Heidi's Class

This is the album we created in Heidi Swapp's class at the Scrap Etc. Event. I love Heidi, love her style, love her products, but this album was probably my least favorite project of the event. Mainly because I'm a practical kind of girl, and since I already have a journal and Memory Dock, this album really won't serve any purpose for me. Yes, it's artsier than a Memory Dock, but it's almost too delicate for practical use. I really like Heidi and listened to her lecture class intently--she always has some great insights on life in general, so it wasn't like the class was a complete waste . . .

On another note, the title of the album was originally supposed to be "To Your Heart Be True," but since the rubons she provided were HORRIBLE, it was impossible for me to get that many letters out of the package. So I stuck with a simpler title. Heidi assured everyone that the rubons were "new and improved" but everyone was having issues with them. That's my only complaint about her--you'd think since her name is on a product and so many people have ALWAYS had trouble with them, she would remedy the issue real fast-like . . .she needs to take some notes from Jenni Bowlin whose rubons were like butta! Someone asked Jenni why hers were so awesome as opposed to other brands and she said it was simple: MADE IN THE USA. Food for thought for sure!

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

First we lost Rod. Got him replaced with Mike T. Been practicing with him each week so that we could get back to where we were with Rod. Now this past week, Mike R. informed us that he is losing his job and accepted another one in Dallas. And then we get an email from Mike T. saying it's just too much on his plate to keep drumming for us. So we're back to square one basically. Me, Brian, and Charlie. I totally understand they gotta do what they gotta do, but I'm still sad about the whole situation. I'm just feeling so blah about the whole thing now. Do we start over? Do we quit? I have no idea, but I hate that we've practiced so long for basically nothing!

From Another Class

Wilna Furstenberg of Making Memories was one of the teachers at the Scrap Etc. Event. We had two main projects in her class, and I finally put the finishing touches on this one on Saturday. These cards were supposed to be a part of an album as you can see in her examples from the Event book. She made a "coffee cup" album and then also bound them to make a mini-album. I really didn't want to do another mini-album and I'm no fan of coffee, so I decided to just make individual birthday tags instead.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out!

Opryland Hotel

Yes, I'm still talking about the trip! There's just so many aspects I wanted to share that I'm having to spread it out over several blog posts!

I've really been trying hard to learn more about my camera, and Brian is patiently explaining things over and over until they sink in. It would probably help if I practiced every single day, but I just don't have the time to devote to it just yet! We weren't shooting on complete manual for these, just Av, but that's a big step for me considering I'm very fond of just shooting in P mode. Brian took these first two or three and then let me practice after that. It takes so many shots to get just the right lighting that I can't believe how frustrating it was when shooting like this in film. At least with digital you can see immediate results and change the settings accordingly! Thank goodness for technology, right?! (Remember to double click on the pics to get a better view!)

This last one is from Trish's husband's camera. I never did get a wide shot of the conservatory, so I borrowed his to show off here. Keep in mind that this is just ONE of the "common areas." There were several other wide, expansive spaces just like this one! This place was so massive, there is no way to describe how intricate all the details were in every nook and cranny. I can't imagine the architectural and landscaping plans!

Let Me Tell You About

The Grand Ole Opry! To be honest, I thought it was just for old folks, but it turned out to be the best thing about Nashville in our opinion! When I found out that Martina McBride was going to be there, I knew we had to go, even if they don't do a full-blown concert. It was worth it to just get to see her do a few songs . . . We had great seats, fourth row to be exact, so we could really see all the behind the scenes action. The sound quality was absolutely incredible! And the down home feel--no one is treated with any airs--they just come on out and sing. Simply put, it was a great time!

Clayton loved every minute (oh, except for that time that Brian left to go take pictures--we missed one whole song due to the crying and fit thowin' for Daddy!) He stayed in Brian's lap and clapped and danced the whole time!!

Jim Ed Brown:
Steve Wariner:

A new group, The Steeldrivers:

Eric Church:

Bill Anderson:

Lee Greenwood:

Little Jimmy Dickens:

And of course, Martina:

Some Favorites

My other favorite class last week was Jenni Bowlin's. She was so down to earth and the class was well organized. It was a lot slower paced than the others so I didn't feel near as much pressure to get everything done as fast as possible. And her products are so vintage looking--love the way they looked with the black and white photos. We completed four bingo cards in her class, and I knew it was a great chance to scrap some for my brother's kids. Not sure how I'm going to combine these yet, but I couldn't wait until then to share them because I really like how they turned out. Jenni's tip for the day: put your rubons on vellum and cut them out and then attach them to your project--adds a little dimension to them. (All photos are by my sister-in-law, Nicole and I've blurred the kids names for obvious reasons). And remember, you can double click on the pics to get a closer look.

Quickie Projects

Here are a couple more projects from the Scrap Etc. Event. The album was created in a class by Danelle Johnson and Kristi Blankenship of Creative Cafe. They shared lots of simple ways of recording your family's everyday moments and even the thoughts, feelings of each family member, etc. The biggest point they made was to do something rather than waiting until you have time to do some awesome publish-worthy layout. Because twenty years, thirty years, fourty years down the road, will the design really matter? Of course not! Just the memory recorded on the page is all it comes down to in the end. This particular album is divided into twelve sections, so it could easily become a month-to-month way of recording little things that have happened with your family. The other big idea that they shared that got me thinking was a Family Circle Journal--a journal passed from one family member to the next by way of letters written to each other. Neat idea, huh?

This next project wasn't necessarily my favorite mainly because I'm not great with altered art or cutesy things like that. And since I don't have a true "scrapbook room," I never really know what to do with those things anyway. Can't really hang them in the kitchen if you know what I mean. Monique McClean taught this class and it was basically just replicating her example. Here's how mine turned out: