Paper. Scissors. Chocolate. Indulgence.
November 14, 2011
November 07, 2011
Registrations are open!!
7-9th September 2012
Motu Moana Scout Camp
Blockhouse Bay
Auckland
$280 all inclusive
After an amazing retreat this year we're doing it again but you'd better be in quick. Registration forms are available to download from the sidebar of my blog there --->
Soooo join us for A Vintage Indulgence. Step back to the elegance of a bygone era with beautiful classes from Prima Educators Janine Koczwara and me (Louise Williams!) and the ambience of all things vintage. Enjoy fabulous gourmet meals from our talented caterers Debbie and Richard Blincoe and spend the weekend relaxing, scrapping and indulging in all things inspirational and chocolate-covered. Bring your friends or come alone!
The price has increased this year due to having an international tutor, cleaners plus the increase in accommodation and food costs, but what amazing value still!
- accommodation for Friday and Saturday nights
- delicious meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday, breakfast and lunch on Sunday
- 2 inspirational classes with Prima Educators Janine Koczwara (Australia) and Louise Williams (NZ)
- Generous kits and welcome gifts
- Cleaners on the Sunday so you don’t have to do it!
- lots of fun extra’s planned to keep you motivated, entertained and indulged
Book now so you don't miss out, this one's gonna be popular and places are strictly limited.
L x
November 01, 2011
It was indeed... an Indulgence...
Fabulous. That's really all I can say about the retreat. What a fabulous group of scrappers eating fabulous food with fabulous classes and such a positive, yep.. you guessed it... fabulous vibe all weekend. Thank you all who came and helped make it so successful.
Debbie did a phenomenal job with the catering - I have never eaten so well at a retreat and her buffet table at the creepy crop was just amazing... see what I mean?
We were also treated to a beautiful card buffet by Liz Hicks... stunning work and everyone loved helping themselves to the Prima!!
And I taught this layout class filled with Prima goodness:
Then during the creepy crop we had a mask competition... this was mine with yes, more Prima... lol
And there we go... we're already into full on planning for next year's "A Vintage Indulgence" and will be releasing the registration form and details as soon as I've confirmed the venue and dates. I'm expecting us to fill up fairly quickly next year judging by the feedback from this one so make sure you keep an eye out for updates.
Righto... onto other things...
Something super exciting is happening this weekend!!
Starting on Friday the 4th of November the Twiddleybitz DT are having a bloghop.
And not just any ol' run of the mill bloghop.....
oh no...
uh uh!!
We are having a RAKAMANIA BLOG HOP!!
Each of the DT members are putting up a RAK for you to win and also showing you some gorgeous work on their blogs in the process.
It all starts on Friday November the 4th at 5pm (AEST)
So keep an eye out on the Ning for more details and the schedule, because that is where the
RAKamania Blog Hop will start!!
And not only will there be prizes from the DT members on the actual Hop, but there will also be prizes to be won on the Ning during the weekend and also on Facebook.
Like our page on Facebook to keep up to date with what is happening on the hop!!
Twiddleybitz on FaceBook
We also have prizes on offer for those of you going to the Paper Crafts Festival in Penrith on Sunday of that same weekend. Make sure to pop into the Ning to see how you can win some Twiddleybitz just for stopping by the Twiddleybitz booth at the Show and saying hello. :-)
We do hope you will join us for what we are sure will be a fun and inspiring and prize packed RAKamania Blog Hop...!
L x
August 08, 2011
ArtLab rundown
The ArtLab was on Saturday and it was an awesome day. Huge thanks to the amazing group who joined me and weren't afraid to get their hands dirty with a whole load of products and techniques to try!
So this was our group, Sarah, Lisa, me, June, Vicki, Esther, Shell, Julie, Robin and Natasha... and some peeks at what we were up to...
We did some rusting, played with texture paste and mists, mica powders, foiling, paperclay... the list goes on and on... Vicki and Sarah are playing with Shimmerz and modgepodge transfers...
