A Kiss on the Chic

Love, Tuesday...

 

I know I talk a LOT about my Scrapbook Retreat that's coming up THIS September...

But I just really have dreamt of doing this kind of event in this EXACT location for a few years now and sharing this "Slice of Heaven" with YOU LADIES!!

The time is sadly coming to an END (very soon) to sign up for this event and I REALLY want you to come!

Italy is such a beautiful place but I have to say Lake Como is really the crown jewel.

Full of COLOR...

 

and ARCHITECTURE...

BEAUTIFUL coffee...

AND...

a RELAXING atmosphere!

 

So, it really is my desire to share this with you and I hope you can join us in September!

Click Here to find out all the details and sign up!

 

Hugs,

 

Laura

 

Love, Tuesday...

 

Long weekend is over and the kids went back to school.... ****WAIT****

No they didn't!  Victoria has the whole week off and Rebecca is sick AGAIN.  ugh.  Rebecca woke up in the middle of the night with stomach pains, nausea and dizziness.  That poor child just can't get a break.  I really think it's the antibiotics in her because her body is just not fighting off things it should be able to.  Please pray for her to have healing and for us to find out why she gets sick so much.

Trying to figure out how to stay healthy is a BILLION dollar industry these days.  It's so hard to figure out what to do!  One of the things I'm trying to change, to possibly combat our health issues,  is our eating habits.  I wouldn't say we eat BAD, but I do think we are the typical American family who eats burgers, pizza, pasta and ice cream on a regular basis.  Now I've tried to make healthier choices WITHIN those meals, like buying organic pasta, cheese, meat and etc...  BUT, that's not really getting us that much healthier if we are still eating these types of foods.  

SO, with Victoria as our guide (because she's been at it since after Thanksgiving) we have been gently moving towards a healthier diet of "GOD" food.  I can't say that we stuck with it like her (she's lost 15 pounds!) but yesterday I made another HUGE change in our meal plans after reading this article I found on a friends FB page:

 

Three Hidden Ways Wheat Makes us Fat

 

Now I THOUGHT eating Whole Wheat was good for us?? (Let me just say,  I'm not preaching to anyone here, just look at the article and think for yourself)  I think there are a LOT of ways to make healthier choices, but I have found that getting back to the BASICS with our food is best.  Unfortantely, some "GOD" foods have been altered/genetically modified and are not what He intended them to be.  So, with our family, we are going to try and eat as healthy as possible without wheat and processed foods and hopefully it will help our health and get Rebecca's immune system stronger.  (I've thought she might have a Gluten problem for some time now)

I'll let you know how things go, but our goal is to eat as close to how GOD intended our food to be.  It's going to be DIFFICULT, but the whole family is on board and that's the hardest hurdle to jump over so I'm happy about that!  :)

So tonight we had "Taco Wraps" for dinner!!  So that is what I'm LOVIN' tonight!

Just like "Asian Lettuce Wraps" from PF Changs, turn your TACOS into lettuce wraps and you don't have the wheat/gluten from the tortilla!!!  And they tasted GREAT!!  Why didn't I think about this before I saw it on Pinterest??  Gotta love "The Pin"...

Speaking of Pinterest, I forgot to put my "Pinterest Thursday" post up last week.  I'm so lame some times.  I don't know about you, but I have SO MANY things I WANT to do, but just can't accomplish it all, or just plain forget about things because there is just TOO MUCH ON THE BRAIN!   But if you've followed my blog long enough, you probably are already aware of this flaw!  :)-

Before I leave you though, I want to share an album I had published in the Scrap365 Magazine a couple months ago.  Since I'm not on any DT's now, and this is the only real "work" I'm doing, I forget to share about it.  I can't really share what I AM working on with them because it's going to be published and it's Top Secret until it's out in the Mag...  But I can share this album I made this past Fall about our trip last summer to Bellagio, Italy!! 

