Cynchronicity

Just a quick post to update you on the winners of the National Scrapbook Day Cropathon challenges:

The winner of Kelly’s paperbag book challenge is Liz Rosky

The winner of Roberta’s monochrome challenge is Gen Voss

No one won my journalling challenge because apparently either you were all too busy or too intimidated to enter!!!  Guess those prizes will be held over for another time!

Mom and me 1965                                Mom

I cannot forget my mother.  She is my bridge.  When I needed to get across, she steadied herself long enough for me to run across safely.  ~Renita Weems

My daughter and my mother

Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.  – Unknown

Two favourite pictures of me and my daughter

Making a decision to have a child–it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. – Elizabeth Stone

Thanks to the generosity of my guests and sponsors, we gave away over $800 worth of prizes on National Scrapbook Day for the cropathon!  Please if you are a prize winner and have not contacted me or the person supplying the prize with your mailing address, email me at creativeedventures@gmail.com so we can get it sent right out!

Two digital scrapbooking paper sets from Rebecca Parsons, valued at $ 25     each:  Set one goes to Kit A. and set two goes to Annie B.

Scrap’n Easel from Marlo Letterle, valued at $79.99, goes to Judy B.

Scrap ‘n Easelette from Marlo Letterle, valued at $39.99, goes to Rebecca Parsons

Pack of Lutradur from Lisa Fulmer of C & T Publishing, valued at $28, goes to Evelyn

A $40 gift card to Scrappin’ Great Deals from Dale Anne Potter and Scrappin’ Great Deals goes to Joanne P.

Scrapbooking prize pack of book, embellishments, and transfer paper from Roberta Birnbaum, valued at $40, goes to Mac.

Scrapbook & Cards Today set of magazines and Card Maps 2 book from Scrapbook & Cards Today, valued at $25 goes to Christy D.

A pack of Creative PaperClay and some moulds/stamped embellishments to go with it from Edie Cournoyer, valued at $25, goes to Carolyn.

A one hour virtual organizing session from Margarita Ibbott, valued at $100, goes to Karen C.

$50 Crafty Chica gift pack from Kathy Cano-Murillo goes to  Marilyn.

$50 worth of Tulip art products from Alexa Westerfield goes to  Liz R.

Autographed copy of Vision Box Idea Book from Mark Montano valued at $17 goes to  Alesia F. 

Sew Ribbon from Cyn Gagen, valued at $18, goes to  Annie B.

Sew Easy from Cyn Gagen, valued at $16, goes to  Jessica G.

Scrapbooking gift pack including album, chipboard and sticky back canvas from Lee Brehon, valued at $50, goes to Lisa S. 

Scrapbooking prize pack from Kelly Donovan, valued at $25, goes to Angi.

A set of markers, a set of magicals, and a stamp set from Jessica Griffin, valued at $20, goes to Kiki H.

Prize from Kiki Halbert valued at $20 goes to Carol D.

Prize from Stephanie Gagos goes to Sheryl.

A seat in Eclectic Art Journal online class from Christy Sobolewski, valued at $45 goes to Lyneen.

A Make Your Own Book set from Cyn Gagen, valued at $20, goes to Rina. 

A copy of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine from Karen Ellis valued at $12 goes to Robyn. 

Sizzix Big Shot from Sophia Bennet, valued at $70, goes to Kelly Donovan

Welcome to another Festive Friday!  Festive Fridays is a bimonthly blog hop hosted by Terri Sproul.  It gives us the opportunity to create Christmas cards all year long so that we have a batch of them ready to send out at the holidays.  You should have arrived here from:   Angela’s blog  If you’d like to start the hop from the beginning, head on over to: Terri’s blog.

I took my inspiration from the book Card Maps 2 by Scrapbook and Cards Today Magazine.  For this card I used:

~ Red cardstock from Bazzill

~ Ho Ho Ho paper by Reminisce

~ Tradition Shimmer paper by Fancy Pants Design

~ Father Christmas Around the World paper by Pink Paislee

~ Red flocked button sticker from Jolee’s Boutique

~ Red and white baker’s twine from Martha Stewart

~ Aleene’s Tacky Glue Stick and Beacon’s 3 in 1 Adhesive

Thanks for stopping by!