These two were doing some serious creating... and check out the aprons they made especially for the day (see the logo?)... very clever, thanks Shell and Esther :)
Julie and June hard at work...
The lovely Vicki and Sarah, happy in their rusting and smelling like a takeaway (it's the vinegar)... lol
Natasha and Robin (check out Robin, working with both hands!)...
Lisa armed and dangerous with a hot glue gun...
And a big thanks to my mum for providing a yummy lunch (the soup went down rather well!) and keeping that side running so I could concentrate on the teaching! Love ya xx
Anyway it was a FABBO day so thank you all for coming!! I've had a fair few requests to do a rerun (a new set of techniques of course) next year and there were some latecomers that missed out this time around so if you're keen to join in Artlab 2012 then drop me a line and I'll put you on the list. :)
Soooo the Indulgence Retreat is filling up nicely!! We've got room for about 8 more people and that's it, I'm capping the numbers so we all have room to scrap so if you've been umming and aahing about it you'd better be in quick! Just download the registration form from the sidebar of this blog and send it in with your deposit asap, full payment is due by 1st September!
What else? ummm I'm off to Brissy to teach in September so if you're heading to the Papercrafts Festival make sure you book in for some yummy classes from myself, Janine Koczwara and Jane Clark!
Pencil in the 31st of August too for my live Prima class! Yep I'll be online creating this layout...
so hope to see you there! Kits will be available as always, and all the details will be given during the broadcast. Also make sure you're a fan of Prima over on facebook to make sure you're up to date with all the classes coming up.
Lots to do, lots of stuff coming up, thanks for visiting!
L x
July 24, 2011
Some blatant promotion and CHA shares
Ok, first the blatant promotion. We still have some spaces available for this:
28-30th October, 2011
Motu Moana Scout Camp, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland.
Cost: $230 all inclusive.
Take some time for yourself and indulge your need to create with a fun group of like-minded women. Learn something new with some amazing classes. Take a whole weekend to do what you want. Make what you want. Eat what you want.
Chocolate and inspiration provided. :)
Bookings are open now and a registration form is available on the sidebar of this blog.
The price includes:
- accommodation for Friday and Saturday nights
- 46 hours to scrap, chat and be inspired by your fellow scrappers
- a delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday and breakfast and lunch on Sunday
- a gorgeous layout class taught by myself, full of goodies from the top brands to get you inspired
- a fabulous card buffet class taught by talented Stampin Up designer Liz Hicks - make 3-4 cards and help yourself to the goodies to make them with
- a Creepy Crop night
- a great shop to keep your supplies and motivation replenished throughout the weekend
- a welcome goodie bag
- giveaways, prizes and more!
Don't miss out, it's going to be AWESOME!
Next one...
Paper Crafts Festival in Brisbane on the weekend of September 9-11, 2011.
I'm joining the super talented Janine Koczwara and Jane Clark in teaching a mini album workshop in Aussie! the classes are:
Janine Koczwara (Australia)
Class Description:
Do you love the look of layer upon luscious layer of detail in a layout? If you do, but struggle to pull it all together, this is a class you will love as Janine Koczwara (Prima Educator) takes you through creating a very feminine, multi-dimensional, layered layout. While you are learning about layering you will also learn lots of new ways of incorporating Prima products on your page, with masking, misting, stamping, distressing, stitching and texturizing elements. To top it all off you will create an amazing floral cluster on your page, showcasing the beauty of Prima’s flowers on your layout.
Sneak Peek of Janine’s workshop
Janine’s blog
Louise Willams (New Zealand) (that'd be me)
Class Description:
Do you often scrap about your family, children and pets but neglect to tell your own story? Join Louise in creating a beautifully detailled “Growing Up Me” Twiddleybitz album. Decorated with beautiful Prima papers and flowers, Twiddleybitz chipboard and Shimmerz paints, this album is full of little tips and techniques you can easily transfer to your layout scrapbooking. Louise also adds her own custom embellishments to the mix to give you a unique keepsake to treasure for years to come.
