back in the saddle...

it feels so good to be scrapping again. over the course of the last year i *sort of* stopped. **major gasp, i know** i dabbled in other things & i really didn't take many pictures either. don't get me wrong though, i do have plenty still, but not the norm for me. i was missing it dearly. missing the friends i'd made thru scrapping- because i let that go too. missing our get togethers. missing it all. i've been scrapping for almost 15 years now, i guess i was entitled to a little break. if i did get in the mood to scrap...i was easily overwhelmed! i would step away or it would take me forever to get a page together. for new years i made a resolution: to *get back into scrapping & too enjoy it again*.

the sisters scrapbook store in billings emailed me asking me to teach at spring retreat. just in time to help with that resolution, to kick off the new year :) so, i put together my first class, my {use it up} class. the last time i went to retreat (last spring) i didn't preplan...i worked on stuff on the fly...which was a first for me. i'm a planner. so this time, since i'm not working, and i'm determined to get lots accomplished- i have been preplanning like a mad woman. i have 92 pages preplanned already...which i think i should be able to get done...or close to it. i'm working on 2009 pic's & trying to fill in all the gaps from skipping around. i'm already in september! yesterday, i printed out a bunch of pictures at home & just scrapped. finished 2 pages. man i'm loving this! in december amazon had an AMAZING photo paper sale on my favorite photo paper for only $4 instead of $28. this is 8.5x11 size (they also have it in 4x6 as well...it's the soft gloss & the premium plus!!! total score!!! you can print 20 2x2 pic's on one sheet or 9 wallets. i'm doing lots of collage style pages right now...so i can get caught up & save myself from having to do multiple pages of each event. i also keep a photo file of pages i find online in "my pictures" & refer to it often & scraplift pages. makes perfect sense & it has allowed me to get back in the vibe & create different pages without putting in a lot of stressing. i'm loving using up my shreddies & misc., but i do need new product...i'm low in several categories.

if you're interested in attending retreat...it's at the end of february...yup, coming up soon! i have one more class to put together...it's a mini album...and then i'm also teaching a mini organizing class.

here are a few sneek peeks: