I'm Just a girl

Spark was magic...

What can I say...Simple words are just not enough to describe all the different emotions I felt over the weekend...To start I just wanted to say that all the blood, sweat and tears that were shed were all worth it...Many hours of planning and creating went into Spark...Friday morning when I walked up to the venue and saw all of our beautiful handmade decorations up in the trees and on the walls and hanging everywhere tears flowed...It was quite simply magic...
Every thing we had spent hours on creating with love was exactly true to our vision...This is the place was the perfect place for our event. With it's charm and old town feel...

We hung our garlands, penants, pinwheels and fans everywhere...Vintage lace and tulle even adorned the trees...Magic...All my expectations, desires and dreams for Spark were met...I am tired...It was a very emotional weekend...More to come...
Awaiting more photos...I just wanted to put a few up and express my gratitude for my dear sweat Spark Sisters...

Rhonna and Liz thank you for being a part from the begining, LOVE LOVE LOVE you...And thank you Jefra for adding your artistic bits and pieces to Spark!

April thank you for teaching with me...You are my sister...

Lesli and Amy thank you dear friends...LOVE you...

Meg and Brooke...My girls...Worked so hard and did so much to keep me and my Spark dream a float...I am so grateful you are my daughters and friends...

Last but surely not least...

BIg HUGS and LOVE to all the AMAZING Women who felt a Spark and came...

LOVE you all...Thank you for sharing your LOVE for creating with me...To the few men thank you for being BRAVE and hanging with all the crazy Spark Sisters!

More to come...

kiss kiss 

m

Photos: Wynona Robinson

Leaving Arizona...

So bitter sweet...I LOVE LOVE LOVE Arizona! I have had a great time seeing dear old friends,
meeting new great friends
and doing what I love...Teaching! Really...LOVE it...

Creativity in Bloom was a blast! What a great group of women! What attention to detail! The tables were darling! The aprons my FAVE...And all the classes were really amazing! And don't for get the Sonic runs! The best!
Today is Lorie's birthday, so glad we got to celebrate last night...Our friendship is one of my greatest treasures...

Happy birthday Dear Friend...

so grateful for you, and for our friendship...
I hope your day is fabulous!

This week will be INSANE! Getting ready for SPARK! We are pleased to say is SOLD OUT! So excited! So many fun women who are going to be there! I have TONS to do! We are working on all the FUN decorations, final touches on our classes and on and on...I can't believe it's getting so close!

It's going to be and amazing journey...

Off to the airport...Heading home...

Missed my kiddos!

Happy Monday!

kiss kiss

m

Happy Birthday dear dear friend...

LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU...

Kiss Kiss m

Off off space judy...

That's what if feels like around here! We are hovering at light speed...Busy teaching, designing my secret project and then of course SPARK! Whew! Breathe...

Heading to the airport right now to Arizona to teach at Creativity in Bloom! So excited to be going "home"

LOVE Arizona! Excited to eat at Tia Rosas...Shop at Scrapbooks Etc...and spend some time with Lorie!

busy busy...All good...

Excited about my class at Spark...We are almost full! Closing registration Monday! So if your on the fence...Jump off and get yourself to Spark! Doing this event has been so inspiring, so filling my cup...I feel like everything we have done has been lead by a higher power...I am amazed at every turn...
Hope you have had a creative week...

Off to the Sunshine...

kiss kiss

m

Home for like a minute!

Home...Well for a few days anyway! The creative insanity continues! Laugh! I had the best best weekend teaching, taking classes, making new friends, laughing, feeling creative and being inspired! Whew! What a great event! Elizabeth, thank you! I have to say...LOVE me some Southern women and their "goodness" my favorite new word! Had so much fun with Layle, Debbie and new sister friend Rebecca Cross from Pink Paislee! Loved taking a class from Jenni and getting to see J-Rad and the boys! 
A big thanks to all the women who took care of us, hauled us shopping and to get Sonic daily! To all the darling TA's you rocked it!
Terri & Melanie you're the bomb! A HUGE thanks to Norma & Lesley Elizabeth's parents!
What a great support they were to the event and to Elizabeth!

