The Memory Bee

Chicago, the Cat, and Dancing

I'm off to Chicago early in the morning, heading downtown to do a little shopping for the day, and then the trade show CHA begins on Friday. It's a busy time placing orders for my classes this fall and meeting up with friends. Many of us only see each other at these shows, so it's fun to be together. I'll post pictures of things that catch my eye!
These pictures have nothing to do with it but I found them on my camera and thought they were pretty funny. Last year I posted a picture of the cat drinking out of the toilet (which he still does...if you happen to be using it when he wants a drink, he meows until it's his turn.) He also drinks out of the bird bath which isn't too popular with the birds! And a picture from my garden...


I also need someone's help...I missed the part of So You Think You Can Dance when the girl said why she isn't going to be on the show anymore. Can someone fill me in? Thanks!

Surrounded by pretty things!

For the last week I've been surrounded by product, ideas, notepads, lists, and all...working on planning the three classes I'll be teaching at stores this fall. It's a huge challenge that I love but stressful still. I have to plan classes that a wide variety of people will want to take, that offers fun techniques, lots of good product, stays in a budget, and that I love, too! It's a big order! Of course, I want to plan a class that I would pay to take!
There so many options and with CHA coming up later this week, I want to see what's out there, too. I think I've got three great projects...it won't be long before I can show them. This is a look at the floor where I've spread out, doing three designs at once!

Scrappin' at The Pink House

It's a perfect match...scrappin'...a pink house...classes...one of my FAVORITE places...Charleston...& lots of nice people! I'm SO excited to add Scrappin' at The Pink House to my schedule! I'll be there for two classes on August 23.This will be the last chance to take the the Round and About Travel album and A Lucky Life classes. Sign ups have already started, so you can call 843-744-6911 to join us for a fun day of scrappin'. Today I'm scrappin' at my pink house!
 

Happy endings?

I'm totally bummed out that Deanna chose Jesse on the Bachelor instead of Jason! Now I'm aggravated with myself that I cared! Just finished watching and I liked Jason so much. Jesse seems like a good guy though! I need to get a life, right?!
The holiday weekend was full of family and gardening and relaxing. I have looked for years for a patio set  for our deck/porch, but have never found anything just right that goes with a pale pink house. The other day I found a Martha Stewart set that was perfect! I have spent more time outside in the last few days than I have in years! I love sitting in a comfy chair having my coffee, working on my laptop, and enjoying the sounds of summer. What a blessing! Even the cat is sitting around in the yard!

Another blessing is that my husband found a bunch of old bricks buried behind my shabby shed and then the neighbor gave us a load of bricks he didn't want, so now my flower bed has a new border that looks kind of old. I love it!
I got my samples done for CHA...now I'm working on my class samples for the fall. Such decisions to make!
Here's a few photos from the weekend...

 

 

Scarlet Limes, Bellas, and Blurbs

I can't believe it's July already and the year is half over! I remember time going so slow during the summer and now it just speeds by in a blink! This is the first time I've ever had an empty house during the summer and it feels weird but there's just enough crisis anyway to not get bored. I love some peace and quiet...that's for sure!
I was honored to be the guest designer for the kit club The Scarlet Lime this month. I've known Christy for years and have always admired her work and now this awesome club that she offers. I loved playing with the product that comes in July's kit. You can see from what I did and what the other designers did, that there are lots of different looks to be made with the variety in this kit. If you're visiting my blog for the first time, welcome! Glad to have you stop by!
Here's a peek at what I did...you can see the full layouts by clicking here.

Here's a little bit of what else has been going on...