Your next stop is Robin’s Nest  Full list of participants is below! Have fun hopping!

every 2nd & 4th Friday

On tonight’s show at 9 pm Eastern, I’ll be sharing a few new techniques I learned from Susan Pickering Rothamel at the USArtQuest booth, from Judi at the Judikins booth, and from the ILovetoCreate booth where I was volunteering.

Sign in here for the show:

On the web: http://www.linqto.com/rooms/creativeedventures

OR through the Facebook app:  http://apps.facebook.com/creativeedventures

Note:  If you have issues getting into the show when you click on one of the above links, try copying and pasting it into your browser window instead.

Some of us who were on the 2nd Annual National Scrapbook Day Cropathon this past Saturday have issued challenges and we’re hoping you’ll participate in them.  As an added incentive, we have EVEN MORE prizes to give out for them!

Go here for Kelly’s paper bag book challenge:  http://knittingandthings.com/2012/05/paperbag-journals-and-creative-edventure-replays/

Go here for Roberta’s monochromatic challenge:  http://decorablesart.blogspot.ca/2012/05/win-creative-edventures-crop-challenge.html

If you attended the cropathon or have heard me speak about scrapbooking before, you’ll know that journalling is very important to me.  I’ve always been very “into” history of any kind and that includes my family history.  There’s something about knowing the story behind how the world, my country, my family came to be that resonates with me.  I love to hear stories about what I was like when I was little – I love to tell my daughter stories about her childhood.  It makes my heart swell when I find an old recipe card with my grandmother’s handwriting on it or the pages in an old cookbook where my mom has written notes on the recipes or when I come across an old letter from my Dad.  Sometimes we stop ourselves from journalling in our scrapbooks because we don’t like our handwriting or we think we don’t have anything eloquent to say but that’s not what our children and grandchildren will care about.  They will just be so touched to see our handwriting, to read our words, to feel connected to us through them.

Here are some of my favourite tips for journalling:

- Don’t like your handwriting?  Does it intimidate you and keep you from journalling more?  Then do most of it on the computer – just be sure to add in little bits of your handwriting here and there for future generations!  Afraid you’ll make a mistake if you write it out yourself?  Write on a separate journalling block and then attach that to your page once you’re happy with it.  Already wrote directly on the page and made a mistake?  Well, you could leave it.  Future generations will see it as charming and sweet but if it really bothers you, cover it with a journalling block or a picture or some stickers/diecuts.

Flickr, the girl & boy

- Add some pizzazz to your journalling easily.  Incorporate some embellishments into your writing – replace letters with something else like using a button or flower for an O or a strip of ribbon for an I.  Use some sticker words in place of some of the words you’re writing…or make it like a rebus and use images in place of some words.  Journal in a shape – write on a diecut or inside a stencilled area.

- Sometimes trying to write a story or even just a paragraph can be intimidating and we don’t even know where to start.  So, make a list instead.  You can even use some of the embellishments suggested above as your “bullet point marks” for the list.  Or how about finding a quiz online related to your topic and using that as the basis of your journalling?  You can even try “interviewing yourself” – think about it as an outsider and what questions you would ask the person about those photos.  Use those to form your journalling.

- Forget the details about each event easily?  Here are some ways to keep track:  You certainly could jot some details right on the back of the photos when you have them printed but just be sure to use something that is photo safe.  Years ago my grandma used to use pencil on hers and many of them have faded and are impossible to make out now.  I know people who used basic ballpoint pens on theirs and over time not only are there indented lines on the photos from the pressure of the pen but also the ink has leeched through to the front of the picture.  Creative Memories sells china marker pencils that are acid free, safe for your photos, and have staying power!  Another idea is to file your photos in boxes when you get them back, quickly jotting some details on a 4 by 6 index card as you do and using that as a divider.  One of my favourite ways to keep track is to jot things on a calendar.  I hang onto the calendars until my scrapbooking is done not just to refer to the appointments and special occasions I have written there as reminders ahead of time but also because when something special occurs, I write it down on the date it occurred so it serves as almost a mini journal too.