I absolutely {LOVE} this My Minds Eye line with the yellows and creams and blacks!  I mixed a few thing together from their lines and others, but yellow just makes me HAPPY!!  I took a Clear Scraps 8x8 Album and then added some extra pages because that's just what "I do"... hehehe

And here are the inside pages: (NOTE:  I don't usually journal in my albums until AFTER I take pictures and post it on my blog or the internet.  Unfortunately this one was for a publication and I FORGOT to journal before I sent it to them in the UK!  oops...)

So check out the Magazine for the step-outs to make this album!  It's a GREAT magazine and I'm SO excited to be a part of it!  I have found that I'm tired of a lot of scrapbook magazines lately and this new magazine and really stepped it up a notch!  There are so SUPER talented ladies who design for this magazine and each month I am AMAZED at all the INSPIRING work that is there!  So go grab one at your local B&N or other book store, you won't regret it!!  Or better yet, go to the link above and subscribe!

And speaking of ITALY... 

I am BEYOND excited that Lance surprised me and the girls on Valentine's Day and told us that he is taking us back to Italy THIS SUMMER!  So many happy tears when I heard that!!  We thought we were going to do something closer to home this summer, but there is just something about Bellagio, Italy that has pulled at our heartstrings and we can't stop thinking about it.  We work really hard to save the money to do these kinds of trips and the GIRLS are even contributing this year!  I don't know if I've talked about this, but we clean my husbands offices EVERY weekend.  All the girls and I work hard every Saturday making all 10,000 square feet of his offices look perfectly clean and ready for the next week.  It's something we've done for years and this year the girls and I have offered to contribute that money to help pay for this trip.  I guess that really shows me how much the girls do LOVE Italy and want to go back!    So we are going to be staying in Bellagio (of course :) and going somewhere we haven't been...  Portafino and Santa Margherita, Italy!  We are SO excited to see this area of the Italian Riveria AND plan to do a side trip to Cinque Terre from there as well!

 

Lance and I were in Riomaggiore (one of the 5 towns of Cinque Terre) for a few hours on our way to Monte Carlo back in 2009 for our 20th Wedding Anniversary.  It's a BEAUTIFUL part of the world for sure and I can't WAIT to see it again with the girls!!

And Portafino is SO beautiful from the pictures too, so I'm excited to explore that area too!  If ANY OF YOU have been to this area, please leave a comment with any ideas for things to do, places to see, restaurants or any advice!!  Would LOVE to hear from you!!

 

AND..

If you still want to join us for Bellagio in September...

you can still SIGN UP FOR OUR EVENT here!  It's not too late, so go check it out today!  It's going to be SO much FUN and I would love to meet you in Bellagio!  :)

Well, I had no idea this was going to be a BOOK.  For those of you who stayed all the way through, thanks for listening to me ramble on...  

Have a GREAT Tuesday everyone!

Hugs,

Laura 

 

 

 

Grab BAGS are up for SALE!!

Hello ladies!!  

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Valentine's Day!!

We had a GREAT day and with us,  it's more about FAMILY  so we enjoyed a FULL day of LOVE.  The girls all had fun days at school with little parties or just little treats from their friends and I cooked Lasagna Bolognese all day and got the dinner and treats ready for that night while they were in school.  Such a FUN day when you are focused on EACH OTHER!

My dear hubby and I celebrated not only Valentine's Day though, but 24 YEARS TOGETHER!!  Yes, we actually met on Valentine's Day!  ( It wasn't as romantic as it seems...  lol) We were on a blind date that I swore I would NOT go on b/c I had the WORST blind date in history (that I should probably share at some time b/c now I can laugh about it..) but in the end, I'm SO glad I did go on THIS blind date becaue this one worked out pretty good!  :)-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So onto the Scrapbook SALE!!!  I didn't want to start it yesterday since it was a Holiday, so TODAY THEY ARE READY!!

YES, The MOTHER LODE of Scrapbook SALES is READY!!

I've listed ALL my Scrapbook supplies and put them in the "Kit Club" section of THIS BLOG over <-----  there on the left hand side!!  

