Sandra - Sue's sketch

Hi Amanda

YAY!! finally got round to Sue's sketch....yes it is under there somewhere! lol


Cheers for now
Sandra..

I can see the sketch Sandra! Great job! I can also see an influence / inspiration from Lou.

Very creative!

more e2c group photos

I had a really hard time trying to find the 'right' photo to send out to the group... there were always one or two with eyes closed or funny expressions! I guess it is hard to co-ordinate eyelids with 65 women!

So here are some of the group shots for you to look and laugh at. If you click on the images you can view them much bigger.

sensible shot

and a silly shot. This one made me laugh with Michelles expression behind Tiff's head! Priceless!

another sensible one...

and then the sneeze! Dee this was so well timed!

finally another silly shot!

and just to show that i can show stupid / horrible photos of myself too...

This expression is exactly how i felt on the inside Friday morning - sky high with stress and anticipation!! Lucky i have two calming influences by my side!

Anyway i hope you get a giggle out of these. I sure did :)

A new colour challenge blog ...

The Colour Room

An international team of scrappers are involved including 3 from Adelaide!!

font lovers unite!

If you love a good font as much as i do check out this website :

they have weekly newsletter updates which have great font offers and three free fonts if you subscribe (it's free to subscribe to the newsletters)! They also have fab. instructions on how to install these fonts if you are new to the game or easily confused like me :)


click here to have a look!

School holiday fun ...

Okay so those of you who attend the retreat will be rested, caught up on your sleep and now ready to use some of that mojo that you accumulated ...

and it is school holidays ... eeekkkk ... some of these ideas might be good to get the children involved in too!!

These ideas have come via a newsletter I receive from Aussie Scrapbooking.


Some have made these bows before but the stamping takes it to the next stage!

http://bananafrog.typepad.com/bananafrogblog/2010/04/lessons-at-the-lilypad-bows-and-bling.html

next up ...

cute crepe paper butterflies ...

http://jennibowlinstudioinspiration.blogspot.com/2010/04/butterfly-tutorial-by-danielle-flanders.html

and the next one ...

creating a negative image with scissors ...

http://studiocalico.blogspot.com/2010/04/scrappy-tutorial-creating-interest-with.html

Just a little more on Studio Calico ... an American kit company

they have a great blog posting that you can subscribe to where each one is sent to your email address and they have a very inspiring gallery!
Blog
Gallery (via their home page)


If you have a link to something we could create post a comment on this post to share!

Hope everyone had a great Easter!!

retreat reviews on other blogs

I do love reading blog posts after the event when other ladies who attended the retreat do a little run down.

I have made a bit of a list here. If i have missed anyone please let me know and i can add them.

Meredith
Mel Forbes
Ali McDonald
Tiff
Sandra
Kerryn Lawson

ok i know i have missed someone but cannot for the life of me find it now!

e2c retreat 2010

Well it is done! The whole weekend feels a bit like it passed in a big blur - of setting up, class organization, teaching, meeting new faces, scrapping, eating and drinking. (some more than others!)

Wednesday night I drove to Port Lincoln to pick up Mel Forbes, our guest teacher from WA. We went out for tea, drove home and settled her in her temporary bedroom (thanks Kelsey!)

Mel was exactly as i remember her. She is just like one of us and fitted in so well. I have known Mel online for over 4 years now and she feels just like an old friend.

Thursday we woke, popped the kids on the school bus, loaded the car to the hilt and drove to the Lion's Hostel at North Shields for setup. We had some male muscle to help lift the trestles and sort out positioning for powerpoint displays and extra lighting. This set up day took almost all day and by the end we felt completely exhusted.

Friday we gave some quick birthday wishes to Georgia and Kelsey, popped them all on the school bus, loaded the car with more gear and headed to 'retreat HQ' yet again.