• Jeremy's car was run into by at hit and run driver the other night. No one hurt but the car. It only took the Rochester police 8 hours to respond to our calls. Nice! Too late then to do anything about it except to cause us to wait up most of the night.
• Brandon is still looking for work...a job is good when you have an apartment and bills to pay! Never a dull moment there!
• I registered for Silver Bella in November! Yeah! Last year was fabulous and I can't wait to return to Omaha and be with all the Bellas there. 
• I've been buying plane tickets like crazy and actually still finding some great fares! With all the dire predictions on TV everyday, I was getting concerned about my travel this fall, but all's well so far! I'm looking forward to Chicago in July for CHA, to CKU in Provo in August, to visiting Diane and Wendy at Melrose Vintage in Phoenix in September, Emmalie at Crop Paper Scissors in Waco, Lexi and Julie at The Scrapbook Shoppe in Tampa, Sande and everyone at Violettes in Lakeland, Suzy and the gang at Picture Me Perfect in No. California in October, Patti at The Queen's Ink in Maryland in November, and to end the year with a magical day at Kim Caldwell's in December for a splendid Joyeux Affaire! It sounds exciting and exhausting, but I love it all! You can see the dates and get the store info by clicking on the name of the store in the sidebar. I know the stores have started lists for when the actual sign ups start!
• I decided to try to make a photo book of our pictures from Italy for my scrapbook this time. I got most of it laid out in Shutterfly, but then got frustrated by the limited choice of layouts, so I decide to try Blurb. I'm not sure that's going to be much better for choices, but I went ahead a did a quick 7x7" photo book and ordered a copy to see how the quality is before I start a huge project. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Peace and Quiet

One of my goals as I am home more this summer is to get my garden a little under control. When we moved into this house fourteen years ago I inherited a fabulous perennial garden. I've never been able (or had the desire) to get too involved in amending the soil and dividing things and all. I just kind of let it do its thing and try to keep the weeds under control. Last year the neighbor took down the high shrubbery "fence" that edged it and put in a wooden fence. I was so disappointed, but now I like it. I like the clean edge to the garden, have found that the flowers are doing much better, and there are fewer weeds. Yeah! The kitty likes it, too.

I so enjoy watching as the garden goes through its color changes as the different flowers bloom. It starts in May with the poppies that explode with bright red orange color. Now the yellows and pinks are taking over.

I've wanted to edge the bed with big stones (like about 6" ones) but after keeping my eye out for them for the last couple years, the only place I've seen to get them would be to steal them from the stone fence that lines the main road of much of our town. We've joked about taking one a day and then maybe no one would notice, but my conscience won't let me do that! Now I've decided to line the edge with old bricks side by side. Over time it will look like it's always been that way and will help the grass not creep into the bed and the weeds not creep into the lawn.

I can't remember if I complained about it on my blog before, but for the last couple years we had two small dogs that barked in the adjoining backyard from about 6am throughout the day until nightfall. Sometimes I thought I would go crazy. We couldn't enjoy the back yard at all, had to keep the windows shut on the house, and didn't have company because of the noise. I feel like a miracle happened and the people moved! They never had a for sale sign up or anything, but all of a sudden one day it was quiet, and we realized they were gone. We can finally move back outside! I LOVE the peace and quiet!

Another thing I love is my shabby shed. It desperately needs to be scraped and painted, but I love the peeling paint and keep putting it off. There is a rose bush there that has never bloomed, but this year for some unknown reason, it has gone crazy! Why now after fourteen years? Maybe it was waiting for the dogs to stop barking, too!

I love my back porch and the little porch upstairs off the master bedroom. My scrapbook room is the window right above the porch and the little porch is to the right in the picture. I love to sit out there in the morning and have my coffee and quiet time. 

Hope you're enjoying your summer day!

Just workin' and a little playin'

I've been waiting for today to come to get a new toy...the Instinct phone for us Sprint users. I would have loved an Iphone but I wasn't going to switch to AT&T, so I had to wait to Sprint to come out with a pretty close competitor. I'm liking it so far. I think the GPS  will be very handy in my travels, along with email and TV and all. With full rebates, it's $129.99...a lot less than the Iphone, too. Brandon stopped by today...he's moving into his apartment in stages...and took a picture of himself for the picture id for my phone.

  

I've been working with the Anna Griffin Alix collection this week, making beach layouts. I love the colors..so perfect with tropical photos. I love it when new collections come out and I have new things to play with! A box of the holiday collections arrived at my door today...yummy! Now I'll be thinking of Christmas as I create things for the booth at CHA in Chicago in July. Here's a little peek at the layouts I did today...

Celebrating Dad

We started Father's Day by getting up early and going to The Chapel at Elmwood. We filled a row because my mom managed to get fourteen of us there at the same time. To have a good church like this in the city is such an answer to MANY years of prayer! I'm so thankful for the people who have started this church and minister to the community in a real way. They are truly living out what they believe in actions and not just words.

Then we stopped by the Allentown Arts Festival. I hadn't been there in about fifteen years and it was just like I remember...pottery and paintings. I wish there were more funky cool crafts.

We celebrated Dad with a family picnic. When my parents come home from Florida, it brings everyone together once again during these summer months. I love the sweatshirt that Brandon got Dave...it says "spiritually fit" under a picture of Jesus. I guess this is as spiritual as he's getting right now! Dave loved it and plans to wear it to the gym. I can't believe this is the only picture anyone took of my dad and I! We had a good time watching videos from years ago when the kids were little. Quite a review of hairdos...I had big hair then...we all had perfectly formed bangs!

I know I have said it before but I love my lens (50mm 1/4). I read a good article today about it linked from the Work in Progress blog. You can read it here. I'm still working on getting the sharpest focus but the quality of "realness" that it captures is remarkable, I think.

I cleaned up, added some things, sorted into better categories, and stuff in the sidebars of this blog. I added some links to blogs that I enjoy reading (some of these people are friends and others, like bossy...I don't even know... but she makes me laugh!) I deleted some links to blogs that aren't updated often enough to check. (Warning...to myself and others...must update blog!) Hope you enjoy browsing!

Losses and loves

The nation, NBC, but especially those of us here in Buffalo are mourning the loss of Tim Russert. All the tributes to him on TV point out what a good man he was. He loved Buffalo and the Buffalo Bills and we loved him for that. I will sure miss him during this election season! My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

I'm also thinking and praying for the people of Iowa and the devastation from the flooding they are experiencing. I was going to be teaching at Reminisce in September until they recently announced their closing. Now I understand that they are flooded. I'm so sorry to hear that. This photo was on the picture page of the Buffalo News this morning that showed the store. Of all the places they could show!











Back in my world, I'm looking forward to Father's Day tomorrow and celebrating my dad. Tim Russert's death was a good reminder to not take dads for granted. My father died when I was five and when my mother remarried three years later, my dad adopted my sister and I, and we became his daughters. He is such a kind man and such a hard worker. He has never let me doubt that he loves me. I love you, Dad!

On a much lighter note I got some new goblets that I just love. A student, Robin who I met at CKU Anaheim last year, sent me a link to these wine glasses from Sur la Table that reminded her of me, knowing my love of pink and of bees. I had to get a set...they are so perfect!


I've been working on miniature scrapbooking on these little Anna Griffin mini books. These projects will be used when Anna sells these kits on QVC, but you could also buy the parts and make these yourself. The Alix beach mini books are in Michaels until the end of July. I used some of the techniques that I use in larger mini books but on a tiny scale for these. I made pockets, windows, fold ups flaps, and all that make mini books so fun.


I had a "celebrity" sighting at Cracker Barrel on Wednesday morning when there with my Bible study group. Kevin Lehman came in and sat at the next table. I've read several of his books. My favorite is the Birth Order book and an older companion book Growing Up First Born. His new book, Have a New Kid by Friday, is supposed to be one of the best books on parenting. He graduated from Williamsville South High School and I graduated from Williamsville North, although he's MUCH older than me! We talked to him at Cracker Barrel and he told us that he got a 297 on his SATs. It gave us all hope that if he can be such a success in life, then anyone can be!
Last of all for now...in case you are thinking of going to CKU Provo...I found out that there are only about 50 spaces left. The CKU staff goes all out in Provo since it's the headquarters and it's always a special event. The area is so gorgeous with the mountains and all...I can't wait to return in August.
Have a great weekend...full of blessings!
(Typepad continues to cause me a lot of problems...this post looks perfect on my compose screen, but then when it loads, it looks all mixed up like this. Sorry!)

