intro to scrapbooking

I'll be teaching the intro class tomorrow (Sunday) at Scrappin' Good Times. I haven't offered this class since February, so it is a bit overdue. Ideally, it should be offered every 3-4 months, I'm thinking.

This isn't technically a layout class, but it does include a layout project because shouldn't every beginning scrapbooker go home from their first class with a few pages under their belt?

Here's what the layout looks like (I may have a few kits available --I'll know for sure after tomorrow).

shop hopping, a postscript

Showing off my passport in front of Scrapbooks Unlimited, Temecula

Well, as if running all over the state and spending my moolah on cute SB stuff wasn't prize enough in itself, I'm pleased to tell you that that crazy shop hopping has paid off in an even bigger way! Last night I picked up a voicemail from Cool Scrapbook Stuff in Poway saying I was one of the ten winners in their store's ShopHop drawing and will I pleeeeeeze come get my goodie bag. Wooooo hoooo!

Then today, I was taken completely by surprise to find out I'd won one of the photo contest drawings --a ScrapFest crop weekend. Double wooo hoooo! (Wow, a chance to really dig into all my yummy new products.)

If you're like me I bet you know those people that are always winning drawings and doorprizes and stuff (gilby) --but I am definitely *NOT* one of them so I'm really in a state of shock here. Giant thanks to everyone who had a part in putting the ShopHop together including Scrapbooking Roads message board where the photo contest was held, to the ScrapFest people for donating the crop weekend prize, and to Cool Scrapbook Stuff for doing their own in-store drawing. Big congrats to fellow winners in the drawings (big shout out to Jennifer and Trisha and SGT's customer Debbie Macias - hey girls, enjoy!)

not so fair day at the fair

It was a dark and stormy night...

Actually not so stormy (and not night either come to think of it), but get a load of that dark brooding sky. This pic is from very late in the day right before we left for home. However, even earlier the weather was nothing like it was when I went on opening day two weeks earlier. NOT that I'm complaining! My daughter and I loved the cool breezy weather during our visit this past weekend. I don't think I can remember a day at the fair when we weren't enduring heat in a greater or lesser degree.


We stopped to watch a dance performance by the Otero Dance Company first. This picture above was a total fluke --just happened to snap it at the perfect moment to catch the dip. (There is a totally gorgeous professional portrait of this same moment at their website. I think it's so strange that I captured the same moment totally by accident.)


Ate some corn, then read some corny t-shirts that you can see here.


We had fun just the two of us.

lindy hip hop

Dancing With the Stars returns tomorrow. Can't wait -love that show! For now, here's a little Lindy Hop to bide the time.

An unusual pairing. An amazing performance.

just because

In the middle of crazy last week, my honey came home with this gorgeous bouquet for me. Just because. Love that guy!

shop hopping, days 5 & 6

Has it really been a week since I wrapped up ShopHop? Well the calendar doesn't lie so it must be so. Last Friday was my solo day, no one in the car but me and my shadow (do I have a shadow when I'm in a car? Hmmm... I don't know.)

I was really hopeful of finishing the last six stores, and in a "perfect" world it was do-able, but once freeway construction, traffic and delays were factored in, I just couldn't make it to the last store and be confident of being back in time to pick up DD from school.

My day started at Collective Journey in Redlands. I was hopeful of a very early start because their website stated that they opened at 9:30, but not so --they opened at 10am so I had some time to twiddle my thumbs in the parking lot. I spent the time chatting with others waiting for the store to open and even put one of these nice ladies to work snapping my pic for the ShopHop pic contest at the Scrapbooking Roads message boards. Here I am:


Collective Journey is a fun, large store with lots of great products and cute samples. I visited it for the first time last fall on the way back from Oak Glen. I'd definitely like to get back to this store some time when I'm not pressed for time. Picked up just a couple of things:


Next stop was Scrapbook Corner in Hemet. Love this store! They have the coolest crop tables and once again, lots of the latest and greatest products. Plus I ran into Kat! I knew she was managing a store in that general area, but it never occurred to me that this was the place. Funny thing was she wouldn't have ordinarily have been at the store, but she had just popped in to open the store for someone who was running a little late. What a happy coincidence! She also directed me to new Prima papers they had just gotten in. Here is what I left with:


Next stop Auntie Amy's in Riverside. I *loved* this store. Both Amy and Jennifer were warm, friendly and helpful. They ushered me into a private area just for Shop Hoppers where there was bottles of water and snacks and special deals just for us. How cool is that I ask you?! I really appreciated the water and goodies since I was in such a rush and wasn't sure if I'd be able to stop for lunch. Amy's is primarily a stamping store but it was just jammed with goodies that were just my style. I found some more Scrapbour paper. There was a nice clearance section (one of my favorite spots to scope out). Many of their stamps were very unique too, which was good to note. And I mustn't forgot to mention the yummy caramel corn I picked up here. It was to DELICIOUS! I will definitely go back to Auntie Amy's!



