Senz 09 aka Cut, Cut, Cut!

*This may have to be over two or more posts depending on the length. A piece of white paper on the l/os represents the photo/s yet to be added.*

What a blast! Especially the crop night – but we made it fun too. We all had pink T-shirts that had “two jennys and two nieces” printed on the back. These we wore all weekend. We started with Nic Howard’s three l/o class – FANTASTIC – how to do it quickly and looked great. Everything supplied and a bit extra “because it co-ordinated with the other papers”. Nic really is very professional and even though she was losing her voice, she kept going. I have to add photos to all three. Then it was on to Lisa’s Fresh and Fancy Free where we had to CUT around intricate patterns. (Cutting was a noticeable trend at this Senz). The two l/os were very intricate, very blingy and quite girly but I do like them. However, I didn’t use the birds or “adore”! I want to use photos of the four of us on this one and my l/o has “fabulous” on it. Next class up was Lianne’s Celebrate Her and we cut again………..this time a tree out of fabric. To make it easier we stuck the fabric onto Jac paper; again the bird didn’t feature in mine. None of us did all the French knots that we were supposed to do either. Nice, again too tricky and intricate for me but I did have a photo for this one. (Sorry about the blurred photo)Saturday we were in Nic’s card class – the one she has taught many times before and I have never been too. Kylie and Jenny had thought it was a very strange choice but politely kept their opinions to themselves! I can see why people rave about it – it was fun from start to finish. We each were given more than enough supplies for six cards and we were then given (almost) free reign on the card buffet – literally supplies spread like a buffet. Nic did ask us not to be greedy and I understand exactly what she was asking as I have had that before in my beginner’s classes. I made seven cards in class and took supplies for another two. If you get a chance to do this class book in as quickly as you can as you will enjoy it. And try to beat the record which is about 25! And it was great to see Lynda there

Second class of the day was Heidi’s female heritage class. Again, another cut, cut, cut class and we had to sew on a sewing machine! A first for me. The three of us used a photo of Granny Ivy (Jenny and my MIL and Kylie’s granny). Another nice l/o but lots of frills and flounces and not something I would do at home. Where the pearls are was a great big "ball" which I removed and put in the pearls instead.Last class on Saturday was Rachel’s Colours of Summer l/o and yet more cutting. I cut some but had had enough of cutting so I went downstairs and bought orange flowers to replace the ones we had to cut out. Another nice l/o and I’ll find some photos for this one. And it was great to see Trina (the TA) again.
Saturday night was the crop and the theme was “Come to the Ball”. Unfortunately we couldn’t get all dollied up but we did buy some cute tiaras to wear. The best dressed competition individual was won by a lady who hired a ball gown and looked wonderful. The group was the two ladies who had flowers all over a pinafore but I thought it wasn’t right that they won the prize as they won it last year with the same outfits. Then we won third prize! Too funny. It was a Kaiser Craft memo board kit supplied by Kaisercraft and Hastings Rubber Stamps. Kylie distributed all the bits and pieces and we were all very happy with our share of the spoils.

Now it was time to make the world’s biggest scrap page. We were given a piece of card 9” x 8” and had to fold back a one inch flap (to join them all). There were lots of supplies on the table and we set to it. All the 8 x 8s were then joined together. Some of the ladies had done such creative work – it was awesome to see. At one point I thought Kylie’s sheep was a tree! I haven’t laughed so much in a very long time - we had a blast and had lots to laugh about and lots of chocolate to eat. I did four l/os and finished the two extra cards blanks I had got in the morning from Nic. Two of the l/os Jenny and I had the same photos so go looking for hers too.

Sunday morning we had a sleep-in which we all really appreciated. Then our class was another heritage class by Heidi which was fantastic because there was no cut, cut, cut! Awesome l/o which I love. But, there was more than enough time to do a second l/o in the two hours class for which we paid.
Last class was a Stampin’ Up class and I was unimpressed but Kylie and Jenny really enjoyed it. For me there was too much on the page and it looked too CM! I also thought it was quite a hard sell class as everything required an SU tool

Some comments to teachers/designers/organisers:
§ If we will be using paint brushes – supply them
§ The same goes for the ink pads – if you want a particular ink pad, get enough for three or four people to share. I’m already paying quite a lot of money to come to the class and I don’t want to have to buy an expensive item that I may never use again.
§ Please provide rubbish bins on the tables – two litre ice cream containers are fine
§ If you’re teaching a two hour class make sure that the class lasts two hours and not one. Gather a few friends and “teach” them the class to check your timing.
§ It was great to see teachers using current papers and embellishments.

By far, the best teacher was Nic Howard – she is professional, relaxed and supplies chocolate! Seriously, she is good and she may be teaching in South Africa in May 2010 so if you can go, you won’t be sorry.

Well done if you made it this far and come back later for our road trip!