Finn-tastic!

I've been admiring the work of Anna Dabrowska (AKA Finnabair, or Finn) for years, and literally jumped at the chance to take a class with her at Michele's studio.  It took place on Thursday, and it was easily one of the best classes I've ever taken.

In case you don't know anything about Finn, she's from Poland, she designs for Prima and Sizzix, amongst others, and she is super talented, warm, funny, and a great teacher.  Just click on her name above and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Back to the class.  It was an all day event.  And when I say all day, I mean we started at 9am and finished up a bit after 6pm.  Michele provided lunch, so no one even left the studio for food; we just kept working.  Why do we say working?  It's really playing.  SO MUCH FUN!

So many goodies included in our class kit. Most are Finn's creations for Prima.   This isn't even the entire haul:

 

 



 



We used a Prima journal (Finn's design), took it apart and started decorating the covers.

 

 

In addition to all the embellishments Finn brought, we also could add our own favorite bits of grunge, so some rusty, crusty odds and ends from my stash found their way onto my journal covers.  In the above photo the covers had scrapbook paper glued on, the elastic closure was protected with masking tape, and we were ready to embellish.  I don't have any step by step photos, but here are some works in progress from around the room.

 

 

Marjie really isn't bored.  She's just waiting for glue to dry.  Click on her name to see the gorgeous pieces she created.

 

 

My friend Seth, dabbing his embellishments with Silks glazes (the most delicious colors in the world!)  If you don't already follow Seth's wonderful blog, The Altered Page, well, click on his name and get over there! 

Diane showing off her autumn colored beauties.

That's me in the middle, putting my journal back together.  In the back, Kelly, Karen, and Finn.  One of the (many) reasons I love taking classes at Michele's studio is the opportunity to create in the company of so many like-minded peeps in such a warm and inviting place.  Trust me, not all venues are so welcoming.

 

Finn, demonstrating a technique:

 

 

 

 

Aren't those sleeves the coolest?  They keep the paint and glue off her arms (and in the winter, off her shirt sleeves).

 

Marjie took this photo of me with my finished cover.  The color is a bit off, but I have more accurate pictures coming up.

 

 

Here are my front and back covers.

 

 

 

You can see how color unifies such a bunch of diverse elements.

 

The covers took all morning to complete.  In the afternoon we worked on some pages, and each double page layout featured different techniques.  All deceptively simple.  Deceptive, because they look like they took forever to do, and they really went very quickly.  Most people brought photos to use.  I didn't.  I brought some of the images I've collected.  I'm not even sure I'm going to insert them into this journal.  I like them well enough to mount and frame them. 

 

Finn taught three layouts, but by the third I was done.  Exhausted.  Happy, but exhausted.  So I only have two to show.

 

 

I love the technique of using scraps cut into squares and rectangles to create a graphic background.  Quick, easy, low-tech, low-cost, and very effective.  We also used stencils, sprays,shading with soft pencils,  and some stamping.  In the third layout, the one I didn't do, Finn demonstrated adding fibers and embossing to the pages.

 

Great picture of Michele and Finn:

 

 

 

And as always, we ended the day with a group photo.

 

 

 

Finn will be teaching in the US and Canada all summer.  If you can get to one of her classes, do it!  Here is her schedule:

 



















One Down, ????? To Go

I'm not on facebook very often, but yesterday I updated my status to tell the world that I was starting to fulfill my 2012 goal of finishing all my half (or less than) done projects.  That's how excited I was.  I was surprised at how many comments that posting generated.  Apparently I'm not alone in the "unfinished symphony" problem.  If I can do it, so can you.  Step away from the computer, DO NOT enter into any swaps or challenges this week, and get busy completing the unfinished.  You'll feel so much better.

My first project was the travel journal we began during the 2009 Tim Holtz/Wendy Vecchi cruise to Mexico.  On board we did all the foundation work....decorated the grungeboard pages, added some stamping, inking, etc., but I never got around to adding photos or any journaling.  I always keep a small notebook with me when I travel, so I had all the details I needed, and all the photos are on my computer, so it was just a matter of actually sitting down and DOING it.  Yesterday was the day.  Yea!

