I really need to get the hang of this thing.....

So I know it has been too long. What can I say? Life happens.

My Very Merry Mini Album class at Scrapbook Territory went very well. Both times. I had a total of 16 people take the class. Lots of fun. Everyone had a great time, including me.

Because it is coming up on December and schedules being what they are, I am working on Valentine's Day projects to be on the schedule in January. One will be (and here is a surprise) Cosmo Cricket's Hey Sugar line with zutter and ring bindings and stickers and.... well, you know the rest. Lots of cool stuff.

The other class is with the Bo Bunny LOVE book, you know the one with the letters at the end of the page. I was going to use the Rusty Pickle Chocolate Kisses line but I found out that the Basic Grey line for Valentine's Day will be at Scrapbook Territory on December 15th, so I will be making the sample with that paper. Wait until you see the paper. It is not to be believed. Very very cute.

On a personal note, we enjoyed our Thanksgiving holiday with the neighbors. They invited us to join their family for the day. Lovely people. All I had to do was a Lemon Meringue pie. How easy is that? There was just a ton of food featuring 7 (yes seven) different kinds of pie. Who needs turkey with all that pie?

Hope this post finds you all well. Favorite new product this week? Urban Lilly hidden journaling cards. Best thing added to clearance this week? Rusty Pickle coupon books for $3.49.

More later.

Running to Catch Up (again)

It has been a while since I have been here and so much has been happening!

First of all, and most fun, I taught my first class at Scrapbook Territory yesterday! I had a great group of very very talented customers and, although it took a little longer (really a lot longer) than scheduled, everybody had a great time. Beautiful Mini Christmas Albums using Cosmo Cricket product. So many sign ups for the first session, that we have added another session in a few weeks. How great is that.

Secondly, and almost as much fun, I worked for Rusty Pickle at the Sacramento Expo. It was a great three days, lots and lots of fun. Alaina, Brenda, and Beth were fantastic and so great to work with. Some of the gang from Scrapbook Territory were there. It was so good to see them.

Chris is in the midwest on his tour of the family. He spent time with Melissa and Kevin (and Jacques, of course), on to Cincy to visit Dad, Phij and Nancy and now in Peoria to see Geoff, Missy and the babies. I'm jealous. He has promised pictures of all of his stops. More to crop, just what I needed.

Shake Rattle and Roll

Chris was awake for last evening's quake, in fact, he noticed it first. It was a big one centered between here and San Jose but felt as far north as Oregon. Not much here, all the pics remained on the walls and the glasses all made it through without breaking. The dogs were not impressed.

Got up this morning and finished this page. I keep scrapping these pictures over and over but they are so good. This page is part of my submission for the Daisy D's Design team. Do you like it?

Happy Halloween to all. Samantha is going to be Red Riding Hood (there's something to send you looking for specialty paper) and Little G will be a pumpkin. Our other young family member is going as a bumble bee. Here he is trying on his costume.


Happy Spooky Day, all.

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.

Running to Catch Up

It has, again, been a few day's since I visited. Here's what I know today:

This is the pic of my scrapbook class in Paris. I know I promised it before, but I could not find the CD with the pics. Since I spent the better part of yesterday shovelling out the scrap room, I thought I would finally post the pic. This was truly a great group of scrappers. So much fun. Really helped to make my Paris trip fabulous.

Dilema: CKU Chicago or Scrap Etc. in Nashville? Scrap Etc. had some openings appear on their roster. I was wait-listed. Guys, if you're reading this, let me know which one you're going to. Don't want to do either alone.

We had a quiet weekend here. Enjoyed the fact that there was not a lot to do. Caught up on some TV, had Sunday Dinner pot roast, and generally enjoyed our fabulous life.

Submitting some things to Daisy D's. They're looking for members for their 2008 design team. How fabulous would that be?

Have you tried the new Prima Paintables paper? Watercolor paper printed with black and white paper. It's like a big coloring book page for adults. Really fun stuff. You can get exactly the colors you want for everything. I am almost done with my first page and will post when I get it done.

No more for today. I think this has taken up quite enough of your time as it is.