Coming up for air.......

I try to make this about things other than the store. It's hard when that is all I am consumed with all the time! I think I have caught up on my sleep. Chicago was soooo fun and overwhelming! It was so much better this time. I wasn't as anxious and I knew people. That was fun. It's kind of a soap opera. So many designers and what companies they design for and then the reps with each company change.......lots of drama!! This is pic I pulled from Amy Tan's blog. She took it at the Making Memories booth, while we were congratulating Kayla Aimee for winning a new scrap room from them! Wow, it was too cool to be there for that and someone we knew won! yay for her!
How cute is Amy? You need to check her blog. She is a FAB scrapbooker........and you will all get to meet her........soon.......what am I talking about? Oh.....Sorry, you will have to wait and see. :) (Hopefully, not too long!)

I must tell you about the two that were my bookends over the weekend. Gretchen and Brittney. Now, most of you scrapbookers know these two! Right? I do not know how I would have gotten anything done without them! We stuck together for the most part, but there were times when we separated and one would wander or go and turn in an order. We had so much fun and laughed and laughed and laughed........i got a great ab workout!hehe

After going to a place like CHA, Craft and Hobby Association, you need rehab. There are so many scrapbooking supplies and craft supplies.......it's over kill. We saw so many lines that had fabulous stuff and then there would be some that look just like everyone else! I guess it's hard to come up with something new in a 12x12 inch square!.....a piece of patterned paper, for those of you out of the loop.

One of the first things you have to do is RUN to the Basic Grey booth and get your armband. I am talking, pushing and shoving! The smaller your number the earlier you get your shipment. So, we want to be the first to have it, therefore, we pushed and shoved! ha....we really didn't but we ran......fast. Gretchen and Brittney had on tennis shoes and they run in marathons. I guess we had an advantage! (that's really the only reason I brought them!) just kidding girls.....

Our next stop was Heidi Swapp. She is always one of the best booths. She has 3 new lines. One is very elegant, Dream Dining Room, there is a fun girly holiday line, Winterfresh, and a grungy boy line, Street Smarts. They are all very cute! I love the more elegant one. I want to wallpaper my dining room with the papers........i'm serious!

After that, I can't tell you step by step where we went. We saw sooo much and had so much fun. We did order the Slice.......we weren't going to.....and then we got the sales pitch from the CEO. I mean, when you have a CEO that wants to show you how it works and give you all the details about it.......how can you resist? Then he says he will send us one......for FREE!!! We don't even have to order until we get it and try it out. We can take preorders, blah, blah..........the tiny catch was, if we don't go ahead and place an order........we might not get the first run.......hmmmmmm.......lots of thinking here. Why don't we place an order and we can cancel it if we don't love it once we get it? Ok, we're in!! ha, good sales pitch or suckers? you decide! In all seriousness, it is an AWESOME tool. It is very lightweight and portable. Very cute, too! You can cut each design in 4-6 sizes...depends on the design. So that means your alphabet.......you can cut in all those sizes from this tiny little green thing! I love it!

All the booths were super. We spent a lot of time in Little Yellow Bicycle.......I tried to win one of the adorable yellow bicycles they were giving away......I didn't. oh well! maybe next time. We ordered from a long, long list: AccuCut, Making Memories, Hambly, Jenni Bowlin, Glitz, October Afternoon, Pink Paislee, Heidi Swapp, Tim Holtz, Basic Grey, American Crafts, Scenic Route, My Mind's Eye, Prima, Stickles, Piggy Tales, Creative Imaginations, Creative Cafe, Creative Lifestyle, 7 Gypsies, more Binditalls!, Crate Paper, Doodlebug, Cosmo Cricket, My Little Shoebox...............and so many more!! ahhh, it was so fun!

So, now to figure out how to get it all in and sell it! We have lots and lots of ideas for classes and projects. We have lots of change in store for Scrap ETC. I can't WAIT to share it all!

Oh and I do have a couple of kids......they got to go to Nashville and the Porche race this weekend. So, don't feel sorry for them. They are being entertained to the max! Emma is at Performing Arts Camp this week and John Connor is doing tennis camp. We are planning our last beach trip for next week. My mom is coming. She hasn't been to the beach with us in foreVeR!!! She will probably take the kids early in the week and I will join them at the end. School starts the next! AAGGGHHHHH.......

I am in Chicago!

Flew up this morning. What an early morning! I am about to fall asleep here at the computer. Brittney and Gretchen are gone....not snoring yet, soon I'm sure! We are having a blast. It is really fun to see all the new stuff coming out. It is so hard to resist! How cute are these? Don't you want to be a scrapbooker, too? I just love the polka dots!
I wanted to post this picture of my kids and their Great-Grandfather, Papa. We went to dinner at his and Momba's house on Tuesday and it was so fun. We don't get to visit with them often enough. The kids did spend the night there last Thursday and going back this week was lots of fun. Papa has this awesome train table with a train set up all the time. It is really fabulous. I will have to find a picture of it. He has this gator that he drives around the house and the kids LOVE to ride it with him. I got this cute picture of all of them. We were trying to get everyone to smile and look at the camera. Not so easy, especially with the 2 year old. This one turned out pretty cute. We had so much fun visiting with the family. Aunt Inez was there. She was telling us stories about when she was a buyer for Black's dept. store back in the 1940's. How cool is that? I think she is really a neat person. Very glamorous......for a 93 year old!

