ScrapHappy

Oh I love this place!

Sure, I haven't been outside the two block radius to the convention center and back, but who cares? The world is in an acorn or some such thing. :)

Do you like my new scarf?

This cute girl in the elevator was wearing it.. I admired it and her friend said, "I make them!" I said, "Do you sell them?"

Ten minutes later, I had a new scarf. I will link to her Etsy.com shop as soon as I get the details. UPDATE: Kara's etsy shop is here. She will have more scarves up soon!

Class this morning was fun. Tons of cute babies around here. I am having urges -- good thing my hubby is in California!

My kind of town.

Portland is... my kind of town!

I've only been here for an hour and I've already passed seven Starbucks.

I could get used to this. :)

Good morning, Portland!

I am on my way to CKC-Portland... my first time in the great state of Oregon! I am pretty darned excited, and even got out real clothes for the event (but I did not shave my legs... let's not get too rowdy here, folks).

My bags are packed with lots of chocolate and ProMax bars.

I hear that the weather is

but I am expecting

No matter. I will be indoors most of the time anyway.

However, I am making time to do something fun OUTSIDE the convention center... dinner on Saturday with Sister Diane! No, she's not MY sister. That's her "official" name for the Portland Church of Craft. Diane also hosts the first crafting podcast I ever listened to... Craftypod, the podcast that's all about making stuff. She does one mean interview (in the "mean" meaning "good" sense).

In the almost three years Sister Diane has been podcasting, she's covered everything from gingerbread houses to making your own clay from dryer lint (NOT a good idea). She's had interviews with crafty luminaries, and she's got a terrific laugh. I am thrilled to be able to meet her in person! If you haven't taken a listen yet, do so -- or check out the website.

Off to straighten my hair, return the library books, drop off the Little League team jerseys to have names put on the back, finish a class sample, and breathe -- all before 2:30 today. :)

She likes me!

She (that is, the incomparable Renee Pearson) really likes me!

Proof.

That made my day. Thanks, Ray (That's my new nickname for her, BTW)!

Episode 39 is up!

No, you didn't miss an episode -- I skipped #38 in honor of my 39th birthday! Ack!

This episode:

-Ramblings from CHA including awards

-A review of Autumn Leaves Designing With Recipe Book

-The winner of Linda Woods' and Karen Dinino's "Journal Revolution"

-A contest or two...

And more scrappy goodness!

Synchronicity

Not only do I love the song by the Police, I also prefer the idea of synchronicity over that of coincidence. It makes me feel that there is a plan to everything, that it's not just random chance when something cool happens... like running into Tasra at Starbucks today.

I walked in the door of Starbucks I'd only been to once before (with Tasra, about a month ago). I said to myself, "Wouldn't it be funny if I saw Tasra here?"

And then there she was.

Coolness in action. :)

Other cool things:
-watching Amelie for the first time (there are benefits to spending your birthday alone -- you get to watch all the sub-titled movies you desire)

-working on the next podcast

-taking seven bags of books to the used bookstore (and dropping three of them off at the library after)

-snuggling with all three kids in bed

-getting ready for Stitches West tomorrow (my ticket for Friday's class with Nancy Bush is available since I have the kids -- let me know if you want to take it off my hands!)

Does this remind you of your sophomore year in high school? It does for me...

New and Noteworthy

Down in the basement of the CHA building, way deep in the broiling recesses, is a section for new exhibitors. I think they stick them down here because they have to prove their willingness to go through extreme isolation and discomfort before they get to exhibit upstairs with everybody else. Either that or they tried to "sneak" an underage person into the show and so got banned. Not sure which.

In either case, there are some real gems to be found down here. Like... Paper Trunk! I don't have any photos, but you definitely want to take a look at their site when you get a chance. They have this cute lil' chipboard wheel that I'll be highlighting in an upcoming blog/podcast.

Another company, GCD, had a great display. Their papers have this really soft linen finish to them... a gentle texture, very nice. Great selection of colors and collections.

And then there is Jenni Bowlin!!! It seems almost embarrassing to see her down there in the bowels of the hall... she is such NOT the "newbie." But it seems that everyone must pay their dues.

Her little booth was so darling... she has such an eye for display. A chicken-wire figure with altered cards all over it...

Stickers and labels...

Papers, journaling spots, and more...

Other cool new things:
-The Scraponizer for storing embellishments and class kits and more (oh my!)
-The glue pen from Tombow (this will revolutionize your life -- seriously!)
-Cool rubber-mount stamps from Unity Stamps

More stamps and mini-albums

I did not get the tour at Maya Road, but I did fall in love...

And a new-ish company, October Afternoon, made quite a splash with some cutie-patootie papers, stamps and more:

And check out these mini-albums with ledger, graph, or binder paper inside:

More adorable October Afternoon samples from the equally adorable Emily Pitts:

Taking the Scenic Route

I didn't get the full tour at SR, though I did stop by the booth long enough to totally embarrass myself by going up to Greta Hammond and saying, "Hi, Layle!" Der. My defense -- Layle was not in the booth at the time, I was looking for a familiar face, and they do look a bit alike. Greta was very gracious, and I apologized profusely.

What do YOU think?

I was still suitably embarrassed that I did not return. But I did shoot a few pics (some of this is from the last show, but it's still cute!):

More soon!

Gettin' Fancy

Fancy Pants, to be exact! Their entire booth was jam-packed with blog-worthy items in groovealicious shades. Here's a small sampling. More robots (one can never have enough robots!):

Fun felt shapes from their new boy line:

Awesome pre-glittered transparency overlays:

And blank books all ready for you to customize with your own creations (love this example! -- and I LOVE the bracelet in the photo that belongs to the arm of the esteemed Tami Morrison, otherwise known as the Funnest Scrapbooker Ever (for 2007), who has promised to make me my very own personalized book to remind us of when we were little and our parents could order personalized books off the TV or out of the back of Highlights magazine, but she got one and I never did because we were too poor, and so Tami felt sorry for me and this sentence is really long):

Plus some more layouts for my inspiration file:

I'm home now after a nice, calming 7-hour drive. It gave me time to decompress and reflect on life, love, and the meaning of friendship. Nothing like a road trip to put things in perspective. Stay tuned, because I'll be posting lots more tonight!