CKC Notes and a Giveaway!

Happy Thursday, y'all! I have had this post half-written for weeks, and it is time to put it to press. I had such a great time at CKC Louisville this year, I thought I would share a few pics aaannnddd...give away some loot! In years past I took a bunch of classes, going all day, then squeezing in just a little bit of shopping. This year I decided to only take a few, then spend the rest of the time hanging out with my SIL Ann Marie and, well.....shopping. The classes I took this year I really enjoyed. While I don't think I can show you full pictures, I wanted to show you a few little glimpses to hopefully peak your interest. I added links to products if I have them

{SEI-Amazing Cards, Amazingly Simple} While I respectfully disagree with the title 'simple' part, these cards were a lot of fun to make and the colors are BEAUTIFUL! Check it out: The cards all have one uniques feature: something slides, a shaker box, something pulls out. Really creative designs! One small complaint. There were so many people in the class, and the projects were pretty complicated. With only one teacher, it was hard to follow her or ask questions. I would suggest Having one or two teachers aides who can go around and answer questions. They had volunteers, but they were unfamiliar with all the folding techniques. However, they had excellent color instructions, and they helped a ton when I was confused. Another bonus: The class kit was huge and I had enough leftovers to make a whole other set of cards.

{Studio Calico-Terrific Trends} This was one of three classes I took of theirs this year. They were all great! I have confessed my love for SC and their products before, so I kind of stalked their classes...and their retail booth-ha! This class came with enough products to make a few layouts and extras-including a full pack of wood veneer stars! This was a very messy class...Just ask Ann Marie. She left with more than just a little Mr. Huey on her shirt-ha!

{Studio Calico-Misting & More}

Another messyfabulous class! This time we used their Mr. Huey sprays in a dozen different ways. It gave me a lot more confidence in using them. Look at my cute little projects:

It was orginally supposed to be a two page layout, but I decided to combine the pieces and made a one pager. And it turned out really nice.

I also took the Fabrips Album class. Another winner! This was their first year putting classes into CKC, and they were very well put together. They even dealt with the 'ourfirstyearthingsaremissingfromthekits' hangups with humor and fast fixes. Greg, one of the co-owners got a workout from running fom the booth to classes to help find lost items! HA! Just in case anyone from SC happens to read this the only suggestion I had is it would be really nice to have printed instructions. That would be nice to help remind people of the techniques they tried and finish up any projects they didn't in class. However, I think I overheard one of the teachers saying they were planning on that anyway.

And....the teachers. That may have been the best part of taking the SC classes. It was so fun meeting some of the people behind the website that I frequent almost daily. Kelly Purkey taught two, she was funny and really kept the class going with ideas and techniques she had to share. April Foster, the other co-owner was fantastic! She is a Kentucky girl, so we had lots to chat about. And, we did talk. I kind of feel bad for the other people in the class, I may have monopolized the conversation! :) I pestered her for a picture after class.

possibly the most awkwardly posed picture ever? I swear we don't always look that chessy! lol

On to my lil' surprise....

Look at all that swag! I put together a box full of supplies that I bought at the Vendor Faire, or recieved as freebies. There's papers from new releases (Studio Calico and SEI), a stamp set from Bella Blvd. The doily stamp from SC (my favorite, so I bought one to share!), and a copy of a very funny little book called Snippets from my online friend Lain.See those little white things at the bottom of the picture? Those are butterflies from SEI. They are made wiith resist, so you can ink, spray them and their designs pop! They are so pretty in real life!!

So....how do you win? Easy-peasy. Two ways:

#1 become a follower. Yes, this is a shameless plug to get people to read my blog! (insert evil laugh here)

#2 leave a comment below. I love reading everyone's comments. If you have a blog-link me up! I will be sure to return the favor.

I will keep the contest open until Monday, April 11th at midnight. Sorry, I can only ship to people in the U.S.

Good luck!

Thanks for stopping by!

Later,

Michelle