A Great Weekend.

I had such a great time this weekend, Saturday was crop day at Eclectic Keepsakes. The two Karen's had organised another great day. As usual we had the morning to work on our own stuff, I had planned to complete some pages for the Blog Hop, but I didn't, because I was chatting! This is not a bad thing, it is nice to be with other people who get the crafty thing. My lovely Hubby tries, but it is not quite the same. I learn so much from the other ladies, new techniques, where to buy stash, but not only scrapping tips, I get parenting tips. These lovely ladies give me some of their wisdom, which is amazing & gratefully received.

After a cake stop (daisy topped cakes made by Karen), which were so pretty & ever so yummy, we had a class designed by Ann Freeman. Ann had done the most stunning two page layout, using Echo Park papers. I have only just discovered Echo Park & let's just say I LOVE THEIR STUFF. We had been told in advance what size photos we would need and we were given a sneaky peek of the papers, so I decided to use some of my Sister's wedding photos.

This is the almost finished LO (a double pager, woo hoo!), I just need to do some more journaling on the left page. I want to add the names of the bestman, and bridesmaids, but my Sister is currently away, so it will have to wait unitl she gets back. I love the finished layout, Ann is such a talented lady.

 This is a closeup of the stamping and the gorgeous papers. My title didn't quite fit, hence Forever is split in half. I added some extra bling in the middle of the white flowers. Also I learnt a new technique, distressing, you can use some scissors or some of the ladies had a nifty little gadget. It is different to using sandpaper, as it raises the paper, whereas sandpaper wears it down.

Another closeup of the papers and also my poor cutting. We had to cut out the frames inside and out!! Again it was another Eclectic Keepsakes lesson in how not to be afraid to cut up gorgeous papers. In the past I would never of dreamt of cutting up such pretty papers, but then again that means that they would just sit in their box and never get used.