Tag Archives: paper therapy

May Mini Album Class Details

What can I tell you about mini albums? Lots! Mini albums are so much fun to make, and I’m excited to be teaching a mini album class on May 8th. (scroll to the bottom of the post for the gritty details!)

I made a guy-themed album for Father’s Day, but this class can be customized:

and you can make something pretty just in time for Mother’s Day:

or showcase a collection of family photos:

or display photos of one special event, like this album I made of a guys’ camping trip:

Here’s the details on the class:
You get: 1 blank mini album (the same one used in the mud bog album at the top of the post)
your choice of paper to make the album (click here to view your choices)
optional embellishments (stickers or rub-ons)
Cost is actual cost of materials ($20-25 plus tax and shipping)
Date: Tuesday, May 8th, 7-9pm
Place: my studio, 10 minutes east of Dawson Creek, BC
Contact me by April 25th to order your materials and reserve your space in the class!
Phone: 250-786-5562

All Occasion Card Class – April 10th

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I’ve been preparing some cards for my April card class. It’s been a long time since I hosted a non-Christmas card class, and I’m looking forward to sharing some pretty versatile designs. We’ll be working with your choice of two paper pads, My Mind’s Eye Miss Caroline Fiddlesticks;

or Miss Caroline Howdy Doody;

As you can see, one is a little more masculine than the other, but both are super pretty, don’t you think?

The stamps you see in the images are mostly from Papertrey Ink, and what we’ll do in the class is leave the sentiments as separate – when it comes time to give a card, the maker can match a stamped sentiment to the card of choice, and adhere one that’s just right for the recipient!

I didn’t have the die that goes with the frame stamp, and I didn’t want to die cut frames one at a time, so I created a cut file for my Silhouette and cut a dozen at a time – so fast and easy, and since it’s a twelve card class, I’ll have my kits made in no time!

Class takes place on April 10, 7-9pm at my home studio just outside Dawson Creek, BC and cost is just $25. Please email me to reserve your spot!

Year.o.graphy kit Class: Scrap a Year in One Night!

Happy Leap Day, friends! I used to brag about being “nearly” a leap year baby since I was born on the 27th but seeing as it wasn’t actually a leap year in 1977, my mum eventually set me straight on that one! Though I was supposed to be named April instead of Angela until I arrived several weeks early and in February!

Crop Event Recap:
My “crop for a cause” took place last night and was such a fun time! I was joined by dear friends and some new friends and together we raised $375 to buy sewing machines for people in India. This program is run by Gospel for Asia and it’s really cool that one can “shop” their catalogue and improve the quality of life for some of the most downtrodden people in the world. The money we raised will buy 4 hand-powered sewing machines, or 3 electric and I think that’s awesome!

New Class!
I’ve launched right into organizing for my next session of papercraft classes and it’s one I’m really excited about. Last winter I bought a paper pack made by Simple Stories, and after opening it up, realized that Simple Stories designs their paper a little differently. I did some research, and found out that in addition to using their products for “traditional” scrapbooking, their papers are designed to work with divided page protectors to make putting together a scrapbook album as easy as tucking photos and coordinating pages in the pockets!

We’ll be using the Year.O.Graphy kit to create a full year’s worth of scrapbook pages in one night. It can be done! If you are overwhelmed and “behind” on your scrapbooking, or if you want to start scrapbooking but are afraid to because you don’t think you can make the time to do all your photos, the Simple Stories system just might be for you!

You bring 30-50 photos, and I supply the rest. This kit can be as simple or detailed as you want it to be, using the gorgeous paper and stickers to create vibrant, energetic pages that document a year in your life.

A Simple Stories album makes a wonderful keepsake gift for Mom or Grandma, or to commemorate a special time in your life.

Cost for the class is $30 and includes the full paper kit and page protectors. Albums are available for purchase separately. Class takes place March 13th, 7-9pm at my home studio, and if you can’t make it but want the kit, contact me and I’ll reserve one for you.

I have several other Simple Stories paper kits available for purchase as well, and new ones on their way that cover all kinds of special occasions, from weddings to birthdays to baby’s first year and more. It’s going to be a great class and I can’t tell you how fun it is to inspire scrapbookers in new ways and get a new scrapbooker started with her first album. I hope you can join us!

Pretty & Gentle layouts – November Paper Therapy

Last night on my way home from my watercolour class, I stopped at the mail box at the end of our road to check the mail and heard a very odd “meow” from somewhere nearby. As I drove the quarter mile to my house, I started to wonder if the sound I heard was coming from under the hood of my van rather than the ditch beside the mailboxes, and sure enough, when I pulled into my garage, I heard the cat again. Oh, I was beginning to panic at that point! We have two cats, and they are both full grown, so I knew that if one of them had crept under the hood to warm himself on the engine block, he’d be seriously injured if he’d been trapped under there after I started the engine. Plus I’d just driven ten kilometres home from town!

