Creative Escape: Friday & Saturday

Hi, I'm back to continue on with details of my 2009 Creative Escape ... Friday & Saturday ...

Friday at Creative Escape:
After breakfast, the event began early ... 8:00 AM ... with the first of 4 workshops that day ... first up: Heidi Swapp! Pretty cool for me, because she's my fave sb designer! She gave a nice introduction about capturing "once in a lifetime" moments in our scrapbooks. And that was the theme of her mini-album-with-an-easel project too:

(sorry, but none of these pictures will do the projects justice)

Next was Lynette Carroll's workshop ... a stunning wall art project! All in an elegant color palette of black, cream & gray:

Here's my CE pal Renee from NY (so great to finally meet you, Renee!) working on Lynette's beautiful project:

During one of my Friday classes, the CE crew came in with a cart full of RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) to give away! Yes, more fun! My goody bag included some fun embellishments, bling, and an acrylic album. Sweet!

Here I am in Debby Schuh's workshop ... don't I look happy? I was !!! :-) And notice my new zebra scrapbooking tote next to me?
Debby had us create a cutie pink, black & white Creative Escape-themed mini-album. She gave us lots of great ideas for collecting memorabilia on any trip, so clever!

My final class on Friday was with Marah Johnson. We worked with a box that contained 12 tiny books, and we used scrapbooking techniques on each one and on the box too! Who knew that spraying Glimmer Mist on flocked paper would be so beautiful, or was even a possibility? Gorgeous!

In some photos, I'm wearing a necklace that was designed by the über-talented Heidi Swapp ... it's oh so pretty! And I felt pretty wearing it. Here's a close-up:

It's a beautiful toggle design, with each of the charms having symbolism and chosen for a specific reason, and providing reminders of CE:

heart ==> my love & passion for scrapbooking

butterfly ==> fun, and the chance to be renewed

wing ==> the freedom that comes from learning new techniques

crown ==> my life is important & worth remembering

pearl ==> a reminder that with time & effort, something remarkable and precious is created

crystal ==> a reminder that I am multi-faceted and that I can shine

Here's me (looking tired!) & Michelle from California (Dog Mom to Max & Fenway, who often "write" e-mails and blog comments to Buddy & Aruba ... so cute!):

me & Denise (from Idaho) ... so happy to meet you, Denise!:

me & Vicki & her daughter Ashley (who live near me here in SoFla):
At the Friday night dinner, there was a neat little gift at each of our places ... a custom-decorated Creative Escape cookie ... too pretty to eat! (although I heard that Tim ate his right away, LOL) Those nifty CE surprises thrill me!

After dinner, it was time for the "Friday Extravaganza". The fun never stops at CE (that explains why I was too beat to blog)! We worked on an album that is based on Natasha Bedingfield's song Unwritten (which is now on my iPod) ... the project purpose is to, as the song suggests, inspire us to document our life's journey, not to leave it "unwritten".

While we were enjoying the Friday night festivities, CE had the hotel staff deliver goodies to our rooms ... how fun to walk in and find this on my bed! It was filled with great stuff ... some cardstock, Philosophy facial cleanser, and lots more. It's just one fun thing after another at CE!

Saturday at Creative Escape:

The final day of CE began with a class from Carol Wingert. She designed a 3-D pyramid box with a clear panel that lets you peek inside at whatever special something you want to put in it! Very unique!

Next was a workshop with Deb Crouse & Paula Cheney from 7 Gypsies. We made another beautiful piece of wall art:

And then it was on to a colorful and cheery mini-album workshop with Heather Bailey. It was very detailed, and I didn't come anywhere near finishing it!

Heather also has a line of stunning fabrics, and they were sold in bundles of fat quarters (wrapped in pretty tulle ribbon) in the CE store. Now you know why I got up early and got over there for the store's opening! Her fabrics were gone in a flash! But I was lucky to get some and I look forward to using them in my scrapbooking projects.

My final class of CE was with Tim Holtz. I love arriving at a class and having a class kit and fresh workspace waiting, such a treat!

And his project was totally adorable ... and perfect for me as a travel fanatic! ... a teeny-tiny (2.5" x 3.5") album in a teeny-tiny suitcase! (photos courtesy of Tim's blog):

A great place to record our "moments from the journey". So is that cute, or what???

After the final workshop and a short break, we gathered for the Saturday night dinner & Closing Ceremony. It's a fun time to reminisce about the weekend's events, especially during the slideshow (and yes, my funky feet were featured in the slideshow!), but it's also sad that the event is wrapping up.

During the slideshow, they played fun songs like Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape, Natasha's Unwritten, and Fabulous from the "High School Musical 2" soundtrack. Of course, they're all on my iPod now.

And as is a CE tradition, at the Saturday night dinner we "eat dessert first". And it was delish!

And it came with a little zebra purse that contained either some pretty pink & green beads, or a bracelet. The one lucky gal who got the bracelet also won a spot at CE next year, wow!

During the dinner, they awarded lots of random prizes ... just kept drawing name after name. It was exciting to watch, and some other lucky Susans won! Here's Susan from NY (top) and Susan from Atlanta (below) with their bundles of scrapbooking goodness. Congrats girls!

Saturday evening closed with a keynote speech by Melanie Wellman. It was an inspiring continuation of the "unwritten" theme, encouraging us to live a life worth scrapbooking!

Oh, and one more thing that I love about CE ... collecting the pins (buttons) ... otherwise known as "flair" if you're a fan of the movie Office Space! *wink* Anyway ... they have lots of fun designs, like "creative bliss" and "it's a dry heat", but my favorite has to be "I got in!", referring to our name being drawn in the CE lottery to be able to attend! I put my pins all over the straps of my tote ... loved it!

I spent Sunday morning hanging with friends ... and after a delayed flight out of Phoenix, I landed in Ft Lauderdale at midnight and was greeted by Sal's smiling face! Although I had a fabulous and memorable time, I was glad to be back home with Sal, Buddy & Aruba ... and to be back in Florida where there's some humidity, LOL !

Now, I'm awaiting delivery of my box of scrapbooking "loot" that I shipped home ... according to UPS tracking, that brown truck will be pulling up to my house with it on Tuesday.

And as usual, I'm still unpacking ... I know, I know I've been home for a week ... but I'm not putting my suitcases or scrapbooking supplies away just yet! I'm off to another exciting sb'ing event later this week, woo hoo! This one's a little closer to home ... Orlando ... stay tuned for all the fun details!

Also ... to everyone who gave me RAKs during CE ... Renee, Faye, Jody, Michelle, Kyoko, Debby, Georgia, and everyone ... THANK YOU! It was such a treat to have a fun surprise handed to me out of the blue, or to go back to my room and find that you had a RAK delivered to me! Your thoughtfulness made CE extra special for me!

And to all my CE friends ... thanks for the fun memories, and I hope to see you in Phoenix at CE 2010! :-)