WORKSHOPS
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5/11-13 MAGICAL MEMORIES Old Saybrook, CT
860.510.0690
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Greetings!
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Can you believe its May already and summer is just around the corner? Lots of great things going on this month. We are launching the online class and fonts on donnadowney.com and if your up for it,I will be hosting QVC this month on May 16th, so set the Tivo!
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| inside the studio |
 What is going on inside the studio this month? Well a big mess, with product everywhwere and a whole lot of creative play show for it,
I have been working on some special issue assignments for Simple, Having a blast just playing with my all too overflowing basket of acrylic paints i have acquired over the past 2 years. I have really found it enjoyable to play with texture and color and feel my painting a day self inspiration project is totally beneficial way to play creatively. I have also been dabbling here and there creating pages and page designs for one of my next 2 books expected to be out in 2008 (I am trying to pace myself way ahead of the production timeline because I wanted to be able to create 100+ pages without the stress of deadlines to meet. So this is good!). i have also spend the last week honing in and developing the idea i have had for a new workshop called "a year in the life". The workshop will be taught for the first time at my friend Rollie's Scrappin Away Event in August. the 4-5 hour workshop is designed so that you walk away with a completed 12 x 12 album for an entire year of you or your family's life. This is the first time i have ever created a class that wasn't about designing the actual skeleton of the album itself, as my friend cathy would say, i am tapping into the "touchy-feely" side of myself by concentrating on the inside content of the album pages.
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| inspired by... |
This month I am inspired by UN-DU! yes UN-DU!
did you know that not only is it a must have for removing photos and misplaced stickers from a scrapbook page, but that it also removes the stickers that your children stick to your brand new hardwood floors!!!
So this month's inspiration shout out goes to the miracle remover!
On a more creative note, I have been flipping through 2 of my all time favorite scrapbooker's books lately, Rebecca Sower's Scrapbooking Life's Little Treasures and Scrapbooking Life's Little Moments . You probably have them too and haven't pulled them out from the pile in a while and if you don't you should check them out. If you do have these, rescue them from the books of days gone by and look through her amazing techniques and design. Rebecca's style is so classic, edgy and timeless and her ideas really get me wanting to play for the sake of creativity. |
trash to treasure
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 Okay, so maybe last month's trash to treasure challenge was not so absurd, those annoying subscription
inserts produced some really cool projects!! I loved how Michelle McCord from Marengo, Iowa rose to the challenge and made an adorable and meaningful mini album with her garbage! check out Michelle's and several other amazing ideas submitted for last months trash to treasure challenge.
This months trash to treasure challenge answers the question...paper or plastic? Lets put those brown paper shopping bags that you get from your local grocery store to the challenge! You will not only be eco-friendly, but you just might stumble upon the next hot new trend in scrapbooking! I would love to see
what you come up with. Simply email a scan or picture of your trash to
treasure idea to donna@donnadowney.com and you may be featured in the June issue of Creative Playground.
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| the D.O. corner |
 What a great month we had in April! As some of you may have seen from the blog, Donna and I had an excellent time in England. Amy from Willow Tree Crafts did a great job putting the event together and I enjoyed meeting all the great ladies. Donna and I also got a chance to see some great sites in London. We did see Big Ben and Parliament. Of course I kept thinking of National Lampoon's European Vacation movie where Chevy Chase kept driving in a circle all day and saying "Look kids, Big Ben". My favorite part was that got the chance to take some tours and see England's country side. Our first tour we got to see Oxford, Warwick Castle and Stratford where Shakespeare was born and lived. The next day's tour we got to see Stonehenge, which was impressive, but I did feel it was just a bunch of rocks. Then we went to Bath and saw the ancient Roman Baths. We even got to go to Windsor castle and wave to the queen. It was a great trip and we saw some incredible sites, learned a lot of history and really enjoyed our time together. The whole family even got a chance to travel with Donna here in North Carolina. We had the opportunity to attend the Paper Playground event in Apex, NC where the store owner, Kathy, put together a great event. McKenna, Payton, Cole and myself got the chance to see Donna in action and meet all the nice ladies. Payton even had a chance to help Mommy with the event as her little helper.
It looks like we should have our first online class available for purchase by the weeks end. In addition we also have the fonts available for download. Donna will send out another newsletter/email blast the moment we are up and running with both.
Also, we would like to continue the monthly Q & A section. If you have any inside questions you would like to send about Donna or myself, please feel free to email me at bill@donnadowney.com. We will post some of the questions in the following newsletter. I look forward to hearing from everyone.
Thank You,
Bill Downey
Director of Operations
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