November Date- Banana Frog!

Our next meeting is this Wednesday 6th October. We are meeting at CHEPSTOW ATHLETIC Club for this month only. There is no class fee, just bring along some supplies to complete a layout from a sketch. We will have pink cupcakes for sale, as well as a raffle (if you would like to donate a raffle prize then that would be great), and a name the duck competition (half the winnings go to the person who has correctly named the duck, the other half will go to Breast Cancer care).

November meeting

Our meeting in November will be a full day class on Saturday 6 November, with Bev from Banana Frog.

The class will be £30 and this is what will be included in the kit:

3x sets of Banana Frog stamps (2 regular size, 1 tadpole size) -although we will also be using other sets too that I will have
6x sheets cardstock
6x 1/4 sheets of paper
4x pack of mica powders
1x Versamark
1x embossing powder
Corrugated card
Embellishments -chipboard, stickers, rubons, charms etc
2x PDFs ahead for pre-class organisation

As you can see, this is an amazing kit for the money - in fact the contents of the kit total more than £30, so even if you can't make the class, its worth buying the kit. Each set of stamps is worth around £11-£12.

The class is a technique class, you be learning lots about stamping, embossing, using the mica powders etc

Could you let us know on Wednesday or email me or Louise if you would like to do the class and if possible we would be grateful for payment on Wednesday, as we can only confirm definite numbers with Bev when we have received payment for the class.

Pam

Album class, June 30

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 30 June at 7.30 in Chepstow Rugby Club. This will be our last meeting until September.

We will be making a mini album, designed by Maz - It is a lovely little album and will be able to completed on the night.

We will be providing kits for the class at a cost of £8 each. As we have to order the correct number before ordering the papers etc, could you let Louise know as soon as possible whether you would like to come and join us for the class - bubblesmonster@aol.com and/or go to Country Clutter to pay for the class. We will only be able to order kits for those people who have paid. If you have any difficulty getting to the shop, you can send a cheque in the post.

There will also be a £2 per person room hire fee and coffee and tea will be available.

Ellie from Modern Scrapbooking will be bringing her shop along with her for you to buy any supplies you may need for the over the summer

Melodee Langworthy Saturday 29 May

On Saturday 29 May, we are really pleased to have Melodee Langworthy (Cousineau) coming to teach us in Chepstow. She is stopping by in Chepstow as part of a European tour and we will be making a mini album. I have copied into this email a Bio on Melodee along with her blog address, so you can check out some of her work.

We will be holding the class at the Afon Gwy Hotel in Chepstow and a buffet lunch, plus morning coffee and afternoon tea are included in the price, along with the class kit. The price of the day is £35.

Please come along and support us at this event. Louise has spent several months negotiating with Melodee to actually come to Chepstow and teach and organising the trip and we would really appreciate a good turn out, to be taught by such a lovely lady. We do have a maximum of 25 due to the size of the room at the Hotel. So, if you would like to come along, please email Louise - bubblesmonster@aol.com, so she can add your name to the list.

Here is Melodee's information about herself and her class:-

Melodee Cousineau is a celebrity scrapbook instructor who teaches globally. She grew up in western Michigan and lives in Grand Rapids, MI with her son. She loves to share her passion and ideas through stamping projects and various sizes of mini albums. Melodee's unique classes incorporate her love of photography with her creative stamping techniques. She will be teaching how to use large quantities of photos mixed with graphic stamping styles. Melodee's artistic talent is evident in all of her projects as she explores the various forms of the "scrapbooking arts."

She has been published over 300 times overall in Creating Keepsakes, Memory Makers and Scrapbook Etc. Legacy magazine and graced the covers of three magazines. You can read about her on her blog.

http://melodeecousineau.typepad.com/

Here is the write up for the workshop.

Join celebrity stamp/Scrapbook instructor Melodee Cousineau to create a Travel/ Vacation album using the brand new “Inspired Traveler” collection by Art Warehouse! Mix and match your 24 page album using unique shaped pages, tabs, journal boxes, epoxy and more!

