Aggie Shoots. Aggie Scraps.

Holiday season has begun! Now before you go reading about adipex diet pills to help you not gain weight during the holidays, Simple Scrapper has a free workshop with Audrey Neal called Capture the Season.

This free set of weekly lessons and companion blog posts:

• is consistent with the themes and messages of Simple Scrapper
• emphasizes capturing moments and stories
• has tips and support on photography, journaling and scrapping
• includes free templates to help you record your holiday memories

How this project is unique:

• No advance preparation required – you can jump right in
• Weekly assignments to complete at your own pace
• Simplicity is the focus: make memories now, scrap later
• Journaling-friendly templates with room for multiple photos
• 100% free to download & participate

You’re invited to our FINAL class of 2009, and best of all, it’s FREE! Take advantage of this special opportunity to refocus on what matters most to YOU during the holiday season, no matter how you celebrate.

We’ll be making a great project to help you tell your holiday stories both past and present, and I’d like to extend a personal invitation to EVERYONE. You don’t have to be a digital scrapbooker, you don’t have to know Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

Registration is easy and free!

1. Log in to your account at JessicaSprague.com.
2. Copy this code by highlighting it and typing Ctrl-C (Cmd-c on your Mac): HIHFREE2009
3. Click the image above, or click right here, then paste (Ctrl-v or Cmd-v) the code.
4. You’re registered! Click on your My Classes link to view the introduction to the class! (I’ll be posting the supply list on Wednesday)

While I am looking for diet pills that work, here are some classes you might want to consider attending:

• It runs from December 31 until March 24 (12 weeks)
• It will cost $99

I think I want to join this class (but the horror – it is too pricey for me!!). I have always been a big fan of Cathy Z and her work. You should all see the videos she prepared for the A to Z – Me Abridged Version class. It is hilarious but still oh-so-inspiring.

Shutterfly Savvy Digital Templates 2 by Pattie Knox

The class costs $45 – but you get a coupon for an 8×8 Shutterfly book (20 pages) that costs $29.99. PLUS you get to receive digital templates and FOUR complete digital kits.

I personally love Pattie’s Tribute Album (featured in the class). I would love to make one for my parents.

And of course, Ali’s Yesterday and Today Class. It is also a bit pricey for me but I am sure everything Ali teaches is worth it.

Yesterday & Today is designed to:

1. Begin the journey of creating a life-affirming 12" x 12" album that mixes stories from the past and the present.

2. Be about you OR about someone you love (or you can do a bit of both). Each weekly layout topic can be translated into a page about yourself or a loved one.

3. Be manageable even during this extremely busy time of year. There will be just one layout project each week. You will not be scrapbooking your entire life story over the duration of this workshop.

4. Be an opportunity to use what you have from your current stash of supplies.

5. Challenge (or affirm) the way you think about scrapbooking. It is less about playing with products and more about focusing on the words and photos.

6. Inspire you towards a deeper understanding of the power scrapbooking can have in the way we live our day to day lives.

7. Give you a plethora of ideas for additional layouts to complete and stories to tell once the workshop is finished.

8. Instill confidence in your personal creative process.

9. Be open to all memory keepers whether you prefer paper or digital (or a bit of both).

Some of the topics covered in the weekly tutorials include:

1. Scanning, enlarging, printing, and working with heritage/older photos.

2. Creating layouts without photos.

3. Feelings vs. Facts storytelling.

4. Using pop culture as inspiration for documenting life.

5. Letting go of the quest for perfection and dumping the guilt.

6. Addressing the challenging stories of our lives.

So I have been not produced a single page this month yet. Life has been insanely busy (managing household and taking care of two kids by my lonesome, dealing with certain health issues, trying to cut back on losses and working overtime to earn more) that scrapbooking needs to take a back seat for now.

However, I am taking this class. It was such a thoughtful surprise from a friend who knew how much I wanted to take the class but just didn’t have the funds for it. I have been listing words and discovering so much about myself and I am enjoying myself immensely. For starters, I never realized that I never really knew what defined me until I reached the age of 22, and that was long after college and education and teenage life. I never cared for trendy stuff, and would often jump into the trend long after it becomes a fad. So I got myself my first cellphone at 20! And that truck accessories are not as exciting scrapbooking materials and that scrapbooking has been my longest hobby to date – I dont think I will be stopping anytime soon!

I have just signed up for the first class being offered by ScrapArtist, called Open Your Eyes, Ears, Nose and Mouth. I have always been a student at heart and I love taking classes. I also have to admit seeing Jenn Olson lead the class made me sign up right away. She is one of my scrapping idols .

Hopefully, this class will teach me how to really turn my hobby of scrapbooking into really preserving my family’s memories. I have always prided myself with being good at journalling. Lately though, I see my pages take into nothing with writing and I inspected my layouts for this year and almost 25% were not worthy to be printed (if at all) – there was just more to it – the page, the photos, the memory, that I have failed to capture.

Oftentimes, we get to be too caught up with the latest trends and styles in the industry that we forget why *we scrap*.

Im taking this class to help me remember why.