Some more photos of CHA layouts and booths. If you close that annoying little star rate thingy and mouse over there are some descriptions. I will get some pictures of the class projects and mnt's, plus some of the goodies. There is still one more story to tell!

Fun Make-N-Takes and layouts

Janet and I did some fun m-n-t's,some we got pictures of some you will just have to picture. There were some beautiful layouts and ideas in a lot of the booths. We did see Vicky's winning design at Zutter and their adaptation of it! We did a mnt at their booth and I really like the hinges and using the BIA. The BIA seemed really big this year along with the Dreamkuts.

We did mnt at:]

Little Yellow Bicycle : A really cute multi shaped chipboard album with lots of extras. Really cute paper and embellies

Sakuro: I am sure I spelled that wrong, but we painted a cute yo-yo using their pens, got the yo-yo plus a set of pens.

10 Seconds Studio: A great dog tag with embossed metal.

EK Success: Not a mnt, and this deserves a day of its own!

Unity Stamp: cute little fridge magnet. Awesome rubber stamps and unique way of going green.

Maya Road: a chipboard hanging using their bingo stamp, maya mist, and chipboard hearts. Really fun techniques and they gave us a complete album after we used the first page out of it, plus a sheer key.

Theresa Collins: a 12x6 mini album. We again used the BIA and learned how to put in the 6 pages of sheet protectors and how to use the dreamkuts to cut the quotes paper into 12x6 sheets. They also gave us a bunch of rub ons and other embellies.

7 Gypsies: The best class in terms of ease and fun things to do with their product. We only used a little glue on one page, the rest was folding paper, stamping, and using the fun closers. Plus we got to use the Binderie.

I think there were some more classes, will have to look through the pictures again. We saw Donna Downey, Theresa Collins, Tim Holtz ( I have a video if I can make it work), Heidi S, more I am sure just can't think of.

Pictures of classes , layouts and some great displays at some really great booths. The Little Yellow Bicycle was by far "the" bag to have, Slice was the apron to get, Pazzles, the T-shirt!

DeIce Plane

We are finally home!! We left sunny California at 9 am and left the airport a little late due to them shutting it down for about 5 minutes for security. An alarm went off and security was everywhere and we were told to stay in our seats. We did! Five minutes later they said it was all clear and life resumed. We spent over 2 hours in Dallas. Nasty, cold, icy, rainy, windy ,weather and we were never outside. Our plane from CA was late getting into DFW so we rode the sky tram to the other building and our plane home started out being about 30 min. late. When were were on board and about to push off, the pilot told us we would be delayed due to a tire that needed inspection. That took another 30 minutes. We pushed away and slowly went down the runway. I had decided he was going to drive the plane to Austin vs. fly but he pulls into a space where there are at least 40 bucket trucks and that many cars and says they have to de-ice the plane. That took another 30-45 minutes. The deicing was interesting to watch. Here are some pictures taken out of my window. Rich picks us up at the airport, we drop Janet off and meet T for dinner. Now that was a bad idea...everything was closing down early due to the ice. Chick-Fil-A was nice enough to feed us and I am heading off to bed after a very long day.
I will post some more pictures of CHA as soon as I can get them loaded onto this laptop!

CHA Update

Another exciting day at CHA! We saw and used the neatest new tool by 7 Gyp. called the Binderie punch. Janet and I took a make and take and they used it. This punches holes, larger than the crop a dile and will punch through just about anything with the press of a button! A really super good idea.
Several of you asked about the little glue gun, the verdict is still out until I get home and try it for real. I am so used to my big ATG and how well the tape sticks this will have to be great for me to change.
We were doing a m-n-t at Maya Road this morning right after CHA opened and the fire alarms go off. No one really thought much about it and we continued on. Soon, a lot of convention officials came up to a booth across from MR. Now we could smell smoke!We still weren't too worried. But this time the alarms went off and the announced came on and told us to evacuated immediately. One problem all the exits were behind the curtains and no signs. Now we are worried. The officials were pointing the way, told us to leave everything and get out. We took our personal stuff but left everything else and found the nearest exit. This picture is the crowd that came out our door. We were outside about 5-10 minutes and got to come back in. Think it was a smoldering wire or short, but no fire. Things got back to normal and we continued on. We did see Tim Holtz and watched his demos. On a sad note Heidi Swapp was there at her booth and it was so empty, too bad, of course she was not the only empty booth there.
This pigeon got thirsty flying around inside CHA:(
About 1 we were CHA'd out so we headed to Disney Land and had a great night!! Picture to follow!