Back to life!

I am in unpack, reorganize, recover, and reconnect mode after returning from Houston Sunday night. CKU was great! What could be better than to be in a hotel...in a mall...with fellow scrapbookers! So many fun times with my fellow teachers and friends...old and new! It was great to have Sally and Heather there. I'll have a photo album of lots of pictures up soon. Now I'm looking forward to Provo in early August! (Wish I could bring my wonderful TA's with me...thank you so much to Galen and Cyndi!) I'm home for most of the summer now. I need to take time for friends and family and design the new classes for fall and other projects I've wanted to take time to do. Looking forward to that!

Never a dull moment!

I'm SO excited to be the guest designer for Cocoa Daisy this month! I loved playing with the great mix of papers and embellishments in the kits. Here's a couple layouts I did:

I also made a mini album by cutting the Hambly overlay into 6" squares and mixing them with squares of the Sassafrass Lass paper and flaps for the rub ons made from clear overlays and patterned paper at the top of some of the pages. I used my Bind it All to bind the top. The cover is shown on the Cocoa Daisy website and I'll show some of the rest of the pages here.




It was great to see so many people at the CKC convention in Buffalo over the weekend. I enjoyed meeting so many new friends...the students in my class were great! Cathy Zielske was here for the event...love her!

On the way home from the convention Friday night, my car broke down. Thankfully I was in a gas station but it took 3 1/2 hours for a tow truck to get there and I didn't get home until 11pm! Not exactly what I felt like doing after a day of teaching and another day to follow!
Jeremy left for Rochester today where he'll be living for the summer and working there. Brandon is moving into an apartment in the next few days, so I'm going to have an empty house again soon! All this has happened very quickly so I'm still adjusting. Again, it's all good...just a whirlwind sometimes!

Celebrating...

This past weekend brought me full speed into summer! After coming home from NYC, I raced to the nursery to get flowers before they got too picked over during the holiday weekend, "opened up" our back porch... getting it ready for company, cleaned up the house...sorting out the loads of stuff brought home by two boys from college that got piled in the living room (suitcases, laundry baskets, amps, guitars, speakers, bikes, skateboards, etc., etc...), while continuing to get ready for classes this weekend at the Creating Keepsakes Convention here in Buffalo. Thankfully my parents have come "home" from Florida for the summer and were here to help me weed and wash outdoor furniture and stuff.
I had fifteen here for a picnic on Monday and got to try out my new 50mm 1.4 lens on my Nikon D50. I had debated for a long time about what lens to get. I'm so happy with the pictures it captured. It's perfect for the type of pictures I usually take.

My niece has moved back to Buffalo from Texas with her family. I love having a such a darling little one to take pictures of. Isn't she sweet!

We caught up on several birthdays. The poppies are spectacular in my garden this year!


 

My Achin' Feet!

I'm in the airport in New York, waiting for my flight home, and enjoying the memories from the last few days. Last Sunday I walked the whole Stationary Show and enjoyed some time in the Anna Griffin booth, seeing her new products. The wrapping paper, extreme die cuts, paper pouches, and fabulous invitations are delicious! Great news...you can now shop on her website! Anna has a blog now, too, which you can read here.
Here's a photo of Anna (sorry it's not a better picture) and Tracey, the VP, and the booth where the retailers were celebrated with champagne and darling cookies decorated to match her tote bags.

It was cool to meet Wendy Addison of glitter and pretty things fame at the Tinsel Trading Company booth and Kobi Yamada at the Compendium booth. I'd already purchased his new book 5. It's a thought-provoking book and great for any age. He has new gift wrap to coordinate with his books...could be good on a mini album!
 

