What an adventure our October weekend retreat turned out to be...the venue we were booked into fell through 2 weeks before due to new owners who decided that we couldn't rent the hall 24/7 but had to pack up ALL our stuff at 11.30pm to then haul it all back in again at 8am each morning! A retreat where we cannot create all day and night...well we said forget it!

Then the panic set in....

We had all the ladies booked and raring to go so we spent that day and evening on the internet and phone to find most venues booked but we eventually found somewhere that would fit us all in...just!

So...emails were sent out...the ladies rallied around and really supported our new venue decision and it ended up (once again) being a fabulous retreat!

The Pink and Pearls came out on Saturday night after great company and a meal with everyone at the restaraunt.
      
We followed this with bubbly and a chocolate fountain...strawberries and marshmallows dipped in chocolate...YUM who could resist!

Queen Louise won the dress up comp and the Scrap Pack Challenges were won by Alison and Bec who were both new to a Creatively Inspired retreat.

Lisa gets special mention for scrapping through both Friday and Saturday nights again...and once again we wondered how she did it!!

We once again had some fabulous new products in the shop and

Scrappy gave out plenty of awesome prizes as usual!

All in all we had a fantastic time...we made some new friends, caught up with some old ones, scrapped really great pages, made some wonderful cards and came away with fabulous memories...can't wait to do it all again next year in May!

We are really excited to announce our weekend retreat for next year will be held on 25th - 27th May 2012...

We will be at a new venue and the retreat is all inclusive from 3 course dinner on Friday (and Saturday night too) night through till lunch on Sunday...also included is all classes (including class kits), make and takes, demo's, goodie bag, scrap pack challenge, prizes and giveaways!

The following are some pics from our new venue...Juniors on Hawkesbury...this venue is only 30 mins easy drive from Windsor (with no ferry crossings), they have comfortable twin share rooms with ensuite and we have a fabulous scrap room upstairs with views of the Hawkesbury River through floor to ceiling windows which also let in plenty of light for being creative.

The cost of the weekend is $325 but we have a super duper Early bird SPECIAL for all our retreat enthusiasts....

Book and pay your $65 deposit by 31 December 2011 

and pay in full by 1 April 2012 and receive the retreat for 

only $310

We are only taking 30 ladies and already have a couple of cardmaking ladies booked in so if you love your scrapbooking or card making and would love a relaxing weekend away with nothing to do but create then why not join us...

How to make Rub-Ons

We all love rub-ons and sometimes we are not able to find the exact one to fit our scrapbooking page. We found these instructions on how to make your own rub-ons at Scrapbooking tips and techniques on blogspot.

Follow these simple steps, and you can create your own rub-ons with your computer and use them over and over again! We haven't tried them yet but if anyone does before us let us know how they go...

Supplies:

Transparency paper (purchased at your local office supply store)
Inkjet Printer
Paddle Pop Stick

Directions:

1.Insert the transparency into your inket printer, so that it prints on the SMOOTH side of the transparency be sure you have the smooth side down.

2. Open your favourite word processing or photo program and create the text or image you want to have as a rub on.

3. Format your printer settings so that it is set to print on "plain paper", "best quality" and "mirror image" (the image needs to be reversed especially if you are printing text or it will appear backwards).

4. Print your "rub-on"

5. Let dry for about 3-5 minutes being careful not to touch it or it will smear.

6. Place the transparency smooth side down onto your scrapbooking page exactly where you want the image or text to appear, holding firmly in place, and rub with a paddle pop stick, press hard and make sure you rub over the entire surface of the image

7. Carefully pull up the transparency and let ink completey dry before touching

8. Use a damp cloth or paper towel to clean off your transparency and get it ready for your next rub-on, you can re-use the transparency over and over and over again.

Be sure to practise first before putting the rub-on your page. Every ink jet printer is different and drying times may vary but with a bit of practise you will be creating rub-ons with very little effort.

Good luck :)

Kits...Kits...Kits

Our Kaisercraft Monthly Kits have been so popular we thought we would give you a sneak peak of this months before it is packed up and sent out on the 20th.

Each kit contains goodies from the Kaisercraft release including an array of gorgeous patterned papers and embellishments such as die cuts, chipboard, rub-ons, journal tags or wooden flourishes  from the new collection as well as cardstock to complete your layouts, stickers and / or chipboard for titles and extras such as brads, ribbon or flowers. 

We will also include the latest Kaisercraft workshop magazine and a special offers flyer and you can download layout instructions each month from our website.

This month we feature the beautiful "Miss Nelly"... bright and bold with funky florals to add the wow factor to your pages.

For more information check out our website

Our June weekend retreat was sooooo cool and groovy! We had a great time scrapbooking, attending classes, catching up with friends and making new ones...







 The 60's theme was fabulous and the ladies looked great in all their 60's gear...we had hippies, mods and even a gorgeous flower child!

 Even Scrappy got into the spirit wearing his version of 60's get up...complete with peace sign and head band...very hip Scrap!

 Denise was voted our dress up winner and Chris and Jenny took top honours in the Scrap Pack Challenge. And, Scrappy let a whole bunch of winners choose their prizes from his new treasure chest.

Many of the ladies attending the retreat also subscribe to our monthly kits (finished kit pages shown here) so they had brought them along to do and we loved to see the pages being done using the great Kaisercraft products.

We had quite a few comments on how great the kits were to do at retreat as you could so easily put them together using our instructions or choose to do a layout of your own creation using the coordinating products.


Of course lollies and chocolate figured heavily during the weekend...what is a weekend retreat without treats!