They are under the  "Grab Bag" Sale and are ready for you to go have FUN shopping!

I've explained what's in each bag and there are only a few bags for each type.  

If you have any questions let me know, but you can grab them NOW!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

ALSO, a last CALL for the Scrapbook Retreat's $200 discount is TODAY!!

You can sign up here to get the discount!

AND...

Speaking of Bellagio, Italy

WE (as a family) got another "present" for Valentine's DAY!!  It makes me cry just thinking about it...  But my DEAR HUBBY surprised us all...

He's taking us back to Bellagio this SUMMER for our family Vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!

You may think that we've been there, done that.  Why would we want to go again??Well, all I can tell you is that we LOVE Lake Como like nowhere else we've ever been to!  It's just a piece of us now and the girls and I were wanting to go back SO bad this summer but we thought it wasn't going to happen.  We were looking into a Hawaii trip or a NYC trip, but the apartments at the Villa Serbelloni end up being a better deal that going to Hawaii, believe it or not!!  So I can't even begin to tell you how excited we are about this SURPRISE and how many HAPPY TEARS I've cried since he told us last night!  What's funny is I made each of the girls a Valentine's Card with a picture of them on it.  I was going through the pictures on my computer and starting tearing up yesterday looking at our pictures of Bellagio this past summer.  Here's a few that maybe will "explain" why we keep wanting to go back...

The girls enjoyed this are of Tremezzo, behind Al Veluu Restaurant as we explored the area and were amazed at the beauty that surround them.

The girls having FUN on the ferry ride back to Bellagio from dinner in Varenna.  

Not the best photo, but I didn't take very many photo's of the 3 girls together last summer.  This one is in front of the Serbelloni Hotel by the Veranda.

This next summer I will be using by GOOD camera no matter what.  I was lazy last summer and the photo's are proof of that.  I used my cellphone camera a lot and they just don't do this justice.  But I still love the look on her face and SHE wanted me to take this photo in this walkway.  I'm so thankful that even the little one appreciates where she is and how different this is then our normal lives.

The architecture is just so BEAUTIFUL.  Every where you walk, you could take a picture of something AMAZING!  

Beautiful views like this is how I can explain it...

 

Hugs,

Laura 

 

A New Video!

Here's a fun little video Victoria and I came up with yesterday for the Bellagio Retreat!

 

 

 

Have a look and sign up soon!  There's a $200 discount if you sign up before February 15th!!  And the DEADLINE to sign up is March 1st!

Have a GREAT Monday!

Laura

P.S.  The Scrapbook Kits are going up on HERE real soon, so check back tomorrow!!

 

Project Life and an upcoming class...

So I heard back from the staff over at Project Life about our questions.

Here's their response:

"Hi Laura,

Welcome to Project LIfe! We think you will love the simplicity and hassle free way of documenting your life, telling your story. Let me explain why we've been out of stock on so many items so you can share with your followers. 

When David and Becky started this whole concept they had no idea how fast it would catch on. So while the growth is fantastic, it has caused some growing pains. It has been a very complicated and expensive process to take her idea from concept to production so we can all enjoy Project Life. Because we had no idea just how fast Project Life would grow we found ourselves barely able to keep up with the demand, which left gaps in our product availability.

David and Becky are working very hard to make sure we have all our products available all the time. Not only are they working hard to keep  products available, they are also hard at work designing more products so you can have more options documenting your life in a more simplified way. 

It's a very exciting time for us here at Project Life! We are passionate about what we do, so you can bet we will be around a long time! Becky has some awesome and exciting projects she's working on such as school kits, themed kits, and of course new editions of Project Life each year.

We're glad you're considering Project Life as a way to document your life! I hope I've been able to answer your questions so you feel more confident about making the switch.

 

Christy
Customer Service
Becky Higgins LLC"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So it looks like it's been a pretty big success and they are in the process of making more available soon.  They also sound like they will be around for years to come.

What do you think?

