More Free Christmas Graphics

Just a little something more I thought you would enjoy. Trouble saving the graphic to your computer? Let me know and I can send along the instructions.

Another Christmas Graphic

Here is one of the others you asked for. More to come tomorrow....

Christmas Graphic - Some of you asked for it

Some of you asked for the Graphics I used in a recent class. Here is the first of many.... You should be able to cut and paste this. If you have trouble getting it, let me know.

Enjoy!

January and February Calendars

Welcome to winter! No getting around it, it has arrived.

To warm up your thoughts, let's take a minute to focus on the holidays. Shop, spend, bake, spend, research sales, shop bake, cook, party, entertain, worry, shop, create, shop, spend, shop and BREATHE! Sometimes, focusing on something that has nothing to do with what is stressing us out can be the key to survival. So, let's talk beach, spring, flowers, dogs, cats, palm trees, birthdays, babies anything but red, green and snow!

In that mode, the January and February classes are set for Frozen Memories. In addition to the monthly layout classes, we'll be doing a pet album (cat, dog, or other), a baby album (shaped like angel's wings) and offering a group that works on Artist Trading Cards (ATCs).

An Artist Trading Card is art reduced to just a few inches. The cards are standard in size and are traded like baseball cards. Lots of interest in this art form. Why not stop by and see if you are interested. For more information on the art form, see http://www.atcsforall.com/forum/gallery/index.php It has some samples of what others have done. Don't be intimidated. If you can scrapbook, you can do this. If you can make cards, you can do this.....

See the information on the right of this blog for dates and times.

Hope you all have a great week. Remember to BREATHE and enjoy the madness.

Denial Over - I Am Back in the Midwest

OK, so here I am moving along with the renovations (which are almost done, by the way) so there has not been much acknowledgment of the world around me. Look what happened overnight....

That's right. The white stuff is not sawdust, not dandelion feathers, not anything but the announcement of winter.....

Who knew winter would come so quickly. It's only November.

For those of you in the midwest, Calendar class at Frozen Memories tomorrow night. For those of you not here, I have kits with pictures available. $22 for an 8x8 and 25 for a 12x12. They're very cute and easy to assemble with all the cuts and stamping done (in the kits).

Have a great week and Happy Thankgiving!

It's Not Friday, But It's Not Tuesday

Real quick. This link from Ally Scraps shows you how to make your own chipboard buttons. How perfect. The perfect match for the perfect pages and a great use of those last pieces of fabulous cardstock you just can't part with......

http://allyscrapsblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/making-your-own-chipboard-buttons.html

Have a great weekend

Surprise - It's Tuesday Again

I know there was a reason that I picked Fridays to post the technique of the week. I just can't remember what it was......

This week's technique comes from Cosmo Cricket. http://cosmocricket.blogspot.com/2008/10/get-little-chemistry.html
In addition to a look at their fabulous new valentine's day line, they have several fun tips for using fabric and also nail polish to paint chipboard.

In other news, I went scrapping this past weekend. Had a blast!!!! Pictures to follow and ask me about all the famous people I scrapped with! I have stories of the weekend that are, guess what, fabulous.

Hope that all you midwesterners are enjoying the autumn weather. For those of you in the San Francisco Bay area, check out the Scrapbook Territory blog to get the details of your chance to spend an evening with some of the girls from Hero Arts and preview the new stamps.

Trying to get the technique up on Friday this week, I remain.....

Stuck on Tuesdays

Ok, so I missed Friday again. Highly overrated, this doing things on a schedule, don't you think?

This week's (or last week's if you're counting) is from Jennifer McGuire's site. She does fabulous things for Hero Arts and on her blog this week she has a video of how to use your punches to create dimension. I love Jennifer and her work so here you go......

http://jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/10/how-to-video-adding-dimension-to-punched-shapes.html

For those of you close to Frozen Memories, the calendar has been determined for October, November and December. We have calendar class, pet album, Holiday albums and a special weekend event to celebrate the upcoming holidays. See the next post for the details. Have a great week.

