Back Home at Last

I have finally made it home, and the jet lag has been trying. I have felt like doing nothing for about a week, which is ok if you don't have to work. Now I am hard at it, getting projects ready to teach in Brisbane in March and June. I am doing a class with Printblocks March 14th. I have been asked to teach one of my books. So if you are a retailer or teacher for a store then contact Printblocks and book in. I will bring some different samples of books to show just what you can do. The classes in Brisbane June long weekend are open to everyone. I am teaching two pages and an off the page project. I will let you know more when I have some more information. You may have noticed a new company banner on the side of my blog! I am the design team leader for Imaginarium Designs, and I can not even begin to tell you how excited I am. While I was away, Nat introduced the other team members and special thanks to her for all her hard work. The other ladies are so talented and am honoured to be part of this amazing group of ladies. Please take the time to visit there blogs and leave comments for them. You will be blown away by their wonderful work. Each of the girls have a different style and together will take you on a truly creative journey.

The Graphic 45 design team call has gone out and I will be entering again. In the next day or two I will be posting 10-15 projects. Some you may have already seen and some I am working on, some will be work I did for CHA. I would love another year with this wonderful company and the chance to create for them with their amazing papers and embellishments.

The photos above are of some of the design team, with Diane and Aimee at the Graphic 45 Booth. It was so nice to meet Tracy and Gloria and spend some time with them. Tracy and I swapped Aussie Tim Tams with American chocolate which she warned me I would not like. She was so right. Give me Cadbury any day. Diane took us (Tracy, Gloria, Jan and myself), her family, friends and her staff attending CHA all to dinner Sunday night at the Palms in LA for a truly culinary delight. The steak melted in my mouth and the deserts were yummy. I would love to share more photos of my trip over the next few months so keep in touch.

In San Franciso

Jan and I have made it to San Francisco. The flight was only an hour and it looks like a totally different city. The weather is great, we have been checking on the weather channel and the other side of the states is totally snowed out. I met ladies at CHA that were leaving early hopping to bet the snow storms. They were worried that if they got delayed that they might not get home for a week. At the airport this morning while we were booking in, they cancelled all fights to New York. We arrived at lunch time, caught a shuttle bus to our hotel which is in union square. The cable car is right outside our hotel. So we got on and headed down to the bay, I decide to ride the running board and take photos from outside the trolly car. We thought we would walk to fishermans wharf, we didn't get far before it started to get dark, so we headed back. Across from our hotel is Macey's, Jan and I went to the cheesecake factory for dinner. The main meal is so big here in the states that we both didn't fit the cheesecake, so we plan to go back tomorrow and just have the cheesecake. We have booked into a tour tomorrow, we will be going to see the giant redwoods, Muir Woods and Sausalito. We will be also be doing a tour of the city from the bay to the ocean with photo stops at key locations.
Will post again tomorrow

Jane

Day 2

Today was just as full on as yesterday. Steph gave me a wish list for her classes, so I started with the Websters Booth. there I met the lovely Brandin, while catching up with her, Jing Jing stopped by. She recognised me and introduced me to her friend. I am sorry to say that I can't remember her name. She knows Steph, so I am sure Steph will be able to help me out with her name. I also had my photo taken with Heidi, who was teaching a class at Tattered Angels. I have found some new companies and placed orders with them. I will post images when I get back.

Some of the booth's here are amazing. You can tell that some companies have spent lots of time setting them up. Graphic 45's booth is one of the best and not just because I am on the team, but the work on display is beautiful and the decorations and furniture is just amazing. I have included one photo of their booth. I am sorry if the photo is a bit blurry, but Jan's lap top is in mini mode. The scrip size is about 6 and I can hardly read it, so sorry for any spelling mistakes. The same as the photos, I am unable to see them in a large size.

I now have a suitcase full of catalogue for the girls to go through. I have had two projects picked up for publication in the states, which is great.

I have met lots of lovely Ladies from all over the States and caught up with some from Australia. It has be great and I will be wanting to come again.

