Kits & Pre-mades & some enabling.....

I dropped off some kits & pre made mini albums last week at the store.

Here are a couple of photos if you are interested in purchasing contact Susan at emiscrapbooking@aol.com for more information.  Follow EMI on Facebook to know all the latest news here.

The first one is a cute little boy book.

Premade (it comes with rings I was just out of them here at the house)

Chipboard Cover 

Lots of heavy weight double sided patterned paper pages 

Here are photos of just a few

This one is a kit all precut & easy for you to put together

The entire mini has chipboard pages.

Here's the cover. 

The theme is perfect for those 4th of July photos

And a few of the pages

Now for some enabling....

Joann's is clearing out a bunch of products

I caught the tail end of the sale but still got some good tools that I will so use.

Look at these big Fiskars punches $4.97 each perfect for journaling spots

Lots of Tim Holtz dies for $3.97

I thought this smaller zig zag would be great for mini book edges 

I love cogs & gears for guy pages so I was excited to get this punch on the left for $3.97

To make your own chipboard just punch on kraft 4x and adhere together then punch again in whatever you want the top to look like & adhere.  Very inexpensive way to get the look we love.

I couldn't believe how cute Heidi Grace new lines were.

I love the colors & those packages of die cut fabric flowers will save me so much time on my Brave Girls Funky Flowers art journal.  I've been cutting out individual petals by hand. (they are more artsy looking cut by the petal but I don't need to spend that much time/effort on each page)

They were on sale 40% off

I love Jenni Bowlin punches by Fiskars.  

I will use this roladex style a lot 

I used my 40% off coupon to get this one

Teresa Collins released a ton of different unmounted rubber stamp sets with Fiskars

Each collection is so pretty & very usable.... 

they sure will be getting inky & not just sitting around in anyone's stash 

Thanks for stopping by

Browsing Stores Recently.....& adhesive review

I was in between doctor appointments recently & had time to kill. 

So I stopped in Home Goods to browse.

They have good prices & some really great items for the home.

I love just looking at all the goodies they get in stock.

Charley always tells me about the new heavy furniture they are getting in since one his truck loads goes to a store somewhere in the USA.  He will be popping Advil after unloading since their orders are heavy.

I'm really loving all these text canvases that are on the market lately.

They are all $29.95 so

I am thinking of trying my hand at these....

Brave Girls style.

I think I'm going back for this shadow box.

Love the burlap & distressed grey/blue.  Very beachy

At first I thought of putting in my Grandpa's fishing lures 

(they are so cool looking he had them for more than 60 years)

or I could do a vignette of Destin filled with shells, photos & stuff 

from the last time I was at the beach. 

I saw on instagram last night that those photos were taken 82 weeks ago....

It's been that long? 

I so need to go again since that is my happy place. 

Love to put my toes in the sand

I don't know what it is about this purse but I liked it

guess it's the "hippy" girl in me as my mom says.

I will keep eye out for $$ to go down because I'm not loving it $40 worth lol 

Michaels had some canvases too.  

Butterflies always catch my eye 

And these made me think of flowers in the 

Brave Girls Funky Flowers Art School class I had just finished....

I may try my hand using this as inspiration for the guest room 

Cute bird cage with clips on it.

This would be perfect for my scraproom as a funky inspiration board 

I loved these kraft tags with simple sentiment & pop of color

Michaels Recollections brand 

I used my 40% coupon for adhesive I needed for a crop.

Not exciting but so necessary.

I love Crafter's Choice Ultimate Adhesive for putting together mini albums

I don't have any problem with my books falling apart when I put a thin bead around the edge & then "scribble" some in the middle of the chipboard to attach the paper.

It also isn't too think that it creates bubbling & problems with most of the patterned paper on the market today.  During the Teresa Collins classes recently Teresa would say to use a glue glider style dry adhesive because wet causes problems.... she wasn't calling me out but telling the entire class - I think trying to "save" me & my project from disaster (which I appreciated - she is always so thoughtful).... but I know my glue.  If this was Beacon, Scotch, Aleene's or even PVA (which is specifically designed for paper book making) I know I would have a buckled bubbled & not professional looking project.  But The Ultimate never fails me (as long as it's not on the copy paper thin style of patterned paper).

A lot of times for my own projects I will use my Scotch ATG gun.  It's just too heavy & big to take to a crop when you have a small amount of table space. 

It's great adhesive and refills last a long time.

2 rolls 36 yards each of adhesive at Michaels is $9.99 for archival or $5.99 for the craft before coupons.

I just hate to thread the adhesive thru the gun.

I bought a Scotch Dot Roller to use at the crop 

but still wouldn't trust it for a mini album that gets a lot of handling

(closest I've found to my beloved Kokoyo Dot Roller that was discontinued in the USA that I horded all I could find & am now out of)

I won this Teresa Collins Xyron Sticker Maker last year at the crop

I already had a purple original one so I gave mine away to a friend.

I love this for little things that adhesive is so strong & not going anywhere.

It's amazing for ribbon.

I'm frugal with adhesive so I make sure that I have enough little bits to take advantage 

of every inch & not waste then let pieces sit on the backing til I'm ready to use.

Teresa came out with a matching Xyron adhesive runner recently but I haven't gotten around to ordering online since it's not available locally for me....

I would have loved to have won one that were given away at the crop.

It's much smaller than my ATG & the adhesive is really good (I tested out a friends)

I was never happy with the Glue Arts one I had because of the price of refills that weren't that big.

The Xyron runner is similar size.  I really like that the cartridge is drop in no threading of adhesive like the ATG (my son Andrew's job since I make a mess of it with my arthritic hands lol)

Maybe I will hint for Mother's Day so he can get out of being bothered with reloading my gun...