Missed Friday but Tuesdays Can Be Fabulous Too!

OK, so I missed Friday. The computer was not in operation because the scrap room/hub of the business was being tiled. It is as fabulous as I imagined. Pics to follow.

The home decor project progresses. Electricians at the door any minute and Chris is painting the family room as we speak. Color is dark eggplant. A bold move. First coat of primer looks pink. Keep us in your thoughts as we add coats to get the right color.

So, anyway, the fabulous friday technique for last week comes from Hero Arts. They have a 'card of the week' feature and this week there are four cards of the week. Every one is very cute, but the one that caught my eye is a slider card. Not only do they have pictures and instructions, but a video as well at http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2008/10/06/the-buzz-four-cards-of-the-week-a-video/

Have a great week. Back to Fabulous Friday this week for sure. Also a surprise on Friday along with the Fabulous Technique. Perhaps some equally fabulous Halloween clip art........

Fabulous Fridays

Something I have been meaning to do for a while. Was going to do it on Tuesdays, but Technique Tuesday is already using my preferred title for that day.

So every Friday will be fabulous here! In the course of my travels through the vast internet, I often come across cool techniques that stretch my imagination and challenge my creativity (and also help me get unstuck when I am in a rut.) So, not wanting to keep all that creative mojo to myself, I thought I would take a few minutes every Friday and share what I find with you. I am not reinventing, not editing, merely passing along things I find fabulous.

For our first edition, I am going back to a technique that is certainly not new, but a great technique for stamping. With the holidays coming along and many of us looking for card ideas, I will share this with you. If you read through it and have questions or need help locating the materials used in the technique, let me know. Just click on the link below and enjoy....

http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/september-techn.html

Scrap Pink Weekend Thanksgiving Stickers and October Layouts

The subject was peaches. This is my grandson in all his peachy glory. Sorry for straying from the title of the post, but how could I resist.

This coming weekend there are lots of events related to scrapping for a cure for breast cancer. If you are not involved in an event and want to find one, give your local scrapbook stores a call to see what they are up to. Nothing happening locally? Get together with friends and donate the cost of a crop to the Susan G. Komen foundation. The most important thing is to do something to find a cure. We women are in charge of our own destiny in this area. If we don't push for a cure, who will. Do it for your friends, mothers, daughters, sisters.....

There is a repeat emphasis at SRM stickers showing my acrylic Thanksgiving album on their site. You can find the downloadable instructions and pictures of the pages at

Thanksgiving Acrylic Album

photo: http://www.srmpress.com/html/Ideas-Samples/2008/Thanksgiving-Acrylic/index.html

instructions: http://www.srmpress.com/html/Ideas-Samples/Online-Classes.htm (scroll down to class #4)

October layouts at Frozen Memories promise to be fun. There are stickles, heat embossing, stamping with bleach, and so much more. Autum 2 page layout and a birthday 2 page layout. As soon as the paper is in and the samples are done I will post them.

Hope you are all doing well. I painted the scrap room today. Can the tile floor be far behind?

Rain, Music and Words to Inspire Fear

For a while this past weekend, I thought we were all going to have to get out the flotation devices. There was so much rain, our back yard had the swimming pool we had always wanted. Yikes!

Lots of time to find the perfect music for the blog. If you don't like what's playing, scroll to the bottom of the screen to see all the possibilities. I thought that Witchcraft was particularly seasonal and who can deny Sinatra?

As far as the Words to Inspire Fear - THE TILE IS IN OHIO. We are doing a remodel project at the house and we have been procrastinating (no surprises here) because the tile had to come from Italy and go through customs, etc. We thought we had lots of time. Maybe not so much. Time's up on the procrastination. Tile will be in the driveway next Monday.

So, because they will be tiling the scrap room, I need to get those October page layout samples done. Anybody got any theme ideas? Would love to hear them....

