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School holidays are always busy, but these winter holidays have been especially busy with the addition of a few events into our days.

The first is the addition of sunshine.  The first week was terrible weather but this week we've had sun.  We've also shivered the entire time we've been outside, but the sun on our backs is a great feeling, we've filled our vitamin D tanks and there isn't a space on the road outside that isn't covered in chalk drawings from Abby and her friends.

The 2nd addtion to this holidays was a trip to the movies in which I  found some great lessons in bringing up children, I bawled like a baby at the end but the biggest reward was staying awake.  After the movie was over, the lights came on, I said "That was awesome".  Braden said "That was epic", Abby said "You were scared Mum, you held my hand" and Jacob said "No way, you didn't stay awake, did you Mum?"  We watched Brave.  It was a great movie. Even if I did struggle to stay awake during the fishing part in the middle.

The third edition to these holidays has been the busy hive that is created while getting ready for SENZ.  SENZ is a huge NZ craft show and I have a booth this year, full of all the goodies I've been selling, (Washi, molds, kits, twine, gems, flowers etc).  We're demo-ing mixed media stuff, we're making tags, we're making cute Prima necklaces, we're selling chipboard, it'll be a lot of fun. 

Sometimes I don't know how I get involved in this kind of thing, I never clearly made a conscience decision to retail anything, and it's likely that after SENZ I will stop.  I somehow fell into it.  However it's in the genes to be a little entreprenuerial I think, I have memories of my Dad making me cut foliage off the farm shelter-belt trees, bunching it up and sending it to the city florist markets to make a dollar or two as a kid.  I was amazed over and over how many people had trees and hedges on their farms and they had no clue they could be getting $45 a box for it if they just got out there, cut it and bunched it to sell.

Anyway.  I've got the kids involved and they have their own bits and pieces to sell.  So far we have Jacob's' Just-Tie-It' Hand dyed Binding ribbon.  We have 'Braden's Borders' and 'Braden's Bit's n Bobs', and we have 'Abby's Art Pieces'.

These kids have been working on these all holidays.  They have a cost per item they have to pay me and they get to keep the profit.

I'll let ya know early next week how we went, don't forget to pop by at the booth and us and see them if you are at SENZ this coming weekend!

Laters

 

It's Wednesday means some cool things in the Howard home this week.  Firstly, it's the NZ premier of "The Block".  The kids and I have been waiting for a new reality show to start and so we have a 'Block Party" planned.  It involves PJs, beanbags, pillows and this.  You know.  A block for a block party. 

Wednesday also means this, in our house… Abby finally losing a front tooth.  We've been expecting this for a year or two now, she is 8 1/2 years old so it's been a long time coming.  As soon as the tooth came out the other one dropped into the middle.  Abby now does an incredibly excellent impression of Nanny McPhee. 

Wednesday also meant a trip into town for the library, supermarket and the hat shop, apparently.  Because "everyone else has one of those haaaaaats".

Mix the two together and you get this… she could kill me with her one toofed cuteness right now.

Wednesday also means it's only ONE more week before I stop all my trademe auctions for molds, resin, washi and kits and go to Hamilton to set the booth up at SENZ.   It's likely I will not be restocking my supplies when they sell out.  If you want any of those things or know anyone that does, order this week.  I only got the stock in for SENZ in the first place, so once it's gone, it's gone.  (Seriously, I'm pulling it all from sale in the hopes of selling out, I know that's going to freak a lot of you out lol)

 

WEdnesday also means the day after Tuesday.  When I created this.

And then after I created that, I created this.

I'm on a super Finn-inspired kick right now, I can't seem to create any other way. 

Two cool things though:

1. If you want to see a demo on how I created these tags, come see me at SENZ, at the demo theatre.  11.30am on Friday and 2.30pm on Saturday.  You'll see chipboard being used, resin pieces being made, painting, colouring embelishing, it'll be awesome.