I had two stores to catch in Corona. First, Once Upon a Time Scrapbooking then Kandy Scrappers. Both cute stores. I think it's great that both of these and Auntie Amy's are in near vicinity to each other. Not sure how good it is for their business, but it makes for very convenient shop hopping (not just now but for future visits too!)

This first pic is the stuff from Once Upon a Time --some Autumn Leaves Mod and those cute rubons are from Sonburn. I was kind of excited to find these because I had visited their booth at Winter CHA (and done a mk-n-tk) and really liked their products.


This second pic is stuff I snatched up at Kandy Scrappers. On the right mostly Li'l Davis, on the left some Tinkering Ink, SEI, CI rubons.


Last but not least was my Sunday journey to Scrapbook Boulevard in Victorville. It's another lovely store and the staff was extremely friendly and helpful (thank you Vesta for the refresher/tutorial on foaming Cookie Cutter dies!) Here are the fun things I found:


This was my final passport stop. From here I went straight to my home store Scrappin' Good Times. I did not pass go. I did not collect $200 (though that would have been a very nice rebate if I coulda found it somewhere!) Dropped that passport coupon off before anything at all could happen to it!

DONE!!!

shop hopping, day 4

Day 4 was an easy one. I had to get back super early to pick up DD, so was only able to squeeze in two quick stops with Jennifer.

First, we hit Screaming Susie's. I'd been there already but Jenn still needed her passport stamped there. Wouldn't you know I found a few more cute things (I really should've put some blinders on for this second visit!)


Next, we scurried over to Scrappin' in the Hills in Anaheim Hills. For some reason this store reminded me a bit of Flashback's. Lots of product in here --hard to absorb it all. I walked away with some more Hambly, a few more HS masks and some MM epoxy buttons:


That was all for Tuesday. Short and sweet.

shop hopping, day 3

Last Monday was the "BIG" hop day. PJ and I met up with Tina and Jennifer and started on our journey into the Wildomar, Temecula, San Diego, etc. loop. Now, brace yourself... I think this is the longest blog post I've ever done.

First stop, Starbucks. (We have our priorities!) I love the prints on the wall at this location. Coolio!


I didn't pay much attention to the order we hit these stores in --probably because I wasn't doing the driving. I *think* it went something like this...

First stop Now & Then Scrapbooks in Wildomar. This store was running some specials just for Shop Hoppers. I picked up a couple of bottles of Tres Jolie buttons:


We also hit Scrapbook Corner in Temecula. Found some very fun stuff here, like Mod by Autumn Leaves and some Tinkering Ink and Hambly stuff. Here's the take from this store:


Aren't those mod plastic letters adorable? (Hey, Jenn I haven't forgotten I need to split these up.)

Next was supposed to be Scrapbooks Unlimited, but we got a little turned around and instead found our way to It's About Time in Murrietta. Loved this store! They had lots of fun lines including Jenni Bowlin, Scrapbour (I'd been looking for this one), and more. The staff was so friendly too. Here are the goods:


Next, we made our way to Scrapbooks Unlimited in Temecula where our entourage was joined by Laura of Desert Scrappers. Sadly, this store is going out of business. However that meant there was an even better discount than the expected 15% --we got 50% off everything! Actually, with a little wheeling and dealing, PJ and Jennifer scored an even better discount on some ribbon by making offers on the entire rolls.

This was another store I purchased a lot at. I'm a sucker for a good deal!




From here we headed to Cool Scrapbook Stuff in Poway. Here's a pic of part of the group:


I had visited this store last month on the way back from San Diego Expo. They have a really wide variety of product here. The staff also told us we could open the brand spankin' new packages of CI papers on the crop table if we wanted to buy any. I resisted those, but not this stuff:


Elena joined our group at this point and was our navigator for destinations south. This worked out great since this is her 'backyard' so to speak. Next stop - Memories in the Making in La Mesa. I think this is the one store I didn't buy anything at (or possibly what I bought got tossed into one of my other bags). But it's still very memorable for what happened after we left the store.

This is Frank of the San Diego Culinary Institute. Frank ROCKS!!!!!


Frank presented us with the most amazing plate of deserts. Yummy! No, he didn't make them *just* for us, but let's just say we were in the right place at the right time! Take a lookie at the creations (oh and a little cheesecake too!)



