It's been one of those days...

Busy People. Quick Scrapbooking.

Time is tight – for all of us. You can always imagine me this time of year being dragged kicking and screaming out of summer and into Autumn, but the added bonus is that Autumn Escape isn’t far away. Keeps me busy. All of a sudden I look up from my desk and the seasons have changed. Time seems to be flying particularly fast this year though with all the prep that goes along with True Scrap, and Big Picture Classes ‘Double Take’ with May Flaum, and Dimensional Details (pumped for that one – it’s the expanded version, hundreds of students LOVED it last time – registration opens in May sometime!)

BUT anyway, all this talk of busy leads me to talk about quick scrapbooking. Which is something I have NO idea how to do. But in the name of an awesome post on the FancyPants blog I pulled the FancyPants goodies out and I created a layout, perfect for busy people. Visit here to see the instructions to a 30 minute layout. Yes. 30 minutes. Didn’t think it was possible did you?

Check back over the weekend for the Heidi Swapp winner and details of a new kit I'll have for sale soon!

Laters

A new giveaway! Heidi Swapp!

COMMENTS CLOSED:  Winner is Vicki (gypsykate) - email me, Vicki!

Many of you know, I'm one of the 4Experts at Big Picture Classes again this year.  My class, Dimensional Details, opens for registration during April.  BUT Heidi Swapp's class is just about ready to kick-off... it's a fabulous class, wouldn't you love to win a seat?!

Here's the details!

Art of Observation by Heidi Swapp
  


Class Description
We have all heard about the unexamined life and its worth… when Socrates taught his students to challenge the norm and question the world, the outcome was his death - a high price to pay! Are you ready to challenge your norm and look at your life in a new and exciting way?

Questions are the creative acts of intelligence. It is through asking questions and figuring out the answers along the way that we learn to value and cherish the life that we live. Novelist Thomas Berger said, "The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge."

 



Asking questions and making observations in our life and in the world around us will help us to appreciate the beauty and wonder that is our everyday. Life is CRAZY! It's busy and full, and complicated and dramatic! It's up and down; there are beautiful triumphant moments, and heartbreaking disappointments—somehow, all combined, they equal something wonderful and worth remembering.

To win a seat in this 12 week class, all you have to do is go to Big Picture Classes and let me know the name of ONE class on the website that catches your eye.  Heidi has a fabulous style and this is an amazing class - you gotta be in it to win it, click, comment and win! 

Winner drawn Sunday 25th of March, so be quick!!!

(Scroll down for True Scrap info and giveaway!)

A week of winning…

Updated:   The comments are now closed and I have drawn a winner...  Tina, you are in for a FABULOUS time at TrueScrap!   Thanks for commenting, everyone!   And for the record... doing happy dance.. I get Hersheys.. I get Hersheys...  Thank you everyone for sharing the love!

Finish What You Start is what i need. but i'm interested in all of them. wouldn't want u to lose Hershey's

Posted by: tina | March 21, 2012 at 06:46 PM

 

 

I love free stuff and I love giving free stuff.  Lots of it.  Keep checking back this week – for some reason I have LOTS of stuff that people are asking me to giveaway.  Fun times in blog land.

Before I start, do me a favour and spread the word for me.  I do have a little wager with someone about how much traffic I can get through my blog.  Usually when I do this kind of thing I bet a bag of lollies (candy) and this time is no exception.  This time if I’m right I get some seasonal Hershey's kisses from the USA.  If I lose, I have to send some NZ candy over to the states.

So, in the name of good chocolate being sent my way, link me, Pin me, facebook me, gossip about me and most of all – enjoy the giveaway. 

Details of the first giveaway…. True Scrap.

I gotta tell you about my class first – and the giveaway details are at the end.  So keep reading – remember there is a chocolate riding on this.  And you have a chance to win a spot in my class too (As well as the 14 others at True Scrap!). 

Class: Flower Frenzy by Nic Howard

(GREAT NEWS!!!  A kit for my class will be available here from the 29th March!  So many people wanted a kit last time – this time we have one!)