I have to say it was so much fun to teach and then get to take all the other classes...What a rareity! I loved it! I took everyone's class! It really inspires and reminds me of why I do what I do...I LOVE scrapbooking! I love making stuff with my photos and memories!

Grateful to be home for a few days...Lots of stuff to catch up on...Life right? Then I'm off on Thursday to Arizona! Creativity in Bloom! I LOVE Arizona...My HOME away from home...I'm staying with Lorie, I can't wait to just be there with her! If you're an Arizona girl come see me at Mystic Paper Friday night from 4-something??? There will be a Trunk Show with Me, Marrah and Michelle and the other teachers...Should be fun! We are teaching Saturday and there are openings! Come take a fun class! I am teaching EEEEEK! A Halloween!

Tonight is the SPARK Soiree at Dear Lizzie...It's going to be so much fun to meet some of our Local Sparks! Spark is only a few short weeks away...Wow! I am so looking forward to it, to seeing all of our hard work and preperation that has gone into creating a wonderful creative event!

Gotta get get...

Thanks for the "goodness"

kiss kiss

m

Much to say...So little time...

MIA...Missing in action...Seems like an understatement...LAUGH!

I have been so insane busy...So much going on right now... Some I can talk about some that I can hint about...Let's just say BUSY!

This week I leave for Simply Inspired! I am so excited! I LOVE the idea of going to a new place meeting some new creative girls, eating new foods and on and on...I'm teaching a little mini about Girl Friends!

darling...

Not a great shot but you get the idea...Fun & Funky!

Also I have been working on SPARK! Wow it just keeps getting more amazing...All the classes are going to be fabulous, the whole event has just come together...Friday my Spark sister and I got together to make stuff for the event...And by stuff I mean amazing...We want all of our creative senses to be sparked! Here's a little sneak...

Here's Lizzy and I "creating" messy garlands and bows...Ahhhh what a great time!

Then there is Halloween coming up...I LOVE this fun holiday...Saturday I got a creative bug and had my Girl's Loft kit to play with so I made a few new decorations for the house...Speaking of houses...

Can you say Glitter is everywhere? Love these...Then I made these...

To satisfy my creative witch...I LOVE the paper flowers...IN LOVE...

One other thing, you know this girl right?

Well, not to throw names out there...but this girl is my friend, and now living in Utah so we get to chat often. We both are so busy we have only had a chance to have lunch once but we are on the phone the other day and were talking about our CRAZY lives, what we  love about what we do and teaching...SHE is teaching some amazing classes...SHE calls them inspiration sessions...And if you know her they are! She is one of the most inspiring, creative people I know...She was telling me about an event she and Janet are doing in Texas...YOU lucky TExans! Here's the deets...Man I wish I could go!

These projects look amazing...A day inspiration session...Looks FABULOUS...

Oh and in my spare time I am working on a HUGE surprise...OH MY! It is taking up most of my days right now...It is BIG...NO it is NOT Big Picture although I am taking Ali's class right now...It is bigger than that for me...It is what I LOVE to do...It is what I think I'm pretty good at...It is beautiful...It is exciting...It makes me happy and I hope will make  YOU happy too...As soon as I can I will share it with YOU...But know it is for girls like me...and girls like YOU...Girls who love paper, girls who love to create...

All good stuff...Grateful right now...

Happy Monday...

Go out there and create a great day!

kiss kiss

m

One year ago today...

{Osaka, Japan CKU-J}

The lovely Miss Stacy Julian challenged me to create a mini...

A mini book to carry with me for an entire year to remind me to "Remember the Present" I have carried this little mini with me now for that entire year...

It has gone with me all over the country, and world...

{St. Louis}

What a great reminder it has been to me...

{Amsterdam}

Not to stress about scrapbooking, not to worry how much I have to do, what isn't done, but to enjoy what I am doing right now...

