It was a great weekend!

I've had a busy weekend. On Friday night I was at the Scrapbook Cupboard doing demos on the Quickutz Silhouette. Congratulations to Susan Stokinger for winning a brand new Silhouette Craft Cutter Machine! What a great prize!!

On Saturday morning I got up extra early and drove to pick up a few friends and then headed off to Topsfield, MA. It took us about an hour to get there once on the road and when we arrived at Absolutely Everything, people were already milling around waiting for the excitement to begin. Our 3 hour class with Tim Holtz was great! Kerriann, Jean and I had a fun and relaxing time. I say relaxing because we painted most of the time. Take a look at some of these photos...

Do you see the ticket in the upper right hand corner of the third picture?? That was a WINNING ticket!! What did I win??>>>> all sort of distressing goodness! Just my style!

And I just love this picture. I'm not sure if it's the evil grin on my face or Jean's surprised and possibly scared look...

Yikes!

So here are a few photos of the finished project. It's gorgeous...

I knew many of the techniques we did in class but I've had the advantage and opportunity to take some of Mr. Holtz' classes at Ranger Industries and at the Sue Gilman show. It is amazing what they teach you at these classes. I'm extremely fortunate to be able to go to them and learn the latest tips and techniques. I did learn something new on Saturday, the covers. It's a really cool look. BUT! don't have your cover rub up against any acrylic paint. It doesn't dry. It just stays wet and gooey so I will have to remember that for the future.

After the class, Kerriann, Jean and I went to lunch, then visited Ink About It. It's another great stamp and scrapbook store on the North Shore. It's within 45 minutes of Absolutely Everything so it's common for us South Shore people to visit both stores in one day - or so that's what I've heard from others. ;-) Ink About It has tons of stamps. And all kinds, acrylic, unmounted, mounted, foam... if it's a type of stamp, they have all of them. I had to buy this stamp by the Artful Stamper. It's called "Signs of Peace" and I think it's gonna be perfect with some Pearl Colored Metal!! I might have to make several of them for Holiday cards. Hmmmm... I just joined a Christmas Card Swap... maybe this will be part of my design. Once I spent my quota of cash at Ink About It, Kerriann told us about an Ice Cream store in the area. So off we went to Kimballs for some yummy ice cream!

Saturday night, Caleb had a pack meeting where he got his Pin of Light. He got this for participating in 3 of the packs Summertime projects or gatherings....

There was a fabulous speaker after the ceremony. The Man that came to visit the boys is a volunteer Search and Rescue Scout. He had hiked over a mountain that morning searching for a man lost in the woods. He had left his house at 6:30 that morning and when he got to the pack meeting that night, he was soaking wet. The Boy Scouts promote this program called Hug a Tree. They went over all the important facts about safety and survival if you're ever lost in the woods. If you're a hiker or have kids, take a few moments to visit the Hug a Tree Link and read what it's all about. You never know when it could come in handy.

Then yesterday we spent the day cleaning the house getting ready for my gathering of friends. I had about 9 friends over last night for some cocktails and snacks. It was a great ending to a fabulous weekend.