My Adventures at Scrapbook Expo

Scrapbook Expo came to my part of town for the first time ever, and I was so thrilled to take part in this event.  It was very exciting to see all these companies and manufacturers come to sell all the latest products in the industry that I love.  I had the best weekend!

I started the weekend working as a teaching assistant in the Tattered Angels class.  These classes were mindblowing!  So many great techniques, so many beautiful effects, so much shimmer and shine.  The first class I was in was called Glimmer Mist 101 and it was a technique class where they teach you tons of different ways to get different looks from the Glimmer mist products.  Each student left the class with a three ring binder full of over 25 pages of techniques that they got to play with during the class.  This was an excellent learning experience, and everyone in the class had a blast.  Our teacher Nanette was awesome and super fun.

The second class was using the Heidi Swap Fascinations products.  These were products with resist built in and it was like magic in the making.  As you sprayed and wiped, different images just appeared like magic.  The papers were treated with resist images that made the most awesome effects.  It was surprisingly easy to make something look spectacular.  This class was also taught by the gracious Nanette.

After class time was shopping time!  I loved walking through the vendor area and seeing all the awesome products that I had only seen online until that point.  Manufacturers like Creative Imaginations, Pazzles and of course, Tattered Angels were there.  Plus rows of other vendors with stuff from multiple manufacturers.  I went to my hotel room with lots of new goodies to play with.  And play I did.

The next morning, I entered the Expo's Creativity Contest and submitted the desktop plaque that you see above.  It looks like they liked it because I won third place!  I won a Slice die cutting machine, a $149 value!  My very first electronic cutter!  I was over the moon!

That afternoon I worked at at one of the booths for a company called Eyelet Outlet.  This company had a huge variety of colored and shaped brads like nothing I had seen before.  It was amazing to see all the really cool brads.  Plus they are the manufacturers of Quicklets, an eyelet that you can attach with just a pen, no special tools needed.  Really easy. 

I really enjoyed myself working at the booth.  I demo-ed the products and met so many wonderful people, just as excited about papercrafting as I am.  It was so much fun.

At the end of the night, I got to work at the crop.  It was so much fun to be part of the party, for free!  Tons of giveaways, tons of fun.  I had a really good time. 

Can't wait for the expo to come back next year!

Rusty Pickle Class with Lance Anderson

Oh my!  I had so much fun at the Rusty Pickle class with Lance Anderson, himself!  It was at my local scrapbook store, Cherry Blossom Studio.  We did this amazing chipboard mini book with a tropical theme.  The best part was a pop-up Tiki house!  You just have to look through the pictures to see what I mean.  It was just an amazing project!

Meeting Lance Anderson was a treat in itself.  He was such a normal chilled and laid back kind of guy.   So fun to talk to and so fun to craft with.  He shared his story of how he fell in love with paper design and started his company and is looking to keep things going via his blog.  He also shared a funny story about his black crop-a-dile tools.  One of my classmates asked how he got ones that were not pink and he said that he went back to the company that makes them and complained and complained until they made a pair in black just for him!  Funny story!

Much of our conversation was about literature.  Lance is an avid reader and loves getting book recommendations from the people he meets in his travels.  He highly recommended the book Ender's Game  by Orson Scott Card, especially as a great book for young boy readers.  I made a note of it to buy it for my son to read.  I think he's gonna like it.

Another really cool thing I learned about Lance Anderson is that he speaks Portuguese!  There were a couple ladies there from Brazil and he would speak to them in their language, and it won them over right away.  They had so much fun in the class too!

The project was a 5 page mini book.  Each page was the most amazing, thick chipboard!  Really sturdy!  We covered both sides of each page with rusty pickle patterened papers and stickers, and then added a Sizzix die cut popup house.  Used rafia to turn it into a super cool tiki hut, and completed the project with fibers all along the rings.  I just love my new mini book and cannot wait to take a vacation so I can use it!! lol!

So if you ever get a chance to meet Lance Anderson or take one of his amazing classes, I highly recommend it.  And be sure to ask him what he's been reading lately.

Meeting Michelle Van Etten from Prima & Tattered Angels (with Glimmer mist!)

I had the honor of meeting Michelle Van Etten, a Prima Endorsed Artist-Educator and was absolutely blown away by her scrapbooking techniques and layering expertise. Her stuff was simply amazing and I wanted to know how to do it all! She is so sweet and personable and willing to teach me anything that I would ask at the class. I just love her!


