Goodbye and Hello!

Well, I’m teaching my last class at my local stamp store, Scrapbook Cupboard, today. It’s the above DeNami Holidays and Heroes card class. Due to the downturn in the economy the last couple of years the owner, Bev, has to close her doors at the end of September.

It has been a great 7-8 years at the store. I remember walking in the doors back in the fall of 2004. It was a small scrapbook store but it grew to have some much more than square footage. I would go often to check out what new product was on the shelves and the new classes. I began going to crops and taking classes as often as my schedule would allow back then. I met so many great people at those crops and classes that would turn into ‘true blue’ friends. The teachers at the store, Kim Parkinson and Donna Maligno, taught me so much over the years. I cannot thank them enough for all their hard work they put into each and every one of their classes and swaps. Check out what they'll be doing in the future here KD's Crafty Concepts.

I was lucky enough to join their design team a few years ago and was able to explore the world of paper crafting even more. The store grew and shrunk with economy and also switched from a scrapbook store to a stamping store. With that I became enamored with the world of stamping. My favorites are DeNami Design, Lockhart, Penny Black, Art Gone Wild, Magenta, Hero Arts and the list goes on forever.

I would show the cards I made to Bev and she soon asked me if I would do a class with them. Each time a new stamp catalogue came in from DeNami Design I would jump right to it and start creating for my next class. I taught these card classes for over two years and loved every minute of it. I met so many new people through these classes and the inchie swap that I ran there too. It’s great to see the student’s enjoyment once they have completed their projects. It’s a sad ending but there is still a little hope left.

I joined the design team at a local scrapbook store, The Crop Shop, almost a year ago to continue my joy of scrapbooking. This venture soon gave way to an opportunity to teach classes there too. I teach classes there that range from mini scrapbooks to explosion boxes. The store has been expanding into the stamping world too. Dee, the owner, along with her staff has helped make my transition to teaching classes at the new store easier.

I hope my students and friends from Scrapbook Cupboard will keep an eye out on this blog for future classes that I’ll be teaching at The Crop Shop in Rockland, MA. Like this one on Saturday, October 1^st from 10am-12pm featuring Halloween Inchie Monsters.