Tomorrow Jan and I will head to CHA for a couple of hours and just finish a couple of things. Then we intend to do another tour. The next day See's us travel to San Fransisco for 4 days before we head back to Australa.

Will post again

Jane

Unbelieveable

Jan and I have survived our 1st day of CHA, it was unbelievable, and you need to be there to see it all. I took over 600 photo's. I started at the G45 booth and caught up with the lovely Ladies there. I took lots of photo's of their stand and all my projects on display there. My next stop was scrapbooking and beyond, where I got 15 magazines for everyone back home., this issues is the one with my book in it.. My next stop was October Afternoon. The show started at 10am and by 1.30pm I had visited only 4 booths. I did an order for of all Tim Holt's new lines and then it was time to catch the man himself. I watched him using his new stains and I will be ordering them tomorrow. Jan and I were lucky enough to receive an autograph tag from Tim himself. I met Melissa Frances, and Teresa Collins and they were kind enough to let me have my photo taken with them.

I have been having trouble with the Internet here, and this post has taken me three hours to do. I am down to typing with one finger, so I don't hit any other keys and loose the lot. So I am going to post now, so Jan can go to sleep.

thanks foe looking.

Jane

Another Post

After the Cemetery, we got the bus back to Hollywood Boulevard. We saw Rodeo Drive, Sunset Boulevard and the famous Beverly Hills sign. We saw the stars in the footpath, Kodak theatre and the famous Chinese Theatre. The theatre was all blocked off due to a movie premier being held there that nigh, Anthony Hopkins is in it. There were people everywhere, waiting for the stars to appear. By the time we got to the hotel, we had been at it for 24 hours straight with no sleep. Both of us slept all night and woke up at 7.30am ready for a day at Disney Land. I must have taken 0ver 300 photos which I will have to upload later.

I am meet the team from Graphic 45 tomorrow, and giving them my projects for their stall.

thanks again

Jane

I am in LA

I am finally here, it's still hard to believe. The flight was a bit boring, 14 hours and not much sleep. Jan and I arrived at 8am and went straight to our hotel. We decided to take a tour bus around Hollywood, it was a double decker bus and we sat on the top. You can get off at different stops and then do some site seeing, and then wait for the next bus and jump back on. The first stop we got off at was at the Hollywood Cemetery. I know what you are all thinking! why the cemetery. Well it's the dead centre of town (a dad joke) From the bus we could see some amazing tomb stones and crypts. It was one of the most beautiful cemetery I have ever seen. We got a map with a list of the famous people buried there. As Jan and I are just young girls, we didn't know many of them. It was so restful wandering around looking at the graves. There is a large Jewish part to the cemetery, if fact over 1/2 of it was Jewish. Their head stones were all so lovely, with people faces engraved on them. The mausoleum had to be seen to be believe, it was quiet and cool, with stained glass windows.

On the sides of the walls are marble squares with peoples names and in some walls there are little boxes with glass doors. Some of them have boxes and urns inside. I wish I could add more photos but Jan's laptop is not doing what I want it to do. So I am going to post this and then do another post in an hour or two.

Thanks for looking

Jane

My Album comes up for Auction on Sunday 23rd January

When Sherry asked me to donate a project for the flood appeal in Queensland, I want to give something special. Up for Auction on Sunday 23rd at 10am-8pm is one of my albums. This one is the blue Awnings album by K & Company. This was a series of classes run over one year. Each month we got together and I created a double or single layout using all the lovely lines of paper and embellishments from K&Co. The Album and layouts all match, you just need to add your photo's and jouraling. It would be perfect for a gift or just a special album for a special person. I had a lot of fun designing and making this album and really enjoyed teaching it. It was to be for one of my daughters, but she will just have to wait, Queensland is more important. We have been thinking of our fellow Australians who have had lives destroyed by this natural disaster. We can all do a bit to help and every little bit makes a difference. If you would like to help then join us for the auction at Your Creative Journey Silent Auction on sunday 23rd of January between 10am-8pm

and bid on my album or any other work of art that you like. You will need to email Sherry for a number to bid on any of the auctions.

thanks so much for looking

Jane

PS only 8 sleeps to go.

