Memory Trends! i just got back night before last from vegas, working the autumn leaves booth at the show, and it was a wonderful time! kellicrowe (kelli, why do i always have to type your name mushed together like that? lol) came with us this show, and it was so much fun to spend time with this whimsical genius of a lady! :0D it was fun to be with all of them! tracy, jenn, leslie, becky, liesel, and rhonna even got to come for the last day...bless her heart! she'd just gotten back from paris and drove all night with her family to join us on thursday. such an amazing woman! i love these girls....they are like family to me. :) when we pulled the new foofala line out of the boxes for the first time, i swear, there was a collective gasp as becky exclaimed, 'i want to put that all over my house!' the black, red and cream is gorgeous! the new mod winter garden was beautiful, too, and my fave part: new MINI bag-o-buttons! wheeeeee! (button addict, here....the mini bags are TOO CUTE!) and rhonnas new holly jolly line is so cute...loooovin the chipboard letters and the fun snowflakes! rhonna's new overlays are also to die for...SO gorgeous! and so excited for amy and sande; both had new acrylic stamps for the holidays! they were a big hit! i got pics for you guys of the display! 
okay, and don't even get me STARTED on the new way AL is selling foofala bag-o-buttons..... as a COLLECTION! wheee! :D 
(you can click on those pics and i *think* they'll pop up bigger. :) ) set up went really well and it was so fun to see the new goodies and oogle over all the sample pages that came pouring in from the Designing With team members....i mean, to see these pages in pictures is one thing... but seeing them in person and touching them, with all the rich detail and texture and dimensional pop just blows my mind!!! (why the heck *i* get to do a couple to display alongside these amazing women is beyond me!) OH! i promised i'd get some girls a shot of the new poster announcing al's 2 new books: Freestyle 2 and DW Details!!!
sorry it's such a bad picture...the lighting during set-up was horrid! eek! anyway, they will be ready early next year (which actually isn't that far away! can you believe it??) as will a new Quote/Unquote 5 book based in spiritual and inspirational messages and quotes!
so glad kelli, leslie and i got a chance to grab breakfast one morning with kristina...she was one busy girl! we had a lot of fun watching kelli try to eat her veritable BOX full of granola (snicker) and listening her try to explain to the waiter why a teeny tiny girl like her could not possibly eat a trough of granola that large without causing bodily harm...! lol
mornings in vegas were so beautiful...here is one shot i managed to capture from my hotel window...this is the new wing they are building onto the venetian across the street from us; i didn't think that hotel could get any BIGGER...but lo and behold...more venetian to love! :)
i have more shots to share... i am a picture sharing fiend today methinks. well, actually, the ones i managed to capture are only a small portion of the photo ops...we had rousing renditions of "oh! email that one to me!" as we all took turn snapping shots and mugging it up for memory. i've forgotten to take pics at other shows (oh, the irony of a scrapbooker NOT taking pictures like mad at a scrapbooking convention! lol) and decided to try harder this show.
OH! i have to share the ones from our makeup outing (s)...let's just say i ended up at sephora a grand total of FOUR times this trip....we girlies love our makeup, you know! because, it's true, "an old barn always looks better with a new coat of paint." ROFL! ;o) jenn got us all hooked on phonics bare minerals brand makeup; the foundation is sooooo pretty when applied. complicated. but pretty. i actually didn't look so much like an "old barn" after it was on! lol we had a little demo night wherein jenn gave us all the low-down on how to apply it, and i made her do half of my face. :0D you know, so i could see if there was any difference. hee hee. and cause that always looks so funny. ;0D
and the finished look (barring the bad bathroom lighting, mind you...):
i have to admit...i was happily surprised at how well it worked! like with red splotches and stuff...and smoothing lines and pores...it was pretty cool!
okay....sephora hijack over...back to the show....
we got a chance to congratulate CD on her win for "scrapbooker of the year!" i was SO excited for her! she is just such a sweet soul....what a great opportunity for a great person! :D i first met her when she joined the creative team at designer digitals, and loved her style and self right away. can't wait to see all the wonderful inspiration and ideas she will bring to everyone! here we are with kellicrowe and aprilpeterson.
also, i got to see mou saha's entry in person...in this adorable little mini album she had put together...it was SO cute! love her style; i'd never seen her pages before! they are beautiful! :)
i'm excited to buy and try one of the new trimmers by a company called Purple Cow. they are guaranteed to never cut you (which a bumbler like me appreciates! lol) and have a combination guillotine and rolling cutter with 3 interchangeable blades. some even come with a cold laminate mount at the top! they look totally cool....and cut photo paper nice and crisp. can't wait to get my hands on one!
