Holland 2011

First off-thank you for all of your comments on my Prima/TA blog hop! I was on a plane when the post went live so I missed all of them until I got back home! What a treat to read them though! You are all  so sweet. :)

I always LOVE visiting Holland. It was my 5th trip and still...the people, the food, the coffee, the sights... are all just so amazing. 

Prima (Tami, Parima and I) were there for a scrapbook event that is always a joy to attend. There were many other manufacturers as well: Ranger (Tim, Mario and Alain), Tattered Angels (Wendy & Birgit), Graphic 45 (Amy & Tanya),  Cosmo Cricket (Julie & Natasja), etc! I love my fellow scrappers and the organizers of the event! Sadly my camera started acting up and I didn't get any photos at the show. (I am hoping one of the other gals has some they can share with me though. Shameless begging here.)

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the trip!

 A typical canal shot:

The Rijks Museum:

I AMSTERDAM sign:

Cute little lunch kiosk:

Amazing graffiti:

Houseboat (one of about 1250 in the city!):

I need a boat like this!

Eating dinner at one of our favorite hangouts:

Amsterdam at night:

The next day we started off with breakfast by a canal...

We were staying right next to the Anne Frank Huis...

And this sweet guy was selling his paintings. I got two!!

A pic just for my three girls!

 Rembrandt Square:

 And off to the floating flower market. The entrances of each shop are on the street while the rest of the shop is actually floating on a canal.

Overabundance of flower pictures alert!

Our rickshaw ride back to the hotel. Was so much better than walking at this point.

 Home, Sweet Home!

You cannot visit Holland without checking out their famous windmills:

This picture is just for KELLY!! teehee!

And so ends another wonderful trip! After dropping Tami and Parima off to catch their train to Paris...Wendy and I found ourselves next to each other for the flight home... a perfect ending to a fabulous trip I say!

Stay tuned...about 11 hours after I landed in the states I hopped BACK on another plane for a trip to South America!

Prima Blog Hop with Tattered Angels!

Prima is pairing up with TA for some...

Blog Hopping Fun

I know there are going to be TONS of fabulous projects and techniques from the amazing line-up of talented designers.

First we have a give-away on the Prima blog-so make sure you go back there and leave a comment for a chance to win these products:

I also have a few projects to share with you! I was recently asked to create 4 layouts for the back of TA's clam packs using Prima products. Talk about a FUN job (and just a WEE bit of pressure!)

 

This layout shows off a photo of hubby and I from last fall. I used Prima's new Romantique papers, a new brick wall mask and chipboard shapes.  The flowers are colored with Glimmer Mist and Glam. I even colored paper with glaze for a really cool shimmery effect (see blue paper.)

Tip: When spritzing Glimmer Mist or Chalk spray on paper it will rumple a bit. You can counter this by spraying the back side with a bit of water...or lying the project flat with a few books on top (I slip in a piece of plastic so my books stay dry.)

Prima Products:

• Romantique Papers-colored with waterfall glaze and rum punch glimmer mist
• Romantique Chipboard Shapes
• Summer Carnation Vine
• Audrey Rose Flowers -colored with Espresso Bean glam
• Brick Mask-using rum punch GM on it
• Say It In Crystals Swirl-Amber
• Book Paper
• Edge Punches
• White Tulle
• Note-whole layout misted lightly with chalk spray

For Sweet Cheeks (doesn't Amariah have squeezable cheeks?) I used Romantique papers, along with a necklace from Prima (YES-they sell necklaces ready to color!) and a few other fun embellishments. The chipboard letters have HEAVY coats of Glaze and Glam on them. It was fun to customize the colors to fit the layout.

Tip: Fabric flowers take coloring agents a bit differently than mulberry paper flowers. Just spray lightly and use a heat gun to avoid water spots. When applying Glam or Glaze to chipboard letters apply a thick coat to avoid brush marks. Let dry thoroughly!

Prima Products:

• Romantique Papers-some colored with waterfall glaze and rum punch GM
• Say It In crystals Swirl
• Innocense White Flowers
• Audrey Roses
• Scrapbook Jewelry Necklace-white: colored with rum punch GM
• Cameo Roses-white
• Times Chipboard-colored with  espresso bean glam and waterfall glaze
• Lace-colored with dark brown glam

Above Prima projects used the Lagoon Clam Pack: Chalk Chalkboard, Rum Punch Glimmer Mist, Espresso Bean Glam, Waterfall Glaze

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My next two projects use the Melody Paper Line from Prima...and the Lagoon Clam Pack.

So my youngest son, Josiah, has a very tender heart towards little Sophia-pictured above! He REALLY wants to marry her. He even asked her dad for permission. (He was turned down flat, but the kid is not deterred. Heaven help me. He's barely 7. She's barely 2.)