Scrap over 30 4 x 6 photos in this album. Photos not required for class. Melodee's unique style of journal stamping and technique driven classes will encourage and inspire you to create an album filled with your best of times. Sign up today!


Warm regards,
Melodee Cousineau

Blog:
http://melodeecousineau.typepad.com/candid_thoughts_/

Maz's class Weds March 24

Hi All! Maz here- with news of my class next Weds night. There are a few spaces available to book before we have to freeze the numbers and order the kits. I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at what we'll be doing, in case you haven't already booked. The class will be suitable for any type of photo; boys/girls, whatever. Try to bring a landscape format 6" wide x 4" tall photo if you can, but if that's a problem we can make it work with any size or shape. It's an easy class with a simple but 'interesting' layout, but you'll be able to jazz it up with your own embellishments, so if you want ,bring extra brads and buttons if you want to go embelly-mad! (I totally encourage that:))
Other things you might like to bring;
Any size circle punches that you have at home, though there will be some at class to borrow
Fine cutting scissors
Glue or glue dots
A poky thing to make holes for your brads (can't remember what they're called:()
A small brown inkpad for fine edges


Other than that everything will be included in the kit.

If you'd like to book please let Lou know asap.
See you Wednesday, hopefully!

This is just to let you know that we only have 2 spaces left for our next meeting on Saturday 20 February with the fantastic Karen Burniston. If you would like to come along and join us, either let Louise (bubblesmonster@aol.com) or me know.

Karen has just emailed me with the 'What to Bring List', which I have attached for you to look at.

She has also been able to put some additional items in the kits.

Every person is getting a Textured Impressions set worth £7.99 and a stamp set worth £11.99 in their kit. This is, of course in addition to all the papers and embellishments. This means the day is great value, we have £20 worth of extra products and the whole day is only £30 which includes refreshments and a hot buffet lunch.

The places we have available are due to cancellations, so please let us know as soon as poss, if you want to fill the remaining 2 places and come and have a relaxing, enjoyable fun day with us.

Karen Burniston Sat 20 Feb

As I mentioned in my last email a couple of weeks go, we are so pleased to have Karen Burniston coming back to Chepstow to teach us.

The class will be held on Saturday 20 February and will be an all day class (probably 10.30 - 4.30, but I will confirm times nearer the date).

We are changing venue for this class and we will be meeting at the Afon Gwy Hotel (at the botttom of town, near the Castle). We have a lovely room overlooking the river and a hot buffet lunch will be included in the price of the day, along with tea and coffee in the morning and afternoon.

Because of the size of the room we are limiting this class to 25 people maximum.

The class is filling up very quickly and if you would like to come along and join us, then you could email Louise (bubblesmonster@aol.com) so she can add your name to the list,

BUT

we will need payment by the January class (Wednesday 27 January) or before this date at Country Clutter, otherwise we will not be able to secure your place.

I have attached a picture of the class which Karen will be teaching. Although it has been created by Karen, as a 'girl' page, it could be a generic summer page also. Just dig out some of last year's summer pictures. As is typical of Karen's work, it has a few pop ups in it.

The cost of the day is £30, which includes Karen's expert teaching, hot buffet lunch and tea and coffee in both the morning and afternoon.

Please don't miss this opportunity of having an expert scrapbooker, like Karen teaching you.

January class

As I mentioned earlier, our January class will be on Wednesday 27 January at Chepstow Rugby Club at 7.30 pm. It is going to be a free and easy class with no charge (just a small charge for room hire) and it will be a perfect opportunity to finish off Rusty Pickle's Christmas album or any other project you may need to complete.

Programme for 2010

Hope you have had a lovely, happy Christmas.

We have made a few changes to the programme for the first half of 2010.

Louise has managed to secure 2 bookings with American teachers and we are very pleased to welcome Karen Burniston back in February and are excited to announce that a new teacher to our Club, Melodee Langworthy will be coming in June. You can check both of these teachers out on their blogs to get an idea of some of the fantastic work they do.