First of all, click HERE if you'd like to see what the journal looked like before I got started. (You'll have to scroll down when you get there to see the section on the journal.)   Look at it now!

There are enough tabbed pages to have a section for each day of the cruise, and each section also included pocket pages made from small brown paper bags.  The ribbons you see are attached to tags, inserted into each pocket.  You'll see more of that in a bit.

You can see here that I added a photo from my day in Los Angeles, prior to the cruise, some ephemera from the hotel, and a bit of journaling.  On the brown paper bag I glued down some Day 1 cruise notes that I cut from the newsletter you get every day on cruises.  These went on each bag.  If you journal or scrapbook it's a good idea to keep all the newletters if you cruise; bits and pieces of them come in very handy.

Here's a close up of the journaling tag that we made to insert in each bag pocket.  I had them all completed and just had to add the journaling.

Here are the front and back of the Day 1 tag.  Again, I used a bit of the daily newsletter as well as my own writing.  Thanks to my notetaking, I even could write down what I had for dinner each night.  In the greater scheme of things, is that information earth shattering?  No, of course not.  But I think it's those kinds of little details that make your journal or scrapbook pages come to life.  And in a million years I'd never have remembered our waiter's name, even though I did remember that he had a great personality and added a lot to our dinnertime fun.

In addition to the tags, the bag pockets are roomy enough to include other mementos, such as this welcoming letter from Scrapmap.  Other items that fit are additional photos, postcards, maps, etc.

This page shows photos of my workspace before we started working on this journal, and also me in the studio finishing up some decorating during my free time.  And you can see the journaling I added (computer generated on kraft cardstock).

Another bag pocket page.  In case you were wondering, all those pages were stamped using a fantastic foam alphabet set from way back when Tim worked with Junkitz.  No longer available, Tim had a few sets for sale, and I immediately scooped one up.  I use it a lot, and really love the look of it.

As I mentioned before, I always take notes when I vacation.  Although I used these notes in my journaling here, I didn't include every little detail.  So, I created a new bag pocket and inserted those notes inside.  Even though they really only amounted to scrawls in an old steno pad, I didn't want to lose anything I wrote. 

This shows just how nice and chunky my journal became.  I even have a few more spots on some of the pages for additional photos, so I just may go back and see if there are any I'd like to include.

I have a whole lot left to finish, but having this one finally completed has been great motivation for me to continue, until my "to-do" list is empty.

Totally Smashed

No, not a description of last night's activities, but rather my new found love for the smash book style of journaling.  I've shared before that I altered a smash book to take with me on the cruise.  Here's the cover again, with the addition of a chain I added to show off some of the great charms I received on the cruise.  (BTW, the rest of the charms are in my configurations tray).

I'm not going to bore you with all the pages, just wanted to try to convince some folks I know, who have their doubts about what this smash book thing is all about.  For me, as I mentioned recently, it's been very liberating.  If your goal is to preserve memories, even everyday events, this is a wonderful way to do so.  Just glue in (i.e., smash) some receipts, a photo or two, scribble some words if necessary, and you are done!

Speaking of which, I AM done.  The entire book is filled and I have everything I did, what I saw, who I was with, the projects we made, all of it inside.  Yes, I can (and might) go the traditional route and do some actual scrapbook layouts, carefully choosing colors, trims, embellishments, measuring, etc. etc., just because I also do find that to be a pleasurable activity in itself.  But I don't have to.  And given how busy most people are, it's good to know that you can still document the moments of your life without spending an additional lifetime doing so.

OK, off the smash book soapbox, and here are a few of the pages.

inside front cover and first page:

notice I added tabs for different sections:

my time at Disney.  few photos but a whole lot of ephemera:

first night on the ship and Coco Cay the next day:

St. Thomas:

Most of the pages of a smash book are blank, but some have some writing and/or doodling.  I generally ignored that, just covering the pages with my stuff, but if it so happened that what was already on the page worked with what I was adding, I went with that flow.  As above, where it said, "I like this."

