CHA fun!! (photo heavy)

So I'm back to reality - back from CHA! I seriously had so much fun! I flew in late Sunday night - my flight was delayed an hour because of the blizzard in Salt Lake City - so by the time I arrived in Long Beach it was 9:00 pm and i had to ride in a pimped out van and a pimped out driver all by myself in the dark for 25 minutes - it was all i could do to contain myself and not FREAK out! Luckily i made it safely to the hotel and Bek was on her way there to meet me!

Monday was pretty much just a blur - when we got there - the convention center was being evacuated - how convenient - so we waited outside for a bit till we could all go back in. I told Becky that i was just going to follow her around - i didnt know what i was doing or where to go. First we checked out the Fancy Pants booth - i was anxious to meet Cindy Tobey and Amy Peterman. That are both so great - i had fun trying to talk to them - the booth was so busy most of the time - which is saying 'alot' - some booths weren't so fortunate~

Then I was able to attend a luncheon for Creating Keepsakes contributors. I felt very inadequate but enjoyed every minute of it. I will be published for the first time in the April issue - so really not so much of a contributor!! Hope to be though. I was lucky enough to sit by Mandy Douglass this years Scrapbooker of the Year - and she couldn't have made me feel more comfortable (not that anyone made me feel uncomfortable ;)). SUch a doll - and so easy to talk too!

Then we made it over to Papercrafts Birthday Celebration. Becky and Kim are regulars so i was just along for the ride - but everyone was so welcoming and nice. After that we just walked around and soaked it all in. At 5:00 was the 2 peas cupcake social. So great to put faces to names - and eat cupcakes of course!

That night Becky, Ellen Hutson and I went to dinner with the Fabulous Claudine Hellmuth and her friend Berni - this girl does amazing things - i was inspired just watching her over at the Ranger booth and learned a few things i didn't know about paint and canvas! Go check out her blog and you'll see the fun things she does with her new product.

The next day we just walked around and I watched Becky do her thing for Cornish Heritage Farms (super fabulous rubber stamping company). That night we were SO tired - we were invited to a dinner with the gals over at Studio Calico - who were so amazingly nice! Loved everyone of them - not only are the uber talented - they are so REAL and so sweet in real life! You just come to realize what a computer cannot portray of someones personality. Because they are all so amazing online - but even better off. After dinner - Becky, Ellen and I just went back to the Hotel and checked out reveal night for Studio Calico's kits - and i did a little spending on some add-ons. I had great roommates and made great friends. I wish i could just list everyone i met and how fabulous they were but the list would be toooooooo long. Lets just say.....it was amazing (i think i may have already said that)!

So for some reason i can't get my pictures to show up in my post - only when i view it so i'm going to have to make a list here.

1. Ellen Hutson and Becky Olsen - my roomies! Ellen has a fabulous store that you need to go check out - if your a techniquie (is that a word?) kind of girl - you will find everything here to make it happen!

2. Becky and I - we had to sleep on a full size bed - i felt bad for her because i am such a light sleeper - back and forth - lucky for me she slept like a ROCK!

3. The amazing Stephanie Howell - was able to meet her at the Studio Calico dinner. Was so glad to hear I wasnt the only one boobing because i missed my kids. Dean called with the kids while i was at dinner so by the time i was done talking to him i was sobbing! She kinda gave me the 'i've been doing it all week so don't feel bad' talk.

4. Nicole Howard and Nicole Samuels - i sat accross from them and just loved both of their personalities - so funny, so talkative - so talented!!

5. Me and Kirsty Wiseman - can't say enough about her and her cute little accent. I couldn't believe she traveled so far - but was so glad to meet her - have been a big fan for a long time. So sweet and down to earth!!

6. Scarlet Namvong and Stephanie - scarlet is so darn cute and so much littler in real life!

7.Me and Cindy Tobey at the Fancy Pants booth - i don't even need to go into detail about how fabulous this woman is!!

8. Me and Amy Peterman - another amazingly talented girl!!

9. This is a group that was at the CK luncheon - Brittany Beattie, me, Emily Falconbridge, CD Muckosky, Amy Martin - i don't think i need to say anything else!

10. Me and Mandy Douglass - i already gushed about her above!! Isn't she cute!

11. and last but not least - my girls - Kim Huges and Becky Olsen - this was at the papercrafts birthday party! These are my scrapping buddies a few times a month!

But the best part of all of it - was when Dean showed up at the airport and i thought he got a babysitter for the kiddos and i got in the front seat and looked in the back and wondered why there was a blanket covering the back seat and my kids popped out! So excited to see them - they were so tired - but it was worth it. Sorry this is such a long post - but i just had to get it all out!!

Full View..........

