Extravaganza Artventure

My project for this year's Extravaganza was an altered memory box.

Two sides of the altered memory box exploded with tags featuring me and Dad.

The days and last minutes leading to the Extravaganza seemed endless but in the end it all proved to be a worthwhile experience.

Each year the stamp store, Stampin' From the Heart in Los Angeles, has an art-filled fun day with breakfast and lunch provided for 20 participants.  Each person leaves with a tote bag packed with rubber stamps, paper/ephemera and an apron.  There are raffles on the hour and everyone leaves with four completed projects that four teachers offer.  There are four groups that spend an hour and a half at each teacher's table and the goal is to finish on time.  I've never experienced speed dating but this is how I imagine it to be.  We're all put on a timer, the fun begins, and then we work hard and fast to complete the project on time.    
I spend a lot of prep time before the day begins.  I want all the crafters that sit at my table to not stress out or have hissy fits cause we have 15 minutes left and they're still working on the first part of the project.  I've been on the other side of the game and I know that when you stress you DON'T have fun.  Not having fun leaves you with an incomplete project that you'll shove under the bed or  hide in a drawer where it will stay FOREVER!  Believe me, it's happened to me and I never want that to be the case with whatever it is I create for this event.
I'm happy to report that everyone finished their altered boxes and from the looks on their faces at the end of the day,  it looked as if they were satisfied with their project.  Lots of positive feedback leads me to believe that they will not be putting this project under the bed!
Have a wonderful Sunday and remember to make every moment count.  

Merriment!

How fitting that this week's inchie word prompt is merriment.  Merriment is what I experience when there's a paint brush in my hand and globs of paint nearby.  The background used for my inchie came from a recycled drinking cup that I saved from this past weekend's Extravaganza at Stampin' From the Heart in Los Angeles.  I loved the pattern and immediately knew that I would have to use this as my background for this week's inchie.  It's got that color "POW" that  gets me going and fills my heart with "merriment!"

There were lots of busy hands at the Extravaganza.  Here are just a few working on the the project I created for this event.  In all there were four teachers and 17 students.  WOWZA!  That's a lot of inky fingers! 

Here I am with my second group of Extravaganza party-goers.  It was a party all right and by the third group I was wiping sweat from all the fun!  Jessica is the teacher at the table to the left of me.  She made some pretty cool bird collage cards.  Oh, and how do you like that hanging cord trying to be a crown on my head?! 

  

Here's the cover of a completed Memory Keepsake. 

It was a long day and I lost a lot of sleep last week and the day of.  Somehow my eyes stayed open long enough till I got home.  Was it worth it?  Yes.  Hearing so many happy voices and people delighted that they were able to finish their project made it all worth it.  And a huge THANK YOU to Roxy for helping to make life easy for many students (and me).  She did lots of paper cutting and as one lady put it, "We should all have a Roxy at home!" 
Merriment.  There was a lot of it on Saturday that's for sure.