okay, okay, i'm posting! CKC weekend: LONG POST, lotsa pics!

SO! lots going on - some good, some bad, some just crazy stuff. and the world keeps right on turnin'!

first of all, my job was made redundant, so i was told last thursday that i would be employed until the end of the month. bad news.

had scheduled friday off, as i was leaving thursday afternoon to go up to Vel's place in Rochester - we have been counting down the days to CKC Buffalo for MONTHS! GOOD NEWS!

had to tell hubbin about my unemployedness when he got home from work thursday afternoon. that wasn't fun. he doesn't get paid throughout the summer, so it will be interesting to see how we'll manage the next few months. bad news.

hubbin was VERY supportive, and told me to FORGET about all of this and ENJOY my weekend. GOOD NEWS!

made it to Vel's place, albeit a little later than expected, and checked into hotel S. met her mom, who waited up (how sweet!) and her little dog (lido), who gets a little barky when he's excited. finally won him over with the "hand under the rug" game, and we lived happily ever after. ;)

woke up less than 4 hours later, headed out at 6:20 to pick up Mme E, then to Buffalo bound. CRIKEY! it's pretty amazing how much energy three crazy crafty gals can exude, despite the sleep deprivation! gimme some coffee and a bagel, pack up my crop goodies and my debit card, and i'm rarin' to go! look what greeted us!


we parked, we shopped, we conquered. lots of fun deals to be found - 10 cent papers, 25 cent stickers, 4 dollar punches, coupons in our yummy welcome kits, freebies, jaw-dropping deals, NEW products and heaps of inspiration EVERYWHERE. i had to restrain myself a good bit, despite the amount of drool on the front of my shirt. :D

after shopping, we took CLASSES. three of them, actually. two of which KICKED ASS, and one of which SUCKED. the first two were taught by THIS CHICK:


that's Lynn Warner, totally groovy gal. she hosted the Piggy Tales workshops we took (we had no idea how awesome they'd be, it was a fluke that we'd signed up for her back-to-back classes!). i'll show you projects later, but CLICK HERE and see the pics she posted - the second shot was from our first class - that's me on the far left, and Vel is third... oh, and that's Mme E's head poking out just to the right of Vel. hee hee.

SO. LW getting things ready before class starts, wishing she had another Diet Coke:


introducing herself and telling us the story of "the horns" (if i told you, i'd have to kill you!):


LW doing her thang, and her fabulous assistants, Jess and Maggie (they truly ROCKED!):


here's Mme E, looking all studious, the model student:


and when Vel decided to take a pic of me, i decided it would be best for her to get me snapping one of her (isn't she just frackin' adorable?!):


and Vel, merrily crafting away during the second class (handmade embellies):


the Piggy Tales classes were great - we made some cards, put together some pages that will look fabby in a scrapbook, and got lots of yummy stuff to take home. and i made a new BFF! ;) here's our group shot (hey Vel, sorry about that one eye - redeye fixer couldn't help me!):

hey, LW, would you, by any chance, happen to know where i might find the executive meeting room?

the third class, however, was another story altogether. it might not have been such a dreadful experience, had there been adequate supplies, and some good help. Susan Opel from PaperCrafts magazine (love them!) hosted:


and her projects were AWESOME, seriously. i loved the little accordion tag book and she showed us a couple of fun techniques, but OMG, her assistant (on the left):


the first issue - not enough stamps to go around. we were three at our table, and there were two blocks with stamps on them. this isn't ideal when the project is fast-paced and you're trying to cram two projects into a very short class. slowed us down HORRIBLY, and as a result, we were all frustrated because when we finished a step, the slide would have advanced two or three times and we'd be lost. not great when you've PAID to take the class, right?

second issue - the cardstock for our first project was cut to measure 7" x 12". we were told to score at an inch and a half from the bottom, and should be left with a card that's 5" high. um, my fabulous math skills told me that this was definitely not right, so i wanted to ensure we weren't supposed to score at 2" instead, or if the card was supposed to measure 5 1/2" high. well holy heck, the assistant, MICHELLE, gave me such a hard time. she ARGUED with me, saying that i needed to pay attention to the measurements on the screen, and that all i had to do was follow the instructions. SERIOUSLY. RUDE. Vel asked Susan about it, and Susan said that the score was right, but the card could be taller and that wouldn't be a problem. THANK YOU, SUSAN.