Here's a few more PL ideas I found on Pinterest:

Some journaling tips:

original link

Free printable journaling cards:

Original Link

A colorful PL Page:

 

Original Link

I think there is really something here and I want to get started on it!!  I have the "1st Edition" Project Life that has been sitting around for a few years.  It's a bit outdated to my style but I think I'm going to re-work it, print some free journaling cards online and get going on it for this year.

I will admit that I'm a bit afraid of it though...

I'm not big on journaling every day and I think I'm intimidated by the weekly upkeep of it.  I have high hopes of doing it, but then I usually end up being bummed that I didn't follow through and journal like I wanted to.  

So I'm still trying to "think outside the box" a bit and come up with something that would work for ME.  Maybe a MONTHLY album instead of weekly>

Or maybe a type of Smash book

Have you seen these?  

They are SO cute and of course I have the PINK one!  :)

They are a journal that is completely random pages, with the ability to add photos, ephemery, anything at all and record your life!  It looks FUN and even though it's not really an "album" or a yearly recording of your life, it looks like a great JOURNAL to keep with you and have fun with!! 

I guess they were at CHA and I'm bummed I didn't see them b/c they just came up with a larger sized one!  The one above is about 7.5 x 10" and the new one is more like a 81/2" x 11 size.  They also came out with some new accessories to go along with it.

What do you think of this?  It's definitely a "funky" alternative to scrapbooking...

I found a couple pictures of the new ones from CHAW online:

Here's a Video that shows a bit about it from PaperClipping.com

 

Let me  know what you think! Again, I don't think this would be my ONLY source of documenting our year, but it sure is a fun way to journal!!

I think we are onto something though.  Yesterday as I was thinking throughout the day, my brain was working on an idea.  I still want to SIMPLIFY things, I don't want to have to buy a lot and I'm done having expensive scrapbook pages.

I wish I worked for a company that could DESIGN what I want in my head and make it inexpensive and EASY to do...

To recap what I want:

1. To RECORD our families MEMORIES

2. Accomplish this is a TIME EFFICIENT way

3. NOT spend a LOT of $$$

4. SIMPLIFY the WHOLE PROCESS

Still working this out in my brain...

Speaking of WHICH, my brain is working on this for a CLASS!  I want to have an album class at my home in March or April and I want to incorporate this IDEA for the class!  I want to come up with a way to make a YEAR LONG album in one night!!

So stay tuned if you live in the area b/c I'll be sending out FB invites soon!

But for now, I'm still purging my Scrapbook room and will be bringing THAT to my blog here soon "FOR SALE"...  :)

Hugs to all,

Laura

 

Wow, I guess I hit a "hot button"...

I've had quite a response from yesterday's blog post!  Lots of emails, comments and FB messages...

I guess I have always been the type of person who is an open book and says what I'm thinking.  If you've followed my blog long enough, you get that.  :)

I want to make it clear that I still LOVE Scrapbooking, in all it's forms!  I even said that yesterday...  I just can't do Scrapbooking anymore that's the time consuming, fussy, 1 page, 1 photo, expensive layouts anymore.  

(Here's the infamous layout that made it abundantly clear to me that I need to change)

 

I mean I do love the layout, it just took too much time!  My darling Isabella is on a park chair in Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, France!!  It's a beautiful picture, I blew it up to 5x7 and picked the color scheme, the embellishments, everything I LOVED and put my HEART into this layout.  There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with that!  It's just NOT for ME anymore.  I want to tell the story in a BEAUTIFUL way, but I need to find a way to do that that takes LESS TIME and LESS MONEY.

It's just too expensive to do this with EVERY 1 PAGE layout!

I "fusssed" with this 1 PAGE layout, with 1 PHOTO for HOURS!!  

So, I'm still going to RECORD MY MEMORIES, I just don't know exactly how I will do it.  I do know that I can't continue doing it like the layout above.  

