Creative Exploration to Canada & New England - Day 2

The ship has been rocking like crazy and I'm surrounded by sick people!  Me, I'm just a little dizzy, so nothing out of the ordinary.
It's our first full day at sea and that means our first class with Tim.  There are 160 of us, so we're divided into two groups.  I'm in Group 1 along with many of my pals, and our group gets Tim first today....at 9am.
But......at 8am Mario's shop opens.  Oh lord, save me from myself!  What is Mario's shop?  A room in the conference center (which we have all to ourselves for the duration, and consisting of:  the shop, a  classroom large enough for 80 students, and a stocked studio open 24/7) full of Tim's stamps, dies, papers, embellishments for sale,  as well as plenty of Ranger products.  But best of all, IMO, a table full of vintage and other unique goodies that Tim has tracked down.  That's where I did the most damage.  And how nice is it to be among people who don't think I'm insane for drooling over things like broken rulers and rusty toy cars.
I'm an early riser, so being first on line for the shop was easy.  Think I surprised some folks who showed up right after me.
Here are Mario and Jim (Mr. Scrapmap) busy tallying sales.  We received tickets for every $20 spent, which would come in very handy on the last day of the cruise (more on that later).

At last it was time to enter the classroom.  This is what my area looked like:

Everyone received a supply kit with items we'd use throughout the cruise:  glossy accents, rock candy stickles, multi-medium, white and black paint dabbers, walnut stain distress ink and a blending tool.  We also each received that pink tape runner.  And in the spirit of working greener, we each got a nice big IKEA kitchen towel to use for cleanup throughout the cruise (no paper towels in sight!)  All of these were ours to keep.  In addition, the tables had the other supplies we'd need for each class, and the class kit, which contained written directions and everything else necessary to put the project together.

When people rave about Tim's organization and attention to detail, as well as the amazing job his team does, this is what they're talking about.  

We were excited to begin, but also had time to visit with friends.

 Andrea and Stephanie, two of my table mates on the Mexico cruise,

and the heart and soul of Club 300

 

 That's me in the blue standing behind Gloria (ATT List Mom), Nancy and Patti.
One great reason to cruise each year.....seeing friends who live so far away.

Our first project....a journal.  Tim did this last year as well, and it is such a brilliant idea.  In this class we had time to assemble and begin to decorate the book, but we'd have the whole cruise to work on it.  When people wonder what we did in the studio during free time, well, most of us added to our travel journals.   I think I got up to Day 6, and still have lots to add, but here is my cover and some of my pages:

7 Gypsies hard covers, sticky back canvas, grungepaper, prima foliage and ideology galore

I love the fact that although our pages were bound with coils, you can't see the coils when the book is closed.  Awesome technique, Tim!  And there were so many Cinch binding machines that there was one for every three of us!  No long waiting times to use equipment on this cruise.

Tim's postcard embossing folder is actually a brown paper bag.  We attached them to the inside front cover and it is not only a nice decoration, but a useful holder for flat souvenirs.
Later on I'll add some photographs.  Since we had the use of the Cinch in the studio, I was able to punch holes in items I acquired in port and add them to the journal.

I also clipped business cards to the book.  Above you see mementos from our trip to Tinsel Trading and our fab dinner at Tony di Napoli's in NYC.

I created some additional pockets to store memorabilia from maps of the various ports.

And, in case you were wondering......here is what I purchased before class:

Yes, I love those broken rulers and stocked up on them.  And could I resist a bag of frozen Charlotte heads?  No, I could not!  And down towards the right is a bottle of the brand new Perfect Pearls mist.  In kiwi.

I love this!  A huge bag of hand dyed fabric strips, perfect for finishing off tags or adding a tiny bit of color to any project.  It was a BIG bargain too.

Tomorrow, all about Portland, Maine.  I've been there before and have always enjoyed this charming coastal town.