Less is More...

I realized I needed to post after a call from my dad earlier this week. This is what he told me. "I've been reading your blog lately. And it's really boring."

I know. sorry.

If you have been reading my blog for any period of time, or if you know me, you know "something" is going on. "Normal" for me is talking a mile a minute, posting regularly and calling people back. Silence is not me.

So - less means more. Hang in there. All will be revealed soon. All is good.

In the meantime, know that I have been crazy busy getting ready for CHA, scrapbooking a lot, adding some new teaching dates to my calendar, making some changes to my sidebar, prepping updates for my website & taking care of Matt. Matt is much better but still in physical therapy, and still not able to be back at work full time.

Going to ScrapBowl...

I know, I've been quiet this week...I've had a lot going on. Matt's back is a little better, but he's only able to work about 4 hours a day & is still in pain. Other than that, I've started something new {more later} and have had a serious case of the cleaning bug. One point of excitement, I have been invited to teach at ScrapBowl in Washington, D.C., February 15-17! I am excited to be in such good company - the other instructors will be: Stacy Julian, Kristina Contes, Donna Downey, Shimelle Laine & Margie Romney-Aslett.

Cleaning spree...

Well, I'm just buckling down & digging in and cleaning my "storage" room. My guest bedroom -which has been playing host to all my excess junk & random boxes. It's a little scary, but interesting. I am unearthing some left over class kits & am putting them up on Matt's etsy shop. So far I've uncovered 15 Hopeless Romantic kits (see right)...so get them while the getting's good! I'll post on the blog when I find others.

Straight from CKU to the hospital...

Not me, Matt. Matt threw his back out while I was in Anaheim - worse than I thought. On Saturday his brother took him to the doctor. On Sunday when I got home we went straight to the ER because the first round of drugs weren't working. The second round didn't work either - so today we ended up at the chiropractor. I take him back in the morning...I sure hope he gets some relief soon. He is in a lot of pain...bless his heart. I hate seeing him like this.

So much has happened & is happening, but all I can think about right now is getting him better. I think I'm still a little tired from the last two trips, but that's O.K. - they were worth it. To all my Anaheim students - you guys rocked! I loved meeting so many new friends & seeing so many familiar faces. Thank you all - you inspired me!

CKU Anaheim...thanks for the memories...

MISSING...memories...

Do you have a favorite scrapbook? Think for a minute of how empty you would feel if it was gone...just gone.

My friend Debby Schuh went to the restroom at CKU and when she returned her entire bag with everything from her name badge, schedule, reese's peanut butter cups and her favorite scrapbook (the second volume of her CKU memories) WAS GONE. She has recorded CKU from a teacher's perspective since the first CKU she taught at (and s she's second to me in longevity here - probably over 25 CKUs for Debby). It is all of our favorite scrapbook - it's like the "teacher's album". Who am I kidding - it's my favorite scrapbook too...

There are pictures from every teacher dinner & drinks and lots of personal memories. And irreplaceable stuff too - every piece of ephemera from the events - bits of schedules & the old handbooks, handmade tags from each city made by the CK staff, personal thank yous from her students...so, so much. She is the only instructor who has thought to chronologically record the teacher's perspective so thoroughly. We all look forward to seeing the update she's made from the last event at each new CKU.

Maybe it was swept up, maybe someone wanted a souvenir and didn't realize something so intensely personal was in the bag. No one cares at this point. We just all want to get Debby her album back. She is beside herself.

She's back!!!

My friend Ashley is blogging again after a six month break! I love keeping up with my friends through their blogs and I forgot how much I missed her everyday life until her most recent entries. Ashley runs PolkaDot Potato (a rockin' digital site) and is doing a digital scrapbook layout with every post. (cool) For those of you digi-curious in the DFW area, Ashley has relocated & reopened her PDP Digital lounge and has a new class schedule for digital and hybrid scrapbooking classes.

On a personal note, I just arrived in Anaheim for CKU...I will be blogging, so stay tuned!

Get some Sole...

The response to Soleful Art has been overwhelming, so we decided to launch it on Matt's Etsy shop before we take the time to get the website done & its own shop up & running. I wanted to give you a peek at the look for Soleful Art shop so I'm posting its header & avatar.

We've put up our first two pairs of shoes for sale. One is a pink floral in a size 7/8 and the other is a blue paisley pair size 9/10. They are covered in hand-drawn doodles. Meg & Amy did the pink ones and Meg did the blue ones. I have been so busy on the computer getting this set up I haven't done a pair yet, but not to worry...I will be joining the doodle squad very soon!!!!

We will be rolling out more doodled shoes, footware flair & doodled everyday housewares on ManHandled & soon on Soleful Art as well.

This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home. This little piggy ate roast beef and this little piggy had none. And these little piggies got tatoos...it could happen. I have a shelf full of piggies that I have finally started to alter. Actually, Meg has done the first two. The one on the left is named "Lou" (short for Luau) since the flames are rising...the one on the right is the "tattooed dude" (which I adore). Meg has put these up on MegHandled (her division of Matt's Etsy shop) and they are seeking a good home.

