Birds of a Feather, UK

I love being able to use my degree in teaching paired with something else I love... SCRAPBOOKING! :) This past weekend I had the opportunity to teach at the first Birds of a Feather workshop in Birmingham England. It was the most put together and well thought out event (especially for being their very first one!), the students were spoiled with so many goodies, and Hey Little Magpie even brought a pop up shop so the delegates could purchase supplies then and there. It was a fantastic weekend filled with laughter, unique food (lol), and creativity!

On Friday afternoon I headed out to the Nuremberg airport and began my journey to the UK.

 A quick layover in Paris then legit French beignets as an in-flight snack to Birmingham!

 The event was at the Antsy Hotel - used often for weddings and receptions. There were butlers and the like in tuxedos everywhere, I felt like I was living in Downton Abbey for a weekend, it was so posh and fun!

The grounds surrounding the hotel are immaculate.

 All set up for two days of crafting!

Sweet shop - don't mind if I do!

Layouts made by the event coordinators and talent behind Birds of a Feather - Jackie, Sam, and Sheena. They're the ones who should be teaching! And they will, at future events!

 The Hey Little Magpie shop lined the room and ladies enjoyed shopping between layouts.

I want them all!

 Coincidentally my dress was the exact same colors as the rug!

 Class in full swing!

 Fancy Free and Take Me Away :) Samples of my 3rd collection are on their way as we speak!

I even went shopping a bit and picked up the latest Maggie Holmes collection and the Snow & Cocoa winter line by Crate Paper.

 The food at every meal was so FANCY and I tried new-to-me things like Yorkshire Pudding!

It was such a lovely weekend, words and pictures can't do it justice!

Here are the 4 layouts we made in the order we created them:

TOO CUTE by Paige Evans

DESCRIPTION: We've been making a die cut page like this in all my classes so this is this workshop's version!

JOURNALING SAYS: Happy fourth birthday to you Jane! On the way to church we pulled over in front of the big yellow canola oil rapeseed fields at the bottom of our neighborhood and took a million photos in just a minute or two, that's all I needed :) Love you!

HOW TO: Trim off the tearaway strip and cut apart the squares from Paper 07. Fold each square in half and use the provided flower petal template to trace and cut out petals. Turn over the provided flower background cut file, spray it with adhesive, and then back the die cut petals with the patterned paper petals. Adhere the entire piece to the B-side of Paper 18 using dimensional adhesive. Layer a photo over a doily and pink frame die cut then adhere on the right side. Cut a wood veneer scalloped circle in half and tuck the halves under the photo; place a pink button on the left. Make a title from Thickers on the right and glue a banner die cut below. Journal on the left and stamp a flower below.

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, Thickers, button, die cuts, wood veneer, roller stamp: Take Me Away by Paige Evans / Pink Paislee; Die cut background: Paige Evans; Doily: Wilton; Pen, adhesive, ink: American Crafts

DETAIL SHOTS:

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AWESOME by Paige Evans

DESCRIPTION: Save those tearaway strips and use them to cover a large die cut to make a fun focal element!

JOURNALING SAYS: I love taking pictures of you two in front of cool doors, this particular one is outside the airbnb we rented in Florence Italy, May 2016. Isn't it a'door'able!

HOW TO: Trim off the tearaway strips from all of the patterned papers. Generously apply adhesive to the provided “&” die cut then cover it with the paper strips. Using a craft knife on a crafting mat, carefully trim off the excess and the inside holes. Place the “&” on scratch paper and carefully outline with a bold black marker. Adhere the “&” onto Paper 14. Layer die cut and chipboard sticker frames over a photo, adhere it on the left, then embellish with a wood veneer pennant, 2 heart chipboard stickers, and an “awesome” chipboard sticker. Create a cluster of embellishments above the photo with a flower die cut, a wreath flower die cut trimmed in half, a bow button, wood veneer heart, chipboard heart sticker, and two sentiment chipboard stickers. Journal above the end of the ampersand.

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, chipboard stickers, button, die cuts, wood veneer, roller stamp: Take Me Away by Paige Evans / Pink Paislee; “&” die cut: Paige Evans; Pens, adhesive: American Crafts

DETAIL SHOTS:

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LOVE THIS by Paige Evans

DESCRIPTION: This layout features a big patterned paper title! Could be hand cut, but in this case we used templates.

JOURNALING SAYS: We found 'the' colorful row of houses/buildings in Cologne! A Beautiful Mess regrammed the photo I shared of them, happy times!

HOW TO: Splash white paint in the center and working outwards on the B side of Paper 01 and let it dry. Using the shared die cut letters, trace and cut an “L” from the B side of Paper 03, “O” from the B side of Paper 20, “V” from Paper 03, “E” from Paper 16, “T” from Paper 02, “H” from Paper 19, “I” from the B side of Paper 11, and “S” from the B side of Paper 16. Outline the letters with a black pen then distress all the edges with scissors. Adhere the letters along with a photo partially covering the “O” onto the painted background. Trim a chipboard floral wreath sticker in half and tuck one half under the “O”. Cut apart the houses chipboard sticker and add one house and half of a purple frame die cut under the photo. Place “HEY” and a geotag wood veneer overlapping the photo and glue a button next to it. On the bottom right, layer a flower die cut, another chipboard house sticker, button, and a wood veneer heart topped with “colors” and “FUN” heart chipboard stickers. Journal on the bottom right corner. Add stamping to the top left corner. Splash black watercolors over the top left and bottom right and let dry.

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, chipboard stickers, buttons, die cuts, wood veneer, roller stamp: Take Me Away by Paige Evans / Pink Paislee; "LOVE THIS" cut file: Paige Evans; Watercolors: Loew Cornell; Paint: FolkArt; Pen, adhesive, ink: American Crafts

DETAIL SHOTS:

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SWEET LIFE by Paige Evans

DESCRIPTION: Can't go wrong with a bit of fussy cutting and hand stitching :)

JOURNALING SAYS: Love you two so much and your brotherly / sisterly love for each other - you make my life worth it!

HOW TO: Using a ruler and a pencil, draw lines from corner to corner. Pierce a hole every ¼” (starting partway from the corners) then erase the pencil lines. Backstitch through the holes using white thread. Hand cut two large flowers from Paper 10, three flowers with leaves from Paper 02, and a bunch of small flowers from Paper 17. Adhere the flowers to the top and bottom quadrants and add die cut and chipboard sticker flowers and leaves to the mix as well. Tips: Start with the largest flowers first then add the smallest last; point all the leaves in the same direction; only use a little adhesive and bend up the edges for lots of dimension. Mat three square photos onto Paper 11 and adhere it across the center. Place a die cut frame behind the center photo, journal on the bottom, frame with Thickers parenthesis, and tuck the top of a “SWEET LIFE” tag and half of a floral wreath die cut above. Embellish the right photo with a chipboard flowerpot sticker and button and the left photo with a wood veneer circle, button, and chipboard heart sticker.

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, chipboard stickers, buttons, die cuts, wood veneer: Take Me Away by Paige Evans / Pink Paislee; Thread: DMC; Pen, adhesive: American Crafts

DETAIL SHOTS:

Saturday group photo:

Hope to be back and teach one more time before we're outta here in less than 9 months!