Right NOW!

I am definitely moving this time!!

I am moving my blog to:

www.alisonshearer.blogspot.com

There is only a shell there at the moment but I will post a catch up post later today.

If you have me on your blog lists can you please update your link.

Thanks

Alison

I'm very sad

The store I have been teaching at for the past two years is closing!!!!!!!!!

Scrapabout Australia has been run by Leanne and Pat - both wonderful women who have created a great environment at the store. It has always been such a friendly, supportive store with many regulars, so many great classes and a real willingness to source products that the customers wanted.  I know it has been a tough decision for them to close the store but life gets in the way sometimes and as anyone who has run a business knows - it's not an easy job.

I wish Leanne and Pat all the best - they have both been wonderful to me and i've had a lot of fun working with them.  Leanne will get to enjoy more time with her beautiful children and Pat will hopefully get to enjoy an early taste of retirement.

This weekend on Saturday night we will have our last crop night - which will also be a fairwell party so if you have been thinking about coming but are not sure then please take the opportunity to come  along. The store's last trading day will be Saturday 30 June.

I will miss all my 'regulars' - what will I do without you girls????? Very sad indeed.

So - if anyone is looking for an experienced  scrapping teacher let me know!! LOL

Alison

A Big Weekend of Scrapping

Miss Rebecca and I took ourselves to the movies yesterday to see Shrek the Third - I loved it - maybe not quite as unexpectedly funny as the first two but still a great laugh. I was surprised when it ended and that's always a good sign for me...when I'm not sitting there watching the clock and hoping for the end (like I was with the woeful Mr Beans Holiday!)

As the weekend was a long one we set a bunch of challenges over at KSK - and I even completed them all myself!! I did 7 layouts in total - 6 for the challenges and 1 just for extra fun.

Here are some of the LOs. The challenges included a Lo using red, white, blue and a crown (in honour of the Queens Birthday holiday), a LO using handmade embellishments (the felted flowers), a LO using paint  (Play) and a LO using  song title, a frame, stamping ans some chipboard (The Sweet Escape). In the one called 'Fascinated' I have used a canvas painted circle  - an idea I have just plain old scraplifted from the very talented Kim Archer. This cute idea is used on her free on-line class on her new web site. Thanks for the inspiration Kim.

New Toys

Today I got two things I am really excited about  - sad but true when you hear what they are.

I got a new toy to play with..................... wait for it...................a STAPLE GUN!!!  Woweee hey.  I needed this for my canvas album class - to make the sample I borrowed one from my next door neighbour but secretly I have wanted one for a while. I can't wait to  see what I can do with thi. I will be haunting quilters and fabric crafters blogs for upholstery and wall art ideas and will also be able to repair a few things around the house - yay me!! I wanted the pretty yellow one but it was twice the price and I couldn't really justify that just to get a yellow one...mmmm.

The other thing was a new stash of Green Tea flowers in red, with a few brown ones thrown in - these are so cheap - 25c ea - how can I resist.

Thanks for the class this morning girls - I hope you all had fun, we certainly made a mess.  I loved seeing all your different takes on this and would love to see some pics when you are finished. Just email me.

Long Weekend Challenges

Come over and join us at KSK. The DT are setting a whole bunch of challenges to inspire your scrapping over the Queens Birthday long weekend. The weather  in Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle is horrendous at the moment - very bad for going outdoors -  huge winds and torrential rain - but that means it's great scrapping weather.  So if you are planning a scrapping weekend come and join us for some fun and prizes too.

If you are affected by the hideous weather please take care - there are some pretty bad things happening out there - roads collapsing, a train de-railed, flooding etc - the weather is insane - such a bad drought and now this flash flooding.  We really need the rain to fill up or dams but the Eastern seaboard has copped it a lot lately. Please rain gods send the rain inland.

On Sunday morning I am teaching a really fun and messy class at Scrapabout Australia in North Parramatta. We are making an album out of two smallish canvasses. The canvasses form the front and back covers - lots of pain and upholstery tacks are  involved!! There are places left if you want to come and play. Here are some sneaky type pics.

(Edited to add - what I meant above was lots of PAINT and upholstery tacks LOL!! I would hate anyone to think the upholstery tacks were being used to inflict pain!!)

New Post

I was reminded by a few lovely girls at my class last night that I haven't updated my blog in a while. Thanks girls....sometimes I just don't feel like I have that much to say!!

So what's been happening since I last blogged about my India Trek reunion.

Work - I have been working from our Head Office all this year and will finally finish up at the end of this month and return to my 'real' job in Parramatta. Head Office has been great but I have missed my team so much I am really looking forward to going back - plus it is much closer to home so I will spend at least 5 hours a week LESS on the road which is a very good thing.

I taught a class on basic photo editing using Elements last night which was a lot of fun. I am still learning as well so it's great to share my experience with other people. The one real bummer of the class is that I used a borrowed Lite-Pro and it gave a green cast to everything so the images projected on the wall were not as clear as they could have been..but we coped. Thanks to everyone who attended for their patience and understanding.

