Seth Apter came to visit

Seth Apter flew down from NYC to spend the weekend with us teaching us all about Collage and Stenciling.

Seth is a Mixed-Media Artist, Author, Instructor and Designer and  has products with Stencil Girl, Spellbinders and Impression Obsession.

Three full days of paint, stenciling and book making. Great fun for everyone.

If Seth is teaching at a store near you I highly recommend you taking a class with him. Seth really inspires his students and brings them out of their box. . . .everyone is asking us when he is coming back again and we hope it is very soon!

An amazing event in February 2015

We have a fabulous event coming to the South Florida area in February 2015

Everything Scrapbook & Stamps is so excited to announce

Dina Wakley and Dyan Reaveley together in Florida in February at a private retreat

you can find out all the details here:

Back to Back Retreat

Customer Spotlight: Stephanie

Have I ever mentioned that we love it... I mean, we really LOVE it when you guys come in and show us your work?  Well, we do...  and here's the post to prove it!

One of our regulars, Stephanie P., brought in some completed pages from Michelle's Adventures in Art Journaling class that really wowed us...   here's Mrs. Stephanie:

She did two fantastic pages... here's the first background we created in the Adventures in Art Journaling Class:

This is the class sample

and then Stephanie went home and worked on it some more.

Now look at how awesome Stephanie's completed page looks:

Here's another background created in the Adventures to Art Journaling class:

And here is Stephanie's completed interpretation: 

Amazing, right?  The creativity and versatility of our customers never ceases to amaze me... it's one of my favorite parts of working in scrapbooking, seeing how different people take an idea and make it their own.  We love to celebrate with our customers, so please come on in and show us what you've made - you might just get featured on the blog!!!

Upcoming Classes...

Whew - hold on to your hats... SO much to do here at ESS this week!!!!

Starting on Thursday the 29th from 6-8pm we will have the next installment of Michelle's A2Z of Me Art Journaling class.  **PLEASE NOTE** If you normally take the A2Z of Me Art Journaling Class on the weekend you will need to take the Thursday class instead as we have special guest teacher Nathalie Kalbach here this weekend.  Normal schedule will resume next month.  The letter this time will be "T", so make sure to gather your T images.  Here's a sneak of Michelle's page:

There's a ton of fun techniques involved in the "T" page so make sure not to miss out!

Last time we focused on the letter "Q" - here's Michelle's awesome "Q" layout:

If you're following along on-line and want to share your work you can upload your Q page using the link tool at the end of this post. 

On Friday Tamara is teaching her Girls Gone Wild fall canvas class.  This is a great technique class using a Suzi Blu stamp which you will learn to alter.  You will also get to use resist paper, stencils, stamps, inks, paints, and glitter.  Lots and lots of fun stuff here:

Then this weekend the big days have FINALLY arrived - Nathalie Kalbach will be here!!!  Nathalie Kalbach is an European Mixed Media Artist. Her layered work is an explosion of texture, dimension and jewel tone colors. In her workshops she shares her secrets for using paint and ink products to reveal texture, tips and tricks for embedding found objects and embellishments and how to unlock your personal creativity. Nathalie is teaching workshops all over the world as in Europe, Israel Australia, Canada and the United States and has been published in numerous idea books and magazines including for many years with her own column "Nathalie’s Studio" in Somerset Memories. Nathalie works with several manufacturers such as Prima Marketing, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L and Derwent. You can read more about Nathalie and find her work on the n*Studio blog:

http://nathaliesstudio.com/

We are so excited she will be teaching four amazing classes at ESS - read on below for details on each class... and now you can even sign up on line!  Just click the pay now button and you'll be directed to PayPal to reserve your spot!!!

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YAWP Pan Pastel Art Journal with Nathalie Kalbach

Saturday December 1st 11:00-2:00pm

Are you ready to dive into art journaling? Let's sound a barbaric YAWP over the roof tops of the world and get ready for a lot of creative freedom. Nathalie Kalbach will teach you how to create your own easy to create art journal using wonderful PanPastels. Learn mixing, blending, painting and drawing with those soft pastels. Learn how to get stunning results with different resist techniques and fun stamping tricks using embossing powders and other paint media. You can easily apply all of the learned techniques to later projects whether it be art journals, mixed media and even scrapbooking projects. Looking forward to yawp along with you in this 3 hour long class.

