ScrapFest'07 Recap

I know that this is about a month late, but better late than never, right? ;)

Well, my best friend, Heather, and I attended ScrapFest'07 at the Mall of America in September. It was incredible! Most of the major scrapbook manufacturers had booths where you could do free make 'n takes. Some were simple cards, but a lot of them were small projects, mini books, or layouts. There were also oppotunities to take classes taught by some of the industries' top designers like Heidi Grace, Tim Holtz, Elsie Flanigan, Marah Johnson, and Heidi Swapp. Heather and I were able to get into a Disney class by EK Success. It's a cute little mini book.

After our class, we started the make 'n take rounds. While waiting in line at the Fiskars booth, Heather and I had the opportunity to meet Heidi Grace. She was so super sweet! (She's one of my favorite designers, so I'm really glad that I didn't ramble and blubber like a complete idiot!) We were able to talk to her for quite a while about her upcoming releases and life in general. She's currently working on her 2008 paper lines and is expecting a new little girl in early '08. (Congrats, Heidi!)

Friday night, Heather and I attended a crop night sponsored by Fiskars. They provided an incredible dinner catered by Famous Dave's, goodie bags full of munchies and a custom-made ScrapFest '07 stamp, and an exclusive make 'n take. Since Heidi Grace Designs and Cloud9 Designs are both manufactured and/or distributed by Fiskars, Heidi and Amy & Nancy (Cloud9) were on-hand for part of the night, too. Since there were literally thousands of women attending ScrapFest that weekend, I was sure there was no way that Heidi would remember who we were. I was so surprised when she came over to say hello! We were also introduced to Amy & Nancy from Cloud9 Designs. Well, Heather and I really wanted to have our pictures taken with Heidi and "The Cloud9 Girls," but we were too chicken to ask. However, once one of the Fiskateers announced that the designers were available for pictures, Heather and I were both up lickety split! We had so much fun that night. True to form, I didn't get much done at the crop, but we had a really good time. And that's all that matters, right?

Saturday, Heather and I did the rest of the make 'n takes that we were interested in doing but hadn't had time for on Friday...and then went shopping! (We were at the Mall of America, afterall!) We also went to the IKEA across the street from MOA. It's only about 1/3 the size of the one in Schaumburg, IL, so there were things that we weren't able to find. That was a little disappointing, but I was able to stock-up on the highly coveted button jars. ;)

It was an absolutely fantastic girls' weekend. Thanks, Heather!

A Fun Website

I was browsing the website of one of my favorite scrapbook companies, Cosmo Cricket, and ran across an article explaining how they came up with the name of their company. The company is the brainchild of owners/designers Eric and Julie Comstock. When trying to come up with a name for their new company, they each put their name into a website called wordsmith.org (http://wordsmith.org/anagram/index.html). It takes the information you put in (your name, favorite band, whatever) and uses the letters to create a different word(s). Well, none of Julie's combinations made much sense - at least not for a company name. Eric tried his name, Eric Comstock, and Cosmo Cricket was born. Just for fun, I tried my first and last names. My best combo is "Mulberry Chile." If I ever start my own company, I think I'll use that for it's name. Try it out for fun and let me know what you find.

Hmmm...

A couple of people have asked that I post some pictures on my blog. I'm working on editing some pics, so stay tuned. (After looking at my headshot, I realized that it's really time to get an updated picture. Photo op, anyone?)