Adding one more teacher – Karen Burniston!

Posted on 07. Mar, 2011 by lisa.

I love pop-ups! I love the feeling of accomplishment I get when I create something interactive out of paper. I love the look of surprise on a person’s face when he or she opens up a card and something unexpected happens. I love creating and teaching pop-ups more than I love Agatha Christie mysteries, malted milk balls and reality TV! (And that says a lot!)

My background is in civil engineering, and I am grateful for my CAD skills every time I design a new pop-up template or mechanism. In 2009 I licensed my designs to Sizzix to be made into dies to fit in their Big Shot die cutting machines. The dies are a fabulous way to make pop-ups – no more cutting and scoring by hand!

Besides being a pop-up enthusiast, I’m also a wife to John and a mother to twins Karl and Emma. We have a high-maintenance Puggle named Lucy who likes to eat paper piercers. After a decade of living in beautiful Colorado we moved in June 2010 to Katy, Texas. Yes, I did say June. Yes, it really IS hot in the summer!

I’ve taught scrapbooking classes all over the world and it’s such a rewarding feeling when a student starts the class saying “I can’t make that!” and ends the class saying “I just made that!”

I’ve got a passion for pop-ups. Watch out . . . it’s contagious!

Find out more about me on my blog: www.karenburniston.typepad.com

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Echo Park is hosting Swap Crop Room

Posted on 03. Mar, 2011 by lisa.

Everyone loves Madison and the gang at Echo Park. This year we have the pleasure of their company as hosts of the Echo Park Swap Crop Room! They have big things in store for everyone visiting their room… we can’t wait to share all the details. Our beloved Susan Mast will be back to organize the official Echo Park Swap, so check back on March 15 to see which swaps she posts first!

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Registration begins Wednesday

Posted on 20. Jan, 2011 by lisa.

Come to the convention area of the hotel on Wednesday, August 24, anytime between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to check in, get your badge, wristband, fast pass, and idea book. The back of your name badge has your complete schedule for Friday and Saturday, so you will know your group name, where to go first, and in which order your classes will unfold. Everyone takes all the same classes from the same teachers – just in a different rotation. All project instructions are included in the Creative Escape Idea Book – a 100+ page idea book that will guide you through the weekend.

Early registration is available for bus tour guests and Bazzill To-do-lah guests. Late registration is available from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, August 25, in the conference area.

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Out with Technique Boutique… in with The Bazaar

Posted on 20. Jan, 2011 by lisa.

Creative Escape is known for changing things up… keeping things fresh… making you guess! We’ve taken out Technique Boutique and added The Bazaar. You are going to love what you see and experience in our out-of-this-world free marketplace -  for free spirits and free thinkers!

During The Bazaar on Thursday, you will use your fast pass assignment to know what time to appear at one class and one service project. The rest of the day is yours to take a photo with Mr. Bazzill and his restored ’57 Ford T-Bird, meet with the artists who will be teaching classes Friday and Saturday, eat lunch, wander through the The Bazaar learning how to use new products from some of your favorite scrapbook manufacturers, and pick up goodies along the way. There is so much to do before the opening presentation at 3:45 p.m. in the ballroom.

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Introducing CE ’11 Teacher #8 – Amy Totty

Posted on 22. Dec, 2010 by lisa.

Amy Totty is a native “Phoenician” and loves everything about Arizona (including the heat). She has lived in Arizona her whole life, minus a stint to Germany when she was a kid. She just celebrated her 19th wedding anniversary with her tolerant, food-loving hubby, Todd. Together they have five wacky kids, four boys and one girl – and no the girl isn’t the last one! While juggling three teens and a pre-teen still at home, she tries to squeeze in a little “Me Time” but it doesn’t happen very often.

When she isn’t busy at home she is working and teaching at Scrapbooks, Etc. Amy loves everything about scrapbooking including the many friends she had made along the way. Through her seven years of teaching and designing she has met many people she is proud to call friends. She has taught at CKUs, the first Creative Escape and several charitable events in South Africa. Amy is currently teaching double-page layouts and bookmaking at Scrapbooks, Etc. She has been sewing since she was a little girl and loves that sewing is now mixing in with scrapbooking. Between the two she is in heaven.