Supplies to bring to class:

• Bonefolder

• Foam Stamps if you have

• Background Stamps

or/and stamps with text if you have

• Craft Scraper

• Heating Tool

• Versamark

• Sewing needle - bigger to poke holes

• Eraser -­‐ just simple one

•Water Mister

• Colored Markers

YAWP Pan Pastel Art Journal

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Season Canvas - Nathalie Kalbach

Saturday December 1st

4:00-8:00pm

In this Workshop with Nathalie Kalbach, you will create a stunning unique canvas that will be a wonderful home décor item. Learn how to create dimension and texture with tissue paper, items of daily life, acrylic paint, lace, burlap and gesso. Learn how to reveal the interesting and eye catching texture with acrylic paints and acrylic inks and add some fun stamping techniques on top. We will be adding lots of layers and dimension to make this a spring, summer, fall or winter canvas…just as you like. All the techniques can easily be applied to future projects.

Supplies to bring to class:

• 3--‐4 acrylic paints; colors that you like and that you think would

Fit the season you want to dedicate the canvas to

• black acrylic paint

• Brushes of all kinds; bristle and round

• water container

• water sprayer/mister

• Scissors; small ones that can cut detailed paper items and some

For rougher materials such as the Tim Holtz Scissors

• Craft Scraper and/or Palette Knife

• Heat tool

• Toilet Paper Roll or a Jar Lid

• cosmetic sponges – the super cheap ones (2 to 3)

• Pencil

• Apron/old t--‐shirt to protect your clothes

Season Canvas

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Nathalie Kalbach - Portrait of a Lady

December 2nd, 2012

11:00am to 2:00pm

Always wanted to learn how to draw a portrait? Join Nathalie Kalbach in this fun DIN A4/Lettersized Canvas Workshop and learn how to draw a portrait in a short period of time. You create a Portrait in your favorite colors and make it a one of a kind home decor item either for yourself or as a beautiful gift. Furthermore you will learn heaps of Mixed Media techniques with gesso like: how to create a background, add texture, stamp, paint and use it for altering. Learn how to use fun fine art paint media like the Derwent Artbars, how to layer and tie elements together and explore how to change up embellishments and make them fit your unique piece of art. And the best? All the techniques can be used easily in future Mixed Media and in Scrapbooking Projects. Come and join Nathalie in this 3 hour long workshop.

Supplies to bring to class:

Black & White print out portrait style photo
– it can be so big that it covers most of an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.
either Ink or Laser copy. (Laser is better) must be on Copy paper not photo paper
• Scissors
• Craft Scraper and/or Palette Knife
• Paper trimmer
• Heat Tool
• Brushes-­‐ Small one for detail work, Medium flat one and also a water barrel brush such as the one by EK Success or Tim Holtz
• Black Journaling Pens; 0.7 and/or 0.5
• Pencil
• Apron/old t-­‐shirt to protect your clothes

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Be Awesome Be a Book Nut

Sunday December 2nd

4:00-7:00pm

Dr. Seuss knew it: there is something magic about books. Each book is a beauty in and of itself – a story that leads you into a new world of fantasy. Books also have a feeling of importance to them, such as with a fabric coated hard cover or just the paper itself.

But sometimes a book loses its fascination and ends up at a flea market or at the back of your bookshelf never be opened again. Why not breathe life back into those books again and fill them with your own stories? You can alter them in a way that these treasures bring unique joy back.

Nathalie Kalbach will show you how to create either a funky or a simple style altered book. You will learn beautiful folding techniques, such as ways to create pockets for treasures or hidden messages that go along with your story. You will learn how to use adhesive in unexpected ways and learn fun embossing techniques. Accompanied by beautiful Prima paper, flowers and stamps, this book will be a personal keepsake or a special present to a loved one. What’s more, it can function not only as a mini album but also as a home decor item.

Come and join Nat in this three-and-a-half-hour long workshop. Be awesome and be a book nut!

Supplies to bring to class:

• Ranger Heat Tool

• Ruler

• Pencil

• Crafter’s Knife – the blade should be still quite sharp!

• Cutting mat

• Papertrimmer

• Sicssors

• Non Stick Craft Sheet

Old book**

**Don’t get taunted by the thought of finding on old book that is suitable for

altering. Let me help you, Here is where you can find cheap old books – check out Library book sales, secondhand stores, flea markets, yard sales or garage sales, or….check

which books in our own household you might be ok with parting. This is not

about abusing a wonderful valuable book –it is about upcycling recycling

books that might be not read anymore anyway. It can be a novel; it can be an

old school book or atlas that is actually content wise totally obsolete.