60 goodie / etsy bags all packed

We packed goodie bags, set out chairs, showed the retaillers where to go, sorted out bedroom allocations, assisted in the kitchen (Val and Kathryn were already buzzing around in there: busy little beavers!), said hello to the Country Arts SA lady (Simone) and introduced her to Mel, picked up table decorations, met some girls from the big smoke at the airport and before we could blink again it was 3.58pm and people were rocking through the door. (tsk tsk early birds!! LOL)

Every attendee got a goodie bag, personalised mug and lanyard. Here is mine post event with a bit of added white spray paint!

messy lanyard and mug

Before not too long all our ladies seemed to be settled in and scrapping!

Deb and Bernie scrapping up a storm.

We then welcomed everyone, had a scrumptious pizza, garlic bread and lasagne dinner (the weather was perfect for sitting outside) and my class kicked off.

It was quite a drawn out class due to the sewing, painting and ink splats but thankfully the ladies were so patient waiting for their turns with the various sewing machines and painting / inking stations.

Hopefully everyone was happy with the end creation.

After that was free scrap time and there were a lot of late stayers that night (us included!) There were a few spots of rain on the shed roof as we went to bed which was lovely to listen to as I fell into bed at 4am absolutely stuffed.

Saturday I woke and it was action stations as we ate breakfast and kicked off the morning class which was Merediths amazing little 'flap' book. There were many, many laughs and i have heard much anticipation on her class project for next year! ;-)

Lunch was scrummy panninis, meats and salads with fresh fruit for dessert.

Saturday afternoon saw our guest teacher Mel take the floor and it seemed that the whole shed stopped to watch her in action. WOW what a great fun class. Every single person that i spoke to loved the layout they made with her.

a table of 'Ronnies'

It was free scrap time after that until tea and make use of it we all did! Dinner was delicious little mini roasts of chicken or beef (my beef was DELICOUS), potato bake and assorted veg. YUM. Fresh fruit and chocolate platters soon followed.

I did take a few funny photos of the A team but am not allowed to show the funniest one (or two) so i will console myself with this one of them both laughing before tea on that Sat. night.

i can hear them laughing just by looking at the photo! A rare photo with a wine in hand...

Our major prize raffle followed in which every person won a prize. Some of the 'must have items' were the big chomp, a jotote bag, an amy butler tote, a studio calico kit and far too many more to mention.  We need to mention again our amazing sponsors and local scrap businesses. What fab. support. Without this sponsorship there is no way our retreat could go ahead.

Another late night followed with lots of laughs and a beverage or two.

It didn't seem long and we were up again for breakfast - our magnificent cooks had prepared pancakes!!  Sadly the end of the weekend was coming up quickly - eeeeeeek too quickly!!!!

the 'noisy' table

these girls are fab!

some e2c blog regulars!

The entire rest of day of Sunday was free scrap time until 3pm when we all said goodbye :(

A few personal highlights:

*meeting Tatum, Ali, and Lauren and having them sit 'behind' us. They were great girls and we had a lot of laughs together. Totally amazing scrappers also! What those girls can do with a bit of yellow paint is incredible ;-)

*seeing beautiful Ange again. Clever, clever, clever. ... and beautiful.

*having a lovely friend in Michelle (and Andrew!) and knowing that she would be willing to travel from Sydney to attend another retreat again in 2011!! It was fantastic to have you on our table again Michelle. Loved it.

*our very talented guest teacher Mel Forbes being able to come a little earlier and stay and help set up. This really concreated her in the 'team' and we all felt like we had known her forever by the weekend's end. What a special friend i have!

*the 'fire recovery' kit that we collected for Bev's sister and neice. What an overwhelming response!

*how easy everything seemed to come together this year and our immediate enthusiasm to do it all again in 2011!

*how delicous all the meals were and how cheery and calm the kitchen was at all times - even when they were under incredible pressure. Val and Kathryn: you girls totally rock.

We had a little look last night after pack up at the surveys and were blown away at all the positive comments. Some of the fav. comments that stuck out at us were:

"I had a fantastic time at the retreat - it was so well organised and i was made to feel so relaxed"

"you can't improve it - it's excellent"

"a fantastic weekend - keep them coming"

"exceptional value"

"compared with other retreats i have been to there was lots of elbow room"

"fantastic food. Well done to Val and Kathryn - top job"

"PLEASE keep having them!!"