Monday morning I went to my favorite restaurant in NYC, Balthazar, for breakfast. You know how I have to have my celebrity sighting? Well, I had a really good one here! Jennifer Connelly was seated directly facing me. She was by herself for quite a while and I was by myself, so I had a problem with where to look. Everytime I looked at her, she seemed to glare at me, but it was hard to look off to the side all the time! I didn't dare take a picture. Of course, she is beautiful and tiny!

I walked all over SoHo collecting business cards for my NYC guidebook. I met a new friend, Tina Higgins, in Tinsel Trading Company. We thought maybe we had met somewhere along the way, and we do know many of the same people. That evening Suzi Finer and I met for dinner at Joe Allen's and then a heavenly concert with Mandy Patinkin. His voice is so pure...what a treat to have just him and his pianist for ninety minutes of such talent.
Tuesday I collected cards from the upper west side and shopped along Madison and 5th Avenues, but it was raining and that literally puts a damper on things. My husband came over from NJ and met me for dinner down in Greenwich Village. I LOVE risotto, so the Risotteria restaurant on Bleeker Street was a perfect choice and then we had dessert at Pinkberry. I walked off some of those calories walking from there to SoHo and then all the way back to W. 45th St. and 8th Ave. That is a long way and I was hobbling by the time we got back!
Wednesday morning I went back to Balthazar and then on to Tribeca to check out Secondhand Rose. I didn't really look through the books of all the wallpaper they have...it was just too overwhelming, but at least I know where it is now. By the time I made it back to Times Square, it was almost matinee time for the shows, so I decided to check out the TKTS booth for last minute tickets. A lady was selling two tickets for In the Heights, so I bought one and headed right into the theater. It's the hottest show on Broadway right now after being nominated for thirteen Tonys. I had a perfect seat! The talent is amazing in this show but I didn't love it.I didn't think there was much of a story and a lot of it is in Spanish. The set is cool but never really changes. Dave and I saw Young Frankenstein that night and loved it! The acting, the voices, the sets, the special effects are all fabulous! Megan Mullally was hilarious and Sutton Foster is one of my favorite, so it was a real treat!
It was really fun to meet in the city like this and have a little mini vacation in the middle of work. I love seeing the sailors in the city, too, for Fleet week.

(Typepad has changed the Compose posts page and is driving me crazy! I have uploaded pictures for over an hour and they keep going wonky. Don't try to enlarge these photos by clicking on them...they enlarge way too large...hopefully I can figure it out for next time!)

Work, then PLAY!

Before I get to play, I have to work and this week has been crammed with it. I leave very early!!! on Sunday morning for New York City where I'll be going to the National Stationary Show and doing some shopping and a little work, too.
I worked at the Stationary Show one year but haven't had the chance to walk and "shop" it, so I'm so excited about that. I love paper and office stuff and all, so I can't wait to see all they have to offer. I'm hoping to find some cool things for my fall classes. I'm looking forward to seeing my buddy, Suzi Finer, at MY end of the country. We have tickets to see Mandy Patinkin on Broadway Monday night, and I'll be seeing Young Frankenstein on Broadway Wednesday night with my husband who unexpectedly is going there on business, too.
Besides the Stationary Show, I'm going to be hitting all my favorite places in NYC to gather business cards. I'm thinking of self-publishing (unless someone else wants to publish it) a little guide/journal/scrapbook called "My NYC" with lots of guidance for seeing the NY I love. I get so many emails from people asking for advise, so I think this might be something that people would like.
So here's what I've gotten done this week...

• Totally filled my fall teaching schedule with new classes from one end the country to the other! I'm looking forward to returning to some stores and going to new ones! I'm especially excited about the classes on December 6! :)
• Worked like crazy on samples for Anna Griffin to use on QVC in the UK. Here's some little peeks at what I did...some totally different looks! And a picture of the cat because I can't have an empty space there!