Some of you asked me about "Project Life" and this may be the direction I'm headed but I'm not sure yet.  I will tell you that I EMAILED them over at PL and told them how I'm feeling and if PL would be the right choice.  I asked them how to order, where to order, will it be around years from now, and why does it look like it's sold out online just about everywhere.  

I will let you know what they tell me and I'll keep you all up-to-date on what this new journey for me will look like.  If I had my DREAM, it would be to come up with something we could ALL do together that would solve this dilemma.  I'm actually thinking of teaching a class at my home soon that will be a WHOLE YEAR in one night!  It's a challenge for sure and I'm not sure how I'm going to pull this off, but I want to do this so bad!  I have YEARS of photos that I haven't had time to scrapbook.  It would be nice to come up with a system that I could teach that would bring us up to spead on our photos and be fun, creative, tell our story and is BEAUTIFUL.

So stay with me.  I think I've said "out loud" what a lot of us are thinking and it's a good thing to communicate this!  Now lets try to figure out how to change this, make it work for us and keep us all creating and recording our memories!

And THANK YOU for all your comments and emails!  I love this forum to voice things and hear back from YOU and work on making things better for all of us!!

Hugs to all,

Laura

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BTW, I had one comment about my Bellagio Event in Italy and I wanted to let all of you know what I wrote back and said because I don't want anyone to be confused with why I would still do a "Scrapbook Event" if I dont' want to "scrapbook" anymore...

So here's my response:  

"I will always be creative and look for outlets to do that! I'm very passionate about being creative and sharing our "Story" in unique ways.  The teachers for my event know that and we have some wonderful classes on journaling, jewelry, altered art and a travel album we will start first on and that will be used as a keepsake for that trip!  

So I'm not giving up my passion for recording our lives, Im looking for a way to do that in a simpler, more cost effective and time saving way..."  Laura

I hope that makes sense.  I KNOW Italy is not a "cost effective" place to have a retreat though and I'm aware that it's not for everyone.  It's just been a DREAM of mine for a few years and maybe it will be fullfilled this year!!  I STILL plan to TEACH and I am STILL passionate about recording our memories and in fact have been asked to teach all over the U.S. by different people and may just start doing that this year!  After I figure out the direction I want to go in...

Love, Tuesday... (Are you sitting down?)

 

This is BIG.  It's been building for a while and I can't stop thinking about it.  I kind of hinted at it a week or so ago but now I know in my heart for SURE...

I {heart} Scrapbooking BUT... I DON'T WANT TO SCRAPBOOK ANYMORE!!

Seriously, I'm not joking.

...and btw, the drugs for my Bronchitis are not impairing my judgement :)-

See the thing is this.  I don't have the time.  I DO NOT HAVE 2 HOURS+ to work on a 1 PAGE LAYOUT!!  It's RIDICULOUS!  And with this being the current way of "scrapbooking,"  I just can't do it.  

Do YOU have the time for this?  Maybe it doesn't take you that long to do a page... Maybe because I was on two DT's last year I fussed with my layouts too long?  IDK... but I do know I can't scrapbook like this anymore.  

SO, I'm PURGING my Scrapbook stuff!!  Yup, I'm getting RID OF IT!!  

I am looking into OTHER WAYS to record our family memories and there's a few things I want to do INSTEAD.  

Like for starters... Project Life 

It was started a couple years back by Becky Higgins.  It's a way to document your year in very SIMPLE, easy steps that looks like this:

 

You can find all kinds of examples and ideas on Pinterest.  Here's a few:

 

or this:

or this:

So it's STILL very CREATIVE, but within ONE YEARLY album, you record everything!  You can get as ARTSY as you want or you can keep is SIMPLE.  But I'm really thinking this is the way to go for me.

Any of you Scrapbook this way?  I'd love to hear your feedback.  I actually bought this system a couple years ago when Becky first came out with it.  It sat in my garage.  I just don't think I was ready to simplify my "scrapbooking" yet.  But now I want to SO BAD because I just can't scrapbook the traditional way anymore!