"great to be able to shop here for extra supplies"

We will certainly take note of some of the other suggestions that are 'do-able' and try to make 2011 even better than this year!

the 'silly' photo!

On behalf of Sue, Meredith, and myself we thank all the girls that were able to come along to our retreat : we had the BEST-EST time. Thankyou also for the lovely card (Bev) and kind words (Sandra). The 'gift' that you collected was completely unnecessary and we certainly do NOT expect it. However we are very very thankful and humbled by it.

At this stage everything looks 100% positive for another e2c in 2011. We will keep you posted :)

What a great weekend *sigh*

Post retreat link ...

Thought this was a funny blog post title ... make me look skinny in a photoshop tutorial ...

http://papernstitchblog.com/2010/03/23/make-me-look-skinny-in-photoshop-a-tutorial/

After a weekend of not cooking and eating yummy meals, maybe nibbling on a little chocolate, a few lollies, a little cheese here, a few glasses of your favourite there it may well come in handy next week!!

random musings.

I get a little thrill (and an almost scare) when i see that little counter on the sidebar  - Sandra i think all your tapping has broken it and made it speed up!!

The retreat week for me starts on Wed. when i pick Mel up from the plane. I have known this chook since 2006 and it will be great to see her again. Her style of scrapping is totally different to mine, however i look at it in awe at the time and effort she puts into every single tiny detail. Not only am i a fan of her scrapping, but she is so down to earth and very much 'like us' that she feels like a friend that i have known forever.

Thursday will be our major set up day where my car will be LOADED to the absolute roof racks with e2c gear to take to Nt Shields. It will be great to take it all down there and finally clean my scrap space out a bit - at the moment it looks like we are shifting house with the amount of big boxes stacked up and blocking off half my room!

Friday will be more setting up, helping the retailers settle in and then at 4pm the fun begins!!

The past few days have been spent doing a few last minute retreat jobs - i think maybe third time lucky for me as i feel the most organized that i have ever been on any of the other e2c retreats. It has all come together so lovely and quickly this year! I guess practise makes perfect!

Also i have been cleaning and preparing our house for our visitor - this has been no small task!

I have also started packing my suitcase (which makes things feel very REAL and exciting), as i am working for the first part of this week and will not have time later on.

Scrap wise i am almost all packed - i just have to sort through my thickers and decided which ones (if any) to leave home. I haven't packed a massive amount this year as i always end up buying heaps of yummy new product and would rather use that while the scrapping urge hits on the retreat.

In other random news - don't forget to go through your stash and look for some goods to donate to Bev's sister who lost all her scrapping gear in the Port Lincoln fire late last year. There will be an area at the retreat where we will collect it all and give it to Bev to pass along. Bring those bits along!

Another thing not to forget to pack - which has almost been an oopsie from me also - is a wine glass (if you are a wine drinker that is!! No need otherwise!)

Well another day is drawing to a close, and there certainly are not many more sleeps until the retreat.

I cannot wait!

Maryanne - colour challenge

hi amanda



this was supposed to be for the orange & white challenge, but I have used some black on it as well.


obviously its a layout using one of the befunky photos.


cheers
maryanne


ooooooooooooooooooh Maryanne. You are so very very clever. Awesome. Just amazing.

hmmmmmmmmm -

this time next week there will be a little bit of escaping going on!


:)

Free ebook from Ella

I have just gotten this info in my inbox and have promptly downloaded it.

The offer looks great - very inspiring so i thought i would pass the info along. This website and their offers are just great. I have downloaded and printed a heap of stuff from them already!

You will need to join the site to download it - but again i have had no issues at all with them. For a free dose of inspiration it is well worth signing up (no biggie to pop your name and email address into a few boxes anyway!)

free ebook

here's their blurb:

Enjoy professional photography tips, a digital tutorial, three free journaling quizzes, complete instructions for a darling home-decor project, a creativity exercise, a time-saving sketch, and lots of fantastic layout ideas accompanied by expert tips and advice.