As both Karen and Melodee have fixed dates when they can come to Chepstow (at the end of February and the end of May), we have decided to move our monthly meetings to the last Wednesday of the month, just until the summer.

So our 2010 programme is as follows:

Wednesday January 27 - Free and easy night to finish off all the unfinished pieces of work - bring along the Rusty Pickle Christmas album to finish it off and possibly help to get the snowman to pop up!!! Will be free of charge, with a small payment towards room hire.

Saturday February 20 - Karen Burniston (probably a double page layout with a bit of a pop!!)

Wednesday March 24 - our own very, very talented Maz will be teaching (possibly a page layout). This isn't the last Wednesday of the month, but we moved forward a week to avoid Easter holidays.

Wednesday April 28 - again our own Club and Committee members, Ali Boalch and Susanne Price teaching a kit/layout, to be finalised.

Saturday May 29 - Melodee Langworthy from USA (to be decided what she will be teaching, but possibly a mini album).

Wednesday June 30 - mini album to be taught from within the Club.

We will then revert back to our normal pattern of meeting on the first Wednesday of the month.

Wednesday September 8 - to be confirmed.

Saturday October 2 or 9 - to be confirmed

Wednesday November 3 - a never ending page layout to be taught by our own Club member, Sarah Mills.

Wednesday December 1 - to be confirmed

If you have any queries, questions, please don't hesitate to email Louise or myself.

With best wishes for a very happy and peaceful New Year and lots of completed scrapping projects!

See you on Wednesday 27 January.

Pam

Lance Anderson (Rusty Pickle) will be with us on Dec2 with an 8x8 album designed by Karen Burniston.

Don't forget to bring some cash along with you, as no doubt Lance will be bringing along a couple of suitcases filled with good value kits to sell.

Autumn news

Hi everyone

Just a further update on our Autumn/Winter classes.

1. We have decided to reduce the room hire fee to £2 per class for September, October and November. There will be no room hire fee for December's class.

2. If you need any more inspiration for photos for next week's album class, you could bring along pictures of family and friends, or special people in your life, a picture of your car, or photos of any special events that have happened this year. These, of course, are only suggestions, and you can bring any photos of any subject along with you. If you have missed either of the 2 previous classes, don't worry, you can just carry on and catch up later. We will have our albums with us for you to remind yourselves of the layouts.

3. Our very exciting news is that Lance Anderson from Rusty Pickle is coming back to Chepstow and will be teaching on Wednesday 2nd December. We will be making an album on a Christmas theme, using Rusty Pickle products, with a bit of Karen Burniston 'pop'. We don't know exactly how much the class will be at the moment, but are expecting it to be in the region of £40.

As I said earlier in the email, there will be no room hire charge for this night. Deposits of at least £10 can be paid from September's class and then payments made each month till November. Unfortunately, we will not be able to put names down on the class list without any payment, as we are expecting this to be a very popular class.

Vanessa's Class- October

In On On On October 7 we will be making a mini album, Vanessa has said it will be a fun, slightly messy and creative session and the cost is £15, which of course, includes the kit. We would be grateful if we could have payment by the very latest the middle of September and you can, of course, pay at next week's class.

You will need to bring a picture of yourselves (or whoever) that can be cropped down to just the figures to go in the car! It's about a few centimetres big per person (could be more than one!) The book is: My Journey and doesn't have to be for travel but could be My 'Creative' Journey, My 'Life' Journey etc...

September Class

Oour next meeting is on Wednesday 9 September at 7.30 pm at Chepstow Rugby Club.

We are going to be carrying on with our album track class. This will be the third class and as usual are hoping to complete 5/6 layouts in the evening. Maz will be teaching the class and the theme of this class will be family and friends. You could bring along pictures of family and friends, or special people in your life, a picture of your car, or photos of any special events that have happened this year. These, of course, are only suggestions, and you can bring any photos of any subject along with you. If you have missed either of the 2 previous classes, don't worry, you can just carry on and catch up later. We will have our albums with us for you to remind yourselves of the layouts.You can of course use photographs on any theme, this is only a suggestion. The class is free of charge and there will be a nominal charge for room hire etc.