I also may still dable in "mini-books" but that will ONLY be for special occasions, gifts and for vacations.  I still think it's important to document those special memories, but again, NOT in a 2-3hour layout with ONE or TWO photos!  It's just crazy what it has come to.  I also thinks it's crazy to spend so much MONEY on ONE LAYOUT!  It's just gotten out of hand!  I look at the layouts on 2Peas and Scrapbook.com and they ARE GORGEOUS, don't get me wrong, but they are loaded with flowers, swirls, trims, embellishments and it's just too much $$$. (and one or two little photo's)  I can't justify the time and money it takes to do that anymore.  Boy, I hope I'm not upsetting anyone.  This is a PERSONAL decision for ME and because this is my blog and I "tell it like it is" in my world, this is what I've decided.  I may change my mind, I may still do this type of LO once in a while for a special event or for a magazine, but overall, I'm really done with it.

So this week that I've been home with Bronchitis, (and with Isabella and now with Rebecca too) I've been PURGING my Scrapbook room and I've got a LOT of goodies for YOU!!

Yes, I'm planning on a HUGE SCRAPBOOK SALE!  I think I may put it up here on the blog like my old kits!??  What do you think?  

They will be kind of like my "Grab Bag" kits, but with a theme!  So probably a color theme, or special event theme or even a Specific Mfg. company theme. (i.e. 7 Gypsies, MME or what have you...)

I will let you know when they are ready to be posted and I may take some pictures of them so you have an idea of what you are getting.  But expect them to be FILLED to the BRIM for a GREAT PRICE!!!

I'd really like to hear your thoughts on my "Epiphany" and if you ladies have any ideas to simplify and cut costs on your memory keeping..

Oh and even though I won't be "Scrapbooking" anymore, I still will be enjoying CREATIVE TIME!  I plan to continue to CREATE with mixed-media, altered art, journaling and things I can display in my home.  That is where I feel the art of our memories can truly be enjoyed!

Hugs to all,

Laura

 

You've heard of "Love, Tuesday" but now there's "Pinterest Thursday"!!

YES...  I thought about it and it's just a "no brainer" to me because I am ADDICTED to Pinterest and I want to share it with all of YOU!

So, on Thursdays I thought I would bring to you what I found "Pin" worthy for that week on Pinterest. 

If you haven't heard of Pinterest before, you will soon enough!  Basically, its a website that you can go to and find pictures of MILLIONS of things and with those pictures are links to the original post of the picture.  Now not only can you see a smorgasboard of pictures on things like Travel, Crafts, Recipes, Home Decor, and anything you can think of, you can "PIN" the things you like onto your boards.  These are basically like Bulletin boards or Inspiration boards that are stored online at Pinterest for you!  That way you can go to Pinterest at any time, find a recipe you found online or a crafty item you may want to try your hand at, RIGHT ON YOUR BOARD!  It's AMAZING and HIGHLY ADDICTIVE, so make sure you think twice before joining... :)-

So you can come here on Thursday and see a little bit of what Pinterst is all about.

Sound good?

So to start I thought I would share a picture and link from each of my "boards" on Pinterest.  The first one is something I found tonight and I pinned it to my "For the Home" board:

Link to original post  LOVE the color and pattern on this loveseat!

And another picture I loved today and pinned to my "Home" board:

The link to the original poster   Love the painted floor boards and nook!

 Now another board I have is called "Artsy Stuff" and here's a beautiful picture:

 

Link to original poster  This is a lovely box cover!  

(Now when you are on Pinterest, all you have to do is click on the picture and that will take you to the link to the orginal post.  I can't do that on here, so that is why I am adding it to give credit to the orignal poster)

Now I'll share a picture on my "Fashion" board:

Link to original Poster  Fashion is my downfall for sure, and this site is the BEST for putting outfits together!  In fact, when I go to pack for a trip, I go to my "Fashion" board and it really helps me put together looks.  I may not have everything that is in each picture, but it helps to figure out what goes good together!

Next board I have is the "Scrapbooking" board:

Link to original Poster  Love this site for inspiration!!

I have to say that Pinterest is GREAT for finding recipes!  This is the BEST source for finding something to cook!  I've made countless recipes found on Pinterest and want to try this one soon:

Link or original Poster  An easy pasta dish with almost all the ingredients already in your cupboard!!  DONE.

 A great site for "Health & Wellness", here is a mask I want to try for my face soon:

Link to original Poster  Helps clean your pours and reduce acne and puffiness!

My "Outdoor Living" board has this STUNNING picture:

Link to original Poster It this just gorgeous!!?

I have a board on "Places I've Traveled":

Link to original Poster Love this image of the Eiffel Tower!

Another board on just "Photography" is a great place to learn more:

Link to original Poster  This is GREAT idea for a photo op background!

Another great idea is to have a board on "Places I want to Travel"

Link to original Poster I've seen a lot of Italy, but not Sorrento yet...

You can even have a board of your own "Designs"

and I even have a board dedicated to "A Kiss on the Chic's Bellagio Retreat"

 

Link to original Poster  Beautiful Lake Como, Italy!! Are you going to be there with US in September??

 

So there you have it!  What do you think?  Just a little "tutorial" on Pinterest for you!  So check back here for more Pinterest Pictures on...

 

Pinterest Thursday!!

See ya then,

 

Laura

Back from CHA! (photo heavy)

 

CHA is such a FUN show to go to for us "crafty" girls and I was SO excited to spend a few days there helping Clear Scraps , and also handing out postcards for our Bellagio Event , AND seeing all the TEACHERS that are going to be teaching in Italy this September with us!!!

It's also fun because I've gotten to know SO many ladies in the industry now and to see so many of them there and have a chance to talk to them is such a blessing!  It's funny because on Saturday I helped Clear Scraps set up their booth and I was also going to help Brandin at Webster's Pages if she needed help and I couldn't find her booth.  I finally looked in the CHA handbook and low and behold, she was within eye sight of the Clear Scraps booth the whole time!  Anyways, it was great to chat with her and see the new lines and then KICK myself that I stepped down from the team...  Same thing with Teresa Collins , I had to really question why I stepped down from those two teams because their new lines are SO AMAZING and I'm wishing I had a chance to CREATE with them right about now.  :)  But the ladies have GREAT DT ladies and their booths were GORGEOUS and they are both such classy ladies in this industry and I just feel blessed that I've had a chance to work with both of them!  (You hear horror stories of DT drama and both my teams last year were totally drama free and I met some of the most wonderful ladies I've even known in my life!)

Speaking of all the ladies I chatted with, I'm such a ding dong b/c I didn't take pictures with harldy any!  It's probably a good thing b/c I got a nasty chest cold and am actually going to the doctor in a couple hours to have it checked. (and I haven't been to the doctor in YEARS for myself, so that shows you how yucky this one is...)

 

So before I head to the Dr. I thought I would show a little re-cap of the show through my lens:

 

If you've been to CHA before, you know it's always starts off with this bagpipe procession through the tradeshow floors.  It was just going by the Clear Scraps booth as I was getting to the show on Sunday morning!

Speaking of Clear Scraps, they have some new things I wanted to show you!  I just LOVE these new small embellishments and they are SO fun to create with.

Here's an example of someone running them through an embossing folder and creating this darling dress form example!  I'm not sure who on their DT did this, but a GREAT idea!!

They also have a new line of CARDS!  It's called "Send it Clear" and it WON Top 20 Innovative products at the show!!  

Here's an example from Leah on their DT, but they come in ALL KINDS of shapes and they are SO fun to work with!  That's actually what I did the make-n-take for them each day.

 

The "French General" is a store in L.A. that I can't believe it, but I have never been!  But, they have teamed up with Jolee's and created a beautiful line that I know I will hoarding soon!  lol...

Here's a few more pictures of it:

Basic Grey had these CREATIVE canvases that you can add things to and really got my juices flowing...