We had reached the half way point and with that sugar boost, we were good to go. We headed out to Yellow Bird Scrapbooking in El Cajon, named for the owner's parrot. Rumor has it that he is trained to say "discount" and if he says it while you are checking out, you get one. Too bad he wasn't in residence for our visit. Still, we worked our S-H discounts.


Next was Scrapbook Your Life in San Diego, another store I'd stopped by after Expo. In fact, it was just down the road from our hotel, little did we know. I found this cute little Jolee's sticker set:


Flashback's in Del Mar was next. Time for another group pic!


Jennifer took this one which is why she isn't in it. Left to right are: Laura, PJ, Me, Tina and Elena. Didn't spend much money here (thank goodness --helps make up for my lapses elsewhere!)


We were now racing with the clock. We called ahead to Jazi Crafts in Oceanside to let them know we were on our way and would they stay open for us and they did bless those sweeties! They even let us do the make-n-take. This is a store I'd love to go back and spend more time meandering through. There were lots and lots of stamps and related products and just too much to absorb in a quick visit. I picked me up some Piggy Tales and a Heidi Swapp mask:


On to Ever After in Carlsbad. I was excited to see this store in person since I had spent a lot of time in their booth at Expo (most of that waiting for the mk-n-tk). It's a large store with lots of new, exciting products. We picked up a cute make-n-take purse project using Michael Miller fabric paper. I also found some patterned papers by a company I'd never heard of before - Carol Wilson Fine Arts. Loved it!


Our last stop for the day (er, uh... night) was Pink Pineapple in Vista. I had heard a lot about the store and it was as cool as expected. I mean the place smelled wonderful from the moment we walked in. Love the ribbon selection --unique and gorgeous trims at great prices. Definitely a destination store. Here's a look at what I picked up:


We were hoping to pop into Scrapbook Corner in Hemet too, but just couldn't make it before they closed. Still, we managed to fit twelve store visits into one day. Pretty good, I'd say!

If you made it to the end of this post, give yourself a big pat on the back for determination and patience.

me right now

*Trying to find the groove of my new fall schedule. Kids are in school (DS started freshman year of high school, DD is in 5th and last grade at elementary), but the first couple of weeks have been wacky with student holidays, minimum days and other wonky stuff. It's been a struggle to get anything consistent going as far as a routine. (I don't think the ShopHop contributed to me finding my fall groove either -lol!)

*Getting ready for company in a week (family staying for a few days). This is giving me a good incentive to work on fall cleaning (stuff like washing curtains, cleaning the oven, etc.)

*Trying to squeeze a visit to the fair. I popped in and out on opening day without the kiddoes, so planning to get back there WITH them this weekend.

*Finishing up kits for an Intro to SB class on 9/30, as well as designing a couple of mk-n-tk projects for October, and a class sample that's due at the end of the month.

*Finishing up my 2006 taxes by the extension deadline in mid October.

*Working on thinning out my stash of SB stuff. I have literally run out of storage space. I actually had to put the things I bought at ShopHop into an ArtBin until I can make some room to put this new stuff away. Sheesh!

*Getting ready for a yard sale early in October to move out stuff from all the purging I'll be doing with fall cleaning and SB stash cleaning.

*After company, taxes and the yard sale I will be scrambling to re-finish a large sideboard that I've put off doing for a couple of years now. It is part of my plan to reorganize my SB area so really needs to be a priority.

That is me for about the next month before I address and tackle the next round of 'to do'. How is your fall going so far?

more hopping

My little personal assistant logged all our stops

Here are some more fun finds from the ShopHop last week. This is everything we did last Sunday. I dragged my mom and daughter along. I don't think mom minded too much since she's a scrapper too.

Our first stop was Screamin' Susies in Whittier. I love their logo and the bright cheery shopping baskets (the bags are the same bright green).


We met the owner Susie, but I have to admit she doesn't look at all like the logo. Here's what I picked up at Susie's - just some Making Memories brads and a used recipe stamp. Seems like I did pretty well sticking on budget here, doesn't it? Only problem is I went back to this store on Tuesday and found a couple more things-lol!

After Susies, we headed out to Torrance, where we had two stores to visit. The first was Strictly Scrapbooking. We did pretty well both on time and $$$ here. We were very disciplined even though this cute store was begging us to come in deeper and have a better look. I think the only reason we were so strong is that we'd taken a little detour (made a wrong turn) and lost a lot of time getting back on track so we didn't want to fall any further behind on our schedule. Oh yeah and it was lunchtime already and our tummies were grumbling. I picked up a set of Heidi Swapp Ghosta alphas in Icee, and we also got a make-n-take (in our case a "take-n-make") --a wooden block from Creative Imaginations Bare Elements line to alter.



