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!