CHA Trip Recap: Part 2

CHA is a bi-annual trade show for all types of crafting products. When I go, I only focus on the scrapbooking products. This year I was lucky to have three of the Scrapbook Circle design team ladies with me. Diana, Heather and Jennie were all so helpful and it was really fun to spend time with them.

We only had 1.5 days at the show, so we were focused and scouted out all of our favorite things for the next few Scrapbook Circle Kit.

On the first day of the show, we were there for the full trade show hours from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. We spent the day visiting all of the scrapbook related booths, collecting samples and taking notes. We met up for dinner and then went back to the hotel room to plan kits. We worked on kits until we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer and then finished up kit planning in the morning. We filled out order forms and turned in most of them before we had to leave.

I worked more today finishing up order forms. Now we just have to wait for the product to start arriving.

To do a proper CHA photo recap, I really need another day at the show so that I could focus on photos rather than kit ordering. But, I will share the photos that I managed to take.

The Heidi Swapp booth was full of Heidi's fun and creative style. We loved many of the embellishments here. Some of our favorites were Poloroid photo frames and the color magic products.

The GCD Studios booth had several new lines with some nice pieces. No product photos, but we did get a photo in their photobooth.

The Jillibean Soup booth was full of traditional Jillibean style. We loved the new soup label stickers and the alphas.

We really liked the new Jenni Bowlin Studios stickers. The honeycomb date stickers were a favorite. She also had some wonderful new perforated paper that you will be seeing in an upcoming kit.

The Lily Bee Design booth was full of product from four new lines. We loved them all and placed a pretty large order here. The index cards and paper were our favorites at this booth.

The new Bella Blvd lines were very themed (Baby & Pregnancy) so we didn't order the paper, but we did love all of the embellishments. Alphas, button, tapes and little flags. We loved all of the little bits and pieces!

Of course we pretty much loved everything at the October Afternoon booth. They always have great designs.

The new Sketchbook line by Amy Tangerine for American Crafts looked like it might be a little too bright from the previews I'd seen before CHA, but in person it was perfectly vibrant and beautiful. This was one of my favorite lines of the show. I should have more than one photo of this section of the booth, but I don't. Guess I was too excited looking at product to take many photos.

The Dear Lizzy Neapolatian line was a nice surprise at the show. In the previews it looked very similar to other Dear Lizzy lines, but there were pieces of this line that were *must haves* items.

The Glitz Designs booth was probably the prettiest at the show. The sewn banners over the booth looked fantastic.  I really liked their new travel line plus the burlap items in the French Kiss line.

We visited many other booths and loved so many things.  It was a fantastic show and we were happy to be there looking and buying for Scrapbook Circles kit. Can't wait to start sharing some of the things we've ordered.

CHA Trip Recap: Part 1

Last night I returned from a three day trip to California where there was lot of fun, work and patterned paper.  I flew over to CA with Diana and Jennie and we met up with Heather once we were there.

We started out at the Prima Marketing Headquarters for a class with Donna Downey. Loved the project in the class. We started with a 6" X 18" canvas and used many layers of product to create a lovely finished piece.

While at Prima, we added flowers to these big, floppy hats and posed for a photo. Prima wanted us to wear these hats around the CHA show, but they were way too big to wear any longer than the photo.

We spent that night at Disneyland along with many, many other people. It was so crowded. Note to self: Don't go to Disneyland on a Saturday.

Despite the crowds, we still went on several rides and had a great time. (How could we not have a good time, we were at Disneyland!) We stopped for dinner at Orleans Cafe to share a Monte Cristo Sandwich for dinner. This is a ham and cheese sandwich that is battered and fried, sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with a berry sauce.  One sandwich is enough to feed 4 people!  So decadent and delicious.

While I was away, I missed the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. Max came in 3rd out of 20 boys, so I think it was successful!

Watch for a full CHA show recap coming soon!

Happy 40th Birthday Card

Last night I went to surprise birthday party for a friend who is turning 40. Seems strange, but 40 isn't sounding quite as old as it used to!

All day I'd planned on putting a birthday card together, but there wasn't a free moment until 5 minutes before I had to leave. I pulled out the Be Amazing Kit and quickly put this card together. I love the small designs on the 6 x 6 paper pad. 

With the help of some of the Scrapbook Circle Team, we packed up all of the Remember This kits today. Now I'm off to help with an art class in my daughter's 6th grade class. Tonight we're having this Crock Pot Chicken Parm recipe. I'm excited to try something new!

Enjoy today!

Remember This

The February Scrapbook Circle kit, Remember This, just went live on the site. I'm so excited about this kit. It has brand new My Mind's Eye plus other favorites.

I've loving the yellow and aqua color combo in this kit plus the touches of chevron print make me happy.

There is a coordinating add-on this month too that is filled with more Mind's Eye goodies.

I'm hoping to get some time in the next couple of days to do some creating this this kit!