Ooooh, I've been tagged!

for the first time ever! My sis in law, Misty, tagged me and asked me to tell 6 random facts about me.........hmmmmmm this could be hard. Does that mean 6 random things not many people know? or 6 random things....

commercial break.......I am watching tv, right? a direct tv commercial just came on. I'm not reallly listening....I hear, "I'm not here to terminate John Connor." What? did they just say John Connor on tv?

that could be a random fact. I had no idea that the terminator's name was John Connor when I named my little boy......now, I do. One more thing. I thought it was the most original name and I just found out a couple of weeks ago that a friend of a friend named her little boy John Connor and calls him, JC. how about that?

I love M&M's and could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner and nothing else. I just started buying peanut instead of plain. I really only bought plain my whole life. why the sudden change? I have no idea.

I love to sing at the top of my lungs while driving down the road. I think it's funny when someone catches me. btw.....can't carry a tune in a bucket! I learn all the words to the songs. There really isn't one type of music I like better than another.

I love the water. not drinking it. being in it, floating on it, riding on it, looking at it!

I'm a shopaholic.

I always wanted to own my own store...............

I love NYC......oh, that's 7. I probably could go on and on and on and on........

So.....I need to tag someone...Ashlee? (do this before Marisa leaves!) and Brittney (she owes us an update).

to market.....to market......

Ooooh, I got to go to Gift Market in Atlanta this week. I love that place! I can't believe how many people have booths there. I was only there on Friday. We only saw 1/4 of it. There were a lot of really cute things. We found a new reindeer ornament that is made of clay and painted and fired. I don't have a pic nor do I remember the name of the company. Good info, huh? You can find them at The Spotted Zebra in November. You know, that really cool store in Trussville? If not, you should go there. They have the cUtest stuff. It's my sisters' store and they have great taste!

One of my favorite booths to go to is O'Brien and Schridde Designs. They have handmade picture frames. They are all made of wood and painted and distressed. They just came out with a new line of frames that are art board covered in wallpaper. Gorgeous!!!We also bought some of these for the store.....Cute, cute bags. Lots of bright colors and shiny!!
Well, we didn't buy this exact one......I didn't have the password to get into the catalog....you get the idea.....aren't they are gorgeous?


Ok, how cute are these PJ's? Some of the stores in the Apparel Mart have sample sales........translation......great prices! I got 2 pair of these pjs for $37.00 and they retail for like $80 each! Rock on....They are PJ Salvage. They don't carry them at The Spotted Zebra, but you can find them here. I'm telling you they are so soft and comfy. You will never want to take them off.
This little bag is called the Pocket-Rocket.....OMG.......what a cute name!!! It is a big bag with all these pockets around the outside! LOVE THAT! The store has them, but they came out with new styles for the fall. There is one that looks like a basket weave. It is SO cute......so cute.
Hinge Towels..............I can't even tell you how cUte these are.......They have bath towels, hand towels, shower curtains, and bath mats. The font is so cute and all the fabrics are great!!! The store has some of these in stock, now. Oh, and they have beach towels! Love it!
One of our fave stops is Round Top Collection. We wrote the order for this in January. We had to stand in line to place the order for 2 hours! Ah, it's so worth it. I love this stuff. I have so much of it.....mostly Christmas. There will be a ton of it in the store very, very soon!ok, so if you haven't been to The Spotted Zebra......go NOW! Well, unless it's Sunday. They aren't open on Sundays. They have a ton of cute stuff there. A little birdy told me they are planning on having a BIG sale very, very soon. I will post when I find out! I guess next week you will see all of the scrapbook goodness I find! Whoa.....busy, busy times!

More fun at the beach

The kids came down to the beach with PawPaw on Saturday night. I was so glad to see them. I feel like I haven't gotten to spend any time with them this Summer. They just got back from MiMi's house and then we left! We have been playing and hanging out the last couple of days and it has been so fun. I love to see how well they get along. Our cable is out and we haven't had a tv. I never would have believed that we would make it without it. John Connor is seriously addicted to SpongeBob Squarepants. I can't believe he isn't having withdrawals. They haven't complained once about not having a tv. Part of it is that we haven't been in the house very much! Sunday we went out to the beach and it clouded up and was very windy. Everyone went in......but us! We had the beach and pool almost all to ourselves!





I was wrapped up in a towel and the kids were in the pool. "Mom, it's not cold!" Is all I heard. Crazy..........I got in and got right back out! It was cold! I had to work late last night and this morning. Internet and a laptop are my friends! After I got everything done we went to the pool and then to the beach. Ashlee and her kids came out to join us. That's one of my favorite things about this place. I can hang out with one of my best friends. We have been hanging out with PawPaw at night. He takes us to dinner and then to Baytowne. They moved the bungee trampolines over there and the kids have been doing back flips! Emma did a double last night. Look how high she is......ah, it took MY breath away!They just put in a zipline. It looks scary! Emma can't wait......she's a little daredevil. Tomorrow is our last day. I guess we'll go home late in the afternoon. Not looking forward to that!

Happy 4th of JULY!

John Connor and Emma want to wish you all a Happy 4th of July!