third issue - when wrapping up the first project, it was obvious we needed more cardstock as we had each used up our supplies. we were told there wasn't enough paper, and we'd have to share. SHARE? we pay for the class, and we have to SHARE with our neighbour? come on! well when MICHELLE came back to our table to hook us up, she brought ONE sheet of cardstock, which clearly would not be enough. we each needed a piece measuring 5" x 9". can you get three of those out of one sheet of 12" x 12"? um, not so much. she stood there like a deer in headlights trying to figure out the math, gave up, threw the ONE SHEET of paper on the table, and said "figure it out. do it yourself", then walked away.

it was at that point when Vel initiated our departure. we were FED UP, and should NOT have been treated this way, so there was no way we were staying for the rest of the class. made lots of noise and left in a huffy, then proceeded to the customer relations desk to lodge our complaints. we were given an outdated magazine, and asked for our email addresses, but we're still waiting to hear back from CKC. wonder what kind of compensation, if any, we should expect... apparently Vel has already emailed them (in response to an ad she received) saying it was bold of them to try to advertise and ask for her to spend more money when they haven't responded to our complaint. HEE HEE. love that girl! :)

anyway, this did not deter us from ENJOYING ourselves, i promise!
i departed for a while to meet my bestest pally Smeg, who'd driven across from St. Catharines to bring me some indian snacks and meet me for a bite to eat. HELLLOOOOOOO, Jim's Steakout! HOW I HAVE MISSED THEE! he insisted on paying (especially given my job sitchee-ay-shun), and it was fabulous. didn't have much time, but it was great to see him and catch up a bit.

when i got back to meet Vel and Mme E, theytold me they'd sat and chatted with LW for a while, which i was sorry to have missed! but then it was CROP TIME! awesome goodie bag, loads of door prizes (we didn't win anything!), and a songwriting contest. Mme E and i decided to get in on this action, in hopes of winning a Wizard with lots of extras... here we are waiting for our turn to belt out our little ditties:


and me, knockin' their socks off (ha!):


we didn't win, but we got another outdated magazine as our consolation prize! ;) we each made a few cards (i think Vel made, like, FIVE! or something ridiculous like that), and felt the energy draining from our poor bodies.

it was sad to leave, but we'd had our fill for the day (and on under four hours of sleep, we were all surprised we'd lasted that long!), so it was time to head on back to Rah-cha-cha. played with Little Dog for a bit, showed Vel's mom my haul, and the log-sawing began. :)

saturday, SHOPPING! bit of breakfast, checked email (to learn that i'd won a $25 giftie card from BasicGrey.com - holy WOOT! can i hold out for the Oliver and Olivia lines?), chatted with hubbin for a bit, then we were off! look where i went!


and here's proof! ha ha ha ha ha!

(don't i look PLEASED?!)

it was my first time at a Hobby Lobby, and OOOHHHH, i wish we had a COUPON! lots of yummies, but not much in the way of clearance! of course, the coupon for 40% off any WILTON product expired that day, and a new one for 40% off ANY ITEM started the next day. go figger.

checked out Ollie's, which had lots of intriguing things but nothing i NEEDED (Vel did get the awesome oval templates for the Curvy Cutter for $4.95, which was awesome, but i don't have the Curvy Cutter). i will definitely hit them up again though when i visit again!

had a scrummy coffee and a little lunch at Wegman's in between stops, and after hitting up Jo-Ann, it was time to head back, as i had a long drive ahead of me.

Vel, my dear, thank you SO much for an awesome time, and i am so happy to have met you and Mme E! we MUST do it again, and i hope i'll be able to get my butt up there again sometime in the summer for some crafty fun! (this girl has an awesome crafty space, i'm tellin' ya!)

so there you have it! my CKC weekend. i have a ton of projects and challenges to post (i'm seriously behind with this, crikey!), so i'll share those with you separately.

i've also decided to step down as an administrator in my Cafe Mom group, as well as a Blog Manager/Scrapette at The TownScrapper. it saddens me, and i feel like i'm letting everyone down, but there's a lot of stuff i need to take care of right now, so maybe when the dust settles i'll be able to pick up right where i left off. fingers crossed this is just a short phase and there are great things awaiting me around the corner!