Good times...

Scrap Fest was a totally fun event! We (October Afternoon) taught 2 classes there, both were mini albums and we used two of my very favorite October Afternoon lines, Fly A Kite and Thrift Shop. I left feeling inspired, and with the urge to scrapbook! Thanks ladies for making it such a fun weekend!
The only unfortunate part of the venue was the lighting...it definitely wasn't good for photography!
I had some ladies that were totally prepared with a shiny stack of photos to be added to their pages, and were some of the fastest scrappers I have ever seen. (I'm totally jealous by the way...I am not a speedy scrapper at all!) I had others that collected the contents of the class kit and sat back and relaxed...ready to take their project home to complete where they had all the time in the world and ALL of their supplies. To each their own...it works!

October Afternoon had lots of fun giveaways and their class kits were packed with products! We had a great time! The ladies all raved about how cute everything was!

It was so much fun to get to see what Scrap Fest was all about! My girlfriends and I have always talked about going for a weekend getaway...and even though I wasn't actually taking the classes, I had a blast watching everyone else get to! Thanks to each one of you for coming!

Minnesota!

Still here...I've just been out of state. Headed a week ago to the very (so far) rainy state of Minnesota to work at Scrap Fest for October Afternoon and teach some classes and do some make and takes. I can tell you this.

1) Minnesota girls are s-e-r-i-o-u-s about scrapping!

2) The people here are super sweet.

3) I still have NO idea which direction I am heading and got lost again today...thank the Lord for the GPS on my iPhone. I may still be lost.

4) I have already met some beautiful people...and I love that scrapbooking has the ability to link you with so many people who are so very kind.

5) I kind of freaked out when I realized I was teaching a class with a microphone strapped to my head and the fact that Kelly Purkey was teaching right next to me didn't help much. :)

6) If the rain here is any indication of the amount of snow that will be falling this winter...my car is going to hate me. I may need to apologize to it in advance.

I'll be back to post some pictures from my MN adventures this weekend!

Birthday mini book!

Well it's not easy to be away from family. Especially when you miss out on all the parties! And believe me...my family, well we know how to celebrate! So my sweet little Grandma celebrated another birthday and I decided to use these silly photo booth shots of the kids and me to make a little book for her.
The mini book alternates with one chipboard page and then one acrylic page. The acrylic works really well for the cover and backing of the book...it helps keep your embellishments from getting ruined.

The worst thing about the acrylic though is taking pictures of it!! :)

The album is by Fancy Pants, patterned paper is Heidi Swapp and My Minds Eye, I also used some Martha Stewart doilies, and a few American Crafts chipboard shapes. The little journaling spots are made by Colorbok. The bird die cut and daisy on the last page are by October Afternoon. Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

La Vie En Rose...

The last time I was perusing my favorite local store I came across these little itty bitty white letters. Let me just preface this with the factoid that I took 3 years of French in high school and so I actually figured out what they said, which was an accomplishment in itself! I feel like I don't remember half of what I learned in high school.

The translation: Life in pink. Or for us westerners...more like the saying we "see the world through rose colored glasses." I just love them. And I am working on seeing the world through my rose colored glasses MORE. Optimism shall be my friend!
The best part was the the store owner is from France so he whipped out his laptop and began to play me a beautiful (and very famous I might add) French song. Guess what it's called? :)

And just for good measure...and English lyrics...here is another version that's awesome by Louis Armstrong. Ahhh...makes me want to hop on a plane to Paris and stroll down the Champs d Ellesseys. Yeah right...like that is going to happen!! Oops...rose colored glasses, rose colored glasses. See why I need a daily reminder? :)

Happy Wednesday!

"Big Adjustment" is really an understatement...

I'm back to share a layout that has been sitting on my desk for a good 2 weeks now. It was all laid out and ready to be tacked down and finished. Good grief, I never thought I would get a minute to work on it! I'm thinking of making a 6 x 12 page to go just to the right of it to add even more journaling. There are just things I don't want to forget about how much of a change it was to move from the city to the country. Like the fact that instead of sirens and traffic, I was lulled to sleep at night listening to the cows mooing in the fields all the way across the river. (At first I thought it was a cell phone ringing on vibrate when I heard it! LOL.) That my fridge was stocked with worms for fishing down on the river. That the fawns would frolic around the yard and not really care if we were watching. That it is a 30 minute drive to the nearest Target (BiG change!) That you don't have to ever worry about traffic...because there isn't any...but you do have to alot time because there is a good chance you will get stuck behind some kind of farm equipment that takes up both lanes of the road. That everyone knows everyone. That people here are just plain old good...deep down in their hearts. That you will hear the expression "Good Gravy!" and that they call it supper here instead of dinner. That they are proud to live here and think I'm crazy for missing "city life."
I splattered some charcoal paint on the kraft cardstock and added a few rows of the dots from the Creative Imaginations die cut paper I had also used for my PB&J layout I last shared here. And I STILL have some of it left! :)
I layered the KI Memories felt letters over a strand of ribbon. The silly cow die cut (Paper House Productions) is the first die cut I've bought in a long time. I just knew he needed to go on this country life page.

What's your vote...city or country? Hope you all have a fantastic Labor Day weekend!!

Mysterious...

Today I was the "Mystery Reader" for Chloe's kindergarten class. I was instructed that I could come in disguise. That can only mean one thing. Mustaches!! Which I made for all of the kids also. They thought it was pretty fun. I read the story "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear." Basically the mouse disguises the strawberry to try and fool the bear so he won't eat it. It's a cute book. We decorated paper strawberries I cut out for them and then disguised them using googly eyes and of course these mustaches. It was so much fun...and it reminded me how much fun I had teaching kindergarten!

They ALL begged me to take their picture! Aren't they cute? It was a fun excuse to make some silly mustaches! Next...the layout I promised!! Hope your weekend is off to a great start! :)

Still here...

Just having the craziest week ever! I have a very scrappy post planned for later...promise!

Just focusing on breathing right now! :) Happy friday!