when God closes a door…

it’s said he opens a window…

i probably should have been listening closer, i think God felt He needed to SLAM the door to get my attention!

the past few months have brought a lot of changes into my life, some good, some bad and a few that were very bad; there have been a WHOLE lot of highs and lows. and today has brought with it another drop in elevation…

i’m sure most of you “locals” have already heard the news — scrapbook 911 will be closing it’s doors next month. i began teaching there in February 6 years ago, so perhaps it is fitting that i will teach my final class there tomorrow, the last day of February.

i will miss the camaraderie that i found at scrapbook 911 as i was priviledged to make many new friendships and aquaintances over the years.

it’s always hard to say goodbye to things you know and love, but you can’t move onto new adventures until you bid the old ones adieu.

i am hopeful that there are bigger and brighter things on my horizon. i have a lot of ideas that i would love to see come to fruition, but up til now i have not had the time to dedicate to them. during the next few weeks, i’ll be trying to formulate a plan of action so to speak. some of the plans are already in motion as i had been preparing for the possibility of scrapbook 911 closing for awhile.

i have been working with Jane at The Scrapbooking Factory for a few months now, teaching classes at her monthly retreats. For those of you who enjoyed scrapbook 911’s retreats and will now be wondering where to go instead, i would encourage you to give one of Jane’s retreats a try. she puts them on monthly and does a FABULOUS job of taking care of everyone’s needs and providing a great place to spend a carefree weekend cropping. i fully expect her retreats to begin filling up VERY quickly, so please be sure to call her and sign up soon or contact her for more information if you are interested. she can be reached by e-mail by filling out this FORM or you can call her at 210-857-8697. her retreats are only $35.00 for the weekend! she is also hosting a special retreat at the rockin’ r in a few weeks. i am currently scheduled to teach classes at the rockin’r retreat in march, and at her april and may retreats.

The Scrapbooking Factory also has a very nice selection of printed papers, cardstock, embellies, ribbons, flowers and basic scrapbooking supplies. they are located at 6151 NW loop 410, inside Alamo Craft Co. They are open 10-6 everyday except Sunday. stop in and meet Jane, take a look around, and ask about classes or retreats, she’ll be glad to help you out!

i have also been teaching classes on a semi-quarterly basis at Stamp Antonio — mainly my altered book classes. i met with Amy and Carol last week, and they were gracious enough to agree to let me move my PhotoFULL and Money $aving $ketches there. we have set the date for both classes on thursday, april 7th. Money $aving $ketches will be held from 10:30 to 12:30 and PhotoFULL will be 6:00 to 8:00. Stamp Antonio normally closes at 6:00, so they are REALLY bending over backwards to accomodate this move by agreeing to stay open a little longer for us! i am hoping that the interest in these classes will be enough to sustain them at Stamp Antonio, at least for awhile. i would be VERY grateful to my faithful “regulars” if you would make this move WITH ME!

Stamp Antonio does not currently have a large enough selection of printed paper or cardstock to accomodate a “pick your own paper” class, so both classes will be “BYOP” – bring your own PAPER! since i have a month to prepare, all my march classes at scrapbook 911 will be cancelled, i will take the time to get samples for both classes ready in advance. that way, you will know EXACTLY how many printed papers and how many cardstocks you will need to bring. i’ll also be posting a snippet of the layouts on my blog. the cost of the classes will both be $8.00. Money $aving $ketches has been $8, so there is no change there, but since supplies will now NOT be included in the PhotoFULL class, it’s price will drop from $15 to $8 as well. so both will basically be “sketch” classes; i’ll provide you with the template, inspiration and ideas, and you’ll provide your own paper.

Stamp Antonio HAS expressed an interest in trying to cater to some of us “displaced” scrapbookers, so they may be able to expand their product selection over the next few months to help us out. if you haven’t been to Stamp Antonio, or haven’t been in for awhile, you might want to drop in and say “HI”. they have a wonderful NEW store at 1604 and Lockhill Selma {5139 north loop 1604 west}. in addition to a FABULOUS selection of stamps and inks, they have a lot of basics that we scrappers are going to need — like glue, adhesive, punches AND for you tim holtz junque-ies — LOTS of timmy products! if you don’t see what you need when you are there, PLEASE let them know – they DO want to be able to provide you with the goodies you need. 

Stamp Antonio also has not one, but TWO great classrooms – one of which they just outfitted with a FABULOUS demo table with drop camera and big screen TV! no more trying to get a peek at what the instuctor is doing – you can see it on the BIG SCREEN! what a WONDERFULLY innovative idea!

Stamp Antonio is currently closed mondays, but drop by and see them any other day {call for hours}, or just dial them up if you’d like to see if they carry a product you need or for more info on classes, their number is 210-764-7900.

i have not yet made a decision about my mom & me classes, i will be sending out an e-mail to those on my class list to see what interest there is in continuing them. Stamp Antonio has expressed a desire in having kids classes taught there, so that may be a possibility.

please watch my blog for any new info on classes, retreats and with any luck – CROPS! i have many of your e-mail addresses, but i’m sure not all, so if you are interested in keeping up with any news via e-mail, please drop me a note with your e-mail addy so i can add you to my list.

i VERY MUCH appreciate all of you who have taken classes from me over the years. i am a bit melancholy to be closing the book on this particular chapter, but as you can see, i’ve been busy scripting some new ones!

thank you!