• Finished my projects as guest designer for June for Cocoa Daisy. The June kit is packed with fabulous products. I love playing with different things...it really revs up my creativity. I'll post peeks of what I did next week.
• Worked on my class kits for the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Buffalo at the end of May. I only have to assemble 200 kits! I will have some extra kits at the Convention, so you can sign up that day if you want.

I keep reminding myself to breathe...it's all good!

A happy Mother's day!

I hope everyone had a good mother's day! I think it's a really good day to honor moms but a really hard day for many. My thoughts and prayers were with them, too. I'm so thankful for my mom, even though we weren't together to celebrate, and for my boys. I love being their mother! I tried to cherish every moment as much as possible when they were little and now enjoy our time together as adults. My husband does a really good job of making me feel very appreciated as mom, too, so that's nice!
I loved having the boys home from college for the weekend for me. After church we went out to dinner, then to the art gallery to take pictures, and then to Starbucks with Brandon for our traditional time together.
The only bummer...actually big BUMMER...is that I dropped my Canon G9 on the cement at the art gallery. Thankfully the screen or lens didn't break but the front of the camera is bent and needs to be repaired before I take it anywhere. I'm going to NYC this weekend, and now I won't have a small camera to take and will have to lug around my big Nikon. Oh well...an expensive mistake!
 

Is this normal?

There has been an outcry for another cat picture so here's the latest. Do you think it's normal for a cat to sit like a person? It just cracks me up when he does this! He's squinting from the flash going off.

I finished a mini album for my pictures from Scrap Etc. and thought I'd share it. I took the pages I did as the guest designer for Jenni Bowlin Studio and revamped them with these pictures and added stuff from the event. I used a chipboard page as a template to cut a Hambly Clear Heavy Overlay to use as the cover. The first picture is the before and then the afters. (You can click on any picture to make it bigger to see detail.)

Happy news! I'm finally going to be teaching classes in NORTHERN California!!! I've taught several times in Southern California and now I'll be teaching at Picture Me Perfect in Fremont in October! It seems like a long time away but I know the time will fly by. I can't wait to meet the Bay Area Scrappers!

Who is this man?

I still have a hard time wrapping around the idea that I am the mother of a man. How weird does that sound! Yesterday we went to Rochester to celebrate Jeremy's 22nd birthday. I'm so proud of him for all he's accomplished and for the good head he has on his shoulders. It's hard to believe that 22 years ago he weighed 9lbs 3oz and now he towers over me.

Everytime we're all together it's a battle of the cameras. Brandon's great with the camera as a photography major and Jeremy's great as a hobbyist and I want to get in on the action, too, so it's crazy to see us together. Brandon thinks that I tilt my camera way too much, so these pictures are for him!

We had too much to eat at Dinosaur Barbeque and then stocked them up with groceries. I hope I get to see them for Mother's Day!
A little enabler alert...Michaels has the new Alix collection from Anna Griffin Inc. for a limited time. I love the blues and white. I can imagine pictures from the beach or any tropical or pool setting. Pictures from Greece would be gorgeous with these products! It should be at the front of the store on a display that changes out every three months.
I'm adding my fall teaching dates to the sidebar...it's going to be crazy and fun again! Sorry about the TBAs (to be announced) in the list. It's the only way I know of for Typepad to save the spot for me to add when the date is finalized. And they have to be in order! :) The only open dates I have are a couple for the summer and maybe December 6, so if your store is interested in having my new classes, let me know!

Pink paradise!

By Design Scrapbook Boutique is heaven for anyone who loves pink like I do! What a busy and fun day they had planned for their customers! After teaching three classes, I even made it until almost 11:30pm at the crop that ended National Scrapbook Day. I just about finished my little mini album for my pictures of Scrap Etc. I'll post pictures when it's done.
I had a great day in my classes...it's great to to see so many students who are now friends, too! And I'll get to see many of them at CKU next month in Houston again, so that's fun to look forward to. I so appreciate the Texas welcome that makes me feel so at home. Thanks to all...the gals at the store...the hard-working students...to Tracy for setting the pace at the store to make it a special place.

