Lauren Ferguson | There are no mistakes in art, just opportunites to embellish. (tm)

This is the last book in the series...

I made this one last night. 

I really wanted to stamp on the cover, but I also love the paper.  So I am not quite sure.

But I do love the binding.

The only thing about this cover is that I had to add a bit of extra support by cutting pieces of chipboard and putting them in the covers.

The waxed linen will tear the paper if you pull it too tight.  The chipboard relieves that problem.

The other thing is that if you really want to do it well, you need to use the thinner waxed linen.  2 ply or 3 ply the 4 ply is much too thick.

I love it though.  I just need to make it on a larger scale.  The stitching part is fine, it is the covers that I need to work out.  I will probably use either stiffened fabric or wood next time. 

until we meet again,

My Big Girl Moment in the Gym...

**** Warning Spew Alert****  **** Warning Spew Alert****

As y'all know, I have been going to the gym.  My trainer went to Africa to visit her family.  I finished out my sessions with another trainer and decided that I really needed to work out a plan that was going to show results.

Also Carol, the other trainer, basically said to me that I would never see results if I did not start keeping a food journal and start being accountable for what I eat.

So after my crazy month in July, I decided the other night to get on Jenny Craig.  I need help with portion control and I need help with keeping a food journal.  I would love to say that I am stronger than I am.  But when you need help, you just need help.

Anywho, I am taking to the gym in the morning after I drop off the kids to school.  I then will meet with the trainer for a good 30 minutes so that I can get some core training.  Plus my muscles are warm and I am really getting my money's worth now.

So, I am rushing to get the kids off to school and it is 8.29 AM when I get to class that starts at 8.30 AM. 

So now this is how my Fat Girl in the Gym Moment Goes:

Instructor: "OK Ladies, spread you legs shoulder width apart and lets do some squats"
Instructor: "When you get down on this second round, I want you to pulse it out for four"
Instructor: "Can you feel the burn??  I can't hear you Ladies,  Can you feel the burn??"

Class: "O Yeah, I feel the burn"

At this point, I am sweating like a stuffed pig, my legs are burning and the next thing I hear in the silence....

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR--IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII--PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Y'all the back of my pants split.  Now, I must admit at first I thought to myself...

OH NO THIS DID NOT JUST HAPPEN TO ME!!!  THAT MUST HAVE BEEN SOMEONE ELSE.

So I go back down for another count of four.  At this point, reality has set in and I realize that...

YES I DID SPLIT MY PANTS!!!!

Y'all I put my hand in the back of my ass and felt flesh...  DO YOU HEAR ME... FLESH!!!

I realized at that point being in the front of the class was not a good thing.

It was like those cartoons when the fat person gets into a pair of pants that do not fit and when they bust, all the fat just pours out in large ripples of earth shattering unattractive flab.

Now, this is the point where everyone, who really knows me, asks the question mind you through their gut retching laughter...

"Lauren, did you have on a thong???" 

Let me say this... that was not the most of my worries, but to answer the question "NO!!"

And I am not sure why, because y'all know that I love my TDAONG-TDAONG-TDAONGS.

Now, back to my story...

I bust out laughing.  I mean like someone just told me the funniest thing in my life.  I could not believe it.  I just could not stop laughing. And all the people behind me are laughing because apparently, they already knew that I busted a hole in my pants and I had just realized it and they stopped to laugh AT me and my surprise.

Instructor: "Lauren what is so funny?"

I turn around and with my best bend snap and press, show her my ass.

She is in such shock that she falls off the stage.  And now the whole class is in stitches.

I tell them, I have to go and I will be right back.  I run home, get another pair of pants. And return to class to finish my workout.

I meet with my trainer who through the grapevine has heard that I busted out of my pants. 
Just so that y'all know, I am motivated... 

until we meet again,

Books Books and more Books

So what have I been up to the past few days.

First, I have been making books.  I am going to be teaching at Bonnie's Best Art Tools.  And one of the things that most people want to do is make books.  So I have gotten some new bindings that I have been working on.  I have also ordered a few new books from Amazon.  I am just so tired of the same three binding stitches over and over, that I needed to try something new. 

Second, I am making postcards for all of the people that I made contact with at CHA.  I really was just going to send emails, but then I remembered that we rarely every send hand written letters anymore, so a mail art postcard is just perfect.  I will be working on those this week.

Tell me what you think of the new bindings.  I think that these classes will be really great at her store.

until we meet again,

Destry this blog entry is for you!!!!

Ok, yall, now let me tell you about this woman that I met at CHA.

Her name is DESTRY....  Of course the first thing I did was ask what does her name mean.

She says, "No Clue, I was born in the 80's."  OK, Say no more, I get it.  I really only thought that black people gave their kids names like that but apparently I am wrong.

