Category Archives: classes

Jun3

Techniques to Play With

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Techniques to Play With

This past April, there was another True Stamp event, with lots of information about techniques you can use when stamping. Now all the classes are available for sale individually, and are discounted for the month of June!

One of my favorites was the class from Raisin Boat, where they used a bunch of products to add texture to their stamped images. Raisin-Boat-Sneak-Peek-labeled

I loved their use of new to me products as well as their innovative ways to use items I already have in my stash. Now I’m definitely going to be adding pearl pens and puff pens to my repertoire! Techniques from this class will definitely be showing up when card month comes around again this fall. (In November, I make cards all month long, and then send them out to my mailing list. You should definitely be on my mailing list if you like getting snail mail.)

Another must watch class is the class sponsored by Paper Smooches.Paper-Smooches-Sneak-Peek-labeled

Not only is it filled with fun techniques, but it’s a great lesson in how to practice. The most important thing in any creative endeavor is the willingness to experiment and make mistakes. Kim’s class is a great example of learning through experimentation. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

The rest of the classes are similarly wonderful, and I’ll tell you more about them as the month goes by.

Now, a few details about the sale for you. These classes usually go for $12.95 a piece. For the month of June, they are on sale for $9 each. Plus, if you decide to get all six classes, you can get them for an additional 33% off! That’s right. 6 classes for $39. That works out to what? $6.50 a class? That’s awesome. Seriously.

So head on over to the True Stamp sales page, and get yourself a deal!

Mar3

Do YOU want to be a Design Star?

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Do YOU want to be a Design Star?

How many of you out there have ever dabbled in digi-scrapbooking? How many of you have wanted to design your own patterned papers or embellishments? How about pocket page cards and cut files? Have you ever wanted to design those?

Do you have a basic grasp on how to use Photoshop? (Most important concept-do you understand layers?)

You do? Excellent, because there’s a class coming up that you will absolutely LOVE.

The Design Star with Traci Reed class (affiliate link) over at Scrapaneers is now open for registration, and begins Aprll 7th. She first ran the class last fall, and I was lucky enough to take the class.

Before I took the class, I had only used Photoshop Elements, and I was able to complete some of the assignments in Elements. However, there are certain things you can do in Photoshop that you can NOT do in Elements, so for the end of class, I took advantage of Adobe’s free trial and used Adobe Creative Cloud.

By the end of the class, I was able to make this:

preview first digi kit

(If you want to download it and take a closer look at it you can find the info here: Doing a Digi Dance)

The Design Star class (affiliate link) is jam packed with information, and Traci walks you through the entire design process, from creating a mood board and color palette, to creating your own patterns and word art and embellishments. Not only is there great introductory information pre-recorded for each week’s topic, but there are also office hours, where Traci demonstrates  tricks, shortcuts, and techniques that will really help you learn the ins and outs of digital designing. There’s even a peer review and a one-on-one video chat with Traci at the end of class to go over your strengths and weaknesses!

I can not recommend this class highly enough. No matter what your skill level is, you will learn a lot that you can use to create gorgeous digital products, be it for your own personal use, or as a professional designer.

If you have any questions about the class, drop them in the comments, and I’ll forward them on to Traci and get some answers for you. Maybe we’ll even have a Q&A post later this month for  you!

This is one class that is worth every penny, and then some. If you harbor even vague dreams of becoming a digi designer, this class will get you on your way!

Jan15

Getting Excited

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Getting Excited

Two super fun things are coming super soon to the online scrapbooking world that I really want to share with you.

First up is the next True Scrap event: True Scrap Pocket Pages. (affiliate link) If you haven’t heard about the True Scrap events yet, they’re a lot of fun. Usually they are one or two day online events with multiple instructors in a single classroom, hosted by Lain Ehmann.

 

TSPP logo

 

True Scrap Pocket Pages is a one day event, and all the classes will focus on ways to use all those journaling cards from Project Life and Snap and MAMBI, as well as ways to use pocket pages for more than the usual slip a photo in, slip a card in, call it done approach.

The classroom is a lot of fun, with a pre-recorded video portion, a chat room, where you can connect with other scrapbookers from around the world, and a Q&A session after the video, where the instructor and Lain answer any questions that may have arisen during the course of the class. I have found every event to be highly entertaining, and full of inspiration, so it’s something you won’t want to miss. What’s really cool about the event is not only do you get to take the class live, while the instructor is there, but you also get unlimited replays, which means if you miss anything, you can always go back and rewatch a class, or even the entire event.

I’m looking forward to the event. It should be a lot of fun!