Canvas Corp has been one of my FAV companies since I spied them at a show a couple years back.  I've used their products in my classes many time and I'm SO excited that they are coming out with even more GREAT products!!  I LOVE these canvas flowers in all different colors!!

They also have some new DENIM items along with their canvas and burlap products!!  Will be ordering from them for sure!!  And since Canvas Corp just bought 7 Gypsies AND Tattered Angels, this company is here to stay for a LONG time!!  So happy about that!!

 Speaking of 7 Gypsies, they have some new "alterable" items that I'm just LOVING!!  These new wood boxed with the circle and square "frames" are just LOVELY!!!

They also have a new line called "Trousseau" that is SO lovely and a bit of a different color scheme for them. It's so pretty and this "inspiration board" above is what prompted the new line.  (I wish that jeweled heart was in the collection, don't you?)

 

Of course Prima has GORGEOUS new items and this line called "Almanac" was one of my FAV's of the show!

Here's a layout someone on their DT made with it:

Isn't is beautiful?  Sorry I don't know who to give credit to, but everyone over at Prima is just UBER TALENTED!!!

Then there's the talented ladies over at Glitz Design who have a new line I'm ALL OVER.  "French Kiss" is so pretty and I'm sorry this photo is blurry b/c it does NOT do it justice...

They also have a new lined called "Happy Travels" that works real well for boys and for travel!

 Crate Paper has really become one of my FAVORITE companies lately and I'm happy to see another pretty line called "Pretty Party".  Just lovely isn't it?  They are now owned by American Crafts and I will be ordering from them soon as well!

Oh, I ran into my dear friend from back in the Clear Scraps days, Sally Lynn McDonald!  She is just SO creative and was all over the place at CHA with her talented self!  Such a beautiful and FUN lady!!  

Then I just HAD to take a picture with Rebecca from Pink Paislee in front of my FAVORITE new line at CHA... London Market!!

WOW, when I saw this line revealed on-line before the show, I was falling off my chair!  You now I'm a "travel bug" but when I saw this line I thought... "How did Rebecca get inside my head and make EXACTLY what I would want in a line?"  hehehe... Obviously this was in her head, but I was  just SO excited to see this line in person and you can BET that I will be teaching a class with this line ASAP!!  I know we are in front of it so you can't see it good, but here's a photo I took (sorry, I used my iPhone for all the pictures):

Now it's true it has some "English" embellishments and a travel related theme, but this is pretty open to any type of CREATIVITY and I will show you how very soon! :)

Here's a link to the complete line on their blog:

London Market

Go check it out, it's "to die for"... :)-

Last but NOT least...

I had a chance to have a brief meeting with all the teachers who are teaching at the Bellagio Retreat in September!!  

Tammy Tutterow wasn't able to come b/c she was busy in the Sizzix booth, but all the other ladies were there and here's a quick photo we took together:

Debby Shuh , Lisa Pace , myself and Stayce DeWid all at the Maya Road booth!!  Can't WAIT for September ladies!!!

Speaking of which...  I handed out hundreds of postcards for our Bellagio event at the show!!!   We shall see how many ladies sign up in the next few weeks from that!  

SO...

We are DOWN THE THE WIRE on this Event!  I will be making final decisions at the end of THIS MONTH so if you are thinking of JOINING US...

NOW IS THE TIME TO SIGN UP!!!

There is a discount if you sign up BEFORE FEBRUARY 15th, so make sure you take advantage of that.  And just think about it, pray about it and let me know if you have ANY questions about i!!

We want YOU to come and join us for an AMAZING week, so sign up TODAY!!

Go to the website and find out all the details at:

A Kiss on the Chic's Bellagio Retreat

 

I hope you enjoyed my CHA recap!  There was SO much to see and I couldn't even begin to take pictures of everything I LOVED, but this is a little taste and I'm sure there are some great pictures of all the new releases all over the internet now.  :0

Have a GREAT day,

 

Laura