St. Maarten:

the configurations tray (notice I left a blank space for a photo of the

completed tray, whenever that might happen):

Every night, after the cabin attendants ready the rooms for sleep, they leave booklets about the following day's activities.  I saved them all and cut out the daily summary to include in my book.  I put them all in a section of their own.

and here are just two of several pages devoted to the

many wonderful swaps I received (I cut up some coin

envelopes to make the pockets so I could

remove the ATCs and see what's on the backs):

I also have many pages of photos of friends, pictures of every project we did, and of course the time Pat and I spent in Cocoa Beach. 

So, have I converted anyone?  Anybody planning to get smashed anytime soon?  LOL!

Cruisin' The Caribbean With Tim

Tuesday, September 27th

Day At Sea

Workshop #2

and

Some Giveaways

We started our first full day at sea with an early class.  My group would be working from 9:00 to noon, and Group B would get their turn from 2:00 - 5:00.  If you're thinking that three hours learning from Tim sounds like a good thing, well, you would be right.

We assembled all the pieces to form a very cool travel journal that opens like a gatefold card.

Above, my work space, looking way neater than it usually did.  The base of the journal were Wendy's art parts and two of Tim's large binder ring pieces.  We had a good variety of paper to work with, and as usual, got to keep all the extras.  More on that later.

The two shots above were taken in the classroom and somehow came out very orange.  Next, some photos I took when I got home.

Our class kits had all the papers we needed for our pages, all cut and scored for us.  We just had to do some folding and closing openings with tissue tape to form some pockets.  We also got tags and little paper bags that we could put in the book.  The back cover (which I did not photograph) has the same paper as the front, and we added some idea-ology pieces to it, which meant the inside of the back cover had exposed brad prongs.  Which bothers some people....I confess, I'm one of them.....so I covered the offending hardware with a tag and the "journey" die cut.  We had a Vagabond and lots of dies available in the 24/7 studio, and that's when I did that.

We also had lots of tabs and a canvas page, perfect for attaching pins and charms.

Aside from lots of inking and spraying, I did not decorate any of the pages.  I brought a journal with me that I was using and think I'm going to save this one for a future trip, so no point filling it with cruise related stuff.

Before class started, I walked around and took some pictures of friends.

Nancy and Pam

                                    Gloria and Christine                                   

Andrea and Stephanie

And someone was nice enough to take this one of me and three of my best art pals.  We've been sharing and collaborating on projects from some great distances for years, and had a wonderful time working side by side on this trip.....and sharing some great meals together too.

Val and Elena

Me and Pat

At every class we'd walk in and our class kit would be waiting for us, which included a written description of the project and materials, and most of the elements we'd need to complete the piece.  I say most, because some were just too large to fit in the kit, and were distributed during class.  And then there would be other things that weren't necessary for the project, but could be an option.  Tim had some very generous sponsors.  In some cases we only used a small piece of paper, but received an entire 12x12 package.

Prepare to be dazzled with what we received during classes:

Paper packs from Graphic45, Tim, Core'dinations, Prima, and Cosmo Cricket

Yes, this is a Martha Stewart scoring board

At different times we received the glue glider and Tim's tissue tape

holder and two rolls of tissue tape.

Also in this photo, the custom stamp Tim has made up for each cruise

with the cruise logo.

Tons of tags, tickets, and other small paper

embellishments

Embellishments galore, all from the very

best companies.  We didn't get anyone's leftover junk!

More paper

Stamp sets

A variety of letters; chipboard, rub-ons, and Tim's own

plastic alpha parts

More bling

And more from Tim's own line

Now you know why we're advised to bring an extra suitcase on these trips.  I left NY with two half filled bags, and returned home with two stuffed to the max.  And I haven't even shown you my purchases and gifts yet.