So anyway, she is a girly girl.  She even likes being a girly girl.  She is funny as hell---oooo.

She has this way of getting me in trouble because I am so damn loud, and she is just so quite.  Another one of those people I could not have sat next to in grade school. 

She knows everyone.  Oh, but that is not the half of it.

She has as many tattoos as me!!  Yes, she is very hip.  She has 10 or 15 kids.  Yes, I mean she has a baseball team and some substitutes.

Note to Destry: this is my story and I can tell it anyway I want and for my story you will have 15 kids because I said so.

Sorry for the abrupt digression, I can see her at home shaking her head and hands on her hips saying "I do not have 15 kids".  Now when she turns around and counts only 5 I want y'all to know that some are missing.

Anyhow back to my story.

I was so hungry the day of the Designer Showcase, that I went over to where she and Michelle were eating and ate the left overs right off their plates.  I mean I ate everything but the pickle and the tomato.  I may have eaten the pickle.  I am not sure.

So ladies, I just wanted you to know that Destry is my new friend.  I like her a lot and I am blogging about her because in my HUMBLED blog, I forgot to add her name to the list. 

Note to Michelle:  Stop whining, I love you too.  I love you like cooked food.  Stop it.  You are too whining.

Note to self: Never list everyone by name because you will always forget someone.  So from now one when I say my girls, the girls, my crew, the peeps, and all you special someones.  Trust me you know who you are...  I mean you.

until we meet again,

How did I get so much stuff???

Where did it all come from?  Who snook all this stuff in my house?  How did they do it without me watching?

I bet it was my evil twin... LO-RET-TA!!  I have tried to keep her under control and now look at this mess.  My place is an absolute sty.  I am just not sure how to get my hands around it.

I am at that point in this mess where I cannot see the forest through the trees.

I also desperately need to go food shopping and take a shower.  I believe that I am contributing to the hole in the ozone. 

Oh, I did just by a new computer from Dell.  I am afraid that the machine that I have had for the past 5 years is going to die on me and I am going to be really really hurt.  It has started to make a grinding and churning sound.  Yes, a gosh awful noise that makes you want to shut it down when it starts and give the baby a rest kinda noise.

Of course, I have backed everything up so I am not worried about things being lost, just really need to get a new machine so that I can send this one off to computer heaven.

So let me go and finish cleaning and then hopefully I can start working on the rest of it tonight. 

Oh, I must digress, 

Don't hate me because I am beautiful. I am off to get a massage today. 

So I must run.

until we meet again,

I am truly humbled

to the point that I cannot take a nap.  I know, I know, I am just as shocked as you are.

I just have had the most humbling 2 weekends in a row.  And y'all know it takes a lot to humble me.  Just such a warm wonderful feeling in my heart.

Now we all know that I have learned a lot these past few weekends...

First, DON'T EVER SHIP WITH DHL!!!

People have been placed in my life for a reason. 

Shelly was with me in Ann Arbor because she is my always half full cup friend.  She always finds her strength in God when the road seems bleak.  I really have to say that I was with her so that I could have a place to put my faith and realize that I could do it and NOT, I REPEAT NOT GIVE UP.  Shelly is always encouraging and she will call to just leave me a message that I am being loved even when I don't know it. 

Michelle Luther asked me to go to CHA.  She was willing to just let me come and walk with her and do the do.  She really has opened the door to all the possibilities of what I can do.  When no one else wanted to trust that I could teach in their store...  She took a leap of faith and just knew "that it felt right".  I mean what kinda faith can you have in someone that you have not set eyes on in over two years.  Y'all the last time she saw me I was pregnant with the boys.

Amy Wood...  well well well... Amy has made it clear that I am no longer allowed to do any planning on my own.  When I put on my big girl panties, I seem to always put them on backwards.  Yes, backwards.  If I had spoken to Amy before I made my decision to ship DHL, I would have been appropriately scolded and told to ship FedEx.  Amy reminds me that I need to book hotels, not over schedule myself and not to forget the kids birthdays. 

Melanie "yoda" Bruner, it is all her fault.  She told me about the Ranger Design Team and let loose my creative gene.  Now, I do have a story to tell.  Melanie is one of the best if not the best scrapbooker that I know.  I mean she is just got such an eye for everything, color, composition, size everything.  So here I am running behind my girl, have a hard time breathing, gasping for air and screaming "wait for me hold on wait for me".  Come to find out this heifer was born with the gene.  She has a degree in Interior Design.  Well finally I grabbed my knees and decided that she can run circles around me, I will catch her on the back end.

Then there are all of my girls who believe in me, in spite of myself, Debbie, Renee, Kay, Rebecca, Kriss, Kris, Andra, Cat, Jen, Shirley, Barbara, and Bethanne. 

