JoyOfStamping

When I say that I’m a lucky girl, I truly believe it!!!!  Last weekend was a prime example of how good life really is! 🙂  Archivers hosts Scrapfest at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, MN.  This was their 10th one and I was so excited to be able to go.

My trip started with meeting my besties in PHX.  We had a nice lunch at the airport and it was nice to be able to catch up with my boyz. When I am with them, it is constant giggles and laughter.  MJ is getting better and better with his self-portrait skills. 🙂

We flew into MN a day before Scrapfest to go to the Junk Bonanza.  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect….  I didn’t know if there was going to be piles of “junk” like a garage sale or how big this thing was going to be.  No matter, I was happy to go.

WOW!  I was pleasantly surprised how well everything was displayed!  Every booth looked AMAZING.  If any of you have been to CHA, it was like a hundred idea-ology booths.  So much to look at… so many fun displays.  I have to say, the thing I loved most was seeing how happy tim was.  He was like a kid in a candy store with all of those yummy treats.  MJ and I made several trips to the car to drop off some of tim’s purchases.  I can’t wait to see what he does with stuff he bought.

The next morning was the start of scrapfest.  The crew was ready to go. 🙂  We took a picture at the world’s largest scrapbook page before class started. Such a fun crew: tim, Patti and Terry from Ranger, Michelle Cutts, MJ.

Patti and her team did such an amazing job prepping for these classes.  And I also know all of the hard work that MJ and tim put into these classes, too!  What a team….

tim taught in the rotunda in the middle of the mall. Love this shot that MJ took when class started.

We sure did had fun being class helpers.  Here we are “helping” during class! 🙂

After the 2 back to back classes are done, we grab a quick bite to eat for lunch and then tim demos in front of archivers for a couple of hours.  The first day, he demoed the vagaond and the alterations line.  The second day, he demoed distress.

(just have to add that I love his shirt… its pretty bad @$$)

One of my favorite parts of Scrapfest is running into friends.  Heather Nichols (aka Pinefeather) and HB (aka Carol) have been friends of mine since I started my crafting journey.  We met on Splitcoast and we use to go to crafting retreats in Wisconsin during the summer.  No matter how busy our lives get, when I see these two, we can pick up where we left off.  I adore them and I am so grateful to have them in my life.

Another friend that I love running into is Natalie. 🙂  I met Natalie when I attended my first scrapfest when I was still with Our Craft Lounge.  She was so much fun from the beginning.  We were constantly running into her… so as a joke, Cambria had started calling her our stalker.  She is definitely someone that I look forward to seeing during Scrapfest. 🙂

And we had so much fun being able to hang out, go shopping, have dinner, ride a few rides, and fill the night with laughter.

And what trip wouldn’t be complete without MJ sporting a hat?  Love him in this stylish cheesehead.

Oh… and congrats to MJ for hitting 10,000 tweets. 🙂

I loved spending time with this guy… whether it was taking trips back and forth to the car or packing boxes…. he really is very special to me.

Fun, fun, and more fun.  I adore these boyz… oh how they can make me laugh.  One night I laughed so hard, I was crying… I also didn’t think MJ would be able to breathe.

And before I knew it, we were off on a plane heading back home……

Amazing weekend with amazing friends…. I’m a lucky girl!