This 22-page downloadable eBook offers at least one page, project, or tip from each of the 14 products released by Ella so far. And best of all, it's FREE.



In all, you'll enjoy 34 fresh tips, ideas, and insights from the industry's leading designers, photographers, and scrapbookers—from Stacy Julian and Cathy Zielske to Margie Romney-Aslett and Renee Pearson.


See just how easy it is to download and use Ella eBooks, and discover first-hand which inspiring Ella eBook you need to add to your inspiration library next.

Tiff - colour challenge

hope to see some of the girls get fired up on the week before the retreat and pop some of their challenges on here.


cheers.
tiff


nice and crisp Tiff. Great job. Very different to your usual style! Lovely clean, linear work... and of course the orange just pops.

Karen - Sue's sketch

One of my favourite scrappers has finally scrapped again YAY!

Hi Amanda,



I was sitting down scrapping last night, I produced this page which loosely resembles Sues Sketch challenge from last month and is also the colours of Februarys colour challenge! So I thought Id send it in as I have done NO scrapping at all for months and now Im feeling all charged Im worried I wont have any photos to scrap at the retreat!!! LOL. I cant wait. See you all next week......


Karen D
 
Oh i love the clean lines of this and those touches of pink (particularly the pink spots behind the journalling strips) . Perfect Karen! I also need to know that font you have used - it's delicious!
 
So happy to see you back into scrapping again.

Jenny - Sue's sketch

This is my entry for 'Sue's Sketch'. It has turned out very purple, I think, I didn't want it all blue. Too 'boyee' So hopefully purple is a good compromise. I'll take note of the reaction on the weekend, when I show him.

Great interpretation of the sketch Jenny! Purple is a nice comprimise instead of lots of blue. Look at those cute smiles too! The Princess looks like she would tower above your little Prince LOL.

Fab job of an inspiring sketch.

retreat tips = it's ok!

This last tip is about a situation that we are all probably going to find ourselves in at the retreat.

Sitting, chatting, eating, drinking, laughing, socializing.

No scrapping.

And i am here to tell you that

it is absolutely fine if you don't scrap.

Our aim is for all of us to have some hard earnt 'time out'.

The retreat is an ESCAPE. If you CREATE then it is great and an added bonus. If you are ESCAPING and CREATING = woohoo. If you are just ESCAPING = excellent and woohoo too.

If you sit there, for three days and just relax.............. that is wonderful. I know i will probably just plonk down, look around, sip my glass of wine and soak in the atmosphere a lot more than i will be productive. And this is ok.

No pressure. No competition on who is producing the most layouts. No one judging you on what you have or haven't done. Just time out.

.
.
.
.
.

Hmmm bring it on i say!

Amanda - colour challenge

Ok, ok  it is more cream than white, and there is a touch of aqua..... but hey the orange is there! (rules were meant to be broken anyway!)

Tiff - banner

Well, better late than never. Maryanne gave me the germ of an idea for this one with cupcake brushes. Aren't they so cute!!

The torn paper between the lines of sewing inspo came from Natalie Perks LO 'Sick' in this months SBM.


cheers
Tiff

nice rip and stitch effect Tiff.

And you are right = those little cupcake pics on the banner look great.

Creativity Quote #11

"I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for"

-Georgia O'Keeffe-

Children's parties and some ideas ...

Just as a little interlude to our retreat information I found this link ...







http://www.writeclickscrapbook.com/write_click_scrapbook/2010/03/prty-favor-gift-ideas-on-the-cheap.html

Above is just one of the ideas! Photo from writeclickscrapbook.

Then I found these decorating ideas on the same blog ...

http://www.writeclickscrapbook.com/write_click_scrapbook/2010/03/lets-decorate.html

Sandra - challenge #1

Oooooooooh that little blue heart just screams "LOOK AT ME".

this is so cute Sanrda. The stitching, the Kraft and the elements really remind me of Lou Nelson. Lovely work Sandra.

e2c 2010 group challenge...

ok here it is.