More Than a Paris Sighting

Janet and I decided to head over to the Wookie Entertainment Booth ( yep,that is the real name) to see if we could get a picture of Paris. We were about number 24 & 25 in line. Security started watching the line grow and the standers grow and soon more security guards were around. Paris was scheduled to arrive at 2:30, I guess the rich don't own watches, because it was about 3:05 when she came in. We were told we had 2 minutes with her and were given slips of paper to write the name of the person the autograph would be to. We were to print it really large so she could see it when it was our turn. As it turned out they cut the line off 5 or 6 people behind us because she was not staying past 3:30 even though she was late. When my turn came the security tells you where to go and you get on your knees on the floor by Paris, who is sitting in a chair. She shook my hand and asked me how I was doing. She is really pretty and tiny. A photographer took my camera and took this picture and then CHA had a photographer was there and took our pictures. We still have to find that person. That was it much less than 2 minutes but it was fun to get in all the excitement. She signed a 12x12 page with her picture on it, the page was pink and silver. We didn't get to see much of the actual booth, too many bodyguards around her and it was all too fast. Here are the pictures I took. One shows the line and crowd waiting and the others are obvious.
The thing Janet and I noticed was not many people there. A lot were doing the make and takes but the isles were not crowded. We counted about 2500 scrapbooking vendors here.
We took our California 3 block walk to eat California Pizza tonight and back in our room at 8:30, worn out. We did get lots of goodies, will post about that tomorrow.

When Sunny California Give You Rain

Take Classes! We woke up this morning to OC's version of 10 % chance of rain. From our balcony it looked at over 100%! It rained most of the morning and almost cleared off this afternoon but it was chilly for sunny California. Janet and I decided to take a class at 11 which started at 11:30, we made it but just barely. This was a neat class with different types of glue, we got a baby ATG gun that is pink and green, you can see it in the picture! We had to pick classes that required no tools. Don't ever think that even those the class says no tools that they mean it! We needed tools!!

The next class was a MAMBI class and we made a really neat album using chipboard and acrylic. Tons of product in this class. We needed tools again. By now we had produced glue ( from the first glass) and scissors from Janets hair brush bag( don't know, didn't ask why she carries 3 pair of scissors with her)We were only short a paper trimmer, and that tool we needed! So we sat our way through the class just watching the other 30 ladies making their album. Good class and great teacher, and even came with great instructions, the first classes instructions had disappeared!

These are some pictures just as the Saturday night Taste of Anaheim was getting started and people were arriving.

After this class we walked to PF Changs to eat, so did every one else in OC ( see how fast I pick up the CAlifornia lingo!) We had a long wait, sat outside to eat and it was way too cold to enjoy the food.We had a "brisk"walk back to the hotel ( it is about 10 blocks in Texas blocks, 3 or 4 here)and it is a chilly night to be outside here.
Tomorrow is the big day and we will be there around 9 am and keep you posted!

Hilton Sighting

Janet and I were standing on our balcony and we are certain we spotted Paris in the suite at the Hilton ( where else) across from us. The drapes were open and if you look just below the O it had to be her! :) The other is the view toward Los Angeles! Enough fun for tonight!