Introducing "Soleful Art"...

I have a new little venture. I've been thinking of it for a while. Today I decided there's no time like the present & I'm officially, unofficially launching "Soleful Art". It will start on this very blog, grow to a new independent Etsy shop, then morph into it's own website. Soleful art is shoe art. Think of it as tattooed shoes.

I am a big croc fan. I even love the "frocs" (fake + crocs = "frocs") - when I can find the comfy kind. I wear them all the time & I've been absolutely itching to do something fun with them. I have contracted my cousin Meg as my resident "doodle master" and we will split the art load. Each piece will be signed to show if it's one of mine or one of Meg's. (She's also been working on some awesome tattoo-esque piggy banks...totally cool - also, coming soon to Matt & Meg's Etsy shop).

We will be offering pre-doodled comfy frocs in a variety of sizes & colors. We also can customize sets to incorporate your personality into the designs. I am still working out the details, but we plan to get things up & going after I get home from CKU Anaheim.

I will also be rolling out "foot flair" which are buttons that can dress up strap snap of your crocs. We will have a lot of these and they are a fun accessory for even your solid crocs.

I wear crocs every day & I figured it was about time to give them a new look. Ever since I worked on Oodles of Doodles I've been daydreaming of doodled crocs. These exceeded my wildest expectations. I would love to hear what you think & hope you check back real soon to "get some sole"!

Some final shots from Holland...

Well, here we all are, all the Scrap-a-Ganza teachers with our awake & asleep shots. I had a wonderful time at SaG & am really looking forward to returning to Holland. A special hello to all my students I taught & all my new friends!

My adventure in Amsterdam...

Well, I have surprised myself. Yesterday I finished teaching at 2 pm & figured it was a now or never opportunity. I had no map, no plan & no working cell phone, but after asking for a few directions I hopped on a bus outside my hotel. Half an hour later I arrived at the Alkmaar train depot and took a 30 minute train ride into central Amsterdam. I found the right tram and went straight to the museum district. It was about 4:45 when I got there so there wasn't time to be in line for Anne Frank's house & I had to choose a museum. I ended up at the Van Gogh museum and was thrilled to stay there until it closed. I got to see so many of my favorites. After that I wandered & happened upon the giant Amsterdam sign. I walked down to the canals behind the National Museum and caught another tram back towards the central station until I saw people getting on a boat. I hopped off and got on the canal tour that was leaving right then. It was incredible, I got to see so much of the city. After that I walked the remaining 12 blocks or so back to central station. It took me through the red light district. Um, not my kind of scene, but I thought you couldn't really be here and not walk through it. No I didn't stop & yes I took some pictures. One thing about Amsterdam - it has some beautiful graffiti & lots of it. I love deviant art & ended up taking some great graffiti pics in that area. At some point on the cruise I bumped my camera setting & as a result some of my pics have a greenish tint to them, but I figure I'll convert those to black & white when I scrap them. I had a slice of pizza on the train & got back to the hotel before dark (it doesn't get dark until about 10:45 here) and uploaded the photos and took 2 showers. I am very proud of myself for getting gutsy & going out on my own. It was really amazing, beautiful & empowering.

Completely jet-lagged & fabulous...

Wow, for the first time I can actually say jet lag is kicking my butt. When I woke up at 8 this morning my body thought it was 1 am. ouch. Hopefully I will get adjusted by tomorrow.

Today I went out to the Scrap-a-Ganza warehouse and sorted out my kits {the palette went missing somewhere between Cincinnati and Amsterdam and never arrived}. I will have two more packing sessions at 8 am tomorrow & 8 am Sunday to get it finished, but no worries. I had lunch with Stacey & Sue, taught this evening {the class went great} and ended up at a cafe for dessert & a hot chocolate.

The weather here is unseasonably perfect. Somehow I've lucked out every time I've traveled this year. It's actually hot during the day and quite cool at night. I got a bit of a sunburn when we sat outside at lunch.

Well, I'm taking pictures when I can. The top left pic is the view from my balcony {I know, hard life, right?}. The purple flowers are actually a field of garlic or onions - we passed the farm twice & I took that out the window of the moving car. There are poppies everywhere. I almost bought a tin sign that said "no opium smoking" in town today because I thought - I bet I'll be the only person I know with one"...but I refrained & bought a tin sign with a vintage advertisement for Barilla pasta in Italian for my kitchen instead. Anyway, I shot this poppy right outside the hotel, extremely close up. Last but not least is the nearest entrance to the beach - about a 2 minute walk. "Bad-Zuid"- looks pretty good to me...

I am trying to keep on top of my photos this trip, we'll see if I keep it up. If you'd like to peek at my photo progress, you can view my online Holland album here. I teach three times tomorrow and am planing an adventure in the afternoon...