Hello from Peterborough!
The ladies came, scrapped and ... if some of the pictures they gave me before they left were any indication... they had a great time! AS DID I!! Thanks ladies!!
I will blog more about the retreat tomorrow but... I wanted to say a special thank you to the ladies at the retreat for surprising me with the kindest of Birthday wishes. Yes, today is my birthday and I couldn't have shared it with a more fantastic bunch!
Look what they did -- Cake, presented with lots of singing and picture taking and a card signed by all....
I was shocked.... Yes, surprised.... Or was that because of the whoopie cushion?? LOL
And yes, this is me getting teary at the wonderfulness of it all.....
And this is thankful me. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful group of people who attend my retreats. I love you all. You are the reason why I love what I do!! ...And why I keep doing it!
Thanks to the entire Go Scrapping Family!!!
Look for more retreat pics tomorrow!!!.... Thanks again for a great weekend!
Well, I am just about ready for the Peterborough Retreat this weekend. I'm so excited!!
The classes are all prepped and packed, the goodies are too...... all is set for a great event.
Just to remind those who will not be joining us in Peterborough... the STUDIO WILL BE CLOSED this weekend while I am hosting and teaching at the retreat. We will re-open on Tuesday at 11:30 for regular studio hours. See you then.
As for the rest of us -- get out your jammies and fuzzy slippers! It's time for a retreat!
It's Tuesday and the first in a series of "ASK KAREN" blog posts :) Was it just me or did you hear an echo when you read "ASK KAREN"? hehehe... Okay, I have an head cold and it's effecting my sense of humour! :)
So, here it is.. "Ask Karen". Thanks to those of you who ask questions of me this week. The questions are all about the studio and the events.... but please don't hesitate to use this forum to ask me about techniques or how to use some product. Love to answer those questions too.
Without further ado.....
Question 1 - Christine and Stacy both asked if I was still taking registrations for the London Retreat. Absolutely! Love to see you there. I will be taking registrations for another couple of weeks. BUT if that changes I will be sure to post something here or on the website. We do have some space available for the retreat weekend. Classes for this retreat will be posted here next Wednesday (not tomorrow, next week). I'll be sure to share those with all my blog readers too! For information or to register for any of our retreats click here.
Question 2 - Stephen walked into the studio this week asking about group rentals of the studio space and if I allow children. I welcome groups of kids (up to 12 with chaperones) in the studio at any time -- not just during regular studio hours. I am open for birthday parties or special events. (A little sneak for you all... I will be announcing a Halloween Event... so stay tuned!) Prices range from $12 - $18/child depending on the project - minimum of 5 kids. Please contact me at the studio for more information 519 954 6620
Question 3 - Sheri asked if tickets for the Waterloo Region Crop are available yet. Yes they are. I have them here in the studio.
The crop will be held at the Hespeler Arena (Townline road & 401) on November 28. $50 (tax included) gets you table space, meals, prizes and a lot of fun. This is a very special day crop. I am being published in the Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine and I want to celebrate!! This will be a book signing crop ... there will be discounts on the Winter Issue of the Magazine (I have a limited number coming in - you can reserve your copy in advance if you like), I will be offering a make n take where you can create one of the cards being published in the issue (this is being sponsored by SEI, the great company who's product I used!!) AND, in addition to some of the great door prizes available to be won -- I will also be giving away a one year subscription to the Canadian Scrapbooker to one lucky cropper attending the event! Thanks Canadian Scrapbooker!!!! and thanks SEI!!
Lucy at Simply Scrapping will also have tickets for this crop at her store location at Southworks Mall in Cambridge starting this Friday. She will be on-site at the crop doing a make n take and selling product too. As will Judy and Sheri from In A Pinch Designs! Hope you can make it!!
So... the phone lines are open! (literally and figuratively!). I will answer some more of your questions next Tuesday here on the blog. I look forward to hearing from you!!
The kid and I spent the day at the Pinery Flea Market and "antiquing" at some of our favourite local haunts.... At one of our stops I stumbled on an eye-popping, mouthwatering collection of vintage photos, postcards and ephemera. OMG.... I was in heaven. The store clerk saw my mouth drop and promptly got me a stool. LOL... can you picture it?
I picked up some AMAZING little postcard gems circa 1910, 1902..... It was so hard to choose. When I get home I will scan some of them to show you. You'll be tickled pink. I'm coming back to the trailer on the long weekend.... three guesses where I am going (first two don't count). eeek!! Can't wait to play! I have a million crafty ideas floating through me head. hehehehehehe. This is the start of a beautiful obsession!
