Some of the vendors came out and delivered coupons that were valid at certain times of the day. One of the behind the scenes workers from The Stamps of Life came out to deliver. As soon as I saw her I asked her if she was so and so and she said yes. I have to admit I went a little fan girl crazy on her and gave her the card I had made for her.
Then headed off to my first workshop of the day. (I had signed-up for 3). B's intentions were to come with me for a short time and then go to a coffee shop to work for the day. With the rain coming down he decided to just go sit in the car until the first workshop was done. As I neared my classes location I realized that my ticket to get into the class was still in the bag that he had taken to the car. So I turned and jogged over to the car. It being a rental I couldn't remember what it looked like. Luckily as he was putting the bag in the car he realized that he had the ticket and started to head in my direction. We met and did the trade off and I ran back to my class.
The workshop was Amazing!!! I had so much fun learning the techniques and the amount of goodies they give you in the goodie bag is astounding! Pattern paper pads, markers, dies, stamps, embellishments. It's just over all awesome! The girl beside me won the door prize which I think I may have been more excited about than she was. She was quite reserved. I felt like sitting so close to the winner made me so much closer to being a winner too. After making 3 cards the workshop came to an end. As I walked out my husband was standing right there and we went to walk around for a quick 30 minutes until my next workshop began. I had wished the workshops were a little more spaced out but that's just how the timing worked out for the ones that I wanted to participate in.
B asked me if I wanted some lunch and he would bring it to me in my class. I ran to class (literally jogged) as I was running a little late because I had gotten carried away at staring at all the wonderful product in the Cre8tive Artz booth. When I arrived I walked in and went straight to the front of the class. Then I remembered that B was coming with my lunch so I went back to the back of the class so he would be able to find me without interrupting the class time. Again I may have been a little over zealous with expressing my excitement. At one point the instructor said, "instead of yelling out we'll just use happy hands". And she demonstrated the silent cheer with her hands. I wasn't sure if this was to get me to be more quiet or to get the other classmates to participate. It didn't keep me quiet, if that was her intent, as I yelled out, "I have happy hands" every time I used them. Obnoxious maybe. Did I have a fabulous time playing with crafts in the middle of the afternoon without my children interrupting me? YES! What a fun class. They introduced us to some new products that I had never seen before like the peel off stickers. I know what you're thinking. Stickers?! Seriously? But let me tell you they are so much fun! You peel them off and stick them on your project (they are the outline of your image) and then you colour them in. We stuck ours on glitter paper and then used copic markers to fill them in and blend. They turned out so great. They gave away so many fun products to try at home. It's great because they are things I would have just walked by and paid no attention to, to be honest. But because we had a chance to try them out and play I fell in love. I gave some to my friend S when I arrived home and she also fell in love with them. Stickers, who knew right?! Here's a link to the product here: Outline Stickers
And here's a picture of what my project came out like. (The cupcake and cherry are the outline stickers).
When the second workshop was finished I came out to a very excited hubby. He had gone walking around the expo while I was busy "working". He had a few items that he just needed me to see. I pumped the brakes a little and said that I had a few places I wanted to hit up for sure before going to see his items. When I listed off the last 3 wishlist places off my list he got so much more excited because those were the places he had seen these must see things. It was so sweet to see him so excited. We did some shopping. They started to do the golden ticket draws and B said he was going to go and check it out. I was engrossed at looking at the hundreds of brads at the very back of the expo so I opted to keep looking. When he returned my response was, "Shut-Up! How are we going to get that home" I had one the golden ticket prize from Rubbernecker Stamps. Inside was over $300 worth of product and again stuff I would never have picked on my own. I loved that I was being pushed out of my comfort zone with product. It opened my eyes to see how much of a beginner I really am. Instead of feeling intimidated I feel excited and very much like a really excited little puppy. Luckily the items were just taped to a foam board so it collapsed quite nicely and fit in my suitcase just fine. Here's a picture of the loot:
It was time to head to my 3rd and final workshop. This one was being taught by Stephanie from The Stamps of Life. I was over the moon excited. You see I have been following her for about 5 years now. My friend S first introduced me to stamping 5 years ago at bible study and I liked it so much I searched for something on youtube and up popped a 30 second card in 5 minutes video. It was quirky and funny and seriously she just reminds me of my sister so I really enjoyed watching her. Then as I watched I started to learn techniques and product and there started my new addiction. This was the one workshop I was really really excited to take part in. I sat beside this really nice lady and warned her that I am a little over the top. Turns out she was too (She's a hula hoop competitor) so as two peas in a pod we giggled and just straight up enjoyed the experience. We learned some new techniques to do with older product (that I already have so it rejuvenated them). She also showed us some new product and we got a really fun goodie bag. Seriously so much product and all stuff I absolutely love! This workshop was a watch and listen lecture. It was like watching one of her videos but she was live! How fun! Then I won one of the door prizes. It was the Star Flip-it set. She is just as lovely in person as she appears on her videos. Her team is stellar and just delightful. It was fabulous meeting them all.
After the workshop B and I just walked around and checked things out and shopped and chatted with people. There was no lack of anything to do. Most booths had some sort of make and take activity. They also had another mini class going on most of the time near the back. They had a game going on periodically where they would say a number and if you were standing on the number located on the floor then you won a prize. I loved hearing the little cries of joy coming from random places in the warehouse.
The day went until 5pm and we left at 4:45. We just ran out of steam but man alive that was probably one of the most fun days. If you ever get the chance to go to a Stamp and Scrapbook Expo I would highly recommend going. There was so much we didn't do but that's what next year is for. I came away feeling so happy with the experience. I think the part that really got it for me was meeting the dreamers(owners) behind these companies. Having the opportunity to putting a face to name, having some personal chats with each of them was definitely the highlight. I love hearing people's stories, everyone has one. Leave a comment telling us how you got started in your hobby!
Until next time,
Chelle