Can I say this...

If you do not have a group of women in your life that you can go to for that stuff that woman do, I want to encourage you to do it. 

When you stop believing, they WON'T.  When you are exhausted and want to go take a nap, they will do your business cards for you.  When you need to have them printed, they will print them for you.  When you need to be reminded to take care of yourself, they will be the first with the large glass of water.  When you need that occasional phone call to be reminded that you have a friend, you get that encouraging voice on the other end.

Then you need to make it your mission to go out and find some. 

Your world will be a happier place.

until we meet again,

The Designer Showcase!!!

I am so glad that I became a member of CHA as a Designer.   Because I got to do the Designer Showcase.

So this is what they said about it in the book:

Designers are a powerful industry resource that can be tapped for creative impact. If you are a manufacturer or a member of the media (editor, publisher or press) and are looking for new sources of ideas to grow your business and attract crafters of all types then this is a must-attend event. The Designer Showcase is a series of tabletop displays packed with original project designs that represent each designer’s style and licensed properties. Discover new opportunities as the displays inspire you with their wide range of innovative designs. Private appointments will be held from 11:30AM-3:30PM on July 22nd.

Yep, so you go on Sunday Morning at 7 o'clock and set up your table.  Then you go back, take a shower, brush your teeth, put on the best you that you can find without having much sleep the night before and then you go and see if you have nay appointments.

Now, I will say that I liked the fact that you did not have to stand their and watch people walk past you. 

I liked the fact that if you really took advantage of the floor time on Friday and Saturday, you already had people coming in and seeing your range of stuff. 

I also liked the fact that there were manufacturers that I just did not know about who could see my style with their products.  Stuff that I did not even know existed and that was even greater.

I even had some publishers come up to me and say that they wanted me to do specific stuff.  Of which I was just glorified.  So between walking the floor and the showcase, I had a very successful weekend.

I HAD NINE!!!  Yes, I had 9 of them.  It was great!!!

I really was overjoyed and actually humbled by the experience.  I really thought that I had once again taken it over the top and I have learned some thing, but, this time, I had to go with the plan that I had.  It was say too late in the game to try and change anything.  I just would have to learn better for next time.

I really was excited about being able to put some stuff up that Ranger did take and a bunch of stuff that they did not take.  I was glad to be able to put up stuff that was not paper crafty and show my range.

OK, so what I have learned about my table for next year.

1. More business cards,  I did not have enough on the table.  And that is all I am going to say about that.
2. I am going to have more signage.  I am going to kinda make an ingredients list about what things are made from.  Like this book is made from baby wipes and color wash and used a batik technique.
3. I am going to group stuff according to categories.
4. And I am going to use steps and stages to lift stuff off of the table. 
5. Putting up signs to have people touch and feel rather than just look.  I want them to experience my stuff.
6. I am going to make up a press kit.  I got to see some of what the other ladies did and I now know what is required so I will have enough time to get it done.

Well, I need to finally get on my plane and head back to Atlanta...  We have moved gates twice and we have been delayed over and hour... so let me get to gettin'..

until we meet again,

 

Day 3 from CHA 2007

OK Yall,

I have worked this trade show like the cheap ______ (fill in the blank accordingingly) like I was taught. 

Yes, I have worked this whole convention.  Just doin' me is what I have been tellin' the world.

I have had so much fun.  The people in the craft world have such great hearts.  It is amazing to me see how many wonderfully open and giving people there are all over the place.

I guess to be real truthful, I was really amazed at how much people are just doin' what they love.

OK, OK, I am getting to the pictures right now.

First, big trend is still Bling, Bling and more Bling.  There is also a whole bunch of Glitter.  I mean Glitter is just everywhere.  So you know I was in hog heaven.

So lets get started about all the things that I really like.

Tim has the Distress Crackle Paint.  I love the color.  I love the fact that the brush is in the jar.  I just think that I am crackle challenged.  I can not get it to give me the big honkin' cracks that I like.  But I do love the display that he had at CHA.

Tim also has this stuff called Grungeboard.  I absolutely love it.  It is not chipboard, it is Grungeboard.  I asked a bunch of questions that no one would/could answer.... TRADE SECRETS.... 

But, it is different from chipboard in the sense that;

• it can bend without tearing,
• it can take all of the paint and color like a dearm,
• it has beautiful patterns, circle, swirls, harlequins and just plain.
• it takes can be sanded and it will not loose its design pattern.
• When you shake the sheet, the shapes and letters stay attached.

The possibilities are endless.  I have already purchased mine.  Y'all need to get some of this stuff.

FONTWERKS has some new acrylic stamps that I just must have.  They have really added their flair to the traditional doodle and some of the alphabets.

