The Art of Composition
January to March 2013
Tracey Clark | author, photographer and blogger

The highly coveted class, The Art of Composition with photographer Tracey Clark is finally back again! With two unique ways to enroll and enjoy the class this time around, Tracey yet again tackles this sometimes-elusive subject with a fresh and fun approach, covering all the ins and outs of visually compelling imagery.

Whether you choose to take the original, extensive version of the class (full of creative coaching and "in real time" input from Tracey within the classroom) or the new, modified version (where you get all the awesome content and community experience, less Tracey's participation) her unique take on this topic will change how you look at the world around you while you learn how to compose the kinds of images you've always wanted to create!

A photographer, writer, mother and founder of Shutter Sisters, an online community for women who love photography, Tracey loves collaboration, community, shooting and sharing. She is the author of Waiting for Baby, Baby of Mine, Expressive Photography: A Shutter Sisters Guide to Shooting From the Heart and Elevate the Everyday: A Photographic Guide to Picturing Motherhood and teacher of a slew of photo-centric classes here at Big Picture. Discover more about Tracey at www.traceyclark.com.

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Clean & Simple: The Workshop
April to June 2013
Cathy Zielske | author, blogger and former art director of Simple Scrapbooks magazine

Clean & Simple. It's a basic scrapbooking philosophy revolving around three things: photos, stories and great design. And now, it's a 12-week workshop at Big Picture Classes. At its core, this class is about working with photos and words in a hybrid/digital format to tell your stories with simplicity, meaning and great design. It's about stripping away the pretense and trends and zeroing in on stories you love, preserved in a clean, timeless way. We'll have 12 assignments, each one reinforcing the principles of great design and providing a showcase for your words and images. You'll build your design confidence, plus I'll share tips and tricks that help me create my signature style pages. Clean & Simple has been my guiding scrapbooking philosophy for over 10 years and I can't wait to share my ideas with you in this 4Experts workshop.

Cathy Zielske is a graphic designer, author, blogger and scrapbooker. She is the former art director for Simple Scrapbooks magazine and the author of the best-selling books, Clean&Simple Scrapbooking, and Clean&Simple Scrapbooking: The Sequel. Both books inspire women to take a fun, well-designed and guilt-free approach to telling their stories through scrapbooking. Cathy also has a line of digital scrapbooking products available exclusively through Designer Digitals. Get to know Cathy better at her popular blog.

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Hello Story
July to September 2013
Ali Edwards | author and blogger

A huge part of memory keeping is the way in which we choose to tell our stories. Over the course of 12 weeks, Hello Story will investigate 12 different journaling techniques that will build your storytelling toolbox. My hope is that these techniques will become second nature, encouraging you to write more in your memory keeping journey.

This workshop will not be about the importance of getting stories told—you already know that. This class will give you specific assignments and strategies to get more words onto your projects—to make them as much a part of the experience as playing with paint and paper and taking photos. Join me!

Ali Edwards is a blogger, scrapbooker, photographer and instructor who blogs at aliedwards.com. A graphic designer by trade, Ali brings a clean aesthetic and a story-centric approach to her scrapbook pages. She's the author of four books about memory keeping, A Designer's Eye for Scrapbooking, A Designer's Eye 2 -Patterned Paper, Life Artist, and Sharing Your Story: Recording Life's Details with Mini Albums. Ali's work has been featured extensively in Creating Keepsakes magazine, and she has also been published in Real.Simple. magazine.

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Celebrate Every Day
October to December 2013
Amy Powers | author and blogger

Remember when you were little and you'd run over to a friend's house, knock on the door, and ask her mom "Can Amy come out and play?" And then you and your friend would conquer the world, dress up baby kittens, make up grand plots and then act them out. Well, guess what? The Celebrate Every Day workshop is just like you coming over to my house and saying "Can you come out and play?" And the answer is always "YES!" It will be as if you lived right next door! (And wouldn't that be fun if you did? Instead of borrowing a cup of sugar, you could come over and borrow a cup of glitter!) We'll have a blast right here in my studio, making stuff, all sorts of fun things. I'll show you some new tricks and reinvent some old ones. I'll even show you how to make your very own stop motion greeting to send to friends and family. It's going to be so much fun...I can't wait to have fun Celebrating Every Day with you!

Like most middle children, Amy Powers learned early how to entertain herself marvelously. An active imagination decorated her world and occupied her mind. She grew up making art, writing stories, and telling the most extravagant lies you've ever heard. She still remembers precisely what it was like to be that little girl. A few decades later, Amy's still making stuff and writing about it. And although she might still stretch the truth once or twice, for the sake of a good story, you can count on her to be honest. Amy lives in the Washington, DC suburbs with her husband Rich and their adorable son Alfredo. She's always making something and you can follow along on her blog, Inspire Co. She's currently producing an online crafting magazine, Inspired Ideas, which is full of, well, inspired ideas.