particularly mesmerized by the pictures made by sequins and dry cat food. Those were days before internet so I am sure Grandpa made it by understanding the entire concept and thereby being able to make it (which is how I see the way my grandfather works at pretty much everything, and if I am wrong, I don’t really want to be corrected) but because these days the internet has all our answers, here is a “set of instructions”.

And this post is just about as coherent as my day has been. How is yours?

xlovesx

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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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!http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2329146914_047b2541bb_o.jpg
(craft supplies)!:http://flickr.com/photos/shimelle/2329146914/

Work Out Wednesday is up!

Back soon with some more info (including pictures) about No Place Like Home.

xlovesx

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That movie I talked about before with kites and abandoned airplanes and this concert amongst others…is free to watch today on youtube. But just for today. So watch it and then realize that you need the actual DVD because it is much nicer huge and and loud and clear than it is on the tiny little youtube screen. But hey. Free. (My favourite price.)

It is very, very pretty. And all about their home. Some somewhat related to the topic at hand right now.

I’ll be iffy on the internets this weekend, so I’ll see you back here on Monday I should think! Have a great one.

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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