CHA-Part 3 (cont'd)

For some strange reason, the blog will not let me post any more pictures?! So I want to make sure I have these pictures posted because I want to make a point! LOL!!















A BIG THANK YOU to Miss WendyM...our hostess with the mostess (is that a word?)!!! Smooches to you, sweetie, for a WONDERFUL bash and to the "bag" ladies & the rest of the PUBsters for helping out behind the scenes!!














This is my girlfirend, Fiona, who had the BEST time and won a door prize @ the BASH! Thanks to the ladies who were gracious in making Fiona feel welcomed to her first 2Peas event!















"Kim in IA" has been so nice via emails and from my friend, Beth, was telling about her! I was THRILLED to meet her in person! What a doll! Spellbinders were kind enough to donate one of their GREAT machines (the Wizard) for the door prize pool! LOVE this machine (thank you, Beth, for bringing me to the PURPLE SIDE!!!)!

OK....next post will be on CHA!

CHA - Part 3

2Peas event....this is what I have been looking forward to the most! Last year @ CHA-Summer (in Chicago), I attended this event (they have a gathering at most SB-related event) and I had no idea of what it was all about or who anyone was! LOL! Ever since that event, I have been a part of "The Pub" and loved all the ideas, help and just all around FUN they were having!

SO this year was extra special to meet some FAB talent in the great group! WendyM was crazy enough to host and MAN! she did a FINE job! Had the best time! It was wonderful just to set up with her, ChristineT, Kelly, StephanieH, Torm, Kathleen Summers, AllisonMud, Steph, JanetO and I know I have forgotten names (please FORGIVE me!!). Proof is in the pudding...here are the pics of us prepping so those ladies I didn't know names, here you are!!














This is only part of the 200 bags....some are on tables and the other side of the doors! YIKES, Wendy, how did you fit these in the van?! Uh, maybe I shouldn't know! LOL!!














Miss Kelly working away on the sponsor poster!














Kathleen Summers & StephanieH putting last minute donations into all 200 bags!














OK....who had the As or was it the Ls? Some of the ladies assembling the name tags alpha order
Steph looking at me (beautiful eyes!!), Tania? in the jean jacket, Miss JanetO in the pretty pink top and I'm not sure who is standing next to her but she's REAL nice too!

Let the party begin...well, it did but I couldn't get there until an hour later!!!! UGH! The hotel restaurant was taking forever to give us individual checks (as I requested before the waiter took the order!).














Veronica Hugger (NSA) talking with one of NSAers from the Chicago area (ReneeN). Veronica will be interviewed by WGN Radio about digiSB. How cool is that! The radio host (sorry forgot his name) is the author of the book she is holding.

Had people calling me asking if I was ever going to show up! LOL!! Well, I did! Here's some pics of friends who I have been dieing to meet face-to-face!!!!














A lady that I had long admired for a long....Leah Fung! Finally after many emails back'n forth, we meet! She is such a LOVELY person! Congrats on the BHG sponsorship!!














This is my good friend, Allison "Mud" - just LOVE her! We'll get together SOON!!














My CKU-A friend, Becca!!!! Great gal...SOoooo sweet! Too bad we don't live close to each other but thank goodness for email! LOL!!














My sorority sister, BethPing, with her eyes closed (sorry, Beth! It's the only pic with Kim in it!). The pretty lady on the left is Kar and the other pretty lady on the right is Kim In IA. I'm surrounded by talented people!!!! They are part of the Spellbinder Wizard DT and such generous people....I am lucky to know them!!!

What a night....thought I would stay for an hour but we closed the place down! LOL!!!

CHA - Part 2

First of all, I have to THANK my two manufacturers for letting me include my layouts in their wonderful booths - TwelveBy12 and LaserLine!! Both companies were very generous and such warm people to work with!

TwelveBy12 booth...




















The layout that I did was "Afternoon" (top middle page) - just LOVE Jennifer O'Meara's work! It was so nice meeting you in person, Bill (Jennifer's DH)! Congrats on the HUGE article in Scrapbooking & Beyond August issue! VERY COOL!


