Kathy and I drove to the Bellevue scrapbook convention on Friday. We left at 6 am and got back at almost 10 pm last night. We were slightly exhausted from the day's events. (And to think she had to be up at 4 am this morning--ugh!)
The new issue when we arrived at the event center was parking. No one told us how insane the parking situation was going to be. As usual, the scrapbook convention was a little crazy, with all those wild scrapbooking women. Some of them are a little too zealous, since Kathy and I were rudely shoved while standing in line or simply looking in vendor booths. One woman nearly pushed me into a display of products--then she didn't even say "Sorry" or "Excuse me." Kathy bumped into someone on purpose after being hit by this woman continuously. Who said scrapbookers were nice people?!?
But, it was a successful trip, as we visited the TT booth (which was packed most of the time and had a lengthy line) to see what we'll be in for during 2008. From talking to one of the women, Sylvia, it turned out that the line had been long for most of the morning. And that was just the first day of the convention. No telling how today will go! But, I think it's great that the booth got so much traffic and sales.
I found a few new things I hadn't spotted in stores, along with some really great deals. It worries me that some of the booths are blowing things out at 30% off, especially when some of the stuff just came out this fall. Is the scrapbooking industry really going downhill? Anyway, we also visited one store in Lynnwood, which was great! We spent quite a bit of time there, since there was a project that we found and wanted to duplicate. Kathy and I were die-cutting all the pieces so we can mimic the book on our own. Who needs to sign up for a class???
Oh, speaking of class, we did manage to get into one class that had a peek-a-boo family album. While the project itself was cute and original, the instructor (who also happened to be the owner and designer) wasn't that great. Kathy and I were a little frustrated, even though we had color instructions. I didn't get more than about 3 pages half done, and I'm not all that happy with those three pages since the template and knife tool we used in class were not the best design. I know I will not be purchasing a craft knife from Fiskars! Also, the album is probably better if painted rather than covered with heavyweight (although very fun) paper. So, while in Lynnwood, I purchased another blank book that I will try to cover with paint or lightweight paper, rather than the heavy stuff. So many projects, so little time...sigh!
We also stopped at Fatburger for dinner before we drove home. Neither of us had ever tried it before, although we had heard rave reviews. It was a great stop--I recommend the onion rings!
Oh, funny thing for the day: during our breakfast stop at McDonald's, Kathy purchased a bunch of bee toys (from the Bee Movie with Jerry Seinfeld that was released on Friday). Unfortunately, both of us forgot that they were in a McDonald's bag that was in the back seat, and at Lynnwood, while I was tossing the trash, I also tossed the bag, thinking it was trash. Kathy didn't remember the toys until we were about halfway through the trip home. So, the three bee toys are somewhere in a trash bin. I feel terrible, and we replaced one of them yesterday when we made a stop for gas and drinks. However, I'll have to find the other two I tossed!
Great day (helped by the fact that I got a couple of phone calls from one of my favorite people and none from work!), but definitely a tiring one. Looking forward to completing some projects this weekend, especially those for my class next week.
Hope you have a good one!
Mama and her twin skunks (aka Laura, Ethan and Jackson)...
And a pirate with her very own skunk (also known as Kathy and Charlie)...
Looks like the little stinkers were a big hit this year. The costumes were darn cute! In fact, here's a close-up of the backside of the costume:
The new issue when we arrived at the event center was parking. No one told us how insane the parking situation was going to be. As usual, the scrapbook convention was a little crazy, with all those wild scrapbooking women. Some of them are a little too zealous, since Kathy and I were rudely shoved while standing in line or simply looking in vendor booths. One woman nearly pushed me into a display of products--then she didn't even say "Sorry" or "Excuse me." Kathy bumped into someone on purpose after being hit by this woman continuously. Who said scrapbookers were nice people?!?
But, it was a successful trip, as we visited the TT booth (which was packed most of the time and had a lengthy line) to see what we'll be in for during 2008. From talking to one of the women, Sylvia, it turned out that the line had been long for most of the morning. And that was just the first day of the convention. No telling how today will go! But, I think it's great that the booth got so much traffic and sales.
We watched the Baby Sign Language video from Baby Einstein at least 3 times. I learned a few signs I didn't know. ;) For the most part, it was a breeze taking care of the munchkin today. Must have worn her out, though, since she took a 3-hour nap starting at noon today. (This info was from her parents.) I gotta say--I'm pretty pooped!