Here are the projects in full view!! You seriously have to go check out the Fancy Pants blog so you can get a better look at everything included in each line and the fun home decor items coming out. You'll be drooling! I probably won't be posting again till i get back from the show - I have my sisters kids here for the next few days and Dean is out town -so that means i won't be do much of anything but playing with kids. Then I'm out of here on Saturday - can't wait!!

This bracket background is part of the new Mixed Media 8x8 book sets. So fun - i just took one of the transparency pages and made a wall hanging using the new Chipboard and the "On a Whimsy" line.

A card using the new "Delight" line Seriously love this "On a Whimsey" line - and the stamps are fabulous! Another card using "Delight"

Layout using "Summer Soiree" I finally have most of the other Fancy girls linked on the left so go check out thier projects with thenew stuff too!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Be thinking of me trapped in my house with no where to go and 5 little ones under the age of 7! I can't leave because i can't get them all in my car!!

sneeky peeky!!

Here are a few peeks at the projects i did for CHA! Seriously - every thing is FABULOUS! I'm not just saying that either - they've really out done themselves this time! I can't wait to share it all with you. You can head over the the Fancy Pants blog and check out the first paper line they've shown today. There are 3 paper lines and lots of stuff for altering and getting creative with. So fun.
This first one is a layout - the paper is so fun and bright in this collection.

This is a card - Can you see my attempt at stamping in this one???This is a close up at my stamping abilities!! Haha - just the birds feet in the wrong spot - but i'm pretty proud of the coloring - i have to say that I absolutley love the water color pencils from Close to my Heart - they make coloring in images so simple. More stamping - and this is the On a Whimsy line that is up on the blog right now~More stamping here - seriously they came out with some great stamps that go with each line!This is a wall hanging using the On a Whimsey line again. The Acrylic is from the new 8x8 books and the chipboard is all new too!!So come back Monday and i will start giving you full views of the projects!

Dean has been out of town so i've been a scrapping maniac - but i'm actually going to take a break tonight and watch a movie all by my lonesome! Pop some popcorn - get my Diet Dr. Pepper out of the freezer and veg...............

Fancy Pants Blog Project

You'll have to go over to Fancy Pants blog to check out all of the details - CIndy Tobey did a great job of going into detail on the product used. But the trees i had made a few years ago and i 're-did' them. So if you don't want to take the time to cut out trees and aren't into wood work - then head to Micheals or any craft store and there are always trees in different shapes and sizes - but this Arctic Chill line works perfect for those winter blues and altering these trees brightened my house right up!

I also got a FABULOUS box of the new CHA product this weekend and can't wait to be able to share it with you!! But not just yet. You'll have to keep checking back!

We are all doing good here - everyone is healthy again and we are back to normal life - it feels good! The kids are doing great and glad to be back in school again. Baylee is potty trained. She is 2 1/2 - i thought it would be this long drawn out thing and i would have to stay home for a few weeks and not go any where - but she was done in 1 day!! She had a number 2 accident the very first day and hasn't had any accidents since then. She does where a pull up at night though but thats because she's still in a crib - we need to get her new big girl bed set up - i've been putting it off!

Dean and i had a great experience on Saturday night - we were at the Jazz game and we were in one of the business suites - and a few suites down was our prophet Presiden Monson~He was so darn cute. Every time a time out came up - he would stand and bop up and down to the music - everyone was staring and he didn't even care - he was having a great old time - it was just good to know that they are as normal as we are and live normal lives and enjoy the same things!

See ya soon........... CHA is coming soon and i seriously can't even wait. I hope to meet some of you Fabulous ladies there - so if your up for it let me know!! I get to go with my cute friend Becky Olsen - and will hopefully be hanging out with Kim Hughes a bit too!

Holy Pink Paislee!!

I can't even beleive it - so thrilled to be a Guest Designer for Pink Paislee next year! One of my fav manufacturers right now! They picked a fabulous design team for this year and i feel blessed to even have the opportunity to work with them! Yay! Just popping in to share a layout and say how glad i am that the vacation is OVER - last day today - trying to keep the kids occupied one more day. I need my schedule back, gym, school, homework, dinner, sleep - repeat! I am a much happier person when i know whats going to happen next! So here is a layout that was published in December's issue of Scrapbook Trends - cute Baylee again - trying to get away from mommy at the duck pond!


Thanks for popping in.............

Winner......

Kim Strother - my 2 year old drew your name out of a bowl! I had a ton of hits - but not many comments - thanks for those of you that did leave them. Kim - email me your addy and i will get you out a box of goodies! bhurd1976@msn.com .

Hope everyone had a great New Years - i'm still pretty darn sick - but i did make it till midnight - we had friends over playing the Wii and some board games - and alot of JUNK food. I passed out on the couch after 12:00 - cough medicine kicked in........

I'll be back tomorrow for more!