Want to help Queensland but not sure how?

Two lovely Australian Ladies have got together and are raising money to help those who have been affected by the disaster which has been happening in Queensland. All of us are shocked by the images we have been seeing and the overwhelming feelings of being wanting to help but not sure how.

You can by attending an auction being held on face book. Many mix media artists and scrapbookers from all over the world and many in Australia are donating works of art for you to buy. All money raised is going to the Premier Flood Relief Appeal. I was asked to donate something and I have given one of my albums. Its a 12x12 K & Company Blue Awnings Album with 10 double layouts and 2 single layouts, all ready and done, just waiting for your photos and journing. Keep an eye out for it at the Creative Journey face book Page. There are auctions happening all day every day until they run out of items for you to bid on. There is even a list of people who have donated, with many familiar names on there, so this is your chance to win a piece of work from one of your favorite creative people.

Please help if you can.

Thanks for looking

Jane

Another Page in my Book

There is the next page in my Book. This one is on my Third Darling Daughter. She was married early last year and this just about to celebrate her 1st wedding anniversary- my how time flies. For this page I decided to make a book within a book. This 1st photo shows the page as it looks. The photo of Leah is on the 1st page of the mini book. Note the rose here is done by cutting out lots of the same rose and building it up again petal by petal, I needed 7 copies of the same rose and it took three sheets of paper to do it.

This is the second page of the mini Book

This is the 3rd page

And this is the last, showing Leah as a small child.

I am busy working on projects for CHA and Printblocks, not to mention the Paper and crafts expo.

Starting to think about what to take to LA, if any of you girls who have traveled international before have any tips, I would love to hear.

Thanks for Looking

Jane

PS only 16 sleeps to go and counting!

Tutorial for Making a Frame

In this tutorial I would like to show you how to make a frame around a page using one of the Graphic 45 striped paper. You need to choose a paper that has a repeating patterned least four times. Each pattern must be the same width, if you want your corners to match.

Choose your background paper and leave it the full 12x12 inches. Choose a second print paper to be a contrast and cut it to 11 3/4 x 11 3/4 inches and tape to the background paper in the middle. In the Halloween in Wonderland layout I used Wonderland Classifieds and my background and my contrast print was Jabberwocky. For my stripe I used Uncommon Nonsense.

Once you have your background page and contrasting page taped together, you are ready to make your frame. Cut your four stripes pieces the same width and place one stripe each side of the contrasting square, leaving a whisker showing on the outer edge. This will make the frame 11 1/8 x 11 1/8. Place a small amount of tape under each stripe in the middle. Don't used too much as you will need to lift the frame off, when the corners are done. Tape the two pieces of frame together at the corners ( but not to the base papers), to make it a bit firmer. Check that your frame is square using a ruler, to do this measure from the outside edge of your frame across at the top and then at the bottom. both measurements should be the same. Turn the page and repeat the other way. If all measurements are the same then your frame will be square.

When happy you can make the mitre in each corner. To do this, use a ruler and measure from inside corner to the outer corner. Mark with a pencil. Do this to all four corners. To make it easier for you to see, I have removed my frame from my page, you don't need to do this yet.

Cut with scissors but only the top layer and not the bottom. Do this to all four corners. To make it easier for you to see I have removed my frame from my page, you don't need to do this yet. Rove the extra bits hanging under the frame and tape down the top corner to the bottom.

Remove the frame in one pieces and turn it over and reinforce with the frame with cardboard along each side of the frame. I always put my frames on my pages with foam tape, this gives depth to my layouts. Be generous with the amount of foam tape you use, as this stops the frame from sagging. Be careful when sticking frame to page. I always stick only a little bit on at a time, rather than trying to do it in one go. You now not only have a frame, but you have a shadow box. You can now build up other pieces on your layout.

Here are another couple of samples of Frame Layouts.