The book should be a in a good condition –meaning the binding should be

still strong. We will be hard on this book and do all kinds of stuff to it, so we

need it to hold. Best are hardcover books that have a stitched binding –

meaning stitched signature. Hold the book by the covers and see if the pages tend to fall out of the

book…if so …do not use this book. I love if it has a fabric covered cover, but go with what speaks to you. Try finding a book that is also not too thick for the beginning- it is easier to

start altering books with a small book say 100 pages or 200 pages most. If

you’d rather have a bigger book- then that is fine of course- you can make it

an ongoing project

Be Awesome Be a Book Nut



And now here is the link for sharing your "Q" pages - we can't wait to see your Qs!!!

Classes This Weekend....

Oh, yeah... we're in for another great weekend here at ESS! 

It's time for Michelle's A 2 Z of Me art journaling class - there are two available time slots for this class, either Thursday the 18th from 6-8pm or Saturday the 20th from 2-5pm.  The letter we will be covering is the letter "D", so start getting a picture in your head of what "D" means to you, and be sure to bring in specific images or clippings if you know what you'll be doing....

In the last A2Z class, Michelle covered the letter E - Look at this amazing page:

For those who are playing along on line, you can post your letter "E" entries using the Inlinkz tool at the end of this post!

The next Stamp of the Month class will be on Friday the 19th from 2-4 pm or 6-8 pm.  Here is this months sample board:

Great Impressions stamps are SO cute - I particularly love the frog stamp.... (I have a thing for frogs!)

On Saturday Michelle is teaching her Basic Grey layout of the month class - this is the perfect scrapbooking class for people who just want nice layouts.  Basic Grey is a paper company that has been in the industry for a long time now - they always create beautifully coordinated collections with fun and trendy matching embellishments... Michelle is using the Aspen Frost collection to create her pages this month. 

Such a cute collection - love the color combinations and mod patterns - fun fun fun!

We round out the weekend on Sunday the 21st with our ATC club and the Altered Book Club.  The ATC club is currently accepting new members - ATC's are 2 1/2" x 3" works of miniature art.  Each month the club has a theme and everyone in the group makes enough cards in that theme to trade with the other members of the group.  It's so fun to see how each person uniquely interprets the theme...

The altered book club is currently closed to new members, but membership will be opening again soon, so if you want to see what either of these clubs is about feel free to come by and sit in on the meetings and find out what they're all about. 

OK, for those who would like to participate in the A2Z of Me Letter "E" page, here's your link:

DYAN DAY 3: Get Ready to Remember...

Aaaaawwww.... :(  It's Dyan's last day at Everything Scrapbook and Stamps and we sure are going to miss her sweet presence in our classroom!  Our students sure had an amazing time learning all of Dyan's art journaling techniques - just look:

In honor of her visit, we'd like to do a special product focus on her new creative journal:

This is an amazing journal perfectly made for art journaling.  The cover is beautiful on it's own, but also completely alterable.  On the inside cover there is a great envelope for whatever little treasures you might find. 

The journal pages are mixed white and vanilla - great weight for all kinds of mediums.  But wait - that's not all.  What else could they possibly think of, you ask?  Why, they just happen to be sized perfectly to work with Dyan's amazing stencils.  Who'd a thunk it?  An art genius, that's who.

I loved this blank journal the very moment I saw the first one, and then I saw Dyan's.  And the other shoe dropped.  Every stinking page is beyond wonder - all the thought and detail and heart that goes into her work is AMAZING.  I wanted to buy it.  I wanted to take pictures of every page.  I had to STOP myself from taking pictures of every page so I wouldn't look like a psycho-fan.  So here you go - just a few of the jaw-dropping bits of art contained in Dyan's very own journal - enjoy!

Meet Dyan...

Wooo Hoooooo!  (Oops - there's my southern roots showing...)  It's almost time - in just a short while Michelle will be picking Dyan Reavely up at the airport and bringing her to Everything Scrapbook and Stamps for three jam-packed days of fun and fabulous classes!

A lot of you guys may be new to the Art Journaling phenomenon, but Dyan's not - she's been at the forefront of the industry for years.  In addition to teaching classes in her own store, Art from the Heart, in North Yorkshire she is also currently the International Senior Educator for Ranger Industries!   So what happens when one of your favorite artists teams up with one of your favorite companies? 
                    1. You fall down on your knees and thank the heavens and the stars above
                    2. You open up a big ole' can of southern WOO HOO!!!
                    3. You beg, borrow, and plead to get her to come teach at your store!

Thank goodness Michelle chose option three, because here comes Dyan!  Michelle met Dyan at Ranger University, and it was sort of kismet... or twiglet, as the case may be.  Anyway, Michelle says Dyan is one of the funniest, no pressure, encouraging teachers she's ever had and everyone can look forward to being completely inspired.... yay!