The other thing I’m looking forward to is next month’s LOAD (Layout a Day for the uninitiated.) (affiliate link) I’ve written a LOT about how much I love LOAD, and what I’ve gotten done during LOAD, and why you should attempt a challenge like Layout a Day yourself. This is one of those things I’m going to nag you about. Do you want to use up your stash? Do you want to improve your style (and by that I make it even more YOU, not make it like every one else)? Do you want to be a faster, more confident scrapbooker? Then you need to do something like this. There’s nothing like that daily commitment to really get your creativity flowing.

If you want to know more about LOAD, we’ll be having a blog hop on January 25th. Hop along with us. It will be fun, and filled with lots of inspiration.

So that’s what’s got me excited this month. What are you looking forward to?

Jan8

Daily Documenting Resources!

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Daily Documenting Resources!

I bet many of you have been bitten by the Project Life/Pocket Page/Daily Life Documenting bug. You love all those pages you see online, and you want to make your own, but you have no idea where to start.

Or maybe you have no idea what all these pocket pages are all about.

Well, there are a few things that can help you get started.

If the idea of taking a photo everyday scares you, check out Katrina Kennedy’s class. She’s got some great ideas that take the intimidation out of the whole daily photography challenge.

If you have time today, you should also check out Traci Reed’s PL planning class. You can participate live today, or watch the replays later. Traci will be sure to have lots of ways to help keep yourself organized in order to be successful with the whole daily documenting project. Traci’s also got a planner you can purchase  to get your daily documenting organized so you can tell deeper and more meaningful stories.

If you’ve already got a ton of pocket page supplies, and want to learn some new ways to decorate them for your  daily documenting, or to use them in other projects, you will want to check out True Scrap: Pocket Pages. That is a full day of classes with live instructors, pre-recorded video, and tons of inspiration. I’m really looking forward to taking those classes at the end of the month.

Last but not least, if you’re running out of ideas, or are painting yourself into the “My life in uninteresting” corner, I have a list of topics to document for you.

Microsoft Word - Photos to take.docx

Photos to take & stories to tell

I originally published this when I did my Week in the Life album last May, but the topics are useful for any kind of daily documenting. You can even print off the PDF if you want: Downloadable Photos to Take Printable

After you get these classes under your belt, you should be more than ready to tackle a daily documenting challenge. You can do it. Really you can.

Oct7

Try It, You’ll Like It!

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Try It, You’ll Like It!

One of the most fun events on the whole internet is happening this Friday and Saturday. Hyperbole? Probably. Unless you’re a scrapbooker.

What is it?

True Scrap 5. Haven’t heard of it? Where have you been hiding? All my scrappy internet friends love this event.

True Scrap is a live, web based scrapbooking event. Each day, you log into a single webspace where multiple classes are presented. There’s a live chat feed, where you can interact with fellow attendees, as well as the instructors for each class.  There’s also a question and answer session after each class where you can go into further detail about the class topic with the instructor.

It’s hosted by Lain Ehmann, one of my favorite scrapbookers out there, and she’s brought together 15 (yes 15!) instructors to bring you the latest ideas and techniques in the industry.

TrueScrap5

These are fun and fabulous events, with tons of ideas and inspiration. I’ll be using ideas from some previous classes when putting together the daily cards for November. (Must come up with a catchy name for that. Any suggestions?)

There are classes on mixed media and distressing techniques and spray ink. There’s design and embellishments and stamping. That’s just some of the classes from ONE event! These events are so FULL of inspiration, and camaraderie that springs up between the attendees in the classroom! So much fun and silliness as the conversation winds from class topic to superheroes to nail polish, and back again.

If you’re not sure, try one of the classes from previous True Scrap events that are available for sale at individual rates. They are inexpensive, and worth every penny. If you have questions about any particular class, let me know. I’ve attended ALL the True Scrap events, and they’ve been well worth the time and money.

These were my favorites from each event:

Nic Howard: True Scrap (1)

Jennifer McGuire: True Scrap 2

Shimelle Laine: True Scrap 3

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer: True Scrap 4

Bev Grey: True Stamp

If you’re still unsure about joining True Scrap 5, Lain Ehmann is presenting a Spreecast this evening, where she’ll answer questions about True Scrap, and talk about her impressions on the state of scrapbooking, based on what she’s seen while prepping for Friday and Saturday’s event.

You can check out the Spreecast broadcast tonight: Is Scrapbooking Dead? 

Don’t miss True Scrap 5 this week. It’s going to be FUN!

ts5adattendee