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

I'm on CrafterTV!!

It has been a week of great new beginnings and I love it.

I drove up to NJ to spend a few days with my very first Design Team Coordinator Jen Starr. She was teaching a few classes at the Scrapbook Expo and I have always wanted to see her teach. It was a great experience for me getting to watch her hold court.

I had a blast being her Head Minion. She is good. I mean she is really good. And as her classes got larger she got better.

The trip was well worth it just for that alone. Then I came back to her house to relax and her wonderful husband Mike had meatloaf with red gravy, homemade mash potatoes and my favorite Entermann's Chocolate Covered Donuts for an after dinner snack with a big mug of coffee. I have not had them since 1987. I's a long story, but needless to say I LOVE THEM MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF. That is the donuts, while I do love Jen and her family, it was definately the donuts.

This morning I received an email from Vicky Murray, Executive Director at Scrappy TV. I filmed a small segment as part of a contest at the CHA Super Show, and it is on the net!!!

Considering that it was my first time ever doing anything crafty in front of the camera, I think I did pretty well. Or better yet, I should say that they edited the hell out of the footage and made me look better than I could have ever imagined.

The title of the segment is Everything Old is New Again. Go check it out!

Well I am off to pilfer through Jen's stash and see what I can find.

Oh don't hate me because I am beautiful, just hate me!

Her husband told me that I cannot say NO to anything that I am told to take.

Who says NO to free shit from Jen Starr. Not me!!

until we meet again,

Change is Hard

I always thought that decisions were hard. Until recently, I have realized that it is not the decision but the change. And let me tell you if you are not all on the same page it is a nightmare!

I have had my own fair share of bumps in the road, decisions that needed to be made and a family to maintain.

So here is how it has gone for the past 12 days...

Decision 1: Chi-Chi can ride the bus to school.
Change 1: I have to get up at 6.45 every morning to get her ready. Thank Heavens she loves riding the bus because she is up at 6.30 telling me to get up so that she can get ready for school.

Decision 2: The boys are being home schooled.
Change 2: My time is no longer mine. Phone calls must be made in between lunch and the next activity. Emails must be answered in the middle of the night. If I did not have an iPhone, I would be stuck.

Decision 3: The boys are being home schooled with me.
Change 3: My family thinks that I am crazy and most of the time wants to check and double check if I am doing this right. RIGHT???!!!! I have to keep reminding them that at least if I mess it up I have no one to blame but me. And trust me they are going to be more messed up over other things than learning your ABC's and 123's.

Decision 4: I am going to have a License and Design Booth at CHA-W 2010.
Change 4: I have to get all my ducks in a row to pull this off. I did not realize until I started getting this together how large of production I am going to need to put together. I had to let go of some commitments in order to stay on top of other stuff and my submissions to Altered Arts Magazine.

Decision 5: I am going to write a book.
Change 5: This is a big girl step for me. I am a book junkie. I run away to B&N to just sit and read the books in the craft section. I have seen my stuff in some of them. So why not take it to the next step. Write One. So that is my plan to find someone who thinks that I have something worthy to say and my art is good enough for B&N.

And within the possibilities of change...

Decision 6: I will embrace my inner T-I- double Grrrr - R.
Change 6: I am going to face every day looking for the silver lining. Go ahead, ask me... How is that working for you? I have to say that I have done it two times with great results. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

So it has been a week of new decisions and change. I love the direction of my life and would not change it for the world.

Just to let you know, the decision was easy. Making and keeping my commitment to all the change has had me paralyzed for two weeks.

But after wonderful conversations with great women (way too many to list here) over the last two weeks, I have a plan and I am putting it into action.

Oh and by the way...

If y'all have nothing to do this weekend, Jen Starr is teaching classes at the Scrapbook Expo in New Jersey. I have volunteered to be her minion for the weekend.

I am driving up to raid her craft room plus I cannot afford all the over weight luggage fees so why not rent and drive.

If you are in NJ and want to see the person that teaches me everything I know about color and inks, you need to take a class with Jen Starr.

I have never seen her teach, but from what I am told it is magic. So rather than read about it, I am going to see it first hand.

So I will be on the road, by myself with a case of red bull and my iPod.

I don't think that this is an official running away.

I would call this a few days of Daddy doing all the parenting.

I bet when I get back, I will be thoroughly appreciated.

until we meet again,

Firsts are always easier than you think.

I know you know what I mean. The first time is never as hard as I make it out.

What is hard is the transition from the first to the second. OMG! Yes I have had an epiphany!

You guessed it Chi-Chi has decided that riding the bus is not as bad as I thought it would be.

She loves it and wants to know when she can walk across the street and wait by herself.

I had to burst her bubble immediately and tell her "NEVER". I also had to let her know that it is not an issue of trust for me it was an issue of her safety. And we practice safety because McGruff The Crime Dog gave us a plan. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

So she has had a blast over the past week. Me, I am not a morning person. I have been making the adjustment as best I can. I am judging my success on her not missing the bus one day this week. WOOO HOOO!!!

Over the summer, the kids asked me to get one of those upside down tomato things.

So yes, I did just that I figured if I took them over to my parent's house, they would have a fighting chance to grow.

After they had taken root, they just grew but we had no fruit. I just figured that I had planted them too late.

It was our first time planting and we would do better again next year. Well, to my surprise, the kids have harvested some mini Roma Tomatoes. They love them.

The boys are home with me and we are having a blast. The first thing we did was walk around the house and start labeling it up with index cards with the words on them.

So on the door is door and the stair is stair and so on. 

Well Ziggy decided that he wanted to make lunch with my Brother in Law rather than label up the house.

