I had planned on writing a long post about this but now, quite honestly, just can't be bothered - LOL!
So instead, here's a quick summary! Donna Downey was lovely. Very down to earth, easy to chat to and a great teacher. No airs, no pretensions, just a downright lovely woman. We made and covered our own 12"x12" album made from chipboard and brown wrapping paper which we then decorated with our choice of patterned papers (which we could choose from the Willow Tree Crafts shop on site). Inside there were 12 pages 8.5"x11" in size for which we had to think of 12 words and, if possible, bring 12 photos to best represent those words. I semi cheated on this, although I would say 'thought imaginatively' and my words were: 1995, 1996, 1997 and so on through to 2006 and I used a photograph of myself and Richard from each year. Boy, did this make me realise how little photos I have of us together. In fact some years I had a choice of ... actually no choice, just 1 photo!
[I'll upload photos of the project here later today - as and when I've scanned/photographed it]
Stacy Julian's took 2 classes, the first one was a lecture on how to be 'ScrapHappy' and I really enjoyed it. It made you think about what/how/why you scrapbook and I will certainly be working on some of those and making some changes in my scrapping life. It came at quite a timely moment for me as I've been doing quite a lot of thinking lately about why I do what I do and what things I want to change. The other class was completely not 'me' as it was super quick class, creating 20 pages in less than 2 hours! Yes, I admit, they were only 6"x6" LOs but I am a slow, thoughtful scrapper and just don't work in such a hectic fast paced way. However, having said that, and having not finished that number of pages, I do think the technique/advice was useful and a great way to complete a mini-memory album very quickly, easily and painlessly so I may well sit down one day and give it another go. I can say though that I love Stacy's philosophy and approach to scrapbooking and for that reason alone it was great to meet her and very inspiring.
The other 2 classes were fab. Alison Drummond taught a very different sort of class, not a LO, in fact not scrapbooking at all - we painted! Five 6"x6" paintings on acetate and all then placed in a great frame from Ikea. I really enjoyed this, the getting out the paints, splashing it on and getting mucky - shame I forgot to take an apron!!!
[I've still to photograph this but will upload it later]
And finally to Venessa's class and yet another great one it was too. So nice to meet Venessa, who now lives in South Africa. Loved the colours for this class and I knew straight away which photos I wanted to use. The class was for a single LO (the LHS) but as I had so many photos of Noah playing on the space hopper I ended up creating and extending the design to a double LO. This doesn't always work but because Venessa's design was quite graphic it was easy to carry on to another side and I think it works quite well.
So, my overall thoughts on the weekend? The teachers and the classes were great, it was lovely to meet up with old friends and also to meet some new ones. The venue was OK, the food was OK too (despite some awful problems on Friday night but as we were compensated with 2 bottles of wine, well, I'm not complaining), my only criticism was the busy pace we had. It didn't feel like you had much time to sit and relax, chat with friends and I didn't even touch any of the photos/projects I had brought with me. But then I suppose you can say it was definitely value for money as we got to do all the classes on offer. For myself a weekend crop isn't just about the classes though, it's about the opportunity to socialise, relax a bit and, if I'm lucky, complete a few pages. But having said that I had a great time and came home with finished projects (unheard of for me!) so it was a success.
And I've just realised that once I got started I actually did write a rather long post :D