Imagine ink. Arms. Tattooist in house at the retreat 24 / 7 over the weekend.
A little something to remember your weekend forever....

Some idea of what we have in mind:

Are we nuts / crazy / insane?

Yes.

Are we kidding?

Yes :)

...........................................................................................................................

ok now THIS is the (real) group challenge:

As part of our retreat we would also like to challenge you. We want you to feel creative from the top of your head to your feet on this weekend away. We have been firing up that spark on our blog with daily quotes and tips and now it is the second 'team building' part.



We would like to see some creativity on your TOENAILS. Go crazy with toenail polish and show us just how creative you can be! If you are having a lull or suffering scrappers block, one look at all our amazing toenails is sure to inspire. There will be a prize for the best, creative and coolest toenails on the retreat!

photo : Stacey Julian

From the tips of our heads to the tiniest toenail we will all just ooze creativity. Hopefully we can get as many people on the retreat involved in this as possible. It will be fun to see what you get up to with your toes!

I really hope that i am not the only one who rocks up with bright toenails in two weeks time!

Creativity Quote #10

“Some people use things; they destroy. You’re a creator, a builder.”

-Amelia Atwater-Rhodes -

Sandra - colour challenge

Hi Amanda



Here is my entry for the Orange and White challenge.


Seeing as it is Harmony day at the school on Friday the 19th of this month I thought it was quite apt to do a Harmony day layout.


Thanks to Tracey for permission to have Jessicas photo on the net.

Cheers

Sandra

Ps LOVING all the layouts and photos on the blog...so nice to see all that participation!

This is so crisp and clean Sandra. The way you have punched varying sized circles in that semi circle looks incredible! Great find with that orange pen too! Clever clever chook.

retreat tips = vision

Another of my Wednesday retreat tips i will share is having vision and preparing yourself mentally.

This may sound a bit 'mumbo jumbo' but what i am really saying is to 'get your self in the right frame of mind with the right tools on hand'.

It may be a simple task of grabbing your photos that you would like to scrap and making up little kit bags with embellishments, papers, ribbons and alphas. In fact maybe try something different and grab an embellishement first! Think to yourself - "ooooh i really want to try and use that embellishment on a page at the retreat" and then grab coordinating / complimentary papers to go with it. Pop all of this in zip lock bags - one bag per 'kit' and you will be surprised at how much that helps pull layouts together quickly at the retreat. It will also be a massive help in cutting down the amount of stash you will bring along 'just in case'.

Another part of getting mentally prepared is recognizing what blocks your scrapbooking. Is it that pile of washing? Can you not scrap until you have gone for a run? Does a lack of recent photos leave you uninsipred? Do you get stuck at the design stage of your pages.

My suggestion is to realize what blocks you ... and do something about getting it all sorted prior to the retreat.


If it is the washing block = have it all done (or do what i do and forget it completely!).
If it is the photo block = get out snapping right NOW!
Need to run before getting creative? = run your buts off in the weeks before so you don't feel guilty kicking back and scrapping.
Need chocolate to scrap properly = bring a huge amount along!!
Stuck with designing the pages? Visit some of our sketch links on the sidebar
--------------->
and print off a heap of sketches for you to do at the retreat.


I have already saved a fair few pages that i hope to scraplift on the retreat as i know as soon as i get into that big shed my mind seems to go blank for a while. Scraplifting or following a sketch is a great way to get productive without straining the brain and getting frustrated with yourself. (which actually seems to work like a vicious circle and block you up even more!)

Soon i will reveal my 'retreat challenge' to you all, which i hope some / any / a few people embrace and do as otherwise i am going to feel like a complete dong doing it on my own!

Creativity Quote #9

"The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life."

-William Faulkner-

Lisa - being funky!

oooooooh i totally love the 'moodiness' in the second one! Looks awesome Lisa. Great fiddling!

