Halloween Megascrap!



At last we can reveal our plans for Halloween Megascrap in Dublin on Saturday 1st November-a fantastic creative and action packed day of scrapbooking and photography workshops with international scrapbookers Donna Downey and Anita Mundt.


Donna Downey

As the author of the innovative book series, Yes, It's a Scrapbook! Donna is a craft and paper-product junkie. As a Craft-Media artist, she enjoys experimenting, blending and transforming both traditional and unexpected items into meaningful pieces of self-expression. A former elementary school teacher, she has synthesized her first love of teaching with her passion for craft and enjoys traveling across the globe teaching workshops at scrapbook stores and events, writing books, gathering inspiration, designing, and creating art.Originally from the Jersey shore, she now lives in North Carolina, with her husband Bill and their three children.

Donna taught an amazing Blue Hybrid Album class in Dublin last June and is delighted to have the opportunity to return for the Megascrap event on Nov 1st.

Donna will be teaching 2 X three hour workshops at the Halloween Megascrap;

Paint. watercolor. doodle.



8 page, 6x6 acrylic and chipboard album : class time 3 hours

Mix and match sizes, shapes, textures, colors, and mediums to create a bold and beautiful hand-painted and collaged mixed media scrapbook. As you experiment with color, each page will be immediately transformed into mini-masterpieces individually colored and designed by you. You will explore new techniques for using watercolor crayons, layering and collage for acrylic album pages, as well as, paint and doodling tips for taking your creative scrapbooking to the next level.
supply list

And her second workshop is 100 eyelets or die trying!



4 x 4” binder album - class time 3 hours

"I'm bringing eyelets back...", sing it with me people!!

This fun compact mini album is bursting from the seams with it's black and white and red all over pieces of creative character. In this class we will rebirth the nostalgic goodness of the eyelet (get your cropadiles ready!) along with paint, paper punches (yes, i said paper punches), handmade custom tags, ribbon and my personal favorite, book text! Together we will create and transform the album's ordinary chipboard pages into a dynamic and interactive album with pages that are meant to be touched and turned. If journaling gets you down, no worries, i even provide you with a full sheet of text strip journaling if you so choose to use it!


Anita Mundt


Anita is a passionate scrapbooker and photographer. Born in England, she acquired her degree in textile design. After a short time in industry as a designer she retrained to be a primary school teacher. Anita remained in the classroom for 15 years whilst persuing her creative interests in her spare time, before finally making the jump into launching her own photography business last year. Her scrapbooking has been published regularly in the UK, USA and Europe. Anita is now a member of the Design Team for Scrapbook Inspirations Magazine and regularly writes articles on scrapbooking and photography for UK and European magazines. Anita never left her ‘textile’ roots and this influence is prominent in her scrapbooking. Her photography style is modern and edgy, she loves to capture the true personality of her clients to create treasured photographs.


LO Workshop - Anita Mundt - 'WASH DAY'


Crochet is becoming so fashionable! Everywhere you look you see crochet edging on clothes, crochet accessories, so why not crochet on your scrapbooking projects?!
During this workshop you will learn a method of adding 'pretty' crochet edges to your layout. This simple method suits both left and right handed people, and is a great start for crochet virgins!

Bring along one black and white photograph (approx 15cm x 10cm landscape format) of your laundry hanging on the line. It can be a photo of your everyday laundry, or you might want to peg up and photograph clothes with special sentimental meaning to you (e.g babies first baby grow, a sweater knitted by your grandmother, the pair of jeans you bought and could never fit into!)

Photography Workshop – ANITA MUNDT

Whether you have a simple compact camera or a fancy DSLR, there is one photography technique that you can use which is sure to add a little drama to your photographs. Join this workshop and you will change the way you take photographs within minutes... making instant improvement!

