Friday, March 28, 2008

Nascar Baby


Here is Hallie dressed in her Nascar outfit. Since her Daddy is a big Tony Stewart fan this seemed very appropriate! Cartridges used were George & Basic Shapes and New Arrival.

Circle of Life

I wanted to share my scrapbook layouts to show you how I am progressing. Some of my first pages are not quite right, but I still think they preserve the precious memories that I hope to pass on to my DGD as she gets older.

I purchased the Provo Craft "Cricut" personal die-cutting machine. I have the original one that cuts 6 X 12 paper. Most all of my layouts use some element that was created by using the Cricut.

This is "Circle of Life". I wanted to show how everything in our life comes from something or someone. Cartridges used were George & Basic Shapes and New Arrival.

Hello!

My first blog post! How exciting! I'm not really sure what I'm doing, but hope to share with you some of the day to day stuff that goes on in my life. Not that there is all that much happening, but I'll try and keep things interesting.

Today was an exciting day for me. Since I recently started in the wonderful hobby of scrapbooking I have been introduced to so many new adventures. Today I attended my first scrapbook convention. I have been waiting for this day for the last 6 weeks. I even took a day off work to go. So here is how my adventure went....

Got up early, drank a pot of coffee, dressed and rushed out of the house by 7:00 am. It's a 2 hour drive to the location so I wanted to be there when they opened at 9. Well as with most things you plan, nothing goes exactly smooth. I had to stop for gas in the car. Yesterday it was snowing again and I didn't have the energy to fill up the tank after work in a blowing snowstorm.

I went to the closest station which is just around the corner, and wouldn't you know it... the tanker was there filling their tanks and blocking the entrance. So, off I go to another station, which unfortunately is the opposite direction from the way I need to go. Finally fill up the 'ole gal' and get back on the road. Stopped for a take-out bkfast, and would you believe it is 45 minutes later? Oh well...

The drive up was uneventful. The sun was shinning, and the sky was clear and blue. I played with my cruise control for a while to pass the time. I don't feel comfortable using it, but for a longer drive it sure saves your ankle!

Almost exactly 2 hours later I arrive at the convention center. I'm stunned...not many cars. I got a terrifically close parking spot. Maybe this is a sign?

Everything after that went smoothly. I shopped for 5 straight hours! Imagine having an entire convention center of nothing but scrapbooking and stamping suppliers. The assortment of paper was mind numbing. I must have purchased 20 different sheets of paper. Most of them were at a "convention" sale price. There was even a booth that would print out paper with any words you wanted. So of course I had 2 sheets printed with my precious granddaughter's name. I love it so much I think I'll just frame it!

I completed 4 "make-n-takes" and got a lesson in stamping with stencils. I learned so much talking with the vendors, and let me say they were all so nice, friendly, and patient with my questions. I did overhear a couple ladies talking about how the crowd was not as good as the previous year. That probably explains why I got a good parking spot. I did notice that it really wasn't crowded until very late in the afternoon.

The highlight of my day was when they were calling out names for one of the hourly door prize drawings and I heard my name called! OMG I never win anything. I practically sprinted up to the booth. I won a 3 day scrapbook retreat for 2! It includes lodging, meals, use of the scraproom, use of the equipment....etc. Now I just have to decide who to take with me. I have my choice of 5 different weekends.

Well, I can tell you that my drive home was a happy one. I was exhausted from the day, but excited to have gone to my first convention. In fact I am so excited about it that I found out that tomorrow there is another one (less than an hour away). Might as well make it a weekend of conventions! How great is that?