Thursday, August 29, 2013

USTREAM Today: August Layout Week!

 
 
Today is Thursday, which means we have a show! I'll be using papers from the My Mind's Eye "Cut & Paste" collection to make two 12"x12" layouts.
 
 
 
 
In the afternoon show, I'll be scrapping a trip to the theater and focusing on memorabilia. We'll find cute and creative ways to house all out extra memorabilia like tickets and playbills on the page.
 
In the evening show, we'll be scrapping pictures from a birthday without using too many themed embellishments. The bright colors in the papers will give us a bright enough background.
 
 
Here are the supplies I'll be using:
 





 
 
 
 
We have USTREAM every Thursday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern USA time this afternoon and then again this evening from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern USA time.

All classes and their recordings will be over on my USTREAM channel: Kathryn Scraps!

To convert Eastern USA time to your time zone, click here: Time Zone Converter.
 
See you later!
 
Kathryn :D 

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Summer Reading

 
 
You know I haven't been updating my blog this summer. The question is, what have I been doing instead? I did have a wedding, and a class to plan, as well as some major cleaning in the basement.
 
I've also been doing a lot more reading lately, which is good, because I think my Kindle was getting lonely. I thought I'd post about some of what's been on and off my nightstand this summer. I used to post about what I was reading a lot more on here, so I thought I'd try to get back to that.
 
 
 
by Michael Gruber

Book one in the Jimmy Paz trilogy.
Tropic of Night is a magical realism detective novel. Set in Miami, Nigeria, Siberia and the Northeast USA, this is one convoluted murder mystery. It was really interesting, though. I loved the Miami setting and it was cool learning more about West African religion. I recommend it highly, but with the warning that it falls on the graphic side of violent and does have some truly creepy moments. Not a light read. The first book in a series, but the plot is completely wrapped up in this one book.
 
 
 
by Colin Cotterill
 
Book one in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series.
 
The Coroner's Lunch also has one foot in the murder mystery genre and the other in magical realism. The setting is Laos, circa 1975, just after the communist revolution. The main character is a 72 year old coroner whose investigations into his patients' causes of death unravel vast conspiracies. It was a really interesting take on the whole "death investigator" genre, and I enjoyed learning and reading about the early days of Lao Communism. The first book in a series, but the plot is completely wrapped up in this one book.
 
 
 
The Xenogenesis Saga
by Octavia Butler
 
This is a three-book series.
 
 
Lilith's Brood is a science fiction trilogy by Octavia Butler and set in the near future. Humanity has been stopped from complete annihilation during our final world war by a group of aliens. In this setting, Butler examines what it means to be human, as well as meditates on colonialism and race relations. Definitely a series I wanted to talk about when I was finished.
 
 
 
by Gillian Flynn
 

 
 
 
Two other books I polished off this summer were Sharp Objects and Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Her third book, Gone Girl, is also in my "To Read" pile. I read both Sharp Objects and Dark Places all in one night (one night each - I don't read that fast). I had to know how they ended before I could move on with my life! I didn't particularly like the main characters - I wanted them to do well, but I wanted them to do it far away from me - but the stories were masterfully woven and I didn't lose interest for one single second.
 
 
Next on my "To Read" pile is Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I've heard good things about the book over the years, and with a movie coming out I figured I'd better get on it!
 
 
What did you read this summer? Tell me what your favorite books were!
 
Kathryn :D

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

I've Been Shopping!

 
 
Ever since I saw the new blue Big Shot at CHA-W 2013, I have wanted it to be mine. It was such a pretty blue! Normally I don't fall for that sort of cosmetic-only change to a machine, but my Big Shot has been acting a little sketchy lately (I really put my machines through a lot of abuse, honestly. I even wore out one Big Shot Pro already. Someone should seriously consider reporting me to the Department of Die Cutting Protective Services.) so I think it's time for it to be retired (i.e. donated to someone who will be nicer to it).
 
 
So here's a picture of what the new blue Big Shot looks like:
 
 
Also, I'm not sure, but I think these people might come with it in the box. I hope not, though, or the basement is going to start getting really crowded.
 
 
 
In other shopping-related news, I have started hunting down my CHA-S 2013 purchases. It's going to take me a while to track them all down, but I'll get them all in the end!
 
We finished both versions of the "Picture This!" album last week so this week's USTREAM shows will be using Crate Paper's "The Pier" collection to make a fun summer journal. It will be a really fun book with pockets and other goodies jammed into it. Really interactive!
 
 
 
 
We have USTREAM every Thursday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern USA time this afternoon and then again this evening from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern USA time.

All classes and their recordings will be over on my USTREAM channel: Kathryn Scraps!

To convert Eastern USA time to your time zone, click here: Time Zone Converter.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

NEW VIDEO: Collection Commotion Available Now!

 

It's finally finished!

My new self-paced online class, Collection Commotion: Theme Albums, is available now!
Look how pretty it is! I'm so happy with how this class is coming together.


You can purchase the class through my website: Collection Commotion.
I filmed a little trailer for the class with more sneak peeks of the content. You can watch it down below or over on my YouTube channel at this link: New Class.




 
Today is Thursday, so have USTREAM from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern USA time this afternoon and then again this evening from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern USA time. We'll be working on the portrait frame version of the "Picture This!" album.

All classes and their recordings will be over on my USTREAM channel: Kathryn Scraps!

To convert Eastern USA time to your time zone, click here: Time Zone Converter.


See ya!

Kathryn :D