Scrapbook Online Class: “The Perfect Collection” by Shimelle Laine – A Review

Sorry, I seem to have this class on the brain but, well, I have this class on my brain! And I posted on the Two Peas Message Board that I would write a review of “The Perfect Collection” by Shimelle Laine. … so here I am. I know many scrappers out there are contemplating taking the class but want to hear more about it before committing.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here is my post about TRUE SCRAP 3 CLASSES becoming available individually. And here is where I contemplate taking SHIMELLE LAINE’s CLASS, “The Perfect Collection”, with some details about it.

K, great. Now you’re all caught up!

I did sign up for the class this past weekend and was able to watch the video over a few sittings when I had time on Sunday {just love that about video classes ‘cuz I am a bizzy woman!}. The video is over 40 minutes long which I think is a great value for the mere $9.99 that the class costs. Included in the price, you also get a printable .pdf (or save it to your computer) that gives paper cutting diagrams and photos of all the layouts Shimelle created for this project.

This is my first {but I’m sure not last} class I’ve taken by Shimelle and I really enjoyed her. She has a very polished but casual presentation style. There are few “uhms” and “uhs” like some other instructors do. {Being in Britain, I do love how she says “ehm” instead of “uhm” anyway}. She wasn’t distracted, you could hear everything perfectly, and the video quality was great.

As for the information presented in the class itself, I found it super useful. She walks you through how to the get the most from your collection kits, using as much of the papers as possible and hopefully leaving just a few scraps when you’re all done. For “Collection Pack Queen” over here, I was loving it. I do tend to scrap by manufacturer because I like how everything coordinates and saves time. I also have many a collection kit. So this class was definitely made for me!

The layouts she assembles in the video are 12×12, both 1-pagers and 2-pagers. She completes 16 total pages, basically an album of 1 event in her life. However, you can also do them as individual layouts. It’s very flexible and easy to use no matter what you want to use the layouts for. It’s also flexible as to the size of layouts. I can see how this technique would be easily adapted for use with 8 1/2 x 11 and 8×8 layouts.

Not only does she tell you how to get tons of layouts without leaving much of your collection pack behind, she also shares techniques and principles from her scrapbooking style. She explains why she lays the pages out the way she does along with some inking, embellishment arrangement, “white space,” etc. I found this to be a nice surprise!

Once you’ve seen the video and downloaded the cheat sheet with cutting diagrams and sketches, you won’t be able to contain yourself! You’ll want to grab a collection pack, monthly kit, or handful of coordinating papers and get to work creating a stack of layouts. She makes it all very easy and accessible. Unlike some classes which show you how to complete one specific project, this is something I will use over and over and over again. For that alone, it was cost effective.

Another selling point: All True Scrap 3 classes once purchased are available for your viewing forever and always. Once your kids have grown and left you, your dog has died, and you’re living in the home with a roommate you can’t stand, you’ll STILL be able to watch eternally-youthful Shimelle showing you how to use up those collection kits … that you will still be working your way through when you’re 93, I promise.

I don’t want to give away any more about the class. Suffice it to say, I give this class a huge YES. As in, “Should I take this class?” YES!

Are you ready to sign up for Shimelle’s class? {C’mon, you know you want to …}. Or do you want to learn about all the other amazing True Scrap 3 classes? Just click here to view more details. You’ll have access to the class almost immediately. I think when I ordered it, it took a whole 3 minutes to arrive. I was like, “Jeez! Are they standing there with their finger on the button or what?” {I know, I know, it’s some automatic computer thing but let me be impressed anyway, mmm kay?}.

Don’t forget that you need to sign up ASAP. The price for True Scrap 3 classes is only $9.99 — for a limited time. On 7/7 the price will increase to $12.95 per class. Which is still a great price for what you get … but who wants to spend $3 extra? That’s money that can be spent on a package of bling or some scrappy paper, for gosh sakes. Get your priorities straight, gurl!

Would love to hear your reviews of this or any other True Scrap 3 classes!