LaserLine booth...
























Finally had a chance to use FLOWERS on my boys' page! LOL!! I used LaserLine's Plain Jane laser cut chipboard diecuts (now that's a mouthful!)! I painted and then "Stickled" (Ranger's) them with fun colors! So much better to use than other glitter type products (IMHO!)...I'm buying MORE! LOL!!

Lisa Ragan, GREAT to meet you!!!! Thanks so much for sending the Janes! I'm working on my altered CD so I haven't forgotten! Just trying to get the August classes and class samples out of the way (I'm so lucky! I have 6 scheduled for the month - YIKES!!!). Should be able to finish by the end of the weekend. So thanks for being patient!




















These nice folks are from LaserLine (http://laserlinecuts.com)! Lisa is standing on the right - hi, Lisa!! Hope they do well with the new product, Plain Jane....just love them!

CHA (Craft & Hobby Assoc./trade show) - Part I

Well, my blog FINALLY decided it was going to cooperate! YEAH! Since I spent the entire weekend @ CHA, I thought I'd post in sections - LOL!! For those who are unfamiliar with CHA, it is where craft retailers purchase from the manufacturers products (related to their business). It is so exciting to see what is up & coming and most of the exhibitors are scrapbook-related (estimated as 50%).

So we'll go in order! The starting point was on Thursday night (July 20th) in Rosemont...well, actually Des Plaines where the Chinese buffet restaurant was located and so YUMMY! Thanks, Fiona, for recommending and taking us there! We had a pow-wow for NSA (National Scrapbooking Association) to discuss our marketing approach as well as getting our "uniform" (a white tee or polo shirt with the NSA logo on it). I got the polo shirt and LOVED it! Thanks to Veronica Hugger for giving us the chance to "expand the passion (ETP)" to CHA! Here are some pics from that night....
















This is the group that came to dinner (sorry to have missed those who couldn't join us!!). It's a bad pic but everyone had a GOOD time! Veronica was hysterical!















That's me with Veronica Hugger (president & co-founder) of NSA! Had fun working with ya, girl!




Then our waiter, Theo, asked whose birthday it was - Veronica blurted out "It's Linda's!" Well, imagine the surprise on Linda's face when they brought out the cheesecake w/ fruit plate! LOL!! But I think she enjoyed it! Too funny!!

AH!! Summer is here!!

FINALLY I got into my blog....forgot the password AND my ID! Guess bookmarking a site doesn't help one's mind (esp. this one!).

First of all, I need to say THANK YOU to my CKU-A friend from Japan (Naoko) for the BEAUTIFUL gift she sent!! Unfortunately, things were going CRAZY in this house and I have something I want to send to you!!! I have a witness that can tell you that I was working on it! Right, Miho?! Please back me up!! LOL!!!

We just got back from a glorious 5-day tour covering Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Devils Tower, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Jackson Hole and Salt Lake City...a few stops in between! Here's the catch...it was all in Japanese! We took a JTB (Japan Travel Bureau) tour...my DH finally could enjoy (& understand more) and the boys had a blast....well, mom also had fun as a refresher course in her Japanese skills!

The tour was perfect! The hiking was tough esp. for those who depend on cars to get everywhere...US! LOL!! The rest of the tour were full of Japanese who flew from Japan to join the tour and mostly retirees...they could handle the hiking without any difficulties! Because in Japan, people WALK EVERYWHERE!!! Most of the days, we were up @ 6:30am and on the bus by 7:40am. We hiked a majority of the five days for about a total of 3-4 hours...the last day in Yellowstone was a killer! The longest we hiked was 1.5 hours (about 8 miles) in one trip and we've been walking around before that! OY! Great sites to see, tho!

