Road Trip

Pool view, so relaxing!
I’m taking a few days off for a trip around Florida to do some rejuvenating and some learning.  I started off Thursday morning and headed to Orlando for Scrapbook Expo, held at the Gaylord Palms.  This is a convention that I’ve attended in the past and I use it as an opportunity to get out and see what others are doing in the craft.  This will probably be the last time I travel out of town to attend the Expo, more downs the ups for me. 

Waiting for the Show Floor to open

One of the events I signed up for was a Crop Thursday evening.  It was billed as offering “Make and Takes” throughout the evening.  I took that to mean that vendors would be stationed around the room and you could visit (or not) at your own pace and see first hand, what they were doing.  That, however, wasn’t their plan! Let me set the stage.  Cavernous space half the size of a football field with a bare concrete floor and a high, high beamed ceiling with no sound absorption baffling to be found. An hour into the Crop they fired up the Public Address system and announced the first class, at least I think that’s what they did. The sound was SO bad I could understand about every fourth word. It wasn’t just me, my table mates couldn’t understand either and looking around the room I saw lots of other crafters either ignoring the racket and trying to complete the project on their own or not doing it at all.  I chose to not do it at all.  Honestly, I took a look at the make-and-takes they provided in the kit I was given and wasn’t inspired, Some had directions printed with them, some didn’t. The papers used weren’t new and the projects not that innovative. I decided to just work on the project I had brought with me but that didn’t last long either. Between Make-N-Takes they played Bingo!  Couldn’t hear the numbers and they didn’t play a whole game, just filled in the time before the next project. After about an hour and a half, I packed up and took my newly acquired headache with me.

Friday I wandered the hall looking at Vendor Booths.  There were lots and lots of stamping supplies, very little paper and only a handful of it new. I was also disappointed at prices. With the exception of Close-outs on items that were at least a few seasons old, there were not a lot of Show Specials where product was concerned. 

One of Melissa Francis' Kits, so sweet!

The one highlight of the show floor was the Melissa Francis Booth.  It was beautifully decorated with lots of projects from her line. I was beginning to explore and take pictures for inspiration (it was allowed at this booth) when Melissa Francis came up and introduced herself! Wow! I mean, Holy Cow, WOW! We talked. Actually, she talked, I was tongue-tied! She even invited me to her CHA Party this July in Las Vegas!  I was SO flustered, I forgot to get a picture of us together! Her booth was filled with all of her new line and it was all half-off!  So many goodies and it all went into my bag. I watched her demo and took away lots of inspiration and a few new techniques and uses for her product.  That alone made Friday worthwhile.

 

Inspiring, right?

My other find of the day was a booth that was demo-ing Ten Second Studio’s new VerDay Paints. If you haven’t seen this paint in action, head over to their website and watch some of their videos. The line is designed to give a worn, patina look. Paint chipboard with copper paint, let it dry, and spritz it with the VerDay Patina wash. Leave it alone for a few hours and you have the look of aged copper, so cool! The kit I bought has bottles of Brass, Copper, Bronze and Iron. I can’t wait to get home and play!

The show floor

I also attended a few workshops and the one I was looking forward to really didn’t live up to it’s name. Class title was Latest and Greatest – Products and it was a lecture class with the latest products being highlighted.  No real products, just a Power Point presentation at the front of the room, which I wouldn’t have minded if the colors had been true and the products new! It was probably half my fault. I signed up for the class in March assuming that they’d be up to date in what they were showcasing.  Here’s an example of my disappointment.  Showcased for Graphic 45 were Place In Time, Secret Garden and Kraft Reflections, not even a mention of the French Country Collection. One of the lines showcased for Authentique was Renew. Hello! It’s been out long enough for me to design and teach a class using the paper – last month! 

 

Oh well.  I’ll take away the good things and move on.  One highlight from the hotel - it's undergone a renovation since the last time I visited.  One of the new venues is Wreckers Sports Bar. One whole wall is dedicated to ten televisions screens, two of them oversized, showing ten different sporting events. Insane! I had dinner there saturday night and watched The Kentucky Derby, two baseball games, two hockey games, a NASCAR race, The Bulls playoff game (boo!), a golf match and a college Softball game. Wow, is all I can say!

Ten, count "um, TEN!

Today I’m headed to Epcot for the Flower Show and then up to The Villages for a class at She Scrapbooks.  More on that in the next post. Stay tuned!