Class Description:
Floral accents are the centre of so many scrapbook layouts these days, from cute little flowers to dazzling blooms, they add that little bit of gorgeous to every layout they adorn. Whether it’s using pre-made flowers or making her own little floral creations, Nic has long loved to include them on her pages. Join us as Nic reveals some of her favourite floral techniques, demonstrates several different ways to make home-made floral accents and then brings her ideas together in a project you’ll love. She’ll take a little inspiration, add a some easy step-by steps, include some gorgeous examples and bring it all together in a video presentation and handout that will have True Scrap students inspired for months to come!

Cute sneak picture: (perfect to pin so I win the hersheys chocolate..)

 

So where will this class feature?  This class will feature at TRUE SCRAP 3. 
15 instructors with various amazing classes and ideas to share.  Make n Takes.  Virtual Crop.  All in one weekend.  But if you can’t make the weekend you get 15 classes recorded to enjoy at your own leisure.  Bargain!  Perfect for those that can’t get to big events.  Perfect for those that want to stay home and do things at their own pace.  Perfect for those that want to stay in their jammies.  Lovin it.

 

So.  Would you like to win a seat? Yes. Yes you would.  To win a full-pass to True Scrap (that’s ALL 15 classes), just click here. 

Check out the classes and post a comment back here telling me which class interests you most… (saying mine doesn’t count… I know you are all nice polite people but you don’t have to say mine), tell me which OTHER class interests you most and you are in the draw for a seat to all 15 classes.

Easy as that.  Draw closes Thursday 22nd March PST.  Don’t forget to link me, pin me and generally share the love.  Hersheys.  There are Hershey's riding on this.  Just sayin’.

(and check back later this week! I have MORE giveaways!)

A new class– Double Take!

Well it's not entirely new, we ran this class last year - it was so popular that Big Picture Classes are running it again. I love the "Back by popular demand!” badge on the website – awesome!    I loved preparing this class, loved hanging out with May whilst teaching it and love that we get a second go!

Here's the info!

Double Take - Are you ready for 4 full-on weeks with double page layouts? I'm pairing up with May Flaum to bring you 4 whole weeks of sketches, double page layouts and an overdose of fun!

Yep - You get two teachers which means not only are we creating double pages, but you will have double the sketches, twice the amount of layout examples, inspiration overload! Both May & I love a good interactive workshop, so no doubt there will be an awesome atmosphere in the gallery and message boards.. this is something we are both really looking forward to!

Class runs from May 10th and registration is open NOW - May & I are both really excited that we are getting the opportunity to run this class, we are hoping to get a whole lot of you join us!

Click here to read more and register to join us! (There's even a video or two to watch - kinda funny in itself, really?!! - I wish I'd got them to retake the pics of May & I back to back though - I was days out of hospital when they took that pic - and you can tell! EEEk!!! Sorry about the scary pic!)

I feel like this…

Yep, crazy times in the Howard home.  Lots going on.  Everything from the craziness a new puppy brings, to the day by day busy of three children and their after school activities, to a family reunion, a visitor from out of town, Autumn Escape coming up, a whole lot of magazine assignments (yay!), some guest spots with manufacturers AND THREE massive online workshops coming up… (Double Take, Dimensional Details AND True Scrap) I can see the sun outside, I just can’t touch it!

I do have a quick minute to share a layout I did recently though…
This one for Fancy Pants Designs… teal of course.  Why not?

 

Laters

Art of a different kind.

We, as people, always have things other people can't tell by looking at us. You can't tell by looking at me that I was bought up a Northland girl, that I have always loved listening to Ace of Base or that my brothers and I used to spend hours every weekend making dams in the ditches over the back of our farm as a child. We all have our inner personalities that don't always outwardly show. They are the hidden traits that make us who we are.

 

I've always wants to wear a little bit of that on the outside. I got my first tattoo about 20 years ago. It was a small flower, an iris, the significance of which is huge to me, but one of those things that not everyone needs to know. About 3 years ago I had it added to. More significance added. That tattoo was worked on on three separate occasions.

