We are back from our vacation and back to reality. It was so great to get out of this Florida heat for a little while. The Pocono Mountains are truly beautiful. We got off to a slow start with traffic like I have never seen (poor little country girl that I am). I have travelled the I95 corridor a few times from here to Maine and have never been stuck in traffic around DC like we were going up, and on a Sunday afternoon no less. We knew it was bad when Joly started talking back to the GPS unit! She (we’ve given it a female persona b/c of the voice being female) would tell us how long we had to go and Joly started saying, “You will arrive in three days!” It was hilarious at the time, but I guess you had to be there. 🙂 We left here Saturday morning and finally arrived in Pennsylvania very late Sunday night.
However, once there, I can say that we had the most relaxing vacation ever. It was so nice to visit with friends and be so relaxed and laid back with our plans. The only set thing any of us had planned was to visit Philly on Wednesday. We had a great time in Philly visiting the museum, watching the guys pretend to be Rocky for a little while, and seeing the history of our nation. Oh, and let’s not forget eating cheesesteaks at Geno’s and Pat’s. We started at Geno’s and then the guys ran across the street to get some from Pat’s so that we could all taste some of both and make a fair comparison. Scott preferred Geno’s. However, the rest of us hands down voted for “Pat’s whiz with”. That was a Pat’s cheesesteak with cheesewhiz and onions and peppers! Oh man, they were good and you could taste the difference from what I’ve had before. I’m not a cheesewhiz fan and wouldn’t have thought I would like it, but it will be the only way I order it now!
Throughout the rest of the week, we went hiking and kayaking. Kayaking down the Delaware river was absolutely breathtaking. Katie and I also lounged in the backyard. I was also able to read two books while relaxing at the house we rented. I didn’t get any scrapbooking done at all! 🙁 But that’s OK, I really had a good time just hanging out with Katie and Scott. Oh, and my friend Katie made a design team for Scrapfit and was notified while we were there. Make sure you check out their website. I’m hoping for some motivation as well.
When, I returned, I found out that Katie has given me my first blog award. I’ll update later and share that with you all, but I want to include that in a separate update.
I also attended the CHA Supershow this last Saturday. I ended up going by myself and that wasn’t as bad as I had thought. However, I have to say, I was overall disappointed. This was the first time, to my understanding, that CHA has hosted a Supershow and opened it to the public. My impression is that unless you can get into the Tradeshow, it wasn’t really worth it. I did get a few tools that I have been wanting and was able to save on shipping costs, but the only great deal I truly found was on my glue refills for my GlueGlider Max / 2 for $10. I could not beat that. And I found out how to use it better and learned why it was getting so tight and how to fix that. The part that I was disappointed with was that the largest vendors there were Provocraft, Michael’s, JoAnn’s, and AC Moore. However, they were only doing Make & Takes; not selling any products. Provocraft was demonstrating the upcoming Gypsy, which I am drooling for (I am a tool freak and tech junkie), but was not selling cartridges or machines. Their Make & Takes were using cartridges that will only be available when purchasing the Gypsy. There were no large popular vendors there; no Basic Grey, Daisy D, Bazzil, etc. I couldn’t even find any vendors selling these products really, especially any of the new releases.
Nevertheless, I will admit my highlight was Papertrey Ink. They were a vendor there and I was able to meet a few of the gals and pick up some really great stamps, paper, and ribbon! I love their cardstock and ribbon and their stamps are so versatile. I can’t wait to share with you what I will do. If you haven’t tried any of their product yet or seen any of their amazing cards, you MUST visit their site.
I also visited a booth demonstrating Ribbon Ring and am now in the process of reorganizing my ribbon. I have been storing them in jars and boxes around my room, but realized I wasn’t really using what I have and didn’t even realize how much I had. I’ll post pictures of my ribbon stash when I’m done. I also caved and bought the new I-Top Bradmaker. I’ll use that soon and share it with you also.
I’m looking forward to the Scrapbooking Expo in December in Tampa! I’ve attended that before and I think for the everyday avid scrapbooker / cardmaker, it was a much better show. If you’re a professional and can get into the CHA tradeshow, I am positive it was much better. I’ve got to find a way into that! 🙂
Well, I’ve chatted enough, so I’m going to go back to organizing my ribbon and my craft room so I can get busy crafting this week. Stay tuned for updates!
Thanks for stopping by.
Cher~
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