Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Marika's diamonds

Wow - now they are coming out of the woodwork!

Woohoo.


Two here from Marika. A very funky diamond patterned stamp - i just adore what she has done with the paint. That stamp pattern looks amazing on Noah's page.


and the paper on this one looks like it was made especially for our challenge. Awwww at the title and such a very cute photo!

It is great to still see some retreat girls in that scrapping groove.

Maybe some more diamonds will turn up in my inbox?

Monday, March 23, 2009

Sandra's diamonds


Sandra says -


Hi Amanda

Here is my 'diamond' layout.
Journalling says....
When I look at this photo of you, I am struck by how much you have changed.
You have become more independant, more assertive, more confident.
You have more 'attitude', forever asking questions, and questioning our decisions!And you have a great sense of fair play.
All this before you have even become a teenager!
I LOVE you.And I LOVE the person you are becoming.
Love seeing all the layouts on the blog lately and they are all truly awesome!!

Wow Sandra! This is a fabulous interpretation of the diamond challenge. As you can see, they can be as big or as discreet as you like. Sandra has opted for some small series of diamonds (rubons i think?) which look fantastic with her diamond-y ribbon. The green paper and the orange-y tones look awesome together - really striking. And to finish it all off she has used the most beautiful close up shot of T - STUNNING! The journalling is also very very special.

Well done Sandra. You have come so far with your scrapping and i am loving seeing your transformation and confidence grow!

Jenny in the sky with diamonds

I was feeling most unloved - no diamonds in my inbox at all. "Hmmmmmm," I wondered "is this challenge too much, too tricky, too challenging?"


but nope. Jenny has come to my rescue with a great diamond example. She says -


Just made this card and Wa La, you've again, made the challenge to fit what I've made. Thanks. Jenny F


So it seems that Jenny and I are linked telepatically! Woohoo!


Fantastic example of diamonds Jenny - i love that photo (beautiful bright blue tones) and that stitching effect down the side is fabulous! A really lovely quote too - very appropriate for the photo.


I think there is something in that for all of us.


Thanks Jenny :)




rough cut diamond



I used my Kaiser Cutter with the perforatting blade to get the diamond shapes on the pink cardstock. And with the pinking blade for the right hand edge of it too. VERY handy tool.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Challenge 30

Quick quiz - What are a girls best friend?
Instant disqalification if you replied 'dogs' - LOL


Nope it is DIAMONDS (apparently - i wouldn't know) and so for challenge 29 i have pulled some diamonds out of my hat......so to speak.
Diamonds were all the scrapping rage about 3 or so years ago. Heidi Swapp brought out these stamps and stickers



I am not a huge victim of the 'gotta have the latest and greatest' trend but somehow i did get roped into the intense NEED to get these diamond stickers. At the height of their 'hotness' they were so hard to get hold of in Australia. By the time i finally got them the ride was over and diamonds were not so great anymore. In fact we had almost reached saturation point because i couldn't bring myself to use them and 3 years later they are still intact in my stash (up until today that is!).

Another diamond pattern you might see around is the Argyle pattern.




Anyway see how you go with this - give me some diamonds! Email your creations to myself. For those of you that think you can trick me by sending a page with bling diamonds on it - nope nope nope. This is not what i mean by diamonds. NO bling - this is the diamond pattern only.


oh and here is one i prepared today for you as an example.



The bottom section is cut off thanks to my scanner!

sew on and sew forth

LOL. I just love a play on words.


Sandra. You are one funny chick with a wicked sense of humor. This is her message in my inbox.

I have finally finished the layout that I started at the retreat.And I used a sewing machine!! You would not believe how big a deal that is for me!I haven't used one since I was kicked out of home economics!.. true story.Thanks to all the girls who encouraged me and especially Marika who helped by threading it and getting it started for me.I am so encouraged by my little effort I am thinking of buying a sewing machine!..(maybe a second hand one in case it ends up with the same fate as the one in home ec class ;)



I did manage to see this one at the retreat in an unfinished state and wowsers, now it is done. And done well. The Puzzle sketch requirements were a butterfly, a journal spot and a flourish to be used amongst the elements on the page.

Totally awesome Sandra. Dont forget to go to Puzzlesketches to give her a vote. (Sandra when does that happen by the way??)

Ps anyone got a second hand sewing machine for sale??

Friday, March 20, 2009

Message from Marika







Hi Amanda just wondering if you could put up this page that I was working on at the retreat the girls were wondering how it turned out. Thanks to Meredith who I scraplifted the postition of the photo and the patterned paper position from. Also captured these sunset photos from in the car on the way home from Adelaide thought they turned out well since I took them through the window whilst driving.


wow wow wow - what great photography Marika! That sunset is amazing - brilliant.