Creativity Quote #8

The creative effort is a lot like sex. It's not so much the equipment you have as what is in your mind. The real excitement and beauty is in what we think and feel and what we do about it.

-Kelly Borsheim-

(yikes! Bet you weren't expecting that!)

Tiff - Sue's sketch

Hi Sue.

I lost my mojo for a few days and your sketch got it revved up again. mwah to you. I also used March's colour scheme from Twiddleybitz ning to get me going too. Happened to work perfectly with this photo.

cheers
Tiff

Hi, i got home from Adelaide late last night......and after going thru 95 emails (i hate it when there is sooo many emails to go thru)....this one was amongst them, sorry Tiff for not able to post it earlier. Good to see sooo much action on the blog and great quotes happening Amanda too.

Glad the sketch got your scrapping mojo happening again Tiff, LO looks great....love the tiddlybitz on it too.

Ali Mc - Befunky and Sue's Sketch

Ali has been super busy!

Hi Amanda, here is my take on the Be Funky photo challenge, it's me at my DH's 40th, all dressed 60's style! I loved playing dress up!! I loved the sketch too, thanks for the challenge. Also have been going through my stash for some PP fpr Bev Mantle's sister, hope to have a little bit of a pile by retreat time!! Back to My Kitchen Rules!!



Ali M

Good on you Ali. Love what you have done here for the befunky challenge and Sue's sketch. All that handwriting has me breaking out in a cold sweat but you make it look so damn good!! Great job!

And great job also on your collection for Bev's sister. It's great that so many are willing to help :)

Creativity Quote #7

“Creative minds are rarely tidy”

-unknown-

(ppsssttt - I think this is my favourite!)

Tiff - challenge #1

No surprises here that Tiff chose purple as her main colour. The hint of green really makes the whole page pop. The awesome flower was one of Annie's hair ties that had seen the end of it's days holding back wayward hair and moved on to greener pastures ;-)

Wow Tiff - these colours look amazing together.

Creativity Quote #6

To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance it’s beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.

-Osho-

Mel - befunky layout!

A very warm welcome to Mel Forbes - our guest retreat teacher - who had a fiddle with the befunky site and loved it so much she scrapped the photos!

And what an amazing layout! Love the yellow and bright orange with the darker rusty red/orange background. STUNNING Mel.

Amanda's #1 challenge - Meredith

This was way harder than I thought it would be but I did manage to get it finished!!

Sue's sketch & Colour combo - Meredith

I decided to double up for this one and turned Sue's sketch around and adjusted my journaling to suit. I also took a tip from Amanda and matted my layout - I always like the look it gives her layouts so thought I'd give it a try!

Oh and that random button is covering a stamping mistake - a sideways 'a'!!

Creativity Quote #5

"When inspiration does not come to meet me, I go halfway to meet it."

-Sigmund Freud-

Jenny - befunky and two colour challenge...

 

Hey ho, here are my tries for the 2 colour challenge. The wedding cover I did ages ago for Luke's album, but never finished it (which I am inspired to do now). The 'befunky' one was using Wendy's bride photo.



Jenny F

Great job Jenny! These wedding photos are lovely and pics of brides and grooms are always beautiful to scrap.

Love what you have come up with here!

Creativity Quote #4

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

-Maya Angelou-

Amanda - Challenge #1

ok i admit this was MUCH harder than i thought it would be ... but i guess that is why we call it a 'challenge'.

The main colour i picked was blue - so i have various shades of blue from navy right through to light.

My one element is the yellow button with also doubles as the O in 'toy'.

I couldn't help myself and also put the word yellow in a yellow colour as well so a bit of a cheat = whoopsie.

Chaz - Sue's sketch

Love the bright red Chaz - so eyecatching! Great photo of the three kids too!

Fab interpretation of Sue's sketch!

Helping out a fellow scrapper...

A few days ago i was noseying around the www (as you do!) and came across Bev M's blog. Bev is a e2c diehard supporter who has attended and been involved both years of our retreat.

