2007 Bay Area Scrapbook Expo

Last weekend I attended both days of the Bay Area Scrapbook Expo. In hind sight, I think I overdid it on the classes – I took ten. Most of them were terrific, I met lots of wonderful people, learned a few new tricks and compared notes on products and tools.

			My first class was” Take a Journey with Junkitz” where we worked on a mini album to capture vacation photos. They were really generous with the supplies and the project was great. I didn’t get close to finishing it, partially because it was my first class and I hadn’t warmed up yet and partially because it’s a 20 page album!
The next class was Rusty Pickle’s Family Pocketed Accordion which was a blast and a darling project. Our instructor was a sweetheart and as always, Rusty Pickle did a fantastic job with the album design.
Then I took Fall In love With Daisy D’s which was an 8”x8” accordion album. The paper was a little too soft and feminine for me (I like lots of color) but I enjoyed the class and the instructor, Michelle Grainger. She was a crack-up!
	Next I took Greetings & Salutations by Xyron – I loved the teacher! She was so down to earth and relaxed. We each had our own personal cutting system to use to make 10 greeting cards from S.E.I. products. What I liked about this class was that we got to dream up our own designs rather than the usual step by step project instruction you typically get. Don’t get me wrong, I take classes specifically for that kind of learning; this was just a nice change of pace, I enjoyed getting to know the other people in the class and learned a lot just by looking at their creations.
I had a two hour break to do a little shopping and was fortunate enough to enjoy a few make and takes. My absolute favorite and the hit of the entire show was 2daisies “Friend” wordbloom. For $5 you got to make an adorable mini album (you can buy the kit at our scrapbook boutique). Some complained about the one hour line but in my opinion…well worth the wait!
My last class of the day was Alexx Kesh’s Folding Album in a Box – This was a very unique project and a fun class. Lots of lots of flowers, ribbons, lace and mesh. My day ended at 8:00 PM and I was pooped.
		The next day I started with Rusty Pickle’s 8x8 card board album, Ode to Mom. This was yet another fantastic project by the Picklicious Designers of RP and a really fun class. The album is fabulous!
Next was a Date Album by Cosmo Cricket. They gave us a ton of extra paper and the album is super cute – We used Cosmo Crickets double sided cardstock which is gorgeous but a just not as durable as I’d like for this kind of book. I would have preferred the pages were mounted on chipboard.
Next was A Thing Or Two About Girls by QuickQuotes – The class was packed and there was hardly any work space for each student- I got there right as the class was getting started and couldn’t find a seat so I took my class kit and nice lunch break.
	After an hour and ½ rest I went to another Rusty Pickle class – the Girlie Girls Tag Album- I learned some great tricks and just loved working with the girlie girl papers- We may sell them in the boutique next month. This tag album is so fun and original.

The last class of the day and weekend was My Big Fat Chunky Book by Quick Quotes. I found a seat this time but we were squeezed in tight. The class was ridiculously fast paced and most of us were groaning because we couldn’t keep up. It was just a really big project for a short amount of time. The concept was great and I really liked the products we used – especially their new chalk ink. I just didn’t care for the pace or the instruction.

A few products I fell in love with while at Expo:

• Zip Dry adhesive
• Kokuyo Dot’n’Roller
• Tombo Aqua adhesive
• Glaze embossing pens