ConisuCreations

Tim Holtz!

As most of you know I absolutely LOVE me some Tim Holtz! I adore his all things distressed style. I am so excited to be taking his online class Creative Chemistry 101, right now  on his website http://timholtz.com/. I am learning new things every day! It is a 2 week class and I can not wait to share these techniques with my upcoming classes! Stay tuned for dates and times. I was also lucky enough to get a spot in one of  the coveted workshops that he is teaching in Cinci in August at the Stampaway convention. These workshops sell out almost as soon as they are posted so I am thrilled that all the stars aligned and I was able to get a seat to learn from the master of distress himself. That is right - I will be taking an IN PERSON Tim Holtz Class! I am so over the moon and now am wishing August would arrive quickly! LOL

Not only do I love Tim's vintagey distressed grungy style I also love his way of looking at things. Something that I learned from him is that there really are no mistakes in art - just an opportunity to be creative. This is often a hard lesson to learn. We all tend to want to be shown how to make an exact copy of what he is teaching. He, however, is not one to give step by step instructions as to what colors to use, which one to apply first, which stamp to choose, or which embellishment to place where, he teaches the techniques and sets us free to use our own imaginations and inspirations. I aim to do the same in my own classes - which is why so many of you get a little frustrated with me! LOL - how many times have you heard me answer a question with "What do you want to do? What color do you want to use? How do you want to lay that out?" This is because I want you to learn the technique behind the page - that way you can go on to design many pieces all on you own. It is so exciting once you realize the class itself is just a jumping off point that leads to so much more! So come on, lets take a leap together and LIVE THE LIFE WE'VE IMAGINED!

 

 

CROPTASTIC WEEKENDS!

 The Pink Lady

July 27, 28, 29 and  August 10, 11, 12

Do you love to scrapbook? Do you long for a time just to yourself to crop to your hearts content, with no chores, kids, pets or husbands stealing your precious scrapping time? Do you wish your fairy godmother would wave her magic wand and whisk you away????? Well this is your lucky day. Welcome to ConisuCreations Croptastic Weekends!

Your CROPTASTIC WEEKEND will be all about YOU!  Come prepared to be pampered and waited on during your stay.  Trust me -You're not going to want to go home! This retreat was created with you in mind. No dishes, cooking or chauffeuring is required or even allowed. Just have fun!  Arrival time is 3pm on Friday at The Pink Lady, a gorgeous victorian house in Richmond, Indiana.  Set up your things and get busy cropping as a delicious dinner is being prepared. Dinner is served at 6:30 pm. Complete with dessert of course! Then its time to crop the night away. The Inn has a spacious 1000 square foot craft space located on the first floor. Nine 4-foot tables are artfully arranged to maximize individual work space. Sit back and relax in your leather executive chair located at each workstation. Every table is equipped with wastebasket, drink holder and full spectrum daylight craft lights.  - The first of many PRIZES will be awarded Friday night after dinner! A late night snack will be served to keep your energy level up.  When you are ready to go upstairs you can relax in your very own bed. 4 Bedrooms with 3 1/2 baths with beds for 9 ladies await. Enjoy comfortable mattresses and linens, towels and blankets to make sure you feel at home. If you like, you can sink down into a wonderful old fashioned claw foot tub to soak before you go to sleep. OR you can stay up all night and party. Coffee, tea, pop and popcorn will be available for those night owls that don't want to go upstairs at all. Saturday morning sit down to a hot breakfast at 9 to jump start your day, followed by more cropping!  AND of course MORE PRIZES! After a yummy lunch its time for your FREE class. And of course ALL supplies are included. After class, feel free to go upstairs and take a little nap to fortify yourself for the upcoming evening. Or not - after all it is all about you, this weekend all you have to do is whatever YOU want. (for a change) Dinner is going to knock your socks off and you'll be energized to crop some more.  Enjoy the late night snack, then crop until dawn if you wish.  Grab a few quick winks, get up to coffee and juice and then Sunday Brunch will be served to get you motivated to put the final touches on those last few pages. Keep your fingers crossed - maybe you will be lucky and win one last prize before check out time at 2 pm!