Love the paper you have used in this layout! So bright and funky. Just right for your photo. The trees and the colour orange just work so well together here. Thanks for sharing Marika. You clever girl.

what a wrap.

Link for Nicole's blog here.
Nic was one of the four Adelaide girls that came over and she has put on her blog a glowing rundown of the weekend. she also has same very noice pics too.
have a look and dont forget to leave a comment to say Hi.

t

she's done it.


yeee- frigging - haaaa.

Sandra will be published.

She asked me to remove her 'work' from the blog.
You'll find at least the description of what I am excited about
here.

In case you cant tell, I am a fair bit excited for her.


CONGRATS CHICK.
SO WELL DESERVED.

So correct me if I am wrong, but does this bring the tally of bloggers published or to be published up to 3?These girls only started submitting projects since being involved on this blog.

That gives me lots of warm fuzzies inside.

;)


I also would love to give a big shout out to Maryanne who has her second LO in this months SM mag. Vol 11, Issue 1. pg 101. Submission call was for 'Days gone by'.

We all said the Maryanne had the vintage look down pat. Seems like we weren't the only ones!!!!!

Amanda has a LO in that gallery as well. Congrats chick.

Marika. Which issue is yours in?????? Cant wait to see it.

well done bloggers. To all of you.

t

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Maryanne's retreat LO


Maryanne has sent this awesome page to me which she was working on at the retreat. Her words in the email gave me a giggle so i will copy and paste below :


She said-


heres a LO I started at the retreat, but was kind of stuck on.anyway threw a chip shape on, some thickers, and some journalling, and Im saying its done.


You know Mary that there is a very talented scrapbooker i know called Dee Molina who has a style that she calls 'throw shit on a page and see what sticks'. Incidentally i notice that Dee is thinking of winding her blog up - bugger! This TSOAPASWS method works so well for Ms Molina - she is a very very clever and talented scrapper whose freestyle and innotive pages are so inspiring.


I love how Maryanne has used the very strong colour of red with a tinge of green for effect. The tree is fantastic - i love seeing how people add and interperate Ally's chip shapes - they look so good on a page. Great series of three photos too Maryanne.
Your colour combos are great - your pages certainly have the 'it' factor.

Marika's retreat LO


oooooooooooooooh loving the colours in this Marika :) Lovely brights which are beautiful with this super close up cutie photo. Those wavey type of lines are sooooo in atm! Just stunning work.


Marika says -


Thankyou all so much for the most fantastic weekend it was a pity it went so quick. I haven't laughed so much in ages and had such a relaxing time just having to worry about me. Thankyou again. Attached is my favourite page didn't get many done if I did it again I wouldn't have done all of the classes so that I could have got more free scrapping done.


I agree that everyone was really relaxed and happy - it was such a nice environment to be in! It was also great that there was so much creativitiy in the room (example shown above!) and if you were feeling a bit blah and mojo-less a quick trip around the shed got the creative juices flowing very quickly again.
Hmmmmmm would love to see some more pages from the retreat up here!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Kerryn's Retreat LO


Kerryn's thoughts of the Retreat Weekend....As for my fave thing from the weekend, spending a girlie weekend with some fabulous people!!
Have a good look at all the layering in this one. All the colours work so well together but still leaves the photo as the centre piece. Those AC thickers are soo popular atm.
Thanks Kerryn. Looking forward to your next challenge response.

Karen steps up


oh so noice Karen. The strips of PP are so cute esp the orange birdie one that ties in the little bird up top right. And then how the that little green bird colour catches your ds's shirt in the photo and the brad. I am lovin' orange right now so I just think this is fab.
From Karen. This is a LO that I started on Saturday night and didn't finish, so came home Monday, unpacked, stuck a few loads of washing on an then finished it. And last night I did a mini album of the pics I took with your camera, thanks again!!! :) Thanks also (again) for the FABULOUS weekend.

challenge 28 posting your retreat LO

Hi all.


As promised a new challenge for you. Email one of us your favourite LO that you created at the E2C09 Retreat and we will post it for you.


how easy is that. nothing too mind bending. If you have trouble remembering how to email us a LO I'll refresh your memory.


Photograph or scan your LO.

Save on your computer as a Jpg.

Go to your file on the computer.

right click

send to

mail recipient

say yes to making pic smaller (very important step)

your email window should open up with the pic attached

type in one of our email addresses. (you'll find 3 of these on the right sidebar.)

tell us the best bit of your weekend

send.



easy peasy.



