So exciting.....

Tomorrow is the last day of February - can't believe it. Can't believe how fast the months tick by. The whole day today I thought it was Wednesday and I'm so excited to have an "extra" day still in my week.

I've managed to get my deadlines to almost the halfway mark... so proud of myself. Then... just as I thought I'd actually reach my target... something exciting happened and it involves another deadline - a tight one. Can't share just yet, but it's going to be good for us. It's exciting! I have work to do and I'm tired. And then when I finish that, I still have the other work to do. I guess that's what it's like being deadline driven.

So now I'm thinking... what does deadline mean? Is the line drawn at the end of what you're doing dead? Who draws the line? Ok...!

Remember to VOTE at http://www.makingmemories.com/mmidol/index.cfm for my talented friend Joey Whittaker. Her page is stunning, check out her journaling!

Inspired by......
Today I was inspired by somebody who feels she's in a total creative rut. Sounds strange, but I am inspired to think how I can be influential, how to show her that she can be inspired by things around her. To look outside of "scrapbooking" and take a walk around the shops. I mentioned Waltons (our version of Staples) and let the products talk to her. The shop assistants might think we're a bit weird, but it's all in the name of inspiration!

Here's to me meeting deadlines (and getting enough sleep)

blessings
{L}

Weekend Wrap up

Did you have a good weekend? Did you relax and if you're in Joburg, did you survive the heat?


I taught a great class at Scraptifity to an awesome group of girls and 1 guy who came to babysit his 3 month old and got roped into doing the class (and did really well)!



And then I saw this and it made me happy....
and my mom thinks I'm crazy!

Apparently I jumped out of my chair in excitement when she read the article to me. Me? Can't imagine it!

Looking forward to good Tuesday night viewing
again.

And to my friends around the world, we get programmes way after you here in SA... so no spoilers please.

Tell me... who is your favourite? Try and guess mine!


Have you heard of Making Memories Idol?
It's a competition by this great scrapbooking company and the winners are selected by public votes just like the "other" Idols competition and that's how our little Heinz Winkler got to where he is!

Anyway... I have a VERY talented friend who has been chosen for the Top 50 - Joey Whittaker. The only way Joey gets to stay in the competition is if we vote for her. So here's a very BIG PLEASE - vote for Joey as soon as voting opens on Monday (tomorrow).

Click on this link www.joeywhid.blogspot.com/ and find out more from Joey's blog and here for the Making Memories link www.makingmemories.typepad.com/mmidol/ and you can even sign up for a voting reminder here www.makingmemories.com/consumer/signup.cfm

Joey is an amazingly talented designer of scrapbooking products and a CKU Instructor. I told her I would be the SA President of her fan club, but you need to help me!

I have a number of deadlines to meet this week, but I do LOVE creating!

Have a great week.

blessings
{L}

Inspired by....

...oh yummy!!!

Yes this is one of my great sources of inspiration, my muse.... Bazzill cardstock! These colours make me feel like a kid in a candy store.

I've been working on a project I'm teaching on Saturday using Crate Paper - inspiring? Yes! I'll post a photo tomorrow once I have bound it.

Paper designers are just amazing and I {love} the way all the colours of a certain range work together. So if you're not sure what colours to use, go for a range and use a few of the pattern papers. They've been designed to work together, so let it work for you.

So where have you seen colours for inspiration this week?

It's been great to hear from new friends and old friends! (Sioban from over the sea, please email me: laradave@mweb.co.za)

And by the sounds of things my little Cricut is going to be chirping!! By the way, it's pronounced "cricket", but you may have gathered that from the little logo!

My newsletter - Lara Inc. will be out early next week. I can't believe it's the end of February already. Look out for exciting new workshops.

Let colour be your inspiration...

blessings

{L}

I played....

...with THIS today!

Spring cleaning got put aside, as did everything else actually. Today was my day to create! I needed to just "play". And today, I did play... with my Cricut and my newest cartridge - Opposites Attract.

This amazing cutting machine cuts letters and various shapes from 2.5cm to 14cm! I played with Bazzill cardstock and it cuts perfectly.