A little head's up...

This is a busy time in the scrapbook world! Last night registration opened for CKU Provo (Creating Keepsakes University) which will take place August 6-9 in Provo, Utah. The CKUs in Provo are always special because that is the home of Creating Keepsakes and the setting is just gorgeous. I can't wait to return! They added a couple new classes to the line up along with the same album tracks (including my Anna Griffin album track.) This will be the last CKU of this year, so don't miss it!
Tomorrow, May 2, Anna Griffin will be on QVC from 11am to noon EST with several new kits. I love the new clear stamps she will be offering. Getting the product bundled into a kit is a great way to get a sample of a product line and then you can add more of what you like from your local scrapbook store. Watch for the samples I did for the show...you never know whose picture will pop up on a project!
I'll be TIVOing it because I'll be on my way to Houston to teach at By Design Scrapbook Boutique on Saturday. What a day they have planned! You Houston gals are so lucky to have such a fabulous store to shop in. Can't wait to see everyone again!
Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

Overflowing...

I had an amazing time in Virginia visiting with Pam Keravuori and friends and teaching at Scrapbooks Plus. Pam and her husband Jouni were fabulous hosts and made me feel so welcome...they're lucky I left!
Our weekend started last Friday with a day of shopping in Leesburg with Kitty Gallanis, celebrating her birthday, and enabling each other to find lots of treasures. If any one of us saw something we liked, we learned to pick it up right away because it was sure to be nabbed by the next one of us that came along. We had a blast!
The Cottage is a darling store that I'd read about on Amy Power's blog. It was wonderful to meet Ann and shop up a storm. As we entered, we unexpectedly saw a familiar face...Karla Nathan from Kansas City, who we met at Silver Bella last year was visiting the area and happened to be in the store right then. What a small world! She joined us for lunch and shopping and came to my class on Saturday. How fun!

After a to-die-for grilled cheese sandwich (grilled cinnamon raisin bread with cheddar cheese and apple butter...yes, I'm still thinking about it!) at Lightfoot Restaurant, we were off to Lucketts to go to On a Whim Antiques with their fabulous pink polka dotted silo and then to Luckett's Store which is part of a complex overflowing with antiques. We barely made a dent in the buildings before they closed. I loved the Beekeeper's Cottage. From the stairway to the shabby chic rooms, it was heavenly.

We shopped till we dropped...literally! The next day was a day of classes at Scrapbooks Plus in Chantilly. It was wonderful to meet everyone and see some familiar faces. The photos will be in an album in the sidebar soon. Pam was so helpful with the large group we had. Debbie and Mark have a great store! Thank you so everyone being so kind and welcoming to me.

Sunday brought more adventures as Pam and I headed off to Maryland to visit The Queen's Ink and spend some delightful time with Patti Euler, the owner. This store just makes you want to create something special. I'm soo excited to be returning for classes at the store in November!

We met the lovely Amy Powers for dinner back in Virginia. We talked and laughed so long that even Starbucks kicked us out when they closed, and we had to continue our conversating in Pam's car. Amy is such a sweet soul and I loved being able to spend some time together.

Yesterday I sadly had to pack up and leave the "Hotel Keravuouri" where the guests are treated like royalty in a luscious bed that you have to step up into and custom made French-pressed Finnish coffee. Much longer and they might have put me out with the squirrels! I can't wait to return.

This Saturday I'll be teaching three classes at By Design Scrapbook Boutique in Houston. They have a fun-filled day planned for National Scrapbook Day with lots of make and takes and prizes and sales and my classes. I'm not sure if the classes are filled yet, but give them a call at 281-488-9100 for more information. This is the last time the Anthropologie Album will be taught and I don't have any more kits, so you can contact them to see if there's room in the class.