What have you been finding lately in the stores?

I love when friends enable me with new goodies......

Pinterest Craftysuz

I think that's why I get lost on Pinterest for hours & have quite a few boards here or click button above.

Are you on Pinterest?  

Let me know if you need an invite.

Hope you have a fabulous day & remember to do something creative

Creative Weekend with Teresa Collins

I've had this post started since Monday.... wow the week sure got away from me with all the doctor appointments & my Aunt being released from nursing home rehab Wednesday.  Anyway here it is...

I look forward to this weekend every year. It was 3rd annual Teresa Collins classes that Susan owner of EMI Scrapbooking organizes. It was so wonderful to be around creative women & Teresa is a great teacher.  her kits are very well designed, she shares super techniques that I use over & over becoming immediate favorites, & she is such an authentic, sweet, generous person sharing stories of her life honestly & with such heart.  Thankfully this year the weather was beautiful (no hiding out in the hotel laundry room due to a tornado heading down the street like last year).  During last year's event Teresa already commits to coming back again (yes even with the tornadoes).  So I've been looking forward to this all year.  My health has been dictating my life quite a bit lately which is frustrating.... so with lots of prayer, rest, Dr. injections, & prednesone I was able to attend.

This has been my motto lately.... "BELIEVE IN MIRACLES".  

I made this bracelet inspired by classes I take from Brave Girls Club Melody Ross. 

Words are powerful & I've learned to not beat up on myself with negative words.  With all I had been going thru this last month it took a miracle to get me to the event & to last thru the day & late into the evening.  It was a real blessing that I needed.  Spending time with creative friends.... de-stressing & revitalizing my spirit.

Sunshine streaming in my bedroom window & feeling pretty good started my day

I'm so the person who is never in pictures...... I hate it.

But I've grown to know it's important.  My family needs photos of me.

This is a photo I took of myself (can't believe I did that... that alone is a miracle lol) driving to the event.

I got to the store around 1 pm on Friday so I could help Susan finish up some last minute things.

She put me on making samples for the store above the new Teresa Collins lines in the photo below.  Mylissa brought some great photos of her sons for me to use.  I love the one she did with the hearts & an old photo of one of her sons.  So sweet & the colors in the photo were perfect for the Stationary Noted line.

The Friday night class started at 6 pm at the Holiday Inn Express in Cumming GA

This was the pretty display at the front of the conference room.  Love all the samples & inspiration

I had a spot next to TC & Kristy.

Complete with hot tea to keep me going...

Opened up my Memories kit.... this one is so me LOVE LOVE LOVE.  

See all the goodies inside.  Precut pages & full packs/sheets of goodies.  

That gorgeous bling is HUGE.

After class everyone is free to stay for a crop to finish up kit or work on whatever.....

I tend to gab more than create during that time as I'm starting to get tired.

lol it shows in the photo....

We had a very spacious room to rest

Saturday I was dragging a little.... 

took a shower & while fixing my hair was overcome with thankfulness that it's looking pretty good in spite of medicine that is making it a lot thinner.

So again I forced myself to take a picture so I can scrap it....

notice the products in the bottom propped on the tissue box.

I couldn't get the volume without Selma Hayek Nuance hair products sold at CVS.

Love the skin care products too & she has a great makeup kit for eye brows.

Then downstairs for a quick bite to eat in the breakfast room

(forgot to take a pix so used the one on the hotel site lol... it works)

TC created one of these for each person in the class (filled with some yummy chocolate).

Seriously this girl is super creative & SO thoughtful!

First class of the day was a mini using Far & Away

(Teresa said she named it after the Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman movie... 

I love that one & seem to watch it a couple times a year whenever it's on lol)

I have to say NO ONE does a travel line better than Teresa in my book - love the classic style & generic theme...

Lots of pockets to hold all the ephemera we get on vacation

Showing us page by page how to put together....

Lots of little tricks, tips & techniques

I finished the basics & bound mine so all that is left is pictures and a bit more embellishing

Saturday's class was filled... 

After lunch we worked on a cascading interactive mini using Stationary Noted. 

I love the pops of red in this one.  

This is her sample that starts out small & each page after gets bigger. It's created mostly with the package of file folders.

This one was a bit more involved to put together so we had to pay close attention

Teresa showing us how to use the WRMK Cinch to bind our books

After the 2nd class the store was open so everyone could shop.  Susan/EMI Scrapbooking always carries every line that Teresa releases & is the only company that sells so well with customers buying 4 sheets of each paper & the mini book kits we create for sell the lines even get re-ordered.

Teresa was looking at the sample of a kit I created with her Tell Your Story line

After store we went out to eat

Susan & I split a rita... just enough or I would have fallen asleep lol

Then back for some late night scrapping. 

Teresa is so sweet that she goes around & chats with each person.

After long creative weekend & late night scrapping along with the time change.... 

Spring forward always kicks my butt

Packed up & ready to head home.

I know it looks like I was staying a week but I bring my pillow & need to buy the carry on size of back to match this one.  (Ralph Lauren Chaps - wheels spin 360 - this one was less than $40 at Ross).  And I brought my laptop in case I flared up & ended up in the room early so I would have something to do to keep me from being too depressed about what I was missing out on.... Thankfully that didn't happen!

Now looking forward to the Royal Caribbean cruise in October.  

Teresa shares all about it in a blog post here.

Sail Date- 20 October 2013 from Port Canaveral 

7 Nights Eastern Caribbean

Hope you have a fantastic weekend & get a chance to create some great memories.