Friday 1 April 2011

hoping for signs of spring

the past few days have been delightful! the snow has been slowly melting...so ironic to have below zero Celsius temperatures and have trickles of water flowing. but the last few days we have had puddles and THE sun has been shining! in Alberta we have cold winters. despite the coldness of the days, the sun still shines. except this winter. having the sun return has renewed some hope that spring may actually arrive.

apparently we are supposed to get snow this weekend. trying to not think of that!

i read quite the blog post {37Frames}with photos of Japan these days. i can't imagine life for those affected right now. i was deeply troubled to read about school children who were kept safe on upper floors of schools. children who are now living in their school and waiting for their parents to return. the anguish of the teachers who are now temporary parents to the children they taught. how incredibly difficult to comfort the children who are now orphaned by such a massive tragedy. it is unimaginable.

it makes my troubles seem very insignificant and minor in comparison. snow? better than losing my possessions or those i love.


back to thinking of spring....happier thoughts! {i don't want to minimize the tragedy...we do need to help! however i am learning that it really does not help any one for us to avoid non-tragic topics. even in the midst of grief. we still need to smile and find little or big things to enjoy and fill our days. the joy we find is relative to our place in life. and joy is a necessary part of living.}



i am so fortunate to be teaching a wonderful group of ladies! we had another great class last night. it is fun to inspire them, but i also feel very inspired at the end of the night. we are good company. there is just something about being surrounded by others that are like-minded and understand the whole "must scrapbook" life! my husband says it is as if we have our own language. he's smart, so he must be right. ha!

the technique for March was resist or masking. we used Maya Resist as a liquid form. one of those products that isn't that difficult to use, once you know how it works. i used Rangers' Colour Wash once again. love that stuff. spray Butterscotch on grunge and it looks like leather. it comes in 12 colours and coordinates with some of the alcohol ink colours. {apparently it is an older product that they are now releasing for the second time. if my memory is correct.} all these new colours are earth tones....and since they are water based you can dilute them with water. use a mini-mister!! we also used the Distress Embossing Powders in Fired Brick. Tim Holtz demonstrated this product a few times in his Compendium of Curiosities and his projects on his blog. another versatile product. the layout for March was one that covered our fingers in ink. i cannot tell you how happy i am to now own a craft scrubbie! gone are the days when i had to leave the house with multi-coloured fingertips. oh! and i can't forget the tissue tape. isn't that just fun to work with? i feel like we just brushed the surface of the possibilities with those products....how about more colours of the wash, embossing powders and combining that with the resist? we didn't check what would happen if we sprayed the colour wash on to the tape. hmmmm.... it would take a few days to complete a layout...but pretty cool in the end result.


i can now share the layout for April. yippee!!!
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i still cannot believe that these were taken last April. didn't we think spring was delayed last year? yet we had baby ducks and baby geese....

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i really liked the first one i made {in my sneak peak, last post}. i really hoped to get everything to work twice in a row. phew! i like how the same technique and colours can go to a very vintage look {like the Water Truck} or like this. i have more colours....so i am looking forward to trying some other combinations. i was in desperate need of another addiction. not!

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we will be transforming plain white cardstock....into our own unique and totally original background paper. if you have some stamps that you LOVE and they totally fit the theme for your photos....bring them in!

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i got to my final stages in design and felt like something was missing. for some reason i completely forgot about what i would use for the title! big thanks to Pat and Jan for rescuing me. seriously, those letters are perfect. they make it look like i designed the layout around them. {the letters, not the sisters....although they do deserve a layout designed for them!}

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for the first time in my class preparing history....i only used a quarter of the products we originally chose. i have to admit...it made me nervous to make so many changes. i'm a first-born, so changes are tough on me! in this case i can honestly say that it was for the better. baby steps.

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i'm always nervous revealing the next class project. i always feel very relieved when i get a positive and enthusiastic response.

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i just realized....no fancy-schmancy bows....am i losing my touch?! i think that now makes 2 layouts in a row that do not have a picky bow. enjoy it now, not sure if i can keep up that kind of a record. the flowers will soon be blooming....and giving me ideas....

another realization...every layout to this point has had me using one of my new Alterations dies. can we say addiction? well...things could be worse...


Urban Scrapbook just got in boxes and boxes of new long awaited products. seriously amazing stuff. and there are still so many new products that have yet to show up. the ones i saw in photos and loved....then i saw it at the retailers event and it lived up to my expectations...now i have to wait. life is tough, isn't it?!


stock up. National Scrapbook Weekend is nearly here. you will need supplies.

2 comments:

  1. OMG, that is totaly gorgeous!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh I forgot to tell that I really like the background your did with the ink and embossing etc...

    ReplyDelete

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