Photo Sessions with Anita Mundt
Anyone attending this event will have the opportunity to book a ‘mini portrait session’ with Anita Mundt. You can find examples of her photography work on her website : www.anitamundt.com or her photogblog : www.anitamundt.typepad.com/photography
Formal, funky or plain old whacky... the choice is yours. Let your personality shine through in your shots...you can even bring props if you like (a bunch of balloons, your favourite hat... be creative, be unique!)
At a special price for attendees, you can book a mini shoot and receive 5 photographs (in digital negative format, which will be edited, retouched and then emailed directly to you) for the price of 50 euros. Due to time constraints on the day, the places for ‘mini shoots’ is limited, so please book early!

The Halloween MegaScrap 2008 is a one-day, creativity-packed Scrapbooking and Photography event taking place in:

the 4* CityNorth Hotel

on: Saturday 1st November

from 9.00am to 8.00pm.

CityNorth is located just off the M1 Dublin/Belfast Motorway and is 15 minutes north of Dublin Airport and the M50. It has ample parking, a regular shuttle service to Dublin City and Dublin Airport and superior hotel accommodation for anyone wishing to avail of the special MegaScrap Accommodation Package.

A full-day ticket to the Halloween MegaScrap costs €180.00 and includes:

- A three-hour "Paint.Watercolour.Doodle" Acrylic & Chipboard Album Workshop with Donna Downey

- A one and a half hour "Wash Day" Scrapbook Layout Workshop with Anita Mundt

- A three-hour "100 Eyelets" Chipboard Binder Album Workshop with Donna Downey

- A one-hour Photography Workshop with Anita Mundt (don't forget to bring your cameras!)

- Tea/Coffee throughout the day

- Lunch

Tickets are now available to purchase online at The Scrapbook Store. You can choose to pay for your ticket in full or you also have the option of paying an €80.00 deposit and then a final payment of €100.00. If you've any questions about the event don't hesitate to contact us at workshops@thescrapbookstore.ie For details about the individual classes take a look at the Workshop information.

First day of school





Well the day has finally come when I pack off my baby to 'big' school and she went in without a hitch. She wore the prettiest little pink and white dress complete with matching dress for baby 'Rosie' and she looked a picture as she strutted her way through the yard and into her classroom, barely stopping to say goodbye. Maybe it's second child syndrome or 2 years of montessori but first day at school ain't the drama and tears it used to be in my day. Kids are so confident and independent at 5 that this milestone is more of big deal for the mammies than the kiddies.

When I picked her up at 12.00 she came running out beaming at me that she got a sticker 'cos she got on 'brill-iant-lee' and in the next breath she told me that she got detention. I suspect she was kidding - at least I hope she was!

Crafty news coming soon...

I spent the day with Annamarie finalising our plans for our big event -HALLOWEEN MEGASCRAP on 1st November 2008 with Donna Downey and another special guest designer from Europe. We have secured a fab new venue and all plans are ready to roll out this week so check back soon as tickets will be on sale this week. Don't miss out ;-)


...and here's something that made me smile today;-)

Hammer Time (Soulja boy)

I love formation dancing and I've been getting a kick outta watching these guys in a Far Eastern State Penitentiary do their thang! I wonder what would happen if they had said they didn't feel like participating....hmmmmnnn! They do a mean Thriller dance as well ;-)Check it out...

Last week of lie-ins...

It's officially the last week of Summer for us (what Summer I hear you ask???) well it may not have been the sunniest time but I did enjoy having lie-ins and hobby free days for 2 months. We are on count down to Thursday when Lucy starts her first day of 'big' school and Eva starts 2nd class.

We had a nice weekend. On Saturday Annamarie, Linda and Siobhan came over after breakfast and we camped out at the craft table for the day while the kids ran amuck(sp?) through the house. There were high school musical dance routines, photo shoots and long sessions on the trampolines in between feeding times so they had lots of fun while the mums got to play with the paper;-)


Yesterday we took a trip our annual trip out to the Glenview Hotel for lunch, where we got married 11 years ago and the girls loved exploring the newly landscaped 'secret' gardens - lots of hidey hole places to run around... Surprisingly the sun shone for a few hours - a rare event in August in Dublin!






And speaking of weddings, while flicking through U tube, I came across this one. It would make you want to get married again!
Mr and Mrs Tucker's first wedding dance


As it's been a while since I posted a LO here's one I made for a client friend last week of her niece's communion...

