Why is it that a trip to the scrapbook expo makes me feel like I was drug behind a truck? Icky.
Well, it's 9am and for some god-forsaken reason I woke up naturally at 8:30am on a Saturday, which is almost an hour earlier than I get up on a workday/weekday. I am sure this is probably because I had to get up at 6:30am yesterday, and now I am all off cycle. Damn!
Let's recap: Thursday I was off, doing the housewife thing. I also ordered parts for my car and planned on Tacos with family Thursday night at 6 & 34 in Sheffield. Well, 15 minutes before I was planning on getting into the shower to get ready for Tacos, I was sitting at the scrapbook table working on my altered journal, just adding a page, and Evan came in and said "we need to empty the white truck and take it back to the farm so grandpa can use it tomorrow." I was like "Oh, does he NEED to use it tomorrow?" this happens every time we need to borrow a truck. So the back of the old truck is FULL (heaped, mounded) with mushroom compost (mulch.) So we go outside. I hoop hoe two flower beds around the whole front of the house and husband shovels and I spread. We unloaded and spread a whole truckload in 45 minutes. Record time. So covered in shit and sweaty, I run in to take a shower and it is 6:30! Yikes! We are supposed to be leaving in less than 15 minutes to meet my family for dinner and neither of us has showered and my hair isn't done, no makeup. Ugh. So I call my mom, explain the situation, apologize profusely, and rush through a shower, drying my hair, makeup, getting dressed, so that I am ready in 25 minutes. Evan comes in all casual and wanders into the bathroom, takes off his shirt, I say "did you look at the clock?" and he said No... and looked and was like Shit. Can you call your mom? So we hurry. We end up driving the white truck and my car to the bar so we can take the truck to the farm afterwards, and then it is so packed that they didn't reserve the table that we asked for the day before, and we ended up not getting our table till like 8 and not eating till like 8:30. But the waitress was apologetic and super (at her job and just plain nice) so it was okay. Nice to eat with the family.
I meant to balance the checking accounts, but with all this happening, we didn't get home till 10, and I still had laundry to finish and things to get ready for my trip Friday, and I was still running around at midnight.
And then I got up at 6:30am friday.
And drove to meet the girls for the scrapbook expo. We were there early, and saw all these ladies walking to the door and waiting in line for it to open. I painted my toes in the car. Then we went inside and waited in line. Once we got in, it was so packed you couldn't walk, let alone get in or out of booths. I probably only went to 50% of the booths. I would look from afar, and if it was not something that thrilled me, I wouldn't even attempt it. There were times when I would get in a booth and you literally couldn't move around to see anything, let alone get back out. Sometimes I would be in a booth almost 10 minutes not even moving because it was so packed. I have to say that this is the most poorly laid out expo I have ever been to. And others that I talked to agreed. After two hours, I just plain wanted OUT of there. And I was out of money. I didn't go into embellishment booths, because I told myself I already have enough embellishments that I haven't used. I was looking for tools, crafty ideas, techniques.... no page kits. No Jolee's. No stickers. No eyelets. Things I would bring back and use. I only bought one embellishment and NO paper at the expo.
I did get a whole slew of 40% off Sizzix stuff, including embossing folders and templates, 4 sizzlet dies (drinks by Stu Kilgour) and 5 ellison thin cuts (firecracker, guitar, tag #6, Water Splat, and Star #2 ~ which were buy 4 get one free) and a long sizzlet film strip die and cutting mats (like I used in this layout) AND I got the sidekick tote that I had been eying online, that carries the sizzlet machine and 60 dies, plus all your accessories. Very cool. I also bought some chipboard (giant letters, shapes, and a sander that fits into tiny curves) and two of Judith's stamps. I met Judith there and purchased her catalog, and she is not only talented, but extremely polite and funny. That was a pleasure. I also got a very cool reduced price combo kit with 48 half-stick pastels, an instructional CD, three brass templates(Fairy, Butterfly, Paisley), glitter glue, and accessories from The Stencil Collection. Those tiny little blonde girls were stenciling up a storm and it was impressive. Their brass stencil collection was also vast and impressive, although I thought they were expensive.
I didn't make any make-and-takes at the expo. It was WAYYY too crowded. Way! I only signed up for three mailing lists/giveaways and I had address labels for a ton. Either they didn't have any, or you couldn't see them because it was so damn packed. We would have done much better to go later in the day when the rush was over or not on the first day of the expo the second the doors opened. But We decided that from this point we may not go to expos, but just take trips to scrapbook stores.
After the expo, we ate at Cheeseburger in paradise in Downer's Grove, and went to Archivers. I was an archivers virgin. Archivers was the best part of the trip. They carry so many name brands, and things that I see in magazines, it was worth it. Plus they had a free make and take which taught us how to use the best tool that I saw all day (and one that hadn't been at the expo!) The Crop-A-Dile! This thing sets eyelets and punches holes (even through metal, chipboard, etc) with LESS EFFORT than a fiskars hand punch and absolutely no noise. Wow. It isn't an "anywhere punch" so don't through out your click-it just yet....but once you get beyond that, for $24.99, you have to have one. And I do. Now.
I also got a giant wooden "M" to decorate, two bottles of flowers (browns and blues, earthy color mixes) some urban window supplies in the "Diner" pattern to finish my tin purses (coordinating Diner paper, a Diner Goodie Box {chipboard letters, numbers, shapes}, etc) - and the crop-a-dile... and an ellison embossing folder "daisies"
Well, then on the way home I picked up my car in Peru, and went to JoAnn Fabrics, where I watched a store employee harshly reprimand a woman who was trying to return yarn that smelled like sigarette smoke and animal urine... and bought 3 yards of fabric and 1.25 yards of elastic to start my skirt. Clearance fabric that was way cheap. So away we go!
I also went to the mall and got my wedding ring and earrings cleaned and checked (Zales 6 month checkup) and then came home. Then last night I babysat Ava for a few hours. And here I am!
Today I feel guilty for spending so much ca$h and I am telling myself no more scrapbook supplies for a few months. I have everything I could ever want and more. Time for some craftiness and no more "buying." I hate feeling guilty. I spent my own money. I worked for it. But I still feel guilty.
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