All kinds of stuff…

I promised myself that I would blog before the weekend was up…so in typical last minute fashion, here I am. We had a really relaxing but productive weekend at home. My hope was that my house would be spotless by now, but instead it’s messier than ever. We cleaned out the middle bedroom that we’ve been ignoring since we moved out of the space in May…and you know when you’re cleaning out something big it gets worse before it gets better? Well, I’m just praying that’s what’s going on here. It’s a disaster!

Last week was so much fun! On Tuesday, we went to the Star Wars exhibit in Ft. Worth. It was great! We all got along the entire time except when Ben and I got in a little tiff about how to use the camera correctly…so stupid, I know. I scrapbooked the Star Wars portion of the trip today.

I used Christine’s Blended Colorblock Templates along with a couple of pieces of paper from her Impressions kit to create it. I have been dying to use her templates and was so glad I found a reason! I was thrilled with the way it made my layout look. I love grunge, blended, blah, blah, blah…when other people do it. But when I do it, it always looks wrong. Taking a piece of sandpaper to something just does not work with me…of course, my friend Emily can do it and I think it looks amazing. So, for the blending to be already done for me is PERFECT!

On Thursday, I had the greatest visit with the Gotta Scrap girls in Rockwall. I’m going to start teaching digital classes there in October. Those girls have got it going on! They are going to be one of the 200 Creative Cafe stores. And they are completely redoing their whole store – new product, new fixtures, new everything! They’re going to bring digital in too and are totally open to new thoughts, projects, etc. I’m so excited to be a part of what they are doing!

In other work related news, Ben and I are knee deep in templates and html code setting our new shopping cart up. It’s going to be absolutely fabulous when it’s all said and done.

And now back to CHA and Chicago. I was at CHA this year for two reasons, no…three reasons. One, to be a panel member on a discussion about making your retail store a digital destination. Two, to connect with store owners about a new program we’re launching and to hear feedback. (All systems are go!) And three, to have a blast with my home girls:) And we did have a total blast! Amanda, Tanya & Christine are all designers from the site and dear friends. They were so fun and easy to get along with. I subjected them to the Untouchables Gangster tour on Saturday. I think this was like my 4th or 5th time to go on it. I love fresh blood! There’s pretty much a standing joke from my old crew about 2 of my Chicago favs…the Gangster tour and Edelweiss, an awesome German food restaurant not far from the convention center. I pretty much drag people to these places kicking and screaming (and on public transportation) and force them to have fun. If I had been paying, you better believe we would have would have been eating wienerschnitzel while listening to the oompah band and lifting our dark beers to toast. But instead we went to Elliot’s, a great little neighborhood restaurant, heavy on the beef. It was delicious! This was by far the most relaxing time I’ve had at a trade show in a long, long time. The first time I ever went to CHA Summer was in 1999. I co-owned Scrappy’s at the time and Jean and I took my mother because Provo Craft was launching 20 different CDs designed to be used for computer crafting, and my mother’s poems were one of the original HugWare titles! It’s funny to look back on now, because those CDs were about 8 years too early. I remember thinking, crafters aren’t going to use these… And now I was there this year with the self-appointed task of bridging the gap between traditional and digital. Crazy how life works.

Amanda did a really cool thing on her blog, so I decided to steal the idea…and present my Chicago pics through this cute online service. Amanda also detailed her recollection of the Genevieve from Trading Spaces chance encounter here…enjoy laughing at my expense:)

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

One very last story, and then I’m going to bed. This is funny, I promise. Nolen spent the night with a friend and went to our church with them this morning. He doesn’t usually go to the service – he has a class instead – but Eli didn’t know that so he made the boys sit through third service. I went to pick up Nolen at their house this evening and Sharee asks me if he’s ever been to the service before…and yes, once with me… She just chuckled…and proceeded to relay a story. Apparently the pastor asked one of those rhetorical questions to the congregation and Nolen’s hand went up…and stayed up…for like 45 seconds. My poor sweet boy! He had the answer, I’m sure of it! When we got in the car, I asked him when he figured out that he wasn’t supposed to be raising his hand to answer a question in church…and he answered “when everyone started laughing at me”. I was 1/2 heart-sick for him and 1/2 laughing hysterically inside. I spent the rest of the trip home telling him how much I love it that he’s always so quick to answer questions and how glad I am that he’s not timid or afraid to be wrong like I was when I was his age… And how people at church have told me how cool it is that they can count on him to lead in prayer, participate in singing and pay attention to the lessons. I love that boy! And if this is as embarrassing as it get for him, bring it on.