So perfectly, that I will be demonstrating the machine in my special classes as well as Scraptifity in Rabie St Randburg. So Joburg girls... if you want to play with me, let me know and I'll schedule sessions (space will be limited). You can check out the Cricut website and get as excited as me!

And if you're still battling with your de-cluttering here are some wise words:

Many things which cannot be overcome when they are together yield themselves up when taken little by little - unknown

blessings {L}

So cute...

I bought these cute stamps at the cutest shop during my time in Washington DC. They went AWOL when my one suitcase did its own private tour to an unknown destination and then to Chicago and finally to Arizona.
I thought they were gone for sure. Now they have a special spot right above my computer, where I can see them every day. I think they'll be great for cards and I'm such a sucker for anything with { these }





Your questions, my answers:

• I'm paging through my mags, tearing out and filing layouts and ideas that inspire me in one way or another.
• I'm hanging on to my magazines for a little longer and then they'll go to my charity shop / garage sale for this year's charity event. And become inspiration for someone else.

Spring cleaning is still very much a WIP (work in progress)! I didn't get nearly as much done as I thought I would.

• The only way to keep storage areas clutter free is to have mini clean outs every so often.
  

It's really tough for me to purge, I'm so sentimental and keep EVERYTHING, and I do have a terrible weakness for books.

Any storage solutions you'd like to share? I'll post pictures of my filled up spaces once I'm done. (may take a while though)

have a really good week

blessings

{L}

It's not Spring...

... in my part of the world, BUT I'm in a serious spring cleaning mode. Went to my favourite plastic shop today and bought a couple of these.

Not quite sure what will be stored in them just yet, but hopefully by the weekend they will be full and some other places will be clean. As part of my "spring clean" I've been going through my huge library of scrapbooking magazines and idea books that I've been collecting since 2002! A pretty scary situation. So amazing how trends have changed and how some of the old names in scrapbooking are still around and many who we don't hear of anymore. Anyway...it's time for the mags to find a new home, thus creating space for my new toys!

What are you up to this weekend?

blessings

{L}

Happy Valentine's Day!!

This is the cover of the 8x8 mini album I taught in California. Would {LOVE} to hear how you TT girls used the cute little album.

lots of loves...

blessings

{L}

you can {QUOTE} me

In celebration of being home... quotable quotes for your home / house layouts. Or simply to jumpstart your journaling

"Home is not where you live, but where they understand you" - Christian Morganstern

"People are the happiest at home" - William Shakespeare

"A house is a home when it shelters the body and comforts the soul" - Phillip Moffitt

Do you have "homely" quotes to share?

blessings
{L}

a sign of the {Sunday} Times

...spotted this in today's newspaper - "Guys becoming craftier" - that title caught my eye!

And the first word of the article is... "Scrapbooking... Arts and crafts hobbies are having their biggest revival since the '70s, when Americans willingly spent hours crafting..."

It goes on to say that "Wall Street is pumping money into retailers where arts and crafts are flying of the shelves... and scrapbooking has become the Tupperware party of the new millennium."

{Ok, so I'm not crazy about the "Tupperware" analogy, too many connotations, but I think you get the gist.}

And then they quote Steve Salotto, who I assume to be the guy, "...an avid scrapbook, says he enjoys sitting with other scrappers and spending hours creating, comparing notes and showing off his handiwork. As far as addictions, he said, It's a good one." - NYT Partner Newspapers

I think we {girls} have been telling them for ages, but perhaps now they'll listen!

And to think that scrapbooking would infiltrate my Sunday reading... :)

Hope you've had a good weekend.

blessings
{L}

your {comments} please

Thank you for emaililng me - I now realise there was no place for you to comment!

I messed up when I changed to "new blogger". So looking forward to hearing from you all again!

blessings
{L}

{L}ife is good!!

I love being home, love my house; love our sunshine; love that I am around my scrapbook stash, love that I have some really cool new stuff to play with. Life really is good.

I made it home with all my luggage and it wasn't overweight after all (had an extra piece though) So happy that my big blue suitcase came with me this time and didn't travel alone to Chicago, amongst other places, not on my itinerary.

