CMN, WHAT A WONDERFUL CROP!

I don't know how many of you were able to attend, but Cox Health and the Scrapbooking Momeez put together a wonderful charity crop for the Children's Miracle Network this past weekend. I was one of the vendors to attend along with my good friend Lori McCroskey from Clear Dollar Stamps, the Momeez Debbie and Angie (of course!), Sheri Beersman with the ScrapNook in Bolivar (and shortly to have a store here on the north side of Springfield) as well as folks from Close to My Heart and Stampin' Up! As usual, we had a wonderful crowd of about 85 croppers and never a dull moment! I was able to convince my accountant hubby to hang out with me for most of the event as I had to be away from my booth to teach a class. This was quite the sacrifice for him, as he is a HUGE March Madness participant and to miss the games while watching a bunch of women cut and paste was a great gift. Who could ask for a better hubby than that? :-) I am truly blessed!

We did a couple of make-n-takes and I taught the Days to Celebrate birthday book class. We were completely booked at the event, so for those of you who wanted to take the class, I will be offering it in April at both the north and south side Hobby Lobby stores on several dates, and I will confirm the times in a later post. I will list my scheduled dates and times for both stores, but they are always subject to change and by enrollment. To take a class, you will need to contact me directly, the stores do not take reservations. You can reach me at 417.350.4569 or at 417.833.8760. If the schedule doesn't offer a convenient date, give me a call, as I still offer classes at my house. You can also see projects for sale at Neighborhood Pizza Cafe, along with the current schedule of classes. That should be back up by this weekend. :-)

Saturday's crop was such a wonderful time to catch up with old friends and support a wonderful cause at the same time. If you didn't purchase a shirt, you can still contact the Scrapbooking Momeez!

Here is my standard Hobby Lobby schedule, keeping in mind that it is always subject to change. You can pick up a calendar of Hobby Lobby classes next to the store sale fliers. Classes are subject to enrollment, I usually need at least four people enrolled to confirm a class, so bring your friends! These do make wonderful Mother's Day gifts as well as Christmas gifts if you want to get a head start on the holidays!

Northside Hobby Lobby
Every Tuesday Night from 5:30p to 7:30p
Every Thursday Afternoon from 1:00p to 3:00p
Saturday, April 25th time TBD

Southside Hobby Lobby
Every Friday Afternoon from 1:00 to 3:00p
Saturday, April 18th time TBD

I'll be teaching the Days to Celebrate Birthday Book both Saturdays (one at north side and one at south side) and Tuesday Nights at Northside. Class fee at Hobby Lobby is $15. Other class subjects and times are TDB.

For the Days to Celebrate class you will need to bring a ruler and pencil, paper adhesive to apply paper to chipboard and to seal envelopes (glue stick works well to adhere paper to chipboard and any kind of adhesive you can apply in a thin line works well for the envelope), a trimmer and a scoring tool would be handy to bring, along with a eyelet setting tool. We will be using the Zutter Bind-it-All and I'll be demoing a Scor-Pal scoring board. If you like to age your projects, then bring your favorite aging ink! Examples of the projects should be available by this weekend at both stores.

We'll be looking forward to having a crafty time!

Have a catscrappy day!

TECHNOLOGY I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT

You all know I am a certified Macavist, I live, sleep, drink, dream, collect and bleed Macs. Back in the day we used to say I bleed six colors (in reference to the six color Apple logo at that time). I have owned almost one of every generation of Macs sold. The only notable Macs that I've not purchased for myself are the iMacs, mostly because I have always required a production Mac. By that I mean an upgradable or expandable machine. I've owned Apple's printers (all 3 versions, can you name them?), their camera, scanner, the Newton, monitors, modems, the first true laptop, Shuffle, iPod 5th Gen and now my most favorite, my iPhone! With my MacBook Pro 17" breathing down it's neck. I AbSoLuteLy ADORE my 3G iPhone. If I can't get to my laptop to get my email, it's OK, because I get it on my 3G. That alone is worth the price of admission! Coordinating my calender, contacts, music, and photos is just too slick!! Surfing and posting to my blog with it, priceless. My favorite app that I've downloaded? Lightsaber, complete with background music! Yes, I am easily entertained.