Amy’s work has been published in: Places We Love, Creating Keepsakes, Memory Makers, Creative Reflections and Time & About. She also co-authored a publication about book-making called, Under the Covers.
Her heart will always call Arizona home, but someday she and her hubby hope to spend time in what she likes to call her second home…South Africa.

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Introducing CE ’11 Teacher #7 – Heidi Swapp

Posted on 21. Dec, 2010 by lisa.

I must confess… I am guilty of making the memories look better than they really were! It’s all about how you remember it… right? Your memories are, after all, yours! May as well remember the BEST part! My life is a little crazy. I have 5 energetic and active kids that keep me not only BUSY, but  I am convinced they are causing me what Bill Cosby called “Brain Damage” (remember that?)  My oldest is 13 and my youngest is 3 so we have all kinds of action to capture with a camera and document with paper and glue.  I consider myself first and foremost a scrapbooker, but I like to use my ‘mad-crafting’ skills to create mind-blowing party invites and tear-jerking-mini-books as well as repurposed, one-of-a-kind home décor for every season and holiday!

I feel like the luckiest girl ever because I get to do what I love for work!  I have written books and contributed to magazines. I have traveled the world teaching classes, and meeting scrapbookers…I will admit, my favorite thing has been designing product that I get to see go from just an idea to a packaged item…(my favorite item? Matchbook Jewels).  2 years ago, I put together a ‘dream team’ and we formed the House of 3… a website dedicated to lifestyle creating that pushes the possibilities of hybrid crafting. It’s SO much FUN! We put on a weekly LIVE webshow, where we teach and inspire and most of all laugh!

I guess at heart, I am a party-girl! I believe in “more the merrier” and love bringing people together- especially when it involves creating! That is where Creative Escape comes in! I have been blessed to work the the Bazzzill Team to pull off a remarkable event for the last 5 years. It’s been a labor of love, and a tremendous learning and growing experience for me.

I am so thankful for the daily crazy that overwhelms and inspires. I thankful for the undying support from my husband Eric and many, many friends- and of course, family.
I love this little hobby that is Scrapbooking… whatever, however you do it, it’s FUN!

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Introducing CE ’11 teacher #6 – Heidi Lynn Schreiber

Posted on 17. Dec, 2010 by lisa.

Heidi Lynn Schreiber comes from true scrapbooking royalty – Doug and Marti Jones, owners of Bazzill Basics Paper and Scrapbooks, Etc. in Mesa, Arizona, are her parents. She has experienced the industry from the ground up, and she is a gifted artist who has been contributing her fair share of creativity along the way. She loves taking photographs, scrapbooking, and working with fabric. If you ask her to describe her style she would tell you, “It’s a bunch of Bazzill, a cup of My Mind’s Eye, a dash of Riley Blake and Moda, with a sprinkle of creativity.”

Heidi has been working in her mom’s store since the day it opened. She knows scrapbooking products like non-other and she is truly the resident Bazzill cardstock expert. Show her a Bazzill color and she can recite its name and texture family in the blink of an eye. Wonder about a tool or technique and she can help you, owning most of them herself.

Now Heidi spends her time teaching paper and fabric projects, filling her Etsy store with original creations, and designing and consulting for Bazzill. Heidi’s favorite past time is watching bad TV and crafting, while eating peanut m&m’s. She also loves taking care of her adorable, and quite spunky daughter and hanging out with her brainy, funny husband, Paul.

To read more about Heidi Lynn, visit her at: www.totallyheidilynn.com.

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Creative Escape offers a payment plan

Posted on 16. Nov, 2010 by lisa.

Visit our website to learn all about the convenient payment plan available when registering for Creative Escape, August 25 – 27, 2011 in Chandler, Arizona. Bazzill Basics Paper and Heidi Swapp host the most elegant, exclusive, decadently-delicious scrapbooking event out there. Sign up for our last Creative Escape while you can.

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the last escape…Creative Escape 2011

Posted on 16. Nov, 2010 by lisa.

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the last escape…Creative Escape 2011

Posted on 16. Nov, 2010 by lisa.

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