This is for the birds....

Under the heading "Things We Have Been Meaning To Get Around To" was putting up the bird feeders on the deck outside my scrap room window. Within minutes of them going up, I had visits from cardinals, woodpeckers, goldfinches and several others I can't identify. What a wonderful inspiration. For winter, we're going to move the bird bath on to this deck also. We have a heater that keeps the water available for them. The other visitors are the squirrels. They are very very interested in the seeds and often clown around on the feeder.

For those of you who frequent Frozen Memories, the entire group of employees and customers are saddened by the sudden death of owner Becky. This vibrant and generous person was taken from us this week. Please keep her family in your prayers....

Pictures of September layouts attached... Enjoy your day and give those you love a special hug today. Don't let the days go by without letting those you care about know how you feel.

Falling Leaves

You know, being away from the midwest last year made me crave the usual change in seasons (ask me again how I feel about this in January) but the first few leaves are starting to fall. Our tree in the back yard doesn't change at first, it just starts to shed, but the trees beyond the back yard fence are the ones that will provide the color. It's funny, because when the trees beyond the fence start to thin our, our dog Megan looks back there and sees the houses that are obscured from veiw by the trees and spends a day or two barking at things that have been there all along. Ahhh ... traditions.

I finished up the class sample for the Halloween Spider book at Frozen Memories. Here is a pic of the cover to give you an idea. We've got stamping, Quickutz, Distress Inks and lots more. Class kits will be available for the same price as the class and all of the stamping will be done for you if you can't make the class. Kits come with instructions and pictures of the completed pages.

Hope all you California scrappers kept cool during your recent heat wave.

Welcome to Autumn

I know, doesn't seem fair. Just when you start to enjoy summer, they take it away. Time to put away the white pants, beach chairs and floaties. Kids are back in school (amazing how the traffic changes in the mornings) and Thanksgiving is less than three months away.
For those of you in the Chicago area, we'll be doing an adorable Back to School mini album in September. It uses the Tinkering Ink square Peek-A-Boo album and comes in your choice of color scheme.

Also in September, is the monthly Fabulous Layout Class. This month features a Heritage page set done in blues and browns and the other layout is punches and quilling in autumnal colors.

These classes are great projects and a great evening out, so think about coming out to see us. Classes at Frozen Memories have a limit of 8, so they fill up quickly. The store will take a waiting list and we'll schedule another session if we have four on the waiting list.

Also, I have some give-a-ways this month. This week, leave a comment on the blog and enter for a chance to win some very fine Tinkering Ink alphabet rubons. Winner will be chosen at random from all who leave a comment.

Has it really been that long?

So much has happened.

We are back in Illinois, still not unpacked (mostly the scraproom, there's a surprise)

I taught my first class since returning last night at Frozen Memories. There were 8 outstanding scrappers there, some old friends and some new ones, for layouts. I think we pretty much decided the schedule for one layout class and one album class every month through October and I'll be posting those dates and titles later today.

It's Scrapbook Expo weekend here in Chicago and, conveniently, the location is about a mile from my house. Lots to see and do.

I'll try to catch up on all the CHA stuff and Cosmo stuff this weekend but in the mean time, take a look at this:

The pictures of this class are on this link:
http://www.srmpress.com/html/Ideas-Samples/2008/Thanksgiving-Acrylic/index.html
The instructions for this class are on this link:
http://www.srmpress.com/html/Ideas-Samples/2008/Thanksgiving-Acrylic/Thanksgiving-Album.pdf

More later - good to be back.

How Do You Know When It's Time to Move?

When your stuff is all on the truck, they put your computer on the truck by mistake (was supposed to go on the plane along with the two orchid plants packed in the box with it), and the dogs won't let you go room to room without company.

It's all packed. The fridge is cleaned out, keys are ready to be dropped with the neighbors, and the limo is scheduled for 8 a.m. tomorrow.