To be honest, I have to say this is one of my most productive tools. At CHA this little puppy helped me find places to eat, keep up with emails without lugging my laptop around, gave me directions to the nearest grocery store, took pictures of cool layouts and displays, helped me find my group when we got separated from each other, and I could go on endlessly about it. This is why a Mac will always trump a PC, ease of use, totally useful in every way, productive, and FUN!! it is never a chore to work on any of my Apple products. Yes, dare I say it, I am an Apple snob! Chuck your viral PC in the trash and buy a Mac. Macs can even run Windows, if you just can't give up your addiction to the BOD and hate to give up your one-on-one personal time with your antivirus routine. I do have a PC laptop but I have no reason to run it. I have my Cricut DesignStudio software running on my PC partition on my Mac. :-)

Go get a Mac and an iPhone and use all that extra free time you'll gain doing some serious Scrapbooking!

DON'T LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN

I must have some latent urge to watch old movies and listen to old hymns, as those seem to be the things that pop into my head when I get up in the morning and go to post on my blog! Actually, every morning when I wake up, my brain already has a song embedded in it. I am not sure how that works, so I am going to say it is Divine Intervention. I think God gives me a song to hum every morning that somehow fits my day when I think about it at the end of the day. Normally these songs are hymns that I learned growing up or it could be one of the praise songs we sing at church or a new song from the radio (once it was row, row, row your boat...NOT analyzing that one), but sometimes, the song I get is a real thinker. Those songs are usually good old hymns, many of which the words were taken right out of The Word of God (aka, The Bible). Like today. The song of the day? "His Eye is on the Sparrow." Now this is an old traditional favorite of mine, as sung by Selah. I was brushing my teeth, the bathroom windows were open and the birds outside were just chittering away, and the sound of it just captured me in that moment and BAM! the words just popped into my head. That song touches me in so many ways, to think that God is specifically watching me today, that His eye is on me, ME! He CARES for plain little old me brushing my teeth and wondering if my husband's interview for a job will go well today (hes' been unemployed for four months so far). The words aren't long, but the message is straight from The Word just for times like these when life feels uncertain. Here are the words:

"Why do I feel discouraged? Why do the shadows come? And why does my heart feel lonely and long for heaven untold? When Jesus is my portion, a constant friend is He, His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me. So I sing because I'm happy, and I sing because I'm free! Yeah, His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me."

I am special and unique and God loves me for exactly who I am, right this very minute, even if I am like the man behind the curtain running to and fro trying to put up an illusion of grandeur and magnificence and have others think I am more than what I am. At the end of the day, I am still God's child, deeply loved and cherished, no matter what I actually get done on my list! Now, that makes me happy and puts a song in my heart. I just try not to sing out loud, the cat's haven't started a fan web site for my singing capabilities yet—they're too busy covering their ears! teehee

I'm getting ready to fire up the Cricut and put in some major project prep time. I'm a big believer in the right tool for the right job, especially when it comes to prepping for a class. One of the best things about going to CHA is seeing all the new tools! I just LOVE tools! There weren't as many this time (OK, I'll qualify that by saying "not many that I would USE"), but I did order one really nifty tool/appliance that I am absolutely DYING to use, but I've not had the time to fire it up! Can you believe that?! This nifty new product comes from the other side of the pond, and I am sure that once I start using it, it may break me financially! Possibly mentally too... But I'm not going to tell you what it is until I've actually USED it. Hopefully that will be before April...

You'll just have to get the deets later! :-)

WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND

Tomorrow I'll be "working for the weekend" as an old Loverboy song goes. I have a LOT to DO before Saturday gets here as we prepare for the CMN crop, the Scrapbooking for Miracles crop held Saturday, March 21, 2009, from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm at the Wesley United Methodist Church at 922 W. Republic Road, in Springfield, MO. This crop is presented by Cox Health Nursing, Cox Health North Outpatient Therapy Services and the Scrapbooking Momeez and benefits the Children's Miracle Network. This is one of the best crops in Springfield, you'll find old friends here and make new ones too. They are offering classes and various types of make-n-takes at the vendor tables, mine included! ;-) You can find out more about the crop on the Scrapbooking Momeez web site here.

