#SimonSaysCreate (and I did!)

What a lucky lady I am!  I was able to attend the Simon Says Create event in Columbus, Ohio this weekend.  I thought I would share my thoughts and some of the photos I took and some of the "creating" I did.

I live in NYC, and always wanted to take classes with Tim Holtz and Jennifer McGuire, and haven't been able to take a class in my town.  When I saw they were teaching in Columbus, I knew I wanted to sign up.  I was so glad that I registered when it was announced as it sold out very, very quickly.  When I saw the rest of the teaching lineup, I knew I was in for a treat.  

Simon Says Stamp picked a great location and I stayed on premises and loved the ease of travel to and from as I traveled alone and didn't rent a car.  Lovely hotel room and amazing staff.

I have been asked how it was to attend a large event alone.  Crafters tend to be very kind and embracing to those alone.  Each meal someone included me with their group.  Very nice ladies.  When the hoopla got to be a bit much for me between classes, I just took a walk and got some tea and relaxed by the pool.  

Tim Holtz taught three classes. He was very kind, and his teaching style is very cool and he makes sure you understand and encourages people to ask questions if they are unsure.  He doesn't just plow along with some students sitting there lost. With such a large group (100 ladies), it amazed me how much information he was able to share and how many techniques he was able to cover! I am a card maker, so 3D items are not something I normally do, so these projects were out of my comfort zone at first, but boy, did I have fun and felt so free to try new things!

My folio underway!

Here is my Burlap Collage!  What fun and totally different than anything I normally do.  

My last piece from Tim's class is my Configurations box.  This was the longest class we took.  By working on the other two projects, we had the techniques already and were very familiar with a lot of the processes.  This was such a hoot, and I found out I am "wire" challenged, as for some reason I had problems following how it got used and Tim came to my assistance.  It holds the bottles and vials in the box.  You will notice my tags in the box are not done, but that is okay, as I plan to work on them now that I am home.  

You may notice there is an adorable lantern in the top left box.  It is fun, as it lights!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I don't art journal.  But I am happy to say that Shari Carroll taught an art journal course on the last evening and it was a lot of fun and very interesting to me.  We used Gelatos, Gesso, and Multi-Medium.    Here is the page I worked on.  For a first effort, I am rather pleased with it.

We made a lot of cards as well.  The instructors were amazing, and the Simon Says Stamp staff were incredibly helpful and they always had smiles on their faces.  Truly a great way to experience a weekend away!

Here are a few pictures of me with some very familiar faces!

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If you stayed with me this long, you are a trouper!  I sure hope Simon Says Stamp makes this a yearly event!  If they do, I highly recommend you join me there!

Until next time!