The Past Revised

Over the last few weeks I have been spending quite a bit of time thinking about the past. During the summer I finally broke down and signed onto Facebook - within a few weeks, I had been contacted by one of my old high school classmates - after almost 30 years. Very shortly there after a few more followed until we now have 12 out of the 29 who graduated.

This past weekend, six of us got together - some I had not seen since the last day of school in 1978!! The years have gone by and we have all matured and our lives have gone on. We met for lunch and in some ways nothing and everything had changed. You might not quite recognize the face, but the mannerisms and the speech patterns remained the same after all this time.

I wanted to find a way to show everyone both my family and also one of my favourite hobbies - scrapbooking, so I created a little introduction book to incorporate both loves.

Here are some pictures of my little book:

And here is a picture of the six of us:

Meeting everyone again after almost 30 years was a little nerve wracking and also exciting - we are full of plans to see each other again - and Facebook continues to make it easy to be in touch with our busy days.

One of the funny outcomes of the weekend and my little book is that one of my old school mates had never seen modern scrapbooking and is now making plans to take classes in Victoria! (Ah, I have converted another one!!!)

The saying of "no matter how much things change, they always stay the same" comes to mind - I feel that I was able to bring two parts of my life together - my friends of my youth together with my current love of scrapbooking - the past meets the present.

Circle Journal Journies

On Friday night I picked up the first of nine Circle Journals that I will working on in the coming months and it started me thinking of the journey that my Circle Journal will be taking.

You might want to know what a "Circle Journal" is - it is a small scrapbook (at least in our case) that you start, set a theme and then pass along to the next member of your Circle Journal group. Once you do the title page, and the first two-page layout, the rest of the scrapbook is in other people's hands, for them to make their contributions, while you are making yours in their Circle Journal.

There are ten people in our group - so each book will be added to by nine other people before we have our own book back in our hands at the end of April.

We now have a list of the themes for each of the books and they are as varied as the people participating in the journal group. Everything from "Amazing Teachers" to "Quirks" and a number of things in between.

My first journal is a truly amazing book with a fabulous presentation - the theme is "Where in the world" and it is all about where you would like to go, where you dream about going - anywhere in the world. The book comes complete in a matching decorated box to go with the first couple of pages for Africa.

I have been thinking really hard on what I wanted to include for my two-page contribution - I think that I will be putting in "Holland in Tulip Time" as my addition to the journal.

I have not thought about Holland in the springtime for many years - it is definately on my life 'to do' list. I am glad to have this opportunity to revisit this dream.

I am looking forward to the journey through other people's Circle Journals too and as each changeover time happens - the books will be more facinating to read.......

Classes for October & November

I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is over (I have the turkey leftovers to prove it), and Halloween is coming up quickly - I guess that, very shortly, it will be downhill to Christmas!

So, here is my class schedule for the rest of October:

Monday, October 15th from 6:30 p.m. @ Michael's PoCo - Laced Accordian Book

(See description below for more information.)

Sunday, October 21st from 1 p.m. @ Remember Me - Pet Mini Album.

This is a great little project - just six panels that lace together with ribbon. The ones that we will be doing are themed for a pet, but you could just as easily do any other theme on your own for yourself or for a present (Christmas idea) - weddings, baby showers, Christmas, vacation, etc. The whole project completes in two hours!

Monday, October 22nd from 6:30 p.m. @ Michael's PoCo - Wedding Albums

Now that the wedding day is past, the presents unwrapped and the flowers are preserved - the photographer has just delivered the 400+ pictures taken of you in your wedding finery - what do you do with all of them? You want something to remember the day by - all the ups and maybe the downs - this is the scrapbooking class for you. Bring your photos, memorabilia and ideas and I will get you started on creating that one of a kind album for all your wedding photos.

Monday, October 29th from 6:30 p.m. @ Michael's PoCo - Christmas Cards

Come and get started on making your Christmas cards for this year. This class will show you some simple techniques to make a variety of unique Christmas cards using some basic supplies and embellishments. By the end of the class you will have made a selection of cards.

Sunday, November 18th from 1:00 p.m. @ Remember Me - Calendar

This is a great opportunity to make a truly unique Christmas present for someone special in your family - a one-of-a-kind calendar. In this class you will make a 8" x 8" calendar - all 12 months in one 4 hour class. You will need to bring 12 4x6 photos and the basics (paper cutter, adhesive (normal and glue dots), scissors, etc.) - all the rest will be provided in this fast paced, kitted class.

If you would like more information on the above classes, please send me a message and I will be happy to provide it to you. Samples of all class projects will be on display in the stores.

Happy Scrapping!