 

Recently I got the urge to wear more of my story on the outside. I worked with a tattoo artist for about 5 weeks, going back and forth with artwork that reflected what I wanted to say. We finally came to something I was happy with. It has the original flower, the kids initials and cherry blossom, all of which is special to me in its own way. It brings the story to the outside but it's still personal.

Ever wonder what a fairly large tattoo looks like in the making?

Kinda looks like a big ham there, huh?  I lay on my side like this for 4.5 hours while Michelle from Body Modz worked her magic.  Looking at this now I shudder as I mentally visualise that tattoos are done with needles.  I cry at the thought of going to the dentist.  3 needles puncturing my skin over and over for hours?  Eh.  Not so hard.  Exact thing I was telling myself over and over…actually it was hard. If I were to be truthful.

Just about done.  Tattoos always look scary as they are being done.  Swelling, ink and all that stuff.  I took this in the mirror on the one occasion I insisted on a break – the tattoo lady had amazing staying power.  Seriously.  4.5 hours and that lady was still going strong.  Me?  Not so much.  I insisted at this point I needed to get down and walk around.  Just for a minute.  Yea those are my undies.  No worse than you see at the beach.  Dad. Calm down.

 

 

And this.  This is the semi finished version.  Again, Dad, calm down.  No worse than you see at the beach, remember?   Still swollen.  The iris in the middle is un-coloured as yet.  The cherry blossoms will fade to a lighter pink.  There is still shading to be done throughout.

I still have about an hour and a half work to be done in a few weeks time.

So there it is.  My story.  Or a chapter of it.  Outwardly there, but still hidden if I want it to be. Just the way I wanted it to be.

laters

March 2nd photo a day

Let it be said that I have been corrected many times whilst cooking the dinner.   Tomatoes are not a vegetable, tomatoes are a fruit. 

That they are.  The definition being that they come from a flowering plant and have seeds.  So I am told.  Kids these days are so clever.

And so day 2 of the March Photo-a-day is a photo of some of the amazing tomatoes currently growing in my garden.  Hold on little tomatoes, we have the storm of the year lining up to hit tonight.  I've flipped the trampoline, I've stacked the deck chairs, let's hope the tomatoes make it.

Laters

New online workshop... video link sneak peek...

Join me.... join us April 20-21, 2012 ONLINE for two days of fun, inspiration, and community. Enjoy 15 live classes from a-list instructors, five virtual make-and-takes, goody bags, prizes, and more... True Scrap 3.. click here to find out more...  all super easy,  be there live all weekend PLUS all the recorded classes for one cost.

My class?  Floral frenzy - I'll tell you more about it later but for now get a really quick overall look at ALL the classes... Video sneak peek is here...  (and the cool thing is that I'm doing a kit for my class this year!  yesss!)

(Cool video, Lain, it made me excited for the weekend!!)

Laters

 

A photo a day...March 1st

Autumn arrived today.  How do I know this?  Not just because it was March 1st, but because I could barely walk to the mailbox without being blown away and I debated making Penny walk herself.  Actually I made the kids walk her.  Mean Mum.

It's been a long day, I'm a tired Mum as well as a mean one, I was awake all night listening to the heavy rain knowing my baby was trying to sleep in 3 person tent on school camp.  I picked her up today and was able to ring the water out of her pillow.  She was soaked.  She's asleep already. 

March 1st has also bought the start of the photo a day challenge and I know a lot of people are doing this along with me. 

Today's prompt was 'up'.

I could have done a pile of different things today.
* The time on the clock when I got up this morning.
* The amount of umbrellas up as the kids walked to school this morning.
* The price of fuel (seriously, the most I've ever paid, or perhaps the car was extra empty lol)
* The sky
* The cicada up in the tree trying to pretend it was still summer.
* Penny (growing up so fast).

I chose to wait til the rain stopped and lie under the tree and take a pic.  Some of you might argue this leaf looks questionable and I might have chosen it for my 'up' prompt because it looks suspiciously like it may get me high.  Um no.  It's a maple.  It's in my backyard and I lay under it and took a pic. 

Not the best pic but I'm not a photographer and I had nil idea on how to take a photo with a glary sky behind.  Doesn't matter.  That's not what it's about, right?

How'd you go?
Laters