Thursday, July 29, 2010

When I grow up

All you crafters out there know what is happening precisely right now - CHA Chicago!  It's big, it's bad, it's oh so good.  I don't know about you, but I really want to go.  I know that I don't have a shop or a website to sell retail (yet), but I want to be there with all the designers that are hocking their newest creations.  I want to feel the excitement of revealing new products and mingling with the best in the scrapping world.  I want to meet

and Tim Holtz,

  
and most of all - I want hang out with the very cool, very stylish Elsie Flannigan
  
I am inspired by all that creativity in one spot and am hoping one day to not only get a chance to attend CHA, but to maybe, just possibly, be one of those designers that is putting all her chips on the table and betting on her talent to sell.  One day.  With hard work and dedication right?  Right.

Monday, July 26, 2010

that box marked creativity



Do you ever have that feeling of everything turning upside down and you are still right side up?  I swear I'm stuck in Inception.  We just got orders to Tucson, Arizona.  I feel excited, unsure, crazy, absolute, relieved, and exhausted all at once, but mostly ecstatic.  I am also full of dread.  I know what lies ahead.  Those brown boxes are looming over me right now - waiting to be filled with all my treasures and stored in a lonely garage for months before our actual move date next year.  You see, we have a move before a move.  Yep - Kev goes off to gunner school in New Mexico and the kids and I make a trek across the Midwest to North Dakota until he is finished with school.  We are talking at least six months in between moves.

Amidst all this, I find myself caught with the obsessive attitude of just getting everything packed and cleaned, but have six more weeks of living in this house to accomplish first.  It's a catch 22.  In a fit of adrenaline I took all the photos off the living room walls only to find the echo of my own voice bouncing off those very walls was too haneous to bear!  Since that moment, I have tried to gain perspective, slow down a bit, and allow everyone to adjust to the idea of moving. 

Needless to say, the creative flair I want to prosper has been burried in the craftroom under a mountain of labeled boxes.  I have ideas bumping around in my brain and am inspired by what I see and the new toy I picked up at the Expo - a Pazzle's Inspiration!  (I know right?)  I suppose this will make for an intersting entry in my summer of love journal.  I have to promise myself a moment to be creative or I just might burst.  And who wants to clean up that kind of mess?  Not me - I already have enough to do.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Drum Roll Please....

As many of you know, it is the time of year (in Atlanta at least), when scrapbookers extraordinaire get together to make fabulous projects, shop, learn, and try out new products at Scrapbook Expo!  This year will be different for me in that I am going solo.  Yes, my usual group has plans that range from having a baby to a vacation house on the beach.  All good reasons to skip out, but thankfully, there are no reasons for me!  I think this experience will be a great way to unwind and make new friends!

This year's agenda is as follows:

Friday
  • Noon - get all worked up about the Expo and try to calm down enough to pack a "small" bag for class!
  • 5:00 pm - de-stress with a lovely date with my beau - seeing Eclipse...again!  :)
  • 10:00 pm - pick up munchkins from sitter and wrestle them into bed.
  • 10:30 pm - repack scrap bag and fret over which type of bag should be brought and determine if I really need every color ink I have available.
  • 11:00 pm - reassure beau that I will not drain the checking account tomorrow on scrapbooking supplies - even if they are new and shiny!
  • 11:30 pm - jump into bed in anticipation of Saturday's fun!
  • Midnight - toss and turn because I am way too excited to sleep.
  • 1:00 am - finally nod off, but still alert enough to catch the 6:30 alarm
Saturday
  • 6:30 am - hit the snooze button - ugh!
  • 6:38 am - what is that noise??? 
  • 6:46 am - just one more snooze I swear.
  • 6:54 am - OMG!  Get out of bed in a rush, shower, and run out the door for the drive to Atlanta.
  • 7:08 am - run back inside for scrapbook bag!
  • 8:40 am - arrive at Expo, register, find class and get organized - wishing for a Starbucks right now (should have gotten up at the first alarm).
  • 8:46 am - searching for nearest Coke machine and digging for change - must have caffeine!
  • 9:00 am - class begins!  Kioshi Triple Double - Basic Grey
  • 10:30 am - shop, shop, shop!
  • 11:25 am - scarfing down $8 hot dog and running to class
  • 11:30 am - Artist Trading Cards by Creatively Green - trying something new and a little outside of the box
  • 1:00 pm - half hour break to go potty and catch that make and take I was drooling over
  • 1:30 pm - Capella Triple Double class - love me some Basic Grey!
  • 3:00 pm - two glorious hours to shop and try out new products (bliss!)
  • 5:00 pm - begrudgingly leave the glory behind for a long drive back to reality.
  • 5:15 pm - jam out shamelessly to some classic rock.
  • 5:45 pm - stop for a Big Mac and fries.
  • 7:45 pm - show beau my treasures and listen to his account of his crazy day of wrangling three kids.
 Success!  Let's hope it all works out and that I actually get up on the first alarm so I can get a Grande Chai Cream Frappuccino.  Yummm!


p.s.  if you are there - look for me - I'll be the one with the perma-grin on my face dragging around the "too big" scrapbook bag!  :)

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Home Again Home Again Jiggety Jig


The family and I just got back from a two week vacation covering the Great Smoky Mountains, Charlotte, and Atlanta.  It was quite a whirlwind and now suddenly (it feels), I have to get back to reality.   Currently, the biggest issue for me is is having all this creativity that has been bottled up for two weeks and knowing that my poor house is in disarray.  There is a mountain of laundry to complete, floors to be vacuumed and scrubbed, and grocery shopping to do.  Ugh!  I don't wanna!  I just want to ignore it all and get scrappin

Oh - and I have to edit about a gazillion family reunion photos!  Sheesh!  Anyone else feeling a little overwhelmed?  I thought this was suppose to be summer break!

Thanks for listening to my fit.  Now - so you don't feel like I have been ignoring you, welcome to a snippet of our vacation photos!  Enjoy!


Celebrating Connor's first birthday - I can't believe he's already a year old.  (sigh)


The "Boys" in the hot mountain air - riding a kiddie train


Stella and cousin Julia Kate stopping for tea


Kev and I at the family reunion

First Annual Woodall Family Reunion - July 3, 2010