Our October class, which will be held on Wednesday 7th October is going to be taught by Vanessa Feuillade from Crafty Ness. Vanessa will be teaching a lovely little travel album and the cost the class is £15, which will of course include the kit. I hopefully, will have a picture of the mini book for you to have a look at, at our September class.

July Class

Dawn and Jo - who are teaching the July class on Wednesday 1 July have sent a picture of the layout they will be teaching, plus a list of materials and tools that you will need to buy.



Although this is a girl layout, because you are bringing in your own papers and materials you can obviously adapt it to a boy layout or a holiday layout or whatever you would want it to be.

This is the list:-

3 patterned papers-I have used a spot,a stripe,and a flower - all 12 x 12

1 plain paper - 12x12

Contrasting thread

Lots of buttons

Small alphabet stickers

Chipboard letters

Tools needed: basic cropping kit plus

Ink pad

Paper piercer

Needle

Foam pads

Sandpaper/distressing tool

Large scallop scissors (I’ll bring mine, and some templates for different shaped backgrounds)


The cost of the class is £2 and we will taking names and payments at the June class.

June Class

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 3 June when we will be continuing with our Album Track class.

Louise will be teaching this class and we will be doing 6 layouts - don't panic - you will be able to do 6 in the night.

The theme of this next class is Favourites (although this is only a prompt/idea, you can use any photos you want). If you do want to follow the theme, here are some ideas of what sort of favourite things you could take photographs of:-

perfume
make up
toiletries
films
music
places
food
drinks
shops
things in your home
books
tv shows
recipes
restaurants
or anything else that is a favourite of yours.

If you have any stamps, inks, letter stickers, punches, decorative edge scissors, please bring them along with you, although the Club does have a good selection of stamps and punches that you can use to embellish your layouts.

Also, make sure you bring your offcuts of paper and cardstock from the last class, so you can use them on the next few layouts.

If you didn't come to the last Album track class in March, don't worry, you can still start in June and Louise, Ailsa and myself will have our albums with us, so that you can either draw or photograph the layouts you missed in March and do them in your own time.

The class is free of charge, but don't forget to bring along your cardstock, paper and photographs (although you can add photos at a later date).

Ellie from ModScraps will be bringing along her shop, so if you need anything you can always buy it on the night.

Jane Dean Saturday 2 May

Jane Dean will be teaching the class on Saturday and has sent us a sneak preview of this fabulous project;

This class was created by Karen Burniston in the USA and Jane has the licence to teach it here in the UK. The class 
can be adapted to either winter, family or travel themes. 
9 sheets good quality cardstock (can be all the same colour or matching colours) 
(Alternatively 8 pieces of 6x12 chipboard and 1 sheet cardstock plus paint 
to cover chipboard) 
6 sheets matching patterned paper 
Book rings or bind it all tool & wire 
 
All photographs can be added later 
 
Tools: 
Adhesive. I use glue sticks to cover the whole area, PVA glue and a 
brush 
will work well but obviously it's not acid free. Each page is made by 
covering the surface of 12x12 cardstock and folding it in half. Once 
dried 
it adds strength to the pages. 
Double sided strong sticky tape 
Scoring tool 
Sharp cutting knife and spare blades 
Pencil 
Metal ruler 
Cutting mat 
Rubber 
Scissors 
Ink pad to ink edges of paper if required 
Hole punch or bind it all 

For more information contact Louise or Pam.

Alison Docherty

Our next class is on Wednesday 1 April at 7.30 pm.

Alison Docherty from Cardiff is teaching the class. Alison has taught at the Club a couple of times before, and has a nice simple, graphic style and her layouts appeal to most people. A picture of her layout is on the blog. Although - there is a choice of colour ways of blue or pink and you can use hearts instead of stars, if you would like to.