BasicGrey has three new lines that are worth talking about.  The first that I just ordered all of is OBSCURE.  I love the colors, I love the look, I love the feel, I love the way the solids have that extra bit of texture.  I just love this.  Almost as much as I love MOTIFICA and URBAN COUTURE.

Then the next one that I ordered is MELLOW.  I love the colors and the Asian flair.  I love the fact that they were bold enough to do it without having to drown it all in red.  Plus the blue solid actually looks like clouds.  I just love it.

 

Now y'all know how I feel about Technique Tuesday.  If I was to ever become a designer for them, I would just DIE, DIE DIE DIE DIE....  OK, you get the picture...  they came out with some very cool stuff.  They had at least four sets that I just knew they made for me. Yes, for me and only me!!!

Now, Amaco has this stuff that I had never heard of before and I am so feeling it.  I cannot wait to play with it is called FRIENDLY PLASTIC...  Talk about an artisits dream.  My mind was just realing when she came and talked to me. 

I am so in love with this stuff.  Of course, I love all of the wire and the metal sheets and now that I have all of the Ten Second Studio tools and stuff, I am jsut ready to kick some Metal Butt.

Now Ten Second Studios did give me a DVD to watch, so I am really excited about that.

I am just feeling like this was one of the nest choices that I could have ever made for myself.  It was good to be around everyone and just be noticed. 

Well, my plane is going to be here in a few minutes, so as I always say...

until we meet again,

Day 2 at CHA

Well, today was a great day!!!  I mean I had a fantabulous time walking the floor.

I spent a good deal of time talking with publishers and editors of magazines.  I was really quite surprised at the response that I had received from everyone.

Some people were more impressed with my previous life and some thought that it was a bold move to leave it behind.

I must admit that I am still amazed at all the stuff that is going on.  I mean it is wonderful to see everyone, but I have really tried to stay true to my mission here.

OMG, I completely forgot!!  Y'all know that the day would not be complete without some crazy unpredictable thing happening to me on the Exhibit floor.

I LOST MY CELL PHONE!!!  Yep, I lost it for about 6 hours.  I had everyone calling for it.  All the vendors in rows 1500-1600 were calling for my phone including Maya Road and 7 Gypsies.

"I became known as the Black Woman who is looking for her cell phone".  Sad but true.

Needless to say, it was found at Rusty Pickle.  And after they called everyone in my address book to see if they could find someone home, they decided to turn it into the office.

Now, here is the funny part.  My mom calls, and the lady in the office sees that the phone says Mom, so she answers it.  My mother says "hi, can I speak to Lauren".  They tell her that I had lost my phone, it was in the office BLAH BLAH BLAH. 

Now, I had already been to the office and called my Mom so she knew I lost my phone.

My mom says, "yes, she told me that she lost her phone, I just wanted to leave her a message".  Apparently, my Mom had that Momma tone and the lady in the office wrote this message down and handed it to me when I went to get my phone....  ARE YOU READY...

"Your mother is taking the kids to the Georgia Aquarium and wont be back until later in the evening".

I Love my Mother

until we meet again,

Day 1 at CHA

My first impressions were OK, this is cool.  I have everyone that I want to meet in one place and I can do me in person better than I can do me over the net.

There are so many vendors and so much stuff to see.  I am having a great time and there is a whole bunch of new stuff.  I would like to suggest that you check out Lifetime Moments to see it all.

But can I just say that I spent the first day on the floor just trying to take it all in.  I also wanted to make sure that I saw all of the girls before I really hit the ground running.

Tomorrow, I will be going to each and every booth to see what I can see.  Today I really did me with no plan.  Tomorrow is me with a plan.

OK, do you want to know how bold I am.  Like you did not know...

I took my Basic Grey Star Book over to Basic Grey.  Not only did I sit with the Creative Directors and others, but I made it my business to tell them that I submitted the book and never even got an honorable mention in the Be Bold Contest.  Yes, I did.  Just wanted to let them know this.  Well, once they started playing with the book, they could not stop. 

Then I went to Technique Tuesday.  When I was at CKC-Charlotte, Lisa who worked the booth had encouraged me to join the Ranger DT. Well, I wanted to say to her that not only did I do it but I made it.  Well she has moved on to do others things.  Not to let that stop me, I hooked up with the Design Team Coordinator and Creative Director there and told her to come by to the Designer Showcase.

I was only on the floor for about 2 hours, so tomorrow, I have a better plan and I am going to make it work for me.  I was hoping to have gotten more done today, but what I did get done was really well done.

I did get my tri-fold covered.  It came out nice.  I will be setting up the table on Sunday and I will take some pictures of how it looks.

until we meet again,