Flickr, meglett127

- When you go through your photos, don’t get all hung up on specific dates.  If you can’t remember the minute details, focus instead on the bigger themes.  For example, if I look at one particular picture of my daughter in a Halloween costume, I may not be able to immediately put my finger on when it was taken but if I lay out all the photos from all the Halloweens, I can usually put them into chronological order and figure it out that way.  Or, I can simply make some spreads of Halloweens over the years and not focus on the dates at all.   Sometimes I have random pictures that don’t seem to fit anywhere else so I’ll just make a page like “funny faces” and then jot down silly captions for them.  Captioning is another way of taking some of the pressure off the journalling process – it’s much easier than writing a whole account of an event.  Another thing I relied on a lot when my daughter was little and still utilize now that I’m a blogger is to carry a notebook and pen with me everywhere.  I keep one in my purse and used to keep one in my camera bag, one in the diaper bag, and so on.  It makes it so easy to just grab it and jot down some details that you might otherwise forget!  (Oh and I highly recommend keeping one on your bedside table for those middle of the night brainstorms or sudden memories!)

Flickr, meglett127

- Find a poem or song lyrics that has words to suit your scrapbooking page. 

- You don’t have to scrapbook every photo nor do you have to journal every one.  Some speak for themselves.  Add some pockets to hold memorabilia and it can do some of the talking for you as well.

So, my challenge is for you to add some journalling to something – a scrapbook page, a mixed media piece of art, a cookbook – whatever you’d like but it needs to be something that you’d like to memorialize for future generations.  Share pictures and a description of what you’ve done or a link to your blog post in the comments to enter the giveaway.  You have until 12:01 am on Tuesday, May 15th to get your entries in for a chance to win a prize pack of assorted scrapbooking supplies!

I’ve added a linky here for you – you can either leave your information in the comments or add it to the linky – just remember I need some way to SEE your photos of what you made!

Wow.  Although I am still pretty tired, I am also still on a HUGE high from the Cropathon.  What an amazing event that was!  I’m not even sure where to begin because there are just so many wonderful things to say about it!

Let me start by saying a huge thank you to my special guests.  They did some amazing demos – I was expecting big things from all of them because I know just how talented they all are but even still, they blew me away with their fantastic projects.  If you weren’t able to be there live with us or could only be there part of the day, have no fear!  There are recordings of the day!!!  I split them up in segments to make them easier to load and view but even so, they’re a bit longer than my typical weekly show and you may need to give them a few minutes before they load fully.  I have listed each guest demonstrator under the segment in which they appear.

First segment:  https://www.linqto.com/PlaybackRoom.aspx?roomname=creativeedventures&name=SingleExplicit_2012_05_05_08_59_49_157  featuring:

Rebecca Parsons:  making a weekend escape book

http://cre8tivecompass.com/mag/

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/artisticallyspeaking

Marlo Letterle:   a demo of my products Scrap’n Easel and Scrap’n Easel

http://www.containyacrafts.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scrapn-Tote-For-Cricut-Cartridge-Storage/143256835713805

Lee Brehon:   making a paper canvas flower

http://www.createalways.com/

Second segment:  https://www.linqto.com/PlaybackRoom.aspx?roomname=creativeedventures&name=SingleExplicit_2012_05_05_10_50_03_898

Kelly Donovan:   lunchbag album into smash book

http://knittingandthings.com

Lisa Fulmer:   techniques for fabric scrapbooking  (Here’s a link to a followup blog post by Lisa showing her project:  http://www.ctpubblog.com/2012/05/06/free-project-fabric-scrapbook-layout/)

http://lisalizalou.blogspot.com

Karen Ellis:   canvas art project

http://www.thearthousestudio.ca/

Third segment:  https://www.linqto.com/PlaybackRoom.aspx?roomname=creativeedventures&name=SingleExplicit_2012_05_05_13_04_15_588

Christy Sobolewski:

showing you some ideas for created backgrounds through to completed layouts using up scrapbook papers and other junk papers

http://www.gulfsprite.com/

Suzi Blu:   making a Mother’s Day card using Suzi Stamps

http://suziblu.typepad.com/

Fourth segment:  https://www.linqto.com/PlaybackRoom.aspx?roomname=creativeedventures&name=SingleExplicit_2012_05_05_14_29_44_606