It's a very mixed day. As much as I am looking forward to seeing everyone on the other end and getting back to my family and friends and home, I will miss everyone in California. You have all given me such inspiration, been such good friends, and have changed me in ways you will never know. Even though I will be back in August, I will miss seeing you day to day as much as I missed my Chicago life every day while in California.

Thanks to all my bay area friends for a truly wonderful year. I am so sorry we couldn't stay longer.

And for my Chicago friends, wait till you see what I am bringing back with me!

We are joking about what we will look like getting in line to check in at the airport tomorrow. We have three suitcases, two dogs in crates, cameras, carryons, purses, briefcases - everything except the chicken under our arm and the screaming baby.

Onward......

Cosmo Cricket - Take a peek!

So, dear readers, Cosmo Cricket will be taking a peek at all the things I have created using their product.

Wanna see?

These are the scrapbook pages

This the the Hello Sunshine Album

And here is the Sonoma Dessert Album

What do you think?

You can see more of my things on TwoPeasinaBucket

Cosmo Cricket Card

You know, the girls at Scrapbook Depot do a great card class every month, if you don't already go, you should check it out. Great cards and loads of fun. Use the link on this page to get to their calendar. I designed this card for the July class. MSE stamps, new Queen & Co. felt, and Hello Sunshine paper from Cosmo Cricket.

Did you miss me?

Where have I been? I have been everywhere.

Did you make it to the Scrapbook Territory Anniversary Sale? 12 different make & takes, 25% off everything in the store and more? We had a blast!

Got some time on your hands this week? How about submitting your Cosmo Cricket work for their design team call. See their blog at www.cosmocricket.blogspot.com for details. Also, the fine folks at Hambly (yes, the screen printed overlay people) also have their design team call. You can read the details on their blog at www.hamblyscreenprints.typepad.com

Watch for my work on the SRM Sticker site. I am starting to develop classes for them to offer on their site. I'll publish the link when my stuff gets to the website. I am starting with an acrylic album for Thanksgiving.

On a personal note, we are moving back to Chicago at the end of June. Government budget changes are preventing us from staying in the bay area any longer. It has been a very very good year for us and I am still not done with the tears involved in our move away. I love my friends and home in the Chicago area and the fact that I will be closer to my family, but this past year has been a magic year for us and we leave with many wonderful memories and many tears.

Enough about that. Still hard for me to talk about it.

Watch this space for my entries in the Cosmo Cricket and Hambly Design Team entries.

Have a great week.

What's New?

So many wonderful things to talk about. Seems like summer is speeding toward us. Top Chef continues onward and we have a new American Idol.

I did a few pages for a Moxxie Design Team call. If you have not checked out their paper and their website, I highly recommend that you do. They have some wonderful papers, great colors and a lot of themed papers that you won't find anywhere else. Bowling, moving, DIY home improvement, sports, pets and more. Very very fun things. www.gotmoxxie.com

New papers from Cosmo Cricket are in stores, new Basic Grey is on the way, Anniversary party at Scrapbook Territory, wonderful classes and product at all our favorite stores. Call a friend, make a card, scrap a page. Take a few minutes to enjoy our hobby.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope that you all had a great Sunday. So many ways to spend the day. I hope you had the kind of day that you wanted to have.

My fabulous husband bought me the camera we have been threatening to get and it is astounding how different our pictures look. We had an Olympus that we bought 10 years ago when digital was just becoming widely used. Amazingly enough it was a 2 mega pixel and was considered cutting edge. Our new toy is a Nikon 10 megapixel with detatchable lenses. My better half scored the regular range motion reduction lens and the mid-range zoom lens. To celebrate the new camera, we went to the Giants game for Mother's Day. See the picture and see that it is a strike by the position of the ball. Very cool and very fun.