Sneak Peek
and
Jane Clark (Australia)
Class description:
Learn how to create two beautiful cards using a technique that will have you producing a grungy but elegant style of Faux Tiling. In the class you will be using Gesso, embossing (wet and dry) and playing with the latest Tim Holtz Distress Stains to achieve this fantastic rustic look. This class will make you want to rush home and play with this simple but effective technique some more! This workshop is suited to all levels of cardmakers, new and experienced as clever tips will be shared along the way.
Sneak Peek
Jane’s blog
So as you can see we will be offering three AMAZING workshops at this show.
Each tutor will teach their workshop 4 times over the three days only and spots for each class are limited. You can pre-book by emailing [email protected] as well as getting full information on workshop times. The cost for each workshop will be $55 this includes all materials! Make sure you get in early!!! As a BONUS, if you book into any of the workshops you get THREE days entry for the price of ONE!!! You can see the schedule here!
So if you're planning on being in Brisbane in September make sure you get in on these workshops, they're all pretty gorgeous!
Ok, so now the shares. I was pretty excited to be sending some of my work to be displayed on the Prima stand at CHA this year. I've always dreamed of CHA and although, despite my repeated badgering, they declined my offer to hand deliver the items ;) I still had this acrylic album and layout there! woohoo!
This layout uses the new North Country line of papers and embellishments with some Printery and other Prima touches in there. It's a redo of a layout I did a year or so ago that I was never completely happy with and I adored the photo and title so wanted to give it another go. Don't you love the rubon snowflakes? too cute!
And the other item is my favourite. I LOVE acrylic albums and mixed and matched some Prima ones to create this one. I completely adore the new resin embellishments, the vintage birdy is to. die. for. Seriously need to stock up on more of these!
So there you go, thanks for looking
L :) x
June 15, 2011
The things we do...
at 4am. Early start here - DH is getting a cold so it's hard to sleep with a snorting, snoring, coughing fella hogging the bed. I gave up trying and decided to get some projects I've been a day or so behind with due to me snorting, snoring and coughing the last few nights weeks. Lucas has also been sick and was vomiting the night before last. He was fine last night but I'll keep him home from kindy today just to make sure he's out of the cold and having a quiet day to get over it. Touch wood Joshie's been fine. Soooo....
Over on the Aussie Scrap Source blog (have you got that one on your blogroll? you should) went this layout full of flower techniques. Loving the new Prima flocked rubons - they're easy to use, stick really well and make great flower centres!
So after a hugely busy month last month (yes I have a real job too), I've got a lot to look forward to in the next few months (well for the rest of the year actually!). SENZ is fast approaching and while I've decided not to teach there this year, I will be having a table in the craft market and selling (hopefully!) my jewellery. August has the ArtLab (so looking forward to that one!) and September has me flying over to Brisbane to teach at the Australian Papercrafts Festival. I'm so excited about it and will be teaching a Twiddleybitz Altered Book Album class, full of Shimmerz and Prima goodness. Here's a sneak...
October brings the Paper. Scissors, Chocolate retreat which I'm totally hanging out for!! Still some spots left if you want to join us for a fun weekend packed with goodies and creativity! Lots planned and next year is looking to be as full of excitement as the next 6 months. Loving it!
On the homefront we're planning on building a huge garage on the front of our property to use as offices. My half will be a big scraproom/office and will be big enough to hold crops/classes in! After scrapping in our lounge and working in our dining room for the last few months, I'm soooo looking forward to it. It'll realistically be about a year away I think, but when it's done... woohoo! I have lots of ideas on how I want it to look and will definitely share pics when it's built :)
And that's it for now... more stuff coming up so stay tuned :)
L x
May 18, 2011
November 29, 2010
Grab a coffee, it's a long one...
It's definitely coming up to Christmas, you can feel it in the air. The sun is shining, the tree is up and things have gotten crazy busy! I love this time of year and so far Lukey's being very selective with removing ornaments from the tree and bringing them to me, although he did manage to kill a set of lights in the process so now it's not as bright as it was... lol.