In the Christmas layout I used Bazzill for my background, Yours Truly form my contrast print with Uncommon Nonsense for my Stripe.

In my layout playtime past, I used Always on my Mind, for the background, for my contrast page I used Dolly's tea Party and for my stripe I used Jack and Jill.

Let me know how you get on making a frame, I would love to hear so leave me a comment.
Thanks for looking

Jane

PS Only 19 sleeps to go.

The Next Page

Well its back to work today, and I am finding it hard to settle to anything, so I have decide to update my blog.

Here is the next page in my book. This is one I did for Anna, my special girl, who is the delight and some times the pain of my life. I used the playtime collection for this one. I fell in love with the "Mary Quite Contrary" print, but found it too busy and wondered where I was going to put my photo! So I grabed my fine point scissors and I started cutting. The tree was probably the hardest bit. Then I put it all back together again. I had this lovely photo of Anna on a merry go round when she was about 4yrs. In looking for this photo I found one of her taken 4 yrs ago at water world. Perfect two photos taken 20yrs apart but with the same theme. A scrapbookers perfect excuse for a layout. This was the first time I tried making a frame around my pages and I love the look. I have used this time and time again. I have a tutorial to put on my blog for making this, so I will post it tomorrow if anyone wants to try it. Bits and pieces of the layout are raised up with foam.

thanks for looking

Jane

PS only 23 sleeps to go, still can't believe it.

PPS I am teaching again at Printblocks on March 14th, I know some of you Ladies missed out last time due to not receiving your email, so ring Printblocks and book in. I will be teaching you how to make a book, and it will take all day!

We had a very special Visitor Yesterday!

It was 41c or 107f (for all you ladies shivering over seas) yesterday in Adelaide, and that's in the shade! I decided that as our home does not have air-con that it would be a good idea to work at the shop. Our shop has two big units and the shop stayed a cool 23c all day. I can see out of our double glass doors, and I noticed a lot of people stopping in the car park and peering up at one of the trees on the edge of the car park and foot path. Our shop is in a side street of one of the busy main roads in Adelaide, but as we are close to the foot hills we have a lovely view. So being curious I wandered out to have a look for my self. This Koala was so low down the tree at one could touch him. It is illegal to touch so I just looked and told him how sorry I was that he had to wear his fur coat on such a hot day. I took a stack of photo's as you don't normally see them this close and left him with a contain of water. He is our local Koala and moves around Colonel light Gardens, we had him in a tree just down the road during winter.

Here is one of the Projects I taught at Printblocks in November. Andrew has asked me to teach again in March, and I will be teaching just one project for the whole day, and it will be a book. This wall hanger was a way of teaching lots of different techniques. I used only Graphic 45 papers and all the chipboard is from Imaginarium Designs. We used 4 different embossing powders + sprays, smooch and inks. We stamped and inked our way through the whole project. It is made up of 9 squares each one different. The frame is one from Imaginarium Designs.

The Together square has a prima flower, the flower and chipboard word are sprayed with smooch spritz .

The We don't remember days square is one of my favorite, I love quotes and this one is a favorite.

Anna's square has a chipboard "Tinnies Flourish", embossed in black embossing powder. You need to do it twice to build up the black. It makes it look amazing.

Beth's square is another favorite, it has a "Tinnies Frames" painted with smooch ink and a chipboard word inked black.

The Flower square is two sizzix die flowers - one is Tim Holtz's Tattered Flowers and the other flower die is called 3d flower, you need to roll it up into a tight roll.

Josh's square has one of Imagainarium Designs photo frame, which I cut in half. I inked it with black and stamped a back ground stamp embossed with silver embossing powder. I emboss my chipboard all the time as I love the look.

I have spent most of the week at home and so I don't have anything to show, other than a clean house and no ironing pile in my laundry. I will be at the shop tomorrow and again on Monday before we open on Tuesday.

I will post another of my pages tomorrow or Monday and my Masters projects Tuesday.

Thanks for looking

Jane

PS only 26 sleeps to go and counting down.