Scrapbooking Extravaganza

***EDITED - to add photos of some of the gifts they gave us.

This coming weekend is National Scrapbook Day/Weekend/Month but my local scrapbook store celebrates the week before because of our local Relay For Life event which will be held this weekend (and if you're in Bako you should all go! Even just for a lil bit, truly life changing!). So anyway the store hosts a huge event every year that is 3 days long. In years past I was only able to go for one day. But THIS year I was going to be able to go for the WHOLE weekend! Only they sold out :( But I was one of the lucky few they added in after all. I was SO ecstatic and although I didn't know anyone that would be there, except for a few employees, I was REALLY looking forward to 3 whole days of adult/girl/scrap booking time! How awesome is my hubby that he agreed to all of this? Because 3 days of scrap booking for me = 3 days of nonstop kiddos for him!

So Friday's session started at 4pm but I had an ortho appt so I didn't get there till about 5:30. The place was PACKED! Why I didn't get pictures of all of this I do not know, I'm lame :( I was greeted in the parking lot by some handsome lil boy scout dudes who helped me lug my gear to my table. How sweet is that!? I sat down at my spot and was pleased to find my first of many gifts, a cute lil polka dotted tote to hold stamps or other various supplies. Super cute!

After dinner and some socializing I got to work right away and actually stayed until ALMOST midnight (when that session closed). These are the pages I made that night.

HANNAH FANS

Sorry it's so lil, if you wanna see pics bigger and read more about this even you can read my blog post about it here.

AMERICAN KIDS This picture was taken last summer in their super cute Old Navy swimsuits. LOVE IT! Ignore the crooked ribbon, it got that way when I slid it into the sheet protector grrrr!

CIRCUS FUN

These pictures are from our trip to the circus in 2006.

The next morning I got there just after opening and started working my tail off again. Our gifts this day were a cute tin that can be painted and decorated (which we had the option to do there but I didn't), some glossy accents, and some ink and some other stickers and supplies.

I had to leave at 11 to meet David and the kids for lunch and to take Colby for a bit because Lacie & Daddy had dance class (more to come on that later!). After that lil errand, they headed home and I headed back to the store. I didn't make it so late this time cause I was TIRED and I didn't want to wear myself out knowing I had work on Monday morning. I was home and in bed by 11 that night. These are my Saturday pages :

GRATEFUL FOR YOU

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I LEAVE YOU WITH YOUR FATHER These pictures were taken last spring I believe. You all know I talk about what a nerd my husband is, well he likes to bleed that onto our son! LOL
Below you can see my use of this fantastic product called STICKLES. It is basically a glitter glue that comes in MANY shades. So fun!

FAVORITE SUMMER TREAT (above) photo taken last summer. The black dots are brads.

HUH? (below) This photo was taken last summer, just days after she got a MP3 player from her grandparents. She looks SO grown up to me here even though she is only 5. I had read somewhere that this generation of teenagers around us should be labeled Generation HUH? because they are always plugged into something other than the world around them. So that's where the title comes from :)

Also, this particular layout got LOTS of compliments and was passed around the room several times. One of the employees even took some pictures of it for future display on their blog! And a few other employees encouraged me to apply for their new Design Team and to possibly even teach a class or two! Get out! I know!See those lil dangly gems? Those our Heidi Swapp. Her new embellishment line is to die for!

Sunday morning, David & the kids dropped me off and picked me up that night for my sister's birthday dinner. Our gifts this day was a bag to hold ribbon, a ribbon iron and a certificate for a free crop. I was really sad to see the weekend come to an end even though I had spent WAY too much money!. I had a B L A S T! ALL the ladies there were so friendly and hilarious. It was just really wonderful to be in a room filled with over 60 females of different ages and social classes all gathered together because we had ONE thing in common - the desire to create a legacy for our family and friends. Amazing! Not very often that that many women can be in the same room for that long without drama huh? These are my Sunday pages

Below is an acrylic album that they gave us to fill. Acrylic albums & transparencies are all the rage in the scrapbooking world and I had been dying to get my hands on some. This was F U N to make! Just a few images, it's about 8 pages thick.

SNOW BUDDIES - these photos were taken this past January, that post is here.

GIVING THANKS - Thanksgiving in our apartment (2006) just the 4 of us.

HE HEARTS ME - that is actually a picture of 2 bbqd chicken breasts (still connected) that David grilled and then called me out to see because they looked like a heart. Everybody now - AWWWWW!!!! The pink ribbon down the center says "I love you"

I told my husband that there were only two things that could have made the weekend any better. One, was if I were to have won one (or more) of the FABULOUS prizes they gave away all weekend! Seriously they gave away some really awesome stuff! Like a trip to this scrapbook retreat place, a ticket to next year's event, a die cutting machine, and TONS of supplies! This one gal won 3 different prizes! I was REALLY jealous and wanted to follow her to the parking lot in the dark LOL Horrible I know but if you had seen these prizes you'd understand! And 2) was if my bestie could have been there to enjoy it with me. She's the only other person I'm close to that enjoys scrap booking as much as me and we've only been able to do it together once.

I absolutely CAN NOT wait till next year's event. Which by the way is already sold out! Luckily I was able to secure a spot when they opened it up exclusively to us this weekend!

My messy messy table that I cleaned several times LOL

Again MAJOR thanks to my amazing husband for making this possible for me! And to my kids for being so tolerable of their mommy being gone so long. Just another one of my dreams come true!