How about a little Dyan trivia to hold you over until Tuesday?  Did you know:

• Dyan LOVES toffees, mustaches, and hot men.  I'm not sure if the mustaches have to be on the hot men or not - you should ask her about that.
• Dyan loves getting messy and inky, so Rosemary you better put your blinders on 'cause I'm pretty sure she's not putting on gloves for you....
• Dyan loves 50's style vintage dresses and Northern Soul.  No, I didn't know what Northern Soul is either - don't be lazy - google it.  And, I'm just wondering which one of our crazy Dyan fans is going to show up in a 50's style dress... I'm just throwing it out there...

OK, so I believe as I am writing this that there may be one or two slots left in couple of the classes, so if you didn't sign up before and now you're kicking yourself in the behind like I am, call the store and see if there's any left...  until then, enjoy this:

New Art Journal Class Options

As a quick follow up to my post last week, we have decided to open a Thursday afternoon option for our Adventure in Art Journaling class - we had to turn too many people away last month and we've already sold out of a few of the classes on the 23rd and 25th of August, so we thought we'd better give you all some more opportunities to get into the class!

Also, you all have been waiting for it and it's starting this month - Michelle's "a2z of Me" art journaling class will be on Thursday August 30th from 6-8pm!

Each month Michelle will lead you on an amazing journey into your psyche as you explore what the letters of the alphabet represent for you. Each month will feature a new background technique and one letter of the alphabet - you can decide how to make that letter represent you. We will have stamps and papers available, but you can also bring in your own clippings for the month's letter. The letter for the month of August is "I", so start thinking about what the letter I means to you. As popular as our other art journaling class is, you may want to give us a call pretty quick to reserve a spot - we look forward to seeing you!

ABC's and Art Journaling - A Natural Pairing!

We simply haven't been able to believe the response we've had to our art journaling workshops - one session quickly turned to three sessions per month as we struggled to make room for all you ink-lovin' journal fiends out there. It's been so thrilling, and so Michelle got to thinking... it's time to move it up a notch!

So in the next few weeks you'll be seeing more information about a new art journaling workshop called "The A to Z of Me" - each month Michelle will lead you through the backgrounds and you will create pages around letters of the alphabet and their significance to you. That means when you leave your page will be personalized to you and be about your thoughts and your life. Pretty darned exciting, right? Well, that's not even the exciting part!

The exciting part is that every two weeks, whether you choose to come to the class or not, you will be able to participate in a blog challenge with the same theme! All you do is come to the blog and upload your interpretation of that week's letter; then you'll automatically be entered into a drawing to win a cool little prize. Plus, all your art journal alumni will be able to see your work - how cool is that?

We're really excited to bring you this concept and can't wait until we can get it started - be sure to keep your eyes glued to the blog for further details!

Michelle is Delusional....

Wait - I meant Dylusional... actually, I meant Michelle is USING Dylusions stencils, sprays, and stamps in this month's art journaling adventure!

OK, maybe you still don't know what I'm talking about... I mean, after all, the Dylusions product flies out the door every time we get a shipment, and the art journaling workshops are filling up faster than we can find seats. (We have to find them, since Nancy keeps moving them!) Maybe you just haven't had the chance to really see these exceptional products.

Dylusions products are designed by renowned mixed media artist Dyan Reaveley, beloved world wide for her fresh and funky use of color and design. Here's Dyan:

Here's the picture of Michelle and Dyan together last month at Ranger U... (Michelle (hearts) Dyan!):

And here are just a couple great Dylusions products:

Not that these products aren't great enough by themselves, but Michelle has combined them with stamps from Stamp Boutique to make a fantastically weird and wonderful layout for the Art Journaling club this month - I'm not going to show you the whole thing though - bwah ha ha ha ha!!! You can check out the mini sample below:

The layers of color just seem to be endless - fanciful whimsy to the extreme. We still have a few spaces left for this month's class, but just a very few - if you want to be on the in call the store to sign up now!

OK, quick quiz just to see who's paying attention - who remembers the name of the fabulous (?) English treat that Dyan brought Michelle at Ranger U? (Major hint: there's already a post about it - do some research people!) The first person to post the correct answer will win a marvelous handmade award from Tamara - see, Tamara is not stingy at all with awards. Tamara loves to acknowledge people's hard work and accomplishments by bestowing on them very important and precious awards. I know this, because I am Tamara. I think this is a philosophy we could use in this store. The award philosophy, that is. At least as it applies to me. And that's all I have to say about that.