This has been a totally exhausting trip, but so inspiring. I think this has to be my "Inspiration Trip". Spending time at Martie Jones' store, Scrapbooks Etc. in Arizona and seeing some of the behind the scenes of classes and make & takes, has got me really going.

CHA was amazing. The new products that have come out are calling my name... (loud!) begging to be used in my classes and in layouts. There are some really talented people out there. It was so inspiring walking around the booths, taking in all the ideas.

I had so much fun teaching at Timeless Treasures in California. And they even understood every word... so what accent??

Other sources of inspiration:
IKEA - yes it is all everyone makes it out to be and it was a cheap excursion as there was NO way I could bring any of what I wanted home (purely inspirational!)

Victoria's Secret - yummy colour combos, fresh happy colours.

Skechers - ok no inspiration here, but I'm sure if I wear the shoes I'll feel it!

Anthropolgie - yummy... the home decor stuff is stunning

A ribbon store in Mesa, AZ that was floor to ceiling spools of every conceivable colour and style you could imagine. (Kelli thanks for my gift!)

Target - got lots of inspiration at this amazing store. It's like nothing we have in SA. I want to try and say a mixture of Boardmans, Dions, Loads of Living.... nope, nothing like it!

After this horrible jet lag passes, I'll get straight onto using some of this inspiration. Workshops are up and running next week again and I have a brand new newsletter coming out. If you aren't on my mailing list, please let me know and I'll add you! I'll be sharing something new in each newsletter "Inspired by..."

Let me know what inspires you!

blessings
{L}

Weighty issues...

Just got back from teaching my first international class at Timeless Treasures in California. Thanks so much Nancy and girls - I had a really great time. We made a cute Valentine mini album and there are a couple of kits still available in the store if you missed out (and live close by).

Girls back home in South Africa... I'm on my way back Yay! Remember it's my AAM class this coming Saturday, and I'll be teaching an album project at Scraptifity on Saturday, 24th Feb, using Bazzill's cute zippered albums and the stunning range of Crate paper.

So onto the weighty issues. I think I'm overweight! Well that's what the scale at the gym said before I left, but that's not what I mean. My SUITCASES are overweight (for a change!). So I need to get back to my room and repack for about the third time. Can't be leaving anything behind either. It's that under the covers idea of mine...

Shuttle picks me up at 7am in LA and I fly to Washington DC. Hopefully there are no 3 hour snow delays like when I flew in and I'll be back home on Tuesday evening. Can't wait to unpack and feel my sunshine!

Think of me in that airline seat!

blessings
{L}

{inspiration}

It really is everywhere.

I took the day "off" today and wandered around an outdoor mall called The Block in Orange. There are outlet stores for some of the big brands. Of course, all the shop windows are dressed in Valentine finery. Victoria's Secret have their "Spring" collection unpacked and that's where I saw it - the inspiration. Nope, not what to wear... but the colours! Great colour combinations...

So here's just a quickie to remind you to look out for inspiration (everywhere). New season's fashions have stunning colour combos. Check out your favourite underwear store - even if it's Woolworths and be inspired.

I think I'm going to Hollywood tomorrow, wonder what I could be inspired by there!

blessings
{L}

What's hot!

CHA ended today and boy did I walk my little feet off!

There is so much cute stuff out there. Chipboard is HOT HOT HOT. And that makes me happy, cos I do love chipboard. There are all kinds of shapes of plain chipboard and a new line of gellied chipboard letters. Velvet is popular too right now.

I have a little trick up my sleeve... it involves chipboard (surprise). It's heavy and it's in my suitcase. Can't wait to play... So if you're coming to one of my workshops and it involves chipboard - don't miss out ;)

I have a couple of days in Anaheim to "rest" before I make my American teaching debut - Yay! I'll be teaching a class at a store called Timeless Treasures - thanks Nancy. So if you're in the area, you're invited! I have designed an 8x8 Bazzill Mono Mini album with a Valentine's theme. www.timeless-scrapbooking.com/Class_Samples.htm (check it out here) So come and share the love...

Had a quick walk around Dowtown Disney this evening, but it's really cold outside. I miss my sunshine!

Whatever your weather, enjoy your day.

blessings
{L}