CHA is almost here

We changed hotels today to the Marriott, much closer to the convention center. We cruised on over to the center today, got our badges, checked out the progress in the CHA, had a great meeting with The Collins Group,and left the work to the vendors.I love the palm tree lined streets and walkways, so very California. We walked the Anaheim Gardenwalk for dinner (we missed lunch) at The Cheescake Factory,did a little shopping for a certain teenager and walked back to our hotel. We are saving our cheesecake for a midnight snack California time! The rain has hopefully stopped and we are going to DisneyLand tomorrow! I found my California Cruizing VW cousin today, hanging out around the hotel!
Janet and I tried taking our own pictures out on our balcony, like all the cool teenagers do,but I think age has something to do with the quality of picture! We are 16 stories up and have a nice view of the palm trees below us!

Grand Californian Style

Here we are in not so sunny California. I landed at John Wayne Airport after a long tiring flight and took at $40 taxi ride to the hotel. We went to Downtown Disney and had dinner at the Blues Brothers Cafe. It is raining today but that is ok were are nice and dry at our hotel. We had breakfast at the Storyteller Cafe with Chip and Dale, Brother Bear and Jungle book characters. Janet and I enjoyed the Jungle Book Gorilla the most!! This is a view from our 5th floor of the beautiful hotel lobby!

We change to Marriott this afternoon and get ready for CHA!More pictures to follow

On My Way Tomorrow

I leave tomorrow afternoon for CHA! I am so excited about this adventure! I will meet Janet and her friend tomorrow night and the fun begins!!
Vicki F. has lots of beautiful goodies on display at Prima and Bind It All so I will check it out.
10 Seconds Studio will have their awesome metal displayed, can't wait to see that!
Of course the highlight of the trip will be our picture with Paris Hilton:) That will be Sat. from 2-3. Expect a big report on that event!
Hopefully we will do a lot of make and takes and bring back some fun new ideas!
Pictures to follow!!

The Winner

We played our games at 9 and 3 Saturday, what a difference between 9 and in temperture! Tied one game and won the other, however we had to wait until we were home to find out the outcome of the other game that would determine first place. We did it!! First place. Hopefully this will be the start of a great season!

Friday Night Lights

I know all of you have been waiting for the outcome of the soccer game. We did win 2-1. The stadium is huge and in the middle of a warehouse district. Too cold and too dark to take pictures tonight. We are staying a little off of Harry Hines Blvd. Those familiar with Dallas know what that is:)We ate dinner at Cheddars and the trees surrounding the restaurant were filled with hundreds of black birds, so many the sidewalk was white. Great food once you get past the birds in the trees!
We stopped by 10 seconds studio to drop off some samples and that studio just gives you the feeling of being a kid in a candy store! So much to touch and feel and look at! The paper towel dispenser in the bathroom is even decorated:) The new Kaubkas are stunning and the new metal colors are delish!
A fun but cold day!

Gadget Junkie

I admit it I love gadgets! They are fun to play with and use and I try to justify each one. I am going to CHA next week and my business laptop is big and heavy to lug through the airports ( see the justification is beginning).The last time I took it in the car, the top got bent a little bit so I don't want to endanger the big laptop any more, right!? I can pack a small laptop in my backpack without all the weight and be able to check my mail while I am gone to CHA, plus post pictures of all the goodies we see. Another big point in why I need one. I justified it in my mind yesterday and bought a little fella to pack and I am happy:) I also have a small portable DVD player that I justified also, good for the car, good for the plane. Done, justified, I am packing that puppy, with some good DVD's for the long plane flight, never know when the flight will be delayed.

Saturday at the Woodlands

The weather can change in the blink of an eye and it did. We played our final soccer game at 11 and it was getting cold, by the time the game was over it was even colder and the wind was freezing. We lost our game and I think our coach may receive a few emails this week!'Nuf said. This is the charter the girls got to ride on. It will probably be the only time, our school system and booster club don't spring for these special rides very often.
On our way home we got caught in horrbile construction and it took over an hour to go 20 miles.....we should have listened to Jill. Why do we think we are smarter than Jill??? We just spent the rest of the weekend chilling and watching some good movies. If you haven't seen Calendar Girls...rent it, a true story!