Jessica Griffin:   a basic alcohol marker ‘class.’ I’ll demo how to color an image from Pixie Dust Studio for Mothers Day and add some spice using Magical Micas from Lindys Stamp Gang.

http://canyoupixelthis.com/

https://www.facebook.com/canyoupixelthis

http://www.twitter.com/canyoupixelthis

Stephanie Gagos:   portrait play

http://healingtruthsanctuary.com/         http://findingyourvoiceoftruth.com/

Fifth segment:  https://www.linqto.com/PlaybackRoom.aspx?roomname=creativeedventures&name=SingleExplicit_2012_05_05_16_16_13_834

Kiki Halbert:   canvas collage

http://kiki-halbert.blogspot.ca/

Roberta Birnbaum:   demo’ing the Creative Memories new border punch system and scrapbooking tips

http://decorablesart.blogspot.ca/

http://www.facebook.com/decorablesart

http://www.twitter.com/decorablesart

Edie Cournoyer:   adding Creative Paperclay embellishments to your projects

http://lifebytheseatofmypants.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ArtByTheSeatOfMyPants

Margarita Ibbott:   organizing scrapbooking supplies

http://downshiftingpos.blogspot.ca/

(Margarita has a summary blog post up with more suggestions about organizing creative materials here:  http://downshiftingpos.blogspot.ca/2012/05/creative-edventuresnational-scrapbook.html)

https://www.facebook.com/DownshiftingProfessionalOrganizingSolutions

http://www.downshiftingpos.blogspot.ca/p/virtual-organizing-solutions.html

http://www.twitter.com/downshiftingPOS

Please support my special guests by following their wonderful blogs, Facebook pages, and so on where you can find more of their fantastic ideas!  I so appreciate their generosity in the giving of their time, energy, and prize giveaways. 

My name is Christy Sobolewski and I am an artist. I am primarily a painter of portraits. An avid art journal artist and altered book artist. I was born in South Florida and lived on our family sail boat until school age. I love Florida and believe it greatly influences my art. Most especially in my color palette of choice. I will be a Grandmother for the first time later this year and am the mom to two fuzzy kittehs!  You can find Christy at http://gulfsprite.com

At 2 pm Eastern, Christy will be showing you some ideas for created backgrounds through to completed layouts using up scrapbook papers and other junk papers. I will also have a challenge for you and a giveaway on my website.

Stephanie Gagos is a healing coach and avid art journaler.  She teaches the joy of being messy and playing with art and how we all have an inner child just longing to play creatively. She works with women healing from childhood pain, through art journaling and writing over at The Healing Truth Sanctuary.

http://www.healingtruthsanctuary.com

Stephanie will be demonstrating portrait play at 4:30 pm Eastern.

Roberta Birnbaum Cohen loves art- anything art and there is no medium she will not try. Robi found crafting ‘later in her life’ – she almost failed Art class in High School. However, growing up in a home filled with laughter and love; and love for art, music, history, and languages must have had an impact on her. Robi has taken many courses in Art and Art History. She studied with internationally renowned watercolourist David McEown for several years, and has taken classes in sketching, acrylics, mixed media, drawing, metal working and stained glass. Painted glass trivets in a faux stained-glass style is one of her favourite creations. Paper crafts, including card making, occupies most of her time these days.  Roberta is now a Classroom Instructor for Michaels Canada and enjoys sharing her knowledge and love of arts and crafts with others.  You can find Roberta at http://decorablesart.blogspot.com

Roberta is demonstrating the Creative Memories new border punch system AND sharing scrapbooking tips at 6 pm Eastern.

Kelly Donovan:  I am a mother of 2 who enjoys every Arts and Craft out there! I am a self taught sewer, quilter, painter and mixed media artist. I love making dolls and teaching and supporting women to learn and reach their goals.  You can find Kelly at http://knittingandthings.com/

Kelly is showing us how to make a paper bag album into a smashbook at noon Eastern.