Our ending was not all that great! On the last leg of the trip, we were heading towards Salt Lake City and the bus pooped out on us so we had to meet another bus to take us to the hotel. Utah Transportation was great...the bus was waiting for us and not the other way around! Then we went to a Japanese restaurant that we were told was open so we looked forward to our first real Japanese food (SUSHI) in five days! Well, it looked closed and as we got closer....we were right! So we headed to BENIHANA and they ran out of SUSHI?! How can that be?! UGH! The excuse was it was Father's Day and there were lack of staff & food? So we settled for TEPPANYAKI upstairs. OK...that was in one day!

We get to Salt Lake City Airport after visiting the Temple Square (Morman visitor's center) and just when we're checking in, there's a bomb threat! Well, we had to go outside and stood out there for an hour or two because they advised us to check our bags curbside (UA charges extra for this service - UGH!). Once we got our bags checked and with boarding passes, they let us in....but the whole airport was now cleared to go back to business! But that was OK. Now that our bags were checked, everyone else had to go back to the counter and finish checking in so the security lines were EMPTY! A very good $6 investment! LOL!

OK...home safe and sound - you would think!! But NO! At O'Hare Airport, we waited for our bags to come out in a short 1 1/2 hours! What was that all about?! After an hour, DH asked what was going on to an UA employee and they said the standard "wait 10 mins" but he also added "or leave!" HUH?! Made DH furious! Now I can write we made it home safe & sound! LOL!!!





Isn't this BEAUTIFUL?! Looks like someone painted the background but that's in Yellowstone National Park at a place called Lower Falls (you would think they would have picked a better name for this place!!). Notice the yellow minerals or stone that gave the park its name. Just beautiful....so happy to had the chance to go!







One of my favorite picture of "Davey Crocket"...isn't he a cutie?! My little guy had the best time, hanging out with the elders in the tour! LOL!!






Here's my other big boy! Can't believe he'll be starting middle school in a couple of months! Love this picture too!

My parents!

I have to say that I have a pair of great parents! They are patient even after all these years! LOL! My dad offered to take the whole family out on a trip but really the timing was bad for us. We just got done with spring break, DH was in the middle of a series of business trips around the Midwest and Saturday Japanese school year just started. But my dad wanted to give the boys some great memories of their grandparents...isn't that sweet?! I love them for it but they're no spring chicks either! He's 80 years old and it's getting harder for him to walk well. Mom is in her late 60s and is legally blind but after being in LA, her eye sight has gotten worse. They met with the eye specialist here at the Wheaton Eye Clinic and the back of her eye had bleed a little (it's stopped now). But I'm glad we stayed at home...it gives them a chance to relax in our wooded backyard. Instead they were kind enough to present the boys with new bikes...they were extremely excited about it! LOL!!













Oh! Did I tell you they gave me something?! Well, I am now a proud owner of a DSLR!!! A NIKON D50 w/ 55mm lens but I'm planning on getting the 200mm lens SOON! Heehee! The 5x7 pic above was taken with my SONY digi but the bottom small pics were "tests" from my new baby! Figures that the weather in Chicago had been stinky! But it's starting to get sunny and warm here so time to whip out that NIKON!

Oh! This layout above...it won a sketch challenge on www.scrappindeals.com 's MB - May Sketch#3 challenge! Boy, was I EXCITED!!!! Next week, it will be on their newsletter (5,000 subscribers - WOW!). You have to check out their prices...pretty good, if you ask me! Also if you're local (Chicago area), you can pick up your stuff and save on shipping$$$!!! Cool, huh!




















This layout is a small tribute to them! This pic was taken by the limo driver who took my parents to O'Hare airport...love this pic! Looks like my mom and I were thinking SPRING with all that green! LOL!!!! Papers are from 3 Bugs In A Rug, CS is Bazzill and flowers are Primas! <---aren't they cute?! Also lovin' the Heidi Swapp chipboard pink letters! I did a little doodling which is the craze in SB-land! Used some chalking around the edges!

OK...it's late - 1:20AM! YIKES! Gotta sleep....night!

Happy Scrapbook Day!!!

...and I am SO behind on my blogging! Sorry!!

