Catalog Inspiration

I got home this morning from hosting my first ever overnight scrapbook retreat. I've been to a few, and I've hosted some day time only retreats but this was my first foray into the overnighter. It was a blast. And I will be doing it again in October. However, I'm not blogging about that today. I'm still tired and need a little time to get my photos together and process the experience to do it justice. So in the meantime, I thought I'd share a little scrapping happiness with you.

One of the things I have learned from the creative experience is that we all need a little inspiration from time to time. And sometimes, when we are really in a creative rut, blatant scraplifting is called for. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (Did you know this saying is credited to someone named Charles Caleb Colton?  There's your trivia item for the day). However, I believe that credit should always be given where credit is due so I am going to give full credit for the following scraplifted page to Close to My Heart's Art Team. I copied it right from page 85 of the Spring/Summer 2013 catalog.

I made a few minor alterations but I thought it worked perfect for this photo of one of our trips to Russia while adopting Kristina. This was the first time Dean had met her and he fell in love with her at first sight. So of course, I asked him to journal the page for me. Don't hesitate to ask others to journal. It's a great way to get another perspective. And besides, although Dean said he wasn't a great writer, what he wrote was perfect.

So here's your challenge for the day. Find a scrapbook page or layout, card or something else that inspires you and go make one of your own. Have fun!

P.S. Mark your calendar for October 24-26th for my next overnight scrapbook retreat. You can register  here. It's going to be so much fun!

An Artsy Weekend

I spent this last weekend at the beautiful Marci Welcker's Artsy Weekend. This retreat was so fabulous and absolutely what I needed. I've been missing that creative spark lately and I went to her retreat in the hopes of finding it again. Oh, did I find it.

Not that I wasn't intimidated. I walked into a room full of beautiful, creative, successful women. I didn't know a soul beyond Marci (who is one of the most beautiful souls I know). And as I sat down, feeling a little like the new girl at school, I started to wonder why I was here. But, I put on my big girl boots and started playing with mod podge (I have been pronoucing it modge podge for years and only corrected myself this weekend), and ribbon, and paper, and paint. I felt my insecurities coming to the surface as I looked around me at all the wonderful creativeness going on but I choked it back down, telling myself this was for me and it didn't matter as long as I was happy with the result. And then these women began to talk with me and share with me and laugh with me and I began to let go of the need for everything to be clean and simple and reproducible (when you teach classes you tend to want to make sure everyone can get the same result). And gradually, my insecurities left me and I felt my soul begin to flutter.

There are many creative people in this world. Not all of them are willing to share that though. I found myself in a room with 29 women who live to share, 29 women who reminded me that we all struggle, no matter whether we are a size 2 or a size 16, whether we can make a fabulous messy bow or just make a mess (that would be my bow). 29 women who reminded me that I can live my dreams, because they are. And so I came home from the weekend, revived and relaxed and with 29 new artsy friends. Thank you so much to Marci for putting together this fabulous retreat. I will be at the next one!

I wish I had more than this picture to share. But I forgot my camera. But I did take pictures of what I created this weekend. And since you can't see what the other 29 did (wink, wink--still working on those insecurities) you will of course be awed and amazed by my art! Because I kind of was amazed at what I came up with.

I didn't make this one--the lovely Tonya LeMone of Perennial Gardens did.

Dana Engemann taught this caged fairy class. I just couldn't bear to cage my fairy so she is free to come and go.

See, she's kind of a somber little fairy anyway so putting wire around her cage would have been too unkind.

My first attempt at an art journal!

A few of the inside pages of the art journal.

 

The back cover

My creative box--inspired by the pages of a 1950's children's storybook.

Tearing pages out of a storybook to create this box outraged my inner librarian but I told her to shush for the day.

Leather stamping--taught by the lovely Chrissy Gardner

 Thanks so much to Marci and her crew for a fabulous weekend. Here's to reigniting that creative spark in each of us!