{Florida}

In the present!

{CKU Nasville}

I have loved this challenge and loved taking this mini in and out of my handbags,

{Minnesota}

seeing it when I grab for a stick of gum or get out money to hand one of my kids, there it has been...

{Atlanta}

Telling me just how lucky I am to do what I get to do...

{Jamaica on a cruise}

That I LOVE scrapbooking, creating with photos capturing memories along the crazy busy thing we call life...

{Arizona}

It has been an amazing year...As I ride through my roller coaster life with my hands in the air, I am grateful that in this year I have taken the time to remember the present and to capture it through scrapbooking...

Really it makes me giddy...

Happy Fall...

Kiss Kiss

m

ps...Check out Stacy's new website!

www.stacyjulian.com

Come Spark with us!

There is in every true woman's heart 

a spark of heavenly fire,

which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; 

but which kindles up and 

beams and blazes 

in the dark hour of adversity. 

-Washington Irving

Every one of us has a Spark and that's why we're so excited about this event... to be inspired by other creative woman... by you. We are so excited to announce a giveaway! I was so busy yesterday "Sparking" with my girls I forgot to blog! We are going to do the giveaway another day!

So if YOU would like to SPARK with us...Jump over to the Spark website and tell us...

WHAT lights your FIRE...

WWW.SPARKTHEEVENT.COM

Happy Wednesday Girls!

kiss kiss

m

CKU-Japan in a word...Amazing!

Wow! Home! I can't believe that a week ago today I was in Japan teaching at CKU-Japan!

What an overwhelming experience it was...To start off, I honestly don't even know if my words will describe how I felt about being in Japan, and the amazing women who attended the event. I use the word amazing because that is what the experience was. It was so much fun to have traveled with Tim & Mario...They took care of this single gal!

It was so fun to get to know Stacy's husband Jeff...What a fun and darling man! We had a great group of teachers!

Let me start off with my sweet interpreter Aya...

I can't begin to describe her kindness, her genuine spirit, her delightful attitude and her sweetness...I will never for get her, her smile, or what she did for me while in Japan.

Her best friend Rako was Tim's interpreter so we had so much fun together! Rako, another darling, sweet, amazing girl...

I also had the 2 best assistants! Thank you thank you for all your hard work, helping bridge the language gap!

All of the women there were fabulous...The students were so excited, so eager to learn, so appreciative, so kind with thoughtful gifts (they call presents) just again...Amazing! 

There really aren't words to describe my feelings for this experience...I cried when I left...And hope I go back...

The women loved the project and had a fun time "relaxing" in my class...I joked with them not to stress, that scrapbooking is FUN! A HUGE thank you to my sponsors! Jenni Bowlin Studio, Cosmo Cricket, My Mind's Eye, Fancy Pants, Adorn it, Kaiser, American Crafts and Glue Arts! Everyone LOVED the beautiful supplies!

A big thanks to Starbucks for being there every morning! And to coke

for being there the rest of my days! A little taste of home is always comforting! LOL

What an amazing trip...What amazing women, what amazing friends, what an amazing country, filled with tradition, honor and respect for one another. I feel so overwhelmed by this experience. Like I said...I cried several times in awe, in gratitude, in happiness and in sadness to leave such a wonderful time...CKU-Japan was a perfect way to end my CKU experience...

Like I said when I told the women of CKU-J to link hands...We are connected...We are instant friends because we have this wonderful thing called Scrapbooking in common...To my friends in Japan thank you thank you for having me...I will cherish the experience...

kiss kiss

m

Headed to CKU Japan!

I'm sitting in the San Francisco airport waiting on Tim & Mario! Excited about a new place, new scrapbookers, new photos and creating new memories!

This has been a BIG week for me...Lots of things I can't wait to share have happened...I am excited about! I feel re-energized, re-committed and re-connect to what I love to do...What I think is what I do the best...

Soon I can share...

wish me luck in Japan...You know I hate sushi? Yikes!

lol

LOVES

kiss kiss

m