Jessica Griffin is a busy crafter and craft designer having done work for Jessica Sprague, Lindy’s Stamp Gang, Pixie Dust Studio, Totally Stampalicious, Sakura Hobby Craft, The Stamping Boutique and many more!
She has been published in Scrap and Stamp magazine and Scrap Artist: The Muse.  Jessica is certified at both the standard and intermediate levels in Copic markers.  She can be found at:  http://canyoupixelthis.com

Jessica will be demonstrating a basic alcohol marker ‘class.’ She’ll demo how to color an image from Pixie Dust Studio for Mothers Day and add some spice using Magical Micas from Lindys Stamp Gang at 3:30 pm Eastern.

Marlo Letterle is from ContainYa Crafts and the primary goal there is to provide quality merchandise at reasonable prices to customers and fellow crafters. Their job is to help you get organized so you can spend more time crafting and less time looking for items. As ContainYa Crafts grows they hope to offer customers more and more unique, top notch, craft storage products.   Marlo can be found at http://www.scrapntoteblog.com/  and http://www.containyacrafts.com/

Marlo will be showing us a demo of her products the Scrap’n Easel and Scrap’n Easel-Ette AND will be giving away one of each!  Her demo is at 10:45 am Eastern.

Rebecca Parsons is a Digital Mixed Media R-tiste and Designer.  She is a Talk Show Host and Editor-in-Chief of Cre8tive Compass, Retreat Leader, Deliberate Creator, WEBucator, Communicator & Holistic Coach and Mentor to Artists.  She is an award-winning artist and graphic designer, having won awards for design of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Her artwork has landed in The White House, the Smithsonian, in numerous magazines and opened the doors to appearances on HGTV, TLC, DIY and so much more.  Rebecca is a featured Designer at FaveCrafts.com and is featured on Craft Gossip and Cresendoh. She is passionate about helping others embrace the creative soul within and create a life around their passion. She says “I believe that every dream is possible and possible is everywhere!”  You can find Rebecca at http://cre8tivecompass.com/mag/

Rebecca will be the first of our demonstrators at 10 am Eastern, showing us how to make a weekend escape book.

It’s only 13 hours away folks!  I hope I can sleep tonight because I am just so thrilled to be a part of this.  Please join us tomorrow for all the fun, the learning, and the giveaways!  Cyn

LOG IN HERE FOR THE SHOW:  http://www.linqto.com/rooms/creativeedventures OR on Facebook here:  http://apps.facebook.com/creativeedventures

Revised line-up of Crafting Demonstrations for the day:

We’ve made a few revisions as a couple of the demonstrators have had emergencies but thankfully, Christy Sobolewski and Stephanie Gagos have graciously stepped in to fill their spots!

10 am – Rebecca Parsons – http://cre8tivecompass.com/mag/ –making a weekend escape book

1045 am – Marlo Letterle – http://www.containyacrafts.com/ – a demo of my products Scrap’n Easel and Scrap’n Easel-Ette

1115 – Lee Brehon – http://www.createalways.com/ – making a paper canvas flower

Noon – Kelly Donovan – http://knittingandthings.com/ – lunchbag album into smash book

1 pm – Lisa Fulmer – http://lisalizalou.blogspot.ca/ – techniques for fabric scrapbooking

130 pm – Karen Ellis – http://www.thearthousestudio.ca/ – canvas art project

2 pm – Christy Sobolewski – http://gulfsprite.com – showing you some ideas for created backgrounds through to completed layouts using up scrapbook papers and other junk papers

3 pm – Suzi Blu – http://suziblu.typepad.com/ – making a Mother’s Day card using Suzi Stamps

330 pm – Jessica Griffin – http://canyoupixelthis.com/ - a basic alcohol marker ‘class.’ I’ll demo how to color an image from Pixie Dust Studio for Mothers Day and add some spice using Magical Micas from Lindys Stamp Gang.

430 pm – Stephanie Gagos - http://www.healingtruthsanctuary.com – portrait play

515 pm – Kiki Halbert – http://kiki-halbert.blogspot.ca/ – canvas collage

6 pm – Roberta Birnbaum – http://decorablesart.blogspot.ca/ – demo’ing the Creative Memories new border punch system AND Scrapbooking tips

630 pm – Edie Cournoyer – http://lifebytheseatofmypants.wordpress.com/ – adding Creative Paperclay embellishments to your projects

715 pm – Margarita Ibbott – http://downshiftingpos.blogspot.ca/ – organizing scrapbooking supplies