The cost of the class is £5.

Could you either email Louise on bubblesmonster@aol.com or go down to Country Clutter in Chepstow to put your name down and pay for the class. Could you also indicate whether you would like to do a pink or blue layout.

Our class in May is going to be an all day Saturday class, still in Chepstow Rugby Club. Jane Dean, who regularly appears in Scrapbook Inspirations magazine is coming from Canterbury, Kent. The class, which is a mini book, has actually been designed by Karen Burniston and Jane has the licence to teach the class. The cost of the day is £6. You will have to bring your own materials, and as soon as we have the list, we will email it out. In order to keep costs down, you will need to bring your own lunch, although the bar will be open and we will bring along tea and coffee.

If you would like to do this class, could you also make sure your name is down at Country Clutter or by emailing Louise.

Photography ideas... a message from Maz

Hi Album Trackers! Pam has recently emailed those of you who have expressed an interest in joining in with the album track classes; a year in your life. You might like to take photographs of some of the following;

- your wardrobe
- your shoes
- tip your handbag on the floor and just take a photo of it
- jewellery
- take photos of things you do every day
- your make up

- your toiletries

- driving

- what do you eat for breakfast

- do you do exercise or do you take a dog for a walk

- do you use a computer, if you do take a photo

- take photographs of things you treasure (ie. a special ornament, a teddy, a piece of clothing)

- maybe take photos of things you do that other people might not know about you or your life

- take photos of things that really matter to you

- do you wear a uniform for work

- do you like to have a certain drink during the day (ie. glass of wine in the evening!)

- do you wear glasses or contact lenses

- do you wear slippers in the house, if you do take a photo of them...



Sometimes I take my camera around with me all day just to record the daily details- it's amazing what little snippets you can record just by having the camera with you all the time!
I think these little chunks of our daily lives will be priceless to look back on when we're older; for me, photography is not just about the high days and the holidays!




Try taking things from different angles- above, below, sideways... try snapping the detail- a label on a winebottle; your child's hands, dog's nose....



If you'd like more inspiration, you can see more on my blog Diving For Pearls. Follow this link or this link for ideas for photographing the every day.

If you'd like any help with ideas or tips on photography, please do get in touch- I'd love to hear from you!

Love
Maz x

2009 - year of the Album Track!

As you may have already heard, we have decided to do something a little different this year. We have had some people say to us that they have lost some motivation, feel they are in a rut with their scrapbooking, or don't quite know how to get started, and meanwhile the photographs are piling up waiting to be scrapped, next to a mountain of scrap supplies- but many of us have the same problem-no mojo!
So to kick start some renewed enthusiam and creative spark, we are going to run an 'Album track'. This means that for 4 evenings throughout this year we will hold classes to quickly, simply and effectively get some pages done and dusted and ready to go in an album. By the end of the year, you will have an album of scrapbooked photos. What more could you ask!

The first session will be in March, then in May, July and October (these evenings might be subject to change). The idea is that hopefully everyone will complete the album on themselves and scrapbook your life as it is right now in 2009, so you have a statement of your life, what makes you tick, what makes you laugh, things you like to do, things you hate to do, who's important and what is important in your life. Although if you would like to complete the album for somebody else, that is absolutely fine, you might just have to make some minor adjustments with photos, and the prompts and ideas we will be giving out.

We plan for you to complete 5 layouts in each of the evenings - I can almost hear you groaning and saying no way - but trust us, 5 will be a doddle!!! By the end of the 4 classes you will have a complete album of 20 pages. You can then of course add to it yourself, if you want.

The classes won't cost anything at all, but you will have to provide your own materials. We are looking into the possibility of bulk buying some American Crafts D ring albums and different sized page protectors, and getting some discount because we are buying in a large quantity. If you are interested in having one of these albums, could you please go and talk to Alison Boalch at February's meeting as she will be ordering the albums, we can't give you a definite cost, but it will be around the £15-£20 mark (which will include the album and the different size page protectors).