Friday Night at the Woodlands

The soccer game today was at 1 and we did win! That left us the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. We did manage to amuse ourselves the rest of the day and until about 9pm.
A few miles behind these tall trees is a huge medical complex and the Woodlands Mall. You have to watch for the tiny signs that appear just before the turn and try to avoid some other car kissing your bumper when you notice the turn!

We stopped at Starbucks and sat outside enjoying the sunshine and noticing how many empty buildings there were in the strip center. We then drove to the mall and saw a lot of my VW relatives but this caught my eye.She was part of the mall security and rode up and down the parking places. This horse almost looks fake but he did leave proof he was very real.
Next we did the mall walk for a while and sure enough it looks just like all of the other malls. We went to another area of the mall and saw a water taxi that goes somewhere around the mall. We decided to eat at the Cheescake Factory but the waiter decided otherwise. He brought us water, took our order and that was the last we saw of him for 20 minute, no food, no waiter. We left this beautiful view of the water and lights for bigger and better things.
This is where we had dinner.... any guesses???? The food was great, service the same, and the view was comical!

The Woodlands Soccer

There are a some good things that happened at this soccer game. For the first time in T high school soccer they travelled in a chartered bus! Always before it was in the big yellow bus. Four hours in the big yellow bus is not fun, but in the nice chartered but was ok! The next good thing is, it didn't rain....yet!, and it was only about 80 degrees game time!
We had Jill giving us directions, everything in Houston is hidden behind big trees and tall buildings and you don't see it until it is way too late. My DH read the Mapquest instructions and we went the wrong way 2 times until we asked directions and guess what...Jill was right Mapquest was wrong!

A horrible picture, it was too dark and way to far away for this camera, but under all those white bodies is a squashed goalie...she did save the goal. We lost but there is hope for today

Memories Picture It Album Winner

is lucky #4.... Cynthia!
Cynthia please send me your address and I will get it in the mail to you.
Please see if you can control the weather starting tomorrow, we will be playing soccer in the Woodlands all weekend and would appreciate no rain:) Guess in between games I will check out the Lone Star store.

WalMart Baby

Just a little entertainment for the New Year!
Don't forget to scroll down to the Happy New Year post and post a comment to be entered in the drawing, it ends tomrrow!

Altered Cookbook Favorite Photos 2008 Finished!

I have been looking at the 365 album and think that it is an awesome idea but I doubt that I would ever make it through 365 days. Kudos to those that are going to do this.
I finished my 2008 favorite photos using only 2 pictures per month and that was enough challenge for me. I loved doing it and it is fun to look back at just a few pictures of each month. 2009 will be just as fun. I did learn that I need a much bigger album or not put anything chunky on the pages. I opt for an album with larger rings!

Soccer Season

snuck up on us! The pre-season started yesterday with 2 games in Bryan. T left on the bus at 6:45 and left about 7. It was extremely humid and as we were driving the backroads you could see white on the ground. We know it isn't snow but just a thin line of fog below the tree line. It was really pretty to see the fog so low. I guess starting soccer season at 7 am has at least one advantage. Next week it is the Woodlands in Houston, the next Carrollton, the next a big tournament here....so officially all we will do is high school soccer during the coldest months of the year here!

Happy New Year 2009!

2009 has to be a great year! We have so much to be thankful for, even the small things should be counted!
To celebrate 2009, I am giving away a little gift to help someone get started scrapping in the New Year.
This is one of our new Picture It 8x10 inch chipboard albums,it has 6 pages and is a great size to get a lot of pictures in one album. Just post your scrapping goals for January and we will have a random drawing a week from today on Jan. 7, 2009.