Crop again

It's our crop on saturday 12th. Sadly Jules can't be with us as she has a family commitment. Thankfully Caroline from Skrapz was able to step into the breech. They always bring lots of yummy stash- so be prepared:) It's the day before I go to America for 3 weeks, so don't let me spend anything!! I need every penny for that. Hope to see you there.

The Photograph

It's how and why scrapbooking started. The photograph. My son is loving his camera and for my birthday took some great pictures at our family picnic. I have had 2 put on to 18" x 20" canvases and I am loving them!!!! It just made me think- am I taking enough quality photos? And am I doing enough with them? These are a couple of the photos that Matt took.

Lot's happening

So here's what we have provisionally booked in for classes/workshops for Chase Scrappers.
September- Jules class
October - possibly Rachel Allen
November - Margaret Dunning
December Ellie's class
2010
May - Gallery Textiles
later in the year we have Shimelle and Jane Pope
All of these classes are sounding really good- I'm excited! Some of them are going to be expensive. Although we are now supported with money for the hire of the hall we are still going to be very short of what we need. Any ideas? Maybe we could do a bit of fundraising?? Let me know what you think.
I'm in a scrapping frenzy at the mo. I've just completed a 30th anniversary mini book for my hubby and I. Can't believe it's been that long and that happy:) I've started working on a travel journal for my trip to America NEXT MONTH- whoop!!! I will post pics soon.

Classes, classes, classes!!

Thanks to those who came to the crop saturday. What a great bunch you are! I always enjoy the company and the inspiration.. We are sorting out some really interesting classes for the crop. Jules is doing a class for september, and Ellie will do a class in December with a kit from Crafty Stash - www.craftystash.co.uk
I'm looking in to something for November. I've also been enjoying FREE classes on www.thebigpicture.com If you go there and search classes, choose list by price, and the free ones come up. You put your details in, but won't be charged. Then you go to 'my classes' and you can do them whenever you like. I certainly found some inspiration. It's made me want to get back to why I started scrapbooking- recording lives through words and photos. Enjoy!

Monoprint Class

Did Rurh Allen's class- www.ruthallenart.co.uk - at the Shire Hall Gallery today and loved it! Ruth is inspiring and a very tallented artist. She is also a good teacher, and the two things don't always go hand in hand:) This is the peice of work I completed, and I'm raring to do more! (click on it for a close up image) We used block printing ink which was deliciously messy- and traced our images onto patterned papers laid on top of the ink. I will do it as a demo at the crop next week, all being well. Ruth is willing to come and do some workshops for the crop. That's exciting.

Summer

I am LOVING summer! What summer you may ask? I know the weather has not been great, but there's even benefits to the rain! Here's why I love summer:
1. Day's out- people generally want to have fun in the summer
2. Garden looks beautiful- don't even have to water it this year:)
3. Roads are so much quieter when school's out
4. There are lots of local things organised- eg bands playing in the park
5. When it rains it sounds wonderful in our conservatory-nothing better than curling up with a good book in there.
6. Fruit! You have to love strawberries and rasberries- yum and healthy too!
7. Holidays
Our big holiday is happening in September, but we are excited to have a night away in the Lake District on sunday. And just remember- if we didn't have lots of rain we wouldn't have a lake district, or such a beautiful country! Tomorrow promises to be great too- I'm booked on a class at Stafford Shire Hall Gallery, making monoprits in 50's style. Can't wait. I will post my finished piece.
Enjoy summer.

Fun at 50

What a great birthday I had! All the family got together and had a picnic Sunday afternoon and we finally got some family photos. I will post some as soon as my son has edited them. We had great weather, which was a blessing because it's been pretty dire lately if you hadn't noticed! My surprise pressy was a spa day with my lovely daughter Becky, We had lots of fun, a gentle bike ride, a walk, a swim, a lovely lunch, some great relaxation and a facial and manicure. I came home feeling great!Thanks to everyone for making it special.
I have prepared this canvas for a class I'm doing at Hedensford library on 7th September. It's a library week focused on the theme of ancestors (my favourite theme) so contact the library if you want to come!