Soooo what have I been doing? well... for the last 3 weeks this has kept me busier than usual:
First Joshie had chickenpox, then Lukey (who had them way worse unfortunately)... still other than a few remaining little marks they're both back to their boisterous selves again.
I've been scrapping too... if you're one of the South Island ladies coming to my canvas class at Scrappin' Patch in March next year, here's a sneak of what I've got in store for you...
*sigh*... I'm loving it... hope you do too! such rich and warm colours, yum.
I recently had this published in Scrapbook Creations, I did it so long ago I'd forgotten about it! It's one of the gorgeous Twiddleybitz houses, all stucco'd up for Christmas along with some other Twiddley goodness :) Mum's put dibs on this for her hall table...
And here's just a layout I felt like playing around with. I used a fair bit of Shimmerz on this one, it's a very subtle background effect and stay tuned for the technique video and another layout... For this layout I used the Shimmerz Pearlz Espresso and the Shimmerz Vibez Hot Chocolate. Yum.
We had a super busy time this weekend. On Friday I went to pick Joshie up from school and he came running over to ask me if he could go play at his new best friend Shane's house. So cute, so I told him to ask Shane's mummy and they were stood there with their arm around each others shoulders, asking if they could play. So off he went. It was a bit of a milestone, it's the first time he's gone off playing at someone else's house without me being there. He had a great time and announced he wanted to go live with Shane because he's got cool trains (both cute and annoying as Joshie has every Thomas train there is just about!)... anyhooo... neither wanted to part so I offered to take Shane and his sister on Saturday morning at our place so that was pretty much the day gone, other than a thrilling trip to the supermarket. I know, aren't you glad you started reading all this? lol
Sunday was the Farmers Santa Parade in Auckland City and me, in my absolute wisdom, decided we should take the boys. Never. Again. Urgh...
We caught the ferry over from Devonport along with about half of the residents from the North Shore and got into the city a good hour and a quarter before the parade was due to start at 2pm. There were already crowds and it was near impossible to find a spot in the shade, but there was no way we could sit in full sun on such a scorching hot day. We managed to find some semi-shade and stood for the next hour and a half before the parade actually made it down to where we were. We were all hot and tired before it even began, and then what was supposed to take an hour to pass by took two and a half!! seriously... everyone was hot, tired and grumpy and all the kids were getting past it by the time Santa made his appearance. The parade itself was good, but there were long gaps of nothing in between and most of the people on the floats looked too hot and bothered to even wave. We also had a near punchup after some arrogant a-hole decided, 10 minutes before it began, to try and push himself and family in front of us. He picked the wrong hot, grumpy family... suffice it to say he enjoyed the parade from his spot behind us. :) lol
Anyway, it was a very long, very hot and tiring day, and the kids both crashed in the car on the way home. Both were wired last night though and neither went to bed before 9pm. Welcome to summer. lol. I did manage to get some good photos though, even though I missed one of Santa himself as I was feeding Lukey at the time... typical.. lol
Next year I'll be sticking the local ones, a much nicer atmosphere, less people (and rude ones at that!) and it won't take a whole day out of our weekend!! Thumbs up to the people of Fullers though, they put on extra ferries for the day so we didn't have to wait long to get back home. Nice to see some initiative :)
I've also been getting organised for SENZ. This year they're having a craft market and I'll be there with my Altered Ambitions etsy shop of jewellery, albums, embellishments and hair wear. Hope you come visit and say hi! I'm into full production mode so I'll have plenty of yummy things to sell :)
The Retreat is filling up nicely and you have just 2 more days to register and get that EXTRA goodie surprise at the retreat. The 5% discount offer for each person that books as part of a group of 4 is open right up until the close off date for registration.
The ArtLab is coming together and we still have places available - so don't miss this affordable opportunity to be inspired and come away with a whole lot of new techniques to incorporate into your work - whether you're a hobby scrapper or a retailler.
Ok... I think that's about it for now (yep, I can hear the sighs of relief from here)...
