The Fire Marshall Is Going To Get Me

CKC Tulsa was a BLAST!!! I met some new people with the vendors and I've been frantically emailing back and forth with them. There's nothing like meeting others that are passionate about creating art. However, there is always one down side... I've unpacked my goodies and I'm pretty sure my scrapbook room violates some fire code. It looks like a scrapbook store threw up in here.

My scrap luggage is unpacked in the middle of the room, ready to be put back in the closet. My product literally takes up half the floor space. (I like to leave it on the floor so I can sort where everything needs to go.) Because of ALL the new product, I'm in the process of re-evaluating the storage layout in my room. Given some of the new techniques I've learned and some of the inspiration I've gained, it's time to rearrange my creative space. I feel a visit to IKEA coming one.

CKC Tulsa Day 1

I just woke up from my nap!! There is something to be said for staying at the convention center hotel... you CAN sleep if you need to.

We arrived yesterday morning, settled in at the hotel, did a Target run, and went to the vendor floor to help Rusty Pickle set up shop. Lots of work, but lots of fun!!! We got to peek at what the other vendors had to offer, plus we got vendor passes to get in early this morning.

Not a lot of different products from GASC, but that was just 2 months ago. Since my urge to spend was curbed, because there wasn't new product screaming at me I took a class. Finally I know how to use my Zutter Bind-It-All correctly.

I did do a make-n-take at Tattered Angels, and this is now one of my new FAVORITES!!! I can't wait to work on my kit tonight at the crop.

Just Over 48 Hours Til...

I'm hitting the road for CKC Tulsa!!! I've been busy sorting and packing supplies for the trip. I have just over 100 pictures to put in layouts and deciding what to take is next to impossible! I'm used to scrapping in my scrapbook room where I have access to ALL my supplies. How do I downsize to a rolling crop tote? This is going to be a challenge. I guess worse case scenario I will just "HAVE" to buy what I need there {wink, wink}.

Exercising Restraint

I was in Houston the last three days and despite being in an area with 6 scrapbook stores I'd LOVE to go shop at, I was able to convince myself to save the fix for next week at CKC Tulsa. It was SO hard, but I managed to get out of Houston without spending a dime on scrapbook supplies.

I AM counting the days to CKC. This time next week I will be getting ready to make the road trip for a girls getaway.

I hope I see some of you there.

11 Days & Counting to CKC Tulsa

It is just around the corner... CKC Tulsa. This will be Judy and my first time to a CKC convention. We will be going down the day before to help set up the Rusty Pickle booth. This next week is going to be busy getting scrapbook stuff packed and ready to go. We'll be doing a crop the Friday night of the convention, so hopefully I can get some stuff done. I haven't worked on a page or project is over a month!!!

I'm in Houston this week, so hopefully I'll get to hit some stores after work.

Been Awhile... Yet Again!

Where has the time gone? Only half of July left. That's okay... that just means Judy and I are that much closer to going to CKC Tulsa!!! (Yeah)

Our hotel is booked, our tickets purchased, and soon we'll be on our way. We're heading up on Thursday to help Rusty Pickle set up their booth. We'll be staying at the Convention Center so we'll be close to the action. The show room opens Friday, and hopefully we can swing getting in early since we're helping out Rusty Pickle. Then Friday night is the late night crop. (Note to self... start printing photos and putting together my projects.) Saturday will be another day on the showroom floor (shopping of course), then we'll be heading home.

Hopefully we'll see some of our gal pals there. We're trying to hook up with Debbie and Rita from GASC Arlington.

Went to Phoenix for Work... Visited More Stores (duh!)

Last week I was in Phoenix for work and true to form... I had to check out a couple local stores.

I visited Scrapbook Etc in Mesa, which was HUGE!!! They had a great selection of papers, chipboard, acrylic, and so on. Definitely worth the visit.

The other was Scrapbook Barn, another big store. A large variety as well.

There was actually about 6 stores in the Phoenix area that I wanted to visit, but time didn't allow it.

You can find links to the stores at the bottom of the blog.

Let The Creative Juices Flow...

This week couldn't have ended sooner... I've spent all week trying to recover from GASC. Most people take a 4-day weekend and you'd think they'd be rested. Nope, not me. All the shopping wore me out. It's Friday and I'm exhausted. I managed to get everything put up, organized, and I can get started on creating something from my stash (I still have no home for the new stack of paper).

I'm working on a mini-book, but only a couple things happen to be from GASC. I NEED to take some more pictures to get some inspiration. I'm thinking about going to the Dallas Arboretum to get some pictures of Sean and his cousin, Dylan. We'll see how that goes.

I've been fighting the urge to go to Gotta Scrap this week. I have a $15 punch card to redeem, however, I'm scared if I show up there I'll spend WAY over that. My birthday is coming up, so hopefully a gift card will be in my future to one of my favorite stores (again Dad if you're reading... wink, wink - and maybe you can call Michael, since he has NO clue where these stores are at)

I do need to remember to take some pictures of my birthday this year. I've decided to actually do and "All About Me" album for the next year starting with my 33rd birthday. Kind of a half journal, half scrapbook. I've been hiding from the camera, because I'm trying to lose weight (like 90% of the women in the US). So I thought this would be a good motivator and photo log of my progress.

Hopefully this weekend I'll get some projects cranked out, photography some of my work and get a decent gallery started of my stuff.

GASC 2009 Day 2 & 3

It's official - I've reached the point where I'm actually going to say it (and post it in writing) I HAVE to stop buying scrapping supplies!!! (enter shocked crowd sound effect)

After spending most of today sleeping (shopping should be an olympic sport), I started to sort and put up my newly acquired stash. You don't realize how much you've REALLY bought until you start putting it away.

Looking at the pizza box of paper I bought at Luxe ($20 for about 250 sheets) and the additional onesie, twosies I bought there is probably about 300+ sheets that I have NO home for on my shelf. This doesn't include any kits I bought that have PAPER either!!

I now have transparencies, rub-ons, chipboard, letters (if you know me this one wasn't a shock), and embellishments coming out my ears. I have (14)... yes (14) boxes of the Maya Road tins of letters. (Dad, if you happen to be reading this - STOP LAUGHING)

I'm happy to say I did stick to my budgeted amount and I actually came home with $1.32 still left - not exactly something to retire on, but if you're a scrapper to be under is almost unheard of.


I made some GREAT new friends too.

Cindy, Judy, Linda H, me, and Ted from Stampers Anonymous

Rita & Debbie

Lee, Glenda, Cindy, Judy, Linda H, Kathy, me

GASC 2009 Day 1

OMG... Day 1 was AWESOME!!! Judy and I got there and were at the front of the line again this year (Yes, we did have to wait for 2 hours before the showroom opened, but WORTH IT). We didn't pay for parking, because there wasn't an attendant. We were close to the building (so unloading our goodies was easy). The best part... making new friends. We made (5) new scrapper friends because we were SO early. Debbie, Rita, Cindy, Kathy and Linda... it is wonderful to have met you, I'm sure we'll be chatting alot. These ladies were as eager as us to get in. It was they're first time to GASC and it was SO much fun calling them to let them know about deals and hear how they liked the convention.

If you happen to notice this the time stamp on my post I'm up EARLY again. I woke up at 3am and haven't been able to sleep. I started thinking about what I was going to do today. So now it's 4am... time to get ready, fill up the car, get some cash, and shop til I drop (part deux)