Hello, Tuesday

Today I got to open a delivery full of scrapbooking goodness from My Mind's Eye. I think that is one of the best parts about running Scrapbook Circle.

*LOVE* the new My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart line. It's going to be in the February Scrapbook Circle Kit. Full kit reveal coming tomorrow!

Used a few last pieces of the Be Mine kit to put together a birthday card for my daughter to give to her friend.

I used the envelope as part of the design, so she doesn't even need to open the envelope. The birthday message is written on the back.

Tonight I'm trying out a new (to me) White Chicken Chili recipe from Pioneer Woman.  It's simmering on the stove right now. I really love recipes with beans, so I'm sure I'll enjoy it! My husband and son don't really think soup is a true dinner, so hopefully they won't go hungry tonight. :)

Happy Tuesday to you!

Project Life 2012: Week Three

It's still early in the year, but I am really enjoying this year long project. I now have a place to save pieces of our family's family life like noodle boxes that would normally just end up in the trash. Totally loving this approach to memory keeping.

There were a bunch of photos that I wanted to include this week, so I used a page protector with more slots for photos. I'm planning on mixing in a bunch of different styles of page protectors in this project because I like the mixed look of different photo slots.

There isn't any patterned paper on the pages this week. Three of the slots include fabric scraps from a sewing project this week and the rest is photos and bits of other random things like receipts, a note from my daughter and a noodle wrapper.

We had a full and busy week at out house. Just how we like it!

Here are the highlights from our week:

*Spent MLK Day at the Zoo with the Dibbles. Kids wanted to go home and play video games, but we *tortured* the kids by keeping them outside in the beautiful weather while playing with their friends and eating fresh kettle corn.
*Sewing projects for me. Getting a gift ready for Nancy's (sister in law) baby shower.
*Baby shower prep: shopping, cleaning, cooking, decorating, etc.
*Dad, Max, Gramps and Uncle Dan went shooting in the desert during the baby shower.
* Dad and Max went to a US v. Venezula soccer match.
* I went to a new monthly Pinterest group started by my friend Hillary.

So far this year, I've been able to print out the photos on Saturday afternoon for that week and let them dry overnight. I clean out my purse and set out any receipts of other things I've collected during the week. On Sunday afternoon, I put it altogether in the album.

Next weekend I will be at CHA in Anaheim, so I'm hoping to be able to work a little more on this during the week. I really don't want to get behind because then it won't be very fun to play catch up. I like putting this together while everything is still fresh in my mind from the week.

Week 3 Project Life Supplies: Design A  & F Page Protectors, Fabric purchased at Hobby Lobby, Banner and Enjoy Tag from Scrapbook Circle Printables, Journaling Card from the Project Life Clementine Core Ki, Brown Precision Pen and Slick Writer from American Crafts. Photos printed with a Canon iP6700d on Canon Pro Plantinum Photo Paper.

Wondering about Project Life? You can read more here.

Baby Shower Brunch

Today we got to celebrate the upcoming birth of my niece at a baby shower.  My sister-in-law, Nancy, is really such a radiant pregnant mom. Just look at her.

The baby's name is going to be Rose, so of course, she needed a name tag too.

We hosted the shower at my house with the help of my mother-in-law and two of Nancy's friends. For the decorations, I hung some Martha Stewart pom poms in the kitchen. They are a nice way to add a festive touch without going overboard.

I also filled a glass vase with branches painted white and glittered. I then clipped baby and childhood pictures of the parents of the baby to the branches. This was a pretty big element and I like that it filled a lot of space.

Since this was a brunch, we served both breakfast items and dessert. Who does't want dessert with their breakfast?

Here's a look at what was on the menu.

Quiche Lorraine and Florentine. These were purchased at Costco and we heated them in the oven right before the shower.

Strawberries and Angel Food Cake Skewers. We offered chocolate glaze and whipped cream as optional toppings.

(Notice the roses on the tablecloth? I was very happy that my mom had this pink + white table cloth plus roses on it. Perfect for baby Rose!)

Sausage. We used the precooked sausage and just heated right before the shower.

Carrot Cake Mini Cupcakes. I made these earlier in the week and froze them. About an hour before the shower, I pulled them out and frosted them with cream cheese frosting I made the night before. Since these were mini cupcakes, they thawed out really quickly.

Bacon Wrapped Potatoes. I think this was my favorite item on the menu. I used fingerling potatoes and wrapped 1/2 a piece of bacon around each potato. These baked in a 400 degree oven for around 50 minutes until the potatoes were soft and the bacon was crispy. Once they were finished, I popped a toothpick in each potato so they were easy to serve and eat. A nice savory item to contrast the sweets.

Vanilla Yogurt with Berries and Granola.  I have had these cute little trifle dishes that I picked up at a great sale a few years ago, but I've never used them. Today they were perfect for the yogurt.

Eclairs. Chocolate, cream and pastry. Yes, please! I bought these at Fresh & Easy and they were really delicious. I'm sure these will be on the menu for a future party.

It was a wonderful party spent with family and friends!