So I decided to take the time with Mr. Du and just hang.

My husband has a bamboo plant at the front door of our house. I have wanted to throw it out for the last two years. I don't keep plants because I have a brown thumb. I have asked him to clean it out. He says that he has and it still looks nasty and the same to me. Oh well, it is not my plant so I am just not going to fight this battle.

Sorry I digressed, off we go to finish labeling up the house.

We see a Vase with Rocks in It and a Plant. So I have all of these things labeled up and I am ready to move on. Mr Du stops me and the conversation goes something like this.

Wait Mama, we have to finish this one.
We are done we have a vase, with rocks and a bamboo plant. What else do you need?
What is that stuff mama?
What stuff?
That green stuff.
I told him that it was spelled S-L-U-D-G-E.

Well next thing I knew a bunch of adults that had stopped by to visit busted out laughing and my husband comes in the room and says "Must you be so L-O-U-D!"

Oh, I have never laughed so much.

He told me to take it off. I told him that I could not until it was gone. When he cleaned it out and the S-L-U-D-G-E, I would remove the label.

I get a giggle every time I walk past the S-L-U-D-G-E.

We had a lot of firsts this week.

until we meet again,

The ripple effect was enormous

It has been a great couple of days just getting back into being at home and the great high from CHA.

The Supershow was a bit overwhelming for me. But let's keep it in perspective Toys R Us overwhelms me.

I like the atmosphere of the Trade Show side. It works for me.

I did have fun with reading my blog. Craft Critique did a great article about the Crafty Storytellers.

I had a great time trying out for the next Crafting Diva on the local station here in Atlanta. It was just fun!

Can I tell you what has really made it for me. Can I tell you my epiphany.

No, not that I met Carol Duvall.... Did I tell you that I met Carol Duvall.

Oh, but I started to digress...

It was going to the mailbox Tuesday morning after repacking a simple box of stuff for one of my Tweeps.

By the time I had gotten hugs from complete strangers and some high fives from various folks, I realized that...

are you ready here come the epiphany...

I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!! That's right you heard it here first.

My small bit of indignation turned into a mini revolution.

What was originally a small box of discarded scrapbooking supplies turned into a 50 pound box of smiles.

I am glad to have been a part of it.

until we meet again,

Spray Paint and Scrapbooking is it possible??

OK, so I got you attention!!

Scrap Tastic is having a technique challenge on their board from now until August 31st to post to the layout gallery.

Here is the link to the challenge

So the challenge is:

Make your own stencils (yes also masks are ok), use the ones you have, use lace, punchinella, cake doilies - whatever could make a fun stencil/mask.

Use it with glimmer mist, acrylic paint, ink, watercolors, spray paints -whatever.

It sounds like fun. Yes, I am going to put some paint on my layouts and try to get some scrapbooking done this month.

Plus I promised that I would at least put up one layout to the gallery.

Nat Kalbach is from Germany and she really does some funky stuff with pages. It has a really great artsy feel and she is a fabulous photographer.

Go check her blog out at http://www.scrapbook-trends.com/

Dont forget about the challenge!

until we meet again,

I say the same thing every year...

IT WAS THE BEST CHA EVER!!!

But it is the truth. I only get to see some people two times a year if I am lucky.

Then there are people that you meet in between those times and you finally get to meet them face to face.

I had a blast.

Did I tell you that I met Carol Duvall!!!  Yes, I did I met Carol Duvall!!!

I made a blithering fool of myself. But you have to understand, I grew up on PBS. We had Julia Child, The Galloping Gourmet and The Carol Duvall Show.

Then I was asked to do an infomercial for the Slice. They had a make-up artist. I have not had a make up artist since I was married. She walks away to get something, I open my eyes and there in front of me is Terri O.

You could have blown me over with a feather. Terri O. is the face of CHA. She has a regular show in the Phoenix Area. She is the face of CHA.

Yes, I am still easily star struck. I have only been here crafting for four years, so it just amazes me when people that I see on TV are walking down the aisles at CHA.

Can you tell that I am still giddy?

So I had a blast doing the infomercial. I have to be honest and say that I never held a slice until that moment. The first thing that went through my mind was what if I don't like it. They told me that they wanted me to tell the truth. Oh my!!  Didn't someone give them the rule book about me.

I decided to play it safe and at least go over and see what I was getting into.

====Begin Infomercial====

Can I say that for what it is suppose to do, it does it well.

After I sat with it I realized that it was perfect for my kids. The blade is not exposed, they have to interact with the machine from beginning to end. They get instant results. Oh and I do love not having to deal with the awkward cards that you need to insert.

Now if you want multiple copies for a class, then this is not for you. But for the general crafter and a personal cutting device that is kid friendly and easy to use, I like it.

====End Infomercial=====

Oh my and then I read my blog with some of the funniest women crafters that I know. Crafty Chica, Margot Potter, Sarah Hodson and Sarah Moore all read blog entries.

Yes, I read the day that I split my pants in the gym and the one where I am all out of sorts.

It was fun we laughed. I had so much fun at the Supershow. It was a bit overwhelming with all of the people and the kids. It made me miss home and my kids.

So I did not stay very long after. I drove back home and realized how blessed I am to have so many wonderful, crafty women in my life.

I could have never planned this life for myself. I am loving it. I have found that when you do what you love you love to do it all the time.

So now off to clean my house that has gone unattending for a week. I only have about three loads of laundry and a sanp the whip on the kids to get their rooms cleaned.

School starts in less than a week. Chi-Chi is riding the bus to first grade. Oh my they grow up so quickly.

Where did the summer go? It was just a few days ago, they had just gotten out of school.

until we meet again,