The first day of classes with Dyan Reaveley was so AWESOME!!!!! Actually, awesome doesn't even really begin to describe how much fun today was! Dyan is so funny and warm and is really an amazing teacher. She showed us so many cool techniques that I now know so many different ways I can use all her products - which I already own cause I already loved them so much. Now I can do even more with them.  And I took lots of great pictures - it really was the most fabulous day.

I think this is my favourite picture of the day. This is what our hands looked like after only ONE of the great classes we did. It was just a blast getting all messy with my crafty peeps!!

The day started with us all getting our seats and Dyan giving us a run down of what we were going to cover in the morning class. 

Dyan tells lots of great stories while she teaches so had us all laughing all day while we learned.

Shannon and I got to play Vanna with the inks

Then we got to play with the inks

Dyan did lots of showing and telling while she taught us how she uses all her products.

Then in the afternoon we got to play with the paints! I think this last photo was my favourite of the day!! I still have to finish it by adding black but it was so fun!!  This is what Dyan was doing so as soon as I get this stencil/mask I am gonna finish this page like she did. Probably gonna do something like it in my journal too!!

It really was such a phenomenal day - lots of laughs and lots of learning. I cannot WAIT till tomorrow to do it all again!

Till then, stay crafty my peeps!!

My crafting vacation has begun!!! I made it to Edmonton safe and sound, and after briefly visiting my family, I got to meet the AMAZING Dyan Reaveley - the main reason for my trip.

She arrived in Edmonton on Thursday and she is just so fabulous!!

She agreed to do a meet and great at the amazing Scrap Addicts - thank you so much Cori-Lyn and Ivy for bringing her to us! (Check out the link below to see their great site/online store!) There really isn't going to be time during or after the classes for posing for pictures or talking to her much, so it was really great having the chance to do that today.  Total fan-girl moment I tell you!!  Dyan is just so lovely and it was a dream getting to chat with her and get her to sign a couple of my journals.

Her crazy cool personality was evident right from the get go. She is just a blast!!

I also got to pose with her with a friend - and they got photos with her too! She is just so sweet and funny. As great in person as she seems on all her videos!!!!

She also had a ton of her own journals at the store, along with tags and other samples of her work. She told us we could look and take photos. This is just a small sample of her cool stuff. It, like her, is even cooler in person!! I cannot WAIT to learn from her!!

And to top it all off - she just had to leave a mark on the Scrap Addicts store. I think she was right - their walls did need a little something!!

I am sure I will have TONS more to blog about tomorrow from Dyan's fantabulous classes. I think I need to head to bed to get rested up for my crazy day tomorrow.

Till then, stay crafty my peeps!!

One of my favourite things about scrapbooking is the swaps I do!  I have partners all over the world and it is so fun getting stuff from crafty ladies all over the map!!

I just got my swap from my fab partner Brittany and I love it! We were supposed to be swapping altered matchboxes, but she was like me and didn't like how small they were so come up with something else. And I am thrilled! I got spoiled, which I usually do by Brittany.

Now I get to go home and do the last of my packing for my trip to the city tomorrow. One more sleep and I meet Dyan Reavely!! Cannot wait.

Till next time stay crafty my peeps!

I got the chance to take better photos of the swaps I finished this weekend so wanted to post them.

The first is an altered mousetrap that is going all the way to Australia! I ended up doing a rat trap instead of a mousetrap. They are just so small and I wanted to do the bigger trap. What I find really funny is that even though there are no rats anywhere in Alberta, you can still buy rat traps - luckily for me and my partner!! I hope she likes it.

My other swap is a set of soup cans - and this swap is going to Denmark!

And my partner in this swap was a sweetheart and took the tags I had made for the Tag Your It game I was in. So they are in her package too!

I might not have a post again till I hit the city for my scrapbooking adventure, so till then - stay crafty my peeps!!

I had a really productive and creative weekend  - I hope all you crafty pals of mine did too!

I was getting ready for my scrapbook holiday in the city, so was organizing all the projects I wanted to work on. I think I am all ready to go! What do you think? LOL

I also got a journal page finished. Did the background ages ago, but finally got the chance to finish it. The writing wasn't what I was originally planning, but I really like the end result. Especially because the embossing turned out even better than I had hoped!

I got a couple swaps finished too, but I have to take some better photos, so will do a separate post for them!

Till next time, stay crafty my peeps!

I really love my scrapbooking community - especially all the swaps I participate in. I really love having pals all over the world!!

I just got my latest swap in the Not So Secret Sister swap I am in.  My fantastic partner Angela sent me stuff for April, May and June so I was able to open my first April package right away.  Great stuff and a really pretty tag.

 Hoping to get to my craft room today - can use some of my new stuff!! Till next time, stay crafty my peeps!!

So I have had the most crazy week and how do I know this? It took me almost 3 whole days to get down into my craft room and open up my happy mail that I got on Monday!  Between work being nuts and not feeling well, it just wasn't happening.

But I finally got down there last night and was able to open up all my goodies and take a video. I got so much cool stuff that I CANNOT WAIT to play with!!!!

If you haven't had a chance yet to check them out, make sure you go see Wendy's store and Melinda's store. They are so utterly amazing and great at feeding any and all craft addictions.

W2Scrapbooking

Scraps of Elegance/Darkness

You can see they are two of my favourite places as I have them tagged at the bottom of my blog! Make sure you go check them out!

I plan on playing with this stuff this weekend so will post pics later.  Till then, stay crafty my peeps!

Had an absolutely amazing time at the crop I went to this weekend.

Scrappy Apple in La Crete put on a really great day.   We got great welcome gifts, great door prizes and yuumy food. Not to mention some fabulous visiting in with  great bunch of gals!!

I was able to get quite  bit done too.  I brought a kit with me for making tags so was really productive. I love how they all turned out.

The kit also included a card to make, which I really like the end result of as well

There was also a page contest during the crop that I participated in as well. We had to use Bo Bunny paper for the layout and I wanted to use the new stencils that I got from the fabulous Wendy at W2Scrapbooking (check out the link for her store below at the bottom of my blog). I love adding texture to my layouts!

But the best part - I came in second in the contest! I am thinking that my grandbaby Jeffery is a good luck charm as the last time I used a photo of him in a contest I won!  I really like the end result of this one too. I think I might submit it for publication too.

I really felt spoiled this weekend too because the gals at Scrappy Apple gave me a sweet gift as a thank you for promoting the crop and doing the tutorial I did.

The tutorial turned out really well too - a couple of ladies even asked me to help them make tags for themselves. Here are a couple of peaks at the samples I did up for my demo.

Well I am having a rather lazy day today - so till next time, stay crafty my peeps!