2. IF you want step by step instructions with full photos on creating these tags, join me for Dimensional Details.. The tags arecreated by me but inspired by Finnabair…  who also guests in the workshop.  That's some seriously fun creating, huh?

laters

 

 

Draw closed and we have a winner!!  Email me, Maree! 

 

Posted by: Maree | July 01, 2012 at 09:46 PM

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Giveaway time.  I have a class coming up that's full of dimension and texture, layers and techniques.  Dimensional Details – The Expanded Version is a 3 month online class with Big Picture Classes.  Class runs 5th July – 26th September.  I ran this class in 2010 and it was a huge success.  I'm running it again and here is your chance to win a space.

But first, the FAQ.

Dimensional Details is a "4 Experts" class.  Do I have to be an expert?
No – this class is for all skill levels.  You don't have to be the expert, I'm the expert.  apparently. Although  my husband would argue with that.  The invoicing he was doing yesterday is now covered in GlimmerMist.  Not so clever.  Not very expert at all, really.

13 weeks?  What on earth do we learn for 13 weeks?
We start right at the basics and build on up through the layout.  From the beginner stuff to backgrounds, borders, frames, titles, right down to the itty bitty embellishments.  Week by week we build more and more.  Except week 8 which is gala week.  That week there are plenty of assignments but a whole lot more fun stuff as well.  As if there wasn't enough already.

What is involved?
Each week I have a 'Learn It' handout, where I outline techniques through photos, text and layout examples.   Then there is a 'Build It' handout where we have step-by-step instructions to build a layout that involves the learnt techniques. THEN each week there is a bonus.  A guest artist or two(I've even got Ms Finnabair featuring!), perhaps a video, some more step-by-steps, something else.  Oh! And nothing is compulsory.  If all you do is read the handouts and browse the gallery, you'll get plenty out of this class.

I've got summer and kids, and I'm sooo busy but I really want to do this… what if I can't keep up? 
Big Picture has forever-access.  If you miss a week (or two!) it doesn't matter.  You can access all areas of the class always.  Love that!

I did Dimensional Details in 2010. Is the 2012 version any different?
Yes and no.  I wanted to expand and add more.  I wanted to take some away too.  As I went through the content though, it was all so valuable.  So I kept most of it!  I added though.  I twisted things.  I updated.  I had a lot of fun with it all.  We had such a blast in 2010 it'd be fun to see you all back.  Ahhh good times, good times…

Anything else I should know?
Yes.  I've put heart and soul into this class.  My kids lived on cheese-on-toast while I prepared for it.  It's FULL of info.  We have a whole lot of fun as a group.  We learn together.  We have the best gallery on the planet.  Inspiration unlimited.  That's all.

Any more questions?
Email me.  I'm here for ya!

Can you win a spot?  Yes you can.  Click here and visit the description page, then comment on this thread and let me know what you'd look forward to in a class like this.  Giveaway closes July 3rd, class starts July 5th.

And want another chance too?  Visit the Prima blog here..   They are giving a spot away also…  love giveaways!

Laters

 

I'm home from Sydney where I just had the most incredible 4 days.  I need to do a recap on that trip sometime in the next few days because I learnt some cool stuff.  I see a lot of it being used in my classes, both online and in real life.  Tim Holtz is a clever man with a lot of inspiration to pass on.  I'm grateful to have had the time spent learning from him.

He's a great teacher.  And I've seen a few – I've been involved with scrapbooking for a long time and I've been teaching internationally and at large national events for over 7 years.  My first big teaching gig was with David Roberts and Crafting Connection waaaay back when David bought ladies like Becky Higgins over here.  I had some seriously fun times with Crafting Connection.