Denise E is first off the mark. Actually just as well as it reminded me of my promise. Ta chooky.

This is Denise's granddaughter Kiana. She is so photogenic.



lots of layering with the flourish. Its lovely Denise. Well done. great colour co- ordination too.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

It is done

WOW. I guess that word pretty much sums up the entire weekend. There were so many areas that really exceeded my expectations!

FRIDAY.

I arrived at about 10.30 and the place was already humming with activity. Tiff had gotten there early to unlock for the retailers. All of these were busy little bees setting up their various trestles, fluffing their tablecloths and sorting their wares. Sue arrived at about 11 ish and we all gave the birthday girl a big hug and some birthday lovin' (in a non kinky kinda way). She was made to wear her birthday badge (she chose to wear the very small one instead of the one the size of a dinner plate!). Meredith arrived some time in the afternoon - i can't remember exactly when as things were starting to reach frantic pace by that stage. Val and Lorrae also rocked in and were productive in the kitchen and keen to get the party started by coming out every 5 seconds asking if we wanted nibbles on the tables yet or any cheese platters started! Talk about efficient!!
Tiff setting up - Leonies SCRAPWORKZ in background

At 1.45pm I asked Sue to accompany me to the airport where we picked up Tess and Nic from Adelaide. It was quite amusing for Sue and I as we sat there waiting for the plane to come in, not really sure if we would know what these girls looked like when they walked in. We joked thinking that we should have all worn a yellow rose or something like they do for blind dates in the movies! As two girls walked in, i could recognize Nic from her blog photo and we stood up to welcome them...........it was all great - they were so friendly and happy and we immediately felt at ease. Toni and Kerryn walked up to us then, they had driven over and had arrived in time to meet the other two off the plane. So it was fantastic timing getting to meet all four Adelaide girls at once.
The Adelaide girls scrapping up a storm. Toni and Nic (standing) , Tess in pink stripes and Kerryn in black.

sponsorship board with bare prize table infront (had not put them out at this stage)

When we arrived back to the venue we set the Adelaide girls up, gave them their bits and peices and i could see that all the finishing touches were done.............woohoo!


Ally's Scrapinalia


The mugs from Petch printing - thank you ROD
The mugs were ready, the lanyards, the green bags on each table full of goodies and also the retaillers were looking ready for business. In fact quite a few girls were all set up with their scrap gear and i think Ally was already churning out the pages!


Class boards.


Retreat go-ers started to arrive a little bit earlier than we specified but that was fine - we were all ready and really excited! As we were showing everyone their bits i kept thinking 'i can't believe we are finally doing this!'


the team :) Amanda, Meredith, Sue, Lorrae, Tiff and Val
On one trip back from the bedrooms as i strolled across the lawn, i noticed a car pulling up in the carpark. It drove in slowly, had a pod on the roof racks and had three occupants looking right at me! The driver was male and i thought it was kinda odd that a man would be there. I thought to myself 'i hope they know we have booked this place out for the weekend'. LOL.

As i was walking in the shed a few minutes later i saw someone looking at me and she said 'hello Amanda'............and i had a very blank 30 seconds before it all fell into place and i hesitantly said 'Michelle?'. It was Michelle - a friend i had spoken to for a long time on EB, and MSN and email. I have also had a lot to do with her via Scrapframes. As i hadn't really known what she looked like it took a second or so to connect the dots LOL. Michelle sat and scrapped with us on our table which was brilliant. She really did fit in so well - just like an old mate and i thank her so much for going to so much effort to drive all the way from SYDNEY to come to our little ol' retreat. Kim (a friend of Michelles) joined us on Saturday and Sunday and it was lovely to meet such a gentle and honest person. These girls totally rocked at stamping and often i sat open mouthed and in awe at what they were producing! Thanks girls (and Andrew) for visiting and being a part of our little group. You are all welcome back anytime :)

Michelle and me.


People were arriving left, right and centre by this stage and it seemed a little mad. It was discovered at this stage a bit of a stuff up that was entirely my fault and did take the shine off the weekend a bit for me. (i did try not to let it bug me Meredith but since i was solely responsible I certainly felt bad)

By about 5 the vast majority had arrived, were all in great spirits, had set up and were either scrapping or spending wildly. Papers, rubons and money flying in every direction LOL.

I was nominated to do the welcome speech which we started a bit late but we had to wait until Val and Chaz had arrived back with the pizza tea.

