Home at last! A recap.

If you ever have a chance to go to CHA, DO IT. Oh my, I had so much fun. The best part for me is meeting up with friends from all over the world in one place. Hands down, that's the best part.


Looking at new product is fun too though, lol.


And going out to eat. That's fun. I enjoy that. Who doesn't enjoy that?


I headed to Anaheim bright and very early Friday morning. In fact it was so early it wasn't bright yet, lol. The show started on Sunday so I was there in time to help set up the Studio Calico booth and mess around a little bit before things got serious.

The show ended at 2pm on Wednesday but I headed home that morning. To be honest, I could have stayed longer, I was having so much fun, but Tuesday afternoon my kids finally missed me, so it worked out well. Steve had to lure Payton into her carseat during a meltdown at preschool by playing a Backyardigans cartoon from youtube on his phone. I hope that one doesn't become permanent solution, lol. She missed her mama.


I took a few photos the first day but there are so many people who took so many more photos than I did that I might as well direct you their way. The two that stand out the most are Julie and Shimelle's blogs. They really did well with their photos. Because of this show I've decided I really need to get a small camera for my purse. I packed my Canon and my 50mm because I didn't want to take up a lot of room, but the 50 does not get the closeups you need when you are trying to take detailed shots of product, so I just didn't use it that much.


Studio Calico took a few videos from the trip with the Flip and you can check them out here. We even did the chicken dance. Not willingly, but we did it. The Fosters' talked about it for two days and by the end we just wanted to get it overwith, hence my enthusiasm (although I did get carried away mixing the Macarena in too.. April wanted to do that one as well. Maybe next time.... ).

My favorite piece of paper from the show was a quilty pattern on one of the pieces of the Fly a Kite line from October Afternoon. I got lucky and came home with a piece of it. I loved it so much I immediately put it to use, which is unlike me. My dirty undies are still in my suitcase, for goodness sakes!

This is what I made and I just love it:

The thickers are new from American Crafts. They are called Tenant Phrases and the orange is Flat. LOVE them. The butterflies are flocked boutanique from the Fieldhouse line. I'm not sure if they are brand new or not but they were new to me and looked great with the papers so I gobbled them up.

I got PSE 8.0 for Christmas and for some reason, my layouts are starting to look a bit too sharp. I need to figure it out a bit more. My photos don't look like this live. hmmm.

I mentioned food, and eating out is another fun thing about the show. On my last night we went to Red Robin and met up with friends and other Studio Calico members. You may see this shot in more than one place, because at photo time at least 5 cameras made their way into Greg and Stephen's hands for the photo taking. That's what you get when you surround yourself with scrapbookers!

This last photo was taken at our Design Team dinner at Tortilla Joe's. I love this group so much and it was great to meet a couple of them, live. Tina and I have been working together at Studio Calico since 2007 so it was wonderful she was able to make her way down the slopes of Alaska to play with us. Waleska is new to the team but has been around for a long time too. Cute as a button and her accent is adorable!

From left to right: Celine, Nicole Harper, Tina, Lorie (Studio Calico's do-it-all girl), Joy, myself, Emily, Kristen (one of our graphic designers and Teresa Collins' long lost twin), April, and Waleska.

I wish the rest of the girls had been there!

That's it for me. I came home to a house that needs me and a pile of assignments I pushed aside to make room for California. Time to get back to the scissors and my sewing machine.

Have a great weekend! It's almost February!