Today was finally the day! A couple of weeks ago, I and a bunch of other designers were asked to make samples for a friend (thank you, JenLo!!) who was representing a new scrapbook paper manufacturer - Twelve By 12 on HSN (Home Shopping Network)! After deciding which pictures to use, signing HSN's photo release, getting the kit, creating some things with these wonderful papers, taking pictures, writing up instructions and sending them out...all within a week and a half! PHEW! I made about 8 pieces and I have a couple "in progress" at home...just in case! LOL!

Just finish watching HSN's National Scrapbook Day hour with Suzanne Runyon and towards the middle of the show, there was Jen! Didn't have any idea of what pieces of mine would be showcased but there was that clock and a tulip layout (but the entire 5x7 pic was totally glared from the stage lights! LMBO!!!)! So excited! Here's what was shown on TV:
















Some of my other items are located in Twelve By 12'shttp://www.twelveby12.com/gallery.html?skipno=12&gallery=Get%20Creative%20-%20Be%20Inspired home page!

Also went to the Scrapbook Expo @ the Odeum in Villa Park yesterday! Spend two hours and came out with a lighter wallet! LOL! Best purchase...Scrapbook Girl's PJs!!! Great meeting fellow TLCers - BevS and RachelS!!!

Parents are in town from Japan and they are staying with us for about two weeks...it's good to see them!! My brother is also here but only staying overnight and moving on to NYC...then eventually back to Tokyo. But we'll see them next month as they will stay with us for about two months! Should be LOADs of fun esp. for the cousins!

Hope you all are having a wonderful "National Scrapbooking Day!!"

CKU-A Chicago Alumna!

Well, I made it and let say that I didn't regret being away from my family one bit! Maybe a little! If you haven't been to one of the CKUs, you must give it a try...hint: the album one is VERY intense but sooooo good!






My album track/class was way KEWL! Although I didn't finish completely (like Ali Edwards would say...) - "It's OK!" LOL! The pages are put into place but the pictures and the journaling...other final touches are not done yet. There is no pressure to finish the homework...only the ones who wanted to go home with a complete album put the pressure on themselves. But who can blame them? Who has time to do it at home...we have a life, ya know?!

Wednesday, I met my friend/my roomie from Japan at the hotel room. Unpacked a little then headed off to Memories & Beyond on their great shuttle service from the hotel. We got there...we shopped, of course, and then ate a light dinner at the Chinese buffet before getting on the shuttle. Later we went to the informal crop because I had to pick up our name badge holder which were great to have btw! My roomie and I sat at the back to the room so that I could get some work done...yeah, right! Either I would go floating around to talk to someone or someone would hunt me down to say hi! We were there for 2-3 hours and I got absolutely NOTHING done! UGH!! My friend on the other hand had stuff completed!

Thursday, our other Japanese friend/roomie drove in from Aurora in the morning. Helped her with stuff from the car, unpacked a little and then headed downstairs to register. There was a line! They said it would move fast but I don't think it moved that fast...some SBers missed their AM mini class! Got lots of stuff so we decided to go up to our room and dump it but also ended up eating lunch before going back down again!


When we got there in the ballroom, within a minute of entering I hear my name...thinking it was one of my new friends, NO! It was one of my college friends that I haven't seen in 15 years! We spoke very briefly but she lives like 10 mins away from me! Must get together with her! Too funny! Well, we're in the ballroom and they had asked for a 15 min. lunch break for the M&T folks! Got to chat with Michelle (FM Girl) from the eboard and then went back into the ballroom. Lost my Japanese friends but when I found them, they seemed to be doing OK so off I went on my own!

Thursday night was crazy! Never saw so many people go nuts...LOL! Dressing up in costumes, doing songs/cheers and just well, crazy! It was fun! One of my roomies won a prize - JUNKITZ! That was cool! Swaps were being done like circle journals, rainbow swaps, receipe swaps..some others that I can't remember because I wasn't in them. I think we stayed up until 2:30am that night talking in our room.