A treat to Carton House Retreat



Yesterday himself treated me to a night at Carton House for our wedding anniversary.



It's the most beautiful estate just off the N4 but it is off in a world of its own especially when you take the long drive up to the old house. The developers of this old estate have really done a spectacular job of fusing old with new. When you enter the hotel it is ultra slick and minimalist however, a few short steps takes you to the old part of the house with authentic furniture and artifacts dating back hundreds of years. You can sense the history as you walk through room after room, particularly the ballroom and library. It feels like a museum but because it is a hotel, residents have full access to most rooms and are encouraged to enjoy the facilities.

We had a lovely meal last night at the Linden Tree restaurant and enjoyed a nightcap in the funky resident's bar. This morning I had the most relaxing facial in the Molton Brown Spa - afterwards the therapist provides you with a refreshing mango sorbet to relax (yum!)I can highly recommend it for an escape away...


The ceilings were absolutely stunning - so much intricate detail.


I was fascinated to find this room which was entirely surrounded in bells leading to all of the old quarters. You can just imagine the poor servants flapping around as the Duke of Leinster beckoned for assistance from his Winter dressing room!



Even in the bar area you can see the original kitchen and hearth complete with all of the original kitchen implements on display.



Surprisingly the rain didn't stay away...

We were lucky enough to get upgraded to a deluxe room and this was the view from our balcony;-)

Maggie May's Birthday Album



For weeks there have been whispers and emails going back and forward about Maggie May's (Mary's) special birthday - we called it operation MAGPIE. It was Carrie's lovely idea to arrange a special gift for this special lady. Lots of the girls created an entry or card for Mary's birthday album and Carrie put it all together last Saturday and we presented it to her along with a beautiful hand made cake by the talented Liz/Littlebit. Mary's face was priceless - she had absolutely no idea we were going to surprise her. The album is a testament to how much we all love and respect her artistic talents - she's one in a million. Happy Birthday Mary!






Carrie's Cover


Carrie's Entry


Audrey's entry


Jackie M's entry


Lainey's entry


Elisa's entry


Cards by Anne O'Kelly & Isobel


Cards by Audrey and Val


Cards by Julie M and Janet


Card by Tracy


Audrey's art


Card by Linda K


Cards by Annamarie and Kiki



Carrie's handsewn album cover


Please let me know if I have left your name out ;-)Thanks to everyone who took part. Mary was thrilled with the album.

Washed out in Kilkee ;-)

Well we finally got home tonight after a long and rainy week in Kilkee. We had a good time despite the weather - another wash out Summer in Ireland! Whenever the rain stopped we made a run for it and got to see some of the local countryside. My favourite day was Thursday where the sun actually shone for us as we made our way to the Cliffs of Mohar. It's a sight I never get tired of and it was particularly spectacular in the sunshine.





On one of the days the kids had a great afternoon chasing away from the waves and pretending to be surfies. You could watch them going around in circles for hours!


On Tuesday it was Lucy's 5th Birthday and as it was raining outside we went to the aqua centre and then in the afternoon we had a little crafty party for her ladyship. Still can't believe my baby is 5!

Today was our 11th Anniversary so I decided to come home a day early to avoid the thunderstorms which were forecasted for the weekend. Himself was an absolute darling and took a train to Portlaoise to meet us so I wouldn't have to do all the driving by myself. As the song says 'it must be love...'

Sunday in Spanish Point

Yesterday we drove 5 hours to Kilkee in county Clare in a monsoon. It was a scary drive down to say the least but we got there in one piece. We have been going to Kilkee on and off for 18 years now and I always love the sight of the crashing Atlantic Ocean when you drive into the seaside cove and when we finally arrived it was dramatic and stormy with the crazy weather conditions we are having this month - more like November than August!

Today we had a break in the weather so we took a trip out to Spanish Point with all of my nieces and nephews and we got a few minutes on the beach before the heavens opened. There were amazing frothy waves on the shore - which reminded me of a sea of frothy Guinness. It really was bizarre to watch -some of the local surfers were having fun pretending to scrub each other's backs down. I couldn't resist sneaking a photo or two...