She wrote a sad post here, which made me stop and think about the amount in my stash, how i would feel if i suddenly lost it all (as well as my pages already done!) and finally and most importantly how i could help.

Yesterday i went through my stash and have gotten quite a big box ready to give to Bev who can then pass it on to her sister. It felt good to

a) cull my stash down a bit - i mean how much really does one person need??!

and b) help someone out.

I have asked Bev if it is ok to pop the details on here incase any one else would like to be involved. She said that the other option for donation is to create some blank pages - where everything is done apart from title, journalling and photo placement.

If anyone would like to help, please email me ga.hall@bigpond.com and i can pass on Bev's details and sort out a drop off spot so as these goodies can get to Bev's sister ASAP.

retreat tips = prepare

The first tip, just like any good girl scout, is to be prepared.

If you are a 'fly by the seat of your pants' type of scrapper then this is going to sound like a load of BS. If you are like me, and can easily get lost or overwhelmed at retreats read on:

Get photos sorted now. If you have no photos that inspire you, or nothing printed off = get it organized.

• There are still plenty of days to take the kids/ husband / self (all of the above would be ideal!!) and grab some photos. Fresh, new photos always inspires me to scrap. If you are feeling a bit blah about the shots you have - do something about it and get some more!!

• Remember to pack your memory card and take to the stores to print off your phtos or print them at home (whatever you usually do). This is definately NOT a last minute job to do the week before the retreat as it will add stress and no doubt cause mistakes in sizes for photo requirements for classes. 

• We have stressed to take note of photo sizes and their orientation (portrait or landscape). Do this now while there is still plenty of time!

When you have your photos, make a coffee, grab a pen and paper and go somewhere quiet. Look at each photo.

• What does that photo mean to you? What do you want to say about that photo / moment in time? Jot these down in a notebook or pad to take with you on the retreat. This will instantly help when it comes to journalling.

• One thing i have found with retreats is to pre print off my journalling strips. I use a lot of jounalling strips in my scrapping (more power to you if you handwrite - god i wish i loved the look of mine...alas i do not) and a major holdup with scrapping - particularly on retreats or crops where there is no printing facilities - is not being able to finish pages due to the journalling. At home, once i have looked at the photo and thought about what i would like that layout and photo to say i print off my strips. I use a variety of fonts, colours, sizes so it mixes things up a little. You wouldn't believe how much of a help (and often a great starting point) just having the journalling done and gist of the page ready to go in my head. I don't do this for every photo i take to a retreat but it sure does help pull the pages together faster.

Once you have your photos sorted, the story set out and maybe even your journalling strips, you are almost all set and you can sit back and relax. Pat yourself on the back for being a fantastic-ly organized person.

I know it sounds like a lot of preparing and buggering around (there are probably a lot of eyerolls going on reading this i can imagine) , but these jobs honestly would maybe take half an hour. Believe me......... it will be such a massive help.

Just in closing, the other thing that always amazes me is people say "oh i suck at titles. I can never think of what to title to put on my page".

The only time i have ever had trouble with a title is when my pages have had no direction. If i know exactly what i want to say in the journalling and what story i want my photo to tell - the title seems to come easily. So again, preparing your story and journalling before hand will help in this aspect too.

Good luck preparing, the next tip will involve your imagination.

just clarifying :

i have had a couple of comments about my challenge for this month.

Just to clarify the challenge of using one colour and then using only ONE element of a different, contrasting colour does not necessarily mean that you must use white as the base colour (as per white with one type of challenge)

You might wish to use different shades of green with ONE bright yellow element for example. This is what i am after - not white :)

Creativity Quote #3

“Every day is an opportunity to be creative – the canvas is your mind, the brushes and colours are your thoughts and feelings, the panorama is your story, the complete picture is a work of art called, ‘my life’. Be careful what you put on the canvas of your mind today – it matters.”

- Innerspace-

Chaz - be funky!

Oooooooh cool effect Chaz. Love seeing how the different photos and effects take on different 'moods'.

Great job!