be yourself: live with passion

back from CHA

 Last Sunday,Tena and I headed to Anaheim to attend CHA.  There were so many loose ends to tie up around here that I didn't have a chance to post about it.

I got there only to discover I had forgotten my camera...but I did have my camera charger :)).  Good thing Tena had hers...I asked her to take dozens of pix for me and will post some when I get them.  In the meantime, just thought I'd let you know that I was there.  Had a great time with my roomie (that would be Tena)...it's been a while since we hung out together...glad we were able to do that again.

I was tickled to run into Peggy, my friend from New Jersey, who was there with her daughter-in-law, who is a rep in the New England area.  We had lunch with Peggy and were joined by Donna, Heidi, Janet, Debby and Kandi, Donna's assistant, on the back row with Tena and me.  Peggy is right in the middle with her darling pink rimmed glasses.  Fun lunch, for sure!

OK, so what about the new stuff?  There were a lot of manufacturers who had one or two cool new things...when I get the pix, I'll share some of them.  For the most part, the new releases were fairly conservative in size.  I do have to tell you that the graphic 45 release and booth were amazing...loved everything they introduced...be on the lookout for it in future kits.

On the kit front...well, it's been an interesting month of ordering and receiving (or not receiving in some cases) product.  I don't think I've ever had so many challenges with getting everything I ordered...and on time.  For example, when you place an order and give a "need" date, would you interpret that as a "ship" date?  Hmmmmm.  Anyway, I'm waiting on just a little more product that didn't come with the order...am planning to ship out on Saturday morning.  Thanks everyone for your patience...mine has been tried quite a bit this month :)).

OK, back to work...have some classes in Northern California at the end of February to talk about, a trip to Australia in April to talk about, my project for Inspired (well, a bigger peek) to talk about, and so on and so forth.

But for now, just wanted to say thanks to all who commented and wrote about Creative Escape (I think it's going to be a great year) as well as those who sent along your b-day wishes to Vern...he says thanks, too!

Have you ever been given a priceless gift?

I have.

And, today is his birthday.

How do you put a price on being married to your best friend and overall amazing person?

Someone who so expertly connects with people and animals?

Someone who indulges, supports, and beyond that, contributes to your creative habit?

Someone who is a great father...and is currently sharing his day with his like-minded, horse-loving daughter in a competitive endurance ride?

Someone who is an active listener and who regularly hears the confidences of others...in fact, he's often been told by people that they told him more than they would ever tell their priest or pastor! :)

Someone who enjoys the challenge of the new...new travel places, new food, new projects, new ideas...and challenges others to think outside the box.

That someone happens to be Vern and he is really and truly a priceless gift in my life.

Happy Birthday, Babe! 

I've been sitting on a secret...

...that I have been dying to spill!

Since the information has now been posted, I can unzip the lips and broadcast my secret.

I'm excited to share the news that I will be teaching at Creative Escape 2009!

I was fortunate to have taught at the first year...what an honor it is to be asked to teach again.

  I don't have a button or banner for 2009 yet so thought I'd post a pic of one of the dessert trays from last year's event.

If you aren't tempted by the classes, the resort setting, or the activities, maybe the chocolate will do it! :))

Hope that many of you are able to come!

computer free for five days

OK, so I brought my laptop...lugged it around the airport (much to the dismay of my shoulder)...and never even turned it on for the five days I was gone.  We were BUSY!

One of the things on my two page TO DO list today is to upload my {few} pix from the weekend and to write about it.  Don't think I'm going to get to that today, though.

I got home close to midnight yesterday and am in the catch up, where was I before I left mode.

One of the things that I absolutely had to do today was to post a picture of the project I'm teaching on Friday at Scrapbooks, Etc.

If you've called the store about what I'm doing, I just wanted you to know that I appreciate your patience.  Here it is.

It's a made by hand piano hinge book all decked out in brand new Yellow Bicycle love papers...must say that I LOVE them and they provided a lot of inspiration.

A good bit of class time will be taken up with the construction of the book and decorating the cover and hinges but I will be providing additional papers and embellishments, as well as some ideas, for the interior pages.

The class is Friday, January 23rd, at 10:30 a.m.  If you're interested, just call the store at 480-854-2303.

Think shades of pink and red, gray and putty...silver glass glitter...coordinating embellishments...all that, plus a book structure that you can build over and over again.

Hope I see you there...it's a great time to do a love book...just in time for the month of love.

getting ready...

  Last week was a slow blog week for me...mainly because I've not been on the computer all that much for anything.  The reason is that I was getting ready for my classes at Queen's Ink coming up this coming weekend.  I'll be taking off this Thursday and returning late Monday night...it'll be a great weekend with three classes and a girls' day in Virginia on Friday.

I have to chuckle about the timing though.  I really should have scheduled East Coast during the spring...or fall.  Maryland and Virginia in January?  Probably not one of my brighter thinking moments :)).  Well, at least I have the warmth of friendships...and all of the warm feelings that come from being in a room with creative people...it's all good!

Want to see some pix of what I'm teaching?

First out of the shoot on Saturday (that's January 17th) is a "LOVE" book.  You know the saying about good things coming in small packages?  This is one of those things.

The book is a 6x6 Chatterbox book with velvet flocking on the covers.  To that, we are adding crystals, glitter, fabric, lace and tons of ribbon.  There's a pack of chipboard letters (even though we're only using a few) and a coordinated pack of ribbons from Chatterbox included...which means you will have product left to use for other projects.  This isn't a Valentine's book, per se, but more of a general book about love...friendship love, family love (grandma or mom or daughter), or romantic love, if you choose.  We'll have fun playing with Pearl Ex and glitter to create this shimmery, feminine little package.

Next on Saturday is a class that I've called "French Flavored".  It's a generic type of book that you can use for anything...and it's all tied together with French postcards, French papers, and French symbols.

It starts with a restructured hard back book...then we add lots of textures...some stamping and embossing and, typical of books that I like to create-pockets and folders on the inside.

Sunday's class is a wooden easel flip book...I love teaching this class because of all of the cool metal working techniques that are part of the pages. What's great about the metal techniques is that they can be incorporated into our projects and layouts...we're using a lot of our scrapbooking tools and supplies for them.

What's also awesome about this class is that you can create whatever title you want for the theme...and you can simply remove the pages and create a new theme book for your easel...whenever the mood strikes you!

If you haven't signed up yet...just pick up the phone and call the store to reserve your spot.  The phone number there is 301-497-9449.  For some of you, it's a three day weekend...that means you can actually add your photos and journaling to your projects on Monday, right?  Remember your New Year's resolution to spend more time creating?????  Here's your chance...can't wait to see you there and share our inspiration and creativity together as a group.

Happy Monday...hope you have a great week!

A Winner!

The random winner is Jen (Jen at The Cottage Nest), who wrote:

I'm steadily working on getting my house under control right now too. I have to say that my biggest organizational challenge is probably ribbon.

I'm with ya, Jen!

Love ribbon...so much that I keep buying jars to store it in.

If you would email me your address, I'll send out your little toolbox of goodies.

Thanks, everyone, for sharing and here's to a year of being able to find what we're looking for in our studios!

one more day...

  I was going to draw a name at noon time (or thereabouts) today...but decided to add one more day to capture your comments.  I know that many of you are getting back into your routines today after the holidays and just wanted to give you a chance to share with all of us.

In the meantime, here's a sampler of some of the items in the tool box...need to pull together coordinating fabrics, ribbons and trims.  It's all pretty and pink...with cream and black...great for some Valentine's projects.

Looking forward to hearing from you (if you haven't posted yet).  Happy Monday!