On our way home

I'm sitting at the Sacramento airport waiting to fly back to Southern California. It has been an exhausting but exhilarating three days. We have been going non-stop since we woke up on Sunday morning.

My first class was with Melodee of Hampton Arts. We made a travel themed book. I used several stamps that I had seen but hadn't purchased because I wasn't quite sure what I would do with them. Now I know! Melodee was very nice and gave us some good hints. She gave out a full color hand out with thorough instructions for each step. She also put the instructions up on a Power Point presentation. It really is time for me to come into the current century: trials, law school classes, and stamping classes would all be more effective with a Power Point presentation. That will be one of my personal goals for this summer while school is out.

Then we had a yummy lunch with several ladies from other stores. Everyone was very friendly and mingled while eating meals, having snacks or during classes. It was great to talk to folks from other stores in other areas to find out what is popular at their stores, and to pick up techniques from them.

Notice the little cutie in the photo who is holding my travel book? His name is Monito. He is my new traveling companion. He made lots of friends at the show and took his picture with several of the instructors. Cyn has a traveling companion also. Her name is Auburn. She is an adorable yellow Lab puppy. I heard some interesting rustling coming from our craft bags late at night. I think that Monito and Auburn may be sweet on each other.

On the Road again!

Cynthia and I are on the road again. This time we're in Sacramento. We are here for "A Class Event." It is put on by Millsrepco, Inc. The only people who can come are owners and employees of stamp/scrapbooking stores, designers, and teachers. There will be several workshops, a small projects festival, and a trade show. We are here for three days and they are going to be busy.

We flew up from Ontario about 3:00 p.m. today. We didn't have to rent a car because there is a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. We are staying at the Embassy Suites, close to Old Sacramento and the River Walk. We dropped off our luggage in the room and headed out to explore. We both love seafood so we got directions to McCormick & Schmidt. The concierge made it sound like it was close by, but it turned out to be about twelve blocks away. The weather was warm. We shared our dinner: seared ahi tuna, oysters and stuffed salmon. It was just enough. I tried to convince Cyn that we NEEDED a chocolate cupcake but she was strong for both of us.

On our sojourn back to the hotel, we met a couple of new friends. You will be seeing them on our blogs. They are very cute and will be traveling with us.

Tomorrow will be a long day. Registration is at 8:00 a.m. and our first workshop is at 9:00 a.m. Cynthia is taking "Product Performers" with Tim Holtz, making three grunge tags. I am taking a class with Melodee Langworthy highlighting new products from Hampton Art and Creative Cafe. Late morning Cyn will be taking a class featuring Cosmo Cricket. What a fun company they are! I love their new cowboy and cowgirl papers. I don't know what I will do with them, but they are very cute. While Cyn is in the cosmos, I will be learning about Daisy Bucket Designs. But the fun doesn't stop there...in the afternoon, Cynthia will be working with the Jenni Bowlin Studio. They also have some cool products. She'll be learning how to put together project kits. I will be hanging out with Leesa from Creative Impressions. Our focus will be on embellishments. Mid afternoon we will move on. Cyn will work with Technique Tuesday and their clear stamps, making embellishments and backgrounds. I will be making a Japanese style album with Kodomo Inc. It's not anything that I've done before so it should be a great learning experience.

It will be a long day!The small projects festival is Sunday night from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. We will be making 26 make it take its. Intense crafting ahead!

You are probably wondering how I am not jumping up and down and doing major pouting because Cyn gets to take a class with Tim Holtz on Sunday and I am not. It's because I get to take his workshop on Monday! I am so, so excited. I love his art and he is an inspiration. I stood at his shoulder and watched him work at the convention for about 3 hours. Not only is he incredibly knowledgeable about stamping, he is very generous with sharing techniques and tips.