My next big teaching gig was with Prima.  I became an official educator for them in 2007. I had an incredible amount of fun with that, I bought the 'card buffet' concept to the forefront in New Zealand and Australia (how fun was that?  Remember the one that we made fudge in?  It was part of the class?  It was like a fudge and cards class?  Seriously random as I think about it now…).., and I travelled all over the globe, as far as South Africa, for Prima.   I also was heavily involved in design team work.  Loved it immensly, loved how far it pushed me outside of my zone, enjoyed creating pages for tradeshows and catalogs, good times, good times.

During 2011 I took a well earned break.  I settled into online classes more, I spent a lot of time building Autumn Escape and switched focus a little.  My kids started to wonder how on earth I found time to watch TV all of a sudden.  I became addicted to MasterChef.

2012 has seen me find a different focus again. My online classes are still a massive thing for me, I still travel, I still teach but now I create class kits and travel the occasional trade show too.  Eventing with BFF Lucy has been so successful we have expanded that as well – we have a huge retreat in 4 months and our April event is already close to full. 

And so, when I recieved an email about 3 weeks ago inviting me to once again join the Prima Educator team, I was thrilled.  There are around 12 of us on the educator team, each one hoping to bring something different to the mix and I'm proud to be alongside, and congratulate each one on the team with me. 

Being asked to be on the Prima team again is like snugling back down on my favourite couch.  I feel like I'm just fitting right back in.  Once again you will see new layouts and projects from me at CHA tradeshow time when they release new products.  I'll be travelling more.  IN fact I already have some big things lined up, I have some busy times ahead. 

And so here I am.  Back from Sydney and back with Prima.  Nothing like snuggling down on that favourite couch when you've been away from home.  Happy to be here.  Thank you Prima.

Laters

1. I'm getting on a plane.  Mum & Dad are here with the kids.  Penny is at her fairy dogmother's house in Huntly.  Sydney awaits me.  New technique and new knowledge is there to be taken.  I have cleared room in my mind for a whole lot of fun stuff to settle in there and I'm hoping when I'm back I'll be able to pass it on.  Tim Holtz. Bringer of all things amazing and distressed.  Give me thy knowledge.

2. Crafthouse has 50% off everything (except Project Life) at the moment.  50% off.  Cardstock stock-up anyone?  Adhesive stock-up anyone?  Don't thank me.  Just shop. 

3.  I am going to the NZ Warriors vs Cronulla NRL game tomorrow night.  In Cronulla.   I am practicing my Aussie accent.  Just sayin'. 

4.My husband just ate leftover curry for dinner and we are due to board a plane in 11 hours.  I tried to warn him to the unwiseness of his ways but he assures me he will be fine.  But will I be? 

5. Washi.  Ahh yes.  New designs will definitely be here next week.  Barnes EasyCast resin will be here next week.  Here are some more washi ideas.  (Below – these are Project Life cards but the same techniques can be used on layouts or cards) Love this stuff.  Mostly because one roll costs just slightly more than one sheet of patterned paper.  And it goes for freakin miles.  Well.  10 metres anyway.  Enough to cover a whole laptop in damask design, anyway.  Or so I've heard.

laters.

Washi isn't new.  It's been around for a while but it is one of the hottest products in scrapbooking right now.  Because I love Washi, and because I have just about literally a truckload in storage to sell at SENZ in a months time, I'm pretty involved in the stuff right now. 

So I spend my days playing with washi, I sell washi, and my house is slowly being taken over by these cute little rolls of tape.  Infact I now wade through washi to get to my kitchen , which isn't a problem unless anyone in this house wants to eat, is it?,

So this leads me to one of the questions I am most commonly asked lately. 

Just what do I do with it?

The question is more what can you not do with it.  This has to be one of the most versatile products out there.  It is a lightweight paper masking tape but it is really low-tack.  It's paper, you rip it off, you stick it down, and when you change your mind you remove it and shift it. 

It's that easy.

What do you use it for?  The possibilities are truly endless and if you google 'washi', you will get hundreds of images of things to do.  These are some of my favourites though:

Tags and journaling blocks:  Start with plain journaling blocks or tags and run a strip of washi across the bottom.  Layer a few strips, mix and match, up to you.  These happen to be Project Life journaling tags and those are 2 of my favourite Washi designs from my own for-sale-stash.
(Black Script has 2 lengths of washi across it, black damask has one strip).