L x
November 09, 2010
a whole lot going on...
Wow. time to breathe. relax... what's that again? it's been so crazy around here for so long I'd almost forgotten what it was like to just stop. Finally there's a light at the end of what's been a very long tunnel. So an update.
Yesterday was my 39th birthday, it was a bit of a rough day and I didn't want to do anything special for it. I am however, super thankful to everyone that sent me lovely birthday messages and a special thanks to Deb who sent me a chocolate fix and some beautiful peonies, you totally made my day. I got some lovely presents (mum's the best shopper and knows me sooooo well) but I have to say my number one present has to be this:
Yep. Ain't she purdy? it's lurve... basically what happened was a couple of months ago DH started having issues with his car so bought a new one in case his went completely. After a few days he decided he wasn't 100% happy with the new one (a Legnum station wagon) so got his old car fixed, gave me the new one and I sold mine. Following me so far? anyway a few days ago his old car, after spending $1200 in repairs, did in fact, die. So I gave him back his Legnum and have been carless... not fun... I like my independence. I've had my own car since I learnt to drive and felt so trapped at home without it. Sooooo I had to have a car and I found this lil beauty. We got it for a lot less than it should've been and it's pretty mint. This morning DH announced he liked that more and I told him to stuff off! lol... we got it on my birthday so it's miiinnnnneee. :D
So that's been the car dramas. Taking up too much time, energy and money but now we're sorted. Phew.
Next has been the house. We have a house that's also been taking up too much time, energy and money and have decided to put it on the market as is. I think it'll sell pretty quickly as it's a decent street, we have sea views and it's got a nice feel to the house, even though it is a bit small. So it's up for sale. The house that's been in a state of constant, half-done renovations since we moved in 5 years ago, and yet I'm kinda sad to see go. We wanted to get it finished before we put it on the market, but after renovating 5 houses in a row we're over it. We're totally drained with the whole thing and figure our health and happiness of our family is more important than anything else. As long as I have a space to scrap and my boys/man around then I'm happy, life's too short.
Speaking of the boys it's been a rough few weeks illness-wise. Lukey was a bit sick while we were away a couple of weeks ago and then Joshie came down with chickenpox. He's has been home with me for the past week and a half but I have to say he's been a little trooper at dealing with it. He hasn't been that itchy (which has helped) and finally went back to school today (yay!). I'm thinking Lukey was sick wth the virus first but just didn't develop the spots, time will tell on that one I guess! Fingers crossed that's the end of it for a while.
Lucas has totally surprised me lately too. He's so advanced with everything he's doing, I just wish he'd slow down a little. He's able to drink out of a glass, has been walking for almost 3 months and the other day put my jandals on and was walking around the house in them! He holds onto me for balance when I get him dressed and steps in and out of his trousers to help me. He follows instructions really well too, the other day I was half way up the hall with him and told him to go back to the lounge and say goodnight to Daddy. He listened, toddled off down the hall so Steve could see him, waved goodnight and came back to go to bed. He's such a gorgeous boy. I can't imagine our family without him, he is just an absolute joy. He wakes up happy and although he's gotten VERY busy (and into everything), he's just fun to be around.
With the awesome change in the weather (woohooo for summer on its way!), he's been slip slop slapped and exploring the garden with Joshie. I love this time of year. Apart from my birthday it's when I start to fight the urge to put the Christmas tree up early and the casserole dish disappears into hibernation until next year.
Next year is filling up nicely with lots of things happening. I've just booked a table at the Craft Market that's being held at SENZ in June and will be selling my jewellery, hair accessories and embellies. I'm hoping to work in with a shop exhibiting there so that I can teach a class or two as well (hint dropping to any retaillers reading this who are looking to exhibit!). :D
I'm also booked to fly down Canterbury way in March and teach a very cool canvas album class at Scrappin' Patch. This is going to be full of techniques and dimension and a whole lot of fun! Can't wait to meet some of the lovely South Island ladies I talk to often, but have never met in real life. Yet. :D
Of course I also have the ArtLab in August and the Indulgence retreat in October to keep me occupied as well, PLUS I have a few other bits lined up to keep me out of trouble.