As in previous years, my booth for Conquest Keepsakes will be set up next to Clear Dollar Stamps. I design stamps for Lori and we like to tag team the attendees with some of the best make-n-takes in southwest Missouri. I have heard of some people coming up from Joplin to attend the crop. I'm sure they are ready to get their hands a little inky, don't you? You know who you are! Lori will be showcasing her knew stamp sets for the month of March, and if you're REALLY lucky, you might even get a sneak peak at some April stamps! Be sure to check out her web site and her blog. Her blog has some of the best tutorials and tips that I've seen anywhere. [grin] OK, so I wrote of couple of them along with a few other guest designers...

That brings me to the class that I am offering at the Children's Miracle Crop this Saturday. This class utilizes one of my most FAVORITE tools, the Zutter Bind-It-All, along with two other tools that I really like, my Cuttlebug and Cricut Expressions. You all know I am Arr--rrr--RR tooltime about tools, especially those that plug in or make scrunching noises. You may laugh, but I have a serious problem with tool addiction! Ask my hubby, he's the first to tell you not to get between me and my tools. I OWN THEM ALL! Cricut, 7Gypsies Binderie (I'll have that at the crop), Crop-A-Diles ad nauseum, Cuttlebug, Sizzix, Sizzlets, mat cutters, knives, Melt Pot, heat guns, punches, corner rounders, cordless Dremmel tool (woo-hoo-oo), 15 rulers (don't ask), Nestabilities dies from Spellbinder, I could go on. My hubby will tell you that if it plugs in or uses batteries, it's ALL ME! I'm a sick puppy. And I digress.

Back to the class. We will be using the BIA (Bind-It-All) to make a very cute wire-bound book. You will have two choices of the type of book to make, the Birthday Book or the Prayer Journal. This cute little darlin' of a book can be made using library envelopes or you can cut your own, or even use your Cricut with the Boxes, Bags, Tags and More cartridge. It cuts a very nice envelope and tag, should you choose to go that route. All papers will be cut for you, this will be an assembly party! We want to make this a fun class without having you drag a trolley of supplies to the class and camping all day at my table.

However, you do need to bring a few supplies and tools to the class, Here is what you need to bring for this class: 1) your favorite adhesive (I would recommend Zip Dry, my new FAVORITE adhesive), 2) scissors, 3) a brown chalk ink pad for aging (but optional), 4) a fingernail file (one of those big black ones you can buy at the Dollar Store, Walmart, Walgreens, etc.), 5) pop-dots or other dimensional adhesive, 6) Crop-A-Dile or other eyelet setting tool, 7) a folding bone will come in handy, and 7) any stamps and inks that you think you might like to use. If you don't have the supplies you need, I know that most of these things can be purchased at one of the onsite stores.

I've posted some sample pictures at the bottom of this post and a full copy of the tutorial will be made available to class attendees. The sampels posted are not the colors we are using for this class, but the look and feel will be similar. This project has several paper options to choose from, 1) Kaiser Craft paper from the Elegance line, 2) Kaiser Craft Paper from the Old World line, and 3) Basic Grey paper from their Porclain or Marakesh line. When you walk away from this class, you will have a beautifully bound book with gorgeous ribbons, beads and embellishments, along with some extra embellishments for another project. Come over to my booth and take a look at the kits and pick yours before they're gone! Space is very limited! Cost for this class is $15 and worth every penny and then some...I see Christmas gifts to friends in your futures!

All of these papers and embellishments, along with supplies for the BIA will be available for purchase at Scrapbooking Momeez, Clear Dollar Stamps, Scrap Nook and Conquest Keepsakes. I'll have a complete selection of wires, covers, and closures, some that you cannot find anywhere else, or you can place an order from me or CDS for what you don't see. My tip of the week BEFORE you come? Go use your 40% coupon and purchase a BIA at Hobby Lobby and bring it with you to the crop!

I'll be posting everyday up until the crop with more information on our make-n-takes, door prizes and a show stealer of a product, you won't want to miss this! Also some new and fascinating news on the scrapbooking front! Stay tuned...

Now, enjoy a few pictures...