The first class I took was her Family Treasures class which was all about layering. I learned how to use paper and embellishment layering as a method to add dimension to my project. I made a layout using prima flowers and Graphic 45 papers, ribbons, die cuts, chipboard, and so much more! We distressed and inked just about everything, and used liquid fabric glue to adhere all the heavier items. I felt so proud of this finished project, it is simply amazing! The class included a canvas that I inked on the sides and adhered the layout. The photos are of my baby girl at my vanity mirror getting fixed up, lol! I now display this canvas proudly at my home's entryway.

The second class was a Tattered Angels mini album using Glimmer Mist! I finally learned how to use the Glimmer Mists correctly, and what amazing things it can do. I was suprised that there was so much that you can do with the glimmer mists. We used resists and sprayed to get layering, we created puddles of color and dipped embellishments, and then rubbed and spritzed and patted down to get all kinds of different effects. This class was so much fun. I learned so much! Now I can finally pull out those bottles of glimmer mists that I've been storing and unable to use correctly until now!

My favorite thing about these classes was meeting Michelle Van Etten and being in awe of her talent. I respect her so much for making masterpieces out of everyday items. She is just amazing. At the end of the class she gave us a DVD of her teaching the class we had just taken, so we can finish the mini album at home, or refresh ourselves on the techniques later on. I love that!

Click below to purchase any of her amazing classes with step by step DVD so you can take the class from your very own home! Check it out:

Tim Holtz Class: Patchwork Pandemonium

This past weekend I got to take a class with the Amazing Tim Holtz. I had so much fun! He is just amazing and his products are so unique and one of a kind that I find myself thirsting for more more more! Here is a picture of Tim, Mario and I at the event.

In this class we got to learn technique after technique after technique! I was giddy with excitement for the entire 4 hours! Little squares were inked, distressed, painted, sanded, embellished, crackled, and so much more. And at the end they fit together into this amazing quilt that I can display with pride. Not only was it an amazing learning experience but so much fun at the same time.

Before the class, I waited in line with tons of people who were all baking in the hot florida sun, but stood in line just the same so they can be one of the first to see Tim Holtz! I made new friends in the line, including Laura who was so much fun!

Once we got to our seats, there was a prepacked kit with instructions at our table all ready to go with supplies and materials all sorted, labeled, and organized perfectly to ensure that the class goes smoothly. Thanks Mario!

The table was full of Tim's products including a craft sheet, 8 color coded ink applicators a spinning holder, several inks, acrylic paints, jars of crackle paints, a textured hammer, a piercing tool, a set of tonic scissors, and so many more goodies to play with.

The pace was good, and the class was easy to follow since Tim had a projector showing each step clearly. I was able to keep up with the class and get my project completed.

My favorite part of the class was getting to play with crackle paints. Its something I have not had a chance to use before. My least favorite part of the class was that the air conditioning was not working well and it was so very hot hot hot. But Tim was a good sport and made us all as comfortable as possible.

I can't wait to hang up my new Tim quilt. I am so proud of it. Thanks Tim and Mario for putting together an amazing class! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!

Meeting Donna Downey: Intro to Fabric Scrapbooking

This past weekend I got to meet Donna Downey! I was able to sign up for her Fabric Scrapbooking class at Cherry Blossom Studio. For several weeks I was so thrilled and excited about meeting her in person and getting to learn from her. She is a true artist and has so much creativity. I love how she thinks outside the box and adds her own artistic flair to scrapbooking.

Donna was just so much fun in the class. She was so down to earth and just a regular gal with tons of funny stories to share. Plus she was so very patient and nice and it made the class a wonderful experience.

The fabric scrapbooking class was such an awesome learning experience. I learned all about gesso, gel medium and molding paste. Three items that are quickly becoming must-haves at my crafting desk. Plus we got to work with a breathtaking Prima fabric album which was just georgeous and several fabric embellishments designed by Donna herself. Just beautiful fabric flowers, birds and houses, Fleur De Lis, and embroidered tags. All just stunning pieces and prime additions to any scrapbook.

I was so amazed at how many pages were designed for this project. I felt like I could really do a full album with this set and although I have not finished all my pages, I cannot wait to get everything finalized and start showing off my book to my friends and family.

My favorite part about this class was learning how to use modeling paste. It makes such a statement to any project. I think I will use it quite a bit now. My least favorite part was learning to stamp on the canvas. I felt like there was no way to get a clean image and had to use pens and markers to get it to look decent.

If you ever have the opportunity to take this class, I would highly recommend it. There is just so much that you can learn in this class.

Special Thanks to Donna for sharing her amazing talent and for making this an experience that I would never forget. You inspire me!

Here are pictures of my album. There pages were all designed by Donna as part of her fabric scrapbooking kit.