Most the rolls you will purchase (from wherever) are 10 metres worth.  Be aware of the occasional 3m roll, but even at 3m, it's a lot of embellishing…

You can get all flash and start layering designs.  I threw two strips of the black script across, and then got all keen and put that red flourish on top.  You can see there isn't any fuss, just rip it off and stick it down.  (most washi is see-through… I put a scrap piece of paper underneath to make the design show up better).

Some of the journaling blocks I threw together for this weeks Project Life layout.  I created some journaling in Word with margins set to the same size as my card, printed it out on regular printer paper, trimmed a card, put Washi Tape across the bottom, and fed it back through the printer.

She's cute huh?  AND the COOLEST thing about this Washi journey I'm on right now?  It's a joint venture between Abby & I.  If you go to my page, view the washi, and send me an email with an order, do you know who picks it up?  Abby does.  Don't worry, she only opens emails with the subject "Washi" , which is the word most people put in the subject line. 

But yes, Abby opens any emails with Washi in the subject line, she reads, she gets the order ready and it's sitting at my desk with a little scrap of paper with your name next to it next time I come into the office.  It's the best fun we've had in a long time.  It's a real little Mum-Abby project.  She gets to feel important, I get a helper and most importantly, we are slowly making a path to the kitchen.  The Howard family may get to eat again.  Soon.

More ideas for Washi over the coming days.  

Laters.

 

First cool thing from the weekend was this.  I used to shift this flippin mat 800 times a day.  At least.  It was one of those situations where although it was always creeping up the wall, I was the only one that noticed and moved it.  Then thanks to pinterest, I got the silicone idea.  And thanks to my fabulous hubby, my mat no longer creeps.  Here's the pics – taken in my very own lounge.  Very excited about this… small things, small things, I love you, Pinterest.  My hubby ain't bad either.

Second cool thing from the weekend?  This.  This smile.  This smile that is slowly changing.  Those top teeth are wiggly and my eight-and-a-half year old daughter is over the moon they may come out soon.  "I don't smile in photos anymore because I still have my baby teeth".  Soon, Abby, soon…just one last photo of your gorgeous baby teeth smile for your mama.

This puppy…no, dog… no puppy… finally settling down and becoming a companion to us all.  We did the right thing adding Penny to our family.  I can finally say that.

And lastly, this.  Autumn Escape 2013 is open for registration.  This will be our 5th year running this event and we are only going better and better.  We're so proud of what we are doing and next year we have Jenni Bowlin visiting us here in New Zealand.  Already registrations are exceeding expectations.  Love these ladies, can't wait to do it all over again.

Laters

It's science project time in the Howard home.  I have one son measuring temperatures of hot drinks, an hour at a time at regular intervals, and another measuring the height of grass growing in old milk bottles.  Both experiements have been well thought out – did you know cold milk helps keep your hot drink hotter than cold water?  Did you know that adding worms underneath your crops will increase the growing speed considerably?  Me neither.  But I've been hearing about it for weeks.

And so science fair time drives us crazy.  Some mothers guide their kids through very single step.  Some leave the kids totally on their own.   While I don't *help* my sons with their science fair projects, I am a constant sound board for them.  I throw devil's advocate questions and talk them constantly through what they are doing.  I guide them through making plans and I nag the living heck out of them to go through with what they planned.  After all is said and done, I stand and guard my cardstock supplies with my life… I went out on Sunday fora  few hours and when I came home there were cardstock scraps all over the lounge.  My fault for not putting a lock on the door.

It's just one of the things going on in the Howard home, and I have to say I am Looooving documenting the boring and mundane (but fun to look back on) via Project life. 