I'm finding lately that I'm becoming more and more experimental in my work and I'm really enjoying it. I'm playing with Shimmerz, texture mediums and a whole lot of things that are really inspiring me in ways I wasn't expecting. My first Shimmerz video is going up on 6th December so stay tuned for that one, in the meantime I'm going to hibernate in my scraproom for the night!!
L x
November 05, 2010
A few questions answered about the ArtLab...
I've had a few other questions about the ArtLab, details here (see bottom for FAQ):
Keep Saturday the 6th of August free for this amazing, one day only event. This is not a crop. It's not a retreat. It's not been seen in New Zealand before and spaces are very limited.
If you're a scrapbooker, stamper or altered arts fan looking to learn some advanced techniques, or a retail operator looking for class ideas that you can teach your customers, then this is for you.
Join us for a day of intensive mini-workshops to learn some amazing techniques with products you probably haven't tried before as well as using the ones you have in ways you've never thought of. Come away full of inspiration, motivation and a generous goodie bag of products to play with and take home with you afterwards.
We'll be building a swatch book of techniques and ideas you can take home and refer to utilising a number of mediums including:
- paints & inks
- embossing powders
- crackle finishes
- Gesso and texture pastes
- distressing & aging
- image transfer
- creating dramatic paper effects
- masking and whole lot more.
A delicious morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea will be provided as well as chocolate to keep you creating ;)
Cost: $250 inclusive of materials PLUS a goodie bag and swatch book to take home with you
Date: 6th August, 2011
Venue: to be confirmed but in Auckland
Deposit of $50 on registration, full payment required before 16th June 2011. You will need to bring the usual basic tool kit and an embossing gun is handy if you have one.
This is not a day crop where you bring your photos and chat to friends. It's a full-on day of experimentation, fun, information and work! Places are very limited so download the registration form, fill it in and send it back to secure your spot.
FAQ:
Who's doing the teaching?
That's me!
How many spots are there available?
I'm limiting the class to around 10 -15 people maximum. Being such a technique-focussed workshop I want to make sure everyone is taken care of so prefer a small group.
Where do I get the registration form?
You can download it right here: http://louisewilliams.typepad.com/artlab/artlab registration.pdf
What sort of level do I need to be at with my scrapping/altered art etc?
Obviously if you're an advanced scrapbooker/altered artist you may already be using some of the techniques I'll be teaching, but as we're creating a swatchbook of many different things there's bound to be a lot of new ideas for you to pick up. I would, however, recommend this more to those who are wanting to try some new ideas but aren't sure of the products or techniques to take their work to a more advanced level. This is also perfect for the retailler who'd like to learn some exciting new ways with different products that they can then sell on to their customers as classes.
What experience do you have to do this?
A quick rundown of me: I've been a graphic designer for over 20 years, and in this time have experimented with a multitude of mediums in my work. I've also been scrapbooking for almost 7 years, and in that time have been on a number of design teams, both in New Zealand and internationally. These teams have included manufacturers Twiddleybitz and Rasberry, magazines Scrap 'n Art and Up2Scrap (both as an Elite Team member and Senior Designer), as well as a number of retail teams. I've had guest designer spots with Darkroom Door stamps as well as Nic Howard's recent Dimensional Details workshop on Big Picture Scrapbooking, I've also been featured on ScrapScene and have won competitions with Prima, Scrapbook Awards and K&Company. I'm currently an educator for US Manufacturer Shimmerz, am a Design Diva for Scrapbook Creations Magazine in Australia and am also on the design team for Aussie Scrap Source, a distributor also based in Australia.
My work has always involved experimenting with different products and finding new ways of using them, and through the years I've discovered and learnt a lot of new techniques that I want to share.
If you have any other questions feel free to drop me an email at [email protected], otherwise I hope to see you there!
Louise :)
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