Star Struck

This has truly been an incredible week. I got to meet two of the driving forces in scrapbooking/stamping, both in the same week!

On Thursday I spent a fabulous half hour with Jackie Leventhal, the founder of Hero Arts. Yes, Chicago area buddies, I actually made it in the door at Hero Arts. What a fabulous person Jackie is! She had just finished shooting the 2008 catalog (wait until you see these stamps!) and was talking about her customers. It was truly one of the highlights of my California adventure so far.

But then, yesterday I was working (yea, so much for the retirement thing) at Scrapbook Territory. I was just Diane and I and Diane had a class and there was a baby shower later so there was a lot going on. Well in the afternoon, Diane was having a conversation with a customer about Mrs. Grossman's product. I told Diane the story about a customer at Archiver's who's name was Pat Grossman and when she came into the store we used to announce that Mrs. Grossman was there. Diane turned to me and said, 'That woman I was talking to was Mrs. Grossman. Don't you recognize her?' Sure enough, it was Mrs. Grossman. I was introduced. How fabulous is that?

The most amazing thing about both of these women was their true love of the scrapbook/stamping craft and their lack of snobiness. After changing and shaping the craft as much as they have, they still were passionate about their products and their customer care. I compare that to the exclusive attitudes of some of the folks on the boards who have merely created for their own pleasure or the call of a design team and am even more in awe of these two women.

Enough about the soap box today. I have lots of sign ups for my Cosmo Cricket class and the real sample for the acrylic dog album is almost done.

All in all, life is good.