New online class...

A new online class is now up at the Shoppe and ready for sign ups. You may remember last year I taught a class called "Toad-ally Loveable". Well, the response to it was so good that I decided to do a second version: "My Heart Leaps 4 U". If you liked the first, you will probably love this one as well. And if you missed out last time, now's your chance!

Kits will be available for pick up on Feb. 13th. For those not familiar with our online classes, in each kit you will receive the website address as well as a password to that particular class. There you will find pictures and directions to make this fun two page layout. Here is a picture of what the class project will be:

If you're interested, please don't wait to sign up. Seats are going very quickly for this one!

Hope you enjoy it! :o)

Finally an update!

It seems that I have been seriously neglecting my blog and I decided that today was THE day I was going to do something about it. So much to fill you in on...

Hubby and I had a great trip to Canada. It was so nice getting the chance to spend time with our family, friends, and each other. The time went by far too quickly as vacations often do. I have some pictures and will try to share some of those with you at a later time. Right now though, there is other business that needs attending to. :o)

First, the "A Baby is a Blessing" class is completely sold out. However (and here's the good part!), our Cookie Monster pages are now up! "The Cookie Caper" is the second in our Sesame Street series. It features our loveable blue character in Sherlock Holmes attire. His mission: An empty cookie jar means that it's his job to find the lost (or stolen) cookies! Here is a picture of what we'll be making in this class:

This layout is interactive as you can see in the following:

The lid opens up to reveal that the cookie jar is empty. Attached is also an additional photo mat! Please call to register. (706) 321-0202. Our Oscar pages sold out very quickly, so if you're interested in this class, please don't wait to sign up.

And with that, comes another exciting announcement!!!! My wonderful, supportive hubby bought me a Flip Ultra HD camcorder! I'm still learning the ropes with it (as you can tell from the blurriness of my video)~ but so far, I'm loving it. And with any luck, my videography skills will hopefully improve. ;-) In the mean time, your patience is much appreciated!

Expect to see some new videos with FREE online tutorials featured here in the coming weeks! Cards, scrapbook pages...all kinds of fun stuff!! If you would like to subscribe to my blog, you will get notified each time there is an update. I have some great things planned and I can promise you~ you're not going to want to miss out on any of it! :o)

Wishing all of you a great week!

Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away...

Our first class in our Sesame Street series will feature that grumpy ol' grouch that we all can't help but love. That's right...Oscar! Here is a peek at what we'll be making in class:

First, a close a close up of Oscar:

And of course, we couldn't have a layout about Oscar without including his special friend Slimey:


Look at those adorable googly eyes! How fun is that??

Finally, here is a picture of the entire layout.

We hope you'll stop by to check it out. It's MUCH cuter in person!

Also, just a reminder about the Sesame Street album I was telling you about. The album comes with ten page protectors. By the time we are finished with our series, we will have completed enough class layouts to fill them all. A few favorites characters you can look for will be: Elmo, Cookie Monster, Bert & Ernie, Big Bird & Snuffleupagus, The Count and maybe even some extra surprises. Don't miss out! Sign up early to ensure your space. Hope to see you there! :o)

Just sharing...

Since the Make a Wish class kits are now all put together and ready for pick up, I was able to bring home my demo pages! Yay! So, upon arriving home, I decided to do some extra embellishing and quickly got to work.

As colorful as the layout was, I still felt that the photo mats could use a little something more. Now, I know that the photos will be going on the white mats. But for my own personal albums, I find myself doing alot of double mats for my photos. So, I decided to add a bit of extra color before adding it to my own album. And I have to say, I LOVE the result!!

I thought I'd share the before and after:

Before:


After:

And a few close ups:


Page 1 before:

Page 1 after:


Page 2 before:



And Page 2 after:

If any of you would like to add these extra mats to your layout, all I did was measure each block and make the inner one approximately 1/4" smaller. I say approximately, because I wasn't real exact about dimensions (those who know me will find this quite shocking. LOL!). Then, I chalked the outside of each mat before adhering to my pages.

I hope this post has inspired you to dig out your scraps and see what ways you can embellish your pages further. And if anyone would like to do this but would like the exact colors that I used in the class kit, I know Cheryl still has some in stock.

Bug-a-Boo Class

I mentioned the new Bug-a-Boo class in a previous post. And today, I'd like to share a couple of sneak peeks with you.

First, is a cute little blue critter....

And a look at the entire layout....

Colorful caterpillars, ladybugs and snails~lots of cute bugs all pop-dotted to create a 3D effect. This fun layout could also be used for toddler pages or (thinking outside the box a little here) maybe even ones of your beloved furbaby!!

Class is July 18th from 1-3 p.m. Kits are available if you do not live locally or are unable to attend that day. Hope to see you there! :o)

Cricut info

Two questions that I seem to get asked a lot are "Where do you purchase your cricut cartridges?" and "Which ones are your favorites"?