Here is week 2… I'm up to week 5, just a little slow on uploading.  Because, you know, I've been too busy guarding cardstock…

The left side of the layout.  Love this girl!

The right side of the layout.  I love the pic of Abby and her "school BFF".  The caption underneath says "Since when do you two play pillow fights?" "Since I said to Abby 'let's have a pillow fight!"

Yep.  Seriously.

And put them together and they are a week in the life of the Howard family.  Well.  Minus the yelling, the fighting over the TV remote, the arguments over the cola flavoured lollipops and missing out the piles of washing… (some of that stuff will actually make it into these layouts though, you watch).

Anyway.  Loving it.  Loving it so much that I'm offering a class at Spring Edition "Introduction to Project Life"

I've been asked several times how I include so much text on my little cards.  Nope, I don't bother with text boxes or tricky stuff.  I have a doc in Word that has the margins set to fit one of the little journaling cards.  I type what I want and print it out on plain printer paper.  Then I use a temporary tape runner to adhere my little journaling card to the printer paper and I run it back through.  Just.like.that.

Just some quick things – I have Washi tape for sale, see that here.  It's super cheap, $2.50 a roll (NZD) and I can fit LOTS in a courier bag.  Spread the word for me, please, the more I sell, the more I can afford to get in, let me hear all the Washi addicts say 'yeeeeeaaaaaaa'… and Aussie is super cheap to send to as well (the exhange rate works in your favour!).  Facebook it, pin it, spread the word, like I say, the more I sell, the more designs I can afford to bring in.

Free Washi tape webinar showing all the fabulous uses for Washi is here, Thurs Noon for NZ ladies…

Molds for sale via trademe – more designs due this week.  You can also just email me with the codes (at the end of the title of each auction) if you want to buy direct.

Spring Edition classes are open for registration. 

That's all for this time.  Washi tape to pack.  Couriers to call.  Love being busy.

laters.

 

 

Things are fairly standard here in the Howard home.  Week 5 of the second term.  Winter has tightened it's grips around us, which is interesting since theoretically it's still Autumn, and I'm giving in and lighting the fire early most days.  Personally I'm enjoying the incredible amount of routine this time of year brings but at the same time mourning the summer socialising. 

Summertime I love to be sitting out under our neighbourhood cherry tree with drink in hand, friends chattering and kids playing cricket on the road til the late evening hours.  Wintertime I just want to sit ina  beanbag in a patch of sun eating Vegemite & chip sandwiches and reading a good book. 

In fact yesterday I got stuck in a beanbag for 3 hours.  I had to text my neighbour and BFF to bring me a drink.   😉 It was obviously a good book.

No idea where I was going with this except to say that I have found my scrapping happy place right now.  It might be because I'm happy to be inside.  Happy to sit and be creative. Despite the fact I'm ignoring the craving for Vegemite and chippie sandwiches. 

I can hear some of you dissing the vegemite and chippie sandwiches.  Seriously.  I'd live on them if I could.

But I digress.  I'm leaving you with a little Webster's Pages love in the form of… look at that, it's their "In love" collection.  I considered using their "in Love" collection to create a card to the makers of my favourite Eta Chicken Chips, but that wouldn't quite have been something universally understood on the Webster's Blog, now would it?

Laters

Well.  Not quite.  It's not the pitter patter of little feet but I do have a new baby.  It's the pitter patter of tiny index cards as I shuffle through them trying to complete my latest Project Life page.  I'm such a convert.  I haven't been this excited since I discovered Mr Whippy will put sherbert on a Flake cone. 

That is serious excitment. 

Sharing my first week with you.  Single pages first and then what they look like together.  A week in the Howard home.  Kazinga.  Just. like. that.  Lovin it.

(Title card downloaded from Pinterest, days of the week digital overlays from www.thelilypad.com just days cards, cute kids have been mine for years 🙂

See – very cool.  Love. love. love it.

And a week all at once…

Not bad for a beginner?  Yes? 

Laters