basic grey has some gorgeous new lines...2 amazing christmas lines and 1 other called 'blush'....which i am in looooooove with!! the pinks and teal immediately gave me heart palpitations...lol...but now they are double sided, too! amy is such a sweetheart; so glad i got the chance to see her and chat for a few minutes and give her a great big hug in person! we were laughing about the fact that we were both hoping to bring our families to the cha anaheim show in january, and how that probably was going to be a pretty common plan for LOTS of ladies!
i got to see my jessie bird again! we are sillysoulsisters, i tell you! :D tore it up at the MM photo booth for some silly shots...hee hee...staged "cat fight" included! lol! that girl.....i cannot see her without BURSTING into a huge grin; she just makes me so happy!
and i loved getting to spend some more time with tiff and becky and rox and chrys!!! all such fun, amazing women full of so much love and warmth! (uh...PICTURES, girls! pictures!! lol)
and it was so fun to see taryn and her new lines with bo-bunny...they are adorable! and april anderton with her 'new' little budle of ooey gooey babyliciousness....OH, he was SO precious!!!!!! and such a good baby...she just amazes me, that girl! it was so great to spend time with her! it was so exciting to see the booth for Digital Scrapbooking Magazine with Simple Scrapbooks....hooray!!!! i finally got to meet lynda and renee, got to see jen again and share a yummmmmmmmy dinner and another of my infamous trips to sephora with her and molly, molly's hubby, lin, and april (and baby!) i was SOOOOOOOOOO bummed that i'd forgotten my camera that night!!!! :( but thankfully april and elisha got a lot of good pics...so hopefully i'll get a copy or two.... (hint, hint!) ;0D and, it's finally here.....oh my gosh.....i am feeling so chicken to even post this.....EEEEK! but i got to see the copy of the new issue of Simple Scrapbooks for the FIRST TIME, thanks to angie! i think i must have freaked out or something...i remember NOT being able to feel my LEGS....or my FACE....and there was this weird buzzing sound and things got kind of blurry...LOL!
i got to meet angie, stacy, rachel, elisha, lain, and carolyn (i KNOW i'm forgetting names...why do i have to be so bad at that!?) and see lin, molly, and wendy again! i love these ladies SOOO much! OH. and my wendy. i call her 'my wendy,' lol. she is such a warm, genuine soul!!! i just love her to PIECES! :0D you know when you get together with a bunch of women and instantly feel a connection? this group of ladies is just oozing with warmth and love and kindness and creativity! i feel so incredibly lucky and grateful to be working with them. oh my goodness. SO LUCKY! i have the chance to be a 2007 Simple Gal for the magazine, and could not be happier to be a part of such an AMAZING publication. OH! and angie has the cutest blog for Simple now: you can check it out HERE and see some fun 'background' stuff about the magazine and how it all comes together!
i know what you're thinking. tia. you are NOT simple. lol. i've heard it more than once these past few days. don't worry. i know you are thinking it. lol. but you know what? two things. One. i do, believe it or not, thoroughly enjoy making cleaner, 'simple' pages a lot of the time! i compare it to wine tasting or perfume smelling. in between wines, you have to clear your palatte with some crackers. in between perfumes, you have to clear your palatte nose with coffee beans. right? well, i just happen to find that inbetween the more artsy-freestyle pages, i like to do some simpler, cleaner pages too! :) (just like i like to swap back and forth between digital and paper pages, as well!) you can kind of see that through my gallery...it's pretty funny really to look through and realzie the pattern. i didn't figure it out until just a few months ago, when kah-mei mentioned something to me about it...and she gave me a total "ah-ha!" moment! (thanks kah-mei!) so i kind of bumbled my way through my gallery and lo and behold it was true! lol. so, that's Number One. Two. it is important to remember, i think, that 'simple' doesn't always mean 'clean. or, graphic. or, easy." it is more a philosophy related to how you APPROACH your scrapbooking process, more than anything. think stacy's "Big Picture," you know? and the simple approach to scrapbooking is something i really relate to and follow. it's what keeps scrapbooking so low stress for me...still enjoyable, still fun! it shouldn't be a chore....it should be simply enjoyable. :0) and, oh my heck, do these ladies know how to make it enjoyable! :D
i think i am going for a record here with my post. lol. but i actually feel so badly that i haven't updated my blog in so long...so i'm taking the time while i'm sick to just type. :) oh. that's the other thing! i came home and got the FLU!!!!! i'm TOTALLY serious. it is so not fun. :( if i'm laying down fully, it doesn't hurt so bad; but get me vertical and uuuuuuuuugh....it is NOT GOOD. :( so i'm down for the count for a little while. not the kind of souvenier you want to have.
