Wednesday, July 28, 2010

There and Back Again -- Weight Loss Surgery

I’m starting a new personal project called There and Back Again. It’s a journey of seven-years- highlighting the ups and downs of WLS, how it fits into an active lifestyle, and what happens when it doesn’t. I’ll have a cover page, and table of contents. On “page 3”, I’m using K&Company’s Brenda Walton Olivia Rose 12x12 Specialty Paper Pad (Code:30-576759) and blue cardstock from Bazzil Basics Premium Cardstock 10-piece pack (#304888). Both AC Moore and Michaels stores in my area carry Bazzill cardstock. The birdcage underneath the journaling is a Tim Holtz Sizzix die cut. Though not my original plan for this embellishment, it seems to fit quite well in this capacity.


In his play, The Physicists, Friedrich Dürrenmatt wrote, “You have taken refuge in a prison that you have built for yourself.” In the same way, we may often find ways to entrap ourselves, sometimes in good ways and many times not, in various circumstances and conditions. I’m certainly no exception and these birdcages serve as a reminder of the traps awaiting us, to hinder our walk and deny us choices that lead us to fuller and productive lives. So, don’t be surprised if birdcages manage to find their way on many of the pages of this scrapbook

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Certified and Excited

I believe that scrapbooking is all about legacy -- the stories we tell through pictures and journaling. These are the stories that we leave behind, the stories that our children and grandchildren might share in the days of the futurepast. Often, the key to good storytelling, to conveying the thoughts and emotions eddying around highpoints in our individual lives, is becoming familiar with the the tools and techniques to help us along the way. It would be pretty difficult to build a house without a hammer, wouldn't it? The same could be said about any worthwhile endeavor.

I teach scrapbooking. I integrated the teaching component into my business footprint (http://www.christianlifestyles.us/) in March 2009 when I became a Close To My Heart independent consultant (http://scrappigators.blogspot.com/ , http://ourscrappinglife.blogspot.com/ , and http://dianecook.myctmh.com/).

I stumbled across SDU almost a year ago (Oct 2009) when I started teaching classes for A.C. Moore in Dover (Delaware). I'm all about learning so the Scrapbooking, Design and You program's foundational approach to teaching others how to scrapbook along with its strong retail orientation would help me provide even better service to my client and my students. Little did I know that it would take almost a year to be enrolled and complete their training program. But now I have, and I am totally excited.


So, what's so great about SDU? It's much more far-reaching than I expected when I started researching certification programs last October. SDU is part of the EK Success brand which, in the papercrafting world includes but is not limited to:

  • EK Success (Tools)
  • Jolee's Boutique (Dimensional Stickers)
  • Sticko (Flat Stickers)
  • K&Company (Coordinated collections, paper, albums)
  • Inkadinkado (stamping)
  • Martha Stewart Crafts (all of the above and more)
  • Licensing (Disney, Sesame, Marvel, Muppets, American Girl & Nickelodeon)
Since I completed certification and received my store assignment, I have been gathering tools. I've absolutely fallin in love with the Cutterpede paper trimmer. not to mention my Zig Writer pens, Melinnium pens, powdering tools, and more.

I'll be teaching SDU's four-session approach to entry-level scrapbooking at Micheal's in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on Thursday mornings September 9, 16, 23 and 30 and Friday evenings September 10, 17, 24, and October 1. I'll be teaching the same course at AC Moore's in Dover on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, September 14, 16, 28 and 30.

To help promote the program, I'll be attending a Michael's Friday night crop on August 27 and conducting demos at AC Moore between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM on Saturday, August 28th.

In the weeks and months ahead, I will be showcasing projects, product and people encountered along my SDU journey through photos, videos and more. If I don't see you at Michaels or at AC Moore, I hope to meet you online. Until then, happy scrapping!