Check out the class listing at the right for May classes (and some of June). There is still room in most of them. The recipe class at the Territory uses vintage labels from food cans (never actually attached to a can) and some phenomenal stamps. The book holds at least 20 recipes with refills availalbe to add more pages as you need them. If you have school pictures or need a teacher's gift, there are school albums using the Tinkering Ink Peek A Boo albums at both the Territory and the Depot. Make them just in time for the end of the school year.

New Cosmo Cricket class at the Territory in June and a class with the new Basic Grey being released next week at the Island in June.

Hope that you all have a wonderful week. I leave you with a few pics from the Giants game with the new camera.

How Much Fun Is This?

Have you ever just taken a minute to think about how much joy and satisfaction our hobbies bring us? Whether it's shopping (scrapping is an accumulation hobby, you know) for new stuff, getting home and playing with the new stuff, talking to friends about the new stuff or just sharing our pictures with others, we all get something out of our time spent on our hobby.

On Saturday, May 3 we take a day to celebrate with those who share our passion. It is the celebration of National Scrapbook Day and there are events everywhere. If you want to take the day, your local scrapbook stores or consultants will be happy to accommodate. Don't have the whole day to give, at least take an hour to do something related to scrapbooking. Celebrate the thing that brings you joy.

Scrapbook Territory is having a 12 hour crop, Scrapbook Depot is having an all day affair (waiting list only) as is Scrapbook Island (possibly a spot or two left.)

I hope that you all find some way to share your giggles with those who understand what you are giggling about. I leave you with a photo of some fabulous ladies who renewed/refined their rubber stamping skills with me this past week.

Hero Arts Blog and More

For those of you not on their regular mailing list, you should check out the new Hero Arts Blog http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/. It is FABULOUS. They premiered it this week and are doing a weekly challenge and contest. One of their first contributors was none other than Tim Holtz. Become a regular subscriber to their card and/or scrapbook newsletter. You won't be sorry. The ideas are great.

April schedule is to the right. Details for the classes were in the e-mail I sent out so check your mail. Not on the mailing list? Drop me a line at sue.stoughton@gmail.com and request to be added. The more the merrier.

NATIONAL SCRAPBOOK DAY is just around the corner. Lots of events at your local scrapbook stores so check in with them for details.

I hope that you are enjoying the spring weather. I leave you with a picture from our recent trip to San Juan Capistrano to see the swallows return.

Have a great week.....

April Layouts for Mom and Dad

I am almost done with these so I thought I would post them. The only thing left is the journaling.
These will be the April Sue's Fabulous Layout class at Scrapbook Depot. Enjoy!

GCD Designs and Making Memories 5th Avenue

Trouble sleeping last night so.....got two pages done.

The GCD Designs also features the new Bazzill Just the Edge product. Take a look.

Tinkering Ink loved yesterday's page. A very nice person there sent me a very nice e-mail about the page asking for more!

Still stalking the UPS driver for the Cosmo Cricket.....

And Some Tinkering Ink

So here is an old photo, but still a good one with the new paper from Tinkering Ink. Want to see the original? See it above the paper at Scrapbook Territory in Berkeley. Tomorrow's new paper? GCD Designs. New company, new look, fabulous stuff.

Here Comes Cosmo!!!!

I just thought that I would put this out there. My first two pages with the new Cosmo Cricket line. These pages are half of a page layout class at Scrapbook Depot in San Carlos. Stay tuned for more stuff. I went shopping today!!!!

Almost March - You've Got to be Kidding

Ok, so my friend Kandy was here from Chicago. How much fun was that? We went to the Mrs. Grossman sticker factory, Stinson Beach, lots of scrapbook stores and even a trip to East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse (if you have not been here before, you have to go).

March class schedule is posted. Lots of new things. I'm teaching a Rubber Stamping Basics class at Scrapbook Territory that I think is going to be very good. We get so many questions there about inks and acrylic that I think this will be a good class I can offer once a month. Cosmo Cricket at all the stores (layouts or albums) and acrylic for Easter at Scrapbook Depot. Pictures as soon as the samples are done.