Kim Archer has launched her brand spanking new web site. It is so beautiful to look at and there are so many things on offer. If you haven't already visited check the site out here.  I have admired Kim and her many talents ever since I started scrapbooking and it is so exciting to see her launch this venture. She has a great "Support Team' too (love that title!) - Janelle Wind, Julie Love, Mardi Winen and Yvette Adams (who is on the KSK DT with me - yay Yvette)

My gorgeous friend Albie who I met trekking in India all those years ago has a business called Screaming Seeds based in Victoria. She makes the most delicious spice blends which she distributes all over the country. She started this business about 13 years ago and I am so proud of what she has achieved. She is one of those special uplifting souls who just lights up a room and I am blessed to have met her. In the mail yesterday I received a little package of spices  - Kashmiri Krush (my fave as we spent half our time in India in Kashmir) and Marrakesh Magic. Love you Albie.

I was at the recent Papercrafts event at Homebush with Addicted to Craft and we did some really cute make and takes using Gel-a-tins stamps and Blue Eye Dezines papers. Sadly the show was very quiet - I don't know what other people thought but it didn't seem very well attended to me?

Rebecca's netball team continues on it's winning way - so far they have had one match rained out, one forfeited and have won the other 4. Last week the score was 16 nil and a few weeks ago it was 23-0. She has joined a great team!

This upcoming long weekend I intend to scrap to my hearts content. I haven't done much lately except things for other people or places so I just want to soak up some of the inspiration around me (Like Kim's site) and play.

I will end with a LO share or two - these have been my latest for Karens Scrapping. I am really loving the Heidi Swapp typography stamps at the moment. Hope you are all having a good week

India 1987

On the weekend I had an amazing evening - a reunion with people I trekked through the Himalayan Mountains with 20 years ago.  This trip was a life changing experience in many ways -

I achieved things physically in terms of altitude, effort and general fitness that I wasn't sure I could;
I saw the most amazing sights - massive snow covered mountains, vast plains, poverty, friendliness, faith, architecture to die for, curiosity and beauty;
I laughed until my sides ached;
I met people I will share a bond with for life;
I grew to appreciate how much I have

I travelled with 4 friends and met many more people through an organised Australian Himalayan Expeditions trek. 

The story is a long one but the group I ended up spending the most amazing  three weeks of my life with could not have been better if they were hand picked.  Enough people were booked in for two groups and we were 'sorted' in Kashmir - we knew that as far as one of the AHE staff was concerned that we were the B group - the less outgoing, less  outrageous, less loud mouthed party animals - well the last laugh was ours!!! The A group set of a day ahead of us and it became clear when we met them on rest days that they were not having a great time - too much in-fighting, jockeying for top dog position, bitching etc etc etc - whereas we went on our merry B team way and just clicked with each other from day 1.

20 years later a core group of us from Sydney, Wollongong, Torquay in Victoria and Hobart in Tasmania got together after having have stayed in touch on and off over the last two decades.  I am typing this with such a big smile on my face still - I love these people - they have made and still make my life a better place.  20 years is nothing - it was like it was yesterday - and we re now planning to go again in 2009 - to give us time to save and plan and for some of us (ie. me) to get fit again. It will not be the same trip - it will be a new trip, a new route and a new experience. I feel in my bones that it will be just as great

I had lost half my photos but have them back thanks to technology and generosity - I came home with a disk full of memories! Thanks Mark.

Here are some photo collages of the trip - this is only the first installment.  These collages cover the first week or so - when the 5 of us  went to Delhi, Agra and Jaipur on our own and then flew up to Kashmir with the rest of the group and stayed in houseboats for a day. I have many more photos to sort and share - of the actual 3 week trek.  The time of my life.  I hope you enjoy the pics - taken with a Nikon FG 20 manual SLR camera and many, many rolls of Fuji film!

Change of Heart

I will NOT be moving my blog after all - at least not for a while. I am re-arranging lots of things in my life behind the scenes (nothing major - just lots of small things) and moving my blog is just too hard at the moment - so I will stick with it here at typepad.

Sorry for the confusion.  I will post some scrapping soon - I promise!

Alison

I will be moving

...my blog.  Just a quick notice to let you know that I will be moving my blog very soon - maybe even tomorrow!  When I have done this I will email anyone on my contact list and let you know what my new blog address will be.

Thanks

Alison

May and June CLasses

I am teaching another bunch of fun classes at Scrapabout Australia during May and June and thought I would share these with you.

I am teaching:

Wednesday16 May 7 -9pm  Hidden Journaling   (the sample uses Urban Lily but I will have lots of other samples on the night_
Saturday 26 May 11 - 1pm  A Baby LO and Mini Album - using Deja Views Sharon Anne Collection -  this is even a BOY page featuring the gorgeous Max
Tuesday 22 May Crate Paper feature class I have made two LOs - a single and a double using the new Crate paper and tags - you can make either of these or both if you are a fast scrapper
Tuesday 5 June _  will be teaching Photo Editing again - a bit of revision from the class of a few months ago but some new material too - actions, frames etc
Sunday 10 June 10-12noon - we will have  a great time making  a little keepsake album using two canvasses - my theme for this is Make a Difference  - there are so many little ways in whcih we can make this world a better place
Tuesday 19 May 7-9 pm - Create your Own borders and embellishments using Technique Tuesday products and stamps
Saturday 23 June 11 - 1pm - Heidi Swapp Clock overlay class - we will be using these fun clocks to make a LO or two (depending on how quickly we work!)

and on Wednesday 30 May and Wednesday 27 June - we will do out regular 8.5 x 11" lo class - in May the challenge is to use a very large photo (eg. A4 size) and in June the focus will be on black & white LOs.

Here are some collages of the work so you can see what the sample LOs look like.

I don't normally do such a big class promo but I have had a few people say they wish they'd known what I was teaching as they'd missed out - so here you are!