This layout was just a blast to make. I colored a lot of flowers...and leaves (a trick I learned from Cari Fennell!) The Glam and Glaze make the leaves look absolutely luscious!

Prima Supplies:

• Melody Papers
• Innocense White Flowers-colored with Bahama Blue glimmer mist & Apricot Nectar Chalk
• Mulberry Rose Leaves - colored with Golden Goddess Glam and Pewter Glaze
• Audrey Rose Flower-colored with Apricot Nectar
• Millinery White Fabric Flower -colored with Bahama Blue GM
• Fitzgerald Beaded Flower- colored with Apricot Nectar Chalk
• So Cute Chipboard
• Linen Alphas

Project number four is of my sweetie-pie granddaughter. AGAIN! I love scrapping her photos. 

Again I used a lot of fun coloring mediums on the canvas word, fabric flowers, lace flowers, lace trim and leaves!


Tip: When coloring lace just squirt mist into a baggie. Add lace and seal to shut. Knead until color is dispersed evenly. Add more mist if a darker color is desired. Remove lace and air dry.

Prima Products:

• Melody papers
• Regent Collection Flower-white: colored with Apricot Nectar Chalkboard
• Brown Trinket Flowers
• Paintable Canvas word-colored with Apricot Nectar Chalkboard
• Lace-colored with Bahama Blue Glimmer Mist
• Classic Lace Flowers -colored with Bahama Blue glimmer mist
• Mulberry Rose Leaves-colored with Golden Goddess Glam & Pewter Glaze
• Say It In Crystals Pearls
• Melody Journaling Stickers

 The above two projects were colored with the Lagoon Clam Pack= Apricot Nectar Chalk, Bahama Blue Glimmer Mist, Golden Goddess Glam, Pewter Glaze


Make sure you check out the following links for LOADS of inspiration!
(If any of the links do not work just hop on over to Prima for a complete list: www.prima.typepad.com/prima 

Prima Educators:

Janine Koczwara
Nathalie Kalbach
Cari Fennell
Birgit Koopsen
Jamie Dougherty
Marion Smith


Design Team Links:
Ania Lexander
Trina McClune
Hege Lundquist
Anna-Maria Wolniak
Trudi Harrison
Maiko Kosugi
Stacey Young
Leslie Ashe
Karola Witczak
Steph Devlin
Emeline Seet
Marie-Nicolas Alliot

Finnibair (Anna Dabrowska)


And finally hop on over to the...
Tattered Angels DT Blog:
 Tattered Angels Blog

Class Peek for Peru!

How about one more class peek for Cropping Day 2011 in Peru?

And the fourth class will be a surprise! 

(I can share this though--We are going to be using brand new Printery papers! 

Yes, Those Prima Printery papers JUST RELEASED!! Yippee Skippee!!)

Kitting...and kitting some more

I have HUGE stacks of Prima product all over my studio AND bedroom right now. That means LOTS and LOTS of kitting for upcoming classes!

First up we have some FUN classes in Lima. 

Here are just two of the four classes I will be teaching there Sept 9 & 10th:

Celebrate Love Mini

And this amazingly FUN and EASY wall canvas perfect for your favorite family photo:

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After I get back from Peru I am heading out to SCRAPTASTIC in Brussels (and bringing hubby along for the first time! We are going to make him work hard, aren't we?)  And check out that talented line-up! So excited to be seeing these lovely ladies again.

Here is just one of the classes I am teaching in Brussels:

Melody Canvas Mini:

There might be room in a few of these classes so go sign up now!! I will post the other class peeks soon!

CHA Projects and Pics!

I really need someone to kick me in the pants to get me to blog more! Any volunteers??

So July was one CRAZY busy month! I did lots of creating with Prima's new releases for CHA-Summer...so prepare for a photo-heavy post!

This family layout shows off the new Londonerry line...

And this mini is using our new packaging and North Country papers...

I even did a few canvases! I fell in love with our new Art Tiles and wanted to create something that matches my home...so that is how this came about!

 Take a peek at the new Vintage Buttons too...sigh!

And here is Amariah...she gets scrapped QUITE frequently.

 And another canvas...this one was really fun to make....used lots of acrylic paints, stamping, Perfect Pearl Mists, old book paper and new resins and vines.

Working CHA is always exhausting, but I  ~LOVE~ meeting my scrappy friends again... and hanging out with everyone from Prima.  Summer CHA was held in Chicago again. What a fabulous place for yummy food.

 Ingvild Bolme from Norway came all the way over to the states to show off her new line with us at the show. Ingvild has been on our team for 3 years. Not only do we both scrap, but we are Norwegian sisters too!

 This time we (those crazy gals in the photo below) actually went sight-seeing! We took an architectural boat tour and got to put our feet up and enjoy the gorgeous views of Chicago.

 Hope you enjoyed the projects and the little tour of Chicago!