and coming home i had the worst luck! well, no. not luck. it's more just a casualty of that mind-numbing tiredness that completely overcomes you after working at a show. i went to check in for my flight and checked, first, a box of things i needed to bring home and mail internationally asap. and secondly, i heaved my monster of a suitcase onto the scale for check in. 74 pounds. they won't even ALLOW 74 pound bags on the flight. nevermind that i didn't even make it into the $50-extra fee 50-70 pound area. crap. but the check in guy was SOOOOOOOOOO amazing! he let me move over to the next empty station and, one by one, take things out of my suitcase and weigh them until i had removed enough to make it light enough to check. (never mind the fact that i then had to add all that weight to my carryon....a canvas over the shoulder book bag....) so i was SO grateful for that kind man! he was really very nice--yay!--a happy thing for Alaska! lol. so then i proceed to security, lugging my weighted carryon/purse combo, looking for the right check-in area for my gate, and suddenly i felt like i was going to vomit. stupid, stupid me. in my hurry to lighten my luggage, i had removed a little black soft case with a shoulder strap that i knew would be very heavy, but small and easy to carry-on over my shoulder. makes sense, right? it was a full 10 pounds total, so it seemed like an obvious choice. until that moment. i walked up to the TSA agent and before i even spoke, tired emotional me burst into tears. they guy was stone cold. lol. probably thought i was trying to play a trick or something like that. (i've obviously been reading too many spy novels and watching too many tv dramas....lol) but i say to him, "uh, i just did this really dumb thing. to lighten my suitcase, i stupidly removed my MAKEUP BAG to carry on. (pause. remember the complexities of the new TSA carryon rules for flying. remember i went to sephora 4 times. remember i am tired and feeling really, really REALLY stupid and sad.) what should i do?" he points to the Hudson News stand and tells me i can buy a Quart Sized ziplock bag there for 26 cents. whatever i can fit in there, i can keep. all other gooey liquidy stuff? trash.
oh. my. gosh.
i think that if i'd had any food in my stomach at that point, i would have actually thrown up. i'm serious. so i go to the stand, buy my dumb baggie, and plop down against a wall, criss-cross applesauce to begin the task of weeding through my liquids and gels. at first, i am crying. then i'm seething with anger (at myself). then, finally, i start to laugh. it really was quite hilarious when you really looked at it....i mean, it's just toiletries, for heaven's sake. it's not like it's a kid or something. so i pulled all the powders first (cause they're okay) and put them back in the bag. then i pulled all the stuff over 3 ounces (cause they've got to go) and put them in the trash pile. then i started pulling all the stuff that was the most expensive, and began to stack them lovingly in the plastic quart baggie. lol. and just kept sorting that way until my baggie was full. i will admit, i was pretty much praying in my head the whole time, hoping that the bag would fit the most important, expensive stuff without ripping and still zipping closed....and for the most part, it did. but before i tossed the other stuff, i had the brainpower and sense of humor enough to take a picture. (shall i mention that i'd also gone to Godiva and stocked up on dark chocolate truffles? and that said truffles had somehow made their way into my carryon, too? and that they were gooey and 'illegal?' yeah. ouch. i did manage to eat a couple first....before letting go of that beautiful little golden bag.... :( ) sigh. so that is my sad, dorky tale of what NOT to do at the airport. see? i am SUCH a bumbling traveller! lol. one of these days i'll get it right. my hubby was such a sweetheart, though. when i called him and admitted my dumb mistake, instead of saying something about how much that stuff cost that i'd thrown away (like i thought he'd say,) he said, "honey, don't worry. you don't need make-up to look beautiful. you already are." isn't that SO SWEET???? (so of course i cried even harder cause he was so kind and i missed him so much and couldn't wait to be home!)
anyway, so that's my big rambling post of a week...culminating in the flu...but overall, a wonderful, memorable time; inspiring, happy, fun, and a great reminder of why i love scrapbooking, why i love friends, and why i love my family. paper or digital, simple or complicated, viva la scrapbooking!!!!!