While we were out and about I also picked up some fun buttons and broaches that I plan to make molds from so that I can create some great 3D wax and/or UTEE embellishments. I also found some great itty bitty pewter figurines that I can mold or use in my art. and do you see in the picture to the left... one of the shops even had a cool unused wood-mount stamp with a vintage vignette on it that just had to come home with me. The kid found some books she wanted and some vintage comics that caught her eye. Yep, a great day had by all!
Howdy bloggers! Hope things are well in your world!
Things have been busy for me -- getting ready for the Peterborough Retreat next weekend, doing demos, creating classes! It's all good. I'm still LOVING the studio! Thanks to all of you who share it with me!!
I'd like to start a weekly blog segment called"Ask Karen"....if any of you have any questions about things happening at the studio, the retreats, about product or even techniques... Please feel free to ask. I will answer your questions Tuesdays here on the blog. Sound good? *big smile* So ask away!!! Love to hear from you!!
I'm thinking about going "flee marketing" tomorrow. I'm interested in some findings for my art. ...Wonder what I will find! I'll bring my camera and share it with you.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend ... and don't forget to email me questions!!!
Yes, I have been in a spooky, creative mode today!
Here is a sneak peek of what I have done. It's a sneak partially because it's not "quite" done and well, it's my project for the dollar store club and I can't let the cat (or bat as it seems) out of the bag just yet. This month's assignment was to create something for Halloween. I tried a little something on the weekend that didn't work out (dollar store clay isn't good-- just in case you were wondering *wink*) and started this little baby this afternoon. Whatcha think so far? Isn't she pretty??
This costumed vintage lady is a fabulous royalty free image I snagged from the Graphics Fairy Blog. If you are at all interested in mixed media or altered art and love fun vintage images OR -- are a scrapbooker who likes heritage items.... you should really bookmark this blog. It's one of my "go to" places for fun images.
Like historical photography?? Check this out: and Old Photo Blog! This week is all about hunting... but if you are not into the "kill", check out the left side bar for some fabulous image categories. They are spectacular. Just a little warning on this site and others as you are browsing the internet: not all photos can be saved, copied or used in your artwork (especially if you are going to sell something at craft shows, etc) Look for "royalty free" or "public domain" images... there are tons. This site has many free-to-use images... but some aren't. They're just for our enjoyment and inspiration.
I'd like to extend a challenge. I'd love it if you would create something with an image you find on-line. Send the image to me by email and I will share it with my readers in another post at a later date. I'd love to see what you do with the images. Be sure to let me know where you got the image. We must link the site and share it with the world!
ALSO.... Please feel free to send me the links to any other royalty free photo blogs. I've love to take a peek!
Hello Bloggers!
I'm typing this blog post on my brand new (duct tape free) computer. Ahhhhh, glorious!
I can't believe the ease at which I am typing, uploading and well, playing !! Hurray!!! Wonders never cease. My 5 year old laptop just wasn't cutting it anymore - poor thing. I made the leap and voila. Computer heaven!
I haven't had the opportunity to make a blog post since the last card cookout.
Thank you ladies for joining me on Saturday for the cookout and a little sushi and cropping afterwards. I really enjoyed my day. The ladies seemed to have fun with the inks and templates -- I loved how their cards turned out. They each got 8 cards completed (2 of every card). I hope you and the people you send them to enjoy!!!
I went to the wholesalers yesterday (the studio day off) to pick up some more Distress Re-Inkers and some more Studio Paints .. and some more Archival Inks ....and a couple of things that I needed to pick up for my Peterborough Retreat Classes..... It's all good!!
We currently have an "Everything Tim Holtz Sale" happening in the studio until the end of the month (everything with Tim's name on it is 15% off until September 30) but I have been getting some questions about Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Paints lately so I wanted to create a post for you about them.
First let me say I love these paints. They are a smooth, creamy texture and very highly pigmented -- which is fabulous. Even more fabulous, Claudine's paints are transparent paints -- transparent in that they are not chalky so you can mix them together to create some VERY cool colours. Here's a youTube tutorial Claudine made that talks all about mixing her paints.
In this tutorial she talks about mixing her 15 Studio colours to make 51 different ones... Here's the link to the page on her website where you can download the mixing instructions... OR, you are welcome to come into the studio and pick one up here. I have a few pre-printed for you.
I mentioned that I picked up more paints..... I have the colours here. They are $6.99/jar...... How many colours can you create???
And this is thankful me. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful group of people who attend my retreats. I love you all. You are the reason why I love what I do!! ...And why I keep doing it!