All the stores are getting new product almost daily, so be sure to check in to shop. Also, if you're not busy this weekend, one of the Rusty Pickle design team members is teaching at Scrapbook Island on Saturday and Michael DeMeng is at Scrapbook Territory on Sunday. Lots of excitement. Check out the store sites (click the list on the right of this page) to get all the details.

I leave you with a fabulous view of Stinson Beach. Have a great week.

The Happiest Place on Earth

No, not Disneyland (which was fabulous) but not as fabulous as the adventure at CHA. Forget about your resolutions to keep away from buying paper, it's not going to be possible.

Basic Grey has a line called Cupcake that will just make you want to giggle. It has clowns on the chipboard and on the stamps. Anyone with young children to scrap will just go crazy over this stuff. The Cosmo Cricket was even more fabulous than the pictures. I didn't get to meet Jon the warehouse, but I did meet some of the other Cosmo team and they are also wonderful. So many other wonderful things.

Fiskars gave away free engraved scissors, HP had a very good make and take, and Maude Asbury had albums that you could customize just by covering the album (already adhesived) with fabric.

On a personal note, Queen & Co. had my Dog Acrylic (used as a Scrapbook Territory class) and my 10 Reasons YI Love U album (used as a Scrapbook Depot class) in their booth for CHA. Because of the response to my work, Wendy (the Queen Herself) asked if I would make some things for their summer CHA booth. HOW FABULOUS IS THAT! I met Jenni Bowlin and her fabulous husband who are just such wonderful people. If you want a regular fix of fabulous things, add her blog www.jennibowlin.blogspot.com to your weekly reading list. She is just such a fabulously nice person. I know you will get tons of inspiration from her blog.

Trade Show Jitters

It's just a few short days until the big CHA show in Anaheim and there is so much to see already. If you have not been there yet, check out www.cosmocricket.blogspot.com where they have pictures of all four of their new lines. Absolute genius.

The newest accessory for your pages, and sure to be a scrapping staple, is the new Luxe designs. They have some basic papers in basic colors that are going to be fabulous as compliments to many of your other patterned papers. Making Memories is posting a preview of their new stuff every Friday but you should take a look at their blog. They are showing a new line that will be out this week called 5th Avenue. Very cute stuff and shown on their blog.

My class samples for February are 1 1/4 away from being complete. The Two Scoops purse/album for Scrapbook Island needs a closure and the tropical travel acrylic, also for Scrapbook Island needs about another hour.

Been raining here a lot. These are not the days that put the "sun" in "sunny california" but we do what we can...

Hope you are all having a great week. More soon and thanks for reading all the way to the bottom.

Spring Trade Show Previews

You probably already know this, but February brings the biggest scrapbooking trade show of the year. It's the show when most manufacturers show off and offer for sale their new product. So part of the excitement leading up to the show are the previews that some manufacturers do on their web sites or blogs. I am highly recommending the following two (with more to follow in the next few weeks)

See the Cosmo Cricket blog for the ongoing story of Jon the Warehouse Guys trying to get us all a sneak peek. Also, Luxe Designs started their preview process today with daily updates including layouts and other great things.

I'll send you others as I find them, but these two are a great place to start. I'll be publishing my February teaching schedule this week. February includes acrylic travel albums, album in an afternoon, page layout classes and a purse album with the new Basic Grey.

Have a great week and thanks for reading all the way to the bottom.

Life is moving quickly

So, do you have any Maya Road mini albums lying around the house? Maya Road has put out a call for albums to display in their booth at the Craft and Hobby Show next month. They want four pictures and your contact information. If you have never submitted anything you have done, this could be an easy way to get into the submission habit. These are the pictures that I submitted. See the details at http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs047/1101294029850/archive/1101938673878.html

Things are going well for me as I hope they are for all of you. Two students created the Cosmo Cricket Hey Sugar album with me last week at Scrapbook Territory. We had a late night finishing, but lots of fun in the process. The class is being offered again and the full sample is in the store.