All in all a great time was had by everyone...we can't wait to do it all again in October at our Pink and Pearls Retreat at the wonderful Stanhope Gardens!

We were distressing edges the other night in class and it got us thinking about other techniques for using your file sets ( ie: Basic Grey or Kaisercraft ) so here is a short video from Basic Grey that shows you several techniques for using your files...

We are loving the Kaisercraft monthly kits that we are bringing you each month...it is so much fun working on the layouts instructions and the feedback has been fantastic!


This month we are excited to bring you the Chanteuse collection - what a beautiful range!

We especially love this Chanteuse Mother's Day Frame made by Kerryn Lawson of the Kaisercraft Design Team - Kerryn has added heaps of birds, butterfly's and flowers to create a stunning frame for her Mum.

Absolutely gorgeous!!

We've just returned from another fantastic weekend retreat of scrapbooking and cardmaking at Castlereagh Academy.


Our ladies had a fabulous time scrapping the days away...sharing wonderful scones at morning tea or a cuppa on the veranda and Nikki gave us wonderful massages on Saturday afternoon.


We were lucky to have a table to ourselves (great when we can get it) to spread out a make as much mess as we wanted.

Our beds were extremely comfortable...and...we had a couple of marathon efforts...an almost allnighter (5.20am) for  Lisa and Di on Friday night. The rest of us asleep and snoring by about 2.30am! And then another late night for Lisa and Kellie on Saturday night.
Well done ladies!

Congratulations to Dianna and Robyn for winning our Scrap Pack Challenge...once again a hard one to judge...there were so many entries and they were all great!!                 

As always classes were fun and everybody loved the new techniques...

Scrappy gave out awesome prizes and as always kept everybody happy...and busy...he kept getting handmade "paper" clothes every stop he had (by the end of the weekend he had become a she with the cute dress, apron, headband and ribbons he/she was wearing)...how confusing!

We made new friends and caught up with those we hadn't seen in awhile and all in all we came away feeling wonderful that we had a great time away. Now...we can't wait till the June retreat...

We have just got in the wonderful Smooch Spritz from Clearsnap...and we are loving it!! A bit like Glimmermist but more shimmering and a fraction thicker it dries quickly and looks fabulous!

Check out this great video from Canada that we found. They show how you can use the spritz to make a vintage tag and also a title on a scrapbook layout.

We have got in a range of colour's so ask us about Smooch Spritz next time you are in class...

Very excited...launching our new Kaisercraft Kits today!! Yay!!

Each month you will receive a pizza box full of fabulous Kaisercraft goodies from one of their new collections plus full colour instructions and the Kaisercraft workshop brochure and...heaps of special offers!!

The kits will include cardstock, patterned papers, and loads of embellishments such as matching chipboard, rub-ons, stickers, wooden flourishes, journal tags flowers or ribbon etc etc....

There will be enough to make at least 4 layouts...

 

Layout by Elizna Parsons with permission by Kaisercraft.

We are teaching 2 fabulous classes at our March Weekend Away...check out the 3D circle effect in this sneak peek...stay tuned for the sneak peek of our other class layout...a gorgeous heritage page!

Loving this tutorial by Liz Hicks  from Tattered Angels. Liz shows how to Glimmer Mist Crepe paper Ruffles and Blooms...

Travel Album Class

Happy New Year everyone...we hope you had a great time over the Christmas / New Year break with family and friends and that you are all refreshed and ready to be creatively inspired by us...

We are excited to be bringing you some new monthly classes this year...The first is our fabulous travel album. Join us on the first Wednesday night of each month at 7.30pm at the Riverstone Neighbourhood Centre and before you know it you will have travel layouts completed and the tips and tricks that we will share with you along the way will help you create wonderful albums each time you take a holiday!

Here is a sneak peek:   

As we have so many photos to scrapbook when we travel it can be confusing as to where to start and how exactly to display your wonderful photos and the memorabilia that you have collected along the journey.

This is where we come in...we will show you various ways to present your photos including single and double page layouts, slip in pocket pages and even the 4 and 6 page layouts using the flip out protectors.For memorabilia we will include various ways to show off brochures, tickets, maps etc. 

 A title and an informative itinerary start the basics of our album and we will work on these on our first night - Wednesday 2nd February.

There are many ways to set out a travel album including consecutive by each day or place travelled, randomly or even by themes ie: dining experiences, poolside adventure etc.

We will look at different papers to use and various embellishments that you can included on your pages.

Quite often you will find themed papers for travel and they can present a challenge to use as you don't want to cover up the pattern or title that they have on them...bring these papers along and we will explore the endless possibilities.

So, if you travel far or near, for lengthy stays or  lovely quick getaways....we will help you create layouts or albums that will help you relive your memories time and time again.



Do you love recipes...We do!!

Start collecting your recipes now for our fun reciepe album class coming in April.

If you have a favourite receipe from Grandma or Uncle Harry or even Joan down the road why not get them to handwrite it (where possible) and then take a photo of them to include on the layout. The handwriting is something to treasure as the years go by...who knows in the future we may only be using computers or texting and handwriting might become a little known skill??

Kylie's husband's Nonna makes the best spaghetti sauce you have ever tasted but coming form Italy her English isn't the best and forget getting the receipe handwritten so a fabulous photo with Lauren and Madi and their great Nonna will accompany the receipe in her album.

She also has a handwritten receipe from her Mum (who passed away when Kylie was 16) but no photo to accompany this one so it will be a special "no photo" layout. Funny thing is the receipe is for a dish that Kylie despised when she was a kid but the handwriting holds the key to special childhood memories of her mother.

There is plenty of time to organise yourself and start collecting what you need to put together a layout each month!