Friday was track time at 8AM. It was exciting to finally come to the day that you'll start on your album! The only regret I did have in the class was I didn't wander to say hello to ALL my fellow trackers...there was only 53 of us! It was a great number and felt that all 3 of our FAB instructors had time for each student. It was truly a great honor to be in their first album track at CKU! Best of all, Tim Holtz hung out with us during the class time and he was helping students as well. He also gave us some inking tips which is always appreciated! I hope to finish my album soon!

My mini classes on Friday were all great! SueS and I were sitting in the back corner of the classroom, giggling so loudly that Sarah, our instructor from Michael Miller, was worried about us! Heehee! I think that fabric glue was making us HIGH! Always have a great time with SueS!!

Another fun one was Rusty Pickle's Lance Anderson (the co-owner), he kept coming back to our table...it helps to have chocolate with you! LOL! He was back here so many times, I made him punch holes for me. Couldn't punch holes if my life depended on it! GRRrrrrr!









Saturday was sad because our track was going to be over! Hated to leave our classroom...hated to say good-bye to our FAB3 ladies!










Highlights of the mini class was Canson's Encylopedia of Alterations and Tim Holtz's inking class. WOW...talk about speed album making w/ TONs of techniques! Canson is the class! Made a 12 page spiral album full of tearing, inking, pockets, distressing, stickers, tags...PHEW! Tim's class...OK, I admit it I never used his inks before! HA! I was fastenated with his way of ART since I saw him demo at CHA last summer. Bought the stuff but never played. That class was the first time I finally did something! LOL! He remembered my camera from CHA because it's so unusual...I don't think it's on the market anymore. Don't like it anyway...maybe I can talk my way into a DSLR? Hmmm... Anyway, he named my camera, the MacGyver (sp?). I told him I might ink it to add character :0)








Graduation ceremony...we sat with Sun-K people. They were there observing CKU-A as they will be involved in CKU-J in October. I know they invited Ali Edwards to come but not sure who else will be coming from the States. The format will be different...I don't think they'll have an evening event as most of their student will commute to the event. It should be interesting on how things will pan out. All the graduation caps were waiting on the table tops in the ballroom...some were red and some were black. Our table all had black. Each track was announced and all those who participated in that particular track would stand up. They would let out a cheer and move their tassles from left to right. After all the tracks were officially called, most of the students threw their caps in the air...I kept mine on! Want to keep it! Besides don't want to poke someone out! LOL!

Afterwards, we got our stuff from the room and went to the ballroom to crop some of our album. Oh, we had some cocktails while we cropped - VERY cool! Cropping in style with my "Elements of Style" album - can't get any better! Thanks to Susanne for taking this picture of me!















Sunday was miserable...it poured, lack of sleep and checkout time! I woke up a little earlier than my roomies so that I could pack up my stuff in the car = more time to help the others. Daylight savings kicked in on Saturday/Sunday so we lost an hour...basically we didn't get to bed until 4AM! AND I lost my voice! UGH! Let me tell you, it was good to be home! But it was worth it...I am now an official alumna of CKU!

CKU-A or BUST!!!

OK! I am in total panic! There's a huge pile of STUFF in the corner of my dinning room...homework spread out on the desk in the living room...pictures all over the place BUT I vaccumed and cleaned the house - where's the priority?! I'm off to CKU-A tomorrow - UGH!!!!! OK, I have until tomorrow afternoon to get my act together.

So, thought I'd post here and maybe I'd feel better? LOL! I feel better! So much that I'll post some pictures on what I've been working on such as:


This is for our album track ("Elements of Style") "All About ME" layout swap.








I'm hoping to make more of these for the tag swap (a lot of folks have made 100)...really liked how it turned out but the work on these things! I have to remember to save one for me! LOL!









This page was for a CKU themed page swap and everyone got theirs back BEFORE we headed to CKU. Then Charity (our host) did something special...she made a CD of ALL the pages and sent one to every participant! WOW!! What a sweetie!!!


OK...now I really need to get stuff done. I already have a quarter of it in the car so I'm doing good for now! LOL! Wish me luck! Hope to post some more when I recover! :0)

A Lovely Time!

