CKU

So I was at CKU last weekend.... WOW! What a great time. If you are an avid scrapbooker, or aspire to be, I definitely recommend it!! I was part of a "dorm," which was very fun. It was a group of us who got together and signed up as a group with a theme, costume, and "cheer." Our theme was "Prisoners from Tracy's PENitentiary." Tracy is Tracy White, editor of Creating Keepsakes magazine and author of The Journaler's Handbook. Our "crimes" were bad journaling and other silly things. We were rough. We were tough. And we were hysterical.

From the rap song we composed to the tune of "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (which we performed on stage and WON the competition), to our costumes, table decorations, and overall bad-ass-ness, we were the coolest group at CKU. We made a name for ourselves. And the best part was that all of us were from different places. We didn't really know each other before the event, but we are such close friends now. I love that.

Here are the lyrics to the song... in case you were wondering.... ;)

Prisoners at Tracy's Pen
{sung to the tune of "Fresh Prince of Bel Air"}

Now this is a story all about how
Our scrappin got flipped turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute so that you know when
I'll tell you how I become a prisoner at Tracy’s Pen

With tons of photos I was born and raised
In my scraproom is where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out cuttin’ pastin’ all cool
And usin’ my square punch outside of the school

When a couple of guys saw my books and did shout,
“How do I know what all this stuff is about?”
I wasn’t journaling and you know that wasn’t right-
I got jailed in the big house of Tracy White!

With Alana, Suzi, Amy, Allison and Jessie,
Hall of Famers Leah and also Kim Kesti
This was gonna be tough working day after day
Learning journaling techniques it’s all work & no play

My first class... yo, this is tough!
My writing style certainly ain’t up to snuff
Is this what scrapping’s supposed to be like?
Hmmm... this might be all right!

Tracy made us cry with her incredible words
We realized journaling isn’t just for nerds
I’ve just got to say that Tracy White rocks
My pages are now full of journaling blocks

Well we all paid our dues and when we came out
We had to keep in touch with so much to write about
So we banded together and made a mini book
About what we learned here-yeah it was off da hook

I whistled for a cab and when it got here
The license plate said Scrap and it had dice in the mirror
If anything I was like could this be true?
And so I just said it, “Yo homes to CKU!”

I pulled into Anaheim 'bout 7 or later
and I yelled to the cabbie-gimme my Navigator!
At CKU Masters I’m here tonight
thanks to the chicks from the Pen and our own Tracy White!

{adapted by Jessie “Birdie” Baldwin}


Here's the run-down of my classes I took... all were excellent and all provided me with some great creativity jump-starts. I am so stoked to get back in my atudio and CREATE. Isn't that what it's all about??

FavorArt Things with Sara Tumpane: OMG I had a FABULOUS time. We played with all sorts of artistic media - some old, some new - but it was so fun because there was no pressure to create "something" with it. Instead it was a very hands on - try this yourself - type of class. Really this was very much what I wanted because I would rather do this than spend an entire 90 minute class making a layout I likely wouldn't use. I was so happy to use stuff I had always meant to try but didn't want to spend the money on the product if I wasn't sure about it. AWESOME prizes and giveaways too. I went home with the new sponge stamps *and* the plastic letters.... SO GREAT!!

Artistic Effects with Tracy White: GREat class. Tracy is such a wonderful teacher. She really does an excellent job of drawing you in and giving all sorts of great inspiration. And the layout we created was very cute and had lots of room for personal "interpretation" of the project, so I felt like I could make something that was totally my own. And Tracy is just so cute. She gave away as a prize a whole set of these new CK books that inspired the class. Very nice.

Rustic Recipe Book with Teresa Collins: LOVED this project. Great one and another that gave me seriously tons of freedom to alter at will. Made a gorgeous bound recipe book that i will be giving as a bridal shower gift. It was that good!! Teresa was so cute and sweet and loved encouraging us to be creative. She gave away great prizes, too!

Expressions on Canvas with Tim Holtz: By far and away the most amazing class I took at CKU. In 2 hours I used at least 5 new techniques and created a double spread canvas work of art that is my favorite piece I have ever made. We used inks, beeswax, collage techniques, painting techniques, layering, multimedia..... incredible. Tim is so encouraging and fun. I won a GREAT prize and I also got super great goodies.... paints, glazes, inks, glass tiles, etc etc etc etc..... very cool.

Here's my canvas:

It's a 2 piece, hinged 8x8 piece that stands alone. Obviously looks better in person, but this will do for now! Tim loved this project so much he even emailed me on 2Ps to tell me so. Talk about cool.

Colorful Memories with Tim Holtz: Another great class, but the title is a bit deceiving. The project, a tag book, is very cool - but not very colorful at all. Shabby and distressed, using ephemera and photo tinting techniques. Several fun ways to use inks again, but I was expecting something more colorful (hopefully using the adirondack paints) but it was still excellent and Tim was very entertaining. More great giveaways (everything we used was ours to keep at the end of class!!)

Are We There Yet with Karen Foster instructors (can't remember their names): OH MAN!!! This project ROCKED!!! I loved everything about it. Very fast paced but we did a TON of stuff. Very little room for changing up the projects, but I didn't care. The whole concept (creating a travel book for your kids that includes games & ideas for enduring a road/plane trip) was so flipping fun it didn't matter. Lots of amazing giveaways too!! More than I could imagine!!

This was my first CKU and I was not disappointed AT ALL. Like I said, it's a great time of fun, friendship, and learning. If you go into it with an open mind and the desire to learn, you will come out of it recharged adn ready to be creative!