Introducing our International Tutor Cariena Basson

#artdecocreations #couturecreationsaus #ultimatecrafts

My name is Cariena Basson and I am from a very small, but AWESOME surf village in South Africa – Jeffreys Bay. No, I don’t surf – I Scrapbook! I am married to Marius and we have two four legged children – Pepper and Leeutjie (literal translation “little lion”).

I ♥ my family and of course Marius is my favourite subject to scrap!

I started Scrapbooking in 2007 – a friend pestered me about starting and although I resisted for many moons, I eventually had to give in! The rest, as they say – is history!

From the first day I just loved techniques. Heat Embossing, inking, stamping, using stencils, different mediums and more to tell the story. Obviously I felt each Scrapper had to learn these techniques and I started teaching in 2009. My main aim is to teach people to embrace what they do and to simply enjoy it. There is NO wrong in Scrapbooking! Measuring is NOT one of my favourite things to do – I believe you just need to cut a piece of paper! LOL!

Our lives are so full of “do it this way and that way” that when we are busy with our hobby, we don’t also want to have to make sure it is perfect!

Embrace the imperfection!

Probably one of my favourite things to do is to use my GoCut and Emboss Machine as well as mediums, inks, stamps etc to create my own custom papers, elements and more. Nothing makes me happier.

As part of my mission to teach people to get the most out of their products and to have fun making a little bit of a mess, I have started to film my processes and now have a YOUTUBE channel where you can just see quick little videos.

My teaching schedule is quite hectic – but I LOVE it!

The last two years I have taught at various Events all over South Africa as well as for selected stores in Cape Town, East London, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, George and Pretoria. I love going to different places and meeting and (hopefully) inspiring all the students!

2015 and 2016 have been two of my busiest years, teaching at over 13 Scrapbook Events in South Africa, including alongside International teachers like Frank Garcia, Finnabair, Kerrie Gurney and Kasia Avery.

In June 2016 I taught with Kerrie Gurney from Artdeco Creations – we taught almost 300 eager scrappers in 5 cities! It was amazing!

I am published in our South African Scrap Affairs Magazine on a regular basis and teach and design for The Wholesaler (largest Scrapbook Distributor in South Africa) as well as two local manufacturers for whom I teach Retailer’s classes.

Here are some of the events i have taught at in the last 3 years

2013 – Johannesburg Scrapbook Event, George Scrapbook Event, Bloemfontein Scrapbook Event, East London Scrapbook Event, Port Elizabeth Event, Cape Town Charity Event

2014 – Scrapbook Studio Retreat, Scrapbook Studio International Event, Helderfontein Event, Bloemfontein Event

2015 – Scrapbook Studio Retreat, Scrap Away Event, Helderfontein Event, Finnabair Event, George Scrapbook Event

2016 – Scrapbook Studio Retreat, Scrap and Décor Event Cape Town, Scrap Away Event Bloemfontein, Celebr8 Technique Event Johannesburg, Scrap-a-Doodles Birthday Event Pretoria, Secret Scrapbook Event Nationwide, Silverlakes Pretoria Event, East London Event, Be Love Creations Cape Town Event

I am so honoured to be coming to Australia to teach for Couture Creations and Ultimate Crafts Creative Inspiration Live Event!!! Can’t wait to meet all of you and scrap ‘South African” style! LOL!!

See you soon!!
Cariena