Otherwise if you already have an album that is lying around empty and you would like to use it, that is absolutely fine, or alternatively you might like to source your own album.

You will also need to bring along with you to the first track class in March about 10 sheets of cardstock and some patterned paper. Don't stress out about the colours - in fact bring along the cardstock that you have had sitting around for ages - maybe all the odd colours. They don't necessarily have to match one another, but it might be a good idea if some of the patterned paper blended with some of the cardstock. You will only need a couple of sheets of pattered paper initially or bring some of your off cuts, they will work equally well.

If you have alphabet stamps at home, bring them along as we will be stamping on the cardstock (to be economical!!). The Club has some stamps for you to use. Also bring a few basic ink colours with you ie black and brown.

The classes will fall roughly into different categories, but some will blend from one class to the next.

These are:

1st Class
All the personal stuff - a photograph of yourself to start the album off (or with your family)
This could also include - taking a photograph of your wardrobe, your shoes, tip your handbag on the floor and just take a photo, jewellery, take photos of things you do every day - like make up, what you eat for breakfast, get someone to take a photo of you driving (but only if you can drive!!), do you take a dog for a walk each day, do you use a computer every day, take photographs of things you treasure, maybe take photographs of things other people might not know about you or your life.

2nd Class

Favourites which might include - perfume, make up, toiletries, films, music, places, food, drinks, shops, things in your home or anything else that is a favourite.

3rd Class

Family - close and extended, friends, important people in your life, car, special events that might be happening this year.

4th Class

Home - take photos of rooms in your house, food in your fridge, work, garden, special places you might have visit or visit on a regular basis, and most importantly a largish photo of yourself for the end of the album (perhaps a 6 x 8 or 8 x10).

These are only ideas and give you a rough framework in which to work and take relevant photos. Just take photographs of your everyday life, they don't have to be fantastic arty photos, just as long as they illustrate things that are important in your life. 6 x 4 photos will be absolutely fine (apart from the final photo). But obviously if you are going to complete a 6x6 album, you might need to reduce your photo size.

For the first class bring along as many photos as you want, we would recommend maybe around the 15 mark as some pages will have more than one photo on them.

SORRY to have gone on for so long .... but we were keen that you have the overview of this album track class, which will help you think about the photos and the pages you might want to include. Any questions please email me and I'll try and answer them.


I hope you come along and join in with these classes - it will be a real achievement at the end of the year, to have a complete album.

Maz will shortly be writing a post about some ideas and tips for taking great photographs and helping to make this album really special.

Keep watching- and lets know us if you have any queries, sugestions or general comments! We love to hear from you!

Stop Press! Amber has added more kits and you now have a choice! So there are loads more spaces if you haven't booked yet.

Coming Soon; Chepstow Pink Scrappers' Album Track

Watch for details!

Amber Lewis Feb 4th...

And now! News of our next class! Amber Lewis will be joining us to teach on Wednesday 4th February. It looks like a fabulous class;


Amber says;
I'm Amber Lewis, I've been married to James for 8 and half years and we live in Newport, South Wales with our 2 cats. I've been scrapbooking for 6 years after discovering it whilst on holiday in Florida (i'm yet to scrap the photos from that holiday!!) I run the scrapbooking courses for Newport City Council's adult education programme and have done so for nearly 4 years. It still remains a very popular subject. Last year I graduated from University of Wales in Caerleon after completing my certificate in education. Teaching was something that I never thought I would do but I absolutely love it. I still can't believe that i'm actually paid to teach my hobby!! I also teach for Scrapbus Limited which I own along with 3 of my fabulous friends. I have appeared in a variety of scrapbooking magazines including Scrapbook Inspirations, most recently the ready steady scrap challenge. In my spare time I have an office based job in the local hospital.



(There are only a couple of places left on this class so if you haven't already booked- get in touch soon!)