 

  



There is room for 9 with a minimum of 6 lucky ladies so make your reservations today! Only $250 for the whole weekend ALL INCLUSIVE!!  $50 holds your spot with the balance due 2 weeks before your date. Payment plans are available. Email me for all the info!
If you have a bigger group - let me know! I work with other houses that can accomadate more! Likewise if these dates do not work for you - I can see what date can be schedule that does!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Day After - Scrapamania Revealed

Scrapamania Update!!
May 5th, West Chester Ohio was the place and fun was the name of the game yesterday at the first ConisuCreations sponsored all day crop. Starting at 10 am and lasting till 9 pm the gorgeous Memory Works paper, embellishments and fun were flying! There were lots and lots of prizes - it is really true that everyone won!  From a paper pack waiting at the table  (various lines from BoBunny, My Minds Eye, Graphic 45, Pink Paisley, and Simple Stories were represented in those packs) to the twice an hour prize drawings of lots of  scrapbook favorites to the grand prize of  a new file container that contained a NEW RELEASE Dear Lizzy  Neapolitan Kit - it was all prizes all the time. The grand prize was won by Tina from Cold Springs, KY! I am so glad I met Tina at the Cropalotta in KY back in March - I hope to see you at lots of other events in the future! The person coming the farthest  to crop was my cousin Jamie - she came all the way from Cleveland to celebrate and support me! Love to you Jamie for that!! Lillie brought all her (numerous!!) Cricket Cartridges and my Cricket got quite the workout. Dorie brought Jen and we had lots of fun learning about her - so glad to meet you Jen! See you at my house for the next crop! Bonny, Robyn and Nancy came and cropped as fast as they could before having to depart for a wedding at around 4:30 - I love them for being there and missed them when they were gone! Erika and Gladys worked very hard and were able to get all the table number decorations for Erika's upcoming wedding done! That was an amazing accomplishement and they are absolutely adorable - everyone loved the design (I am not going to tell what they are - to keep the surprise for the reception!) The food just didn't stop coming and we were all stuffed! Lets face it - after scrapbooking and prizes we ladies want yummy food!  My mom made her MiMi's Famous Dutch Apple Pie for dessert and it was served with a hot cinnamon sundae (told you you weren't going to want to miss the food! LOL) Thanks mom - you know I always say YOU MAKE THE BEST PIE IN THE WORLD!

So many layouts, laughs and memories were made. There were many tips and tricks that everyone shared. From new scrappers to old hands everyone learned something new. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and you presence I was truly blessed!

So as you can see - it was a wonderful day. We all left, tired and stuffed and laughed out! Can't wait to do it again!! :) Stay tuned to this channel (ok blog) for updates on the next all day crop coming your way from ConisuCreations theres lots of room for you!

Ohhhh boy I am starting Spring Training Classes on Ella Publishing!

I can not wait to pass on all the great info I will be getting over the next 2 weeks!

Happy Easter to ALL MY PEEPS!

Pinspiration Saturday!

Once again it is Pinspiration Saturday - lets take a look at some really nice Easter layouts - these all came from Scrapbooketc.com. Hope these give you some ideas to scrap all of your wonderful pictures from Eggs Hunts and Easter Baskets!

I love rosettes! Easy, fun and add so much to the page! Designed by Shannon Tidwell

Artist name was not available
The paper pieced eggs and flowers are beautiful

designed by Dana SmithOhhhh so girly and sweet - scrapliftable moment - look at the little pic inside the flower - there is a circle around what she found to bring your attention to the small detail that you might have missed

Design by Janna Johnson A grid design allows you to showcase many closeup, group, and action shots in one layout. Extend larger photos into two squares, and fill unused ones with patterned paper and piecings. Add ribbon swatches between photos for pretty oomph.

 

Designed by Vicki Boutin
Love the bright colors here - all the layering and the little duckies! Design by Shannon Zickel
A simple layout with lots of punch! Love the banners and the die cut word Eggs - I like how she just repeated the word 3 times with buttons between -

Design by Valerie Salmon
Love the idea of adhearing the dipping wand to the page!

I am a WINNER!

I am so excited to announce that I won a spot in
 the Ella Publishing "Spring Training" class! It is 2 weeks of daily classes led by scrapbook pros. Here is the link if anyone wants to join me
http://www.ellapublishing.com/springtraining

I won this prize at the Into Scrapbooking Blog -  http://www.intoscrapbooking.com/blog/                 Christine has lots and lots of great links and information on her site. Make sure to check her out.

I promise to pass on all the great info that I learn :)

 

 

A pretty Bunny coming your way. I love Graphic Fairy!!

http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

Technique Tuesday - Journaling - Just Do It!

Ohhh Journaling. We all love it, we all hate it. Here are 5 tips to get your journaling to really speak!

1. Don't try to sound like anyone but you.
You don't have to try to be funny, or try to sound cool, or try to sound like a genius. Just sound like you. That's good enough! Think about it this way: if you were reading one of your grandmother's old letters, would you want to hear her voice through the letter? Or would you want to hear her trying to imitate the cool lady in her quilting circle? Your kids and grandkids will know you and love you just as you are. When they look through your layouts in years to come, they'll want to hear your voice.

