CreativeLive: Day 2, Part 1

Day 2 of CreativeLive got off to a much better start than Day 1. Traffic into San Francisco was normal-heavy, as opposed to insane, so Jennifer and I arrived a good hour ahead of our call time. There was plenty of time for photos in the lobby...

... a leisurely breakfast....

... and photos on set. I was taking a photo of Jennifer when Denise leaped into the frame yelling, "PHOTOBOMB!"  

We were all ogling the goodies waiting on our tables - a Simple Stories album and page protectors, a Gossamer Blue kit, two packages of Simple Stories letter stickers, plus cardstock, scissors, trimmers, and adhesive.  I couldn't wait to dive in!

After a segment about Design and Process, we moved on to my absolute favorite part of the two days: Scrapbook Improv. Lain started with lists of page ideas (generated by us and the crew), materials, art techniques, journaling techniques, etc. For each, she used a spinner to announce what our requirements would be. We would have five requirements and only 30 minutes to FINISH a page. I knew that Lain could do it, thought that some of my fellow classmates might be able to do it, but was positive that I couldn't do it and produce something I actually liked. Especially with the cameras on me!

She spun for the first item. Our topic would be "Say What?!" Uh oh. The stupid Groovebook still hadn't arrived (21 days after I ordered it) and I didn't think I had any photos (or stories) that would fit that topic in my envelope of random prints. I rifled through my photos and grabbed the first one that sort-of fit - a picture of Trevor at the dentist with an expression on his face that he'd rather be anywhere else. I started digging out the letters to spell "Say What?!" when Lain did the next spin and revealed our background had to be cardstock. OK, that's good. Well within my comfort zone. I pulled a piece and went back to sifting through letters. Next spin - doodling. Ugh. I matted my photo and doodled around the edge, tucked some patterned paper behind it, and adhered it to the page.  

Meanwhile, Lain had done the final two spins. We had to incorporate song lyrics on the page and use wood veneers. I went back to my title. I noticed that by putting back a W and a T, I could spell "Say ah"... which made a lot more sense with my photo AND is part of the lyrics from the dentist song in Little Shop of Horrors. I moved on to the wood veneers. They were all travel-themed, so I turned two upside-down and added stickers. Then I wrote out my journaling on a cardstock scrap and tucked it under the photo. With two minutes to go, I added some enamel dots. I was absolutely blown away that I had met all the requirements and produced a layout I loved in 29 minutes.  

Sally and Chris scrapped along with us. They are creative, artistic people but they aren't scrapbookers. So what they made was pretty remarkable.

When it was time for our 45 minute lunch break, none of us left the room for a good ten minutes. Instead, we walked around admiring each other's work. Everyone did an amazing job.

Lunch was so good. I took a tiny bit of almost everything because I couldn't decide what to have. I'm glad I did because it was all delicious.

Tomorrow I'll be back with Day 2, Part 2!