We then all filed in to get our scrummy pizza and garlic bread tea. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I asked Sue to step outside afterwards, saying to her in a very serious voice 'i need to talk to you outside Sue' (which she looked at me very worried like i was about to tell her off for something ;)

We had gathered everyone outside and Sandra W had made the most magnificent birthday cake! Sue was so surprised and mortified to stand infront of everyone as they sung happy birthday. Everyone nibbled on cake for dessert which topped off our tea brilliantly!

Back scrapping for a little while and then we got stuck into the collections house class. This went off without a hitch - a great time had by all and i was so thrilled to see many little houses popping up over the weekend! I wondered if people would think they were too fiddly and throw in the towel but they seemed to love them and the extra house kits that we had bought also sold out within minutes!

After that it was free scrap time - which was only interrupted by a power black out. I can't exactly remember what time it was (a few wines under the belt by that stage) but i do remember thinking 'oh no -anything but this!' as i know over here if the power fails it can take hours and hours to come back on. How the heck were we going to scrap without any light???

The PL girls made a entrance to remember as they all came in dressed as witches - very appropriate considering it was Friday 13th - and in the dark it seemed really spooky and scary! It did cross my mind wondering if they had turned to power off for effect - but nope it was just a coincedence!


Finally the power came back on - in the end it was only 40 minutes off but that was enough! Any more and i am sure it would have ruined the entire night.


Most people scrapped into the wee hours - i went to bed at about 2 or 3 am and was feeling pretty weary by then.

A very rowdy table!

Slept well apart from a brief wake time due to a mystery snorer in our room! Identification still unknown...................

:)


Saturday

I woke about 8am and lay there for a while getting the vibe going to actually get up and get moving. Showered and dressed and in the breakfast room by 8.40am ish. Ate with a heap of other girls and got ready for Tiff's mini inspiration journal class which was due to start at 9am. This seemed to go really well - people were really thrilled with the end result and Tiff did a great job presenting it. I was so happy to see the powerpoint and projector working well in the room - after the headaches and wakeful nights last week worrying about it I was so pleased to see how well it was projecting. Having two screens was definately a massive thumbs up. It was fab to see the girls working all through the weekend on their mini journal - everyone's looked amazing when completed!

This class finished much earlier than any of us anticipated and so again there was free scrap time for us organizers. YAY.




some general busy-ness in the main shed.

At this stage Lorrae and Val were busy in the kitchen and had prepared a scrummy lunch of rolls, panines (no idea how that one is spelt!), mountain bread, chicken, ham and various salads. There was a plate of fruit for dessert. This was absolutely YUMMO and we had so much positive feedback about the lunches that the girls prepared.

Meredith's explosion box class was due to start at 1.30pm and so when we got back from lunch we started handing the kits out. I must admit i was a little worried how we would go explaining it all to the class attendants as it is much easier to follow with photos and very difficult to explain with just words - but Meredith and the powerpoint photos did a BRILLIANT job and there was little confusion at all. This presentation was very funny - Meredith is a natural comidian and often had me in stitches laughing at her double meanings and her straight face as she was saying them.


'tables 4 and 7 your meal is served' is still giving me giggles for some reason.


This class also finished much much earlier than we anticipated and so ............yep more free scrap time. People were coming up to her throughout the course of the weekend saying how thrilled they were with the completed box - and showing us their creation. They totally rocked - every one that i saw was incredible!

We then got ready for tea (6pm) and had a complimentary champers before heading down to the hotel for the meal. While it was great to get out of the shed for a few hours, the feedback about the meal and wait time was disappointing so this is definately something we will look at changing next year.


Something that we had not expected AT ALL - the girls attending had done a whip around for money and made a card for all of us organizers. This was mind blowing - we really did not expect this and it was very embarrassing accepting it. The money given to us last year was spent on a dinner for all the organizers in which we spoke a bit about the 2009 retreat and what our thoughts were. I am guessing that the girls would like us to do that again this year! Thankyou ladies - it was very thoughtful, amazing and really unexpected. If we do have a retreat in 2010 - we really do not want anything apart from your great company!


We saunted back to the scrap retreat and settled in to some long hours of scrapping.


The main prize draw was conducted then - which went on for a fair while due to the huge amount of donated prizes! Congratulations to Kim who was very lucky to have her name drawn out first and so got first pick off the extensive prize table. She chose the cuttlebug with two embossing folders which is a brilliant prize and she was totally over the moon with that.

More free time to scrap into the wee hours again. Some went to bed at 1am, some at 2, others at 3am. A few die-hards were up at 4am still!


Sunday

This was the day of my class so i knew i had to get my shit together and get my brain semi functioning properly . Again out of bed at much the same time as yesterday, showered, got ready for the day and ate breakfast. Set up for the class and handed out the kits.