2. Avoid excessive slang.
You don't want to end every journaling block with, "peace out!" or "aiight?" And you don't want to misspell words like "bid-naz" and "evah!!!" for effect, except in instances of obvious comic effect. Why? Because it will really date your writing. Use trendy terms here and there, but in general just follow rule number one and be yourself. You'll thank me later. Because who would have guessed that the use of "tuf" as an adjective would sound so stupid 20 years later? OK I admit it I still use it when I am hanging with my peeps of the same generation. LOL - see all that slang in that one sentence??  Of course, if you're quoting your teenager on a layout, bring on the slang! It'll be fun to record the weird things teens used to say way back in 2012. I also use slang or "isms" that my little ones say. Those mis spoken words and funny sayings will soon be forgotten so make sure to include them in your book somewhere before those lisps are gone.

3. Just do it.
Don't wait until you've mastered the Chicago Manual of Styleto start journaling on your layouts. You do not have to be perfect. Has your scrapbook style evolved at all since you started scrapbooking? Well, your writing style can evolve too. And the biggest way it evolves over time is that it becomes your voice. You start sounding more and more like you. But in order for that to happen, you've got to sit down and write. You've got to start somewhere. So just put pen to paper, and let yourself learn, grow, and evolve as you go.

4. Be specific.
It's wonderful to create layouts every now and then with a big, beautiful photo and a title that says, "I love you to the moon and back,"especially if the phrase means something special to you and your sweetie. But if you never delve any deeper than these high-level sentiments, you'll be skipping over important parts of your story. What sets you apart from all those other people who also love their children in lunar proportions? On some of your layouts, also make sure you write down specific details about why you love your child so much: "I love the way you snuggle me and play with my hair as you fall asleep," or "I love the way you act out all the parts of The Lion King when you tell us about the movie".

5. Read.
The best way to become a better writer is to become a better reader. You don't have to diagram sentences or study syntax or take a grammar class at the local community college. Just read a lot. Read well-written blogs, evocative journaling on layouts, good books, and engaging magazine stories. Expose yourself to strong writing and you'll naturally pick a few things up.

PINspirations

Happy Saturday everyone! I often spend at least some part of my Saturdays on Pinterest. I absolutely LOVE it! I get so many great ideas for everything from food to decorating to gardening to - of course - scrapbooking! There are so many wonderfuly talented scrapbooking artists whose work has been pinned there for all to see. I find it so inspiring.  I love looking at their work and reading their blogs, seeing what supplies and techniques they have used.  I decided that every Saturday I will celebrate some  of my Pinspirations here and share them with you. So lets get started...

This is a gorgeous layout made with the BoBunny Clockwork Timepiece paper. The inking and whitewashed paint effect on the background paper is really beautiful.  papergirlcrafts.blogspot.com

I absolutely LOVE this card - the layering, the inking, the stamping - this has my name written all over it - don't you see it there - Conisu, Conisu, Conisu! LOL - I have a butterfly similar to this one on one of my Cricut Cartidges so I plan to scraplift this idea very, very soon! http://piquenique39.tumblr.com/

MORE distressing with some really heavy, dark inking, not to mention the Tim Holtz stamps and his super cool Regal Findings.  I also love that this is matted on a vintage piece of music. I bought an old hymnal at a garage sale for just his kind of thing. If you don't have old sheet music lying around there are many scrapbook papers with music printed on them. This tag is gorgeous! pinkleart.blogspot.com

Love the lacing and the sewing on this layout! Scraplifting worthy ideas include the turned back edge with metal fasteners revealing the title underneath. Check out the spatters of ink droppings on the page - makes it look like something found in the attic in an old trunk.                                     moments-of-tranquility.com

AGAIN with the BoBunny Timepiece collection, which she then embellished with clock hands and bling. There is  so much to love on this layout - the layering, distressing and inking - natch. But look at the rolled pieces of paper behind and to the side of the photo. Beautiful and so simple anyone can do it with paper scraps. Did you see the Tim Holtz film tape - I have this but have not found a way to use it yet. It looks great place on top of the rolled papers and then adheared to the paper behind.bobunny.blogspot.com

All I can say is WOW! This is simply (or not so simply) beautiful! There is so much to see here that you have to look at it a number of times to catch it all. Yet it doesn't overwhelm the picture. It looks like an illustration in a magazine. This beautiful paper is from Graphic 45. One of my all time fave companys. Their lines have such a vintage feel. She has also used Prima flowers and a inked doily on 2 sides of the layout. g45papers.typepad.com

Ok I could go on for another hour pinning and talking about the beautiful layouts, tags, and cards that areon Pinterest today but I will save some for next Saturday edition of Pinspirations!  Go get Pinspired!