Altered Scrapbook

We had a fantastic time at Anneliese Bates altered scrapbook workshop on Saturday. Anneliese is so creative and full of enthusiasm, it's contagious! I know several of the ladies have been continuing to work on their altered scrapbooks, me included. Here are my efforts. My book is about my ancestors, a subject very meaningful for me. I want it to sit on the coffee table and be perused by the family, so they can get to know and love their family who have passed on. As many of you know, I am a Mormon. My faith means a great deal to me, and I believe that we will be reunited with our families in heaven some day. That is why I want to know and honour them. That is why scrapbooking as we know it began in the 1970's in Utah. Mormons who had done their family trees wanted to be able to present the information in a creative way, preserving the photos and memorabilia for future generations to enjoy. That is also why there are so many Mormons in the scrapbooking industry - Heidi Swapp, Teresa Collins, Lisa Bearnson (founder of Creating Keepsakes), Rusty Pickle owners, Creative Memories, and others. So now you know :-)

Art Journal Page

Here's another art journal page. I bought 'Journal Bliss' by Voilette, and it inspired me to do this page. It's supposed to be a self-portrait (I can hear you chuckling!) but it was fun to do. It's a great little book, well worth getting.

Workshop

Those of you who are coming to the workshop on Saturday, I hope you are as excited as I am!!! We have the hall from 9.30 till 3.30, to allow for time to set up and clear away and still have a 10 till 3 workshop. Pack up your photos and bits and bobs, and get ready:-) Oh, and don't forget to bring lunch. You won't want to stop working to go out and get something xx

Transformations

I've been having some fun painting furniture for my living room. I needed a chest of drawers wide enough for the TV and DVD player to go on. I found a pine one in a charity shop, just crying out for a bit of attention! Some friends who visited recently put me on to Annie Sloan paint, and it's brilliant. It is water based, very chalky, and covers really well. When it's dry, which is only a couple of hours, you rub in wax and buff it up to a lovely sheen. I'm thinking there must be ways to use this in scrapping, its such great stuff. So here are the before and afters'.

Artist Trading Post

I have just got back from a fabulous holiday, all refreshed and ready to get on with things. I have had an email from Annaliese who is running the workshop for us at the next crop. She is bringing a few goodies from the Artist Trading Post www.artisttradingpost.com to sell, but if you want to place an order from the website she will bring it for you to the workshop, so you save on postage and packing costs. There is so much lovely stuff on the website, I highly recommend it. Make sure you add a note to your order to let them know Annaliese needs to bring it to the Cannock workshop.

Art Journalling

I have done a bit of art journalling before, but I was really inspired by Trish's journal at the last crop. She got me so enthusiastic I had to go home and start right away. This is my first 'proper' page and I loved doing it. As I have a holiday coming up (Lanzarote tomorrow actually!) Trish also suggested I get a smaller book and do some backgrounds on the pages so I can take it with me and work on the less messy bits when I am away. Well, I have done it, and prepared a little box of watercolour pencils, and souffle and gel pens so I can create on the beach :-) I am even more excited about my holiday because I get to create too!!

Crop and workshop

Don't forget to bring the balance owed for Annaliese's workshop to the crop on Saturday. Here is a list of what to bring:

• a selection of photos to put in the book you will make, can be themed eg. wedding, baby, holiday etc or random.
• scraps of papers, ribbons or bits that will go with your photos. This is optional as a selection to choose from will be provided
• scissors, craft knife and cutting mat if you have them. If not there will be some provided.

This is going to be a great workshop. Annaliese sounds as excited and enthusiastic as we are!