Well, I made it through the weekend! LOL!! The boys are finished with their Saturday Japanese school (end of the year on Saturday - YEAH!) and I survived the tea gathering at my house.

I was hoping for 8 to 10 ladies but we ended up with six wonderful Delta Zetas (just like our Founders!) and everything was DELICIOUS!!! A big thank you to our alumnae chapter president, MargeT, who was kind enough to act as co-hostess and make most of these wonderful treats!!! I had fun taking some pictures before the guests arrived and one of Marge explaining what we had on the "menu" (homemade scones, herb triangles, little rose cakes, pinwheel sandwiches among our treats!). What do you think?

Aren't these baskets cute?! Filled with Easter/Spring chocolates for each guest!




Finally, an excuse to use my Wedgewood!!


A beautiful gift from MargeT! Isn't she sweet?!




Marge's "Food Talk"



I had a wonderful time and I hope the other ladies did too! So sorry that the others had to miss all the fun and yummy treats...you all truly missed out! Once I get the recipes from Marge, I will post them here!

On Sunday evening, we had a great time with our friends, the Takizawas, who were kind enough to make a crab dinner - can I say FABULOUS!!!!!!!! Even little Hiro loved it...so much of it! Hosho never says enough when it comes to crab but this time, he had more than his fill! LOL!! They took the time to go to Chinatown and hand picked live crabs. Then when we arrived, the crab were steamed and fresh off the pot, we ate! Some pics:










The crabs BEFORE and the crabs AFTER and well, let's say we enjoyed! Sorry about the last picture....I think I had a Foster's beer before taking this picture...a little blurry - LOL!! It was such a fun time! The boys enjoyed their boys' company (both sides are the same age and the oldest two will be in the same Japanese 6th grade class next year so that will be COOL!). Their big sister was smart to go over to a friend's house...who wants to hang out with little boys esp. four of them!!! LOL!!

PHEW! What a hectic, busy BUT FUN weekend!

It's March?!

LOL!! OK, I need to update my blog! OY! Where did the time go? Today is Friday and usually I'm up to my eyeballs in correcting Japanese homework! BUT tomorrow is the last day of school for the year....YEAH!! Also, it's about 50 degrees and sunny...the boys just got home to drop book bags off....now they've escaped! LOL!! I finished most of the corrections AND am looking forward to not waking up 5:30am....I get to sleep in for an hour! My friend, Fiona, stopped by and the look on her face of me sleeping in until 6:30am did not sit well with her :0)))

OH! I have to post this....Fiona, whom I met through the boys' elementary school last year (a fellow mom & a SBer), is just the funniest person I've ever met! She is so sweet! Well, I'm just so excited when I got this terrific homemade gift from her! She made a paper bag album just for ME! No one ever made me something special like this! I am just THRILLED!!!!!!!! Thank you, Fiona! Sorry if I didn't show too much emotion...I was just STUNNED!!!!!! Here's some pics:
















Isnt' that SWEET of her to do this for ME!!! Love it!! THANK YOU!!!

Tomorrow is another day and I am hosting an afternoon tea party for my sorority sisters (Delta Zeta Sorority)! It will be a first for us as we meet to do other things so this should be fun (and yummy!!)! I'm expecting a half a dozen guests...hope to be surprised by some who haven't RSVPed to show up! Hope to post some pictures of that event!

Beginning of March just flew with all the swaps, circle journals and track homework for CKU-A (among other things) - it's just scary! I still have to email Naoko-san (Hello! I will email SOON!). I also tried out for a couple of contest & DT calls but didn't pan out. Here's one I did for "Good To The Last..." DT:


It's from last Halloween...not your typical halloween colors but it came out GREAT! The boys loved it! But alas, the DT coordinator didn't...that's OK! Just keep chipping away!


OK...off to clean some more and then time for dinner! Have a great night...wish I was with Fiona and the rest of the gang cropping the weekend away! Maybe next time!