After a speedy lunch our next stop was A to Z Scrapping also in Torrance. I had actually been to this store last summer on the way back from our vacation in Manhattan Beach. It looks deceptively small from the outside, tucked away as it is in the corner of a shopping center. Inside, there is a LOT of stuff tho. The name gives you a clue to how the store is arranged - "A to Z". There are signs on the walls directing customers by alphabet letter to various products. My purchase was some Primas in a pretty green shade. (Hmmm... I seem to have a green theme going here.) We also picked up another take-n-make.



We found our way to The Crop Circle in Los Angeles next. It was a bit tricky to find, but once we were there we received such a warm welcome. There was a map in the front of the store for ShopHoppers to mark where they hailed from, a table with goodies to nibble on too as well as friendly hellos from the staff.


The make-n-take was appropriately a custom title "Shop Hop" to use on scrapbook pages about the adventure. And it was made from custom ShopHop paper that was available at the store. I had Libs do the make-n-take while I browsed.

My purchases here were a wavy frame die and a sheet of the custom paper:


While we were at Crop Circle I was approached by another Shop Hopper who asked if I might have picked up her daughters passport at A to Z. At first I didn't remember seeing her at A to Z. Also, I didn't recall being near any other hoppers other than my mom. But sure, I'd check my bag for her... why not? Wouldn't you know her daughter's passport was in my bag with my own?! How on earth? Well, when I checked out, I was blabbing with my mom while the clerk rang us up and not really paying attention. The clerk opened, stamped and handed me a passport. It never occured to me that it could be anyone elses since we were the only people at the register. I must've picked up her passport at the mk-n-tk table or else it had been left at the register. I'm still not sure which it was.

Anyway, I returned the passport so there was a happy ending. Here we both are holding our *own* passports as we part ways.



On to a second Strictly Scrapbooking store, this time in Cerritos. We felt an immediate bond to this store esp since there is a wonderful huge craft store in the same center (Tall Mouse). But still being pressed for time, we were only able to do a quick browse. This was the first store I spied Jenni Bowlin at, so I grabbed me a bingo card (doggone it tho I think I already have this one from my Cupcake kit). I also picked up a handful of fun journaling cards (can't remember the company name at the moment) and a sheet of Hambly rubons:



We really had to book to get to the next store, Angel's Scrapbook Garden in Mission Viejo. We knew there had been some issues about the times posted in the passports being diferent from the actual hours. We were cutting it super close and when we called the store at ten of four they said they were already closed. WHAT?!? Eeeek, all the driving and we missed them? We told the girl how close we were and that it was still a few minutes until four and she said to come on down. Whew! We jumped in took a quick peek and were out of there by 4:02 according to my receipt. I picked up a sheet of rubons and some 7 Gypsies gaffers tape:



Our last stop was another "garden" --this time The Scrapbook Garden in Huntington Beach. It's a new store and was lots of fun to visit. There were just a TON of people in there, lots of happy faces, new product galore, yummy cookies... who could ask for anything more? The store samples were beautiful too. Got me all excited to start playing around more with Hambly overlays.

This was one of the stores I went a little crazy in:



We had hoped to get to one more store but we were defeated by the clock. Still we didn't do too bad all things consdiered.

Monday was an even BIGGER hopping day, so stay tuned for more!

pink martini

Every summer we try to get to the Hollywood Bowl at least once for a concert. Last year we went for a Latin Grammy ensemble night and it was awesome. I didn't know most of the groups, but my DH did and he invited some friends who were big fans of most of the groups. The best part of the night (for us, anyway but probably not for the performers and producers) was that the show was seriously undersold. So, because the bowl was so empty, the ushers had us move in closer to enjoy the concert. We were able to sit in a box seat (a real treat since we usually are in or near the nosebleed section!) To give you an idea of the difference in seating after we moved, here are before and after pics:

View from our original seats:

View from our box:Mexican Institute of Sound performing

Anyway, I'm very sad to say we did *NOT* make it to the bowl this year. We had two concerts we really were hoping to get to. DH had one that he really wanted us to go to in July but it was too close on the heels of a vacation. And *both* of us were eager for Pink Martini, who performed last night. We saw them a couple of years ago and they were wonderful. But we just couldn't pull it off.

So, here's a Pink Martini to drown my sorrows in. This is actually a dub of their performance of "Amado Mio" onto a clip from an old Rita Hayworth movie (Gilda, I believe)...

Until next summer season at the Bowl!