No way!

Has it really been almost a month since I blogged about getting away for the weekend?! Yikes! I want time to slow down. It's moving way too fast for me to keep up. Speaking of time flying by, my oldest is about to turn 12. I can't believe it. I know that 12 is still so young but at the same time, how can he already be 12!?!?

Anyway, let's get caught up on the past month. When last we "spoke" I was at my sister's house in VA for a little "me time". I returned so refreshed and stress-free (other than a cold/sinus infection. Yuck!) Then it was time to begin thinking about Thanksgiving.

This year, Wendy decided to have Thanksgiving at her VA house with both sides of her family. It was a wonderful weekend. The food was amazing and the company was fun. We ate, played games, ate, stayed up late, ate, and shot guns. Oh, and we ate some really good food!

This past Friday night was the last crop night at my LSS. It will be closing soon. I'm so sad. I have known Traci, the owner since she opened 4 1/2 years ago. It's been such fun to work for her, teach classes, and make many new friends. I hope we don't all lose touch. We made the last crop night a party. Lots of people brought food. Several were there from the time she opened that morning until midnight. There was good food, drinks and lots of laughs. Oh, and we all got a little scrapbooking done! Thank you, Traci for all your hard work. It was truly a special time for me and a privilege to get to work for you and with you.


Now it's time to think about Drew's birthday. He will be turning 12 and he can't wait. I can't believe I will have a teenager in only one year. Scary. But he's a great kid, doing well in school and growing up everyday. For his birthday, we are going to take him and a few friends to see Harry Potter, then have cake and open presents at home. I'll be sure to post a few pictures.

After that will be Christmas. We decorated the house this past weekend and most of my shopping is done. Yay! I need to begin signing Christmas cards (handmade again this year) and wrap a few things. It certainly feels like winter around here. Temps are in the 40s.

On the 16th, Jeff will have knee surgery and then be home for 8 weeks. He's not one to sit around and do nothing. This should be interesting!

That about catches you up on the Patterson's. Hope you are having a wonderful Holiday Season!

Most. Amazing. Birthday. Ever!

And technically it's not even my birthday until the 25th! Seriously, this has been the best weekend. I got to attend 3 mini classes at Inspired, Donna Downey's big creative weekend. And get this - it was right around the corner from me! Love that!

Anyway, I got to go shopping at the vendor fair and take 3 classes. All of which were so amazing! Someone asked "What was your favorite class?" and I really have a hard time answering that because they were all great in different ways. The first was on Thursday night with Stephanie Ackerman. It was a 5x7 bound chipboard book using Teresa Collins papers. So cute! We made paper roses for the cover. Loved it! She even had home-made chocolate chip cookies for everyone! They were delish! A few of the girls that sat at my table were a bit rowdy so it was tough to hear Stephanie but she included a CD with instructions. Smart! I can't wait to finish that book!

Then, on Friday night I met up with Pam and her sister Sandy and we took Margie Romney-Aslett 's mini book class. I was looking forward to meeting Margie the most and she didn't disappoint! She is so nice and funny and sassy! I wanted her class to last all night because she was so fun! Her paper line and embellishments are too cute and the project was great! It's made from a single file folder and tags. Lots of her great product included in the kit. And she showed us how to make super-cute flowers from tissue paper and even crepe paper! I can't wait to finish this project!

The last class was from the Glitz Design girls, Laura and Ginger - aka: the Glitz Girlz! This was one of the last classes of the night. It had been pushed back about 30 minutes because the dinner earlier in the evening ran long. Stacey Julian was the key-note speaker so everyone waited to start their classes until it was over. Anyway, when Pam, Sandy and I showed up (about 10:00pm) we were the only ones in the class! Everyone else came and got their kits and left. Most of them had been there all weekend and were exhausted. Finally 2 other ladies showed up so it was just 5 of us at a table with the Glitz Girlz having our own private class! It was awesome! The project was altering an old book using Glitz Design papers and embellishments. Again, lots of product and technique. About half way thru, Margie Romney-Aslett showed up and sat at the table with us and we chatted like old friends! At one point, Margie walked over to a box that was sitting on a back table. She asked if it was pack up and ready to be shipped home. The Glitz Girlz said no, that it was trash. I looked in it and it was full of old books and even some cool old tins! Margie gave them to me! Score!! Of course, I shared with Pam and Sandy and the other lady who was still there.

Stacey Julian took Stephanie's class with us! Such a surprise to get to meet her!

There was a raffle for 6 or 8 Prima camera bags that had been altered by some of the big names in papercrafting. I took pictures of just a few. The bag on the left was done by Tim Holtz; the bag on the right was done by Margie Romney-Aslett; the pink bag done by Heidi Swapp. All the bags were amazing and the money raised went to Hope For Haiti.
Such an amazing time, filled with so much creativity and fun and laughter. I think my head is going to expode from all the inspiration and ideas! I can't wait to share them all with you!

Create something today!