I called Wade to come and look – I didn’t want to see if there was extreme trauma under the hood – and he opened the hood and called, “Well, it’s not one of our cats.” There was a kitten clinging to the motor mount, terrified out of his little mind, but apparently unhurt. Wade unhooked him from his death grip and he fled into the night. In the morning the kids looked around the yard but didn’t see him, until later that morning when I found the little guy nestled in a cardboard box. He is just the cutest little thing and we fed him and petted him, and he trembled all over. I figure he must have crawled up into the van while I was teaching my watercolour class, and the class is in a commercial section of town – there aren’t really any residences nearby, so I’m pretty sure he was a stray. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for lost cat notices but I think he’s here to stay.

We’ve named him Tommy. He does look like Tom Kitten from the Beatrix Potter books, doesn’t he?

Our November Paper Therapy class was delayed this month because I taught my Christmas card class this week. For the next two Tuesdays, I’ll be teaching our November class featuring the girly Alphabet Soup line from My Mind’s Eye. I went a little crazy with the chipboard in this kit – it was so fun to layer it all!

It’s grey outside, and I am struggling with getting good photos of my layouts yet again. Any tips for me from other northern-rooted scrapbookers?

 

Devil’s Churn – October Paper Therapy

The kids are still talking about the three week road trip our family embarked on back in February. To hear them talk, San Francisco was one day-long traffic jam and the Winternationals drag races were all about the way their toys vibrated on the bleachers as the cars raced past. And the ocean was not the hot sandy beaches they were expecting (or the ones I grew up with living in Papua New Guinea) but a frozen blast of wind gusted with sea gulls. At least they saw it! We’re pretty landlocked here in northern British Columbia.

I had all kinds of photos from the hour we spent at Devil’s Churn on the Oregon Coast – the one time the sky cleared and we we able to enjoy the ocean from a rocky vantage point. I love the expression on my daughter’s face as she checks out the surging waters with her dad at her side.

This layout was created using the October Paper Therapy kit (for more information about how you can teach Paper Therapy classes, visit this post) and I love showing my students how you can create a gorgeous layout using limited supplies, i.e. only the paper, cardstock and embellishments in the kit. Often this involves using lots of stamps to embellish and personalize. Stamps are easy to share!

So are dies – the flourish is die cut, and the stickers and wooden hinges are part of the October kit.

To see the other layout created using October’s kit, visit here.

I confess, I have lots of memories of our family road trip – I think it will be a legend for years to come, and inspire many more trips across the continent.

Becoming a Paper Therapist.

Last week my monthly scrapbooking classes started up again. I chose to teach scrapbooking from my home because I wanted to use paper crafting as a relationship builder as well as being involved in the industry (make a little money to cover my supplies) without having to push product as a sales rep for a large company. The format that worked for me was to provide monthly paper crafting kits to my students for a flat rate. Most months we focus on a technique, I share the sample layouts I’ve created with the kit, and I let my students loose to create.

I continually stress “This is your kit.” I’m available to teach and advise, I share sketches and layout ideas, but if they want to visit all evening and take their kits home to use, or if they want to make cards instead of layouts, they are free to do so. I love the variety I see every month in my students!

I’m thinking seriously about expanding and wanted to hear from you. Do you dream of teaching scrapbooking at home? Does the cost & effort of putting together kits for classes intimidate you? Would you like to share some beautiful products with your friends and neighbours and see them bit by the paper crafting bug?

Here’s what Paper Therapy kit classes would look like:
1. You order a minimum of 6 kits for a flat rate, paying by PayPal or cheque. I add your instructor’s kit at no charge. Orders of 10 kits or more gets you free shipping in Canada or the USA.
2. Kits include 3-4 sheets coordinating patterned paper, 2 sheets coordinating coloured cardstock, 2 sheets white or cream cardstock and embellishments, plus two layout sketches.
3. You determine kit price, class dates, and class structure/format. Repeat monthly!

I’ve found this to be a really great way to dip my feet into the business side of paper crafting and I love sharing my scrap room with students who have become dear friends. If you’re interested in doing the same, send me an email and I’ll send you a start up info package.

 

Kinder Kid

Oh, I had a great weekend! Actually, it got great starting about Thursday – I got to go cranberry picking with a dear friend – the cranberry bog is my favourite place in the whole wide world. There’s something about the crisp fall air, the springy moss and the beautiful cranberries (I hear they are also called lingonberries) that I just love and look forward to all year.

We had more fun in the open air on the weekend, picnicking with friends beside the Peace River – just us and a hundred million gnats!

I also received my warehouse sale box from Pink Paislee – I’m giddy with possibilities for all the wonderful treasures inside! Totally worth the money. Even the Hallowe’en stuff will be able to be adapted for non-Hallowe’en use since I don’t do much for Hallowe’en crafting.

Fall truly starts tomorrow, with my first fall Paper Therapy scrapbook kit club class. (Wow! Is there a shorter way to write that?) Opening my home to a group of friends is my favourite part of scrapbooking – it’s all about relationships to me and I figure that getting friends and neighbours addicted to paper crafting makes my own addiction look a little less…intense. Here’s a layout I created using the September Paper Therapy kit:

My boy started kindergarten this year and he is so excited! I am juggling teaching three children now instead of two and it’s an adjustment! He takes lots of Lego breaks between the bookwork he is assigned. He’s very hands-on so I don’t want to overwhelm him or make school un-fun by pushing too much academia on him. He loves it when I read Dr. Suess’s ABC’s using my goofiest character voices.

Have a great day!