After a bit of a wonky start (i very nearly mucked the whole shabang up due to confusing pictures, not enough coffee or sleep on my behalf) we got stuck into this. I knew it would take a while to do - very tricky and time consuming with the cutting but we plugged away. We started at 9.30am and most had finished by 1 - so i figured 2 layouts in 3ish hours was pretty good considering that there was a very large class that had to be paced so we didn't have some wizzing ahead and some that were a bit behind.

After lunch (again very scrummy) there was more free scrap time and sadly i looked around and saw a few empty spots as girls started to pack up. I couldn't believe the time was nearly up and our weekend escape was drawing to a close.

By 3.30pm most girls were packing their totes, wheeling their suitcases across the lawn and filling the car with purchases and completed projects. :(

I took Nicole and Tess to the airport to say goodbye and also farewelled Toni and Kerryn and Michelle and Kim who were all leaving via car. These girls had a very long way to go to get back home and i am still shocked and flattered to think that they travelled such a long way. I really hope they had a good time. Thankyou to you all for making such a huge effort.


By the time i got back the shed was almost empty - the retaillers were packing up and leaving. The weekend was over :(

Tiff, Sue, Meredith, Val and myself stayed to clean up and we had the most amazing help from Kathryn and her husband Dougie (thankyou soooooooooooooooooooooo much).

I was home at my house by 7.45pm and Greg and the girls were surpised and happy to see me home so early. And i was wondering why time goes so bloody fast when you have fun!

From the team - thankyou everyone for being so positive, encouraging and supportive. The weekend's success is mainly due to so many ladies being happy, relaxed and realizing that we were all there to have the best possible time that we could. We really hope you had a great time. Extra special mentions to John, Greg, Jug and Jamie for helping us set up on Thursday- HUGE effort which was really appreciated and Dougie and Kathryn for sticking around on Sunday for the pack up. Thanks guys!
From me personally - thank you to the team. You are all fabulous. Everyone played a major role in getting this off the ground (again). I think we should be proud of what we have made :)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

'Twas the night before


'Twas the night before the Retreat,
all through the scrappers homes,
Not a cutter was cutting ,
only stash being honed.

To minimise was the shout,
a near impossible job,
breaks some into a cold sweat,
'can i fit in my thingyabob?'

Eskys packed, panadol in,
photos all done,
now just got to get there,
and have a s**t load of fun.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

helllllllllooooooooooo

Boy it is quiet in here..........

wonder where everyone is?

packing maybe?


Sorting photos?



GETTING FREAKIN' EXCITED?!!!





Tomorrow Tiff, Meredith, Sue, me and a band of merry men will trek to NS to do some setting up - big day planned so we can be more organized for Friday.

Will let you in on a secret too. Note to self - do not pack the goodie bags prior to arriving at the venue. Kluger is PACKED TO THE HILT with 50 odd bags with ZERO room for anything other retreat wise let alone anything of mine (sleeping gear, clothes or scrap gear).

Lucky we are coming back tomorrow night so i can sort myself out!!


Would love some comments here on how you think you will spend your weekend at the retreat. How many pages you would like to achieve (set yourself a bit of a goal and see if you can reach it) and your ETA down there. Maybe you could also say WHY you are looking forward to it so much? What do you think will be the best bit?

I know reading about others arriving and thinking about the good time that they plan on having will make me really excited about it all!

Monday, March 9, 2009

rubons


I have finally been in the head space to be able to finish this one. I've had the journalling for a while (Piper told me all this info a month ago).


Fairly busy but when you are dealing with top ten lists there is a bit of detail to go on the page!


Rubons are the 'top ten' bits of data and the stars.
Great challenge Sue - sure had em' coming out of the woodwork!

Tracey's Mum's gift

Tracey sent me this to show. It is a gift she made for her Mum's 60th birthday. What a stunning and personal present. I bet she absolutely loved it.


Tracey says -

Thought I would send you some photos of a mini album I did for my Mum's 60th birthday. I had a few hassles doing it but she loved it. Under each photo of us kids we wrote her a note to say what she means to us. Technically it could be my answer to the rub on challenge as there are rubons on most pages. I love the things.
Yours in retreat anticipation,
Tracey


Isn't it stunning!?
Thanks for sending it in Trace and sorry about the delay in posting it up in here (things have been quite crazy around here!)
Speaking of craziness..............wowsers are only 4 sleeps until the retreat! o0ooooooooooooOOOOOOOO WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I am sooooooooooooooooooo excited that i can hardly wait for Thursday when we are setting up and Friday when it all kicks off.
This is the part i love the most - the anticipation. It is great to see all that hard work the committee has put into the weekend finally paying off!