Well, a couple I have purchased off of Ebay. In fact, I've heard some people get great deals there. I don't tend to have much luck with Ebay most of the time. However, I do have some resources for you if you're looking for a new cartridge at a reasonable price.

Michael's is obviously one choice. The limitation there is that you have to wait for the catridges to go on sale. So, here are a few online options that I have found:

One website I've used numerous times is Scrappers Must Haves. Typically I have my cartridges within two days of placing my order. I've been very, very happy with their level of customer service! And, as long as you don't mind them cutting off the top of the blister packaging, two catridges can fit into one priority flat rate envelope. This means shipping is less than $5 (if shipped within the U.S). Just remember to choose that option at check out. They also sell some of the more rare cartridges such as Don Juan and Accent Essentials.

Here is their website so you can see their selection:

http://www.scrappersmusthaves.com

There are a couple of other websites I've heard good things about (although I have never ordered from them personally, so I cannot rate their customer service):

http://www.ohmycrafts.com
http://www.customcrops.com

I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones I have heard the most chatter about. Oh, one other thing...you might also want to check out http://www.cricut.com . Within their message board, there is a separate category titled "Product Reviews & Deals". There you will find a lot of people selling some of their used (some new) cartridges at great prices.

Now, I also promised I would tell you some of my favorites. First for fonts:

Storybook~I love the elegance of this font...perfect for formal pages or sweet girlie layouts. It also contains several scallop shapes which are so popular in scrapbooking right now. There are also a lot of flourishes on this cartridges. I don't tend to use many flourishes in my scrapbooking, but if this is something that appeals to you, then you will looove this cartridge.

Alphalicious, Doodletype and Learning Curve ~ three different fonts that are all very versatile. They work well for most of your every day kind of pages. Alphalicious has more of a cute, whimsical feel to it.

Now for the shape cartridges:

Doodlecharms ~ has a wide variety of fun shapes. A little something for everyone can be found on this one. It's a great cartridge and I highly recommend it.

Paper Doll Dress Up ~ is very different than the title implies. It has sooo much more than just paper dolls. It has tons of "accessories"! Just a few of the many things you will find on this one include: a pirate ship, witch's cauldron, pumpkin, mummy, a castle for some adorable prince/princess pages, a shamrock, a rocking hourse, a sailboat, a wagon...the list goes on and on. So many adorable items contained in one cartridge. I'd even go so far as to say this is my favorite shape cartridge that I own.

My only buyer's remorse was my Stretch Your Imagination cartridge. There seems to be a lot of great things on this one, and yet I can't bring myself to like it. Don't ask me why because I really don't know. LOL I'm hoping to learn to love it the more that I use it.

Hope today's post was helpful to someone! Have a great day!!

Some ideas

In case some of you are not familiar with the classes we offer at the Shoppe, I thought I'd post some that I've taught over the past year.

A "Back to School" Make & Take was held in September:

Here is a closer picture of the original layout I made (that the class was based on)....

A dog layout for your furry friend(s):

And a couple of close-ups of the features of this layout. The dog paper piecings I created using various shaped punches. I was hoping to replicate the dogs in the patterned paper.

The title, gumball machine and bones were all made using my Cricut machine. And as much as I love designing my own paper piecings, I adore my cricut! The cartridges have so many cute designs contained on each one!! It is one of the best investments I have made when it comes to my scrapbooking!!

And finally, a layout for all those beautiful fall pictures I'm sure you all have...

Whether you're a beginner or an advanced scrapbooker, we would love to see you at any of our classes. My friend Sandy also offers some absolutely beautiful card classes too if that is something you'd be interested in.

If any of you have a class idea that you would like to see offered, please don't hesitate to leave a comment. I would love to hear your feedback or any suggestions you may have.

Have a great day!
Shelley

Merry Christmas!

I can't believe only three more days until Christmas! This is, by far, my favorite time of year. All the beautiful lights, and so many wonderful church services being held to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. I don't even mind the crowds. Seeing other people trying to find that special gift for the ones they love truly warms my heart. Christmas is such a special time and as much as Rejean and I miss our families back home, I look forward to it more and more with each passing year.

I wanted to share with you all an upcoming class that we will be having at the Scrapbook Shoppe (see above~click on any image to enlarge). I hope you like it. The frame above the fireplace is for a family picture. I intentionally left the areas beside the fireplace and tree blank so that you could later add more photo mats if you'd like (some colors to match the rhinestones on the tree would be cute!).

The class will be held on Jan. 17th from 1-3 p.m. If you would like to attend, or are not able to make it but are interested in a kit, please call to sign up (706-321-0202). Also, if you would like more or less stockings for your fireplace, please just let us know and we'd be more than happy to accomodate that.

Wishing you and all your loved ones a very Merry Christmas!! I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!

Shelley