We are heading off to the big craft and hobby show at the beginning of February, so if there is something you would like us to be on the look for, let me know and I will keep it in mind as we look around.

Family is in town this week. Pictures to follow. Got a manicure today. I wonder how alcohol inks will look on my new acrylic nails?

Take care and enjoy the beautiful California weather this week.

How are those resolutions coming?

Why is dieting so hard? It was easy to eat my way to this place, why is it so hard to eat my way out?

Anyway, I got to hang out with four very talented ladies on Sunday afternoon. They made acrylic albums. One dog book, one cat book and two toddler boy books. They really came out well. We had robots, fish, bones and all kids of embellishments all over the table. Best of all, we had fun doing it.

If you are shopping for Valentine's Day paper, I highly recommend the Cosmo Cricket (of course). But if that isn't your style, you will want to look at the SEI Valentine line or the Valentine line by Making Memories. For a while now, I have been unimpressed by what has been distributed by these two companies until now. The SEI paper has got foil and velvet paper and is so nicely done. The Making Memories stuff is like the Noteworthy line and has very cute embellishments. Also, not to be outdone, is the Basic Grey Valentine Collection http://www.basicgrey.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=79 All very cute. I tried to find pictures online of the SEI and Making Memories and couldn't do it.

Hope that all of you in the Bay Area survived the rains and wind over the weekend without major incident and that my Chicago buddies are bundling up and keeping warm.

February classes: Album in an afternoon at Scrapbook Depot along with a layout class featuring layouts for Valentines Day and Birthdays. Travel album at Scrapbook Territory featuring an acrylic tabbed album combined with paper pages. I'll keep you all updated as the dates are available.

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom and have a great week.

Sue

Scrapbook Depot Classes - Preliminary Pics

I'm posting some pics of the almost (you know me, title last) completed classes at the Depot. Comments?

Resolution One - Blog

So, let's see if this resolution lasts longer than the diet.....

Happy New Year to everyone. Last year was such a life changing year for us that our only possible response was to stay at home, be asleep by 11 after some fabulous hamburgers for dinner. Ah, la vida loca.

I am publishing this address to all who have taken classes from me in the bay area and I thought I would take a minute to tell you what I plan to do so that when it doesn't happen you can call me on it.

I intend to write about new things that I see that you may all be interested in. This is not a commercial for product or for a store, this is stuff that I see that is new and fresh and fun.

I intend to write about techniques that I come across. This may be in the form of me putting up pictures or, more likely, a link to another site that showed me something that I didn't know or forgot about. Sometimes some of the best techniques are those that we knew once and forgot.

I intend to tell you all where I will be and what I will be doing. There is a Where's Sue section on the page that has all of my schedule that I know of listed. If you have questions, write. If you need pictures, I will generally rely on the store site that I will be teaching at to give you the description and pictures. After a class has been offered, I will let you know if the store will be selling kits. Kits will be sold at the class price and anything that was unique to the class environment (stamps, tools, etc.) will be done for you in the kit and pictures of the finished pages will be provided in the kit.

I intend to ask you what you want to make. See the poll at the right and vote for any that you are interested in. I am currently working on class subjects for February, so speak up now. If there are things that you want that are not listed, send them to me and I will add them to the poll.

I think that's enough for now. The page layout class at Scrapbook Depot is very very cute. I will let you know when the pictures are available. There is also a Valentine Acrylic album class there. We are using the acrylic books from Pageframe Designs which allow you to use a cropadile on the pages so some different embellishments for that one. Is very cute. I made the LOVE album with the BoBunny product (see prior posts) with a student the other day, and it came out really well. The thing I like about both projects at Scrapbook Territory is that they can stand up on a table. Very cute.

Wishing you all the best of everything in the new year. Looking back on 2007, the happiness of teaching all of you will stand out as one of the highlights of the year for me.